Hong Kong with the Kruses

So when the Kruses came to Hong Kong we had lots of fun. We stayed on Cheung Chau Island. It is a small fishing village about a 30-40 minute ride from down town Hong Kong.

Cheung Chau map

We stayed at Bethany House which is basically at the top of "peak" road. Did I mention there were no cars on the island? So we had to lug our luggage all the way to the retreat center.

Not an easy task -- Imagine this at 90 degrees and 100% humidity!

I think the Kruses would agree that it was worth it. Getting to the top meant meeting and holding LJ for the first time.

Claudia meeting LJ

The next day we went into Hong Kong to look around and as we landed at the ferry dock where there were huge crowds lining the streets. We quickly realized that the Olympic torch was passing by right in front of the dock in a matter of minutes. What and unexpected surprise! We decided to wait for it.

We drew some attention while waiting. As usual.

Claudia and Leonard looking patriotic.

Michaela getting a better view.

Here it comes . . .

The passing of the flame.

A family picture.

We then spent the day in Hong Kong and went out for some Indian food for dinner. There are lots and lots of Indians in Hong Kong and the fare is fantastic in HK. We happened to pass by a restaurant called King Ludwig's. We all had a good laugh -- if you know the Kruses you'd understand.


It was late and we headed home on the ferry. We had a wonderful and eventful HK day. We took a ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island and then a ferry from Hong Kong Island to Cheung Chau. The trip took just over an hour.

LJ on the ferry. He got burned on the beach several days earlier and it took about a week to fade away. It was cloudy and raining lightly that day but I guess I should have known better. He still looks cute though.

Hong Kong from the Star Ferry at night.

The next day we headed out. Cheung Chau is a great place to relax and eat (the seafood is fantastic!). Lots of fresh fruit also.

Buying some fruit on our way to the ferry.

We are now heading to Shenzhen where we will catch a train to Guilin.

Cheung Chau with the Ambrose family

Coming up on Cheing Chau

I had to go to Hong Kong to meet the Kruses. We made a booking mistake and booked a day early so instead of change the plans, I went a day early with the kids and the Ambrose family. We stayed on Cheung Chau Island: http://karws.gso.uri.edu/China/HongKong/Cheung_Chau/CCI1.html (some girl's site with cool pics)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheung_Chau. (basic wiki entry)

We stayed at a missionary house which I was first introduced to when I taught in China with ESEC. It is a wonderful retreat that helps overseas workers rest and recooperate from ministry. Even thought we are not longer doing service work in China we still like to frequent this place because it is such a wonderful place. See their website: http://www.bethanyministries.com/join.htm

Relaxing in the common room

It was wu yi or May 1st holiday

Boat races for the holiday

We walked to the famous pirates cave. It took forever! We were exhausted and the cave was too difficult to climb into with the kids. Oh well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheung_Po_Tsai

We were so exhausted that we took a boat back around to the other side of the island.

Jen and Randy recovering from our two hour hike.

The beach was more kid friendly. Michaela got naked pretty quickly. I acted like we were European so it was ok.

Myles had better manners and stayed clothed, but he had just as much fun.

We tried to keep Jonathan out of the sun as much as possible, but the next day he was pretty burned.

Thanks to the Ambrose family for such a fun trip!

Kevin's Visit

Hun Jun aka Kevin
Whoa 60's

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Kevin and Yaya

Kevin and Jonathan

Our old friend Kevin came for a visit. Well Kevin is her old name. Her parents paid the fee to have another child (their first was a girl) and of course it was a girl so they gave her a boy's name anyway. Her name in Chinese means army. So when she picked an English name she picked a boy's name. We met her in Wuhan when we taught there in 2000. She has been a dear friend ever since. She changed her English name to Samantha for business purposes but we still know her as Kevin. Thanks for visiting us, Kevin!

Michaela loves green veggies

I don't know how it happened, but my daughter loves green vegetables. I guess it is just a matter of offering it at every meal which is not hard here in China where everyone loves stir-fried greens.

A typical meal

She really likes it!

Pascha 2008

There is an Orthodox church in Hong Kong but we almost never go there. It is a three-hour trip each way. To make the trip in a day is so hard on everyone. To spend the night in Hong Kong is over a hundred dollars. So we mainly go to the Russian Orthodox church in Shenzhen. It only meets once a month at most and it is all in Slavonic, but we can partake in the sacraments there. The priest is wonderful. Unfortunately at Pascha, Father Dionisy (the usual priest) is usually serving in Beijing. Like last year, he arranged for a Hieromonk (basically a monk who is ordained) from Russia to come down and conduct services for the parishioners in Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Father Melety is also wonderful -- pretty much like every Orthodox priest I've ever met. This year the service was on Sunday night rather than the typical Saturday night so there weren't many people there. Father Melety had to perform the service in Hong Kong on Saturday night and then again in Shenzhen on Sunday night.

We had one Holy Week Service: The Reading of the 12 Gospels:

David holding LJ at the service.

The 11th reading

After the Service of the 12 Gospels, Father Melety read the prayers for my "churching" aka returning to church after 40 days following the birth of a baby.
See the churching prayers at:
http://www.goarch.org/en/chapel/liturgical_texts/churching.asp

Churching of Katie and Jonathan

Pascha 2008 Shenzhen

Confession is done right before partaking in the Eucharist. This must be a Russian tradition because I've never seen it before. A strange break in the otherwise very formal service.

http://www.orthodox.cn/news/20080430paschachina_en.htm
http://www.orthodox.cn/contemporary/guangdong/shenzhen_en.htm

My favorite restaurant

This is a Hakka restaurant that we love going to. We have a date night once a week and we love going to this place for dinner. Michaela loves it also – there is a pond with fish and an outside patio with a small playground. Here are some of my favorite dishes:

Crispy pork. The sauce makes it great!

Onion chicken.

This is delicious until you learn what it actually is. Basically papaya with warm milk and coconut milk inside. Something jelly-like also but with very little taste. You find out later that this is some part of the frog's reproductive system. Yuck! So I make it at home now -- without the jelly stuff of course.

Who are hakka people?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakka

LJ at two months

Jonathan is a beautiful and delightful baby!