R66

Jen here. A co-worker recommended we go to a revolving restaurant for the buffet lunch...so, one day we went. It's called R66; R for Revolving (I think) and 66 because it takes 66 minutes to complete a revolution. We were one of the first people there for the lunch buffet and had a lovely little table by the window (yay!).

Our revolution began with Central and then shifted to Happy Valley Racecourse. Happy Valley (Chinese name is Run Horse Place) is an exclusive district. There are but a few buses that go there, or you can ride the slow tram. I know a few people who live there. :) It's known for the horse racing. Who would have thought that with 7 million people and minimal space there would be a massive horse track on HK island? There is...in Happy Valley (see photo).








The meal was delicious--an all-you-can-eat buffet. Salads, noodle soup, fried rice, veggies, broiled fish, roast beef, chilled seafood, etc...more than we could ever try! Dessert was most tempting, as they had all sorts of sweet cakes and pastries, and a chocolate fountain! One of our dessert plates is at left (notice I said one...). As we ate, we got to chat about our hopes and desires for the future, and of course take the occasional photo. It was a fun date! :)







Looking at the photos, you may ask "Is it always smoggy in HK?" No. Though I was beginning to think it was, I now know it isn't always grey yucky yuck outside. For a long while we had a really bad pollution index (or something). It was so bad that they (whoever they are) advised people to reduce their amount of time outside. It was so smoggy. Yuck. I missed the sun and the sky. But I can attest, I have seen lots of blue sky recently and we have had many sunny days (as all my clean and dry laundry confirms). So, Praise the Lord for that! About a week ago, we had a terrible storm, but the day after the sky was so crisp, clean and beautiful! Thank You, Lord! The photo at left is of southern Happy Valley/Wan Chai. The standout building fascinates me. It is just so huge! One of our schools we teach Chess at is near that building. Every time I pass it I wonder how strong it is...and if it would ever fall over. Enjoy!

End of Year Chess

Jen here. Lots of chess--end of classes, tournament and now holiday camps. The above photo is from the "End of Year Tournament" held last Saturday. Roy was the official tournament director--he did a great job. Twenty-two kids in attendance, one Roy and two assistants (me and Pierre). It turned out well. The three kids in the picture all go to ISF, our biggest chess school. And check out their sweet trophies--the star trophies are my favorite so far. Roy and Pierre did most of the Chess stuff, and I was in charge of the kids between rounds (aka: babysitting and concessions). It was a challenge in many ways...but also fun. I enjoy being around kids and getting to know them. They are so cute. And they are little people, with thoughts, attitude, feelings.

Roy is busy this week (Mon-Wed) with Chess camps. He has two potential candidates for chess coaches, and they are helping Roy with the camps. What a great way for Roy to see them interact with the kids and teach the kids!

On a different note, Roy and I noticed a strange phenomenon happening at restaurants on Christmas eve and Christmas: Their "a la carte" menu gets thrown out the door and they charge big prices per person for a set meal. Hmm... strange. Is this because people don't invite people to their homes for meals, but to restaurants? Do all the restaurants do this? One restaurant's set menu for Christmas eve cost $1500 per person($200 US per person). Crazy.