Gentlefolk,
We are in Hong Kong, on our way back to Qingdao for the start of the new semester (teachings starts on Monday 7 September).
Herewith some photos of our time in Australia (except Brisbane - see previous blog post) and Hong Kong.
 |
| One of the Indonesian girls, Vonny, celebrated her birthday with a fancy-dress party. |
 |
| Dinner with old friends Tomoko & John Scott and Sharon & Ian Loiterton |
 |
| Caught up with Maria-Helena and Paul Nicoll who were back from Brazil. |
 |
| Lunch with Kaye and Patrick O'Hara at the National Library. Patrick told us about his plan to ride (bicycle) from Canberra to Melbourne. |
 |
| I celebrated my 69th birthday while in Canberra. The photo shows Britt and Pierre's kids Lani and Tui, and of course Vera. |
 |
| Angie invited me to attend the Model United Nations (MUNA) for High School students organised by Rotary. It was held in the House of Reps chamber in Old Parliament House (which I used to frequent many years ago). A very high standard of debate by these impressive youngsters. |
 |
| Getting a few pointers from Joseph Saputra. He only took up table tennis a couple of years ago, and has become very proficient in a short time. |
 |
| In Sydney we stayed with friends Niniek and Paul Milton. It was 17 August - Indonesia's National Day - so Niniek organised a big lunch to celebrate |
 |
| Great opportunity to eat delicious Indonesian food! |
 |
| A selected few males were invited to the lunch: Michael Kramer; Eddie Hidayat (Vera worked with him in Jakarta 40 years ago); Paul Milton; and myself. |
 |
| We popped in to see Irene and Dennis Smith in Tweed Heads. |
Hong Kong
 |
| With Eddie in one of the wonderful old trams in Hong Kong. |
 |
| Vera feeding Eddie in Andrew & Caroline's apartment in Hong Kong. They live in a great locations, on the border of Happy Valley and Causeway Bay. |
 |
| Andrew & Caroline discussing her new furniture website www.reddie.co |
 |
| We took a taxi out to Lantau Island. Impressive bridges. |
 |
| The beach at Pui O, Lantau Island |
 |
| Lunch at Maverick's Bar, Pui O Beach. Very laid-back. Later took a ferry back to Central from Mui Wu. |
Well, that brings us up-to-date.
My next post will, internet-gods willing, be from the university in Qingdao.
Best wishes, keep well and keep smiling
Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn
Thursday, 3 September 2015 (still in HK, just before our departure for Qingdao)
