Precious Time Spent with Loved Ones in Georgian Bay Area and Other Places

Modern day lives are busy! We are busy running around each day focuing on fulfilling our daily needs and working to complete our obligations. Though retired, I am amazed at how fast times goes and how little I could accomplish on a daily basis unless I follow a regimented strict schedule. But who would want to follow such a strict daily timetable after working hard for thirty to forty years. Last fall we attended our best friends' daughter's wedding and we had such fun catching up that it reminded me of the wonderful time we used to have.

Unless one makes a conscientious efforts to connect with our loved ones regularly, we can easily lose touch with them. I am mindful of this fact as I could easily miss meeting up with my close friends and loved ones for months at a time. Fortunately, we have some quality time to look forward with our loved ones at our timeshare for a week every so often. Last fall, we did just that. We invited our retired minister and a couple who could use sometime to be away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Being at our timeshare at Collingwood is a refreshing time for our souls and a time when we can rejuvenate ourselves. We thanked God for this place everytime we were there! Other needy and younger family members could also use some help and encouragment from the older members of the family. My sis and I try our best to support them as well.

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Also, E. came home a couple of times for a weekend last fall and we went to see a baseball game and spent some family time together!

My best friends moved out of the city to another town and we hadn't seen each other for a little while. So we packed our bags and visited them for a few days and went to see my teacher friend in Bellville, Ontario.

We enjoyed our catching up time so much with two old friends that we visited another long lost friend and my sis who moved to Hamilton a couple of years ago. I just want to capture all these wonderful memories in my blog so that I would be able to read about about in my old ripe age! RT Toronto, Canada

Agape Student Dinners - Supporting Students in their Transition Year in Waterloo, Canada

We have been running an important and meaningful activity for the past few years. In the previous spring and fall term, we hosted a free bi-weekly dinner for young people in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Most of these young people were studying at universities and they often were here alone away from their families for the first time.

To help make the transition easier for them, we tried to connect them with other students and provide them with a relaxing, welcoming and friendly environment where they could share their ideas and concerns. We always had a good time whenever we met at our dinner meeting.

Wateroo University, Canada, runs on a 4 months semester system. Therefore our dinner guests also changed every four months as they would rotate from their study term to wrok term every four months.

We planned special dinners for students depending on the season, for examples we had held a Thanksgiving dinner, a Halloween pumpkin craving activity, a Christmas dinner etc.

We were so blessed with the youthfulness, the energy and enthusiasim of these young people coming through our door. We were really thankful and grateful to God that we had this opportunity to serve the students and others in the Waterloo region!

RT, Canada 01-122023

Guangzhou Library - A Beautiful Place to Visit & Rest of Our Trip in Guangzhou, after Dali, China

Monday - Visit to a Chinese Police Station We went to the local police station to have some travel documents verified. Our first time at Chinese police station, not aw scary as I thought. A busy place. But I was surprised that we were looked after within a short time. Y. also ran into some of his colleagues from work. As foreigners working in China, visiting the police station and dealing with your travel documents there is just part of a normal life. 08142023 Tuesday - Shopping at IKEA, China Y. went to Guiyang to hang out with the new friends he met there. We went to Ikea ourselves taking a taxi there but the cab driver dropped us off at the old Ikea site. We walked around the mall a little, had dinner, then took the subway to Ikea. We bought a few things to help furnish Y.'s place. One of the reasons we wanted to be in China was to help him a little. Having moved into his own place not long ago, he needed a few things. Therefore we went to IKEA and bought a few dishes, racks etc for his place to make it more functional. We were happy to get these things for him. But after shopping at IKEA, we had a problem letting the taxi driver know where we were supposed to be dropped off. We did have a language problem as the driver didn't understand It took a little while but we did manage to get home! 08152023 Wednesday - A new fridge We bought a fridge from Walmart a few days ago; it arrived today and we were very excited. We tried to clean up n decluttered the apartment as much as possible b4 Y. came back from Guiyang. I got rid of lots of stuffs such as old worn out clothes, socks etc. The final cleaning was the balcony n those big plastic boxes stored there taking a lot of precious space. I was Very happy about the result. S. worked hard putting together the IKEA drying rack which fit perfectly over the washer. It creates more space for hanging clothes to dry. Yeah! 08162023

Thursday - The Guangzhou Library After lunch, we went to the Guangzhou library located down town. Y. also showed Us how to take the public transit to go around the downtown area. His apartment is really convenient as we only took 1 bus to go straight there. Guangzhou Library - a beautuful, modern building with multi floors. One of the most beauriful n well equipped libraries we have ever seen! The most striking part was how busy the place was! I really liked the family reading area, lots of parents reading with kids n having a nice time sharing a book . Such heartwarming scene and so good to see! We went home for dinner and Y went out with a friend while we stayed home n watched CCTV which offered some excellent programs. Really enjoying our time in Guangzgou, starting to feel like being home ! 08172023 Friday Y needed to go again to the centre to deal with some document issues. We went and explore the area by ourselves. We discovered a shop selling Chinese herbal teas. So we sat down n enjoyed some old fashion Herbal teas which I used to have when I was a kid in HK. Saturday - Meeting with Darrell 19082023 Sunday - Attending a Church Service / Football Practice/ Shamian 20082023 Monday Y. had an appointment at 6pm I got up early n did 2 loads of laundry for him n organized his closet for him. God, I Pray that the holy spirit will guide him n change him to be more responsible n organized of his things and possessions in his life. 21082023 Tuesday - Mural Village - a Short Visit to Zhuhai Wed. - Beach at Zhuhai THIRSDAY - A day visit to Taishan, China From Zhuhai to Taishan, the village where my dad came from was about 80 km. Called a car and rode out to Taishan village. It was raining hard and we walked around and talked to 2 elderly villagers who told us about the village. It used to have 400 plus villagers, now only around 40 living there. Most houses have been abandoned for years. A few Taishanese liked us, did come back to visit n donate money to erect a marker at the village entrance with a couple of stone benches. Other new buildings included a cultural centre n a public washroom being kept clean n available for visitors' convenience. It made me reflected on how much sacrifices our ancesenters had made in order for us to be able to enjoy what we have today, thank you, for all the Taishan Chinese people before us! - 24082023 Friday - Our Last Day before going back home from Guangzhou Last day we were in China. Y tried his best to make it social for us. 1. Went to a vegetarian buffet n it was delicious 2. Went back home , Y needed to check on the water situation in the washroom and talked to his neighbour. In the meantime, I tried to cook n finish all the veggies in the fridge.

3 Y. took us to visite little Africa n tried some of the local food. I share a bible scripture with him in the restaurant with him. It was about the 4 friends who brought the paralyzed man to Jesus.Glad I did!

We also went to the jazz club n met Y's friend and enjoyed the jazz music in Guangzhou! Never expected to find such a beautiful building for a jazz club in Guangzhou. After we did all that. We went back to the place. I stayed up, cleaned and packed everything. 25082023 Saturday - Catching Our Flight Home in Taipei Both S. and Y. Misread the flight departure time of the flight from Guangzhou to Taipei where we would take the plane back to Canada. We went to Guangzhou station but didn't have time to make the flight. Y. came up with an alternative. He ordered a taxi taking us to Shum Chen, from there crossed the border to HK where we bought new tickets to fly to Taipei and connected with our flight back to Toronto. I blamed myself also for not reading our flight tickets more carefully. Can't depend on S. nor Y, to read the important info alone. I must remember this for the future! Thank God, Y's plan worked and we were able to catch our flight to Taipei where we stayed a night and then caught our plane back to Toronto the next day! Thank God for protecting us during our entire journey in Asia! 26082023

Enjoying Our Time on a Beach in Zhuhai, China

J was tired and was sleeping late today. We all were on holiday, so we took it easy and let him sleep till whenever he was ready. S. and I went to explore the neighbourhood ourselves and discovered many restaurants not too far from our hotel. One thing for sure, in China, there were no lack of eating places. We would always find eating places no matter where we went. We were happy to come across a Vietnamese restaurant. Having had Chinese, spicy good in particular in Yunnan for the past two weeks, we were ready to enjoy soemthing different and milder in taste.

  We went in the Vietnamese restaurnat and ordered something we were familiar with for lunch. Since it was after the rush lunch hour, the restaurant was not too busy and we had a good chat with the manager. He was very kind and we learnt from him more about the city of Zhuhai and the history of the area. It was always interesting talking to the local people and finding out more about them during our travels.

  By the time we took food back to J, it was well after 3pm. We took a cab to the famous Fish Girl statue and stayed around in the beach area. We were pleasantly surprised to discover a beautiful beach in Zhuhai as I didn't remember this part of the city at all when we visited here more than thirty years ago with our young children.

We were amazed at the clean beach, smooth and soft sand under our feet, beautifully and creatively designed new buildings in this area with majestic palm trees lining the streets along with some different Europen sculptures. It was nice and breezy as it was dusk and the sun was going down. There was no hot sun beating down on us and we were not sweating like pigs. We removed our shoes, laid on the beach enjoying this wonderful tropical moment in southern China.

  What a delightful beautiful scenery! Kids and their parents trying to fly their kites on the beach while other kids were trying to catch some small fish or toads in the shallow part of the water. Pretty girls posting for selfies while some young men vying for good angles to take their girlfriends' pictures. Instead of seeing the images of poor Chinese people in their deprived state from the main stream media, it was so refreshing to witness first hand that there were many Chinese people, families, young and old, enjoying lives with their loved ones just like we are here in North America!

  Father and son enjoyed their cold beer on a patio table outside an Italian restaurant along with many other visitors and locals to the beach. I was busy taking pictures of this beautiful waterfront area. Looking at the pictures I took and If I didn't tell you that this was in China, you would never be able to guess it!

  RT, Zhuhai, China 08232023

A Memorable Visit to a Mural Village and Zhuhai, China after Three Decades

J. had an appointment at 6pm today. I got up early, did two loads of laundry and organized his closet for him. I prayed that the holy spirit will guide him, help him to be more organized and that he would see the importance of it and be willing to spend time on doing his organization. 08212034 We took the fast train to Zhuhai which was only an hour long ride. As always, the train ride was pleasant and comfortable.

J. was good at purchasing the train tickets n booking the hotels via the apps on his cell. While on the train ride, I was busy looking up on what were some nice things to see in this city which we last visited more than three decades ago. I couldn't belive the beautiful Zhuhai station and the huge mall existing underneath it. It was very hot in the afternoon so we went in a restaurant in the mall to enjoy the air conitioning n had some lunch there. While relaxing in the restaurant, I searched online and found two interesting things to see in Zhuhai. One of which was the

What I liked most was the artists painted their artwork and integrated their paintings into the existing building elements of the apartment buildings. For example, they painted awnings above the window cages and painted shutters besides these windows making them looking as if ther were really parts of the buildings. These paintings added interesting architectural designs and some vibrant vibes to the entire neighbourhood making it a more desirable and beautiful place to live.

For dinner, we went to a workers restaurant for dinner and took pictures with the big Mao statute. After dinner, we strolled along the waterfront and admired the quiet, calm and beautiful night scene by the water. There were not a lot of people around. We stayed for about half an hour and called for a taxi to go back to our hotel where we stayed in a one bedroom loft room for the next 2 nites. 08222023

Women Taking a Leadership Role in Churches in China

No matter where we travel in the world, we try hard not to miss the Sunday service on Sundays. We looked up the closest church and went to a Sunday service in the Hai Zhu area at 12pm. I was glad J. came with us. Unfortunately, J. couldn't understand much of the sermon in Mandarin but he was patient enough to sit through the entire service. We have been in China for more than three weeks now and attended three Sunday services. I noticed three interesting things: 1. This was the third church we attended and it was the third women minister preaching. Women leadership seemed to be prominent in Chinese churches in China! 2. We went to a Cantonese service. The songs were shorter and the choir was less energetic than the minority group church services we attended. 3. Not a lot of young people attending the Sunday services. It was mostly old folks and we didn't see any children at all.

I never expected there seemed to be more women ministers than men in China. The women minsters we met on this trip were confident, articulate and they delivered inspiring messages to their congregations. I do hope that the church will grow in China adn that more Chinese will be able to hear the gospel and be saved within mainland China! But at leaast from what we saw, people were free to attend church service if they wanted to in China. We were never questioned or harrassed while attending any Sunday S ervice on this trip to China. .

After church, J. took us to his usual lunch place for lunch before his soccer game. I remembered my mom always mentioned her most favourite food in Guangzhou - fried fish skins. I ordered that and it was delicious! After our delicious local lunch, we went to watch J. playing his weekly soccer game practice and we met his soccer teammates. I was glad to see that J. took part in a organized sport game regularly.

We stayed and watched for a little while and went to Shamian, not far from the soccer field.Shamian is a beautiful place with many well kept old buildings with European architectural designs. Many buildings used to be occupied by Europeans and used as their ambassy offices and business addresses in China. Nowadays, the buildings have been turned into modern , upscale shops, cafes and restaurants.

We Went into a coffee shop operated within a 100 year old buulding. Young girls dressed in their various costumes waited patiently for a spot to have their pictures taken by professional photographers. The owners of the coffee shop had rules clearly posted on the wall prohibiting professional pictures being taken within the premise as this would interfere with the operation of the business. However, we saw a few groups of people just doing that. Girls donned their period costumes with the professional photographers taking their time and occupying a number of spots in the cafe creating lineups for other people. I kind of told a group taking commercial pictures off as it was not allowed. It was the teacher in me that acted up again. Rules are rules and we need to follow them. We ordered a coffee n watched the actions all around us. RT, Shamian, China 08202023

Helping to Decorate Our Son's Place and Receiving a Friend from Canada in Guangzhou, China

Shopping at IKEA, China J. went to Guiyang to hang out with the new friends he met there. We went to Ikea ourselves taking a taxi there but the taxi driver dropped us off at the old Ikea site. We walked around the mall a little, had dinner, then took the subway to the new Ikea location. We bought a few things to help furnish J.'s place. One of the reasons we wanted to be in China was to help him a little. Having moved into his own place not long ago, he needed a few things. Therefore we went to IKEA and bought a few dishes, racks etc for his place to make it more functional. We were happy to get these things for him. But after shopping at IKEA, we had a problem letting the taxi driver know where we were supposed to be dropped off. It took a little while but we did manage to get home! 08152023 Tbe fridge from Walmart arrived today and we were very excited! We actually wanted to buy a dryer for our son's apartment. But we couldn't find it in any Chinese stores in Guangzhou including Walmart. I guess that was becasue Chinese people usually dry their clothes by hanging them from their balconies or hanging them by the windows. Without consumer demand, therefore, stores are not selling them. But we did get a fridge for J. as a housewarming gift for his new home. As a mom, I wanted to help my son and made his life easier. Therefore, we tried to clean up and declutter the apartment as much as possible before J. came back from Guiyang. HelpING him to get rid of lots of stuffs WAS something that needed to be done. The final cleaning was the balcony and those big plastic storaage boxes which took up a lot of space. It took me a whole day but I was happy about the result. S. worked hard putting together the IKEA drying rack which fit perfectly over the washer. It would create more space for hanging clothes to dry. 08162023 Since I didn't sleep well last night, I got up around 6am and did two loads of laundry for J. While we were in China, I tried to help him organized as much as possible. After my bible devotion, we went for a massage by two blind massagers in the neighbourhood. I really enjoyed that as the massager did a great job on my muscle pain! We also went for some medicinal Chinese herbal teas in the neighborhood shop. I made some lunch and shared a brief passage about the story of David and his friend in the B book with J. In the late afternoon, we took the subway train to meet up with Darrell who recently moved from Canada to China. It was good seeing him, J. and Darell hit it off well nd they kept talking and exchanging their life experiences in China. We walked around in a new area of the city and enjoyed a dinner together. After dinner, J, invited Darrell to his apartment for dessert and play a board game. J. showed Darrell how to use the Chinese app to order food and for getting deliveries in a cab. I am constantly amazed by the efficiency of the private delivery system here in China. Our snacks arrived within less than 30 minutes. We played the Catan game, enjoyed some desserts, great conversations with good friends and had a really nice time togerher. The young people need good company. It was good to see that they could have a great time just being at home playing some board games, interacting with real people in person without gluing to their cell phone or spending time in a bar drinking. What a refreshing change! Darrell is easy going, gets along well with J. I pray that these two young men will become good friends and can regularly share their unique experiences in China togerher. RT, Guangzhou, China 08192023