Thank God for the Opportunity to Serve Alongside a Fine School Principal in Cambodia

Thursday, Jan., 2025 --- Today was our second full day in Phnom Penh, Cambodia - another busy day of teaching! I stayed up pretty late last night trying to finalize my ppt. It doesn't matter how many times I have presented the same topics to my audiences. I find that I can always have something to add or have changes to make so that the materials presented to my audiences will be the most updated, and relevant to their needs and learning levels. We stayed in the house putting the final touches to our ppt and worked until it was almost time for lunch. Since our Grab app. is not working in Cambodia, we have to depend on other people to order our rides for us. After Hea. used her cell and ordered our Tuk Tuk for us we walked out to the street to meet our driver.

As soon as we got to the street, a tuk tuk pulled up and the driver asked us to hop onto his vehicle. S. told me to do so but I hesitated. ' Why did the tuk tuk get here so quickly? How do I know this is the right tuk tuk?" I refused to get onto the tuk tuk. Instead I called Hea. to confirm. So glad I did! This was the wrong tuk tuk! Because most older Cambodians cannot speak English, it is not easy communicating with them and I have learned to be extra careful from our last trip. We finally got on the right tuk tuk and went to the Jars of Clay Restaurant for lunch. It is a nice restaurant with good ambience. The menu offers a varitey of western, Khmer and Asian food. The school admin team chose this place to treat us for lunch and to express their thanks to us.

This is the group whom I have been supporting via a monthly zoom meeting from Toronto. Young, energetic, dedicated and with an excellent sense of humour, this group of school leaders is fun to be around. We shared some jokes and good laughs, got to know each other better and enjoyed an excellent meal together!

After lunch we went back to the school and did our second day of training for the teachers. It has been fun working together with my husband and collaborating together on this training program. S. was very serious about this volunteer assignment and worked hard on preparing for the workshops. He surprised me at how good he was at it. The teachers enjoyed his teaching while I shared some teaching methods and strategies with them.

At the end of our training, we presented each teacher with a small gift and shared a few words of encouragement with them. We also took this opportunity to recognize and thank the principal of this school who has dedicated her life to helping the people of Cambodia. The principal is the driving force behind the teacher and leadership training and has been working hard to bring about the programs to the staff. She is like an angel! We thank God for giving us this opportunity to serve along with her - to witness God to His people and to bring hope to this nation! It is truly a blessing! RT Phnom Penh, Cambodia jan2025

Meeting Cambodian Students in Person for the First Time

Tuesday, Jan, 2025 --- After months of planning and coordinating, we finally landed in Phnom Penh, Cambodia during the second week of January, 2025. Though we didn't apply for the e-visa online for our stay in Cambodia, the process of obtaining a visa after landing in the Cambodia airport was quick and painless. I must say that the process has improved a lot since the last time we visited this country.

This time we are in Cambodia to provide some training to staff of a couple of schools and some charitable organizations supporting girls needing assistance. Hea. came and picked us up from the airport and took us for our first Cambodian meal. After lunch, we bought some refreshments at a supermarket for our meeting with the teachers next day. Hea. drove us to a Cambodia missionary's house where we would be staying during our visit here. We were tired but couldn't rest as S. and I would start our work the next day and needed to finalize our power point presentatons before heading to bed.

Wednesday, Jan. 2025 --- Though S. bought a SIM card at the airport yesterday upon our arrival to Cambodia, unfortunately, we were unable to use our cell phones to order our rides through GRAB, the counterpart of UBER in Phnom Penh. We had to ask Hea. to order a ride from her cell in order to get to the girls home. Located in Phnom Penh, the Pleroma Home for the Girls is a safe place for girls having been rescued from difficult and dangerous situations. We visited this home last year for the first time and since then I have been working with some of the staff there online for almost a year. We revisited this home again on this trip. It was different and exciting as we have established a good relationship with some staff members! As soon as we walked through the door of the home, So. recognized me and ran to me giving me the biggest bear hug I have ever had in my life! It startled everyone in the room including myself. Though we have been seeing each other in our class through Zoom on a weekly basis, we had never met in person until today. So. was so excited meeting me in person for the first time that I was afraid she might burst anytime! She and my other students were very sweet and welcome us with such warmth and enthusiasm that I was deeply touched by their love! We had so much to catch up and talk about! But we were aware that this was their work hours and needed to be considerate of their time. We made plans to meet the next day and we went on to tour the facility of this home. There was another mission team from Hong Kong doing some activities for the residents of this home. We sat and observed the activities in progress.

We left the girls' home and were driven to the primary school where our first teacher workshop would be held. There were a couple of specific workshops requested by the teachers. S. and I decided to work on the preparation and to co-present these workshops this time. I shared some basic background theories on the different styles of learning for students while S. did the interactive part of having the teachers to practise of what they had just learned. The teachers were attentive and eager to improve their skills. We had a lot of fun sharing our experiences and interesting life stories regarding teaching and learning. There were a lot of laughter and our hour long workshop flew by in no time! Yes, the snacks we served to the teachers were a hit! After a day if teaching, teachers were exhausted and appreciate some drinks and food to give them some energy before the training workshop. I must remember to do that again next time! It was a very productive day indeed! RT Phnom Penh, Cambodia Jan2025

Most Precious Gift of All - Happy Gatherings and Celebrations with Loved Ones

The world has truly become a global village! Living in Canada, we are able to meet and make friends with people from the four corners of the world. At the same time, our frineds and loved ones are scattered all over the world outside of Canada. It is a joyous time when we can get together with family, and friends. As we age, we treasure these times of reunions and celebrations more and more. One of the times we look forward to all year when we can be reunited with our loved ones is the month of December when Christmas celebrations and gatherings are taking place throughout the whole month with some gatherings beginning as early as late November.

We were busy but very happy at the same time during the last month of 2024. While some people may be weary of all the excitement and planning for dinners and gatherings in December, we consider it a privileage every year to be able to host these dinner parties and invite friends and families to share with us.

We got together with many of our friends and family members. We tried to invite those who might not have their families with them in Canada. We also needed to consider the languages spoken by our guests to make sure that they were comfortable with each other. E. always comes home for Christmas and this year was no exception. This year his plane landed on Sunday morning when we were at church. Paul offered to pick him up from the Billy Bishop's airport and then drove him to meet with Joanne and her family for dim sum, more chance for the young people to get together.

E. had more opporunities to meet families when we were invited to Rosie's house on Christmas day. It was a fun time as we learned a new card game after dinner. We had a great time indeed! I took this game and also played it at our parties in the following week. All our guests enjoyed this new game and had a marvellous time at our house. Having our loved ones together for dinners and Watching our guests enjoying themselves made us very happy! We should have these gatherings and dinners more often and connect with our families and friends more! RT, Toronto 122024

A Review of Hyatt Regency, Downtown San Francisco

It is always a pleasure when we can get away from our home city and travel around to see and try new things. It makes it our holiday more special and enjoyable when we stay at a hotel that is a little above the notch with more luxurious amenities.

Vacationing in San Francisco recently, we enyoyed our week long stay at the Hyatt Regency which provided us with a very comforable and positive experience. We loved our stay at Hyatt Regency becasue of the following:

1. Our spacious suite - Located on the 18th floor, our room was upgraded to a suite which was spacious with a lovely living room with a roomy corner workspace commanding a lovely view of the city below. I especially liked looking the view at night. The living area was furnished tastefully with a L shape long sofa making it possible for a guest to sleep over. E. did just that when we needed to get up early for our Turkey Trot the next day. 2. Beautiful and spacious lobby - As we were there during the American Thanksgiving weekend, the lobby was decorated with numerous Christmas trees and other festive decoratons. There were different seating areas and beautiful art pieces placed strategically throughout the lobby creating a warm and cosy ambience inviting guests to pause and linger a while.

.3. Helpful and courteous front desk and hotel staff - Whenever we needed something or changed something, we could always ask the hotel staff who assisted us in a courteous manner. Another amenity which we could enjoy everyday was the beautiful and quiet Lounge located on the main floor serving an evening snack from 6 to 8 p.m. daily to Hyatt Regency guests with a certain points accumulated on their rewards program. We didn't visit the Lounge everyday during our week long stay there, but it was nice when we did saving us from wandering around the streets of San Francisco looking for some snacks. The Hyatt Regency deserves a 5 star in our book! Highly recommend it to fellow travellers to SF, USA! RT Visited SF recently from Canada

Visiting Chinatown and Dining at a Curbside Eatery in Little Italy, San Francisco

Since we stayed at a downtown hotel during our stay in San Francisco, a lot of the places we wanted to visit were within walking distance from us. The year round mild weather along with the availability of numerous interesting things to see and do in the city have make San Francisco one of the top tourist destionations in the United States. There were two interesting places where we enjoyed visiting on this trip.

1. Chinatown in San Francisco - the oldest in North America. A neighbourhood lined with interesting shops selling real and costume jewellry, toys and household items, regular and Chinese clothes, herbal medicines, small mom and pop grocery stores as well as numerous small authenic Chinese restaurants and teashops where visitors can sample a variety of Chinese teas offered by some shopkeepers. Chinatown is decorated with historic street lights and strings of red lanterns hanging across the streets. A visit to this unique neighbourhood is a different cultural exprience from the other parts of SF. It is also an excellent place to shop for souvenirs with excellent prices.

This time when we visited Chinatown, we also discovered some new art galleries displaying some comtemporary arts as well as some beautiful work pieces created by local artists. Since I had some stomach pains prior to arriving to SF, I was careful of what I ate trying to avoid spciy and deep fried food. The congees offered in some of the Chinese restaurants helped sooth my stomach. I had absolutely no pain at all. Therefore we went to the SF Chinatown a few times for the congees and it was a good experience for us!

2. Little Italy - very close to Chinatown, it is the area around North Beach with many colourful historic houses, shops, numerous cafes and restaurants. There was one restaurant that was highly recommended to us - Tony's Pizza. We did go there around 530pm on a Friday but the place was fully packed inside the restaurant as well as the outdoour seating area. Many people were congregating outside and there was a huge lineup. We got a number and the waiting time for us was about an hour. With our number in hand, we walked around the area and enjoyed some live music provided by a live band playing outside another restaurant. We liked the music so much that we decided to give up our waiting spot at Tony's and eat there instead.

The music was very good, the drinks and food we ordered were just as good. E. struck up a conversation with the two other patrons sitting at the next table. They were toursits just like us, but from other parts of the U.S. We had an interesting experience while we were dining on the curbside.

We saw a huge white and red fire ball of very bright lights and heard something like a localized electrical explosion lasting for about 30 seconds across the street on the tops of a cabled street car followed by a driverless electrical car. We all gasped! Then that section of the area turned dark after losing its power.

We were concerned about the safety of the passengers inside this driveless EV. Some people tried to help by opening the car doors but unable to do so. Finally, someone called 911 and help soon arrived. It was quite exciting and concerning for many for a little while. Despite all that excitment casued by the ball of electricla fire, We enjoyed the drinks and food, meeting new people and listening to the street musicians. It was a great way to spend a Friday evening in the North Beach Little Italy district of SF! RT, Chinatown, Little Italy San Francisco, USA nov2024

A Display of Creative and Amazing Art Pieces Made with Vinyl Records - Fairmount Hotel, San Francisco

We visited San Francisco for a week recently and had a great time there. We have been to this city many times before but we never feet bored as there are so mnay things to see and do here.

Since E. was not feeling well, we went around to explore the different places on our own. Being close to the Christmas holidays, there were many festivities and activities going on that were free and open to the public.

One of our fabourite things to do was visiting the gingerbread house at the Fairmont Hotel. This is a place we always visit whenever we are in San Francisco. Besides the gigantic ginerbread house which was big enough for people to walk in and take a look inside, this year there were other displays at the Fairmount Hotel that caught our attention.

There were two life size sculptures being displayed at the Gefen Gallery located on the main floor of the hotel. At first glance, I saw two life size sculptures of people made from some sort of black material. But after looking and reading carefully the explanations besides them, I discovered something unique about these sculptures..

One was Bowie made up of about 8000 vinyl records; the another one was a man on top of a motorcycle comprised of 30,186 vinyl records. These sculptures were created by Belgian American artist, George Monfils, who creafully handcut each vinly record and meticulously placed them together forming these masterpieces. The precision, time and efforts as well as the skills that required in making these work of arts were amazing. They were spectacular pieces! It was always worth our time visiting the Fairmount Hotel and finding something special there! We were glad we saw the vinyl record sculptures! RT, Fairmount Hotel San Francisco