Ox it is!

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Bye bye what was left of 2008. The Year of the Rat (I just learned I am an Earth Rat) is gone, a pretty soso year. Hopefully the Ox will bring better times.
We are recovering from our home party, some invited guests were kidnapped by enthusiastic (Chinese) in-laws and others had last-minute professional priorities but we still had a very diverse and happy crowd, dominated by Chinese but Belgium (including our ambassador!), Sweden, Norway, USA, Germany, France, UK and Malaysia sent in the troops to balance the crowd.


Guests apparently enjoyed the international food, including meatloaf, duck filled with chicken, Brazilian feijoada, etc. They also helped us to empty a bit our reserves of wine and beer.
The hard core sipped champagne (lots) till well after 2am (or something like that, hey, I was tired!) in our living room, watching the wonderful and deafening fireworks all around us. Hell braking lose in the Gongti Strip for hours in a row. Incredible view from our living room window. We just wondered how much money literally went up in smoke. Not much recession in the air it seems…
Thanks to all our friends and family who made this a great evening and thanks for all the nice goodies you brought!
[note: any other pics I will receive later will be added to this picture gallery – first edition 26 Jan, updated with 18 extra pics from Wilfried on 2 Feb]

Happy Chinese New Year of the Ox!

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

chineselantern

The Chinese New Year – the lunar year of the “Earth Ox” – begins on Monday, January 26th 2009. The Earth Ox (there are four other types of Ox) is believed to be dependable, patient, methodical and calm. Ox persons are born in 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985. The Ox is a lover of stability, a great traditionalist and a homemaker.
Celebrations can continue for up to fifteen days until the full moon on the 9th February 2009 and include traditional customs such as discarding old things, spring-cleaning, getting a haircut, and repaying debts before New Year’s Day. Most important of all is the family reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve. We are inviting family and good friends at our home for a relaxed evening of (lots of) food & drinks – we expect around 50 people of all possible nationalities.

oxyear

To all our readers and friends….

happyox_Yael

Thailand offers new beach facilities

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Thailand is opening its beaches for sun tanning. No tan oil is provided. Pollution free boat rides (no engines).
scmpdumpedatsea SCMP has a full coverage on the tragedy
OK, not funny at all. Real sad was is happening over there, bad publicity. We all love to go there on holidays, Thai people are overall nice and welcoming. The military handled it all horribly wrong while people forget the other side of the story: what can countries like Thailand and Indonesia do when hundreds of refugees land on their beaches? Why do those people flee from where they come? The root causes are mostly at the starting point of their trip – discrimination, poverty, persecution, … In Europe, we have sometimes near similar cases like in Spain and Italy. What should be done is give them no more reason to leave where they come from.

A cat’s heaven

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

A cat died and went to Heaven. God met her at the gates and said, ‘You have been a good cat all these years. Anything you want is yours for the asking.’
The cat thought for a minute and then said, ‘All my life I lived on a farm and slept on hard wooden floors. I would like a real fluffy pillow to sleep on.’
God said, ‘Say no more.’ Instantly the cat had a huge fluffy pillow.
A few days later, six mice were killed in an accident and they all went to Heaven together. God met the mice at the gates with the same offer that He made to the cat.
The mice said, ‘Well, we have had to run all of our lives: from cats, dogs, and even people with brooms! If we could just have some little roller skates, we would not have to run again.’
God answered, ‘It is done.’ All the mice had beautiful little roller skates.
About a week later, God decided to check on the cat. He found her sound asleep on her fluffy pillow. God gently awakened the cat and asked, ‘Is everything okay? How have you been doing? Are you happy?’
The cat replied, ‘Oh, it is WONDERFUL. I have never been so happy in my life. The pillow is so fluffy, and those little Meals on Wheels you have been sending over are delicious!’
innocentcat
(Gilbert, though officially a RAT, loves cats!)