Asia Adventure

Alan's Favorite Photos

2009-08-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

Looking out of our porthole--Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong

Cambodian children--photographed on the way to Phnom Penh.

Jan Having Fun

2009-08-10T13:10:00.000-07:00

Speaking at a conference for women in Cambodia ....

At the Botanical Gardens in Hong Kong ....

Eating out at a Chinese restaurant ....

At home in our cabin ....

Friends We Left Behind

2009-08-10T12:47:00.000-07:00

The Dragon Rescue: An Exciting Story!

2009-08-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

PAGE ONE

Papa and Mimi took a trip far away across the ocean to help people in a country called Cambodia. Old people there tell stories about huge dragons that lived a long time ago. They say the dragons were very dangerous, but Papa and Mimi didn't believe the dragon stories. One day they took a walk beside the sea to get some exercise and look for pretty things to photograph. Papa found a beautiful bush with flowers called Hibiscus. But where was Mimi?

PAGE TWO

While Papa looked at flowers, Mimi wandered away by herself. She was very happy and started singing about a make-believe dragon. "Puff the magic dragon lived by the sea," she sang. She held up her hands and pretended to be a dragon. Can you guess what happened next? A real dragon was sleeping in a cave. He had been sound asleep for a thousand years. When he heard Mimi singing, he popped up out of the ground to see what was happening. Mimi didn't know the dragon was right behind her and about to grab her! Poor Mimi!

PAGE THREE

The dragon was as big as a house. He had green skin and and sharp, pointy teeth. He opened his claws to catch Mimi. When the dragon grabbed Mimi, she began to scream. "Help! Help! Please rescue me!" She tried to get away, but the dragon wouldn't let go of her. She kept screaming for help, hoping that Papa would get there in time.

PAGE FOUR

Papa heard Mimi crying for help and he ran to find her. When he saw the dragon he thought about what he should do. Should he call for the police? But they were too far away. Should he give the dragon money? But dragons don't use money. The dragon roared at Papa to go away. But Papa shouted back, "Give Mimi back to me, or else!" Then he ran up and pulled Mimi out of the dragon's claws.

PAGE FIVE

Do you think Papa was afraid of the dragon? Of course! But he loved Mimi so much he wouldn't let the dragon keep her. They rode home in a Tuk-Tuk. Mimi wore flowers in her hair and Papa kissed her. The dragon returned to his cave and went back to sleep. He doesn't bother people anymore. And they all lived happily ever after.

The End.

Interesting Signs Along the Way

2009-08-01T12:08:00.000-07:00

Alan's Band & Weird Food

2009-07-31T22:08:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of talent on the Doulos. I was lucky enough to link up with some great musicians, Dodo from Switzerland and Werner from Brazil, to play Celtic/Folk music for a coffee house onboard. We had a blast!

Jesus told his disciples that when they went out on their mission they should accept hospitality and eat whatever food was set before them. This advice can be a challenge in Cambodia where they set before you such culinary specialties as fried frogs and dried grasshoppers, beetles and spiders. My music colleague Werner is trying to pretend he is very happy with the taste of a black beetle. I had one and it was very bitter. The grasshopper, on the other hand, was quite tasty.

Yi-An Neoh's Photos

2009-07-31T17:52:00.000-07:00

Our ship doctor was Yi-An Neoh from Australia, shown here with his family and friends in the ship dining room. He kept us safe from Malaria, Dengue Fever, and other tropical health hazards!

Yi-An is not only the ship's doctor, but also a professional photographer. We appreciate his permission to reproduce his Cambodian shots below.

Out and About Town

2009-07-21T21:07:00.001-07:00

These are miscellaneous photos of the town that we put together.This is a street scene, taken during the HIV/AIDS run.

Here is a family of four on a motorcycle here in Sihanoukville. No helmets!

Three Buddhist monks on the quayside right beside the ship.
A neighborhood scene near the market. This is a really nice street, although it is really just a one lane road, it is paved. This is really nice, compared to the mud and muck that you usually encounter on side streets.

This is a tree of dragon eye fruit, that has bunches of the fruit covered, for protection from birds possibly, although the outer shell of the fruit is pretty firm. The fruit is small and round and has a large seed, with a thin layer (1/8-1/4") of membrane, which is what you eat. It tastes good, there just isn't much of it.

Rooms rent very cheaply here. There are lots of massage places around. This one is advertising specialized massage for areas of your feet to heal other areas of your body.

This is the grocery store. About the size of a 7-11. There are SO MANY different items in such a small space! A lot of people NEVER shop in this kind of store, they only buy what they can in the markets.

I don't think that these crackers, with this name would market very well in the U.S.

Tuk Tuk Tuk Tuk Tuk . . .

2009-07-21T19:12:00.000-07:00

Here are Alan and David Gillan getting into a TukTuk. We decided that they call them that because of the sound the motor cycle makes. We would say, putt, putt, putt, putt. But, I think
that the Cambodians make that sound as tuk, tuk, tuk, tuk.

On another day, Alan wasn't with us, but a group of us went to the market. The three men are sitting across from us in the tuk tuk.

People will carry just about everything on their motorcycles. Here is a man riding along with a ladder! Everyone made way for him when he went around corners! The streets are not extremely crowded like pictures you've seen of some Asian countries. The people are largely very poor, so actually only a few can actually afford motorcycles. There aren't even many bicycles. Motorcycles seem to be the main transport, along with tuktuks.

As we were riding from the market to the ship, a monsoon hit us!

Our tuktuk driver was having a hard time pulling our carriage along with all the rain and uphills. So, all of a sudden, he pulled off the main road onto a dirt road, and we all wondered what was going on. Then, he drove right into a carport in front of his house! We all piled out to wait out the rain storm. This is a photo of him and his family.

As soon as we got there, his wife hustled inside to fix something for us! She squeezed passion fruits into glasses with ice to cool it off. The fruit juice was delicious, but we were a little hesitant about the ice, not knowing what kind of water it was made from. But, we drank it down, and none of us got sick! After the passion fruit juice, he brought out another bottle. It had seahorses floating in rice wine, and it was to drink! He claimed that it would cure arthritis and whatever else ails! Well, a couple of our party finally tried a small shot class 1/2 full at his insistence. They said it wasn't actually bad! I didn't try it, I'm not that adventurous.

We stayed at his home until the rain calmed down, and then he drove us back to the port. It was still pretty windy:

Kampot Province Ministry

2009-07-21T18:22:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, July 15, we were part of a team that drove in one of the ship vans out to Kampot Province to help with a program. When we arrived, the worship team at the church was already leading everyone in singing. Isn't this a colorful church?

Alan spoke to about 100 pastors and wives. Here he is with his translator.
The rest of the team that I was part of, was assigned to do a children's program. On the left here is Lenie Crezee (Netherlands). She and her husband have been on the ship for 5 1/2 years. She is the same age that we are, and she was the van driver for our trip.

At the end of the children's program we passed out little gift packages to the children that contained colored pencils, pencil sharpener and note pad.

This is the younger half of the team: Michelle Kim (Australia), Barnard Modimakwane (South
Africa), and Hyun Cheon Choi (Korea) drinking straight from the fresh coconut.

This is part of the youth section of the "children's program." Looking at this group, you can tell why we had to do a completely different program for them than for the little kids. We also gave them different notebooks and notepads and things that had been donated to the children of Cambodia from Hong Kong and Taiwan.
We had not planned for youth of this age, so, I had a little tract, and Alan suggested that I have them read it through. Fortunately one of the young men could speak pretty good English, so I had him translate for me, and lead the discussion of the tract! This is the front of the little tract that I had them read through. The story inside went along with this picture on the front.
As we left the pastors, wives and children all waved good-bye. This is the front of the church.

We had a great day and got some great videos of the countryside along the way.

The Market in Kampong Som

2009-07-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

This is the entrance to the indoor market in Sihanoukville.

This is the outdoor market in Sihanoukville (Kampong Som).

These are beautiful flowers. If you look closely at the petals, as they open they look like folded fabric.

This is a vegetable stand in the covered market.

This is a jeweler in the covered market. He is swishing a thick gold chain around in the little pot of fluid. There is a flame underneat the pot.

This is colorful fabric in a shop in the market. They make very beautiful dresses from this.

I thought that these very long skinny looking fish with the pointed noses were quite interesting!

Anyone know what kind of fish they are?
We saw a man and a women riding around on bicycles like this, just loaded with pots and pans.

These are the fruits that we bought at the market: The big red one on the left is dragon fruit, the little round ones in the middle are dragon eyes. The purplish couple are mangosteens, the green is a mango, and the three red "fuzzy" ones are a type of lichi. The bananas are "fingerlings."

HIV/AIDS Run in Kampong Som, Kampuchea

2009-07-19T20:13:00.000-07:00

The sign above announces the Doulos Run, and also shows a bit of the quayside.
Below is Alan with Daniel Chae (Korea) the ship director, just before the race began.
AND THEY'RE OFF!!!!!!!!

Well, some of us were off, but not so fast!! Jan, far left.

That is a tuktuk behind Alan. It's the most common form of transportation. It's a motorcycle with a 6-seater carriage behind it.

There were water stops about every mile along the way. Notice Alan soaking wet shirt!
OH, OH, Uphill. . .

Well, neither of us won any medals, but Alan ran the 10 KM in 1 hour, and came in #20, out of about 120. Not bad for being old enough to be most of the runners father (or EVEN GRANDFATHER!). It took us walkers about 1 hour, 40 minutes, but we had an awfully good time!!! And WE oldest ones weren't the last ones! Some younger ones even finished in the van!
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR FIRST CAMBODIA POST!

Welcome to Cambodia

2009-07-19T19:33:00.000-07:00

On July 10, we arrived in Cambodia. On this table are the gifts we received on arrival: a flower garland for me, and a traditional kroma (woven cotten scarf) for Alan.

These traditional dancers and musicians were on the quayside. It was very hot and humid, and these fellows must have played and danced for an hour in the sun!
Jan receiving the flower garland. Oh, it smelled so nice!

Alan receiving the kroma.
Traditional Cambodian dancers.

The musicians who played for the dancing ladies, on traditional instruments.

More Voyage Memories

2009-07-12T05:26:00.000-07:00

Jan attended a ministry class during the voyage on how to use balloons for children's ministry. One balloon creation is "the whole armor of God"--sword, shield, helmet, shoes, belt, and breastplate. One evening the whole ship's company enjoyed a barbecue on deck. The last photos show some of the sunsets we enjoyed, closing with a portrait of our captain and chief engineer, Harry Nikken (Dutch) & Dave Gillan (Australian).

Sailing, Sailing, Over the Ocean Blue

2009-07-12T04:26:00.000-07:00

Our five-day voyage to Cambodia was calm and peaceful. Some highlights were the lifeboat drill and the weekly worship night in the main meeting room that ended with a communion service.

Last Night in Hong Kong

2009-07-12T02:31:00.000-07:00

Our last night in Hong Kong we enjoyed the city lights one more time, a quaint-looking Chinese tour boat, Jan posing with Bruce Lee, and a 4th of July party with a few American friends (Abby, Brittany and Jeff).

Sailing Away to Cambodia

2009-07-04T00:37:00.000-07:00

Tonight (Saturday) at 11 p.m. the ship will begin a 5-day voyage for Cambodia. We arrive there Friday morning at 6:30. On the way, Alan will preach for the Ship worship service on Sunday and teach his regular church history class. Also, en route we will have a seminar about HIV/AIDS, a port orientation about Cambodia and view the movie "The Killing Fields." On Thursday night we will have a BBQ on the deck. This port will be more like a traditional mission field. Cambodia is the poorest nation in Asia. A whole generation was wiped out by the Communist regime of Pol Pot, making most of the population alive now under the age of 30. While there, Jan will give a women's conference about the value we have in God's eyes. Alan will give a half-day conference for pastors on church history and Christian discipleship. We will both lead a conference on Christian marriage.

Hey, this is the Fourth of July! Tonight the Americans onboard are gathering for a special celebration with hamburgers, french fries and watermelon!

We don't know if we can post any more on the blog from Cambodia. Internet and electrical services are said to be unreliable. If we can, we will, but otherwise, you may not see anymore on this site until we return to Hong Kong on July 26. We return to San Francisco on July 28. Keep praying for our safety and effectiveness in ministry.

Baden-Powell in Hong Kong

2009-07-04T00:25:00.000-07:00

For all you Boy Scouts out there, it seems that scouting in Hong Kong gives a new meaning to "roughing it." Here is the Scouting headquarters....a la luxury hotel and restuarant.

This was a treat for Jan when she ran across this young couple on the way to their wedding near the ship.

Mission Field in the Mall

2009-07-03T23:52:00.000-07:00

You are looking at our cabin door into the mission field! The mission field begins about twenty yards away on the quayside.

Our first port of call, Hong Kong, hasn't seemed like a typical "mission field." It's the financial capital of Asia and similar to other world class cities like New York and London. Many of its residents are super affluent and our ship has been berthed next to the largest and maybe most up-scale mall in the city. But God loves rich folks, too, doesn't he? The entry to the ship for tours and conferences is actually located in a high-traffic location inside the mall, and some who came shopping for a designer-brand have walked onboard and heard about the Great Designer of All. The first picture is a flower planter outside the mall, including yellow orchids. The second shot shows the free wi-fi kiosk inside the mall where we have been able to post these blogs. The next two show some typical mall hallways and escalators, lots of marble and glass. The mall stretches about a half mile and includes 700 stores. Pray that these wealthy and prosperous Asians will give their lives to Christ!

Hong Kong Light Show

2009-07-03T00:43:00.000-07:00

Every night Hong Kong stages a choreographed light show featuring the city skyscrapers. We took this short video with our still camera from a place called "The Peak" above the city. More about our visit to the Peak in the next blog.

The Peak

2009-07-02T23:55:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday we went to a local landmark called "The Peak" with a couple of ship friends. This is a high point on Hong Kong island where you can view the entire city. On our way, we saw a sign warning us to be on the lookout for apparently dangerous pedestrians.

After a winding 45-minute bus ride up the mountain we arrived at this spectacular view. If you expand this picture you might see the Doulos on the far shore.After dinner with our friends from mainland China and South Africa, we had ice cream at McDonalds.
Just in time for Hong Kong light show!
A very romantic evening......

Sunday Excursion to Sha Tin

2009-06-28T21:14:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we visited a Chinese church in Hong Kong, then we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant: steamed rice with two side dishes, chicken/mushrooms and fish/vegetables. After lunch we took the train to Sha Tin district and visited the "10,000 Buddhas Monastery." There must actually be that many buddha images built on the stairways, patios, and hillsides, as well as in and around shrines. We climbed around 1,000 steps, but it was worth it! The first photo shows the Sha Tin city center, the second one shows the monastery shrines.

Sunday Excursion to Sha Tin, Part II

2009-06-28T21:07:00.001-07:00

More Buddhas!

Bits 'n' Pieces of HK

2009-06-28T20:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a tree with a uniquely-trained trunk. I wonder how many years it took to grow it into this shape?

Saturday night we hosted a table at the "formal" thank you dinner for local leaders who assisted the ship ministry.

Ship and skyline enveloped in clouds.

Free concert of traditional Chinese music at the culture center. Performers are from the YMCA youth band.

Hey, TOPS friends, I think I found the secret remedy for weight loss! Anyone want to place an order? OR is it for gaining weight???

Kowloon Park #2

2009-06-25T04:16:00.001-07:00

We're running out of time here at the mall, so here are more park photos. Enjoy!

Chinese Banyan tree, beautiful twisty trunk!

Kowloon Park

2009-06-25T04:04:00.000-07:00

Very pretty park about 15 minutes walk from the ship.

Many little lakes, fountains and pagoda gardens.

Sweeping up rubbish by the McDonalds ice cream stand. Ice creams cones = 30 cents

Enjoying the ice cream. Note skyscraper in the background.

Well manicured bushes and sculptured trees.

Nice flowers!

Our Cabin on Doulos

2009-06-25T03:51:00.001-07:00

This is a view looking into our cabin from the front door. On the left is a book case, on the right is a narrow (5") bookcase, then the door into the bathroom. Along the walls are 2 closets on each side. Straight ahead is our desk.

Here is Alan working at the desk, our little frig, port hole over a book case, then our dresser and bedside table.

Here is our couch, which we pull out for a bed each night. Inside the flowered pillow cases are our bed pillows and sheets!

This is our elegant bathroom, but very serviceable.

This is a ladies group with whom I met on Thursday morning in one of the larger cabins.

Sunday Church Team

2009-06-21T21:15:00.000-07:00

This Sunday, we joined a church team from the ship to lead morning and afternoon services at a small Nepali church. Alan's translator is the church's pastor. Most of the congregation members are domestic workers who clean house, etc. for wealthy people in Hong Kong. After a lengthy worship time, preaching began after 12 noon and went until 1 p.m.

This is the "youth fellowship" on Sunday afternoon. But first, the church fed us a wonderful lunch of savory noodles and pot stickers. Our team members presented a short missions drama, then gave testimonies about the Doulos and personal conversion stories. We are really blessed by the "heart knowledge" of the Doulos crew; their faith in God is very intense.

Our ship was anchored in the Hong Kong harbor this weekend so we had to take a water taxi to and from the shore. Note the gangway landing for boarding the taxi. And further below you see Jan ascending the gangway on Sunday about 5:15 p.m., just in time for a shower (whew!) and supper on the ship.

Below is our first attempt to post a video on Blogger. Alan is teaching the Nepali youth group the song, "Jesus is the Rock."

Train Trip to LoWu

2009-06-18T01:37:00.000-07:00

One day we took a trip up to LoWu to see the furthest place that the train/subway goes. It is still Hong Kong, but it is right up next to the mainland China border. It took nearly one hour each way and was a beautiful trip. We took some photos out of the moving train, so some may be a bit blurry. As we travelled there were tall mountains, then valleys filled with tall apartment buildings.

Here was a small house with a garden that we passed. It was very unusual to see a single-family house. Most EVERYONE lives in the highrise apartments.

This was an apartment building in the process of being built, and it is totally enshrouded in green fabric.
See the apartment buildings in the background? In front are dozens of cranes, building more apartment buildings!

Hong Kong

2009-06-17T23:51:00.001-07:00

We're finally online with our Asia Adventure diary. Flying into Tokyo reminds us of the fields of Iowa--

As we wait for the connecting flight, Jan finds a Chrismas ornament in the Tokyo airport--

In Hong Kong at last, Alan stands on the quayside in view of the city skyline. In the next blog we will post some dramatic night scenes of the city. Alan goes jogging on the quayside most mornings and meets some interesting people, like Buddhist monks.

The Doulos at berth in Hong Kong harbor at the Ocean Terminal. This is the same terminal that berths the large cruise liners. For this reason, we will be at anchor in the bay for Friday-Sunday to make way for a cruise liner that has dibs on our spot. Alan began his church history course Thursday morning, and Jan gave a talk for a women's tea hosting Hong Kong ladies.
This curious sign onboard makes us wonder just what the officers on watch watch when they are sleeping. We'll be going to a church in the city this Sunday where Alan will preach. More pictures soon!