Travel day. All packed up and ready to go. Our first flight from Salt Lake to Seattle was at 12:00 noon, but of course it was late. Had me a bit nervous because we only had 1 hour to make our connecting flight from Seattle to Hong Kong. As luck would have it, not lucky at all, our seat assignment was the very "back of the bus", so the last ones off. We quickly made it to our departure gate with a few minutes to spare. 300 seats on the plane. Where were we sitting? Again, the very last seats at the "back of the bus". Actually, I didn't mind that. There was no one beside us and there was space behind us that we could store our carry on and stand and stretch without being in anyone's way.
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| Delta Flight from Seattle to Hong Kong |
From the time we left the hotel till we arrived in Hong Kong was about 20 hours. I watched 3 movies on the plane and had 3 not so tasty meals, and had a few very uncomfortable naps. Our whole flight except for about the last hour was in complete daylight since we were so close to it being the summer solstice.
Upon arrival, we were met by Pres. Hui and Pres. and Sis. Yuen of the temple presidency. WOW it was HOT and HUMID! At the hotel we were greeted by Elder & Sis. Ball, Elder & Sis. Wilson, and Elder & Sis. Bodily. What a fun bunch of people. I love these people already.
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| John, Judy, Sister Yuen, President Yuen |
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| Elder and Sister Chan, Pres. Hui, Pres. Yuen |
Our accommodations are awesome! We're on the 20th floor.Unfortunately we didn't get the habour view, but that's OK because we have an incredible city view. Our condo is immaculate and came stocked with food by the sisters. It's well air conditioned and we get Fox News, so I'm really happy. Took a couple hours to unpack and get organized. Time is all mixed up. Past bed time.
A NEW BABY GRANDSON!!!
During our flight over, at 2:30 am June 19 Arizona time, Molly and Rylan blessed us with our 13th grandchild. What a memorable day this has been!
Beckham John Chan, 7 pounds 4 ounces, 21 inches long.
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| Molly and Beckham, Aubrey, Addey, Brayden, Crew |
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June 20 (Saturday)
Met with Gaylon and MaryAnn Ball, our trainers, and Bob and Helga Wilson the couple assigned to accommodations. MaryAnn took us out grocery shopping. Then we went out with the Wilson's for dinner at the Green River Restaurant, a Chinese/Americanized cuisine...otherwise, not so good Chinese food with small portions and big price for the size of the servings.
Went for a walk on the promenade and toured our facilities. It feels like we're living in a tropical resort, beautiful gardens, swimming pool, clubhouse, sauna, steam rooms, games room, children's play area, pool table, ping pong, theatre, computer stations, etc. Not too shabby. Went to bed early to try to catch up on sleep.
June 21 (Sunday)
I think we're pretty well adjusted now to the time change. Sister Powell escorted us to Church this afternoon. We attended a Filipino Domestic Branch. The whole branch is made up of about 150 Filipino domestic workers, all female. What lovely people. They are full of life and smiles and are so friendly and welcoming. We met so many people, I can't remember who's who. It was Father's Day and all the men (only about 10 altogether in the branch) were presented with a special Father's Day treat.
We attended Sis. Powell's class on self-reliance. It's a new program set up by the Church to help people who want to start their own business to become more self-reliant. It's an amazing program. We felt quite comfortable in the class and were able to contribute by telling a little about our business experiences.
After the meetings, they all divided into their "family" groups. A meal was served and it was just a time to socialize. Because these lovely ladies have no family here, they rely on each other as their family. You can just feel the love.
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| This is the walkway up to our condo. |
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| Noodles and Congee Brunch |
June 22 (Monday)
We decided to venture out on our own today and explore the surrounding area. Took the hotel shuttle to the Metropolis Mall. It looks like it's just across the street, but to get there is about a 15 minute walk. There was a typhoon warning, yellow Level 1, not too bad so we continued on our way. If the typhoon warning is red or Level II, it's recommended you stay in. Level III is black and everything is locked down. The mall was disappointing and I know I won't be doing much shopping there. Tomorrow we'll try another area.
June 23 (Tuesday)
We went out for lunch with MaryAnn and Gaylon to a dim sum place in the New Town Plaza. The place was humungous! The food was "ma ma di" or so-so and very expensive for what we are used to compared to Vancouver. I've come to the conclusion that Hong Kong is no longer a place for inexpensive food like it was 8 years ago. Food in Vancouver is much better, or perhaps we just haven't found a good place to eat yet...it's all about the eating!
June 24 (Wednesday)
John and I ventured out early to get groceries for the pot luck supper tonight. John was going to make spare ribs with black bean sauce served over steamed rice. We took a wrong turn on the way to the grocery store, got momentarily lost, then caught in a torrential down pour...our first monsoon experience. Before I could even whip my umbrella out of my bag, we were soaked head to toe, and drenched to the bone! We ducked into a little store alcove. 5 minutes later it was over, and about 15 minutes later the streets were already dry.
Went out to the brass factory and jade market. Another hot and sticky day. Didn't buy anything.
Had a wonderful pot luck dinner with 4 other senior temple missionary couples.
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| John and Judy Chan |
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| Helga and Robert Wilson |
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| Charles and Shirley Ngai |
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| Gaylon and MaryAnn Ball |
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| Deborah and Gary Bodily |
June 25 (Thursday)
Spent 3-4 hours with Jade and Mike on skype this morning trying to clean up my computer. It's running better now, but still having some issues probably more issues with the operator (yours truly), and not so much the computer. Went on a short outing to see a seamstress who is making some clothes for MaryAnn. Tonight we had our first supper at home - left over black bean ribs from last night, fried rice, and baby shanghai bok choi.
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