Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Waiting

Singing Sand Dune, China |

It is slow. It seems long. It looks as if there is no end.

I waited patiently for the Lord.
He turned to me and heard my cry.


He lifted me out of the pit of destruction, out of the sticky mud.
He stood me on a rock and made my feet steady. 


He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.
Many people will see this and worship him. Then they will trust the Lord.

- Psalm 40: 1 - 3

Sunday, June 27, 2010

I saw you

Suzhou, China |

It’s interesting to see how different people would react differently to strangers, especially to someone with a camera in his hand walking in front of their house. For most people a stay-away-from-me look would comes natural, whereas others may display a warm and welcoming smile that makes you feel like you’re being taken in as part of the family.

I came across this older couple in the old town area of Suzhou. Our encounter was only a few seconds, but as an outsider being welcomed was an experience that last forever. Sometimes I just wonder how would I react if a stranger were walking by my house?

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,”
- Matthew 25:35


Sunday, June 20, 2010

Cease the Moment

Once there’s a credit card commercial suggested that almost everything can be purchased with a price, except the many special moments that happen in our lives. They are simply priceless!

Well, this is one of those moments – Flora and two years old Ethan.

Distillery District, Toronto Canada |

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Shoeshine

Central, Hong Kong |

It was quite a surprise to see shoe polishers (shoeshine boys) lining up in the middle of an alleyway next to the once famous "Queens Cinema" on the island side of Hong Kong – a scene that took me back to fond childhood memories. I would have thought such age old profession might have faded away into the past like many of the buildings or things that we grew up with. But well, guess I was wrong! It looks like this shoe shining business is very much alive and well positioned in the market. This is uniquely Hong Kong!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Old Friends

Saw this gentlemen and his friend (the cat) a few years ago from the street of Lisbon. What caught my attention was their care for each other, and seemingly a deep shared friendship.

Now looking at the picture again, an early Simon and Garfunkel tune came to my mind.


Old friends, old friends,
Sat on their parkbench like bookends

A newspaper blown through the grass
Falls on the round toes of the high shoes of the old friends

Old friends, winter companions, the old men
Lost in their overcoats, waiting for the sunset
The sounds of the city sifting through trees
Settle like dust on the shoulders of the old friends

Can you imagine us years from today,
Sharing a parkbench quietly
How terribly strange to be seventy

Old friends, memory brushes the same years,
Silently sharing the same fears
-by Simon And Garfunkel

Lisbon, Portugal |

Monday, June 14, 2010

Wisdom Better Than Folly

There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siegeworks against it.

Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man.

So I said, "Wisdom is better than strength." But the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.

The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools.

Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
- Ecclesiastes 9: 14 - 18

Manila, Philippines

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Smile

Their playground was what used to be a famous landmark in Manila - Smokey Mountain, a large garbage dumpsite. Their laughter and joy came from anything that they can pickup along the way, or simply a stranger look slightly different with a camera in his hand appearing before them. But with whatever they can get, they enjoyed and be happy with it.



Manila, Philippines

Comes and Goes

What does man gain from all his labor
at which he toils under the sun?

Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
- Ecclesiastes 1:3-4



Scoreboard

Scarborough, Ontario |  Scoreboard waiting for the new season to be opened again.