Kowloon Park

Lucky us, we had another national holiday last Monday.  Amazingly enough, we didn't have an activity in our Branch and the temple was closed so we didn't need to help there so we actually had a bit of a holiday and for a few hours visited the Kowloon park which is nearby. You might enjoy scrolling through these photos to see what we saw.

Aren't these steps into the park pretty?  We think all steps should be artistically painted, don't you?

There were several interesting Banyan trees there.

Is that a cannon?

Is this a castle?

Is that Rapunzel?

There were hundreds of Indonesian and Filipino women who were camped out on the sidewalks and everywhere for their day off.

Elder Chandler and Elder Roberts trying out the fitness equipment.

Here's Elder Chandler getting ready to check out the museum there at the park, but first he's checking out the see-through glass on the escalator which you can see below:

Don't you think that hat almost looks like a glorified Mexican sombrero?

This was the floor in one of the rooms

Here's a closer look

And a closer look.  Now there's an idea for all our broken dishes!

We saw more Indonesian ladies than Filipino because the park is close to a Muslim mosque.

And then it was time to climb up to the aviary.

But first we needed to stop for a special treat at the local park McDonald's.

Have you ever seen this before?  It tastes like a orange creamsicle.  When the slush starts to melt a little bit, stir it up and then it tastes even more like one.  Delicious!

And then it was on to see the birds at the aviary.

These two birds were listed as pigeons

Isn't that a pretty fancy pigeon?  It's a Victoria crown pigeon.

At first we were amazed that there was a totem pole in China and wondered if they made them, too, but then we read that it was a gift from Canada.

It looks like it's time to go home.

We recently went to an interesting night market but they had signs everywhere prohibiting photos.  You might enjoy seeing one here that someone photographed and put on the internet.  So click on this:  Outdoor market   and, no, we didn't buy anything.  You can skip the ad by clicking on "skip ad".

We hope you have a great week!

Tai Chi and "Go Forward with Faith"

Isn't she sweet?  This is the little daughter of Jaymee, who is one of the secretaries in the office.

Here she is with her mom.

We had a great family home evening where one of the senior Elders, Elder Thong who was from Singapore originally and now Seattle, taught us how to do Tai Chi. You can read about it here: Tai Chi.  It is quite interesting and many people practice it outside in the mornings, although we haven't see the huge numbers like we saw in Japan doing Rajiio Taisou (Rajiio Taiso)each morning, but then again we don't walk by the parks in the morning where they might congregate to exercise. We do see lots of individuals doing their own Tai Chi, though.  Here are a couple of videos if you have any interest: Tai Chi, exercise , more Tai Chi. We were told that these exercises help with strengthening the body parts and organs.  The theory is that all the nerves are linked to all the body parts and organs and moving a certain way will send energy flowing to regulate and nourish the body. It's actually pretty good exercise.

Here are the exercises:

Exercises

1.      Lifting the Indomitable Spirit and Strengthening the Bones and Muscles

2.      Opening the chest and strengthening the heart and lungs

3.      Rolling Left and Right Wind strengthening the spleen and stomach

4.      Lotus Blossoming to Removing the Rheumatism

5.      Viewing the Sunset and increasing the kidney’s Jing or Essence

6.      Picking up the needle at the sea bed and strengthening the Liver and Gallbladder

7.      Opening the Heaven and Dividing the Earth to strengthening the nervous system

8.      Centering the Punches increasing the internal Strength

9.      Palming Together and Squeezing the Waist to Straightening the Lumbar and Spine

10.   Flying To Loosening The Shoulder and Straightening the Back

11.   Dividing The Wild Horse’s Mane and Improving the Diabetes

12.   Double Hand Pushing Palm Strengthening the Waist and Back

13.   Massaging The Center of Gravity Releasing The Stomach’s Yang Energy

14.   Adopting The Righteous Chi – Energy to Removing The Evil Chi - Energy

15.   Shoveling the Root Cause of sickness and Activating the Jing - Essence

16.   Combine The Whole Body’s Chi – Energy To Strengthening the Body and Mind

17.   Leaping Heavenly Joy and Earthly Happiness Benefiting the Sleep or Slumber

18.   Leveling the Chi - Energy and Heightening the Pleasure

So there you have it!

Also, this last Saturday, as it was National Day and many of the sisters had this day off, we had a big self-reliance workshop, "Go Forward With Faith".  We have been planning this event for a few months.  There were about 200 of the sisters who came and Elder Chandler conducted the opening session. 

The first speaker was our district president, President Holyoak

Brother Scott Styles taught a great session about getting and retaining a good job, learning to communicate with the employers, etc.  He is LDS and he operates an employment agency here in Hong Kong.  He didn't advertise for his agency but many of the other employment agencies charge illegal fees which put the poor domestic helpers in debt before they even begin their jobs here.  This is what they post for their agency which is called Fair Employment Agency:

No Placement Fees

We are a non-profit organization. We know that most agencies charge placement fees to domestic workers, which is an unethical and often illegal practice. Illegal fees often leave the domestic worker in debt bondage, can negatively impact the employer family, and damage Hong Kong's international reputation. We strongly disagree with this practice, and therefore will never charge placement fees to domestic workers.

We had another great session about managing finances.

This sister, Genevieve, is one of our good friends and a member of our Island 1 Branch.  Besides being a college graduate, an on-line English teacher, she works here as a domestic worker as the pay is much better working here than most professional jobs in the Philippines. She is preparing to take more schooling on-line and study at night so she can return to the Philippines for a better job. She gave two great sessions on living a balanced life. 

After the sessions, there was a sack lunch provided for the sisters.  Also, as at any event we have here, this was also their photo-taking time. Facebook and phone calls are really about the only communication they have with their families so that is why they take lots of photos to share with them.

We thought we'd end this post with a big BANG as there were lots of fireworks that night, too.  Although we were really far away from where they were shooting them off, a person really hasn't seen fireworks until they see a fireworks display where they make them in China (and Japan) as they shoot up multiples of fireworks constantly through the shows.  With all the noise and light and sparks, it is AMAZING like nothing you've ever seen before!  

Fireworks are fun but for greater happiness

Click on the link below and:

Watch General Conference

Have a Wonderful Weekend everybody!