The Maldives - A Pardise in the Sea

In their spring odyssey, Malcolm and Vickie travelled to the Maldives, very much a garden of Eden in the sea. They share with us below what it is like staying in a water bungalow there through an excerpt from an email they wrote to their friend who did their booking.

"Staying in Maldives is like living on top of a tropical fish tank and there was never a dull moment. Looking out the window one can see baby sharks nosing around, stingrays sneaked in like a stealth airplane, colorful tropical fishes lining up doing fashion shows and octopus chasing away intruders.

"I have just described what one can see from the window of the water bungalow, not to mention the great scenes when one is doing snorkeling or diving. Before we arrived, Vicki was a little worried that the location although is beautiful and pristine but it could be boring. It turned out that she wanted to stay a few more days as we found out how much fun we can have just by walking around and doing snorkeling.

"The only criticism was the food. I wish some of the coral fish could be served as steamed fish with ginger and soy sauce. Of course I am kidding, the fishes should be left alone wandering around the corals."

The Maldives is of course one of the low lying countries threatened by the rise of sea levels caused by global warming. If we do not want to see this beautiful place being submerged soon, we must all do our part to sustain it.

To see the charm of the Maldives as photographed by Malcolm, please click here.

Welcoming Lau Wai & Lau Man

You may choose to have a candle-light dinner with your Valentine on 14 Feb. Some of our classmates decided it was even more important to meet up with long lost friends especially when their stay here is only brief.

CHAN Kin-wai from Sidney and CHAN Oi-man from New York are in town and wish to see old friends. Ha Man-kit sent us this photo taken after their dinner together at the Pacific Club in Tsim Sha Tsui " for those who have not seen them for a long time & for those who can't recall them".

Persia then Iran now a Great Civilization always

Malcolm Au continues his globe trotting this time to Iran, a dreamland for many of us. He sends us this report:

Vicki and I spend 10 days in Iran. We traveled to Shiraz, Kerman, Yazd, Esfahan, Abiyanet, Qom and Tehren. I have taken 3,000 pictures and have kept 800. I want to share some of my pictures with you and our schoolmates.

I was a little apprehensive and Vicki was a great deal apprehensive before we went. A lot of friends offer their condolences when they heard that we are going to Iran. It turns out that Iran is a beautiful country and it is not a bit like the portrait painted by the western media. I don't know about the Iranian government but the people were first rate. I don't think there is any pretense as their friendly reaction were very spontaneous. The people are extremely friendly. Normally when my subjects found out that I was taking pictures of them they will either show their disapproval/annoyance or they will come over to ask for money. Almost without fail, the Iranian people will smile back, some shook my hand and one pretty lady even came over to offer me her address so that I can send her the picture. (fortunately Vicki was there).

The places we went to, even small cities, are clean and we do not feel in any way being in danger, intimidated or being uncomfortable. Even Vicki, our Christian spiritual leader, feel comfortable about them.

I think Iran will become a very powerful nation once they have found a path of their choice to open up. They have vast mineral resources, talented and educated people and, most of all, they have about 3,000,000 overseas Iranians that can link them to the rest of the world quickly.

Please click here to enjoy the very nice pictures Malcolm is generously sharing with us.

Calgary Reunion 2008

In June/July 2008, some of us met in Calgary for a mini-reunion organized by Pauline and Fred as a sequel to our grand 40th anniversary reunion in Kong Kong. We kicked off the reunion by travelling to the Yellowstone Park, then the Glacier and Waterton National Parks. The natural beauty in these parks was just awe-inspiring. We had eleven amazing days of fun and laughter together on this trip.
After retuning to Calgary, we were joined by Fiona (also our Calgary host), Irene from Toronto and Angela and Brenda from New York for an excursion to the serene Banff National Park after immersing ourselves in the Stampede festivities.

We were most happy to have even more classmates joining us, Janette, Portia & Sun and Catherine & Milton all from Edmonton, for a reunion dinner in Calgary and a delightful evening at Joshua and Christina's lovely house.
We all enjoyed the reunion very much and are most thankful to Pauline & Fred, Fiona & Walter and Joshua & Christina, our Calgary hosts, for making it possible.

As a memento of this reunion, we have produced a 40-page album which you can preview the first third of it by clicking here. If you would like a copy, you can order directly through the same web page.

The photos in this post and many in the album were taken by Fred Cheng