Adorable children!
The Star Ferry...a delightful 8 minute ride across the harbor.
The gorgeous flower stalls that make having fresh flowers so affordable!
This view from The Peak showcasing Hong Kong's spectacular city lights !
Our spectacular round window--what a glorious view!
Our unique building at 118 Gloucester Road--home for the past 4 years.
Tuesdays at the temple--serving with my dear Chinese sisters.
Teaching Friday Institute class--the senior couple sisters are pure delight!
Bus #260 that takes me to Stanley for shopping and brings me back home--dropping me off right in front of our building!
The many changing faces of the 'Ding Ding'!
Funny little cars and vanity plates that cost...well, you really don't want to know how much vanity costs in Hong Kong!
Watching the charming San Pan make it's many harbor voyages from our big window!
Glimpses of beauty in unexpected places!
Sheer amazement at how many people will buy their meat from the wet markets...especially on hot, humid days!
Trying on saris in Bangalore India--('cause if I didn't live in Hong Kong, this wouldn't have happened!)
Then posing with my sari dresser!
Familiar dear faces--Irene, Matthew, Christy and Connie.
Mary and Glen's visit--remember how they came with two suitcases, went home with 5--oh, and they have a very large box in our shipment!
Bamboo scaffolding...just watch it go up! (so they are not the fastest climbers in Hong Kong, but at least you get the idea of how it is done.) :)
Sharing Asia with Brett, Julianne, Emma, Ellie and Ryan--Erin, Kara, Adam and Bri and of course, Laurel--watching them all fall in love with Hong Kong!
Impromptu video moments by Erin and Laurel! AND fixing dad lunch every day...(just kidding on that one!)
A sendoff that will never be forgotten!
Going to the Lo Wu Commercial Plaza in 
Sandi, the gal in the navy blouse and red necklace, introduced me to Rosie, our tailor. All of us go to her!
Rosie is a marvel and her skills have created many outfits--jackets, pants, skirts, coats, pajamas are just a few of things she has made. A custom tailored jacket and skirt, including the fabric will cost about 40 dollars US. However, the real fun begins when you go to the 5
These two pictures give you a glimpse of the fabrics available! Most yardage here goes for about $3.00 US /meter. Of course, if you really want to save money on fabric, we go to the fabric district in 
I have wanted to post about this for a long time--but not wishing to offend anyone, I kept putting if off. However, I strongly feel that a visit to Cambodia is not complete without visiting that part of history that cannot not be ignored. In 1973, Pol Pot overthrew the government of Cambodia and established a military controlled regime. (In 1973, I was a young mother just starting a new life in Hawaii...absorbed in my life, not realizing what was happening in Cambodia.) Pol Pot was brutal. He had the same convictions as Chairman Mao and believed that all who were educated or of an upper class needed to be repatriated--which he did through work camps and death squads. Almost everyone living in Cambodia today has suffered the loss of family and friends.
It is a memorial to the dead, and houses the skulls of over 8,000 people. The brutal methods of killing are irrefutable when gazing at the remains. Scattered throughout the grove, you can see mounds of dirt and holes. The mounds are the remaining mass graves that have been left in peace. The holes signify that the bodies have been removed
As you walk along the path, you are touched and horrified by the bits of cloth and bone that has worked it's way to surface. Then you realized that the path is only for today's walk--back then it was a part of the mass graves.
Their brutality was chilling. Trees were used to hang loudspeakers to muffle the cries of death. Trees were used as killing instruments on small children--they didn't want to waste their bullets. 
These groves are called 'The Killing Fields." Today, they are the caretakers of their dead, standing as a witness against man's inhumanity to man.
Today is the Bear's birthday! I am so excited to share with all of you some of the wonderful things we love about this daughter of ours.
Several years ago, Kara coined the phrase, 'YA YA,' in our family whenever something wonderful was about to, or had happened. She had everyone saying it, from little 2 year old Ellie on up! (Well, okay, not her dad!) So this Ya Ya is for you, bear--the third Ya is how the chinese would say it! (this is my tailor's sewing machine)
She loves her sisters and they are the best of friends! They get a little crazy at times when they are together, but the predominant theme is always lots of love and laughter.
Of course, we cannot forget her 'little fan club." Kara dotes on them--they are so lucky to have such a darling aunti! 
You may know that she is a budding seamstress. (See? A mother's dream really can come true.) How would it be to sew one's creations on a pink and white sewing machine AND one that Project Runway endorses? That is so Kara!
Add to that her knitting skills, her gift for writing, her decorating talents, her 'luck' in finding incredible shopping bargains and you begin to see what a multi-talented gal she is! 
Her enthusiasm for travel is becoming legendary. She has a book about a 1000 places to see before you die...which she is diligently checking off. She has been to Hong Kong, China, Japan, Bali, England, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, France and the list continues. YA YA for Kara!
Kara has always loved animals. We had Patches, (her cat) Twinkles, (her bunny), and a stinky little white mouse called Mickey. When we went to Thailand, we had to walk down to the baby elephant pen, so Kara could exclaim, 'Oh, look at the cute widdle babies,' and other baby talk anecdotes that had the mama elephant a little worried!
We adore her! We love her bear hugs! We love her beautiful smile! But most of all, we love that she is our daughter. Happy Birthday darling Kara! YA YA! 
