Local Art Exhibit

My librarian friend who invited me to the local art exhibit.

The artist and his work of falling sand, which is time.

This picture was made from wood and the artist had drawn this most amazing cliff with people walking.

A gentle landscape of nature. Something I always enjoy looking at...nature.

Yes the Door is Open!! Come in and see the local Hong Kong art. It was so refreshing to be in an artist place again. Art is so important for humanity. Seeing how local Hong Kong people view their own culture and how they choose to express what they see in their society was wonderful to see. Art is a statement about where a society is. My librarian friend invited me to come and I'm so glad I did.

Foot Massage

China is known for very good massages. There are many different kinds of massages you can get. I prefer a good acupressure foot massage. I took my current guest for her first Chinese foot massage. It is always amazing how you feel like a new person after a foot massage.:)

Cultural Presentations

It's been awhile since I've blogged. Life always seems to get busy. But I wanted to share some neat stuff happening in the classroom. Students are giving presentations about their own culture and traditions. We've been learning about 3 cultures in Canada; the Inuit, Acadians, and Ukrainians. It's important for students to think about their own culture and what their traditions as we have been learning about these Canadian cultures and most of them have never been to Canada. So we've had presentations on the Dutch, Chinese, Indian, Taiwanese, Nigerian and Japanese cultures. It's been very interesting and informative. Kids know more than we think.:)

Lama Island

Giant Spider...aaaaah!

Lama Beach

Lama Island is a nice relaxed place in Hong Kong. You take a ferry to the island. It's only a 20 minute ferry ride. The island is a walking or biking only island. No cars allowed. It is known as the hippie island, because there are a lot of hippie ex-pats that live on the island. I went walking with my local friends Stephen and Myra. Found a lovely beach and went swimming in the water. It was the perfect day for a hike and swim. We stopped at this organic garden that had the largest spider I have ever seen. It was as big as my hand, but it was not a tarantula. I don't know what kind of spider it was, but it was scary and amazing.

Saturday Hike

I hiked for 6 hours with my friend Keena and friends. It was a nice hike through the mountains and pastures along the beach. Across the shore you could see Shenzen. There were many abandoned villages that we wandered across. There were bamboo forests, too. The bamboo makes this creaking noise in the wind. It almost sounds like a wood pecker or a creaky door. It was kind of spooky. The combination of heat and exercise created rivers of sweat all over the body. I was feeling a bit dehydrated. There were lots of cow pies al over the place and then I ran into some free-range cows that looked like they were starving.

Lilienfield-Summer 2011

A most beautiful building.

The sound technician recording the concert.

On the train.

After Vienna I took the train the Lilienfield to see my friend, Monica perform. Lilienfield was such a quaint little Austrian town. So peaceful and fresh.

Vienna-Summer 2011

I was in Vienna for 2 nights this summer. I stayed in the Hostel Ruthensteiner, which I would highly recommend. It was a cozy, comfortable Hostel with good vibes. I went to one palace to see the artwork of Gustav Klimt. Then I went on a bike tour of Vienna. That was alot of fun and a great way to see Vienna in a short period of time. I was the only caucasian on the tour except for the tour guide. Everyone else was from Asia. I felt like I had never left Hong Kong. It was funny and I felt right at home.:)

The Night View from my Apartment

I love the view from my apartment. I can see the sunset over the water and the mountains.:)

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival

Tonight I drove all the way to the Butterfly Beach in Teun Mun. I was hoping to see lots of floating lanterns. But....I saw lots of glow sticks, candles burning in the sand and some lanterns that you carry with a stick. No floating lanterns. It was a lovely full moon. I walked on the beach and watched all the people sitting on the sand playing with their glow sticks and candles. Maybe next year I can find out where they light the flying lanterns. It is a most magical moment when hundreds of lanterns are floating through the air.

Prague

Prague is quite a beautiful city. It is full of medieval architecture and Ars Noveau style buildings. It is also a city full of culture and so many famous musicians and artists have influenced Praha. We have been staying in the Dizzy Daisy Hostel close to the Moldoua River. A quaint Parisian style cafe is near the hostel and every morning we have dined there with great enjoyment. These are the highlites of what I saw in Praha.
-St. Charle's Bridge-built in the 13th century is fun to walk across. There are so many statues of saints on it.
-The Lobkowizcky Palace-sits on top of a hill overlooking the Moldoua River. Inside the palace is an amazing collection of art and history. I saw Beethoven's original scores for his 3rd, 4th, and 5th symphonies as they were dedicated to the Prince Lobkowizcky. Mozart and Hayden were also connected to the Palace.
-Mucha Museum-Alphonse Mucha influenced Praha so much and his art helped the Czeck people.
-Dvorak's birthplace
-Wandering the streets looking at the amazing buildings.

Prague is great, but it is not my favourilite city. Personally Budapest still sticks out in my mind.

Neheloves Castle

Today Keena, Monica and I took a little train trip to Neheloves to see the birthplace of Antonin Dvorak and see a Renaissance Castle. It was a nice trip. Sadly the house of Dvorak's birthplace was closed. The castle was interesting. There were many beautiful paintings and chests with amazing inlayand paintings as well as so many guns and trophies from hunting. Hunting was pretty important to the nobility as it provided food for their household and trained them for war.

When we came back into Praha we walked around Old Town in the Jewish Quarter and saw the famous Astronomical Clock. Then we decided to take the subway to another castle Vysehad. That has lovely views of Prague and we watched the sunset.

Bike, Hike and Swim

HK is full of nature!

I love the sky and trees.

Looking back where we biked from.

The reservoir road.

A very asian bike so you won't get sunburned. Quite smart!

Looking toward the bay.

Biker chicks...chicks rule!

Eating Thai food.

Saturday I went for a lovely motorbike ride with my friend Keena and Julia to Tai po where we biked, hiked and went swimming. There are so many beautiful options to be in nature in Hong Kong. I did lock my keys inside my bike seat, but praise God I had a spare back at my apartment.:)