Humpback Whale Watching

On the last day of the conference, when the last session was finished, nine of us rush to the harbour in Durban, to rent a boat to go “whale watching”.  The water was not calm even inside the harbour.  

Initially I was seated at the end of the boat.  After a while, I desired a change of view.  Hence I went to the front of the boat and sat down, for an unobstructed vie towards the front.  Outside the harbour, the waves got even choppier.  The boat pitched up and down rather dramatically.  We dared not stand up. 

After about an hour into the ride, perhaps 8 kilometres due east into the Indian Ocean, we started seeing whales.  Humpback whales.  We would see glimpse of their backs and flukes.  They dived back into the water quickly.  Too quickly for me to catch them on my camera.

We waited for them to surface again.  But they can stay under water for 20 minutes.  And they can resurface at a spot far from where they dived in.  So staring at the same spot is not a very effective strategy.  

Finally, we spotted something to the right of the boat.  and this time they stayed long enough for me to take a few pictures.  At first, I wasn’t even sure what I was seeing.  

At first, the back of a whale was visible.  Then it arched its back, flipped up its fluke (tail), and disappeared.  

It turned out there was another one alongside.  

The second one also arched its back, flipped up its fluke, and dived in. 

They do come in pairs, just the way we were told. 

And they were humpbacks, just the way we were told. 

After that, we felt satisfied.  And the boat turned back towards the harbour.  All in all, a very satisfying day.  

Dim Sum at Steam Hut

One of my favourite comfort food is good dim sum, particularly those at Steam Hut (蒸廬).  And even more so because we know some of the good people there. Hence, as soon as I returned to Hong Kong after spending a month and a half Time (Zone) Travelling (Rwanda - HK - Toronto - Vancouver - HK - South Africa), my wife and I had to go to the Stem Hut shop in Tsuen Wan (Plaza88, 88 Yeung Uk Road, Tsuen Wan 荃灣楊屋道88號 Plaza88)).

This time we had Steamed soup, shrimp dumplings (my wife’s favourite), steamed rice noodles with chicken, stuffed fish maw, Yakult pudding, purple rice soup soup. 

We were so full afterwards.  

I had started the day running 14 kilometres. 

After dim sum, I spent 2 hours reading at a small upstairs bookstore in Mong Kok. And took two good books home.  

For dinner, my wife made bitter squash stir-fried with tenderloin beef. Washed down with a cold beer. Finished with a piece of durian.  

What a nice way to spend a day off. 

IARSLCE in Durban

This is the first time this global conference on Service-Learning and Community Engagement is held in the Global South, in its 25 years of existence.  It has usually been held somewhere in the USA, with the overwhelming majority of participants and presentations coming from USA.  This time, many come from Africa.  The content of the presentations and discussions also reflect that, which makes it  very refreshing.  There is also a fairly strong representation from Asia - mainly Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan.  Unfortunately, perhaps due to the great distance, cost of travelling, and differences in language, much of Asia is still missing, and few are from South America.  This is one of the greatest challenges of a truly global dialogue.  The world is still very big and travelling is difficult for many. 

I was asked to speak on a panel of past and present members of the board of directors.  On our personal journey, observations and projections for the future.  The five panelists come from Ecuador, Chile, Hong Kong, Singapore and the USA, with two of us having significant experience in Africa.  

I shared my journey from the perspective of an engineer, how engineering and professional expertise potentially and actually making big impacts in service-learning, advocating greater efforts in bringing them more into the community.  Above all, I joined the board to strengthen the Asian community, bring the Asian community more into the global community, and the global community closer to the Asian community.  Hence the effort to initiate and grow the Asia-Pacific Community of Practice, the organisation of the IARSLCE APCoP regional conference last December, and the continued growth of the APCoP.  I was both fortunate, and also confident that I have the full backing from my colleagues in the Service-Learning Office.  In this conference, there are 5 of us from PolyU (it would have been 6), one of the largest delegations. Based on the response from the panel discussions and the interactions throughout the conference, our efforts are much appreciated.

A sense of frustration and almost despondence was also obvious throughout the conference, sometimes even explicitly expressed throughout the discussions - with the power grab and funding squeeze from the American Right.  Many programs have been cut throughout the world.  Sometimes an NGO received a call at 3 o’clock in the morning saying the funding was cut, immediately.  The caller himself also lost his job.  In the USA, complete departments are cut from universities and organisations.  Any proposal with sensitive words and concepts in it, such as equality, inclusiveness, etc., have no hope of approval.  Nobody know how long it will last.  

But there is also hope that together, with passion, creativity, and perseverance, much can be done.  The world is not perfect.  In fact, it is full of suffering, ugliness, bigotry, biases, inequality, hatred, and all manners of evil.  Giving up, or throwing up of our hands is not an option.  Faith, hope and love is the only way to live a meaningful life.  Service-Learning is one important way to live out our faith in our career. And we will persevere. 

Durban

Now I am in Durban, on the eastern (Indian Sea) coast of South Africa. According to the map, if I jump into the sea and swim due east, I will land near Perth, on the western coast of Australia - if I do not drown or get eaten by a shark or something.  

May of us are here to attend a conference organised by IARSLCE (International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement).  I have now visited all 3 largest cities in South Africa - Johannesburg, Cape Town, and now Durban. 

From the airplane, en route from Joburg, my first impressions of Durban were gentle rolling hills, long coastline, and big waves.  

Until recently, I knew very little about Durban.  The one thing that was associated with Durban in my mine was Mahatma Gandhi.  He came to Durban after being educated in law in England. It was in Durban when he started getting into activism for the rights of the Indians in South Africa.  He was imprisoned at least twice while in Durban.  It was also in Durban that he started to develop the philosophy of non-violent struggle for human rights.  He started a great movement and inspired so many great leaders. 

From this point of view, it is fitting that IARSLCE has come to Durban. 

Albion Run

Running in the Canadian countryside is a real joy. On quieter roads, there are practically no cars.  The few people are mostly friendly, or they just ignore you. There is just yourself.  And your thoughts.  

Occasionally a dog barks, usually behind fences. I try to stay far away from them. 

There are also horses, llamas, etc., behind the fences. 

Wild blackberries.  With fierce-looking thorns.  

Wild flowers, of course.  Mostly unknown, to me.  

It turns our many of them have interesting, even poetic names.  Such as Evening Primrose 月見花. 

Flower-strewn paths. 

Running this way does give you a different perspective on life. 

BPPV 3

Four days after landing in Toronto, just over a week or so ago, I woke up feeling a little dizzy.  When I sat up, and tried to stand up, I felt the world spinning.   When I lied down and held still, I felt better.  I instinctively knew it was BPPV again.  Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.  Presumably, some crystal falls into one of the semi-circular canals in the inner ear. Which affects my sense of balance, creating a sense of spinning whenever I move.  The name says benign.  But the effect was devastating.  

When it happened to me several years ago for the first time, in May 2021, it was really scary.  I did not know what was going on.  What if it was a permanent condition?  Our doctor friend H told my wife C to look up the Epley manoeuvre and apply it on me.  That solved the problem.  Five days later I had another, milder episode.  Since then I have not had another one, until now. 

Hence when it happened to me a third time, this time, I wasn’t too scared.  At least I new what it was.  But I was still worried.  What if my wife could not apply the Epley successfully?  Would I have to live the rest of my life lying on my back? How long will this episode last?

My wife went on youtube to look for a video on the Epley.  This time, however, most of the videos found demonstrate how a person can apply it to himself.  How do I know whether I have turned my head 45 degrees?  Till my head back 45 degrees?  Lie down rapidly?  Turn my body 90 degrees while keeping my head oriented the same way?  I couldn’t do that when I was normal.  How could I do that while feeling the world spinning?  Fortunately, my wife found one with a doctor demonstrating Epley on a patient, that looked professional.  First of all, she had to figure out whether it was the left ear or the right ear.  Then perform the correct sequence.  Miraculously, She did it, again!  And saved me, again!  I need to go no further to find my Guardian Angel.  She is right here. 

Thereafter, I continued to feel unsteady for a day or two, even though the world was no longer spinning.  Gradually I felt better.  Thank God.  Now I am back to normal, more or less. 

Family Reunion

For the first time in 3 years, all five of us (my wife and I, and our 3 daughters) are together in  the same place (Vancouver) at the same, together with one of our 2 sons-in-law.  We even managed to fly in almost at the same time, from 3 different cities. Then we go for dim sum.  

We also had Dungeness crabs, our family-signature clam soup, colourful veggies, 

wood-fired sour dough pizza, 

indigenous food (bannock, salmon, bison, …), self-picked wild black berries, self-picked self-grown blue berries, HK-style milk tea, …

We chased chicken, sheep. 

We ran; at one point, we saw more horses than cars.  We collected the first harvest of garlic on A&K’s farm.  We prepared the kernels of garlic to be planted for the coming season.  We measure and prepare more land for cultivation.  We marvel at the land and the beautiful house.  We learn how regenerative farming is done.  

Above all, we talk. About childhood, what we are doing now, the future, books.  We reminiscence, laugh, lament about unfairness, inequality, stupidity, we worry about but also look forward to the future. 

Soon the eldest had to go back to work. The youngest will have to go back to work.  My wife and I will have to go back to HK, to work.  

This reunion is so short, but so very sweet.