Love affair with Hong Kong

It's been 2 decades since my maiden trip to the 'Pearl of the Orient' or better known as Hong Kong; literally translated from Cantonese to mean 'Fragrant Harbour'. What an apt name.
Hong Kong is a place that might not appeal to a visitor like me on arrival, but upon venturing away from the concrete jungles to the other parts of this famous land, (40% of the land is protected forest) that's when the fragrance really prevail.
I'm here to accompany my 75 year father to 'send' my 86 year old 'Da Gu Zhang' (1st Aunt's Hubby) to his next destination and visit his eldest sister(my 1st Aunt), she emigrated to China in the late 1950s to join the communist (that's where she met her husband at a teachers training college, then fled to HK during the Cultural Revolution.
When one is at 86 years old, it's not Money nor a Feast that one longs, but the company of our loved ones...

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Truths and Lies

A friend sent me this clip on McCruelty.com recently.... I'm sure this is just the tip of an ice-berg; behind the colours and gleamours of shopping malls and excessive consumerism of the modern human society lies all these "dirty laundry" kept away from the public eye. Another example i can think of is the BIG LIE where we are being programmed that we can just go about our daily lives concentrating on the "Consumption bit" and ignore the Extraction, Production, Distribution that came before that and Disposal that comes after that....It's time we wake up from Truths like "Perceived Obsolescence" and "Planned Obsolescence" McCruelty: I'm Hatin' It--Learn More.

Paramita Meditation Centre

8 years ago in Feb, i made my first maiden trip to this beautiful island nation of 30 million. Today, the pretty busy road that serves the main throughway from Colombo to Kandy has been widen, resurfaced and thus i see even huge tour coaches and container trucks passing by as i stand above about 5 storeys high at the main meditation hall as i start my walking meditation before THE SIT. Yesterday, an american-vietnamese resident nun living here gave me a surprise by giving me a local sarong and a illuminated statue of the buddha; she wished my happy new year as the sinhala new year is on the 13/14 Apr. PMC is located up the granite slopes to mitigate the noise from the traffic; however, the train tracks that probably runs at least 5 times a day is on the same height as the Dhamma Hall. Gotten used to the symphony of train, vehicular traffic and the sound of nature (birds, insects, whispering of the leaves).

The Bird Cage

M ore than 3 years ago, when i tasted freedom; tried to fly back into the bird cage recently. Yes, there's a steady and predictable flow of water and food, shelter to protect me from the elements but i lost myself in that process; i was unhappy inside the bird cage... As i look back, I've already know where to forage for food, know where to spend the night (but probably needs to become more mindful to drink enough water and be aware of my breath.) So why on earth do i still yearn to fly back into the cage?

the ART of reBIRTH

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