Moon Cake Madness: Moon cakes are traditional snacks/desserts of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the second most important festival in China. It is said that there is a moon goddess who makes these cakes, so people call them moon cakes.
The festival is intricately linked to the legends of Chang E, the mythical Moon Goddess of Immortality. According to Li-Ji, an ancient Chinese book recording customs and ceremonies, the Chinese Emperor should offer sacrifices to the sun in spring and the moon in autumn. The 15th day of the 8th lunar month is the day called "Mid-Autumn" and is known as the "Night of the Moon".
Today is a statutory holiday, the day after the Mid Autumn Festival. People celebrate this "Moon Cake" Festival all month long. Our Filipino Branch had a BBQ at Gold Coast Beach. The sisters put on quite a spread of BBQ chicken, pork, egg plant, red rice, corn, cucumber salad, potato salad, and fruit. It was a beautiful looking beach with fine white sand. However, the water was not at all inviting. I'd be afraid of catching some kind of disease because it is so polluted. I don't know how people dare go swimming in it.
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| Peeling BBQ seared egg plant...hot, hot, hot.... |
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| Egg plant perfection! |
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| Chefs extraordinaire! |
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| Authentic Filipino BBQ pork chops. |
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| Dishing out...can't wait to taste it. |
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| Some sisters of our Peninsula 3 Branch. |
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| Lovely beach, not so lovely water. |
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| Working off dinner...the ol' hips don't sway like they used to. |
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| John on the Rocks...no, it's not the name of an exotic new drink. |
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| Evening cruise along the Victoria Harbour. |
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| Mid Autumn Festival display at Tsim Sha Tsui. |
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| The Big Picture |
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| Evening stroll along the promenade - Walk of Stars. |
While out on our walk tonight we were looking for a story book about the Legend of the Moon Festival. We couldn't find anything in English. So feeling defeated, what could we do but eat. haha. We decided to eat at KFC which was just down the street. We were getting tired of Chinese food. I guess what happened next was meant to be.
While we were having our dinner, a "throw back hippy" type person sitting at the adjacent table leaned over and asked John for the time. This person sure reminded me of Dr. David Suzuki, very intellectual, long beard and glasses. We were just walking out when I had the distinct prompting to give him a Book of Mormon. So I returned to his table and offered him the book. In my broken attempt in Chinese, I told him I wanted to give him the book. He flipped through the pages and I think he was commenting on how thick the book was. I couldn't really engage in any conversation other than say, "Ngoi seung bei nei." He graciously accepted it and then I left. Who knows what my happen from there. I'm just the sower.
September 29 (Tuesday)
While we were having our dinner, a "throw back hippy" type person sitting at the adjacent table leaned over and asked John for the time. This person sure reminded me of Dr. David Suzuki, very intellectual, long beard and glasses. We were just walking out when I had the distinct prompting to give him a Book of Mormon. So I returned to his table and offered him the book. In my broken attempt in Chinese, I told him I wanted to give him the book. He flipped through the pages and I think he was commenting on how thick the book was. I couldn't really engage in any conversation other than say, "Ngoi seung bei nei." He graciously accepted it and then I left. Who knows what my happen from there. I'm just the sower.
September 29 (Tuesday)
It's a small, small world. Today at the Temple we met 3 people from Lethbridge. Carrie Proctor the daughter of Blair Proctor, who taught with John for many years. She was visiting friends in Hong Kong, Cassandra and Randy Miehe. John taught Randy, and Cassandra is the daughter of a very good friend of ours from our old Panda days, (mother - Cheryl Henderson, grandparents - Jean and Zandy Henderson). What a thrill to see them all in the temple half way around the world!
September 30 (Wednesday)
Another interesting day at the Temple. In the last session which John and I were in, it was like the United Nations. The languages used were English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Thai, Finnish, and Russian. Only in Hong Kong do you get such a diversity of languages all at the same time. Never a dull moment.
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| Dmitry and Sirpa Yarvensiva sealed for time and eternity - He's from Russia she's from Finland. |
October 1 (Thursday)
The headline reads, "On China's National Day. Hong Kong Protesters Say That They Are Not Part of China". On an overcast Thursday morning, twin red flags--one belonging to Hong Kong and the other to China--were hoisted at the Golden Bauhinia Square on the harbor front. The raising was part of the celebrations for China's National Day--66th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China.
About a block away from the square, small groups of protesters waved the Blue Colonial flag, a combination of Hong Kong's coat of arms and Britain's Union Jack, that was the territory's emblem until the British returned it to China in 1997. The protesters, part of a marginal but growing localist movement that calls for greater autonomy, or even full independence, waved banners that read, "Hong Kong Independence" and "Hong Kong Is Not China."
Later on the waterfront in Kowloon, 200 people gathered with yellow umbrellas, a symbol of last year's pro-democracy Umbrella Revolution.
Went to watch the fireworks display on the promenade outside of our condo. I guess I had higher expectations for the fireworks. I give it a 6 out of 10. Byron and Emmy: wish you were here to take pictures for me. Mine are definitely lacking your finesse!
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October 2 (Friday)
OAD - Got up early to catch a taxi to the Adventist Hospital. John was scheduled for a colonoscopy. About a month ago he had the "runs" really bad and lost about 20 pounds in about 2 weeks. This really had me worried. The doctor recommended running a few tests. Everything came back negative and once the "runs" stopped, he gained some weight back. All is well thank goodness, and thanks to the power of prayer.
We're so impressed with the Adventist Hospital. The staff were so friendly and super efficient. No waiting around. Very, very thorough, from admission to procedure to discharge. Dr. Matthew Ng did the procedure and Dr. Chan was the anesthetist along with the attending nurses, were all excellent! No waiting weeks for result. As soon as John got back to his room, the doctor followed with the results with full explanation, complete with photos. All clean and clear.
I was a bit concerned whether they would accept our insurance. All it took was a phone call, and everything was approved. The person doing the discharge was amazed. He said it usually takes 3-4 days to get approval in which case we might have to pay up front and get reimbursed later.The bill
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| Breakfast for 2: Scrambled eggs and ham, Poached egg and beans. |
October 3 (Saturday)
Elder and Sister Lee came over for a visit this afternoon. June wanted to learn how to make Mars Bar Rice Krispies Squares. After making 2 large pans, we later went to Metropolis for a quick and cheap dinner. We all enjoyed the Vietnamese food. On the walk home, the wind picked up. There had been a typhoon warning posted all day.
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| Blowing away.... Hang on....!!! Here it comes..... |
Sunday midnight in HK is 10:00 a.m. Saturday, Salt Lake City time, so we tuned into General Conference on the computer. With the recent passing of Elder Boyd K. Packer, Elder L. Tom Perry, and Elder Richard G. Scott, we were anxious to know who would be replacing their vacancies. We were hoping to catch the announcement of who the 3 new apostles would be. Since they did not announce them till the next session at 4:00 a.m. HK time, we went to bed. Our 3 newest apostles are Elder Ronald A. Rasband, Elder Gary E. Stevenson and Elder Dale G. Renlund. We look forward to getting to know them better.
So on our Monday midnight, which is 10:00 a.m. Sunday, Salt Lake City time, we watched the Sunday morning session of Conference and were privileged to hear the 3 new apostles speak. Its so gratifying to know that there are men called of God who lead His Church on the earth today.
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