School Principals let loose in China

This was an unusual trip because out of the 20 people on board, 16 were school principals. You think we would be a very serious group? Think again! Try to think of 16 stressed out overworked principals let loose. What do you think we would do?

School Principals let loose.

Dali was a pleasant surprise for most of us. Ok -to be fair, I think none of the currently serving principals did much homework for the trip since we were swamped by work in school.  So we came to Dali with no expectations.We found Dali was situated by this huge beautiful lake Er Hai. . Our hotel rooms had views of the lake in front or the scenic mountains behind

Putting our best foot forward and ...
valiantly trying to maintain balance.

I was intrigued when I heard that we could view cormorants birds catching fishes for the fishermen. Excuse me, I remember studying about this in Geography a very long time ago while I was in primary school. Of course, we needed this optional package. In the end, all 20 of us went on 2 boats. I was surprised to find out the birds were free flying and came to the fishermen's boats when called by them. The fishermen stopped them from swallowing big fishes by tying a straw around their necks but the birds could easily swallow smaller fishes. Sometimes the birds work in groups to catch several fishes.

This cormorant has caught a sizable fish.

We had this interesting steamboat where the noodles were cooked like the opening of a fan. I liked this trip. It was quite relaxing since we stayed a minimum of two nights in each location before we moved on. Another good surprise was the four-stars hotel we were housed in. We slept in rooms with two queen sized beds for the duration of our entire stay  in China . During this trip, I saw the pretty colors of China. The blue sky, green hills, and fields with varying shades of yellow from the sunflowers, maize, tobacco and padi.

If you zoom in to this picture, you can see the
dinosaurs painted on the house walls.

I was intrigued by the dinosaurs I saw painted on the walls of many Chinese villages. In our initial animated discussion , we thought they were Chinese dragons. Later we found out we were passing through Dinosaur Valley and there were even a museum to view the fossils of the dinosaur found in this region.

Dinosaur painted on the walls.

Watching the show in the rain and
with the snow mountains as backdrop

Another highlight was watching Zhang Yi Mao open air show in Lijiang. We are dressed in raincoats and the show goes on , rain or shine. The Snow mountains in the background are part of the backdrop for the show with a cast of more than 500 people. There are so many things to view - the changing backdrop, the cast appearing among us, the cast appearing from different areas apart from the stage.

After the show, we took the cable car to Spruce Meadow. we breathed in fresh air - pure oxygen.Any chance of us looking younger?

At the first bend of the river that flows to Shanghai.

Pretty patchwork fieldsaginst blue sky and white clouds

With Tibetan mastiff dog

Poisonous red flowers. Even the yaks avoid them.

We came back to Malaysia, refreshed. And we had one more day to rest ... before going back to our schools. Thank God for good company, good weather, journey's pleasures and journey's mercies.

Travelling in Greece

3 Sept  2013.
Visiting Greece is a much delayed trip - I had wanted some 3 years ago to visit Greece but with the financial crisis and threatened security in Athens, it seemed not very practical. This longing to visit Greece must have come from teaching Bible Knowledge - the whole book of Acts centers around Israel, Turkey and Greece.So this year I got desperate and do or die, I had to visit Greece. Something to that effect

We flew in to Athens. That first day we walked up to the Acropolis and up Mars Hill twice - once by day and the second time by night. The Acropolis is a good 1500 m above sea level. .

The Acropolis and Mars Hill.

Jason on the Acropolis.
Note the thick columns

Up there, just before the Acropolis,  I found Dionysus' amphitheater. It looked so familiar. I then realized this was the place of a photo my students Sara and gang  in SMK Seksyen 5 used for teaching parabola.

At Dionysus amphitheater

                                                Greek busker on the way up to Mars Hill.

The Acropolis by night . Photo taken from Mars Hill.
No wonder Paul had that discussion on Mars Hill.
It overlooks the busy city and is cooler and
 is a good place for people to lepak and hear the latest fancies.

We took  a day trip to Corinth, about an hour drive away. Until  the day we visited Corinth, I never understood why Paul wrote two such thick letters I Corinthians and II Corinthians. Guess the location of Corinth?

Corinth was a very important city located at the narrow isthmus of Corinth. The word isthmus means neck. This is a narrow land bridge connecting the Peloponnese peninsula with the rest of mainland Greece. Ships had to take many days to sail around the treacherous coast of  the Peloponnese peninsula  but if they came to Corinth, They saved precious time and lives! 

Here at Corinth, they were rolled across on wooden logs ( smoothed with animal fat) on land, for a hefty fee of course! This made Corinth extremely prosperous! Her strategic location at  the connection between the Mediterranean sea and the Aegean sea meant a meeting of cultures.It is no wonder the very word Corinthian means ultra liberal. If you view the map below, you will find Corinth is not far from Sparta and Olympus and the 3 cultures - spartan versus liberal versus rigorous sports training in Olympus are very very different despite the nearness in location. 

Paul spent much time in Corinth. He stayed here twice, the first time for more than one and a half years. In Acts 18:18, we read that Paul sailed from Cenchrea ( the harbour near Corinth) and sailed to Ephesus. Look at the map and you find Ephesus is almost in a straight line slightly above Cenchrea across the Agean sea.

The Corinth canal was built with the invention  of dynamite
and ships now sail across instead of being rolled across.

Paul must have preached at this place
overlooking the agora (market place )  in Corinth

Corinth was the place where the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and encouraged him to stay there and to speak. God assured Paul he had many people here and that He was with Paul here and no one would attack or hurt him here.

Are there difficult places where God calls you to stay?

The pleasure of travelling

When I was much younger and poorer, I had many dreams of travelling the world and seeing what I read in books come alive in my travels. In fact, I told Papa God if ever He intended to take me home to Heaven earlier and if by chance I hadn't quite travel as much as I wanted to, to make very sure His angel take me on a round the world tour first, before taking me up to the more glorious heavens.

Papa God must have heard my prayers and blessed my husband financially so that we can travel often and savor travelling and not make the angel do a whirlwind tour. Thank you Papa God for hearing and answering my prayers. This post will show pics in Santorini, Greece August-Sept 2013. Santorini means Saint Irene - so for my good friend and pastor Irene, here is one beautiful island bearing your name to which which you must go.

At the castle ruins overlooking Oia.

Santorini has ...
more churches than houses
more wine than water
more steps than roads
more donkeys than taxis

Yummy Greek food at Kamaris, black beach resort area.

Jason at Oia

This handsome bus conductor on the bus to Kamaris
transported me back in time to 30 years ago  nostalgia
on the Len Sen bus in Setapak.
He  issued tickets by punching holes in each tickets
and shouted the name of each bus station .

Sue Ann in  Fira overlooking the bay where our
Spanish cruise ship The Zenith awaits our return.

Donkey ride down 600 steps from Fira to the harbour 

to our awaiting ship. Remember Santorini has ...

more steps than roads and more donkeys than taxis.

Returning back to our cruise ship The Zenith.
She is a 11+1 storeys ship with lifts running
up to the 11 floor. 
The 12th floor is the deck from
which we often view sunrise and sunset.

What a happy time, savoring the sights, the smells, the sounds of Santorini. Thank you God.