testing the e-mail blast! stop by the store if you're in town!

Yesterday, I was visiting the Tian Tan Buddha, and finally took time to photograph one of Asia's more unique customs... Incense. Before you tell me that most churches use this, let me tell you this. More of this is burned in Southeast Asia than anywhere else on the planet. Most of it is used as a sign of respect for Buddha. The smoke itself can either carry your message to The Buddha, or it can convey your thoughts to deceased relatives. The coils of incense can make quite a sight, and can completely overtake your senses; especially the ole nose. As i snapped photos i found myself watching the woman whose job it was to maintain the Temple. All i could think was: I'm glad that its her job and not mine. At the Tian Tan Temple an estimated 2000 sticks are burned per hour, leaving the remnants to be disposed of...

Jim... You made it

And what a great weekend it was. Jim landed Friday at 7 pm, and by 9 we were out and about. Our goal was to paint the perfect picture of Hong Kong, and give Jim the ultimate experience. I'd like to think that we accomplished our goal. So here are a few of my favorites.

Jim's In the Air!

We will see Tripp's cousin Jim in three hours at the HK Airport! He will kick off our month and a half of visitors! What? You didn't know we were having a month and a half of visitors?? Well, neither did we until we finalized some plans this week!

I am sure you are now hoping I'll give you the rundown on who all is getting the pleasure of experiencing life in flat 17/H of Block Four in Tai Kok Tsui.

So a penciled in calendar looks like...
Jim here this weekend
Amelia (my sister) here May 19-27. Emily (Liza's friend) comes the day before Amelia leaves and Emily departs the day before Liza's mom (Sissy)arrives! A week later on the 10th of June, Ryan, Matt, Megan (friends from Clemson) will join the fray, and leave the 24th, 25th, and 26th, respectively. (Hopefully Rebecca Reed will arrive the next day and Reese Blackwell will hop on the bandwagon and book their flights as well! Fingers crossed!)
Tripp's immediate family comes late July and heads to Beijing in August.
What a crazy, amazing time of visiting friends and family! We are so blessed and excited to end this adventure (only three months left!)by sharing it with those we love from home!!

We have planned an insanely PACKED 48 hours for Jim, so look forward to great photos early next week.

photo of the day

what an awesome shot

Go Bazaar!

Had the greatest mid-week treat yesterday when I darted from school to make to the YWCA's Spring Bazaar in Central, which closed at six. I made it there with twenty minutes till closing and a major budget in mind.

This event was right up my alley! After years of being the vendor at countless festivals and local fairs hawking Sassy Mel's wares, it was a fun change of pace to be the customer on the other side. There were fifty booths of local vendors selling their wares. I knew the feeling of dread packing up all the leftover merchandise all too well, and took full advantage of the discounts people were offering to not have to lug it back with them. I picked up Schindler's List and another DVD with Ben Affleck, as well as two paperbacks super, super cheap. I got a bottle of Bordeaux half price from a gourmet wine and food booth.

They had run out of treats from the bake sale (sad day!) and I skipped the Fair Trade coffee table and foot massage area to spend my precious few minutes in the White Elephant Room. It's a great concept-- members of the YWCA and local businesses with excess stock donated all kinds of new merchandise.

I wish I could share pictures of my FANTASTIC finds, but then that would ruin the surprise of you getting the gifts I bought, right?

Get excited.

Until next time, SB

Photo of the Day 4-28

This a shot from a Rice Plantation. At the time I took it, I really didn't realize what a beautiful photo it was. Sara Beth and I stumbled on this place, and walked about with no problems. Normally we have a minimum of 2-3 Chinese men hobbling along behind us, fussing about the mess we're causing. Oh well, theres always next time .... enjoy

Couple ah great ones. Thats SB on Damah Indah.

photo of the day

Takin it back to Malaysia. I took this one afternoon, and came across it today. Think it fits the bill for the photo of the day. Picnic anybody....

Well, it's no secret that Sara Beth and I think that the only way to see a place to... umm... EAT! Whenever we get something, I usually snap a photo, and today I found I have a lot of good photos. Some look delicious, and some look terrifying. Either way, they each tell a good story. Bon appetit!

photo of the day

Took this shot in Kamakura in Japan.

Today Sara Beth and I headed off to Tai Mo San, with our friends Camay and Benjamin. They were kind enough to save Sara Beth and I from the MTR, as they drove us to our destination. So just riding in a car was a much enjoyed change from the norm. We first stopped off at a local dining joint, and sampled a variety of new foods. Its all made up in a traditional manner, and it provided a unique experience for Sara Beth and I. Following our lunch we headed for the Mountain. Sara Beth couldnt make it and had to be carried. What a great day!

Above you'll find... Tripp, Sara Beth, and Camay as we hiked to the Tai Mo San peak.

Here's a few of the traditional Cantonese Dim Sum dishes we sampled today. Camay and Benjamin, our great friends, were kind enough to share Camay's birthday lunch with us. We tried new dishes (see above) and hiked the highest peak in HK. What a treat !!

all the photos

http://picasaweb.google.com/cyrilrush/Kamakura#

http://picasaweb.google.com/cyrilrush/Nara# Nara and Japan

http://picasaweb.google.com/cyrilrush/Kyoto# Kyoto

http://picasaweb.google.com/cyrilrush/Tokyo#

http://picasaweb.google.com/cyrilrush/DamahIndah# Damah Indah in Langkawi

http://picasaweb.google.com/cyrilrush/MalaysiaLangkawiPeak# The Peak of Langkawi

http://picasaweb.google.com/cyrilrush/PulauPayar# Payar Island in Langkawi

http://picasaweb.google.com/cyrilrush/Thailand# Thailand (bangkok)

New Format Coming Tonight!

We finally figured out how to put "pages" on the blog! We know this site is an absolute mess of our streams of consciousness. Hopefully the "pages" feature will add some organization to the layout. I am thinking our travel adventures will be catgeorized in separate pages on the right hand side, while the landing page you see when you go to our blog will still be our random posts!

Japan is up for your viewing pleasure!! Click "Easter in Japan" to see the greatest vacation ever with Pop and Julia!

I am thinking sushi for dinner and watching"Kingdom of Heaven", which I rented from UNRIVALLED FILM CLUB (I'm a card carrying member, and yes, that's how they spell 'unrivalled'), along with some intense blog upkeep. So stay posted and come back often! Love yall.

POP IN JAPAN !

Well, it was better than i could have dreamed. Japan with Pop and Ms. Julia, was perfect. Ill never forget what an awesome experience we shared. Before i put up anything, lets get to the ones we want to see... POP IN JAPAN

a few more.

EASTER BREAK!!!

Hi from the office! Today I am wearing a red Chinese silk shirt with a dragon motif, along with jeans and my wooly warm UGG bedroom slippers Tripp got me for Christmas. Yes, slippers. It's hard to believe I am getting paid to be here today. My five and six year olds are with Liza (she works at our sister school in Tsuen Wan) on a field trip to a Buddhist temple.

Today is a celebration the birth of an important religious figure in Taoism, but no one has been able to explain who or what he is in English to me. The rest of the children here are spending the day in a school assembly in Cantonese. (English lessons cancelled) So... I am taking a break from watching Confessions of a Shopoholic on the laptop to eat lunch (the cooks made the staff rice noodles)!

Easter Break begins tomorrow! I am finally making it out to one of Tripp's basketball games tonight, and tomorrow Liza and I are doing sunrise Tai Chi on the harbor waterfront and getting morning manicures! Great start to what is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime vacation in Japan!

Spoke with Doc and Julia last night and we are good to go Friday! They are on a plane to Honolulu as I type. I feel like the man from the story with the yarn that can tug at the ball and make time speed up. I have been waiting and wishing anxiously for another travel adventure and now the time is flying! I hope our time in Japan stands still so we can enjoy everything Julia has planned!

Palm Sunday

I love St. Andrew's Church in Kowloon. The pastor is Australian and the congregation is international and very friendly. Palm Sunday the children ran the show, waving palm branches, singing songs, and reading the Bible at the pulpit. They were adorable and I wish I could have taken photos inside of them. Phyllis (my neighbor from Singapore) is a member and was the one who introduced us to the church. I feel very fortunate to have a church here in Hong Kong! http://www.standrews.org.hk/

Lam Tsuen Wishing Tree: Another Perspective

Tripp beat me to the punch telling our audience (read: one reader) about last night's exploration in the Tai Po area. He explained the gist of the tourist attraction-- the banyan tree granting wishes-- but I wanted to post two bits out in cyberspace because the two factors that stood out to me were different from his. The first was the public toilet on the grounds. In Hong Kong, public toilets are foul, decrepit, unsanitary and generally unsafe. Homeless people linger there to do their bathing and business. Sweet Cecelia (mentioned in previous post) told me to check them out. They weren't a five star hotel lobby's restroom, or even reminiscent of your master bath at home, but what I liked about it was the pride the overseer of the ladies room clearly has for her job. She is paid 5000HKD a month (about US $645) but she spend over 300HKD of her paltry salary on fresh flowers for the shelves above the sinks so the visitors to the temple can enjoy them. I will say she keeps the cleanest squatties I have seen in Asia. The other thing I loved about our post work adventure was the fantastic restaurant we happened upon in Tai Po. Luca's Italian was a legitimate gourmet alfresco place in the middle of a really remote area. I was thrilled to not only have an English menu, but also a really delicious meal and overall dining experience that we have yet to find close to our flats. The waitstaff spoke great English and brought out tomato focaccia bread with balsamic vinegar and EVOO while we debated the menu. Tripp chose a spicy tandoori chicken pizza with mint yogurt and I got an incredible pasta dish with fresh crab meat and huge shrimp tossed in a light lemon butter sauce. We didn't get any photos but there was a breeze, outdoor patio, and fairy lights, so you can imagine it was much better than sweating over a grilled cheese over my two burner stove!

Lam Tsuen Wishing Tree

The Lam Tseun wishing Tree is one of the more popular shrines in Hong Kong. Its located close to the Tin Hau Temple, in the Fong Ma Po Village, near Lam Tsuen. The temple dates back to 1644, but the tree finds its 'roots' coming from 1912. It was then that it was determined that the tree could make your wish come true. Basically, you write your wish on a scroll, tie it to an orange, and hurl the two high into the Tree. If is sticks, your fortune is granted, if it does not, then your wish was too greedy! Though, in 2005 one of the branches gave way, after being hit with oranges all day, this called for changes. Now wooden racks have been placed near the tree, while the trees recover. Haha only in Hong Kong

Also, seen in our photos is our fabulous guide, Cecila. She's an 8th grader from Tai Po, Hong Kong. We met her on the bus and to say the least, she was in awe of SB. She was seated in front of us on the bus, and after half-turning and then looking away several times, she worked up the courage to talk to SB. Within seconds the 2 were friends, and the little girl, upon hearing where we were headed, decided to lead us there. She was so nice, and just thought Sara Beth was so cool. as she should have. hahah anyway, she was lovely and made our trip to the Hong Kong Wishing Tree very memorable.

I dont know what I was expecting. I guess, i thought i was headed to something like the SC Farmers Market or maybe a Flea Market Show for Flowers. Oh no, this was Hello Kitty, Disney Creatures, Japanese Animation Figures, all brought to life by thousands of flowers. It definantly flirted with the "extremely tacky" line, more than once. In the end it was exactly what we would have wanted... A good Hong Kong experience.

Heres a few from Macau, and most importantly, the Ruins of St. Paul. The Ruins also known as Sam Ba Sing Tzik, are a beautiful remnant of old Macau. The front façade and the grand stone stairs are the only remains of the greatest church in Macau.
What led to the destruction of this ancient catholic church? Well, a lot of bad luck. First built in 1580, St. Paul's Church caught fire twice in 1595 and 1601. When finally finished in 1637, the church was the biggest Catholic Church in East Asia . Sadly, a massive typhoon struck Macau in 1835 and the church caught fire for the third time leaving only what is left today. Me, Sara Beth, and Liza, wandered around St. Paul's for a few hours, and then were pulled away by the promise of a big lunch. The Church is truly beautiful, and is a very important destination to see while on this side of the world!

Enjoy...