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Greetings - April 2008
 Irene and Dominic in Antarctica, Jan/Feb 2008 |
Dear Family and Friends,
We hope all is well with you and your family. It has been over 3 months since our last greeting, we trust you had good Chinese New Year and Easter break. We had been travelling a bit, exploring Antarctica by boat in Jan/Feb was indeed very eye-opening, seeing plenty of penguins and other wildlife and unpolluted natural environment with some of the most spectacular landscape on earth. All these remind us how very important that we must protect and preserve the global environment that we live in and very much depend upon.
This trip had also completed our unplanned goal of travelling together to all 7 continents. While feeling a sense of a small achievement, we felt very blessed to have such opportunity. Please see below for the trip summary and photos. We are planning to hold a seminar to share our experience. Hope to see you then.
We also stopped over South America and Paris en route to Hong Kong from Antarctica. Upon our return, we experienced the coldest and longest winter in Hong Kong in 40 years, we fear such abnormal weather is becoming the norm. Again the tragic consequence of human activities destroying our own planet.
As always please drop us a note when you are free, we would love to hear how you are getting on.
Best wishes,
Irene and Dominic - April 2008
What are Irene and Dominic up to?
In addition to Dominic's consulting work, he had been organizing and participating in numerous events related to visitors from Cambridge University - Prof. Alison Richard, the Vice Chancellor, Dame Patricia Hodgson, the Principal of Newnham College and the officers from Girton College's development office. He is also working with a team of young alumni in planning the mentorship seminar series and the annual dinner of the Friends of Cambridge University in Hong Kong.
Irene is currently planning for the fiscal year of 2008 ? 09, so that she could find a way to work more without reducing her time to study and travel. One of the goals is to keep her body healthy and full of energy by more regular exercise. She is working on an online platform for virtual arts with a few friends while continuing with her existing work. She enjoys having visitors from Athens and Geneva lately. After the amazing Antarctica trip, her eyes are now on the Arctic region. Besides she is collecting more knowledge about Russia, Japan, Singapore, Mongolia, Egypt, Jordan and Syria.
We were at 2 hikes (photos 1 & 2), a book club gathering, a visit to the Chanel Mobile Art and an excellent lecture on ?Behind-the-Scene Stories of the National Treasures Exhibition? 國寶展覽背後的故事: 清明上河圖 by Mr Marco Szeto, Curator, Xubiazhai, Hong Kong Museum of Art and more... We also took a short break to the beautiful Yunnan over Easter holiday which was relaxing, then we spent a weekend at Disney Hotel, Hong Kong.
Travel recommendation: Antarctica
It doesn't seem that long ago that we were all excited in planning (August 2007) for our long trip to Antarctica, South America and Paris during January and February 2008. We have since returned to Hong Kong but the excitement stays. We felt a sense of achievement to have visited all 7 continents together and at the same time we felt deeply blessed. The Antarctica cruise was about wildlife, nature and history (explorers who came before us). To call it eye-opening maybe an understatement...more thoughts and photos on Antarctica
For other travel photos (South America, Paris) please click here.
Restaurant recommendation: Amber - French
Western in Central
Landmark Mandarin Oriental, 15 Queen's Road Central, The Landmark, Central, Hong Kong | T: +852 2132 0188
Very good service and good food just as you would expect from Mandarin Oriental! There is a private room that can host about 24 people. Their menu changes every 4 months or so.
Read more
Book recommendation: The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
The God Delusion (buy from Amazon) by Richard Dawkins
A very deep and comprehensive book that talks about why there is no God, not an easy book to read. "God delusion" covers a very wide angle, "Respects that religion doesn't deserve", "God Hypothesis", Why human is receptive to the idea of religion and how religion arised as a result, the inconsistency in scriptures people simply choose to ignore, the alternatives to God that can still explain the world, the human moral standard with or without God, Science Vs Religion. Dawkins is a firm believer in Evolution/Darwinian world.
I have enjoyed reading this book very much, it will help you to decide one way or the other.