Song of this week

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-34p2rE3T8&feature=related

人算甚麼 曲／詞：艾阮

主手創出風雷星宿
早春夏雨深秋
神話語發出榮耀極豐厚
萬有亦出於祢口
主手創出星河宇宙
一切美不勝收
人在祢創造中恩深厚
是祢靈賜下自由

人算甚麼 人算甚麼
主祢竟顧念他
人算甚麼 人算甚麼
主祢竟顧念我

（副歌）
今夜星光斑爛多璀璨
銀河上有月影一彎彎
笑問天父何竟心仍未冷
重擔為我肩擔
今夜星光斑爛多璀璨
銀河上有月影一彎彎
笑問我算甚麼竟蒙大愛
深恩世代驚嘆

Merry Christmas

Hi friends,

I'll be having my 1st hot Christmas here in Brisbane. The temperature here is different with HK, US or in Europe but it doesn't affect our passion for commemorating the birth of our Saviour.

First of all, I wish you all brothers and sisters in Christ a healthy body and a joyful spirit. And particularly for those who stand in the cross road of where life could be headed, and that they will soon be inspired, and come to know God.

Here I would like to greet you with these special music videos. Hope you enjoy.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wL6cn97LEhs
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Y8YrXtGCagk&feature=related

Song of this week

Danny Boy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jgma--0WYU&feature=related

Lyrics: Frederick Edward Weatherly (1848-1929)
Original vocal: Elsie Griffin (1895 – 1989)
Music: Irish Anthem, from Londonderry Air

Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying
Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.
And if you come, when all the flowers are dying
And I am dead, as dead I well may be
You'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me.
And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me
And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be
If you'll not fail to tell me that you love me
I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.
I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.

The song has been interpreted by some listeners as a message from a parent to a son going off to war or leaving as part of the Irish Diaspora.

Trip to Montreal and Hong Kong

Montreal

(drafted on 9 & 30 November)

It is only 6am in Hong Kong and I am still wide awake and suffering from jetlag. Some images of Montreal linger on. The colours of autumn: red maples, yellow beech and old churches are in my beautiful memories.

I had just spent two weeks in Montreal with Anthony. He was sent by his company to do some software work testing. Two of his colleagues have already been there for weeks. Long before we were married, we've been waiting for the confirmation to go. Perhaps, it was our second honeymoon.

It was a long & tiring flight, no easy journey. We took 20hrs flying from Brisbane to HK to Toronto and finally our destination, Montreal. At one transit, we stopped by Anchorage, a city of Alaska for refuel. We had a bad impression during our time in Anchorage. We were asked to get off the plane to pass through the US immigration. They took us photos and collected our thumbs print. This was an usual practice for a normal transit. We felt offended and our privacy invaded. A kind of intelligence they wanted to get from us. Thank you Mr. Bush a job well done. Is that worth spending on the security? With this experience, I cancelled my plan to go to Boston.

When we arrived Montreal, it was a bright sunday morning. Our first things to do were to get a phone card and a map. We had to understand their network, where to go, eat and see. Of course, it was my aim to have a good time there but not for poor Anthony. I started the exploration so that he could get the best out of the weekend.

The travel guide suggested that we must visit "Old Montreal", "The little Italy", " The underground city", and " Biodome & Biosphere". I dare say I can be your tour guide of Montreal after my 12 days of intensive walking.

The weather of Montreal was not as cold as I imagined. People said that the weather of Montreal in November should be snowing. It must be global warming. When I came to Brisbane and Montreal, I l've learnt environment from the Museum, TV and radio. Anthony is a faithful environmentalist, more or less I am affected. As the earth was given to us by God, we have a mandate and responsibility to protect it.

Canadian's history always associate the relationship between Britain and France. They fought the land for years. Geographically, there's a lot of advantages with being located along side with St. Lawrence river. Most of the artilery production was located there during the colonial era. 80% of the people of Montreal(Quebec) speak mainly French which is different from Toronto where they are mostly influenced by Britain. Montreal is well known for being the best designed city in the world. There are approx. 70-80 numbers of old churches ( mainly catholics) scattered throughout Montreal. Their styles varied from Romanesque to Gothic Revival. A feast that design students shouldn't miss.

According to the info., Montreal was initially founded by the Catholic organisation, "The Société Notre-Dame" purely for missionary purpose. Most of the time missionaries supplied the necessities for the settlers. They actively took part in establishing education and hospital. A lady, Jeanne Mance who was highly respected in the history of Montreal, unofficailly considered as the colony's co-founder. She also founded Montréal’s first hospital in 1645 and ran the colony in the principal's absence. We could easily find her name and statue in town.

Later in the weekend, we took a short trip to Toronto to see the Niagara Fall. Along the journey, we met a Dutch lady in the coach sitting besides us, we joined and walked together since she was not very good with directions. We made friends along the way. A single lady from New York who came to Canada for work joined us at the same table for lunch. Anthony's outspoken personality help us to make friends anywhere at anytime.

In Niagara, we took the helicopter ride to better appreciate the Fall. This was once in a lifetime ride we had to try. We were told that the helicopter was of the latest technological designed and one of the most quiet Heli. in the world. I was stunt by the view from the top of the fall. (Pls see photos)

We also visited the Casa Loma, a famous private castle in Toronto. I have always dreamt of wandering in a castle. I finally experienced one real castle in Casa Loma. We read the castle's story, looked at the sophiscated interior design, went around room by room and even climbed to the towers. We spent half of the day in the Castle as if backed in the Medieval age. This castle had witnessed the development of a Canadian history and a Scottish tycoon's legend. What a lively lesson! (Pls see photos)

I'm lucky to have the chance of visiting Montreal & Toronto. Anthony's colleagues, Geoff, Tony, Russell and David whom I had dinner with were wonderful. They gave me a treat (French crusine) for my final dinner in Montreal. They are very friendly people.

Hong Kong

Guess what I did when I arrived Hong Kong? I went hiking, with Fanny, Kwun Cheung, Roger & yum cha with Ling Hing. Seeing old friends is nice. However, there was no fun joining an official church service on one Sunday. Was it a church or a Christian making factory? But I missed the friends there who had once supported me.

Kindly light Church in Tsz Wan Shan, was another church that I had attended after my study in the UK (1994-96). I still remember the people. I was once a teens fellowship tutor. Now they've all grown up, getting married and raising children. How time flies! Eric & Chris., are nice God's servants. Jackie looked a bit tired since not having seen her for a while. A.Chung & Christella, my design study's tutor & classmate, it was good to share & catch up with them the current design market in HK. Thanks Gabriel & Lilian bought me dinner. Most of my time in HK was spent meeting old friends & families.

The rest of the time I spent in Yuen Long was to tidy up my old stuff which I had not organised properly before my rush departure for the wedding.

My home sick now would slowly be ceased after the trip, and I wish I can go back Canada again because I have fallen in love with Montreal.:-)

Happy Birthday

Yesterday I spent my most enjoyable day with the fellowship groups from St.Andrew's & Toowong Baptist church having lunch at the Singapura Restaurant. It was a nice surprise.

Thanks Anthony for buying me an easel three weeks before, Ruby and Oliver for organising lunch, the cake & the gift. Thanks Kathy, Julie & Mari for joining us. We had two big tables with delicious food like Nasi Lamak. Hainanese chicken , Laksa...........Yum!! :-)

After lunch, we attended a church seminar held by a guest speaker Pastor So. The topic was on family & marriage counselling. Pastor So is a very experienced counsellor who currently resides and works in Canada. He delivered a dynamic & down to earth talk, illustrated a precise picture of current problems in marriage and families. His serious humour & pin-pointed sermon added a special flavour to the talk. I was enlightened by his suggestions that our value on marriage is strongly influenced by postmodernisim. It's a totally different value to what God wants us to be and how we should live. I was reminded of the kind of world we are living in & how satan from time to time look for chances to attack us. I was wondering as we are opened to different cultures, new experiences and information, it increases the chance that we get distracted and confused. We need to pray to God that the Holy spirit & His words would always protect us from confusion, keep our hearts & mind clear. He is Good , prayers is the only way to keep us from straying.

Thank you very much, I was blessed on this birthday.

The Movie World Adventure

Last week end, Anthony and I went to Movie World. Movies World is well known as " Hollywood of the Goldcoast"

It was a free admission that Anthony's company, Energex offered to his staff as part of the employees's benefit, and I think it would be a must go place for families and kids. The park was specially arranged to open after the normal hours for Energex, i.e. nearly the evening period.

The Movie World is located near Goldcoast which is about 70km from Brisbane. It just takes 4omins car ride there. The day we took a large, delux coach with seats that were nicely cushioned and woven with top quality Australian velvet and wool. We thanked Energex that we were treated as the first class passenger. :-)

We estimated there were a total of 4 to 5 large coaches prepared for the Energex staffs in down town, which was perhaps having a hundred staff member plus their families. Anthony and I were very excited about the visit though there was a late shower before the entry.

Guess what was the first attaction in the park? The......Parade, I didn't know the name of this character, perhaps it's true that I have been too long living in a boring adult world. From my childhood memories, I mostly remmember the characters are Superman, Batman, Wonderwoman & Spiderman or Micky and Bunny. Who are the Scooby-Doo & Looney Tunes? My updates learnt character now is Shrek, the Ginger Breadman friend & the Pinocchio. These characters have meaningful stories that at times had made us laugh & cry. I realised that we we can be innocent while watching & responding to the familiar character just simply call out their name.

Our first adventure is, Superman Escape. It was a super experience. We experienced the 4G positive and 1G negative force as told by the preivew. The human tolerance for gravity is 7G and that for a trained astronaut. It was graded the top ride and I personallly felt that it was 3 times more excited than HK Ocean Park and the Disney in Paris . ( I still haven't experienced the origin US ) We were a bit dizzy after the ride.

There's another high-light game, the Batwing Space Shot. We may call it "High rise jump" The second graded excitement. The game players sit with loose feet against the powerful engine and which bump them to sky high and decend back. We wanted to try but we quit just when we reached the front of the queue. You know why? I was physically not good enough to take the excitement, particularly after the Scooby-Doo ride, the Batman Adventure and dinner. I was a bit too exhausted by the shaking & pulling. Forgive me for turning coward, but I didn't want to risk my health. I am sure I would try next year.

By nine o'clock, we had our last adventure which was Shrek 4D Adventure. The story was about a kind-hearted green ogre. An actor, played the King' s torturer and gave us the introductory session that really make us laugh. I dare say he deserved an Oscar. The whole show was enjoyable. Just sat there and experienced sensations to our four senses. The sensation to my body was like massage.:-)

Well, please take a look on the photos, share the fun with you. Can you recognise those characters?