Friday, December 23, 2011

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!



聖誕和新年快樂!
Merry Christmas 2011 and a Happy New Year 2012 from Hong Kong!!

Dear Friends and Family,

We've been in Hong Kong for over a year now, and we will be heading home in early May.  However, we have somewhat mixed emotions about that eventuality.  We're are very grateful for the opportunity that we've had to serve the Asian Saints in the HK temple; we've met people here from all over south Asia,  China and Mongolia.  By observing the Saints from the various places, we recognize the blessing of the Church in their lives; they are a very humble and sincere people who have embraced the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the implementation of the Gospel into their lives has helped lift them both physically and spiritually to a higher plane.
Last year started out well enough, but Elwin began having dizziness problems climbing long fights of stairs when going back to our apartment from church on Sundays.  A local cardiologist recommended a stent (remember that he had a triple by-pass before leaving St. George, delaying our original departure to HK).  He got the stent, but it did not solve the problem.  After much research on the internet about different drugs/supplements and consultation with our son, Kong, he cut out his Omega 3 capsules.  The majority of the problem disappeared as Omega 3 supplements helps to reduce blood pressure, and Elwin already has low blood pressure.  He can now sometimes climb steep hills when we hike.
We have been attending the Mandarin-speaking branch of the Church in Wan Chai and taught the Temple preparation class.  We've had nearly a dozen of our students attend the Temple since we started  last spring.  We have also set up a regular attendance schedule for branch members and initiated baptisms for the youth to do in the Temple.  It has been a great spiritual experience for everyone.
We went to Taiwan in June and visited many of Shirley's relatives; one of two living aunts has dementia so we could not get any family history from her.  One cousin had had some family history but it was destroyed in a flood last year; he is also suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.  We did learn, however, that her family is from Zhangzhou in Fujian province, directly west of Taiwan near the Chinese city of Xiamen.  Her Sung ancestors migrated to Taiwan three to four hundred years ago.  We hope to visit there before returning home but presently have no contacts with anyone there.

Speaking of genealogy, we've seen Chinese names of men dating back to 2300 B.C. This is all very interesting, but genealogies generally only follow a patriarchal lineage, so there seldom are records giving the names of wives or daughters. In fact, this was obvious at the time when some of our students at Shandong University three years ago did not know that their grandmothers have names. We told them to go home and learn of their families.

A highlight here has been the recent visit of our oldest daughter and her family to Hong Kong.  They came during the two week Temple closing for cleaning earlier this month, so we were free to show them Hong Kong.  It was a whirlwind holiday; Shirley had plans for every day of ten days of places to go and activities to do.  It was also interesting having nine people sleep in our small apartment; the bed and floors were covered by people with little space for moving around.  Everyone seemed thrilled about the experience.

What a great year we've had!  We've met many kind and wonderful people.  We've seen many people grow in the Gospel.  And guess what, we have too.  We are grateful for this time of year when we celebrate the birth of our Savior.  It reminds us of the peace and joy we experience when we rely on Him to soothe our hurts and mend our souls.  There are no words that can express the appreciation and love we have for Him.  May y'all have a very joyous Christmas and a wonderful new year.

With much love, Elder Elwin and Sister Shirley Davis
dixiedoctochina@gmail.com
http://elwinandshirley.blogspot.com 

Monday, December 5, 2011

A visit from Elaine and family

The long awaited day finally came.  Elaine and her family arrived in Hong Kong on Dec. 1, after being enroute for a very long time...but all were in good spirits.  So good to see all of them.

 Grandma took the children out to the playground.  Do you see how tall Megumi is!  Wow, we've only been gone for a year.


 Open meat market - they were bewildered!

 Open fish market - in shock to see them swimming around

 Just name the fish, the lady cleans it up for you


  Bus ride in Hong Kong
Friday, 12/2:  We took everyone, minus Elaine (home w/stomach flu), to Victoria Peak.  We rode MTR train to Central, then boarded the bus with Sister Yu to catch the tram up to the Peak.  
 Observation deck at Victoria Peak
(Noelle saw a teapot through an apartment window)

 The roots of a very old tree at Victoria Peak Trail

 Carving on July 19, 1949 by Matthew Cowley and party at the Peak Trail in Hong Kong

We came home that night to a delicious dinner made by our dear friends, the Liu's.  Mrs. Liu (Kam) didn't want us to take a chance eating out the first night and had her domestic helper, JieJie, make wonderful home-made food for us.  What a great friend!
Kam, Cindy and us
On Sat. 12/3, we met the Wong's (parents of Elaine's hosted student from Shenzhen) in Shatin, then took the double decker bus to the east coast of Hong Kong, Sai Kung.  We took a ferry boat to the HK Geo Park and had a great time visiting the park that was once a volcano millions of years ago. The volcano opening was 12 miles across when it was active!  Mt. St. Helens is just a pimple compared to that.
Mrs. Wong (Karina's mom) and Beauty (Karina's little sister)
 We were treated to a delicious seafood lunch.  You should have seen Noelle's eyes when she saw all the sea creatures in the water tanks, and we were picking which ones we wanted to EAT for lunch.  Needless to say, she had McDonald's instead, but Megu and Enoch tried every dish.  We were so proud of them.
Lots of seafood - abalone, clams, shrimp, fish, crab, calamaris,...
Sun. 12/4:  attended Vic III Mandarin Speaking Branch.  The Wiley's sang for us.  Then we were invited by the Dai's to have dinner with them.  Both Elaine and David served in the Fukuoka, Japan Mission with Naomi Toma Dai.  What a small world!  It was a very fun get together.

On Monday, 12/5, we went to visit the Ten Thousand Buddhas in Shatin.  There were more than 10,000 Buddhas, big and small.  There were also monkeys swinging around as this Monastery is located in the Monkey Mountains.  Also, there must be at least 1,000 steps to go up there.  We had a very delicious dinner at the Choi's.  Sister Choi made all our favorite dishes, including sweet and sour pork, steam fish, deep fried fish, and more.  So far I haven't cooked dinner since Elaine and her family arrived.  I could hardly wait to cook the kids something.

Tuesday, 12/6 was a big day as we ventured out to Lantau Island to see the world's tallest, outdoor, seated bronze Big Buddha.  We took the double decker bus #279X from Fanling to Tsing Yi.  From there we took MTR Tung Chung line to Tung Chung.   We took Exit B, crossed the street and rode the Ngong Ping cable car to Ngong Ping Village.  What a stunning view it was to see the Hong Kong Harbour, the airport, the South China Sea and the small islands under foot.  We arrived at the Ngong Ping Village, saw the Big Buddha and climbed the steps.  It was quite an experience for us all. 




  From Ngong Ping, we took a city bus to Tai-O Fishing village.  The ride was like a roller coaster.  The driver spared no one as he sped down the very narrow mountain road, with an oncoming double-decker bus brushing by us.  By the time we got to Tai-O, our hair was all standing up.  At Tai O we took the HK$20 per person boat ride (~25 minutes) to see the village from the water and it was our lucky day to see the pink dolphins popping out of the water around us.  The captain then took us around the village to see the stilted houses and the fishing boats.  What a special day that was.  

Wed. 12/7 was going to be a relaxing day to visit Noah's Ark at Park Island.  We took Bus 278X to Tsuen Wan and took a ferry ride there.  Unfortunately, the park was closed on first and third Wednesdays, and we only were able to walk around outside of the park.  But the kids found the beach to be almost as fun.  We went to Tsuen Wan to have lunch and did a little shopping there.  The boys were especially excited to find Pokemon at one of the Japanese department stores.  Here is a link to the Noah's Ark for future reference.
Thursday, 12/8 was a free day.  Elwin took the boys to the electronics mall and browsed through the amazing electronics there.  The rest of us took it easy and went to the Festival Walk Mall to see the 40-foot Christmas tree and the Christmas decorations all around the mall.  We all met at the Hong Kong Temple for the children to see where Grandma and Grandpa work.  It was a special experience.  

Friday, 12/9:  time to say good-bye.  The flight was at 8 AM.  So, we were out at the bus stop shortly after 5 AM to get on the airport bus.  Everyone was such a good sport to load the 7 suitcases and 7 carry-on bags.  What a wonderful trip we had with the kids.  

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Full of Gratitude, week of 11/21-27

What a busy week it has been.  We first had 22 Mongolians members visiting us.  Except for a couple of the young sisters, none spoke any English.  It's a wonderful thing that we got along mostly through the Spirit alone.  On Tuesday morning, 11/22, we had 7 Mongolian sisters come for the first time.  How exciting it was for all of us.  The Mongolian written language looks like Russian as it is Cyrillic.  The spoken language is guttural and sounds nothing like Mandarin.  The people are mostly tall people like Westerners.  They all read Mongolian well, except for one older sister who was illiterate.  They are so devoted that they spend most days in the temple when they are here.  After traveling 70 hours on the trains/buses, one way, one would think they needed to rest or diversion, or even tour Hong Kong, but that was not the case.  They all stayed around the temple.  It was an inspiration to see them and to be with them.

Beside the Mongolians, we had members from Shanghai visiting us.  The first group were International members of Pudong and Puxi branches of Shanghai.  In China, the local members and foreign members (with passports other than Chinese) do not meet together as that is not sanctioned by the government.  Even though they may meet in the same building, the schedules are set so they can not associate with one another or be in the building at the same time.  The Church is very strict about the rules and we maintain very good standing with the Chinese Government because we do not allow members to mingle freely even though we would prefer that situation.  One member from Pudong Branch of Shanghai is a native Chinese with American passport (her husband is American).  She grew up in Dalian and brought many ancestral names with her to do family history work.  Her ancestral research took her and her brother back at least 1000 years.  It' so amazing about the Chinese genealogy.  If one hits a line right, one may go back to as far as BC time.  The Cultural Revolution may have destroyed many records, but with 1.3+ billion people, there are a lot of the records left.  One advantage, as I was told, is to have government officials in your family line.  The officials were given a special name (號) and this gives you a much better chance to trace family lines.  Really cool, isn't it?  I can't wait to delve in some more into my own family genealogy.  Our last trip to Taiwan was fruitful as we discovered that the Sung family came from Zhongzhou (彰州,福建), Fujian.  We hope to get some more information and go to visit there some day.

We also had a couple of families from India who came to visit the Hong Kong Temple this week.  One of the families brought their 2 boys with them.  They enjoyed being in Hong Kong.  As you can see in the following picture:
2 brothers from India and their Mongolian friend

Since the Hong Kong Temple will be closed for maintenance work for the next 2 weeks, we saw many members visiting us this week.  We saw some old friends from Shenzhen, Zhongshan, and Zhuhai.  It was so great to see them and found them faithful in living the gospel.  We also met a couple from Haiko, Hainan Island.  What a divine couple!

Monday was our special P-day as the senior missionaries were invited by President and Sister Aki to have Thanksgiving dinner.  We were treated with turkey and ham, dressing, and all the trimmings of the holiday.  It was so special.  I made the "sweet potato puff" that was delicious.  President Aki made a pumpkin dump cake that was out of this world.  See recipe below:
 Still, the best is coming.  On Saturday, Nov. 26, our dear friend, Shan Shan came to the temple for the first time.  What a special occasion that was!  Many members from the Mandarin Branch came to support her and to congratulate her.  It was truly a happy occasion.

members of Victoria III Mandarin Speaking Branch with Shan Shan
 
PUMPKIN DUMP CAKE

1 can Libby's pumpkin pie filling (15 oz.)
2 eggs
3/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice OR 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
1 can (1 1/2 c.) evaporated milk

1 box yellow cake mix
1 stick butter, melted

Mix all ingredients till cake mix. Pour batter into greased 9 x 13 inch pan. Melt butter and pour mix with dry cake mix. Sprinkle over pumpkin mixture. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees. Serve plain or topped with whipped cream.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our Thanksgiving in Hong Kong was great!
Thanks to President and Sister Aki
For a Delicious Thanksgiving Dinner
On our P-Day!
 
TWAS THE NIGHT OF THANKSGIVING,
BUT I JUST COULDN'T SLEEP.
I TRIED COUNTING BACKWARDS,
I TRIED COUNTING SHEEP.
THE LEFTOVERS BECKONED -
THE DARK MEAT AND WHITE,
BUT I FOUGHT THE TEMPTATION
WITH ALL OF MY MIGHT.
TOSSING AND TURNING WITH ANTICIPATION,
THE THOUGHT OF A SNACK BECAME INFATUATION.
SO, I RACED TO THE KITCHEN, FLUNG OPEN THE DOOR,
AND GAZED AT THE FRIDGE, FULL OF GOODIES GALORE.
GOBBLED UP TURKEY AND BUTTERED POTATOES,
PICKLES AND CARROTS, BEANS AND TOMATOES.

I FELT MYSELF SWELLING SO PLUMP AND SO ROUND,
'TIL ALL OF A SUDDEN, I ROSE OFF THE GROUND.
I CRASHED THROUGH THE CEILING, FLOATING INTO THE SKY,
WITH A MOUTHFUL OF PUDDING AND A HANDFUL OF PIE.
BUT, I MANAGED TO YELL AS I SOARED PAST THE TREES....
HAPPY EATING TO ALL - PASS THE CRANBERRIES, PLEASE.


MAY YOUR STUFFING BE TASTY,
MAY YOUR TURKEY BE PLUMP.
MAY YOUR POTATOES 'N GRAVY HAVE NARY A LUMP.
MAY YOUR YAMS BE DELICIOUS.
MAY YOUR PIES TAKE THE PRIZE,
MAY YOUR THANKSGIVING DINNER STAY OFF OF YOUR THIGHS!!

HAPPY   THANKSGIVING   TO  ALL
!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

A week w/Hot Pot, Chinese genealogy...

It was a slow week, but we were happy to see the faithful who braved the rain and cold to come to visit the temple. Cold means it was in the low 70's.  The weather has been beautiful even when it rains. 

On Friday, 11/18, we were invited to join the Young Men/Young Women group from our branch and had a delicious hot pot or 火鍋 dinner.  We've had that before as it is a Taiwan tradition to have hot pot dinners when the weather turns cold.  According to Wikipedia:

Hot pot (Chinese: ; pinyin: huǒ guō), less commonly Chinese fondue or steamboat, refers to several East Asian varieties of stew, consisting of a simmering metal pot of stock at the center of the dining table. While the hot pot is kept simmering, ingredients are placed into the pot and are cooked at the table. Typical hot pot dishes include thinly sliced meat, leafy vegetables, mushrooms, wontons, egg dumplings, and seafood. The cooked food is usually eaten with a dipping sauce. In many areas, hot pot meals are often eaten in the winter.

It was a fun way to know the young people better.  Hong Kong students are under such tremendous pressure that we seem to read of students as young as 9 years old jumping off a  balcony to commit suicide.  Our friends' 7-year-old daughter goes to school from 7 AM to night time.  Some nights she has to go back for extra tutoring sessions to brush up on her English and Chinese reading skills.  The young people we had dinner with seemed to be doing fine since they came to the dinner on a Friday night.


Sunday:  We met a 3rd generation Chinese American with lots of genealogy.  He is retired and is traveling with his wife to find his roots.  I was asked to help him translate some of the documents that he has collected through the years.  It was interesting to see some of the customs that we knew or heard of, come through in his genealogy documents.  Some tidbits are:
  • Women were not usually recorded in the Chinese genealogy.
  • In some instances where women's records were recorded, their names were "first daughter", "second daughter", etc.  
  • For men, if there was an official name given 號, such as for government officials, then the chance of recorded genealogy could be traced back a long way.  We saw one being 2300 BC.  
  • If it was a polygamous family, the second wife gave the first or second son to the first wife (who may or may not have had a son).  The son, then, was given proper status as the son of the first wife, instead of the son of a concubine.  
  • In some occasions, if the wife's family did not have a son to carry on the family name, her son might bear her maiden name, provided it was agreed to by the husband.

It inspired me to work harder to find more of my ancestors.  Going to Tainan during the temple closing in June was to visit the relatives to gather more information.  One great tip we found was that the Sung family came from Zhangzhou, Fujian, contrary to what my dad told us about coming with Koshinga; Koshinga was the man who lead a group to Taiwan about 300 years ago as he fought against the Qing Dynasty's rule and also drove the Dutch out of Taiwan.   


Want to try a new recipe?  Sounds yummy!
http://www.rd.com/food/chocolate-hazelnut-cheesecake-recipe/ 

Chocolate-Hazelnut Cheesecake


Crunchy toasted hazelnuts top this velvety cheesecake. For more of that heavenly hazelnut flavor, substitute 1 tablespoon Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur) for the vanilla.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup graham cracker crumbs (5 ounces)
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 pound silken tofu
  • 1 cup creamed (4%) cottage cheese
  • 1 ounce semisweet chocolate, melted
  • 3 cup hazelnuts
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 egg
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

How to make it  1 hour, 5 minutes

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Toast the hazelnuts on a baking sheet for 7 minutes or until the skins begins to crinkle. (Leave the oven on.) Transfer the hazelnuts to a kitchen towel and rub to remove as much of the skin as possible (some skin will remain). When the hazelnuts are cool enough to handle, coarsely chop them; set aside.
2. In a small bowl, stir together the crumbs, oil, and 1 tablespoon of water. Press the mixture into the bottom and partway up the sides of a 9 1/2-inch springform pan. Bake for 8 minutes or until the crust is set. Cool on a rack. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.
3. In a small bowl, combine the cocoa and 1/4 cup of water until well moistened. In a food processor, combine the tofu, cottage cheese, melted semisweet chocolate, granulated sugar, brown sugar, flour, whole egg, egg whites, vanilla and the cocoa mixture, and process until very smooth.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared crust and bake for 40 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 250°F, sprinkle the nuts on top and bake for 10 minutes or until the cheesecake is just set. Cool to room temperature; refrigerate for 2 hours or until chilled.

 

Nutritional Information(per serving)

  • Calories: 207
  • Fat: 7g
  • Saturated Fat: 1g
  • Cholesterol: 20mg
  • Sodium: 189mg
  • Protein: 8g
  • prep 15 min    cook 50 min
  • serves 12