Lull

We are entering a short lull....Martin and Renee have gone, Gillie leaves tonight, Margaret and Duncan don't arrive till next week. Just time to get the sheets laundered. To our chagrin, the laundry closes on Sunday, so although Les took two loads on Saturday, I have another two to go today. We are so lucky to have the space to have our friends/family to stay or for dinner, it's been great fun.

Martin and Renee enjoyed their visit, especially the hectic and riotous time when they overlapped with David Jen and the boys. It was great to see them all together. Martin and David have got so alike they are almost like twins! Especially confusing on the days they chose to wear the same colour t-shirts!
I was able to arrange for M&R to hike the Dragon's Back, a classic Hong Kong hike. We also went to see Matilda Hospital where Renee was born and she got a tour of the building. In 2007, a new wing was added and people born there were invited to make a handprint to create a wall of Matilda babies. Renee was invited to make her print, so Matilda's wall now proudly sports a green Renee Braden 1982 handprint. It was a nice touch and she will have a lovely time telling her Mum all about it, with accompanying pictures.Then we went to see the apartment where she lived as a child. Afterwards, we took the green minibus back down to the Star Ferry. However, Renee and I boarded and paid, but then the bus was full ( it only holds 16) so poor Martin was left behind! Unfortunately the next bus took a completely different route, so whilst we waited at the ferry for him, he found his way home by train. I came back to find him like a homing pigeon standing outsde the apartment door. Renee was meantime standing vigil over on the island... Anyway,we all arrived back here safely in the end. On their last night, we took Martin and Renee to the very same cocktail bar we took Fraser, Ashley and Fiona six years ago. We saw the light show from the island side, it was interesting to see how far it stretched, all the way to Hung Hom and beyond.

For the next ten days, I will be once again concentrating on my HK social activities. Tomorrow I have Book Group and then a Cantonese lesson. On Wednesday, I am going to visit Kadoorie Botanical Garden with an expert on orchids for a guide and after lunch we will go on to the HK Railway museum. Then there is the monthly Kowloon Coffee date on Thursday which is always fun and will probably lead to some acitvities later on.I've turned down a backstage visit to HK Performing Arts and a hike on Cheung Chau as my diary is already full!