Hong Kong Brother

Each month I will keep a running list of news items, including info on my schedule, etc. It's in order from LATEST entry at the top on down to the OLDEST entry at the bottom.

Here are the "News" archives, feel free to browse them for some interesting tidbits:

Alright, so I did my rantin' and ravin' at church yesterday. Found out you don't need heathens to have fun preachin' -- just plain people do pretty well, too. Had to do a lot of pulpit pounding to make my points, you know how that goes. Except we don't really have a pulpit, it's just a music stand. So when you pound it, it doesn't make a nice, solid "thud" like you need, just more of a "clang" and then because the metal is so thin it kind of shakes for a second -- even if you grab it to stop it shaking you can still kind of hear that very, very faint "boooooiiinnggg!" sound for about 3 seconds. I had to call down a little fire and brimstone on some kids that were talking in the back, and wow, it worked! ... well, mostly... (Note to self: when calling down hellfire and damnation, be more specific about target)...

I hate public speaking with a passion. I hate it. But only afterwards, actually. I have realized that I sort of LIKE all the thinking and "pretending to do it" stuff beforehand. No, wait, I don't "like" it, I guess, but it suits me -- spending hours walking around pretending to be in front of the crowd, imagining the whole scene in excruciating detail, gesticulating wildly at the computer screen, my mouth moving but nothing coming out. I do that a LOT anyway. In fact, I'm doing that NOW. I've always wondered if my family has ever really heard me talking to myself, because it definitely could, from a certain perspective, border on the "family dark secret" -- the idea of a grown man walking around whispering answers to his imaginary interview with Spin Magazine (Note to self: make sure they use the right photo for the cover)...

So the build-up to "gettin' my speech on" is not pleasant but it's really a piece of cake relative to the 2 hours AFTER, when you actually sit down and realize what a BUTT you've made of yourself.

I just now got on my e-mail program, it's working today (always a slight gamble), and when I went to compose a new message it asked me if I wanted to continue my postponed message. Turns out I had started to write someone here in HK and got distracted and never finished the message. Turns out that was the last e-mail I had actually tried to write. Turns out it was like a WEEK ago. (Note to self: to avoid friends being angry, answer their e-mails within a reasonable amount of time)...

Not too much to say today, weather is fine, I feel fine, blah blah blah... And actually, I'd be really relaxed if it weren't for one thing:

Now, I am so literally repulsed and made sick by the word "preach" -- yikes, it just makes me almost gag to actually type it. I'm serious. I guess I'm too post-modern or something...? But wow, it's funny how when I'm trying to explain to people that I'm gonna "preach" -- whenever that happens -- I will jump through the most amazing mental and verbal hoops trying to explain it WITHOUT using the word "preach"...

"Oh, yeah, I've got this thing I have to do on Sunday when I go to church. You see, every Sunday we kind of have someone give a talk about things when we all meet together, and so this Sunday, when we all meet, I guess I'm sort of the one that's going to give that talk."

Sometimes it's even worse than that, if you can believe it -- but then sometimes I get tired of yapping and just say, "I'm preaching"...

I don't mind people KNOWING that I'm doing it at all, that's no problem -- I'm a stupid MISSIONARY, you know? I just don't like whatever things the word "preach" conjures in my mind. 'Cause when I hear the words "preach" (gag) or "preacher" (cough) I tend to think of one of two things: either the "sleazy poor preacher" thing, or the "sleazy televangelist" thing. The "sleazy poor preacher" thing usually involves polyester suits, white dress shoes, that sort of stuff... and slicked-back hair, that's in there, too... Of course that's not as bad (overall) as the "sleazy televangelist" thing, which seems (in my mind) to include lots of gold jewelry, serpent-like voice, maybe lots of screaming and jumping around when it doesn't seem exactly appropriate... maybe gospel music that involves lots of sweat and tambourines and fat ladies singing high notes while everyone shouts, "Amen!"... OH, and the slicked-back hair, too -- 'cause now that I think of it, BOTH kinds of make-believe sleazy preachers seem to have that, except that the sleazy poor preachers have "Elvis" hair, and the sleazy televangelists have more of a "helmet" thing going on...

I myself haven't had a haircut for like 3 months, so I look HORRIBLE these days (I guess I've been just a little nervous about having some total stranger with 46 piercings and 31 tattoos rubbing their hands all over my head to cut my hair, what with all this SARS thing hanging about). However, despite having the longest hair I've had in about 6 years, I'm not worried about having either Elvis hair OR helmet hair tomorrow. So that's good.

I'm not really sure what "wistful" means, I guess I need to look it up... But I can honestly say I never thought I'd be telling people that I feel "wistful" apart from a joke... or apart from that time I did all that painting in a closed, non-ventilated space... remember? Remember how the unicorns danced that day?!?

Anyway, as crazy and unexpected as it is, I want to tell you that I feel very, ... oh, so very... WISTFUL... tonight.

Part of it was being the last person to get off the bus I rode home tonight. It was only 8pm, so it's not like it was late or something, but I just happened to get on a bus that was following about 20 feet behind ANOTHER bus running the same route, so EVERYONE was jamming themselves on the FIRST bus, and then here was this EMPTY one, the same bus number, right behind it. So I waited and got on the empty one -- DUH. But because most people on the route were cramming into the bus in front of us, MY bus had very few people on it, and THAT meant, ultimately, that I was totally the last passenger remaining on the bus when it finally got to my stop. I rode that sucker from the beginning to the end, the whole route except for the terminuses, or termini, however you should say that, and I saw who-knows-how-many people get on and off, while I just kept sitting there. And I can't possibly explain this, but being the last person on the bus can somehow make you SO melancholy. And, well -- wistful, too, I guess.

And part of it is that during that bus ride I was listening to Andy Stochansky, John Mayer, and Pete Yorn on my .mp3 player -- I don't even like guy singers all that much, I'm WAY into girl singers these days, but those guys are so freaky wistful, or whatever it is I'm feeling. So that didn't help my heart, either.

But MOSTLY I think it has to do with my friend Lynn, who is my friend Dave's older sister, going into surgery today. It's 10pm here in HK as I type these words, and that means she's probably in surgery right now (if things haven't changed). And I have just thought about her all day today, and I can't STOP thinking about her, and Dave, and the whole family.

OH, and part of it is that I just NOW got a phone call from someone telling me -- and I hope you're sitting down for this -- but they told me that primary schools in HK are STILL not going back next week! We have not been in school since March 27th, or something like that. So hearing that, and knowing how much I wish I'd had enough money to go HOME during this whole stinking thing, wow, that really makes me feel something -- and I think it's "wistful" but I'm not sure. One of my friends here has a boyfriend in the States -- she reportedly has been there for WEEKS, and she's not even a stinking American... She's probably only eaten apple pie about 10 times in her whole stinking LIFE... She's probably NEVER been to a baseball game, much LESS eaten a HOT DOG at a baseball game, ha ha... But seriously, though -- SHE's spent the last MONTH in the States, and here I sit, poor and non-plane-ticket-having as I am...

And part of it is that I'm getting ready to bite off this big new project, I mean it's really BIG, and I haven't really told anyone about it yet -- meaning not anyone who isn't here in HK -- and I'm at this place where I'm excited about the possibilities but really, really scared that I won't know how to do it, and then I'll have all these people looking at me like, "Geez, you screwed this one up, didn't you, Grenn?"

So there's ALL that contributing to my feelings.... and maybe there's a few other things, too, I guess... like the girl in the restaurant this afternoon... or the girl at the bookstore... or the girl on the bus... or the 3.5 million other girls who aren't The Girl (HK has 7 million people so I figure at least half are girls). But you know what I mean. That's embarrassing to just say out loud, but really -- you know what I mean, right?

So, wow, take all that together, you know?... And I'm telling you, I just feel really, really WISTFUL tonight...

And since I'm not totally sure what "wistful" means (trust me, once I get off here I'll go look it up), but since I don't really know what it means, I'm trying to figure out if feeling wistful is a GOOD thing or a BAD thing, because the thing about feeling wistful (or what I'm calling "wistful") is that you can't really be SURE about it. It's like, okay, I don't feel BAD, but there's some sort of SAD stuff going on in there, too, you know? And I'm not HAPPY, per se -- no, no, no, it's not happy at ALL... But still, it's sort of dreamy and maybe kind of warm and good at the same time. It's like, it's the kind of feeling I think you ought to have when you write a great song. Or no, wait, that sounds TOTALLY stupid, geez... What a dork... What I mean is, ........

I just thought of this, and you have GOT to trust me when I say that I didn't start out with this in mind -- it LITERALLY just struck me as I was writing that sentence above...

Okay, you know in The Incredible Hulk (the old TV show, not the new movie), but at the end of the show, after David Banner would have turned into "His Hulkiness" -- he kept WARNING them to not make him angry, he kept saying how they wouldn't LIKE him if he got angry, but by golly those jerks wouldn't listen, they just kept pushing and pushing... And finally he got all green, what with the eyes and the muscles and the shirt-ripping and the Lou Ferrigno... And so he did all that, and he threw the guys through the restaurant (because he was always getting odd jobs washing dishes at restaurants where he'd later throw the jerks around)... So he DID all that, he'd already Hulkanized them, right? And so now it's all ruined, and he can't stay there and wash dishes at THAT diner anymore... He has to leave all his new friends, right? ... and remember, that dang reporter is after him, too -- don't forget that -- and now that he's been The Hulkinator and thrown people around, and now that everything is ruined (including his shirt -- but NOT including his pants), he can't stick around THERE any more, right?

And so he'd say goodbye, and turn to leave... and this was always supposed to be the most dramatic part of the show, right? ... So he'd throw his jacket over his shoulder, and start to walk away... and the camera would back up -- it would just back up and away from him as he walked off into the distance -- and they'd start playing that music... the piano, remember? ... And as I type this I am literally hearing that in my head, that piano part... But the credits would roll, and the whole time, there he goes, and he'd just kind of melt into the crowd... and then, just as the last tearful, heavyhearted note played, he'd disappear into the scenery...

Okay, so, like, if you can hear that "David Banner walkin' away from the camera" music from the ending to The Incredible Hulk in your head, then you know EXACTLY how I feel tonight.

p.s.--I added the comment about it being 6am so you'd understand why I'm talkin' all this here CRAZY talk...

Let me start my long -- and long-overdue -- update today with an e-mail that ended up getting sent to our church people back in the States. When you get to the end, keep reading, because I have some post-script comments that I want to make.

POST-SCRIPT ANALYSIS:
Well, that's all fine and good, I'd say, except that now when I read that, I think I kind of "overdid" it with the drama. What I mean is, everything is EXACTLY correct (believe it or not, I have been taking notes during the news so I can get my numbers right), but somehow the way I said it made it sound a little more crazy than maybe it really is. Certainly, LOTS of HK people feel overwhelmed these days, but I don't expect to see anyone running through the streets screaming -- insert images from any "Godzilla" movie -- anytime soon. But I kind of made it sound that way, didn't I?

So I'm sorry about that, if any of my HK friends think what I said is "too much"...

But on the OTHER hand, let me point out some facts that I did NOT mention in that e-mail:

     1) I didn't mention that about 10 minutes after sending that message I got a phone call telling me that my meetings with Pastor William Yueng of Xi Lin church had been cancelled because they had a confirmed case of SARS in the building where he lives, and he had to remain homebound for several days.
     2) I didn't tell how movie theaters here are also under great economic stress, the news reporting that some cinemas are making only $200 a day -- and remember, that's HK dollars, which amounts to about $26/day U.S.! The cinema here in Tin Shui Wai had even closed half the theaters -- they normally have 8 screens, but for a week or so they only opened the first 4, the other section completely closed off to save money. (I won't discuss whether part of the problem is that they are only showing CRAPPY MOVIES right now)... But at any rate, the news last night reported that "a leading Asian economics expert" has stated that if SARS isn't brought under control in the next two months, the economic impact on HK will be, and I quote, "catastrophic"...
     3) I also didn't tell how the disease is not only killing more (and YOUNGER) people with no previous health problems (the single-day death totals in HK are rising, and recent victims have included a previously-healthy 32-year-old woman -- an alarming shift, to be sure)... But SARS has also now broken out of the small circle of persons that up until now have been the "closed circuit" for infection. In other words, up until a few days ago, the people most at risk for infection were health professionals (doctors, nurses, etc.), the FAMILIES of health professionals, and residents of a few infected housing estates -- if you weren't in that group, you were actually pretty safe, statistically speaking (a fact which I had been quietly trying to tell everyone from the beginning). But in the last 7 days, almost all the 40 or so new cases per day of SARS have been from OUTSIDE that closed group. That means the population at large is now MUCH more at risk, as the spread of the disease from now on will less likely follow any "logical" paths and people everywhere begin to become infected. It's the next obvious (but of course much more DANGEROUS) phase of this so-called epidemic.
     4) Another thing I didn't tell, but which I somehow think can give you SOME idea of what's going on here, and how all-pervasive this disease is in the HK mind: the 25-minute "Main News" on TV the other night, which came on at 7:30pm, didn't have a single non-SARS-related item to report until 7:52pm!! Think about that. They then rushed through 3 minutes of Iraq before closing to go to the nightly Weather Report... At that rate they will need to change the name to the "SARS News"...

But don't try to tell me that this isn't a crazy time in HK -- because for now, things ARE a little crazy, and more DANGEROUS than ever...

Enough of that, let me tell you about some other things that I'm really concerned about.

A) Many of you have read me talking about my little buddy Benjamin Hayes, age 16 months. He is scheduled to have ANOTHER surgery on June 1, a procedure called something like "fundoplycation"... We aren't sure of the spelling and I don't have time to look it up, and you probably don't know the difference anyway. But this surgery is, according to the e-mail I got, "the one where they wrap the stomach around the esophagus... The hope is that it will stop reflux, which Ben is allegedly aspirating into his lungs." It is a major surgery, he will be hospitalized for at least a week, and I'm just wondering when this will all stop. Please pray for Ben, and for his parents Chris and Michele. You might mention his older brother Peter -- my godson -- in your prayers, too.

B) My friend Dave's older sister Lynn has been diagnosed with two kinds of cancer, one in her liver and another in her kidney. According to the latest news I have, they have scheduled her for double surgery on the 24th where they plan on removing part of her liver, zapping the rest with some kind of radio beams (they assure me it's a legit treatment), and then removing one of her kidneys.

I love Lynn, and I sure wish you'd join me in praying for her and the whole family.

C) Another person from my church back home, Debbie Wilkerson, has an infection in her brain, as well as an aneurysm behind her eye. This is serious business, so please pray for her, too, if you are into that sort of thing.

I've had several adventures over the last two weeks, and as much as possible I tried to take my camera to document it all in incredible minutiae, so that you could sit there and wonder, "Why would he think we'd want to see a photo of that?"

Adventure #1: BBQ at a farm near Yuen Long
Way back on April 9th, which seems like years ago by now, I went with a bunch of the teachers from school to have a BBQ (HK-style) at a small farm just outside Yuen Long. It was all set up by my friend Barnabas, and I'm telling you, we all had a blast. The farmer has set up his place for people to come and have BBQ's and parties, and he also rents out land (by the ROW) for city-folk to grow their own gardens (cost: $100 per row per month, equals about $13 U.S./month).

Anyway, here are the photos of our day, and for most you can click and see a LARGER version:

Here are Agnes (left) and Anna having some fun on the funky stilts things...	The farmer has lots of animals, like turtles...	*...lots of rabbits...*	*...and this "pheasant" bird.*
I don't know why this shot caught my eye, but it was actually one of the first photos I took that day... something about the fact that the farmer didn't take it out of the box, and NOW it didn't work... just seemed funny to me, I guess...	The girls all had fun when the farmer told them to go grab some vegetables to cook for our BBQ... Here's Heidi doing her part...	...and here are two more teachers from the school picking greens... It's Kathy on the left, and Tsing on the right.	This photo of Anna is my favorite of the day. She is a really hard worker, and always willing to help me with my Chinese. She also happens to be pretty cute, you might notice, but I'm pretty sure her boyfriend would mind me saying it...
Heidi and Moon getting some tomatoes.	"Did somebody here order a bunch of meat?!?"	This photo is out of focus, sorry, but it's someone adding butter to the squid that we ate that day...	Close-up of some meat... The shrimp are called, in Chinese, "big head shrimp" and you can see here WHY, they are HUGE, at least 8" or more long...
"Rolly Polly Fish Heads" Take a BBQ fork, run it in the fish from "tail" and out through the head, hold over fire for about 15 min., and voila! -- crunchy whole fish on a stick!	*Gabfest.*	After the BBQ, they found the see saw... fun ensued.	Even Barnabas got in on the fun... I stayed WAY clear of it, though. Please notice they have 5 adults per side on that poor pole.

After all of that rambunctious hilarity, they decided they wanted to play basketball on the farmer's half-court plot -- a nice little concrete court, complete with a rim hung at a height of approximately 6 feet. Now, I don't know if these photos will even REMOTELY communicate the violence with which these girls went about hacking each other to death. It was MUCH more like American football (where the person with the ball gets tackled) than basketball -- except in this case, no one had helmets or shoulder pads to protect them. But I don't think the ball was dribbled even ONE TIME -- it just went from one person to the next as whoever had the ball was converged upon by the others and hacked until their numbed, lifeless arms could no longer hold the ball. Then another victim (er, "player") would pick up the ball and the whole gruesome process would begin anew. I kept thinking that phrase, "Oh, the humanity!"

My stupid slow-poke camera could barely get any shots, and it was making me really mad -- but I was somehow able to knock off these few action shots, at least. Hopefully the vicious and graphic depictions here of Hongkongibus Girlibus engaged in the act of Basketballus Hackibus won't upset you sensitive "peace-and-love" types...

Adventure #2: Teleconference with my niece, Madelyne
Madelyne is the daughter of my sister, Lisa, and her husband, Bob --she is therefore my niece. Madelyne was born approximately 24 hours after her Uncle Grenn (that's ME) left the U.S.A. last August -- I have therefore never met her. In ages past, this would be a heart-rending dilemma, and, well, okay, it STILL is, duh...

But come with me as we enter the 21st century -- and let me tell you about the teleconference I had with my parents and little Madelyne back on April 14th.

Yeah, seriously, as you can see from the screen captures I have below, we actually used the magic of Windows XP, tiny eyeball cameras and fast internet connections to have an hour-long, FREE video conference.

I owe it all to my friend, Chris, who sent me the camera as a gift after he got one himself. It was VERY easy to install and get it all running, and I mean that you must trust me when I say that I had the thing ready to go within about 10 minutes of closing the door behind the UPS guy who delivered the box.

Chris and I began talking online IMMEDIATELY, and hatched the plot to have my folks come over to his house (bringing Madie, of course), on the pretext of "approving a new computer device we might install for you." They had no idea why they were going to his house, in other words, and I think it's fair to say they were SHOCKED when they saw my ugly mug smiling back at them from Chris' computer.

You can see in the bottom right corner of each capture the little box that shows my OWN camera's input, so that's what they were seeing of me. Of course the quality isn't PERFECT, but it's pretty good for FREE, you know?

We are currently in the process of getting my mom and dad's computer hooked up to be able to do this from their house, I'll be sure and let you know when it's all set up.

But the OTHER side of this is that honestly I can do this with just about anyone. A few days after getting it all running, I even connected (with audio only) to my friend Eric in New England -- we talked for about 30 minutes, maybe MORE, and all for FREE -- and HE only has a dial-up connection!! Of course it's not quite as good as a telephone, there is a slight delay -- but it's VERY slight, and it's rather like what you experience when you call trans-globally and get a "bad" satellite connection. Nothing that really bothers you at ALL.

To do video you seem to need Windows XP and the latest version of Windows Messenger. A fast internet connection probably wouldn't hurt, either. Of course, you also need a camera and microphone. The ones we have are from Logitech, it's called the "Quick Cam Messenger" -- it connects via USB and has the microphone built into the top, and Chris got this model because, frankly, "it was the cheapest one" -- about $50, he tells me.

It just seems to me that besides all my FRIENDS (who I wish could get set up on this), it might also be a really neat way to get your church "connected" to the mission field, if you're into that sort of thing. Can you imagine having a LIVE video feed to a missionary during your Sunday morning service?!? Could be pretty cool, eh?

So if you are interested in trying this, send me an e-mail at glenn@hongkongbrother.com and we'll talk about it. I'm not much to look at, ha ha, but it might be that sort of thing that really ignites some interest in what's going on way over here, on the other side of the world...

Adventure #3: Hiking near Gam Tin
My next adventure was a return trip to the farm near Yuen Long with Barnabas and the gang. When we had our BBQ at the farm ("Adventure #1"), I had mentioned that this HUGE hill off over to the east was one that I had always wanted to climb -- well, I guess that sparked their imagination, and so on April 16th a group of us went back to the farm, dropped off some gear (lunch stuff), and then headed down the paths towards that mountain.

The weather was just wonderful, though when we finally got to our "stopping place" it was VERY windy and pretty hazy -- you can see from the photos that it wasn't such a clear day. But still it was REALLY fun and we all had a nice, relaxed hike.

After the hiking, we went back to the farm and had another nice BBQ lunch. They went to pick vegetables again, but for whatever reason, this time they picked more than last time -- even though we had half the number of people! The farmer apparently made a comment, something like, "Wow, I hope you guys don't WASTE these vegetables" -- but there was no WAY we could eat all that... I'm talking baskets full of stuff for just 8 people. I think the cooker ran out of gas and they used that as their "reason" for not cooking it on the spot, and then they took the rest home with them. No big deal -- not like we didn't PAY for it all -- but still, I think it might have bugged the farmer a little bit at first that they picked so much.

One funny thing, or at least it is still making me laugh a bit, was a "food accident" that happened during our lunch. Kathy, one of the teachers, was sitting off to the side as the others were chatting away, but suddenly she cried out, "Oh!!!" It was a kind of shocked cry, nothing funny about it, and we all spun around to see what was up. But we couldn't tell -- she was just sitting there, frozen, hunched over her plate, with this look of shock and bemusement on her face. She didn't say anything, and no one else said anything, either -- we all just sat there, looking at her, looking back at us.

Okay, so this went on for what SEEMED an eternity, though it was probably only about 5 or 6 seconds. FINALLY, someone said, "Kathy, what's wrong?!?"

Turns out she had dropped a beef ball and somehow "caught" it between her elbows while still holding her plate (overflowing with food), chopsticks, and drink. She was afraid to move -- to even talk! -- because she didn't want to drop anything. Well, when we finally figured that all out, they laughed pretty hard. But what really got ME to laughing was that they dubbed it "The Naughty Beef Ball" ("naughty" being used in the British sense of just "not well-disciplined") -- and for the next 5 minutes I had to endure them repeating, non-stop, "The naughty beef ball!! Ha ha! Watch out for that naughty beef ball! You're gonna get beef on you from that naughty beef ball! Ha ha!"... It was almost too much for me to stand.

Adventure #4: Hiking the Nam Chung Nature Trail
On Good Friday, just two days after the hike near Gam Tin, I joined the guys from Shatin Church on a hike of the Nam Chung Nature Trail, up near Sha Tau Kok. This is really about as far NORTHEAST as you can go in HK without crossing into closed areas along the border. It was a HUGE group of folks going from the fellowship (as they call it) on Saturday nights, and I was so excited to be there with them.

The only "problem" was that this was a REALLY long and difficult hike, and it was REALLY hot, and, look, I'm enough of a man to admit that I was pretty beat up by this mountain. Or no, that's not correct -- of course I made it, and I never really doubted that at all. But all of these guys are like 23 years old, and so they were just jumping up and down that hill like it was nothing, while I, meanwhile -- more than 13 years their senior and never before believing I was all that out of shape -- had to take a rest every 30 or 40 steps up the VERY steep inclines near the top. I mean, it wasn't that I was so slow -- it's that THEY were so FAST...

So it was embarrassing, yes, it was. But my friends Thomas and Janice hung back, and acted like they didn't mind going slow with me up to the top -- though I'm sure they did mind, a little.

(Oh, and for some reason I also only brought about HALF the water I should have taken, because I didn't know the hike was so long -- that didn't help me, either)...

But though it was a challenge, I had a lot of fun... And besides, the views we were rewarded with were fantastic. This is probably the most remote part of HK, and we could see the hills all around, lush and green, and even had a view across the border into China. All in all, a spectacular day of hiking -- though I wasn't feeling so "springy" until I finally made the top of that mountain, ha ha...

Adventure #5: Cleaning the homes of the elderly to prevent SARS
The word of the moment in HK, what with our SARS outbreak still raging out of control, is "CLEAN" -- whatever you do, when facing something like this, at the LEAST you must pay more attention to cleanliness and hygiene. Keep your living space clean and fresh, and ALWAYS wash your hands after being in public or coming into contact with public facilities (like elevators or riding the bus or train). They even have commercials on TV, saying, "Cleaning is fine with 1 to 99!" -- referring to the ratio of bleach-to-water one needs to use to make sure you are killing the SARS virus when cleaning.

One of the hotspots of the SARS epidemic has been Shatin, for in that area, especially among the elderly, there has been a tragic spreading of the virus -- perhaps because they are more vulnerable to begin with, or perhaps because they have more trouble keeping their homes clean and "sterile" -- I'm not sure about any of that.

But to help out, a group of us from the Shatin church took the Saturday after our hike (above) to go clean the homes of a few elderly folks associated with the church. I was assigned with Jacqline and Janice to go clean the flat of Miss Tse Doh, who is 88-years-old. She was a treat to spend time with, quite vocal, in fact, and she seemed especially happy to have the girls come spend time with her (I meant nothing since I couldn't even talk to her, you know what I mean). But we didn't just "hang out" and chat -- for the three hours we worked in her flat scrubbing, sweeping and disinfecting, I think I was sweating just as much as I did when hiking the day before!

Now, in these photos, taken before we left, we all look relaxed and carefree -- but in case you're wondering, you don't need to worry... We were all wearing masks and gloves the whole time, and took great care that we might be safe just in case there was any need to be concerned that Miss Tse had the SARS virus lurking about in her midst.

I wasn't sure why Miss Tse froze up when we took these photos, she was quite active and vocal right up until we said, "1... 2... 3!" and shot the photo -- then, right before the shutter clicked, she'd freeze and look down. So anyway, she looks pretty reserved in these shots, but it doesn't tell her true personality, I think.

Adventure #6: Easter Sunday in Victoria Park
On Easter Sunday I was up early and off to Sheung Shui to meet up with our church people to take a bus all the way over to Victoria Park, near Causeway Bay (HK side).

The reason was to join up with a multi-denominational, multi-national, multi-lingual service they were having called "People Square" -- it was put on by a group which sponsors work among the "newly arrived" people in HK (new immigrants, in other words).

Well, some of the folks along from church seemed to have some "difficulty" with what went on -- some of their concern seemed legitimate to me but much of it did not. I thought it was kind of cool, or at least as cool as most "churchy" things I've experienced in HK.

By the way, after being downtown for this 2-hour service, we then went back to Sheung Shui, had lunch, and then had ANOTHER church service from 2pm until 3:30pm... Then I had ANOTHER meeting after that with our worship committee.

No offence, and don't read this the wrong way -- but I was pretty churched OUT by the end of all that, you know?!?

Adventure #7: Hiking at Pat Sin Leng
I go hiking whenever I can find other people willing to go. I just love it. And the great thing about HK, which I've always said, is that you can be on the 80th floor of one of the world's most impressive skyscrapers one minute, and an hour later you can be out in TOTAL WILDERNESS -- it's just so cool.

My FAVORITE place to go hiking in HK, so far, is Pat Sin Leng. The first time I went was at Lunar New Year 2002, and it has stuck in my mind as a tough hike (for ME), but one that stands above a number of other impressive hikes as having the ultimate superlative views.

So when I heard that a group from Yao Dao Church were going to Pat Sin Leng yesterday, I sheepishly asked if they would mind me inviting myself to go along.

Pat Sin Leng is basically a ridge of 8 peaks, and most people will hike up the first peak, then go along the ridge to each successive peak, then back down to the reservoir near Fanling. That's what I had done before. But there is another way of hiking this park, and that is to go up the first peak, then back down halfway, where you take a trail running northwest and come out at the start of the Bride's Pool Trail. It's still a nice challenge (topping that first peak being the main difficulty), but it's much easier to do it this way than to go across the whole ridge. And since we had two first-graders with us -- my students from school! -- it was obvious that we needed to choose the "easier" route.

So those were my recent adventures. Don't you feel tired just thinking about all that?

The Meeting Place
There's an interesting thing that happens sometimes regarding this website.

You see, I get e-mails from total strangers ALL the time. I'm not sure why, but for whatever reason people are searching Yahoo! or Google for "Hong Kong" or whatever, and they end up seeing links to this site... And something -- it's different for every one, I guess -- but SOMETHING inspires them to actually write me. I really LOVE that, and it inspires me to keep working on things here, knowing that somebody (besides my mom!) is reading this dribble.

But last week I got a really wild e-mail from a guy saying, "Hey, I used to know a guy named John Laudon but we lost touch, and I was looking for him on the internet and found you mentioning him on your site -- can you put us in touch?"

When you think about that, it's pretty crazy, don't you think? I mean, it's not like John and I are great pals or anything, but we've hung out some, and here this guy who knew John years ago ends up re-connecting with him via this website.

But it's even MORE wild when you consider that it's NOT THE FIRST TIME this has happened. The government-hired native English teacher at our school is named Carolyne, and she's from the U.K. (originally) but has been all over the world teaching English. Well, a few months ago I got an e-mail from this guy saying, "Hey, do you think the Carolyne you talk about on your site is the same one I taught with in Egypt?"

So, hey -- if you know that you know someone I know, but don't know how to get back to knowing them, you should know you can contact me -- I know I can help... you know?

The Tooth Fairy
My little friend Audrey lost her first tooth recently, or so I've heard. Reports have it that she was VERY excited about the anticipated visit from the Tooth Fairy, and in fact she advised her dad, Bobby, to "leave the windows open a little" so as to be SURE the Fairy could get into her room!

The Impala
My friends Kevin and Angie have bought a new car. Not a "NEW" car, but new to them.

It looks to be one of the most beautiful cars I've ever seen. With something like 94,000 original miles and a three-on-the-tree transmission, Kev says he "drives it like an old lady at 35mph" -- but who could blame him?!? This car is ART...

Maybe there's something wrong with the videos I've been watching over the internet from Corgan's new band, Zwan -- but I SWEAR, it really looks like he's SMILING... ?!?? And I don't mean that Bullet With Butterfly Wings snarl that he's been flashing at us for the last ten years -- you know, the one he shoots at the camera (in disgust) as he screams, "Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage!"...

Ah! But no wonder -- he's got a new band, and they ROCK. Sure, there's another girl bass player (what is it with this guy? I can't even find a girl SINGER, though they come a dime a dozen -- and here THIS guy can't even strum his guitar without a girl bass player running up to ask him what key he's in)... Okay, and there's still the fixation with "Jesus" -- or whatever Corgan thinks "Jesus" stands for... There are still the epic quiet moments, still the occasional walls of guitar... Corgan has kept all those elements from his earlier band, Smashing Pumpkins.

But the BEST thing he has kept from the Pumpkins is the drumming of Jimmy Chamberlin.

Now, I should point out that I've read absolutely NOTHING about this band and their CD at all. I just happened upon the disc at HMV, saw it was Billy Corgan's new band, and thought, "Alright, then." For all I know, it could be ANOTHER guy named Jimmy Chamberlin playing drums on this record (wouldn't that be hysterical?!? Me, writing all this stuff about him, and it's the wrong guy!!)... But judging from the videos I've seen on the internet of Zwan, it's the "same" Jimmy Chamberlin.

Chamberlin was kicked out of the Pumpkins a while before the band "broke up" because of his persistent drug habit -- Chamberlin was the guy doing drugs with the Pumpkins' keyboardist when he (the keyboardist) overdosed and died... It was a tragic story, not only because of the keyboardist's death, but because Chamberlin has always been a talent to be reckoned with, I reckon, and even people who weren't fans of Corgan's music had to shake their heads that someone as talented as Chamberlin couldn't break free from the addictions that were (literally) killing those around him.

Well, I can only assume that Chamberlin's return to Corgan's "fold" is a sign that he's finally CLEANED UP... And if you ask me, I think that every single musician who has EVER claimed that "the drugs help the music" should be forced to listen to this new Zwan record a THOUSAND TIMES...

Chamberlin is rocking harder than I would have ever -- and I mean EVER -- imagined he was capable.

Imagine Keith Moon, see, and he meets Ginger Baker, and they both decide to have a love-child who will inherit all their talents and MORE, but who will be able to live through the "Seattle invasion" and come out the other side with all of that firepower in his pocket -- able to rip your head off but not needing to. That's sort of what Chamberlin's drumming sounds like to me on this record. The groove is always moving, always rolling up and out, and he goes so close to "losing control" that he keeps me on the edge of my seat, I really feel that sometimes. It's like, he is playing with such wild abandon and freedom that I can't help but wonder what demons have been cleared out of his head by kicking drugs.

Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating, maybe he's not such a talent that everyone should pay homage to him or anything. It's not like he's doing anything "new" here. But listen to this clip from the end of the first track, and tell me this isn't some incredible drumming: [ LISTEN ] -- (approx. 421kb .mp3)

And the whole RECORD is full of that type of playing, it is as if (and I know I'm really "reaching" here) but it's as if he is just so excited to be alive, or something like that -- and that excitement is coming through in every fill and tom roll.

I know Jimmy Chamberlin has LOTS of fans all over the world, and they all seem to think he's amazing -- but I never really thought of him as being all that noteworthy when I was listening to my Smashing Pumpkins records over the years. But I've definitely changed my mind. If you are a drummer, BUY THIS CD.

Clear Away Your Accumulated Heat
One of my favorite websites is at Engrish.com -- some of the examples of "bad English" they have there are on the, shall we say, "risque" side... but I have NEVER gone to that site without laughing, and I mean OUT LOUD. It's just hysterical.

Well, the other day a friend offered to let me try this herbal medicine she had, and while the "instructions" aren't exactly Engrish, per se, I still felt they were worthy of your viewing.

We still have one more week off for SARS holiday, as we call it -- school was supposed to be back in session TODAY, but they only resumed secondary schools, and primary schools come back on the 28th. But I've still got LOTS to do this week -- I'm speaking at Xi Lin Church next Sunday, so I've got to work on that, plus I have some meetings later this week that need my attention before-hand.

IT WORKED.... I got my hard drive re-formatted, re-installed Windows, and now I'm back in business (as we say in da bidness).

It took me a LONG time to install Windows and update it to the latest version. About 4 hours, total... And that's using a cable modem, which is pretty fast. So I hope to not need to do that again in the near future.

But it's so cool to have a nice, clean system to work with. I've been installing only the programs I need, as I need them, and tweaking them along the way, which to a nerd like me can actually be "fun"...

It seems the SARS mania could be waning -- but let's not get our hopes up, yet. As of today, the number of cases officially reported was up around 880 in HK (the U.S. is now in third place, by the way, with 115 cases). And the South China Morning Post had an article today about how local hospitals are making plans for their "worst-case scenario" of 3000 people infected and hospitalized in HK simultaneously, should the virus continue to spread at its present rate. The ICU wards would be full up WAY before they reached that level of infections, so they are making their contingency plans NOW...

So the danger is still growing for all of us here in HK and southern China. But at the same time, when I went out yesterday I felt that the MOOD had changed.

People didn't seem quite so jumpy, and while this could have been my imagination, it seemed like there were more people out and about WITHOUT masks.

Things must be the same across the border -- take this quote from the SCMP, showing the change of heart in Guangzhou:

On the one hand, that's not exactly the kind of diligence that will keep this thing from spreading -- but then again, at least it shows a little less "PANIC!!!" mentality, which this place was full of 7 days ago.

My next thing is trying to figure out how the school schedule (and thus my summer holiday) will be affected by having 3 weeks of "epidemic holiday"... I know, I know, we're lucky (being teachers) to get so much time off in the summer -- so I'll try not to whine too much. But my only time to get home, if at all, should be in the summer, and now it looks like our mere 6-week break could shrink to about 3 weeks.

In other tech news, we STILL haven't been able to figure out why the counter on my main page isn't working -- some kind of conflict on the server. That's disappointing, but it's not the end of the world, now, is it? Perhaps I'll have you all send in a postcard for every time you come to the site -- then I can just count the number of postcards and we'll know the number of hits... Pretty easy, huh?

I'm just getting ready to blitz my hard drive (reformat it and re-install Windows) -- but I wanted to stick a quick note up here before I do that, since I'm mildly afraid that I'm going to screw my whole computer up and not be able to get online for a few days (see yesterday's posting below).

Anyway, I just wanted to update you that the current figures show about 734 people in HK being diagnosed with SARS disease. That's a lot of people, and the part that has most people scared is that each of those 734 people has been in contact with how many thousands before being diagnosed?

But let me put this into a small bit of perspective. There are about 7,000,000 people in HK these days. So, after 3 or 4 weeks of this disease being in HK, having a little over 700 people infected is an infection rate of approximately .0001 (which means .01%) -- in other words, 1/100th of one percent of HK is infected.

This disease is frightening because people are becoming so ill, some even dying, and there's no cure or sure-fire treatment... But it's not like "all of HK" is infected (yet). Just keep that in mind...

(I'll also point out, however, that the U.S. has moved up on the World Health Organization list of countries with the most diagnosed cases of SARS, from #5 to #4, with 85 cases -- this ain't just a HK thang)...

A couple of Ye Olde Prayer Requestes.... My cousin Sara hasn't been feeling too well, we are all really concerned about her and really wish she'd start feeling better. She's had a few health problems these last couple of years, but can't quite seem to just "break through" into the great things I know she has in store. I just wish you'd help us out by saying a little "bless Sara" prayer, and asking God to help her find lots of things to be happy about.

Also, my friend Sherri Luney has had some weird health things going on this past week or so. It sounds like the tests aren't totally conclusive yet, but I'm a little worried about her -- maybe shoot up a little ole "bless Sherri" as well... THANKS...

Alright, well, here goes nothing with the re-formatting and the re-installing and the thing with the stuff... Hopefully I'll be back online by tomorrow morning...

If you are just now "tuning in" to this site after a while, I suggest you go right now to check up on the last week or so of "news" from the end of March, so you can "catch up" on all that's been going on with the SARS epidemic that is sweeping HK -- the page is HERE -- maybe read the last week or so of postings, then come back to this page...

Unfortunately, the SARS epidemic continues practically unabated in HK, as hundreds more fall ill every few days. On Sunday the government finally closed down Amoy Gardens, a housing estate in Kowloon Bay, where something like 200 people had become infected. The problem is, from a "stop-the-epidemic" point of view, they waited to quarantine this estate until AFTER about half the people living there had already left. But they posted police guards and shut the whole place down at 6am on Sunday morning, and then on Monday they moved everyone out of those buildings and out to a campground in the New Territories (away from the city).

Furthermore, I just had dinner a while ago with some other teachers, and they told me that the government has NOW declared that schools will all be closed at least until April 22nd (which is after the public holiday at Easter time). Folks, that's three weeks without school, and frankly, if things don't slow down, we may not go back to school even THEN... They also told me that two empty government housing blocks here in Tin Shui Wai have been reserved as potential quarantine facilities if they are needed (fortunately the buildings are WAY away from where I live, ha ha)...

So you see, this is no laughing matter. Did you ever read "The Plague" by Camus?!?... I keep expecting to see Dustin Hoffman come walking up with a monkey on his shoulder...

The GOOD part is that we are still only talking about less than a thousand people infected, and MOST healthy persons who are infected have a good chance of a complete recovery. The BAD part is, the rate of infection is not slowing down but speeding up... And of course the WORST part is that the epidemic in HK is really NOTHING compared to what they are facing across the border in China.

Speaking of which, the conditions in China are quite bad, if ANYONE is considering traveling to China, let me warn you now to STAY AWAY. In typical fashion, there have reportedly been cover-ups and lies for weeks about the scope of the problem there, and in fact specialists from the World Health Organization had to wait DAYS to get government permission to enter the country to assess the situation and assist local health officials in dealing with the problem -- only a few days ago were they FINALLY admitted.

I've said before, and it becomes all the time more obvious, that the situation in China will become MUCH worse before it gets better -- at this rate, anyway. The headlines here in HK daily proclaim that "W.H.O. officials complain Chinese government is not cooperating"... That is a DAILY headline here!!! Can you imagine?!? There's no telling WHAT is really going on over there, you know?!?

Okay, so since we are off school -- our little "epidemic holiday" we like to call it -- several of us teachers from the school decided to go hiking on Tuesday and have a lovely buffet lunch/dinner.

So off we set for the Peak -- a prime hiking spot which features very easy trails and normally offers spectacular views of the city below. I took my camera and literally filled the thing up with photos, about 150 shots -- I only had memory for about three more shots when I finally put it away. So here are quite a few of the best ones.

So, after all that excitement, we ended up at the Marriott hotel in Central, a beautiful, quiet place -- complete with live pianist -- where we indulged in a FABULOUS buffet meal. Yes, it cost us a bundle by HK standards, almost $20 U.S. per person -- you must remember, "normal" (i.e.-- "not rich") HK people NEVER pay that much for a meal, so they felt like it was a wild extravagance... I've learned to not tell them, "It's not really that much for a nice, all-you-can-eat buffet!"... HK people might believe you if you say that, but they don't WANT to believe you -- they'd rather act like it's too much, like they were just CRAZY with indulgence to eat such an expensive meal. I think it must be part of the enjoyment for them, actually, you know? So that's cool, whatever... It was good food, in a nice atmosphere, and by the way the chocolate mousse cake was AMAZING...

Other than my adventure on Tuesday, I've spent most of the last few days here alone at home, just working at the computer here. I'm trying my best to back up all my data from the past year -- all the photos and artwork and software and music files and EVERYTHING I've accumulated on these hard drives -- I'm trying to back it all up so I can reformat the hard drive and re-install Windows. So far I've got about 35 CD's burned, something like that, and each one has been checked by a file comparison program I have to make sure there are no errors on them. It's made me think two things: 1) I've got to back up more often!, and 2) I need to get a DVD-RW drive -- I could have saved HOURS of work by making two or three backup DVD's and getting ON with it, you know?!?

So we'll see if I have any money for that in the next few months (don't hold your breath!)...

BUT, the real reason I tell you all this is that it's POSSIBLE, when I reformat the drive and re-install Windows, that I will have some kind of trouble getting back online, maybe even getting my e-mail. So if you are expecting to hear from me, keep in mind that my internet connection may not be working -- I'm not victim of SARS yet, alright?!? If that happens, I'll try to let you all know!!

But like I say, if I'm a while updating things here or answering your e-mails, it's probably that I just KILLED my computer!!

My mom sent me an e-mail today telling about my dad's adventure with his sunglasses. It seems the wind was blowing really hard when he was mowing the grass the other day -- so hard that it literally blew his sunglasses off his face.

Now, that's not funny, actually. But what's funny is that, despite an extensive search, they never found the glasses!!! I mean, it's not funny that he lost his sunglasses -- but then again, at the same time, the idea that the glasses got blown off his face and into OBLIVION just cracks me up... It's like, where did they go?!?

So my mom suggested the cows in the field next to our house must have found them -- and hopefully the image of those cows wearing his sunglasses has provided my dad at least SOME comfort in his time of "loss"...

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Here we are, so relaxed and carefree at the start of the trail...	A short way into the trail, there is a creek crossing, and Thomas wanted to do his rock climbing demo...	The views from the top of this mountain were among the most spectacular in HK. It was the kind of view where you're taking photos but you KNOW they won't do it justice, you know? Click on this one to see China in the background... There was a helicopter that day flying above some gravesites, announcing on their PA to "take care with fire" -- since many forest fires in HK start from people burning incense & "ghost money" at graves.	*FINALLY, the top!!*
Joey and Arthur pose for a portrait at the top.	Again, you can't imagine how wonderful this view is. Just breathtaking...	Janice and Thomas take a well-deserved water break.	Here we are rounding the other side of the mountain, with still great views of China off in the valley down below us...

This is one of my students who went with us, along with her mother. Don't tell HER, but she's really one of my favorite kids from school. I was able to shoot the one on the left and catch her by surprise, but she REALLY didn't want me to get another one!!	This is me (on the RIGHT) along with Mr. Lai on the LEFT, and the associate pastor of Yao Dao Church, Tin Sung (in the MIDDLE). Mr. Lai (a taxi driver) and I were the first up the main peak, and Tin Sung made it up JUST as another hiker was getting ready to take this photo of us...	As I say, the common way to hike this park is to come up to this first peak, and then take THIS trail off WEST across the other 7 peaks. You can see even from this that it can offer some really "epic" views...	After a while the others finally made it up to the top -- here is my student again, this time she has the "deer in the headlights" look of someone who REALLY didn't want her photo taken...
Here's Tin Sung again, this time with his wife, Rosa.	This is Michael, my other student who went with us. He is Mr. Lai's son, and in this photo he kept crying, "Ho sigh-ah!" which means, "It's really bright!" -- but in actuality he was just mad because he didn't want ME to take his photo. You see here the look of one bugged kid...	Other hikers took this group photo for us. * * * Just so you know, that is NOT my "V" in the back there -- that was Tin Sung.	The view as we started down from the first main peak. Quite stunning, though it's a little hazy in this particular shot...

We started by meeting at the Peak Tram station in Central -- here is everyone in their masks (this wasn't "posed" -- they really were wearing their masks)...	Once we got hiking, Heidi's son, Sam, insisted on taking everyone's photo whether they liked it or not -- so here Heidi makes Sam "take some of his own medicine"...	I'm sorry to say I never got this girl's name, but she is Heidi's niece, and you can tell we had fun all day long, we laughed a LOT.	Sam was drinking blue soda, so he wanted me to document his new look -- "Glenn, I'm Mr. Blue!!"
Here was our first good "group shot" of the day, under a HUGE drooping tree above the path...	It was about the time of the group shot under the tree that the kids decided the funniest thing to do would be to take photos and video of Glenn all day -- so that's what they did...	As you walk the path around the Peak, you will find a number of scenic spots offering views of the city below -- here is a cool shot of Sheung Wan below, as well as Tsim Sha Tsui across Victoria Harbour...	From left to right, here are Flora, Barnabas and Anna -- all teachers at Yao Dao School, and some of my best friends in HK...
At one point along the walk, I was able to catch this cool panoramic shot of the city below. What I love about it is how you can see the weather, from BRIGHT in the WEST, to CLOUDY in the EAST...
I love this shot because it gives you just the slightest feel of how, on this path, you are in wilderness, yet only feet from one of the world's most dynamic cities -- cool, huh? The arrow points to some people at a "lookout" spot.	Here's the Yao Dao crew: FRONT (L to R) -- Barnabas, Kathy, Anna, and ME... BACK (L to R) -- Heidi, Agnes, Flora, and Bobo.	After we finished the first part of our hike, they tried to decide what was next -- do we eat at the Peak, or take a bus to Central, or have a snack at the Peak & THEN go to Central?!? . . . Lunch is so complicated...	Just before we started our hike down from the Peak to Central, I grabbed this shot of the skyline -- it really shows the ominous clouds that were moving in to cover the Peak...
Here is Sam walking and reading at the same time. He was reading a book called, "The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby" - if you click on the image, you can see a close-up of some of the heady dialogue from this Pulitzer Prize winning text... very erudite stuff...	When we finally made our way down from the Peak, we ended up passing thru the zoological gardens. Here everyone, hot and tired as we were, took a rest on the benches. Sadly, there weren't enough benches for us all to sit, so the kids played paper, rock, scissors to try to get everyone's seat. . . . HERE, Sam tries to steal -- he beats Anna, but ends up losing to his sister -- "So long, Sam!!"	This is Charlie (left) who is Heidi's daughter, and then Florence, who is Heidi's niece... they ham it up very well, don't you think?	Flora, our school librarian, seems pretty interested in "The Adventures Of Super Diaper Baby"...