Whimsical, Cute and Heavenly Things (yes, the real Heaven)

From Wikipedia:

1. Cheung Chau (Chinese: 長洲, lit. "Long Island") is a small island 10 km southwest of Hong Kong Island, is nicknamed as the 'dumbbell island' for its shape. It has been inhabited for longer than most other places in the territory of Hong Kong, with a population of about 23,000 up to 2006. Administratively, it is part of the Islands District. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheung_Chau

2. McDull (traditional Chinese: 麥兜) is a cartoon pig character that was created in Hong Kong by Alice Mak and Brian Tse. Although McDull made his first appearances as a supporting character in the McMug comics, McDull has since become a central character in his own right, attracting a huge following in Hong Kong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mcdull



First Visit to Cheung Chau:

I was pleased when Marie told me that she had planned for us to visit Cheung Chau. Finally what was just a piece of imagination in my mind would become a reality. 

Beach Front Shop selling rubber floaties

My impression of Cheung Chau when I finally got there was that it looked like of our own Changi Beach in the  '70s. After the hustle, bustle and modernity of the main Hong Kong island, it was nice to come to a place left in the eddies of time. It felt like time slowed, burdens were lifted and tensions relieved.

The beach was quiet, the sun shining and the sea gently lapping. There was no fancy hotel resort by the beachfront, only run-down stores displaying sand toys and colorful rubber floaties. As you wander through the narrow streets, you'll find all manner of mom and pop shops selling everything under the sun. To top it off, we had great seafood by the beach just as it used to be in Punggol.

Treasures (Sand Glass) on the beach

Even the houses are quaint - the sign on the door says "Private Residence, Please do not enter, Fierce Dog inside"

 We had a great day in Cheung Chau!

Cute, Whimsical Things

Marie insisted I take a photo of my treasure trove

For those of you who know me well enough, you know that I like cute and whimsical things. Hong Kong has many, many shops selling these cute articles and it was with lots of personal discipline that I did not come back with a full suitcase of them. Nevertheless, Marie insisted that I had to take a photo of the stash of cute things that I had collected.

“Why this fascination with cute things?” , you may ask, “aren’t men supposed to like football instead (see my earlier blog for further discussions on this topic). Why indeed?


Answer:
For me, cute and whimsical things represent, in a very simplistic way, the heaven that the God of the Bible has promised to those of us who believe. The simple lines, the wide eyes, the smiley faces reflect a simplicity in life that we all desire. Deep in our hearts, do we not all desire that life should be about being sincere and kind to one another and nothing else? Was this not what our parents taught us when we were children? But when we grew up, it seems like there are just so many reasons why these simple rules can no longer hold true.


Heaven:
God promises for those of us who believe in Him that there will come a day when we will experience the reality of heaven. How different will heaven be? Imagine this - every interaction with each other carried out with no other intention but love, generosity and kindness. No more hurting one another whether intentionally or unintentionally. No longer any need of suspicion for someone behaving in a particular way to you. 


As it is written in the book of Revelations Chapter 2, verses 3 - 4

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”


I don't want to oversimplify because faith and commitment to God is simple but not easy; and for this faith, people have died; and even more than that, in His grace, our Lord Jesus Christ died that all of us who believe in Him may enter God's heaven at no cost to ourselves. As written in Revelations Chapter 5 verses 9 " ... because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation."


This assurance is heaven is already mine - and while I am here on earth, I will try to live out daily the reality of heaven while I yearn with my heart the day it will be made real.


Till then I supposed, the cute things will still remind me of the true reality waiting for me...


And so with this blog, I end my musings on my trip to HK. Time to move on to something else...

Have a blessed day!

What's in a name?

Another name needed for the Hwang Family!

I'm taking a break from writing about the Hong Kong Trip to stop playing coy and to answer a question that is increasingly hard to deflect for those of you who've seen Marie's photos on Facebook.

Yes, there is a bun in the oven i.e. Marie is pregnant. We're expecting the new bundle of joy to come sometime late October or early November.

Baker's Beach, San Francisco, December 2010
L to R: Caleb, Joshua, Chi Hong, Jonah
Photo by Kuang (Chi Hong' brother)

The first 3 boys we popped them out in quick succession each 2 years. Those years were just repeated cycles of a caring for one new born after another; and somehow I also managed my post-grad exams during that time. It was a mix of joy, frustration, exhaustion etc - you name it, we felt that emotion.

All smiles when during 'Time Outs'

I guess we were always sure that we wanted 3 kids so we didn't stop to think. But after the 3rd one, we took a break to take stock. It was then as life unrolled itself that we realised another aspect of it - that when the boys grew up and became independent, we could leave them to their own devices at a stretch to steal time for ourselves. In a way, Marie and I did the tough thing first of raising the kids then found time again to date and enjoy each other's company.

After a break of 8 years, I suppose long enough for us to forget how crazy it can get, we started toying with the idea of another child. God promptly took that opportunity to bless us with another child.


After 3 boys, you can't blame us for hoping that this fourth one would be a girl. But nothing like our straight talking Obstetrician to shatter our hopes with a bright remark when she placed the ultrasound probe to Marie's abdomen.

"See another boy!"

"Err, are you sure?"

"Of course, can't you see?". She promptly marked out the baby's apparatus on the ultrasound and marked it with a big word "Boy".

We didn't brood over this for long because Marie and I have always felt that we made better parents to boys than girls anyway...but kudos to Marie who bravely bore with the symptoms of pregnancy. What we noticed is that with age, the symptoms seem to get more and more pronounced (so for those of you who're considering, have the kids as early as you can!)

So this past week I started reading this book "Run with the Horses" by Eugene H. Peterson. This book was given to me by my good friends Kian Woon and Hwee Ting - two of the most good hearted and down to earth people I know - for my birthday last year. They are not on Facebook so I have to tell them by other means that I've written about them in this blog.

Perhaps God gave them prophetic insight that I would have need to name a child this year because chapter 1 and 2 of the book talks about the uniqueness of every individual in Christ and the significance of a name well chosen. 

He writes "Something very different takes place in the life of faith: each person discovers all the elements of a unique and original adventure. We are prevented from following in another's footsteps and are called to an incomparable association with Christ. The Bible makes it clear that every time that there is a story of faith, it is completely original" (P.16)

"The meaning of a name is not in the dictionary, not in the unconscious, not in the size of the lettering. It is in relationship - with God.... Naming is a way of hoping. We name a child after someone or some quality that we hope he or she will become - a saint, a hero, an admired ancestor." (P.29)

Me and the boys in colour

The book reminds me to wait in anticipation for the new arrival - it does not matter that he is a boy again. He will be unique and special because God created him to be so.

So what are we naming the new one? 

Surely you cannot expect me to tell you everything now! If I did, you may not read this blog anymore; and yes, I do follow the number of hits to this blog closely - it's a confidence booster every time I see that spike in the hit numbers. 

So I'm afraid you'll just have to come back to learn the name of the new one...

See you soon :)