A Delightful Dinner by a Riverside Restaurant in Guangzhou, China

We love travelling as there are always so much to do and see on our trips. One of the pleasures of travelling to a new place is meeting new people, learning about their new cultures and off course enjoying new food at new places and sharing delicious meals together with great company. One of the things we enjoyed doing was having dinner meals in China with friends during our recent visit there. Y. planned a dinner for us so that we could meet some of his friends. They booked a place for us while we were in Guangzhou. Being under the weather a couple of days before, S. was not feeling well therefore he didn't plan join us for dinner. But Y. was very enthusiastic about this special dinner, so S. finally decided he would come with us.

We were so glad that he did as the dinner was at a beautiful restaurant by the river in a historical district of Guangzhou. Walking towards the restuarant, our spirtis were lifted as the gentle southern China breezes stroke our faces. ( We just escaped the freezing winter of Canada!) The shimmering lights coming from the Chinese restaurant, as well as the reflections of those ancient buildings and the numerous dining boats nearby in the river created a beautiful night scene and was the perfect backdrop for a great evening dinner! It was delightful to meet Y's friend as we dined on delicious local food and celebrated our time in China.

Nothing could make us happier than being with our loved ones and good friends. We had so much fun conversing, exchanging stories and enjoying good food together in a breathtaking venue by the river. We also noticed some diners dressed in their favourite Chinese period costumes for the dinner. It has become a popular thing to do for Chinese, especailly young people dressed in the traditional clothes and going around town snapping pictures with one another.

After our delightful dinner, we followed Y. and his friend to another interesting place. Strolling on winding streets and passing by bridges and a river, we saw some people doing night fishing by the edge of the river. L. took us to a restored old neighborhood with old houses and exquisite shops. We were curious to see crowds of people taking pictures in the dark. Without knowing anything we found ourselves standing in front of Bruce Lee's ancestral home! What a pleasant surprised! There are so many interesting things to see in Guangzhou, we never know what we would see next! RT, Guangzhou, China

Travelling to Guangzhou, China by Bus from the Hong Kong Airport

Recently we visited a couple of countries in Asia. One of which was China and we spent sometime there around Chinese New Year.

Our trip coincided with the peak travelling days for millions of Chinese heading back home, therefore ,we were unable to get tickets to Guangzhou, our first destination in China.

  However, We found that there were a number of alternate routes of going to Guangzhou, one of the most popular tourist destinations in China. They were:

  1. By plane - The most obvious route is to fly directly to Guangzhou. However, depending on the timing of one's flight, it could be costly. We were unable to secure the tickets during the Chinese peak holiday periods.

2. By train - From our recent experience, we dicovered that China has an excellent train transportation system taking travellers to many different parts of China. One can take the fast train into China from Hong Kong which is much faster or one can take the slow train which is slower but much much cheaper! We landed in Hong Kong, the gateway and hub in Asia, wowever, there is no train leaving directly from the HK airport for China. If taking the fast train, one will need to take a bus/ subway from the HK airport and then transfer at the proper bus stop to the train for China.

3. By bus - Since we were travelling during the busiest time of the year, all the train tickets were sold out. We decided to travel by bus into China.

  It was easy! The bus companies set up their ticket counters right inside the arrival section of the HONG Kong airport. With our luggage in tow, we walked for a few minutes to the counter, enquired about the bus schedule, chose a time best for us, purchase the tickets and boarded the bus taking us to Guangzhou, China.

  The bus took us across the border and we needed to get off the bus with our luggage and passed the immigration onto the Chinese side. The procedure was painless and fast.

  After passiging through the Chinese immigration, the bus was waiting for us on the Chinese side ready to take us to Guangzhou.

We boarded the bus at around 5:30 p.m. There were a number of bus drop off points inside the city of Guangzhou. By the time we were dropped off at our desired location, it was around 9:00p.m.

  The bus took about 3.5 hours including going through the immigration whereas the fast train would have taken us about 2.5 hours including transfers. Taking the bus was the best for us as we didn't want to get on/ off the bus and train.

  China, here we came! RT, HK Going to GUANGZHOU, China

Observations of Cambodia On Our Recent Mission Trip - January, 2025

I have been to Cambodia a few times. This time my spouse also came with me and he has a few interesting observations on our most recent vist to this tropical country.

Since my husband is a coffee drinker, he needs his fix every morning no matter which country we are visiting. While in Cambodia, he noticed that there were quite a number of nice coffee shops throughout Phnom Penh, the capital city. However, a cup of coffee in Phnom Penh was more expensive than what we would pay in Toronto, Canada. A cup of coffee from a steeet vendor costs US$2.00 or more. Since the average Cambodian worker makes about US$180 - $550.0 a month from entry to mid level jobs, coffee is defintely a luxury item not for the poor.

Though coffee is considered a luxury drink for most Cambodians, we found many young people doing their computer/ design work in these nice coffee shops. Something which I didn't see a decade ago. This is possibly due to the growth of the middle and professional class in Cambodia. A good thing to see indeed!

When we were in Phnom Penh, we also experienced the effects of poulltion. The city was shrouded in a smog for most of our days there. Cambodia's public transportation system is not well developed yet, therefore most Cambodians depend on their motor bikes when going places. The pollution could possibly be due to the high number of gasoline powered motorbikes on city streets. My husband had some difficult days as he was coughing the entire time we were there.

On the postive side, there appeared to be a few more bible training classes for young Cambodian Christians in the rural area.

We visited a couple of bible training classes and training facility for new pastors in the rural area. We were encouraged by this good news and development.

What really impressed us most were the creativity and efforts of the bible school staff.

Running the bible school on a limited small budget but creatively using old tires and bamboo poles, the school staff was able to recycle these materials into swing seats, benaches, flower pots, ladders, plant stands, fences etc to beautify their school buildings and turned it into a tranquil and inviting environment. I couodn't help but had to try out the swing seat myself! Two thumbs up!

Since the 1980's there have been numerous NGO agencies operating in Cambodia. Our roles have also evolved from conducting summer camp activities for young people to providing training, educating and developing leadership of Cambodian educators in schools and community organizations. The Christian organization with which we are associated in Cambodia realizes that in order to implement effective plans to alleviate poverty and preventing girls/ women from becoming victims of the crime of human trafficking in Cambodia, education is an important component of the plan.

Therefore, the roles which many NGO's play to help Cambodian young people to further their education and hence improving their future lives are essential and crucial for this country's future.

We are blessed to have a small part and are able to provide some assistance to the young people in Cambodia in the area of education and teacher training. Cambodians are very firendly and respectful to everyone; we enjoyed our stay there. We hope to be back in the near future and work with them again!

RT Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Sharing a Message at a Local Phnom Penh Church, Cambodia

Recently, I was privileaged of having the opportunity to share a message at a local Church in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Standing in front of the same podium where I started my first mission trip more than a decade ago, my mind was flooded with many fond memories of this place.

The church building was still the same while the congregation was just as welcoming. However, some of the people of whom I knew so well were no longer there. My beloved sister, Carol, who welcome us with open arms and hosted us a number of times, passed away a few years ago. I, along with my mission trip teammates were heartbroken. But the senior minister has been bravely carrying on since the church lost two of its invaluable servants of God.

Cambdoia is not a Christian country. Over 95% of the people are Buddists and we could see their worship altars everywhere in Cambodia.

Rev. Janice Lo and her family made a lot of sacrifices for the people of Cambodia some twenty years ago. They gave up their comfortable lives in Canada and moved to Phnom Penh to start serving the people there. Church planting is never an easy task as both my husband and I were involved in that role years ago.

But planting a church and preaching God's gospel in a hot country with a different culture, language and religion is much much more difficult.

I admire minsters and missionaries who dedicate their lives and committe to their tasks of serving God in foreign countries on a long term basis as I find missionary work very challenging.

Being in our retirement years, my spouse and I would like to get involved and do our little part to help and serve in overseas minstries as well. We always hope that our visits to some of these missionaries would give them some encouragement, assistance and maybe a tiny break in their enormous tasks. After sharing a message at the church, we went out for lunch with Rev. Janice in a nearby restaurant. We even planned to come back staying at the church for an evening this time so that we could spent a little more time in fellowship together. Thank God for the opportunities to serve and fellowship with God's people in Cambodia! RT Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Shopping at the Russian Market, Cambodia - A Fun Experience!

Since the 1980's, there have been numerous NGOs, church groups and charitable organizations in Cambodia doing a variety of good work to help this country. The same week when we were there, there was another mission team from Hong Kong volunteering at the Girls' Home. We were given permission to tag along with them for a day hitching a ride on their chartered vehicle taking them around.

Early in the morning, We arrived by Tuk Tuk at the girls’ home to meet up with the HK team. Being a little early, we went for a coffee at one of the coffee booths close by. It appears that Cambodians love their coffee and there are coffee shops and coffee stalls everywhere in the city. Due to the hot weather, coffee shops were our favourite places to escape from the heat and to do some of our preparation work while we were there.

The bus arrived right on the dot and it took us to the Market known to the locals as the Russian Market. It is a busy shopping place with numerous stalls selling everything from clothes, shoes, jewelry, toys, dry fruits, species, and fresh food too as well as artwork pieces by local artists. etc. This is also an excellent place to buy souvenirs and gifts to take home for family and friends. I was at the market before but never spending much time to look around.

This time we had more time and I could enjoy myself browsing over everything. Hea. Took us to a dry fruit vendor who brought out samples for us to try. It was funny that whatever samples the vendor gave us to taste, we ended up buying them! I could have lost myself in the Russian Market for at least half a day. But there were many other things on our itinerary so we moved on to the next thing.

We had lunch at a restaurant close by. From the outside, the restaurant looked like a humble place and we could have walked past without noticing it. But it was a nice restaurant with good ambience and the rustic décor giving its customers a feeling of being close to nature. We loved the feel of being outdoor and were busy snapping pictures here and there. The food was delicious too!

We also went to the Independent Square in the downtown area and spent sometime by the waterfront. It was a busy place with many locals and tourists alike on a fine Saturday afternoon! The team went for dinner together and we headed home and had our dinner at S. favourite restaurant close to Joy’s house. A fun day for us!

RT, Russian Market Phnom Penh, Cambodia Jan. 2025

It's the Cambodian People Who Make the Difference!

Since my retirment over a decade ago, I have been volunteering and sharing my skills and experiences with younger teachers and school leaders in a few different countries. My volunteer work has taken me repeatedly to places such as Panama, China, Africa, southern USA and Cambodia.

My husband and I thank God for good health and mobility which enable us to have travlled extensively to many places. For some of these countries, I have visited more than a few times. We have always enjoyed seeing new things, learning about different cultures and meeting new people.

This is my fourth time visiting Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I am no stranger to this country. However, our visit this time is very different and exciting as I am learning and expereicning so much more about the people and culture of Cambodia! What makes the difference this time? The people!

We are being welcome and embraced by the new Cambodian friends we have made online over the past year. What a difference it has made to our visit!

Instead of being in our hotel drinking wines and enjoying the amenities, we are interacting and having fun with the Cambodian people. Instead of dining on fine food by ourselves, we are sharing meals, cracking jokes, playing games and sharing tons of laughter together!

Instead of shopping for meaningless junks for ourselves, we are giving small gifts as tokens of our appreciation to the hardworking teachers, and social workers who are making differences in the lives of the next generation. It gave us so much joy when we saw the young people's faces lit up as they opened their small appreciation gifts.

They also gave us some gifts to show their love for us and for supporting them! Their gesture of appreciation touched us deeply!Thank you, our Cambodian friends, for teaching us that it is better to give than to receive! Thank you for the amazing dinner, your gifts to us and the fantastic time we had together! You are terrific and we can't thank you enough for making our trip to Cambodia such a joyful experience! RT, Phnom Penh Cambodia

Sihanoukville, Cambodia - A Town I Could Hardly Recognize from My Last Visit

Friday, Jan., 2025 We went on our first car trip outside of Phnom Penh today. Because there were six of us incuding the driver, we needed to rent a van for the day. The last time I went to Sihanoukville was more than a decade ago, therefore I was excited to visit this town once again.

I didn't remember going on any highway the last time and it took the bus more than four hours to get to our destination. But with the new highway, it only took us a little more than two hours to get there. Along the highway, we aslo found new pitstop buildings, stores, restaurants and clean washroom facilities which didn't exist before. Progress takes time and we are glad to see that Cambodia is getting better each time we visit the country.

We made a stop at a rural church where a Cambodia minister was holding a bible teaching session for a group of Cambodian pastors and church leaders from the rural area. we learned that most rural pastors do not get a salary but they are tentmakers trying to support themselves. Unable to attend full time bible school, they are doing some intensive training and leanring on the weekend every month. I sincerely salud these dedicated pastors making these kind of sacrifices and serving their people in the rural communities. After visiting the rural church, we drove around Sihanoukville for a quick tour. I could not believe how much this seaside resort town has changed since I visited it last time. It used to be a quiet small resort tomw with only a couple of hotels big enough to accommodate our youth training group and the children of the vacation bible camp. But in a span of a decade, the facade and the feel of this resort town has completely been transformed. Now, there are numerous hotels, restaurants and casinos making Sihanoukville a much busier place than it used to be. These economic development might have brought more business to the city as well as the problems associated with them. It has also taken away the innocence and the tranquility of the Sihanoville we onced knew and loved.

I found one place that didn't change in Sihanoukville. The seafood restaurant by the river where we used to have our nice dinners with our team members. It is still there, just as beautiful as I have remembered it. It is still serving the delicious fresh seafood we so enjoyed a decade ago! We loved sitting by the water, enjoying the breezes the great food and with my current teammates! RT Sihanoukville, Cambodia