10 November 2014
One of our jobs is showing visitors to Tao Fong Shan around. Fortunately for us, many of those who stay at Pilgrim’s Hall are either from Hong Kong themselves, attending retreat or seminar, mainlanders who do not speak English or former missionaries who know the place better than we do. So the job is not too burdensome.
However, recently we did have a group of Norwegians to play hosts to. After an evening at our house showing them the DVD about Reichelt’s pioneer work and the founding of Tao Fong Shan, we did a guided tour of the place and of the neighbouring Lutheran Theological Seminary. The next day we took the bus to Lantau Island and the cable up to the great Buddha. Alas, the weather was rather misty so the views were not as spectacular as they might have been, but one could still see the bridge to Macau under construction. Next came the helter-skelter bus ride down to Mui Wo and dinner at the Turkish restaurant, followed by the ferry ride back to central. So much for Friday. On Saturday we took the Big Bus trip all the way round Hong Kong Island, stopping at Stanley for lunch and the market and then Aberdeen for the sampan ride around the harbour to see the floating restaurant where, among other celebrities, Queen Elizabeth, had dined. From the front it looked very exotic and colorful; from the back it looked dismally shabby. We also got to see the house boats of the boat people. There are not many left. I can see why? A second Big Bus trip (somewhat shortened thanks to Occupy) showed us the sights of Hong Kong city and included a tram ride up to the Peak and a view from the platform of the light show down at Victoria harbour, which they had seen the evening before from the harbour. Understandably, they were far more impressed seeing the spectacle from this height. We finished off this rather long day by visiting the demonstrations at Admiralty. It was all very peaceful. This time there were far more tents and the students had established a study centre in the middle of the road under cover from any rain, with lights and tables and plugins for their laptops. One student was holding a speech to encourage the demonstrators. Finally we caught the MTR and taxis back up the hill to TFS. Our guests were to leave for the airport at six the next morning.
One of our jobs is showing visitors to Tao Fong Shan around. Fortunately for us, many of those who stay at Pilgrim’s Hall are either from Hong Kong themselves, attending retreat or seminar, mainlanders who do not speak English or former missionaries who know the place better than we do. So the job is not too burdensome.
However, recently we did have a group of Norwegians to play hosts to. After an evening at our house showing them the DVD about Reichelt’s pioneer work and the founding of Tao Fong Shan, we did a guided tour of the place and of the neighbouring Lutheran Theological Seminary. The next day we took the bus to Lantau Island and the cable up to the great Buddha. Alas, the weather was rather misty so the views were not as spectacular as they might have been, but one could still see the bridge to Macau under construction. Next came the helter-skelter bus ride down to Mui Wo and dinner at the Turkish restaurant, followed by the ferry ride back to central. So much for Friday. On Saturday we took the Big Bus trip all the way round Hong Kong Island, stopping at Stanley for lunch and the market and then Aberdeen for the sampan ride around the harbour to see the floating restaurant where, among other celebrities, Queen Elizabeth, had dined. From the front it looked very exotic and colorful; from the back it looked dismally shabby. We also got to see the house boats of the boat people. There are not many left. I can see why? A second Big Bus trip (somewhat shortened thanks to Occupy) showed us the sights of Hong Kong city and included a tram ride up to the Peak and a view from the platform of the light show down at Victoria harbour, which they had seen the evening before from the harbour. Understandably, they were far more impressed seeing the spectacle from this height. We finished off this rather long day by visiting the demonstrations at Admiralty. It was all very peaceful. This time there were far more tents and the students had established a study centre in the middle of the road under cover from any rain, with lights and tables and plugins for their laptops. One student was holding a speech to encourage the demonstrators. Finally we caught the MTR and taxis back up the hill to TFS. Our guests were to leave for the airport at six the next morning.