Farewells and Home Sweet Home

Farewell Dinner Group Photo

On Friday evening the 6th March we had our final meeting in Hong Kong. It was a wonderful meeting to bid us farewell and it was held, same as our welcoming dinner at the CCC (Craigengower Cricket Club) in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.

From Left: PP Joseph Chan, DGE Ada Cheng, GSE Chair PP Stella Kan, Jonathan, DG Dr. Albert Wong, DGN Jason Chan

DG Albert says goodbye

Brendan's gift from DG Albert

GSE Vice-Chair PP Joseph "The Lion of Wanchai" proposes a toast to District 9270 and Rotary International

What a delightful evening it turned out to be. We were treated to our last delicious Chinese dinner by DG Albert Wong, DGE Ada Cheng and DGN Jason Chan. Other Rotarians present were District GSE Chair PP Stella Kan, GSE Vice-Chair PP Joseph Chan (the “Lion of Wanchai”) and the indomitable PP James Yick who spent the evening keeping most of the team in stitches as he performed his “magic” tricks.

PP James Yick up to his tricks

Lots of speeches were made and gifts exchanged and the upshot of the evening was that there was consensus that this had been a very successful, enjoyable and happy GSE trip. Poor PP Joseph Chan – he has given up a huge amount of his personal time to look after us – he must be looking back to normality in his business and private life. The team will join me in saying that he is without a doubt the most wonderful, dedicated Rotarian we encountered on our entire trip and that is no disrespect to the wonderful Rotarians in D3450. They have all been wonderful – unbelievable people to a man/woman. The Rotary insights we gained were out of this world. If this sounds like flowery speech let me assure you it’s not, it is deeply sincere compliments to all involved. I have never heard of a GSE trip were there were no hiccups, however minor, and we had none. Farewell to magnificent Hong Kong

Farewell to beautiful Macau

Saturday was spent sleeping late, packing and stressing about overweight luggage. That was the only stress on our trip – airlines can be cruel – it fills you with a sense of dread because you feel you are at their mercy come check-in time.

PP Joseph hired a bus to take us to Terminal 2 at the immense Hong Kong International Airport. When we arrived there we were met by PP Stella and PP Kenny Chow. It was sad to say goodbye to people who had become so much a part of our lives for our entire stay.

On the bus with PP Joseph, our buddy and mate

Check-in time came – we were all overweight, but now here’s the amazing thing. The check-in guy told us that we were too heavy for SAA but he could change our tickets to Cathay Pacific at no extra cost because they are not as stingy as SAA with luggage. We were overjoyed and all agreed with alacrity. The flight was also leaving 10 minutes earlier and ended up arriving in JHB a full 45 minutes before the SAA flight we were supposed to catch. If anyone from SAA ever reads this blog – you need to up your game, guys. It’s not tourist-friendly to make long-haul flights a nightmare over a couple of kg’s of luggage. Sorry to say it but I know which airline I’ll fly next time I go to Hong Kong.

The flight was wonderful – just by the way – when you order a scotch on Cathay Pacific you are served Chivas Regal – free of charge and as many as you can handle. All the in-flight movies are the very latest – e.g. Slumdog Millionaire and the absolutely wonderful “Changeling” starring Angelina Jolie – a must-see, by the way. The Cathay Pacific cabin crew are like your new-best-friends from the minute you sit down in the plane. Outstanding.

Arriving in JHB we shot through customs and had a 5-hour wait for our flight to Durban. Nivs managed to get on an earlier flight and we said goodbye. Santosh had a joyful re-union with his daughter Zhiva who was brought to the OR Tambo Airport to see him. We now know why she is the “apple of his eye” – what a lovely little girl, and so excited to see her Dad and open her presents.

I had my son and daughter-in-law come to see me. That was great and Brendan and I got to watch the highlights of the weekend’s Super 14 games in the Spur at OR Tambo where we all had breakfast together.

Then it was off to Durban where we met our loved-ones – what a pleasure to be home on a beautiful, sunny KZN day! Home sweet home!

Thank you very much to District GSE Chair Annette van Bergen for coming all the way to greet and welcome us home. Annette, you can have the satisfaction of knowing that you presided over an absolutely great GSE experience for all of us. Thank you for your hard work and patience. We have met the incoming team from Hong Kong who are arriving in April and we know you are going to really enjoy their visit. They are a great group and we must pull out all the stops to make their visit here as enjoyable as they made ours. I speak on behalf of my whole team when I say we want to be involved in their trip so call us for any help, whether it is vocational, club or sight-seeing visits, we can’t wait to help.

Inbound Team from D3450 - (from left) Team Leader PP Alex Leung, Peggy, Lesley and Joseph
Thank you to everyone. I grew to love all the members of my team – what a great bunch they are. I miss you guys very much and I am looking forward to our report-back presentations. Signing off for the last time on this blog – Ngiyabonga kakhulu my friends. Viva Rotary and Rotary Foundation!!

Friday 6th March – Meeting with Consul-General Ms. Thembi Tambo

This morning we went on a really very special visit. Patrick Lam, the President of the RC of Hong Kong had arranged for us to meet the South African Consul-General in Hong Kong, Ms. Thembi Tambo.

So we dressed up in full uniform, all polished and scrubbed, and presented ourselves at the Consulate offices at 10am.

What an utterly delightful lady Thembi Tambo is. We couldn’t believe that she gave us two full hours of her valuable time. We chatted about everything under the sun, we laughed and joked, we chatted about her children all of whom are so far away and how she needs to speak to them every day. We spoke about opportunities for South Africans in Hong Kong. We discovered that Thembi is the eldest daughter of Oliver and Adelaide Tambo, that beautiful and iconic couple who were at the forefront of the liberation stuggle in our country.

Team with Ms. Thembi Tambo and Davy Chlu, a Consulate Senior manager

It was a wonderful visit and the people of South Africa are privileged to have such a wonderful person acting as Consul-General in Hong Kong. Thank you, Thembi.

The it was off to lunch at the Rotary Club of Kowloon North. President David Wright made us feel very welcome and allowed us to do what was going to be our last presentation in Hong Kong.

Nivs doing her stuff at our last presentationI met a guy who spent 3 months in South Africa as an engineering intern at Vaal Reefs Goldmine in Orkney in the late 70’s before exploring the country backpacking. He is Ian Peterson and he is coming to South Africa in June, to Durban nogal, to watch the British Lions test against the Springboks. We will definitely be meeting up and he has asked me to arrange a friendly game for his mates – a 2nd Division team (they’re all coming across), while they’re in Durban. I’ll rely on my good mate Juno to help with that one seeing he is the President of Southern KZN rugby.

Tonight we are having a farewell dinner at CCC, the same venue where we had our welcoming dinner. It will be great to see old faces again and be able to thank the Rotarians of Hong Kong for their fantastic support and hospitality. We have had a tremendous time.

Tomorrow evening we leave for home, so the day will be spent packing and doing last minute stuff. The next blog update will be once we’re safely home – Monday or so next week. Thanks for reading and following. We hope it’s been interesting and informative.

Thursday 6th - We survive PP Alex’s survival course, Hari Kima's 46 years of 100% attendance

Thursday 5th March

I can’t believe we’re so close to the end of our trip. It’s been almost a month but it has shot by at a rate of knots!

Today’s Rotary lunch meeting was at the RC of Kowloon. It is the 2nd oldest club in Hong Kong after the RC of Hong Kong. The meeting was held at the magnificent, grand Peninsula Hotel. It is a grand hotel in the Colonial Style a-la-Mount Nelson in Cape Town, only much bigger and a lot grander.

We met in the Garden Terrace Room – this because the normal meeting place of the Club was being used for something else. This room is a private dining room for the absolute elite and goes out onto a large covered balcony with strip balu flooring. The view over HK Bay is spectacular. After lunch while we were admiring the view a storm rolled in before our eyes and it was amazing to see how quickly HK can be covered in really torrential rain.

Lunch itself was wonderful. We only got a chance to introduce ourselves because two guest speakers had been scheduled. The first was by a lady named Isabelle Pastor who told us about Kuruna-Schechen, an organisation that carries out humanitarian projects in the Himalayan region.
Isobelle Pastor's presentation

These projects include education, health and social services. They do a great job and are supported by the RC of Kowloon and many others and it was great to hear about their work which includes a very moving palliative care hospice that is very close to Isabelle’s heart. It reminded me so much of the genesis hospice.

The next speaker was a gentleman named Raymund Ho who is the 3rd Fung Shui expert we have listened to on our trip. He spoke in English and was the most entertaining Fung Shui speaker by far. There was, as usual, a lot of laughter at question time when he answered questions about timing for investments, romance etc.

After lunch I had the privilege of meeting PP Hari Kima, a Rotarian with 46 years of 100% attendance. That has to be some kind of Rotary world record. A humble and kind man.

Hari and Jonathan

Then it was time to leave the lunch meeting and be collected by PP Alex Leung. You’ll remember that PP Alex is the outbound GSE Team Leader who is bringing a team to our District 9270 in South Africa in April.

Alex's canoe collection

Alex had planned a trip in canoes on the sea estuary at a place called Sai Kung where he lives. It is a beautiful place – sort of a mixture of Hout Bay (the mountains) and Knysna (the lagoon leading out to the sea. We were all kitted out with wetsuits and lifejackets and got into some pretty rickety old canoes that Alex keeps moored outside his home for Youth Adventure trips. Off down the lagoon we went, Nivs and I in a double and Santosh and Brendan each in singles. Seriously stable boats fortunately.

Well we did about a 20 minute canoe trip across the lagoon to a Centre that was established for the Boy Scouts by a donation of HK$500,000.00 by the Rotary Club of Kowloon East. That is a serious donation and it was made from their club funds!

The team at the Rotary-sponsored Boy Scout's facility

The centre is beautiful. It is on the beach and includes an adventure climbing section, a large hall with marble floors, a place for outside functions as well as a place to barbeque. It was originally the temple for some religious sect which fell into disuse and was taken over by Government and donated to the Boy Scouts Association. It is great for these city-dwelling kids to be able to get out into the countryside for some team-building and personal development courses.

Nivs's Dusi training - note the weight distribution

Brendan ready to roll (or paddle)....

From there, we paddled to another beach where Alex and I had a swim.

Santosh leading the pack...Then it was back to Alex’s place.

Yes! It's over We got changed into dry clothes and eventually Alex got us all to the evening meeting at the RC of Peninsula Sunrise. This is Alex Leung’s club (GSE Team Leader) and they meet at the Police Officer’s Club in Causeway Bay. The outbound GSE team were there and after dinner and our presentation we got another chance to talk to them – Joseph, Lesley and Man. The other GSE team member is Peggy but she lives in Macau and so couldn’t join us.

The President of Peninsula Sunrise is a lady by the name of Joann Chun. A very pleasant evening and once again lots of questions about South Africa and lots of re-assuring the outgoing GSE team about how safe it is in South Africa and telling them what a wonderful time they are going to be having.

Chat again tomorrow.

Wednesday 4th - A visit to TVB

Today we had lunch with the Rotary Club of Bayview Sunshine.

Going up....25th Floor please

It was remarkable in that it is a club made up of lady Rotarians only. The President is Emilia Li. They are the ‘Sunshine Girls’ of the District and PP Joseph told me that the club has some very devoted lady Rotarians who, according to him, are District Governor material. They meet, just like Port Shepstone RC, for lunch and dinner on alternate weeks. They also meet at the Lusitano Club, same as the RC of Queensway that we visited a few weeks ago.

We did a presentation to them and it was very well received. One of the ladies PP Amy Leung, told me about a project they started in the District, where each participating club is asked to adopt and mentor students in a High School. They meet with the school to find out what sort of mentoring they require and then they put a programme in place for that school. All the Rotarians in the club get involved. PP Amelia is going to send me details of this programme by email. It sounds like a fine project to me and maybe we could look at something like that in our District. This programme is conducted with the co-operation of the School’s Interact club if they have one, but is not limited to Interact members.

After lunch we were taken by PP Joseph for a vocational visit to TVB, the largest TV station in South East Asia. It is a Public Broadcaster which is subsidised by Government. We were guided by the Production Liason Officer, Amy Chan. It was a fascinating visit and after we had been through the studios, make-up rooms (where some really beautiful and handsome TV announcers were being made up), wardrobe rooms etc, we visited some indoor studio sets where soapies and game shows are recorded.

Santosh (alias Jamie Oliver) on a kitchen set

The speed with which they can build a set is amazing and they have a full complement of tradesmen who work as set-builders.

Shanghai in the 1920's

Then we went outside to the outdoor sets. One of them is an exact replica of the streets and buildings of Shanghai in the 1920’s. The movie “Shanghai” was shot on this set. From old shops, to temples, cobbled streets and even the Emporer’s Palace – this set had it all. Really interesting.

Nivs on the Prinsess's balcony

We were then shown the Outside Broadcasting Unit. They provided live coverage to the world of the Beijing Olympics. Apparently each unit, which is a self-contained truck and contains some amazing equipment, costs the equivalent of around R40 million to build and equip.

Inside the mobile outside broadcasting unitThere is obviously a lot of cash in TV broadcasting. They have a Cantonese channel, and English Channel, a news channel and two High Definition channels – atechnology that is only coming to South Africa now. According to Santosh however, the TVB set-up is not as vast as the SABC’s set-up for television in Auckland Park, JHB.

The "Manne"...

It’s good to know South Africa is right up there with the technology required to broadcast something of the magnitude of the FIFA World Cup next year. Brendan keeps reminding us in his part of our presentation that by 2010 we will have one of the most sophisticated internet, broadband and digital satellite broadcasting systems in the world.

At supper time, not having a presentation tonight, Joseph offered to take us for supper to an Indonesian Restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui. Nivashni begged off and so just the three of us and Joseph had an Indonesian dinner. We have now tasted tons of Chinese food, Western, Indian, Macanese, Italian, Portuguese, Thai, - you name it – we are gourmet experts of the first order. My waistline is beginning to show it.

We have three days left before we come home. We are looking forward to our last two days – two presentations each per day. Thank you Rotary Foundation for this fantastic opportunity.

**UPDATED with extra pics - Tuesday - "Service above Self" award for PDG John Wan

Today started with a lunch meeting where we did a presentation to a joint meeting of the RC of the Peak and RC of Hong Kong NorthWest. It was a grand affair held at the China Club in the old Bank of China building. It is full of artefacts of China and pictures of Chairman Mao and relics of the Revolution. The bank of China is now in a huge modern building nearby, but the old building has the China Club on the top floor. There is a balcony from which you can see a lot of Hong Kong.

Banner Exchange with the PP Joseph Chan and the Presidents of the RC's of The Peak and HongKong NorthWest

After lunch we decided to travel on the escalator from Central in Hong Kong right up to Mid-Levels – it is the longest covered escalator/travellator series in the world apparently. It goes up in a series of escalators, block by block. At the end of each block you get off and cross the street to the next one. If you saw how steep it was you’d know what a pleasure it is not to have to walk. Just another form of transportation in super-efficient Hong Kong.

We walked through the Hong Kong Botanical and Zoological Gardens at the top before going to PP Ram and Sandra’s place where Jonathan is staying again. After tea there, we went back to town to get ready for our evening presentation to the RC of KingsPark.

That was a real blast. Warmly welcomed by the whole club including President Joyce Mak, we had a lovely evening of fellowship and did a lot of good for perceptions of South Africa. At the meeting, PDG John Wan, also the Charter President of the club showed us the “Service above Self” award he received at District Conference.

PDG John Wan's "Service above Self" awardFor those of you who don’t know, this is the highest award that Rotary can bestow on a Rotarian. It is an award from the International Board of Rotary. No more than one per district per annum is awarded. There are over 500 districts in the world and only around 100 “Service above Self” awards are granted. They are really for outstanding service to the community through Rotary.

Introducing my brilliant team again

It was a great evening and the Rotarians of KingsPark seemed to really enjoy the presentation.

Music, music.....Jonathan played the piano so that PDG Wan could sing a love song “Love is a many-splendoured thing” and “The Impossible Dream” to the lady he has just got engaged to. He was teased silly by his fellow Rotarians – all in good fun.

With PDG John Wan and President Joyce Mak

Back In The High-Life Again

Monday 2 March

Being back in Hong Kong reminds me of the Steve Winwood song “Back In The High-Life Again”. This place just oozes action. Waiting for PP Joseph I strolled into a Louis Vuitton shop. The stuff is beautiful there’s no denying. There are no price tags, on the basis clearly that if you have to ask the price you shouldn’t be buying it. So I didn’t. Sorry girls.

We had a lunch meeting with the RC of Mid-Levels.

A picture display of RC of Mid-Levels Hong's Projects

It is a Cantonese club but they very graciously spoke English today for our benefit, handling only the Sergeant’s Duty in Cantonese.

The starter - Shrimp and Scallop Salad - some fat people coming back to SA!!

We did a 15-minute presentation which went down very well. We must be getting better at it because we had a lot of questions today, during and after lunch. Questions are good because they help us focus on what people really want to know. Wild animals roaming the streets? Not. Can we drink the water? Yes. Do you know my friend in Kenya? No. Will it be safe to come for the FIFA World Cup next year. Yes, we would love to see you if you decide to come. We’ll even try to organise some Friendship Tour home hosting.

Brendan doing Siyanda's FIFA World Cup presentation slot

There was also a very interesting talk by the speaker on Fraud Investigation. He was really good. A Chinese Hong Konger who did his university training in Australia – he is a Chartered Public Accountant who has specialised in uncovering scams, especially insurance ones most recently. He has worked for many different organisations in Hong Kong and is taking up a position with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

The Fraud Investigator talks

The story he shared today was about a really elaborate case where the fraudsters approach really poor people in China, offer them $300,000 and get them into Hong Kong on stolen Hong Kong ID cards. They then “employ” them and insure them elaborately against personal accident. Then they take them on a “business trip” to China, get a very dodgy surgeon to remove one of their eyes. When they get back to Hong Kong minus the eye, the “employer” puts in a $2 million dollar claim for the “injury” they suffered while on the business trip. When they get paid, one-eyed Jack gets his $300,000 and the “employer” keeps the change. They tumbled to the scam when this particular “employer” had so many of his “employees” having eye-removing injuries whilst on business in China. Skelms everwhere it seems. Not confined to any continent.

It was fascinating stuff and some of the lady Rotarians shivered with delight when he mentioned that he often had to carry a gun on his assignments.

After lunch the team got together for a chat with PP Joseph. He is the legend – we are well-looked after by PP Joseph – he had a bit peace last week while we were in Macau.

Team Banner Exchange with President Shirley Kong and PP Joseph Chan (right)

Nivashni and Jonathan left the others at Booth Lodge and went to see “Slumdog Millionaire” which has just opened in HK. It won so many Oscars, it was a must-see and with a great, modern movie house just around the corner, it was easy.

For those of you who are interested in movies, don’t miss it. It is a brilliant movie. Very ……… no, I’m not going to spoil it. Go see it. Incidentally the movie houses here are huge and spotless. Only the best in Hong Kong.

Tomorrow we have both a lunch and a dinner reservation. Santosh is going to a local Radio Station on Wednesday, and of course we are looking forward to seeing the SA Ambassador, Mrs. Nomathemba Tambo, on Friday morning.
That’s it for today.

Goodbye to Macau - Sunday 1st March

Today is sad in some ways. We have had a great time in Macau. When we heard we were going to be spending a week in Macau, it meant very little to us because we knew nothing about Macau except that the 49th District Conference of Rotary District 3450 was going to be held there.

After a week and 2 days in Macau, we now have a very good idea. Macau is very different from Hong Kong. It is very laid-back as we have already said on this blog. The food is mostly different and Macau’s history is very well-preserved in the buildings, the road names – so much. The museums, the statues etc. It is also tiny with a population of only about 552,000 people as opposed to Hong Kong’s 7 million.

It is like a backwater of Hong Kong in the nicest possible way. The people are very friendly although we have found the people making up the Rotary family in District 3450 are the same. Really good, solid friends. We have made so many, we are privileged and blessed.

We met with our host families for a farewell lunch at a Chinese Restaurant in the Emperor Hotel, Macau Central.

Messy eaters - the chopstick trail to PP Jonathan's plate

It is a very popular restaurant judging by the hundreds of people having their lunch there. We met in a private Dining Room and during lunch we did a presentation as quite a number of our hosts and their families had not seen our presentation while we were there. It is a pity that our time is getting short now because the presentation is really getting quite slick as everybody becomes more comfortable and familiar with it. Brendan, who in the beginning was quite nervous, now handles his section like an old Dale Carnegie trainer and has everyone eating out of his hand.

Our Macau hosts and Rotarians

We finished it by singing the National Anthem which went down very well. Then it was goodbyes, group photos and promises to really look after any of our Macau Rotary friends if they ever make their way to South Africa. We are sure that at least 2 Rotary Friendship tours are going to come out of this GSE trip. When you consider that one of the objects of the Rotary GSE programme is to foster and develop international understanding we feel satisfied that this objective has been realised to a great extent on this trip. We encountered many misconceptions about South Africa and were happily able to share the truth about our beautiful country. It has also given us a sense of privilege and pride in our home. Viva South Africa, viva!!

PP Stella accompanied us on our ferry trip back to Hong Kong as she took the opportunity to visit her mother in HK. With all her business arranging the conference and that project keeping her very busy before we arrived, we realise how much she put into our trip. Far from taking a break after Conference (which most of us would have wanted to do) she leapt from the one challenge to the next. Thank you PP Stella, we grew to love you during our time in macau and we look forward to seeing you again on Friday when we meet for the last time in Hong Kong to say goodbye. Thank you for all your help with Siyanda’s return to SA and for your graciousness in arranging our trip and our home-hosting. My host, Catherine Choi, was fantastic, as were Joyce Choi and Anna Lam who hosted Nivashni, Nelson Wong who hosted Siyanda, Elvo Sou who hosted Santosh and Alberto Colane who hosted Brendan. Alberto and Elvo are both Rotoracters and it is great to see how they help the Rotarians.

As Santosh said, you guys rock!

Jonathan with his host Catherine and her son, Ivan


There was a bit of a panic on Jonathan's part at the ferry terminal. he couldn't find his passport and after unpacking his big bag onto the floor to the hilarity of the team, he found it in his small bag. Should've looked there first.

It’s nice to be back in Hong Kong, the buzz and vibe are still there. My Hong Kong home hosts were out when I got back so I took the chance of walking down to Lan Kwai Fong where I found a little pub called the Whiskey Priest (of all things) and settled a fantastic egg and cheese burger and a couple of cold ones.

After writing and posting this blog, it’s time for an early night. We have a lunchtime presentation tomorrow and it’s the home straight. Feeling a bit sick about the cricket seeing we have been bragging about being No. 1 in world cricket but I guess pride goes before a fall. At least the Sharks beat the Chiefs yesterday. GO SHARKS!!!!

Macau - Thursday to Saturday 28th Feb

Thursday morning saw the team off to visit a temple. Waiting for the pick-up, I saw a sign - no clues!!The RC of Macau hosted us today and accompanied by PP Stella (GSE chair) and PP Fatima (District Conference Chair, together with Rotarian David Shelton-Smith andd his wife, we arrived at Pou Tai Temple just before lunch. We started with a vegetarian lunch at the Temple dining room. I couldn’t believe what a delicious vegetarian Chinese meal they served. Nivashni, the vegetarian in our group was thrilled not to have to wait for a special meal to be brought to her.

Tucking in

The Temple is run by Buddhist monks who are complete vegetarians. They believe that life exists in every living thing so they do not kill anything to eat it. There was a very friendly and calm atmosphere throughout the place with lots of beautiful little gardening corners including the most amazing bonsai plants.

How's this little bonsai garden?

A collection of devotional points and a lot of temple rooms are found here. At the top of the structure we found a larger prayer room with a large statue of what looked like the same Buddha we saw at Tian Tan on Hong Kong Island. It is all very beautifully maintained.

The Buddha at Pou Tai

The gardens are really lovely and this quaint bridge was a good setting for a group pic
After lunch we were taken to a rehabilitation centre for mentally handicapped people run by the Fu Hong Association of which PP Fatima is the president. It is well-supported by the government and what happens is that people with mental disorders who are able to perform simple functions (or service-users as they are called) are brought here every day by their families. The cost of looking after them is set-off against the works they do.

Getting stuck in to the stickersThe group that we observed were sticking correction stickers into brochures for a local bank and also making “Rainbow Flowers” for wedding decorations.

Santosh with a 'Rainbow Flower' wedding decoration. Getting ideas, boet??They looked very happy to see us and it was a really inspiring visit. The centre also has occupational therapists and some of the team tried out their dexterity on some of the equipment. Judging by some of the efforts, one or two of us would have to spend a bit of time in OT before we could handle some of the tasks the service users were set.

The Team with Fu Hong Rehabilitation Centre staff and PP Stella (2nd left front row) PP Fatima (middle front row) and Rotarian David Shelton-Smith (back row next to Brendan)

It was great to see the border post between Macau and China. It has become very difficult for foreigners who want to visit China to get visas. In the old days one could apply for a day-visit visa at the border but that has changed now and visas have to be arranged in advance at one’s own embassy. Still it was amazing to see people streaming through the border in both directions. The old border gate is still there although a new and very modern structure houses the border post used nowadays. One border we're not crossing - the original Macau - China border post dating back to 1849. Here's the modern structure behind it.

Thursday evening was a dinner at a joint meeting of the Rotary Clubs of Macau and Taipa. It was held at the grand Venetian Hotel and we had an absolutely scrumptious western style dinner. The team was asked to do a simple presentation and banner exchange which went very well. We met up with a lot of Rotarians we had met a District Conference. There was a speaker however, an English lady named Jill Lander who is a Feng Shui expert. It was fascinating listening to her talk about Feng Shui and give her predictions for 2009. She also touched on what our Chinese Zodiac signs were and told us that the animals in the Zodiac (Ox, Rat, Snake, Dragon etc) are very important in determining our marriage partner. She also said that 2009 is a good year for marriage which gave a few Rotarians and team members cold shivers! Just joking. Incidentally, you can have a Feng Shui audit of your home for the paltry sum of about R4,000.00 for the first 90-odd square meters plus another R400 per square meter after that. It was an interesting talk and closed off a lovely day. To President Florence of the RC Club of Taipa and President David of the RC of Macau, a very big thanks for a lovely evening.

Friday morning was a free morning for the team and was spent just chilling and enjoying the ambience of Macau. We were dropped off by PP Stella at the Macau Museum next to the St. Paul's Cathedral façade.

Wanna ride in Nivs' peditaxi?

Having fun on top of the Macau Museum which is in the old Mount Fortress

We were being hosted for the day by RC of Macau Islands and were soon joined by Club President Tiffany. She is a really lovely lady and just re-inforced the youthfulness of the Macau Rotarians. She is in her early thirties and already Club President. The average age of Rotarians in Macau must be very young.

Nivs with Tiffany Tong, President of the Rotary Club of Macau IslandAfter a look through the fascinating museum she took us for lunch at a real street market. The place looked very dodgy to us and after realising that the menu was totally in Chinese, we escaped from there and much to Brendan’s relief we went to a different restaurant in town.

Entrance to dodgy eating spot - this is the neat and tidy partAt the THS Honolulu restaurant we couldn’t understand why one of the coffees on the menu was so expensive, and on enquiring we discovered that this particular coffee is produced by rats who are fed the coffee beans and then 'produce' their own processed version of the coffee bean which is used to brew this coffee. We declined an offer to taste it. Are you surprised?

Check out the advertising poster!

There is a waterfront in Macau which we went to after lunch. Although the place is very quiet with a lot of empty shops. The music which wafts over the place through speakers on each lamp pole is a Portuguese guitar instrumental which we heard so many times that it stuck in my head for the rest of the day. We came across a “African Restaurant” which advertises “barbecues as you sit and listen to jungle music” but it was closed until the evening.

Not a very busy place, very nice, but according to our hosts one of the very few places in Macau that is not run very well, hence the lack of support.

President Tiffany and the team were joined by IPP Christina at the waterfront – she is also a young lady whose family spent a lot of time in Vietnam. She had arranged for us to have dinner at a restaurant she co-owns. It is an Italian Restaurant in Macau – what a feast we had! RC of Macau Islands is a small club with only 13 members but their hospitality was great. It wasn’t a Rotary meeting as they actually meet on Thursdays but they had put the dinner together for us. We were joined at dinner by Rotarians Cecilia and Roberto. The great surprise was South African wine from Rietvallei Estate. We really enjoyed that very much and it closed off another great day in relaxed, laid-back Macau.

Saturday was a free day for the team with their hosts, and Jonathan’s host PP Catherine Choi hosted us to a lunch at a Macanese (a blend of Macau/Portuguese and Chinese cuisine) restarant that has been in the same family for over 40 years. Once again the food and company were superb and we watched someone doing a bungee-jump off the highest bungee-jump in the world – the Macau Tower. It is 338 meters high and costs about R2000 per jump so none of us jumped at the chance if you’ll excuse the pun.

The team split up in the afternoon, going off with hosts. I decided to visit the protestant cemetery in the afternoon to have a look around. A peculiar thing about this cemetery is that with the exception of the really old graves, you are only allowed to be buried there for 6 years, After that, you have to be exhumed and your bones placed elsewhere. As with a lot of Roman Catholic cemeteries in Portuguese colonies, the graves are very elaborate and pictures of the dear departed are on almost all the headstones.

St. Michael's Church with a cemetery surrounding it

Youth Orchestra

Santosh, Brendan and I then stumbled upon a music festival in with beautiful colonial buildings in the old town. Beautiful orchestral music by schoolkids followed by a rock band of schoolkids - sounded great. There is obviously proud heritage in this lovely city. We need more of it in the world.

And here are the rockers!

A bit of shopping and then off home to relax with our hosts.

Tomorrow we will have a farewell lunch with the Macau Rotarians and then go back to Hong Kong for our last week before we head home on Saturday.

This trip to Macau has been great and has renewed our vigour for the trip. The Rotarians, one and all, have been super-friendly and accommodating. We have learned a lot from them.

We are looking forward to seeing our friend PP Joseph when we land at HK Ferry Terminal.