“Fontenaille, or Chateau de Fontenaille, is the name of my friend’s chateau in France, where I stayed for ten days between a pilgrimage with the Jesuit priest and a retreat in Plum Village. I had meant to share with you this scenic place, its history and environment, the serene atmosphere, the vast expanse of nothingness…
In a few hours Su would be back from a trip to Phuket with her parents. They left on Tuesday. I had told Su as I walked her to take a taxi to the Airport Rail that I would write some letters while she was away, almost suggesting that she could be the reason why…
I left off last time when we were leaving Vancouver. I said we would go to the Holy Rosary Cathedral at Richards for Sunday Mass on my 65th Birthday; and we did. This is not exactly a huge church structure for a cathedral, but considering that the City has a population of only over 600,000,…
I returned from a dinner in Downtown Vancouver with Gus and of course Su. It was an Italian restaurant within the Opus Hotel which was near a Sky Train station so that we had no problem getting there from our hotel and back. Gus of course was my first Best Man. He insisted that he…
Naomi called 25 minutes before pick-up time, suggesting that she might be running a few minutes late, but then quickly confirmed that she would be on time and asked us to wait outside the hotel. Naomi was my classmate in HKU, but we lost contact soon after graduation until maybe 10 years ago when another…
It is April again – the month of birthdays and anniversaries – but as we won’t be around for most of the month, many of the celebrations would either take a different format or would take place elsewhere. I recall that we were on the Road in Korea two years ago this time and I…
If you find the letter title interesting, read on. They were the salutations between me and a recently met friend. I met this lady at dinner a few weeks ago. She introduced herself as a writer. She writes for newspapers regularly including reviews on movies, among other subjects; and she has had books published. When…
I was talking to a Durham cohort last week. He is sort of a quiet person who would go about his work and probably his life methodically and largely by himself without bothering others. I can still remember his short presentation on his observation post – a café in Wanchai where he had an hour…
Into the fourth week of my self-declared and unforced alcohol-free world, the world is not exactly any different from before and the mind doesn’t feel as sober as I hope it would. There were people asking all sorts of questions and making snipe remarks, mostly well intentioned, I hope, ranging from “Are you ill?” “How…
Today is Ash Wednesday and marks the beginning of Lent, which traditionally for Christians is a period for deeper reflection on one’s weaknesses and on how one can improve oneself through prayers, alms giving and abstinence or fasting with a view to getting closer to God. Today’s readings at Mass remind us that when one…
