Blog-a-Biscuit

China - Again!

2009-06-16T00:18:00.000-07:00

Just a little update on our China trip:

I found a video of a car driving along the road at Tiger Leaping Gorge. If you want to know why I was so scared, check this out - particularly the last 20 seconds, which is more indicative of what most of the trip was like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnPOVWkBySU

The Old Testament: The New Black

2009-06-15T16:01:00.000-07:00

I've been reflecting on the major things that I've learned at college this semester, and the thing that has most struck me has been the richness and depth that knowledge of the Old Testament gives to reading the New.

Now, we didn't even study OT this semester. Bibilical Theology was good, but since I've read the text before and done a lot of BT thinking, there wasn't a whole lot that was new. So counter-intuitively, the subjects that really brought out the value of the OT was Doctrine and New Testament. John Woodhouse lectured us in Doctrine, and since he came from an OT scholarly background, he really demonstrated how to use the OT, in a biblical theological way, to build a systematic theology. I can get really sick of the proof-texting of systematic theologies, but John's was great.

We had Bill Salier for Mark, and I was really struck by the OT context within which Jesus entered the world. You simply cannot understand Mark without understanding how it relates to the OT. You can't understand Jesus without knowing how he springs out of the OT.

So to all of you who don't like reading your Old Testament: stick with it! Get some resources to help you at understanding it. Ask your ministers to help you. It's an amazing 'book' on its own terms, but even more incredible when you really start to see how all its promises truly do find their 'yes' in Jesus.

What warfare??

2009-06-14T04:44:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was looking at Ephesians 6, particularly thinking about spiritual warfare (10-17). In Ephesians, there is a motif of these evil, spiritual forces. 1:20 talks about Christ being raised and seated above 'all rule and authority and power and dominion'. 2:2 speaks of sinners, being dead in sin, following 'the prince of the power of the air'. 4:27 warns us not to give the devil an opportunity in our anger. Until in 6:12, we're told that 'we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places'.

Some people argue that these aren't real 'spiritual' forces, but are worldly power structures, like governments etc. The context of these powers is often Christ's victory over these powers ' in the heavens', so its hard to maintain that they are simply 'mythologised' worldly powers.

However, it’s interesting to think on how to apply this to myself and others. How is it that these spiritual powers manifest themselves such that we must be strengthened against them and put on the armour of God?

It can be easy to think that the devil’s schemes are going to be like something from a horror movie, or buffy the vampire slayer. When we do this, we see that this stuff isn’t real, and so we think that the devil doesn’t work against us.

However, when it comes to the armour, it consists of truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation and the sword of the spirit – God’s word. These are all things that seem to guard against the taking away of the blessings we have already received in Christ: the word of truth of the gospel (1:13), reconciliation with God and our fellow man (2:14-17), salvation (1:13), righteousness, faith in Christ (2:8).

John Stott identifies that the shield of faith is useful against the devil accusing us and causing false guilt. He also mentions doubt, disobedience, rebellion, lust, malice or fear. I reckon that this is spot on, and that it should apply to all of the armour. Doubt and disobedience seem to be at the heart of all Christian struggles. It seems then that these are the work of the devil. It seems that he is most at work when we doubt the truth of the gospel, when we see sin in our lives and doubt our relationship with God, when we at enmity with God and others, we doubt God’s faithfulness and goodness, or we doubt our salvation. And, all of these doubts seem to lead to disobedience.

So it seems that the ‘everyday’ sin in our lives isn’t so ‘everyday’ after all. It’s the schemes of the Devil. Isn’t it a great comfort then that we don’t fight this battle alone, but with a sword from God himself: the power of God’s spirit, working through his mighty word, to reassure us of all that we have in Christ.

How to be beautiful and vigorous!

2009-05-30T19:07:00.000-07:00

Do you want to be beautiful and vigorous? I do! Beautiful people are more liked and more successful in life, and surely have a higher self-esteem. And who doesn't want to be vigorous? to defy the aging process, to be strong, agile, alert, ready for whatever life will throw at you. Sounds great!

As many if you know, I exercise fairly regularly. Most days of the week actually. And not just some lameo Pilates on a balance ball - it's fairly intense. It definitely helps to keep me vigorous. And for some, it may actually make you more beautiful. But there are two problems: it takes a lot of effort to keep it up; and it simply doesn't last. Two weeks in China,without my regular exercise and I took a major hit in vigor!

So how can you have beauty and vigor that really last?

As part of my New Testament subject at Moore, we've been studying Ephesians. Alongside our lectures, we've been asked to read John Stott's commentary. Last week, I read a section on Ephesians 4:20-24

that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Stott points out that the verbs for putting off the old and putting on the new, being infinitives, are hanging off the verb ‘you … were taught’ in v21. Thus they had been taught that becoming a Christian involves a radical change: conversion (the human side of the coin), and re-creation (the divine side); involving putting off the ‘old man’ and putting on the ‘new man’. The point is that these aren’t fresh commands, but rather a reminder that this has been done, when we become a Christian.

He also describes our former and new natures. He talks about the old being corrupt, degenerating, on its way to destruction, and the new as being recreated in the image of God; the old was dominated by lusts; the new has been recreated in righteousness and holiness; the old was deceitful, the new is true. What we are in Christ is in complete opposition to what we were in Adam.

While some of us like to be kicked around the head and told to be better people, this is different to that. This is encouraging, because I don’t think this is meant to make us feel bad for not living up to the ‘new man’. It’s supposed to encourage us, helping us to see who we really are. And that’s a huge motivation to godliness (as he then goes on to spur people towards in v25ff).

Stott quotes Charles Hodge on this:
‘… as the former was personified as an old man, decrepit, deformed, and tending to corruption, so the latter is personified as a new man, fresh, beautiful and vigorous, like God…’

In my life, I’m always so vividly aware of the old man – decrepit, deformed, corrupt. Sometimes it drives me to despair, to join with Rom 7:34:

‘Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?’

But the great thing about Romans 7, as with the ‘old man’ in Ephesians is that this is pre-conversion. This old, wretched man has been replaced, by God’s regenerating spirit (Rom 8) with a new man. In light of my current experience, the knowledge and the hope of the new man, fresh, beautiful and vigorous is an unspeakable blessing. To know that God has made me this new man, and will bring this to completion gives me real hope. Beautiful: not how we understand beauty, but God’s beauty – faithful, humble, compassionate. Vigorous: not how we understand athletic vigour, but God’s vigour, full of real, contagious life, a new creation, in God’s perfect image.

So, how can you be beautiful and vigorous? Trust in Christ! It's only in him that you can have true beauty and vigour.

Music in Church (Part 4)

2009-05-26T17:28:00.000-07:00

Border Security, or, ‘How To Prevent Pentecostal Theology From Being Smuggled In With Pentecostal Music’

One of the concerns in the evanglical music world is the way pentecostal music is penetrating and influencing our churches and the way we do music. This concern stems from the problem that there is a lot that we disagree about with pentecostals, and we do not want their theology along with their music. In particular, we are rightly concerned about our congregations believing that their emotional response involved with good music and singing is an indication of God’s presence or their closeness with God.

In addition to the obvious ‘first line of defence’ of looking at and rejecting songs with lyrics which convey these theological messages, there has also been a reaction against methods and stylistic elements of pentecostal music in the fear that adopting them will smuggle in pentecostal theology unnoticed. This is understandable and an important factor to consider, but it raises the question: at what point does pentecostal-style singing in church become a danger? When does the style and practice lead us into a pentecostal understanding of relating with God through music?

Trying to answer the this question is notoriously difficult. Is it when the music is above a certain volume? Is it when the lights are low and the drums are in the middle of the stage? What if the drums are a little to the side and the singers have their eyes closed? There are too many variables to be able to precisely answer this question. As such, I believe that trying to answer this question definitively has resulted in unnecessary legalism, division, and unjust labelling of certain churches as ‘Charismatic’, simply because of their congregational singing practices. In addition, even traditional music practices could be used to convey a sense of God’s immediate presence, so the issue is not only linked to contemporay pentecostal musical styles. What is needed is more understanding and acceptance of different music practices throughout our Christian networks.

While there is a place for wisdom in thinking through whether our services and our singing are going to be interpreted as though God has mystically manifested his presence, instead of focusing so much on trying to identify the practices of pentecostal music that we need to avoid, our focus needs to be on correct teaching. Correct teaching of about the purposes of music in church, as well as teaching on how we are to interpret our experiences of music in church.

Now, in our teaching about music in church, it is common to tell people that singing is for the edification of Christians as they sing together in songs filled with the word of God and as a response to God in thankfulness and gratitude (Col 3:16, Eph 5:19). While this is absolutely correct, it is not necessarily the experience of many people at church. Many people do, in fact, feel closer to God after particularly rousing singing – as if they have been brought into the presence of God. If we simply tell them that singing is for encouraging each other and expressing thankfulness to God, they will wonder why their pentecostal friends are allowed to get close to God when they sing while they are not. This leads to people to either go in search for a church which will affirm their feelings of being close to God or to feel guilty for their ‘wrong’ emotional response and thus stifle it.Teaching people the purpose of singing in church is only half the answer. In addition, we need to teach people to correctly interpret their experience of singing.

In order for people to correctly interpret their experience of singing, they firstly need to realise that through Christ, our mediator, we are as close to God as we possibly can be – there is nothing that we can do to be any more or less ‘in his presence’. This does not mean that we are limited in our contact with God, instead it means that regardless of how we feel, even at our lowest points, we are completely right with God and in communion with him by his Spirit, through Christ. Secondly, they need to realise that this means that when we sing in church, we may be emotionally stirred through the truth of the words we are singing or through the music itself, but that does not mean that we are any closer to God. Thirdly, the emotional response involved is a very positive experience, since it is a part of rightly responding to God’s gracious acts and it encourages us and spurs us on in faith, love, and good deeds – helping to achieve the very purposes of singing in church.

These elements must be taught if we are to avoid the pitfalls of pentecostal theology. They should be taught in our preaching, in the way we talk about church and music, in our service leading and in our song leading.

Of course, we can teach through our practice - particularly the way we do church. If we present church in such a way that communicates that we are somehow brought closer to God through our music, then that presents a problem. However, countering this problem could be as simple as making sure that we explain what we are doing to ensure that people do not come to their own, false conclusions.

An example of this happening already is the Lord’s Supper. In the Roman Catholic church, the Lord’s Supper is understood in a way which is very theologically different to a reformed, evangelical view. Its religious nature lends itself very easily to misunderstandings and wrong theology of atonement. Therefore every time we carry out the Lord’s Supper in our local church the minister who is running it is very careful to explain what is going on. He explains that is it not something that makes us right with God, but rather a way of remembering the death of the Lord Jesus for our sin. A simple explanation goes a long way.

Answering the question of how we can effectively teach our congregations to correctly interpret their experience of music in church is more important, and will more robustly address the problem than trying to definitively answer questions of musical style or method. When people come out of a church service feeling ‘closer to God’, the problem is not necessarily the way we did church, but what we have taught (or failed to teach) about Jesus being the solid foundation for our relationship with God. The solution to the problem is not to do church in a way which stiff, cerebral and emotionless, but to teach people that their emotions are a right response to the fact that we are as close to God as we can be, through the reconciling work of the Lord Jesus.

Music in Church (Part 3)

2009-05-25T05:36:00.000-07:00

Key Strategies of Music in Church

Based on the theological principles and practical observations of music in church, these are some key strategies to how we do music in church. These are by no means comprehensive, nor should they be taken as hard and fast rules. They are simply some guidelines I have come up with from reflecting and reading other’s work.

We Must Run Our Music Ministry Wisely

In order to be faithful to the bible and wisely engage with the current Christian music culture, we must first teach people (not just our musicians) about the role of music in our church meetings, and we must make sure that we are doing music as faithfully and as best we can. In order to do this, we need to recruit the right people to have responsibility over music ministry: people who are godly, able to think theologically, and musically gifted; and we need to invest time and money into music, to ensure that we are singing good songs, with good quality music, given our resources.

We Must Choose Songs Wisely

In general, we need to be singing songs where: God and the Gospel is the main theme; biblical attitudes and truth are reflected; the lyrics are clear - any unclear or difficult lyrics should be explained; the lyrics are memorable; the music and the lyrics are complementary; the song is truth-driven rather than emotion-driven; The music and lyrics are balanced in terms of emotiveness; the melody is easy to sing and easy to learn. This will require careful thought by song selectors as they work in conjunction with the minister to select songs both for the regular diet of the church and on a Sunday-by-Sunday basis.

We Must Perform Music Wisely

When playing songs at church, we need to take the following into consideration: The performance style of the song should match the lyrics; Volume should be conducive to helping people to sing - this means not too loud, which is just annoying for many people, and not too soft, which can stifle excitement; the music should be of as good quality as possible to encourage enthusiastic singing – when the emotions are engaged with the truth we’re singing about, it’s not only appropriate, but it helps us to learn and be edified. Also, we do not want to alienate people who would otherwise be hearing faithful bible teaching but are not because they choose churches based on the quality of their ‘worship’ rather than teaching; Song leaders should be truthfully and emotionally engaged themselves, to encourage the rest of the congregation.

Music in Church (Part 2)

2009-05-20T15:39:00.000-07:00

Practical Observations of Music in Church

We can’t simply jump straight from biblical principles to music ministry. We need to also think about the situation in which we are, so that we can best apply our theological principles. Here are some observations I’ve made.

• We can tend to become complacent with the words of songs which we have sung many times over.

• In conservative evangelical circles, we can generally tend to not show much emotion when singing. However, this may not necessarily reflect inner feelings.

• It seems that people are not clear about all the reasons why we sing in church, due to a lack of teaching in this area.

• Songs teach! This is often underestimated, but people remember song words a lot more easily than they remember a scripture passage on its own.

• Whether we like it or not, there are people who do choose churches based on the quality of their ‘worship’ rather than teaching.

This is just the beginning. Does anyone have any others?

Music in Church (Part 1)

2009-05-19T21:38:00.001-07:00

(I wrote a music in church discussion paper a while ago when I was doing some music stuff at Jannali. I recently dug it up to remind myself what I thought after a discussion I had on the topic, so I thought I’d put it up here in three parts. Hope it’s helpful.)

Theological Principles of Music in Church

Key Purposes of Singing in Church

Singing is and always has been a way for God’s people to respond to his character and acts, particularly his acts of salvation, in thankfulness and gratitude. At many times through the Old and New Testaments, songs are recorded which are sung by key people in the bible, mostly in response to God’s salvation (e.g. Ex 15; 1Sa 2:1-10; 2Sa 22; Ps 96; Lk 1:46-55; Rev 5:5-14; Rev 14:1-3). In addition, New Testament believers are exhorted to sing to God with gratitude and thankfulness (Eph 5:19-20; Col 3:16).

Singing is also a means by which Christians are edified, or strengthened in their faith. This happens as individuals sing songs based on the word of God to one another (Eph 5:19, Col 3:16). Sometimes this is seen as a completely ‘horizontal’ aspect of singing, as the church sings to one another, but there is a vertical aspect as well – for it is God speaking to us through his word as it is sung. Since edification is a primary purpose of singing in church, we must do singing in a way which is conducive to the edification of others (1Cor 14:15,26).

Evangelism is also a part of singing in the bible. We can see this in the Psalms, as God’s people praise God to the other nations (e.g. Ps 9:1, Ps 18:49), and in the New Testament (Ac 16:25). Though it needs to be observed that singing is merely a part of the whole of praising and proclaiming God to others.

Key Elements of Singing in Church

Christian singing is to be deeply rooted in scripture. Responding to God’s character and acts as revealed in his word, edifying each other by his word, and praising God as he is revealed in his word to others can only be done by using his word, the Bible. This is brought out in Colossians 3:16, when believers are exhorted to sing songs which allow the word of Christ to dwell in them richly. Thus while Christian singing need not be limited to direct biblical quotes, the words themselves must be deeply rooted in scripture.

There is a very clear emotional aspect to music and poetry, and the bible never shies away from this (2Sa 6:5, Neh 12:42-43, Lk 15:25, Jas 5:13). Singing is an appropriate form of expression of emotions such as happiness, joy (Christians have more reason than anybody to be joyful), sadness or despair. It is a mistake to divorce the intellect and emotions – either to value uninformed emotional response as a religious experience or to value intellectual knowledge of God without appropriate emotional response.

China – Day 13 – Yangshuo

2009-05-01T18:42:00.001-07:00

Last full day in China, and what a day! Yesterday we booked a tour to go and see the Longsheng Rice Terraces, supposedly the most amazing rice terraces in China. The plan was that we’d get picked up at 7:30am, drive for 3-3.5 hours, see the terraces and have some lunch before returning home at about 6:30pm.

Well, we were picked up and we set off on the bus. The tour was mostly Chinese tourists, with a handful of other western tourists. The guide spoke English, but it was really hard to understand, especially over the dodgy tour bus PA complete with disorienting reverb.

A couple of hours into the drive, we discovered that the bus was not going straight to the rice terraces, but it was stopping in a village with women with really long hair, where they were having an hour long ‘show’ for which we had to pay an extra 50 yuan each! We also found out that our bus did not take us all the way to the top, instead we had to pay an extra 12 yuan each for the return trip on the minibus, since the roads were too narrow for our big bus. Nearly all the western tourists were really confused since none of us had been told about any of this. The Chinese tourists on the other hand seemed fine about it. It wasn’t the extra money so much as the fact that we all felt deceived and ripped off.

We all complained and asked if we could get a minibus up while the show was on, but our guide, getting very cross at our rebellion, insisted that we wait since we cant get in at the top on our own – we needed the whole group there, since we didn’t have individual tickets. All very annoying.

Our guide also wouldn’t tell us when we were meeting back at the bus at the end of the day, which was a blow to the fierce independence of us westerners.

Most of the westerners decided not to go to the ‘show’ and explored the surrounding village instead. That was pleasant enough once we shook off all the touts selling postcards and jewellery.

By the time we set off on the mini buses from the village, it was 1.5 hours later and starting to rain. The bus was 10-20mins or so, then there was an uphill walk for about 20mins. Our tour guide had planned for us all to go to lunch together in the village, which was all a bit of a money-making set-up. We wanted to get lunch somewhere else where there weren’t the same inflated prices to cover the levels of people lining their pockets, but so we wouldn’t lose the group, we ate there. By then it was raining pretty hard, and a lot of fog had closed in, so we couldn’t see anything. The food wasn’t very good, and then at the end our guide came up and said “After you’ve eaten your lunch it’s free time, so meet back at the bus at 3:30. Oh, and if you see the other foreigners, tell them”… If we had known that, we would have gone straight up the top of the mountain and wasted our time with gross, expensive food. And to so casually call us foreigners and to assume that we somehow personally knew the other foreigners wasn’t great either.

Anyway, we set off up the mountain through the village in the pouring rain. We didn’t get very far before Naomi we feeling dizzy. We stopped a couple of times, but on the last time we sat down on someone’s front step after she nearly fainted. She was as white as a sheet, so I laid her down and lifted her legs up to get blood to her head. A Chinese man who spoke hardly any English saw us and came to help. He sat us down inside and gave us some hot water. He was really nice. Even though he didn’t speak much English at all, he made an effort to find out where we were from, how long we had been in China and all that. After a while, we left, feeling much better, especially to meet such a nice, helpful man.

So we set off back down the village and back to our minibus then to our big bus. It was a long trip home and we didn’t end up getting back til about 7:30pm.

So in the end, we never got to see the rice terraces. We saw glimpses through thick fog, but not from the top. We were annoyed because we were wet, cold, dizzy, and felt as if we wasted our time and money, especially since we had to wait for that long hair ‘show’ to happen. In the end we only had about an hour at the terraces, and it was rainy and foggy anyway.

The day was somewhat redeemed in meeting a lot of great people on the tour. Along the way, we were talking to another Australian couple and an English couple, sharing stories, which was great. We also met a young couple from Austria and a couple of travelling buddies from Holland and Germany. On the bus home, we were sharing lateral thinking puzzles and having a lot of fun with that. I was quizmaster for one of them, and it was hilarious to hear German, Dutch and Austrain English accents yelling questions at me all at once.

When we got back, we went out for dinner and then met up for drinks with the Austrians, and the travelling buddies. They brought some other friends too. We had a really good time sharing stories with them and I really got on with Kai (German) and Misja (Dutch), who are also musos. In all, it was a great night.

Flying home tomorrow. Long trip home via Hong Kong

China - Day 12 – Yangshuo

2009-04-25T20:44:00.000-07:00

Written 23 April 2009

Woke up late again today. Went for breakfast at an Australian Bar/Café for vegemite toast! The waitresses were Chinese and hardly understood when I asked for vegemite from the menu. It was great to have some vegemite. Not that I have it that often at home. It’s just that something familiar in a place that is so foreign is comforting.

On the way back to the hotel, we did some shopping for some gifts for family. Hope you like it all!

Today we decided to go for a boat cruise on the Li River. We walked to the bus station and hopped on a bus bound for the village of … We had actually meant to go to this village by motor scooter yesterday, but got lost.

When we got there, we were swarmed by ladies hounding us to go on their bamboo raft. They shout ‘Bamboo! Bamboo!’ It’s really crazy. Instead of taking their offers, we set of to have a walk through the town and have some lunch. To our extreme annoyance, we were followed all the way through the town by a woman pestering us about her bamboo raft. I kept telling her ‘No!’ but she wouldn’t listen. We just wanted to walk around and check stuff out, so we were getting pretty annoyed. Eventually, we found a hostel which made pizza, so we went in there. When we had stopped outside Chinese places, she would start talking to the people there and encouraging us to sit down. It really feels like everyone here is in league, trying to make as much money out of you as they can, each skimming a little from the top, inflating prices.

Anyway, we had some pizza and the woman finally left us alone. In the hostel we met a kitten called Coffee. It was cross-eyed and really cute.

After that we went down the river and bargained for a raft. We got a 1.5 hour raft ride down from 180 yuan to 80 yuan. The rafts are actually made from PVC pipe and painted green with rubber and plastic sheets on top, so that from a distance they look like bamboo rafts. They have bamboo seats and a canopy to keep the sun off. A man stands at the back with a funny diesel outboard and takes you up the fast-flowing river.

The river was FULL of boats. Lots of rafts and lots of big passenger cruise boats. Other than that, the scenery was spectacular. The river surrounded by trees and Karsts was beautiful. A few times we saw herds of water buffalo grazing next to the river. Once, a man was driving his buffalo across the river, pushing himself along on a bamboo raft. That was pretty cool.

Half way through the return trip the driver went to pull in at some river-side tourist stalls. We said ‘No!’ so he just putted around before turning back. I think there are tourist stalls everywhere you go in China…

Getting back, we got off the boat, and after a few minutes Naomi had a little spew. The motion, vibration and smell of the boat got to her. After that, she was ok. We walked back through the town and got on the bus. On the trip home, we met a Chinese girl who was on her way to Guilin, from her hometown of … . She could speak English, so we had some basic conversation. She was teaching herself English because she worked in a Café in Yangshuo. It was nice to meet another friendly local, and it was good that she could ask the bus driver to drop us off where we wanted.

That night, we had planned to the ‘Impressions’ light show on the Li River. We went out to get some dinner, but when we realised that it was raining, we had dinner at the Chinese restaurant right next to where we were staying. We could only point at what we wanted, but the food was really great.

After dinner, the rain stopped, and we got on our ‘tour bus’ to go to the light show. The ‘bus’ was a van into which they squeezed 10 people. All were Chinese except for us. It was only a short trip to the theatre on the river. We all got off, and the driver shouted at us all for a while in Chinese. I yelled out ‘does anyone speak English?’, so a young guy told me that the driver had told us to meet him here after the show, and to remember the number of the van. I’m not sure why the driver needed to yell it and take so long to say it, but it’s been like that most of the time in China.

We went with the group to the main entrance, where we ended up first in line behind our ‘guide’. While in China, every Chinese tour group has guide who walks around with a tall stick with a flag, light and/or soft toy on the end. We had a strange soft-toy. We followed her to a gate, where she handed me the stick while she collected our receipts and collected our tickets. She seemed to indicate for me to keep walking, and since the gate had lots of people walking through it and to stop would cause a traffic jam, I kept walking. I couldn’t believe I was the tour guide holding the stick! All our Chinese tour companions were faithfully following me down the path when someone angrily ran up beside me a yelled, ‘Stop! Wait!’ It seems he thought I was trying to lead everyone astray. The old ladies behind me thought it was pretty funny, so they were laughing at him. The whole thing was weird and really funny!

After getting our tickets, we found our seats amidst the huge crowds. From the seats we could see the ‘stage’, which was a section of the Li River with huge Karsts in the background. Soon the show started. It was quite impressive. It was a lot like the Olympic opening ceremony – lots of people doing cools stuff in big groups with lots of colours and lights. The thing that made it was the way they lit up the Karsts and did it all on the river. It really looked like a stage set – in a good way!

After the show, we got to our van and got dropped a block from our place. It’s weird here how they seem to pick up and drop people off in randomly different places. It took a while to find our place, but we did eventually.

Big day. Bedtime!

China – Day 11 – Yangshuo

2009-04-22T04:59:00.000-07:00

Had a great sleep again last night, and slept til 9.30. Was well worth it, we have both felt great all day!

Went out for banana pancakes and bacon and eggs. Wasn’t so good this morning.

Our plan for Yangshuo was to check out the surrounding areas on pushbikes, but it has become clear that that wouldn’t work for Naomi, so after breakfast we hired a motor scooter for 120 yuan for the day! I wasn’t so sure about it, but Naomi was confident I could do it and that we’d be fine. She always gives me confidence ☺

Without a map, it’s hard to explain what we did, so I’ll keep it general. We set off for a town on the river, but took a wrong turn early on and ended up at another very small village by the river. It was a pretty spot, so we rested there and had a flat Coke that was ‘use by’ 2008.

We decided to head from there to ‘Moon Hill’, a tourist attraction popular for its fantastic view. So we set off. Naomi was our navigator, which was very lucky, because I had no idea where we were and how to read the dodgy map we had. I was confident that she would get us there via the dirt country roads, and so was she. Soon, the only thing that we found was that we were lost. We found a main road, which we thought was taking us back to Yangshuo. After a little while things started to look familiar, and we realised that we had done a big circle and were back on the road we came in on, heading away from Yangshuo! So we turned around and headed back to Yangshuo, and headed to Moon Hill from Yangshuo.

Driving around the countryside and around all the Karsts (granite hills) was amazing. Lots of villages with people going about their farming and everyday business, and amazing views at the same time. It really is an incredible place.

Driving on the main roads was pretty scary. People overtake and turn on and off roads willy nilly, and its up to everyone else to make sure that they stay out of the way. Sometimes it seems that whoever beeps their horn the longest and loudest wins. At one point, a bus did a left turn (equivalent to our right turns) right in front of us! With hindsight, I know that he was beginning the turn, and anticipating that I would zip in front of him – which I’ve seen people do over and over in China. At the time, however, I panicked and slammed on the brakes, letting him turn on front of me. I got a bit wobbly and it was scary! Though most of the time we were never going more than 40km/hr. Most people drive pretty slowly too.

At Moon Hill, we had some lunch at the ‘café’, then Naomi stayed down the bottom and I climbed the hill. It was 911 stairs by my count, plus several sloped bits. I heard it normally takes 30mins, but since I was riding a motorbike all day, and not a push bike, I thought I needed some good exercise, so I did it as fast as I could. I didn’t officially time it, but it was just over 10mins. I was pretty happy with that!

The view from the top was incredible. I took some photos. The hill is called moon hill because it has a moon shaped hole in the middle of it, about 50m in diameter. It changes from a full moon to a crescent moon depending on where you look at the hill from. The top of the hill is the bottom of the hole, so you stand underneath this enormous arch, with stalactites hanging off the roof. It is incredible.

I counted the stairs on the way down.

At the bottom, we discovered that our front tyre was flat! I pumped it up with a bike pump that the café had, and found a hole made by a small rock. The café people called the bike hire place, who sent a guy to repair it. I was really worried we’d end up having to pay through the nose! The guy turned up and gave us his bike, so we set off again. Cautious me wanted to go back, but Naomi wanted to keep going, so we set off on another country road.

On the road, we wanted to follow the river, cross it, and head back to Yangshuo from there. However, we got to a village where they wanted to charge us to let us through! It seems that everywhere you go there is someone trying to make money from you. It’s crazy. I didn’t mention all the postcard sellers at Moon Hill. They are everywhere. You think you find a quiet spot, off the beaten track, and a woman comes up ‘hello, nee how’… it’s pretty funny actually… They’d probably turn up in the most remote spot on top of an uninhabitable mountain in the middle of winter saying ‘hello, nee how, you buy postcards?’

We went back to the main road and turned off on the other side of the river, following a road along the river and back again. That was very nice, except for the woman selling flower headdresses at the quiet spot we found to enjoy the scenery…

We got back to Yangshuo just after 5. We went to return our bike, and for a minute they were saying that we were at fault because we left our bike and someone knifed it. We explained that it was in the designated parking spot and that Naomi was watching it, so we ended up getting our deposit back! Phew!

For dinner, we had dumplings at a place with no English menu or speakers. We just pointed. They were unbelievable! We began with 2 plates and ended up ordering more and more until we ate 6 plates! To top it all off, along with an OJ and a local beer, it cost $10! Oh, and since we were in the Chinese part of town, there weren't any postcard sellers or tour guides to bother us!

Finished the night with a yummy banana split and banana milkshake at Nina’s bar with wifi.

Looking forward to a river cruise tomorrow…

China – Day 10 – Yangshuo

2009-04-22T04:57:00.000-07:00

Written 21 April 2009

After going to bed at about 10, woke up this morning at 9.30! A much needed sleep for us both. Naomi’s tummy is feeling 100% today, so that’s great. I was a little worried for a bit there, and apparently our Mums were too. But Naomi was sure that it was muscles and ligaments, and now that it’s better, we can relax.

Started the day with a late breakfast, and discovered that dining al fresco in Yangshuo is impossibly frustrating, with so many people trying to sell ridiculous hats or tour guide services.

We decided that we were still really tired and we’d take it pretty easy today, especially for Naomi’s sake. That meant that we hung around our hotel room a lot. I explored the town for an hour or so at about midday. I found the river, which is beautiful. We’ll have to get a boat tour or something. I also found that when I walk without a backpack, by myself, no one hassled me about buying stuff! I guess I don’t look as easy a target as a backpack wearing, slow-walking couple with a gruff husband and sweet wife.

Today we also got to clearly see the town. The town is built in amongst these huge granite hills called ‘Karsts’. They are covered in green trees and plants and look incredible. The town is completely flat except for these weird hills. Amazing. They remind me a bit of the Hazards at Wineglass Bay in Tasmania.

At 3 we went out for pizza and milkshakes. We asked for garlic on our pizza – mistake. They covered our pizza in garlic,. I reckon there was a clove on each slice! I ate mine, but Naomi picked most off hers. No problems with vampires tonight! The milkshakes were made with ice-cream, which was a first for Chinese milkshakes, and very nice – though they were 25 yuan – very expensive. We still ordered an extra one after the first though!

At 4, we went to a local Chinese cooking school. I was expecting 10-20 people, but it was just us and a young Canadian couple. Our teacher was Cindy. She seemed very young, but was very good. It was nice to meet and talk to her. As a local who wasn’t pestering us into buying something, and could speak decent English, it was refreshing to talk to her.

The class was really really good. We went to the local market where we saw every kind of fresh food being sold. Vegetables, fruit, chillies, eels, catfish, shrimp, frogs, snails. Then we went into the fresh meat section. The meat was really fresh – most of it was still alive! Including a cage full of dogs! We weren’t allowed to take pictures of them because they don’t want western people to get angry at them for eating dogs. It sound really bad to us, but I suppose dogs are just animals in the same way a rabbit or a chicken is. So they had live animals, freshly killed animals being plucked, skinned and butchered, and butchered meat. They even had ducks for sale with the eggs presented inside as a delicacy! The worst thing was the smell… the mixture of meat, blood, intestine contents, and live animals was putrid.

Despite the grossness of the animals, I think it’s good to see it. Most of us eat meat every day, and I think if we eat it, we should at least be willing to see it killed.

After that, we returned to the restaurant, where we cooked up Sizzling Beef and Vegetables, Fried Noodles and Vegetables, and Pork Stuffed Eggplant. It was a lot of fun, and the food was really nice. We might have to cook up some Chinese food for people when we get home.

We came back to hotel at 730, before heading out at 8 for drinks and wireless internet at a local bar. We met the owner – a local woman called Nina, who was pregnant and a few weeks ahead of Naomi! She was very nice, and it was good to meet and talk to another local who wasn’t trying to pester us into buying something!

Back to our room after picking up a map of the area. Tomorrow we plan to get a motor scooter and check out some of the surrounding areas. Though that might get canned if the roads are too bumpy for Naomi. Naomi planned to come here so we could get out into the countryside on bicycles. Now it seems that bikes aren’t a good idea. Nina, the woman we met tonight, said it wasn’t a good idea, and since she knows the area, she’s probably right. Though fun and interesting, the town is really touristy and not the place you want to be stuck for 5 days. I’m happy to do whatever Naomi feels comfortable doing, so we’ll see how we go on the motor scooter.

China – Day 8 and 9 – Dali to Kunming to Yangshuo

2009-04-21T05:38:00.000-07:00

Written on 20 April 2009

Today my back has been a bit tired and sore. We have been sleeping on HARD Chinese beds, and the walking we did yesterday with all those packs killed me. I like to think I’m stronger than I am, so I’m paying the price.

(From here on was written by Naomi, because she sensed my negativity and lack of inspiration due to my tiredness. I'm ok now :-) )

In Dali, we had a late breakfast at Café de Jack and went back to our room to rest before heading out. We decided that instead of spending the day cycling to villages around the lake we would catch a ferry to a village across the lake. We got on a bus to Caicun, the closest place to Dali on the lake. For some reason the Chinese don’t seem to value water views or waterfront like Aussies. Even in Caicun we couldn’t see the lake. It turned out that the only ferry operating was a tourist ferry costing Y150 each ($30, but a lot by Chinese standards)! The guidebook said the ferry was between Y3 and Y5… So we didn’t take the tourist ferry.

A woman who spoke some English was being helpful and said she could take us on a boat. We were very tentative about it, but ended up agreeing to Y80 for us both. However as we were walking away from the ferry she was on the phone and then told us we needed to go back to Dali and catch a bus to another town to go on her tour. We declined.

Before we completely gave up and went home, we at least wanted to see the lake. We walked along a back lane for awhile but the closest we got to seeing the lake was through trees past a swamp. We asked (using sign language) at a hostel and they sent us in the direction of the path. However the Bai woman who operated some kind of business at the start of the path indicated that it was Y10 for us both. Turns out the Y10 was for her to take us on the path. It seemed a cheaper alternative to the Y150 each for the ferry so we took it.

The lake wasn’t anything particularly spectacular. It is called Erhai Hu or Ear Shaped Lake and is 1973m above sea level and the seventh largest freshwater lake in China. Walking around Caicun was interesting as it isn’t touristy. We actually had kids say ‘hello’ to us as though it was a bit novel to see Westerners. It was a lot dirtier than anywhere else we’d been.

When we got back from the walk, the lady asked us to sit down and offered us some tea. But after she had poured it she said it was Y10 each!! We should have got up and walked away at that point, but we paid Y10 for both and took a sip of the tea (not exactly what we felt like on a hot day after a half hour walk). It wasn’t nice tea so the sip each was all we had. Tim tipped his out to look like he drank it, but I wasn’t so polite.

We didn’t think the trip home would be very difficult. Only one bus leaves from Caicun, so we got on, paid our Y1 each and sat down. At one point Tim stood up for an old Bai lady and she was most surprised and thankful. We have noticed that if anything, women are more likely to stand and let the men sit, although women carrying children on their backs are usually given a seat. As we got near our street, the bus went a different way. We thought it must have been part of the loop and so stayed on the bus. However it soon became apparent that it was going further and further from where we were staying. We ended up staying on the bus for about an hour and had to pay again! We realised it’s because our street is one way. How silly. But it was nice to sit and see the town from the bus.

We had lunch at Bakery 88, which does French style sandwiches and offers a number of types of cheese. I had a bacon and tomato sandwich on baguette and Tim had a babaganoush and lettuce sandwich on wholemeal bread and then some blue cheese and baguette. If only I could eat blue cheese! They also had pate, but apparently the vitamin A content makes pate bad for pregnant women. It was so good to have some good bread that wasn’t sweet.

We had arranged with Lee to have a late checkout, so we spent the next couple of hours lying around reading, resting and showering before catching the overnight train to Kunming. We went back to Bakery 88 and got a hard cheese sandwich and some bakery sweets for the trip. It turned out that Lee and a German girl who works for him, Nasia, had decided to go to Kunming that night too (to buy a computer for the new guesthouse). Lee was running late so we didn’t take the bus (which meant we didn’t have to walk to the bus stop with all out gear – good news for Tim) and took a taxi instead. It was a bumpy ride. My baby bump doesn’t like being bumped around, but we made it to Xiagun, the city near Dali with a train station.

We were in a ‘hard sleeper’ 4 berth ‘room’ (though it didn’t have a door. The beds were narrow and hard, but as comfortable as you’d expect. It was a smooth ride so that was great (Nasia told us her story of catching a 20 hour sleeper bus from Laos that sounded horrible). By 9.30 I was ready to sleep so I stuck by ear plugs in and rolled over. Tim, Lee and Nasia kept talking, and they asked how we had met, which meant mentioning church and saying that we’re Christians. It turned out that both had Lee and Nasia had had involvement with Christianity in the past but weren’t living it anymore. It was good (for Tim) to talk with them and encourage them.

By about 4.30am I was tossing and turning and having trouble getting back to sleep. At 5am they switched the lights on and soon after that they started playing ‘calming’ music through the speakers! The train wasn’t due to arrive until 6.20! Not a great start to the day.

We got off the train and said goodbye to Lee and Nasia. It was great to meet them and spend time with them. Lee was the most helpful person on our trip yet – gave us good accommodation at a cheap price, organised our train ticket, got us on the train, and was honest about it all. A nice change to being lost and feeling like we’re being taken advantage of all the time.

Our plane wasn’t leaving until 2:20pm so we had some time to spend in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province. We had heard there was a nice park called Green Lake Park which we thought would be a good place to have breakfast then sit under a tree and read or hang out for awhile so we got a taxi there. Although there were a lot of people walking and ‘exercising’ (where exercising is walking while flailing your arms, standing while flailing your arms, walking backwards, yelling or Tai Chi) but nothing open selling food. The more urgent need though was a toilet. (The toilet on the train wasn’t great. I had been early on in the journey, but figured by the following morning after the number of people who had used it, that it wouldn’t be smelling its best. There was no flush, just a pedal which let the waste out onto the train tracks…) So we walked to the nearest public toilet. Tim went first. He came out and said ‘Well, it all went to plan except that there were no doors’. It took me another 20 minutes of sitting outside (and watching how many women were in there at a time) before I was ready to face it. It really wasn’t too bad. I went to the last stall and was in and out pretty quickly.

That done, we resumed our search for food. We ended up finding a street which the Lonely Planet said had lots of western cafes, which was just what we wanted (ideally with wireless internet). However none of them were open! We found one which said it opened at 8.00. We waited. From 7.55 until 9.05. It was cold and we were so hopeful. Tim kept going for walks up the street to see if anything had opened, but no. So we went back the park. By then there were more people, but a juice bar type place had opened! We ordered hot chocolate (not very milky but so yummy and warm!) and I ordered ‘maisn toast tablet’ which I thought would be raisin toast and Tim ordered secret beef noodles. My toast tablet was a thick slice of sweet bread with some kind of sugary topping warmed in the oven. I got through most of it, but now feel ill at the thought. Tim enjoyed his noodles. Anyway, it was nice to be inside and to be warm.

All we (especially Tim) wanted to do from there was sit on some grass, but although there were a few small patches of grass in this park (which was mostly lake and stone pavement) no one but dogs ever went on it. So we that was the end of our time in Kunming and we took a taxi to the airport. We did like Kunming as far as Chinese cities go (really our only other experience is Beijing). It was clear and open and seemed nice, we were just there at the wrong time.

We were very early for our flight. We filled in the time firstly by queuing up to check in behind tour groups (before eventually finding a queue without a big group), eating very expensive potato chips in a café (Y20, $4 for a small plate of asian flavoured ruffles style chips) then reading (and sleeping on metal seats for Tim) in the departure lounge. I had some instant noodles for lunch, but Tim didn’t want any.

The 1.5hr flight was uneventful, except for the announcement which said ‘the plane is experiencing troubles. Please keep your seatbelt fastened’. We were scared until we worked out ‘trouble’ meant ‘turbulence’…

At Guilin airport we had decided to splurge and spend Y150 on a taxi to Yangshuo. However a woman told us it would be more like Y300 and the bus was very easy if we got off at the second stop. We took the bus (Y20 each). Its first stop was to let off a man who looked like he had asked to be dropped off at somewhere that wasn’t a stop, so we didn’t get off at the next stop, but at the last stop. It was the wrong stop. There were plenty of taxi drivers wanting to take us wherever, but they didn’t want to use their meter (which would have cost us Y7) and instead asked from anywhere between Y10 and Y25 (for a trip that ended up being less than a kilometre). We (Tim) was determined to walk, and he was carrying all the bags so I was happy to go along, but the roads weren’t the same as on our map (a bridge was being rebuilt) so after about 200m of walking we decided we would just have to take the taxi. This taxi driver was a nice man who used his meter! We got to the bus station and bought our tickets (Y15 each) against the advice of people trying to ‘help’ us at the door. It was a nice bus. Not too bumpy, air conditioned, room to move our legs, and a Hong Kong Kung Fu movie on the TV!

Once in Yangshuo we again ignored (and actually pushed out of the way) people wanting us to stay with them. We found the main tourist street and went into the first hotel we came to. It looked too nice for our budget. The woman asked how much we wanted to pay, and I told her the last accommodation we’d stayed in was 80. She asked if that was dollars or yuan! She said the best they could do was Y150 (our upper limit) and showed us a very nice looking room. On the way up, we noticed their price list on the wall, the cheapest room is normally Y460. We took it. It is very luxurious compared to what we’re used to. Not only do we have a shower curtain, we have a bath! And air conditioning and a hair dryer and double glazed windows!

We went to dinner, a restaurant called Cloud 9, and had Beer Fish and Fried Shrimp. It was good, particularly for Tim who hadn’t eaten since his secret beef noodles! We are very happy to be in a nice place where we can get some sleep, and are looking forward to exploring Yangshuo.

China – Day 8 – Lijiang to Dali

2009-04-19T02:56:00.000-07:00

Written 18 April 2009

Happy Birthday Naomi!

Today is Naomi’s birthday, and she is very glad to be in Lijiang and not still on the Tiger Leaping Gorge hike. She is still very sore, and it’s a bit worrying. But we did some online reading and she’s sure that it’s nothing to worry about – just sore ligaments and muscles around her tummy.

We had a nice long sleep this morning before going to breakfast at the place we had dessert at last night. The place is called N’s Kitchen. It’s really good. It’s run by a young guy Norman and his girlfriend Nicky. His English was so good that I thought he had studied in the US. He was happy to hear that, because he learnt only in China. The food there was really good western food, which is hard to find when you feel like a break from Chinese food. I had a big breakfast: two eggs, two pieces of wholemeal toast (not sweet like all the other bread we’ve had here), two sausages, two rashers of bacon, garlic fried mushrooms and baked beans! So good! Naomi had banana pancakes with maple syrup – she was very happy.

On the way back, we looked at a necklace that Naomi had seen before. It was a bit expensive, so we left it for the moment and went back to the room. Naomi had a lie down while I went to get more money out for the next leg of our trip. I went to the place with the necklace and bargained them down a bit and got it as a present for Naomi’s birthday. She was very happy again. I also got myself a statue of … It’s awesome.

We checked out at 12, jumped in a taxi and made our way to the bus station. We got our tickets and grabbed some lunch while we waited the hour before our bus left. We had some pretty average dumplings and meat buns. They were very cheap though!

When we got on the bus, it was tiny! It was completely full, we were on the back seat, and there wasn’t enough room for our legs. Naomi can get very carsick, and since she couldn’t see out the front of the bus, I was a little worried. The 3 hour trip was relatively straight, so carsickness wasn’t a problem. Though it was very bumpy – the roads are poor, the suspension in the bus was terrible, and the backseat just makes it worse. It was a bit scary as we came up the mountain before Dali, since it is so high and clouds enveloped the mountain, so it was really hard to see anything! Though we got there in one piece.

Getting off at Dali, we were swarmed by people trying to get us to use their car, but I stubbornly picked up all our gear and started walking. It was a few kilometres to the main street where we were going to find a place to stay, so it was a long and tiring walk. Since Naomi’s having a hard time walking at all, I had my pack on my back, Naomi’s on the front and my day pack in my hand, so I was pretty tired after a 30min walk.

We found a really nice place to stay called Lee’s Guesthouse. It’s run by Lee, a young guy with amazing English. He’s run a bike and internet hire place in Dali for the last year, and is just opening this place. It’s still not completely finished, so we got a really nice double room for 80 yuan ($16). It looks straight out over the western streets to the mountains directly to the west of the city. Pretty amazing.

After a little rest, we went out to get some dinner. We discovered that the bumpy bus was no good for Naomi’s tummy. She was really struggling to walk and to stand up and sit down, and just feeling miserable. We found a nice place for dinner, where Naomi had spaghetti and I had Bai Claypot Chicken (Bai is the minority group of Dali). The claypot chicken was brilliant! Like a chicken and vegetable soup, but Chinese style and really good. Like most Chinese Western food, the spaghetti wasn’t great.

Coming back to our room means that Naomi can rest properly. I hope she feels better in the morning after some more sleep and rest. We were planning the ride bikes around Dali tomorrow, but I think we’ll take it easy. Maybe try to get a tour or something.

China - Day 7 - Lijiang

2009-04-17T19:25:00.000-07:00

Written 17 April 2009

Last night was the best sleep we’ve had the whole trip. Probably got about 11 hours! Then our day looked like this: A Naxi breakfast of rice porridge, fried rice and little meat-filled buns at about 10am, came back to the room, read in bed, had lunch at 130, came back to the room, read, and slept for 2 hours! Had a nice dinner of pizza and pasta at the Petit Lijiang Book Café, with some European Jazz and Keb Mo on the stereo. Had dessert at another place and took some nice pictures of the Old Town at dusk. Went back to the Petit Book Café to watch a DVD they were showing: The Lost Horizon. Left after an hour to go to bed.

I’m liking Lijiang more and more. We’re staying right away from the busiest parts, and so were spending most of our time away from the crowds, which makes a huge difference. It is a very cool place. I picked up a book called ‘The Forgotten Kingdom’, written by a Russian guy in the 1950s about Lijiang. Looking forward to reading it.

In all, a very needed rest day. I felt exhausted all day until dinner, after my sleep. Naomi was very tired out from the hike, and her tummy muscles are all sore from carrying the extra weight at the front. I’m glad she got to get in some good sleep and rest. Looking forward to travelling to Dali tomorrow on Naomi’s birthday!

China – Day 5 and 6 – Tiger Leaping Gorge

2009-04-16T22:46:00.000-07:00

Written 16 April 2009

Just got back to Lijiang after an incredible 2 days hiking Tiger Leaping Gorge.

We started off by packing up all our stuff, catching a taxi to the bus station, and getting a 930 bus from Lijiang to Qaiotou. On the bus we met a Polish brother and sister duo who were doing the hike too – Olga and Konrad.

It was great to see this part of rural china. Very rich and green, unlike around Beijing. Lots of people selling their produce on the side of the road – mainly fresh fruit.

After a winding, sickening (for naomi, who brought up her Oreo!) 2 hr bus trip, we were there.

The bus dropped us as a place called Margo’s Café, which is owned and run by an Aussie expat. Very nice to hear an Australian accent! For a very small fee, she gave us some lunch, gave us some good directions and advice, and locked up our big bags – we would come and collect them when we had returned from the hike. I left the laptop and money pouch with passports and emergency AUD in my bag. All the way along the hike I was anxious about someone stealing them, which was a bummer. I should have just brought them so I didn’t worry about it the whole time. Needless to say, it was okay in the end.

At Margo’s it was already midday, so Konrad and Olga set off immediately. We had some food and we met John, an Irish traveller, and Heather and Nikki, pair of American friends from Chicago. After lunch, we set off with them. The plan for us was to reach a third of the way along before nightime (a 4hr hike to the Tea Horse Guest House). The others wanted to reach two-thirds of the way (8 hour hike to Tina’s Guest House).

Pretty soon into the hike, Olga and Konrad came up behind us. They had got lost on the way to the track itself and so had lost over an hour! From there it was a nice party of 7 for the rest of the hike, though Konrad and Olga were keen to go ahead, and Naomi and I were keen to take it slow, so it was a loose party. Oh, and there was the Donkey guy, who followed us most of the way, asking us if we wanted to ride the donkey whenever we stopped to rest.

The hike was amazing. At the bottom of the gorge is the rushing Jinsha River, and at the top are snow-capped mountains. At its deepest, it is 3900m from the river to the top of the mountain! The path runs alongside the lower mountainside, so you see the sheer cliffs of the other side the whole way along – absolutely spectacular! Along the way, the path is only wide enough for one person, and for some of it it’s cliff face on one side and cliff ‘drop’ on the other. It got pretty scary at times!

All the way along the hike you get to pass through small rural villages, with pigs, chickens, goats and farmers doing their thing in the field next to the path. It really is incredible that these people live and farm there. It seems like it would be super difficult being surrounded by such harsh and treacherous terrain.

At times, the path gets really steep, going up and down, navigating the cliff face. It got really hard for Naomi, who felt like crying as we arrived at the first stop - the ‘Naxi Family Guesthouse’ about 2 hours in.

There, we caught up with the others, who had gone ahead of us. They only rested briefly, but we rested for 45mins for so and then set off again.

The middle of the next section was called the ’28 bends’, which is a winding path going up and up and up the mountain. By the time we got to it, it was 4pm or so. It was really hot, and the sun was beating down on the mountain side we were on, so it was really tough going. Lots of rocks to climb up and very hot. Naomi took up the offer for the mule, so that was fun. The man leading the horse was called ‘Cheng’ or something like that. Like most people we meet, he didn’t speak any English.

Cheng left us at the top of the mountain path, where we caught up with our friends and continued on together. We thought that the Tea Horse Guest House was only a couple of kilometres from there, but we found that it was a long way. It was hard too, because it was steep downhill, which is slow going and dangerous, because it’s so easy to slip.

Soon, the track became easier as we entered into some beautiful tree land. After a while, we arrived at the Tea Horse. The hike had taken us about 5 hours. All the others decided that they would stay there too, since it had taken them longer to get there than they thought, and it was getting dark.

The Tea Horse was really good. Naomi and I paid about $25 for the night, and we got a double bedroom with an ensuite, looking straight out onto the mountain on the other side. The view was breathtaking.

That night we had hot showers, some good food, really cheap beer ($1 for 620mL), good times with our new friends, and some sleep.

The next morning, we were up before the sun rose over the mountain. Olga and Konrad set off at about 7:30, since they wanted to be a Tina’s guesthouse before 11 to meet some others there. We had some breakfast and we set off at about 9:15.

The first part of the hike was great. Really easy, flat, and breathtaking views. We met mountain goats on the way, which were very cool and cute. One bit had us crossing a waterfall with a sheer drop under it, which was a bit scary, but we got through it ok.

The second half was punishing. There was a little uphill, which was hard but ok. Then it was all downhill, complete with slippery rocks, small slippery pebbles, and slippery, dry ‘riverbeds’. I can’t imagine being able to do it in the wet. We went really slow, because the last thing we wanted was for Naomi to slip and fall. About halfway down, my knee started to hurt. Within 15 minutes, I could hardly walk. I had some sort of overuse injury. I think it’s either my lateral collateral ligament or lateral meniscus. Either way, it was sore, and it hurt to walk. The sun was absolutely smashing us by this time too.

Eventually, me hobbling on my stick and Naomi treading carefully with her stick, we got to Tina’s Guest House. We were pretty over it all, especially since 1.5 hours previously, there was a sign saying ‘Tina’s guesthouse – 30min’. The plan had been to stay at Tina’s, then hike down and around the river for 4-5 hours then next day. Naomi was absolutely exhausted, and I couldn’t walk, so we caught a ‘minibus’ back to Qiaotou with some others.

The minibus is actually more like a minivan, but that fits 8 people in it. I think the trip back was the one of the times I’ve been most genuinely scared for my life (the other two being nearly drowning twice). We were driving on a tarred and dirt winding road, with cliff face to the right and sheer drop to the left. Sometimes there were guard rails, most of the time not. There was lots of evidence of past landslides onto the road. The road was narrow and rough, and to avoid the rough bits, the driver sometimes drove right over to the left side, right next to the drop. It was terrifying! I was praying the whole way back!

Thankfully, we got back in one piece. We picked up our luggage and grabbed a 2hr bus back to Lijiang. That was good, because I had the opportunity to rest and ice my knee. We met a pair of retired Australians who had left Baulkham Hills on 15 July 2008, and had been travelling the world since. Their plan was to go home on 15 July 2009. They helped us get the bus and then get a public bus from Lijiang bus station to the Old Town in Lijiang. There we found a place with two beds, an ensuite with western-style toilet and 24hr hot water for 80 yuan/night! ($16).

Overall, the hike was challenging, exhausting, and spectacularly beautiful. It was great to see such an amazing part of God’s creation – something that you’ll never see in Australia. At every step of the way, we could look up and see a spectacular view like nothing I had seen before. It was also great to meet some fellow travellers and make new friends, particularly the Olga, Konrad, John, Heather and Nikki. I think the first day was the highlight of our trip so far for me. It was scary at times, and I also wondered why I was letting my 20 week pregnant wife do it. But in the end, it was all ok, even if we are sore and tired.

China – Day 4 – Beijing to Lijiang

2009-04-16T19:10:00.000-07:00

Written Tuesday 14 April 2009

What a day! We got up extra early this morning to allow time to find the right terminal for our flight, since out etickets didn’t tell us. We got some deep-fried doughsticks for breakfast before jumping in a taxi to the airport. We showed his ‘airport’ in our phrasebook, and he asked ‘1, 2 or 3?’. We had no idea. Nor did we think it would be an issue. He starting driving, but kept asking. We kept shrugging. He tried calling a translation service for us, but they couldn’t help. As we drove, we saw some signs indicating that terminal 3 is about 15km from terminals 1 and 2! We guessed terminal 3, thinking that domestic would be last on the list. But right before the turn-off, I saw three signs, one for each terminal, and though we didn’t see our airline on it, one airline at terminal 1 had ‘domestic’ with it! So I quickly said ‘One!, One!’ and he turned off and got us there ok.

We still weren’t sure that our airline ‘Deer Jet’ would be at this terminal, but it turned out that ‘Deer Jet’ was a domestic line of ‘Grand China’, and our flight was there! We lined up for 10mins to check-in, and right near the front, they closed the window and sent us to another one! Then Naomi realised that I had made a mistake in our booking, and put an extra number in Naomi’s Passport Number. I was pretty worried, but Naomi went up to an information desk and asked them. They looked at it for a few minutes, before deciding that they would check us in there and then! Too easy! And with 45mins before boarding time! Just enough time for a bowl of wonton noodle soup for second breakfast.

The flight to Lijiang took about 3.5 hours. The landing got a bit scary, but it was amazing to be flying between mountains with the airport so far below on the plain.

Once here, I started to feel sick and breathless. I think it’s the altitude! I think its about 3000m Not used to being up so high…

We got a bus to Lijiang itself and then a taxi to the Old Town part of Lijiang. We got a place on the edge of the Old town, which was 150 yuan for a very nice double room!

Lijiang is home to the Naxi (Nashi) people, a small Chinese minority group. They are all really nice. Much nicer than people in Beijing. They smile, laugh, say hello, and aren’t trying to rip you off (from what I can tell – maybe they’re just really good at it!).

Lijiang is made up of two halves: the Old town and the New town. The new town is like a small city, and the old town is like an old village. Cobbled streets, rickety old buildings, no cars. But it is very touristy. The locals all through the village have set up stalls. Most are a bit tacky, some are great.

After getting sorted, we had some pizza(!) for lunch and had a good look around. As we shopped, we got some nice presents for the family. As the afternoon and night went on, more and more buses of Chinese tourist groups arrived. By dinnertime, the place was packed with people! We had a nice Tibetan meal (they are closely related to Tibetans) before going back to our hotel.

Lijiang is funny. I loved it at first, and it is much nicer than Beijing, but as the night went along, it showed itself to be more and more artificial The people are real, and what they do is real, it’s just that a lot of it is specifically set up for tourists. The town is definitely old, but a lot had been added, and a lot of tourist money has come in. Anyway, as a tourist myself, I shouldn’t be able to complain.

Leaving to go on a short hike along Tiger Leaping Gorge tomorrow. I hope Naomi is up to it! She got pretty tired just getting to the great wall. There are places to stay along the way, so we may take 3 days instead of 2 as originally planned.

China – Day 3 – Beijing

2009-04-14T00:32:00.000-07:00

Written Monday Night 13 April 2009

Today we planned to go to see the Great Wall, so we left the hotel at about 8am to walk the couple of blocks to the nearest subway. Got some cash out, walked to the subway, got the tickets, got inside the ticketed area, and realised that I had left my card in the ATM! Walked the couple of blocks back to the ATM. No evidence of the card. We had been using an ATM of a major bank, just outside its major city branch, so we waited the 20mins for it to open.

As an aside, while we were waiting, be bought some pastries for breakfast. They were mostly western-style, but they all had a certain Chinese tinge to them. Particularly in the names. Among other things, Naomi got a ‘Denmark Grape Flaky Bar’, which was a Sultana Danish!

We went into the bank, not very hopeful about being able to communicate to anyone or even getting the card back. As we walked in, a woman came straight up to us, asked us how she could help us, and simply by showing my passport, I had the card back in a couple of minutes! What a blessing!

Ok, so a little fazed, we went back to the subway, paid our 2 yuan each again (40c each to travel anywhere in Beijing!), and got on the next train (we’ve never waited more than 5mins for a train). It was a long trip to the great wall. After two short trains, a long busride, we got dropped off at a remote looking bustop just outside a city about the size of Wollongong or so. Waiting for us were a few dodgy looking guys with dodgy looking cars, wanting 400 yuan for a return trip to Simatai (where we would see the wall from)! It would cost about that much to hire a taxi for the day from Beijing! We were pretty unsure about the whole thing, but managed to bargain him down to 200 yuan ($40) for the return trip. In all, it took us 3 hours from the Hotel to the Wall.

If I had felt unsafe in a car in Beijing, the driving on the single lane highways in the rural areas was insane. People overtake on the shoulder and on the opposite side when there are oncoming cars. Whoever toots their horn loudest seems to get right of way. Amazingly, I never saw an accident – it seems that everyone wants to get in first, but everyone makes it to ‘safety’ just in time. People you are overtaking let you in or people on the other side pull to the shoulder. And this goes on constantly. The fact that our car didn’t have seatbelts didn’t make it any more pleasant either…

The rural landscape is strange. There are random abandoned buildings – seemingly from past times and governments. Every single bit of land is being used for production. Quarries, lumber, crops. No space to spare. The land really looks exploited. I suppose that supporting a growing economy and a population of 1.3 billion doesn’t come without its expense.

Once out of Beijing, the air cleared up and we could see blue sky and shadows for the first time since being in China! It was really nice. I didn’t realise how much I missed non-smog air and skies. My nose and throat felt better too!

Though being a bit of a tourist trap, the Wall itself was spectacular. We got there, paid our entrance fee, walked to the base of the mountain, paid to get the chairlift, got the chairlift up, walked a little way, paid for Naomi to take the minitrain, while I walked up the steps to meet her (being 21 weeks pregnant, Naomi tires pretty quickly). Once there, it was still a fair walk up some pretty steep steps to get to the wall itself.

From the bottom and from the chairlift, we could see the wall stretching along the top of the mountains, from one horizon to the other. How anyone build it in such difficult terrain is amazing.

Walking on the wall was incredible too. It got pretty steep at times, but no one sprained an ankle. There were local farm women hanging around wanting money, which was a bit sad. They were selling ‘postcards’ and otherwise offering ‘guide’ services etc. We walked around for an hour or so before heading back.

After another nail-biting trip back to the bus station, we got the bus and then train back to our hotel.

At night we went top the local bar with free internet where Naomi posted some photos on Facebook, while I enjoyed a warm Heineken and read some greek.

We went out to dinner at a Chinese/European ‘fusion’ restaurant. It was incredible. We got a whole stack of things, much more than we could eat, for about $12 each. It was good to taste so many things. It was really interesting how they integrated western food and techniques with Chinese. It was pretty much Chinese, but with some interesting uses of ‘western’ food like cheese.

All-in-all a great day. To bed at 10, getting up at 545 for an 830am flight to Lijiang. I’m looking forward to clean air and blue skies!

China - Day 2 - Beijing

2009-04-13T05:01:00.000-07:00

Written Sunday 12 April 2009

Slept much better and longer last night. Feel heaps better about everything as a result. Went out to breakfast in the local street. Speaking of which, the street we’re on (well, just off) is called Nan Lou Gu Kiang. It’s packed with arty-type shops, awestern-style bars and cafes, and a few hostels. I guess it’s kind of like King street, but on a much smaller scale. There’s even a café there that had free wireless internet! It’s a bit quiet in the morning, but really opens up in the afternoon and evening. In the night time, there are red lanterns hanging out the front of shop windows, like you would see in ‘big trouble in little china’ or something similarly stereotypical.

Anyway, had breakfast, and set off by subway to the Summer Palace, which is the summertime equivalent of the Forbidden City. It is on a lake and had lots of trees, which make it cooler for the emperor and his posse. We got there, and as spectacular as it was, it was a tourist trap. There was fee to get in, a fee to ride the boats, a fee to see anything special. It was packed to the gills with… that’s right, people. We had a walk and look around, took some photos, and left pretty soon after. Then we realised that we had no way of explaining to our taxi driver that we wanted to go back to Bagou subway station. Eventually we worked out how to tell him which line we wanted to get to, and he got us there ok.

From there, we took a train to a shopping mecca and eat street of Beijing, Wangfujing. We had a couple of street vendor skewers and nondescript fried balls for lunch. We didn’t opt for the live-scorpions-on-a-skewer option. Naomi hit the wall, so we grabbed a taxi back to our place.

Naomi had a lie down, I hit the ‘net and then came back to have a rest too. I read a pretty brief history of China over the last 8000 years up until the present day. Very interesting. I actually meant to get a China history book before we came, but didn’t get round to it, so the lonely planet guide to China had to suffice. Amazing how unstable China has been for so long. Especially from the late 1800s to mid 1900s. I think that’s why some people loved Mao Zedong so much. He set the country on a course to bring it back together, where it remains today. Though the mass starvations during the Great Leap Forward and the killings, tortures and imprisonments during Cultural Revolution keeps him from my list of best rulers of all time. I’d like to read more about it all.

We went out at night to the Donghuamen Night Markets for dinner. I tried some starfish. Naomi took a photo. Mainly ate noodles, skewers, dumplings and other cheap, yummy stuff.

Then we caught a taxi over to the other side of town to the Chao Yang Theatre to see some flying acrobats. They were pretty spectacular. Kind of like Cirque de Soleil. There’s something about seeing that stuff live that isn’t the same when it’s on TV. If it’s being shown on TV, you know that they are really going to be ok. If one had fallen to their grisly death, they wouldn’t be showing it. Live on the other hand is a different matter… anyway, was great.

The taxi ride across town was amazing in itself. We really got to see the modern Beijing. Enormous skyscrapers of spectacular design, like I’ve never seen before. Great big advertising screens and billboards. And again, heaps of people!

Beijing really is quite an amazing city. The ‘CBD’ seems to be at least 20 times as big as Sydney CBD. The streets are all huge, with 3-4 lanes each side. Taxis EVERYWHERE. A really fast and efficient subway system (with again LOTS of people crammed in like sardines). And if you imagine the Wynyard area of Pitt/George/York streets in Sydney at lunchtime on a weekday, that’s what the whole city is like – endless stretches of people.

I’m glad that we have been able to see the ‘old’ Beijing at our end of town and the ‘new’ Beijing as we’ve moved around. It seems to be a city of contrasts.

Feeling much better about everything. Getting used to it all. Having good sleep helps too.

Looking forward to the Great Wall tomorrow, and moving down south the next day. Currently 9:38. Sleep time!

China - Day 1 - Beijing

2009-04-12T00:34:00.000-07:00

Written Saturday night 11 April.

Arrived last night at about 8pm China time. Went through customs etc, and got a taxi to our hostel. Got to there at about 10 or 1030. We had booked a double bedroom, but got a twin. It was late, so we didn’t argue. We were hungry, so went and had somrthing to eat. Went to a place across the street with no english menus or pictures. Luckily there was a local who was an English teacher right near us, so she helped us out. Food was ok. Had a weird corn flour bun and a beef curry type thing.

Went to bed, pushed our beds together, but mine was broken, so we both slept on Naomi’s single. Didn’t sleep well at all. Our room had a window in it, right up high, out to the reception! People were in and out, talking and watching TV. It let light in too. The room smelt weird, and we realised that it was the bathroom. It didn’t have a fan or window, and since the room itself only had that tiny window, which wasn’t even outside, it just smelt damp and weird.

In the morning, the smell was worse. We decided that we couldn’t stay where we were, so we hired some bikes and rode around the hutongs in the area, and looked for a new place to stay. Riding around was fun. Got to see ‘old school’ Beijing with lots of people riding bikes with trolleys carrying all sorts of things. Lots of bikes, cars and people. Lots of people everywhere in Beijing.

Found a new place. Still a twin room, but no smell, and had a great window. Closer to centre of Beijing and a more main street. Also just off a great street with lots of good food places and bars etc. Went back, got our stuff and money back, and got a taxi to our new place. Checked in and then had lunch at a local place. Food was great. Had salt spiced prawns and dumplings. Both great.

Went back to our room for a rest, then went out to see the Forbidden City and Tiananmen square. The whole experience was unbelievable. The Forbidden City is an enormous palace built around 1400. It was closed off to the public for 500 years, and only the emperor and his family/concubines etc lived there and saw it. I can hardly even begin to describe it. It was huge. Halls, walls, courtyards, more halls, more walls, and giant sculptures. The amount of stonework is breathtaking. Oh, also HEAPS of people. Mostly Chinese tourists I think.

Tiananmen square was interesting. HEAPS of people there too. The military presence was a bit offputting, but as I thought about it, it made me feel safe. Mao Zedong (or Tse Tung, whichever you prefer) really made his mark on China, in many ways. Tiananmen square and the buildings that he built feel really oppressive.

Got back after some yummy Peking duck for dinner, had a shower, and realised that the smell in the old place is actually the water! But since this place has an exhaust fan, hopefully it will dry and all will be ok.

In general, I’ve actually felt a bit uneasy the whole time we’ve been here. Unbelievable amounts of people, hardly anyone speaks English, not many signs in English, and you feel really conspicuous. People look at me, men look at Naomi for a little too long for my liking. Naomi was wearing a fairly modest singlet-type top, but I think they are normally really modest here, and it’s strange to see anyone in any less than a t-shirt and long pants. I was also expecting more tourists. I guess there are a lot, but there are so many Chinese that you don’t notice the tourists. Just the foreignness of it all is a bit overwhelming I think. I’m definitely out of my comfort zone, but I guess that’s a good thing.

Super tired right now. 8:20pm. Think we’ll go to sleep soon. That’s it from me!

Tom Waits..

2009-03-15T05:11:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a while. Sorry, I just got lazy... Well, not lazy... College started, and with Naomi being pregnant (woo!!) and tired, I've had my hands full - of my two favourite things mind you (that's Naomi and Theology in case it wasn't clear)

Anyway, I've been doing a bit of listening and playing of music when I want to relax, and I've just been reminded of the amazing Tom Waits. If you've spent much time talking to me about music, you probably would have heard me mention his name. Anyway, he's incredible - defies explanation.. Thought I'd share an interview and song by him on the Don Lane show from back in '79. He's still going strong, and writing amazing music, as he has for the last 35 years.

Here it is - I'll let it speak for itself.

Part 1 (interview) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCSc6E4yG9s&feature=related

Part 2 (song) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcCMCVM-K_Y&feature=related

L. Cohen

2009-01-30T03:06:00.000-08:00

Naomi and I saw Leonard Cohen last night. It was amazing. Such great music and incredible poetry for 3 full hours! (except for the intermission... apparently intermission is cool again... or maybe it's because he's 74!)

Though he did say at one point:

"I [...] entered into a deep study of religion and philosophy, but cheerfulness kept breaking through"

I don't know a lot about other religions and philosophies, but I know that although he might have deeply studied Christianity, he didn't get to the heart of it.

Actually, that reminds me... Over the next 4 years studying at Moore, there is a danger of me studying the bible and not getting (or staying) at the heart of it, leading to an arid knowledge of God through which cheerfulness must break. If I'm studying theology, and cheerfulness is something that has to 'break through', rather than something that springs naturally out of learning that theology, there is something wrong.

Please sir, can I have some Moore?

2009-01-30T02:53:00.000-08:00

For those of you who didn't know, I have begun studying at Moore Theological College this year. After months of anticipation, I started on Wednesday. It was so good to finally start. On Wednesday we had the usual orientation stuff, which was a bit frustrating, because I just wanted to get into it! Though it was a good opportunity to get to know the place a bit.

Since Wednesday, I have met stacks of friendly people. It's so good to be there with a whole lot of people who are in the same boat, particularly in not knowing many people - if any at all! It means that I can just get out there and say hi to everyone. In fact, it's my goal to have met everyone in the year before the end of the first couple of weeks. Just don't get me to remember all the names!! I'll get there eventually though.

Oh, I should mention that this week and the next two are special weeks just for first year, where we do a stack of Greek and some more orientation stuff. I really like Greek. I've been working on it with Naomi for a while now. Partly out of fear, but mostly because I enjoy it. It's like I'm a codebreaker or something... So I feel nicely prepared for it all anyway.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to this year. Learning heaps, growing in faith, love and hope, and getting to know what seems to be a great bunch of people at college.

Hammondville

2009-01-26T00:23:00.000-08:00

Speaking of Hammondville (in my last post), there is a wonderful story about how that suburb came into being.

During the great depression of the 1930s, an Anglican minister by the name of R.B.S. Hammond saw all the families struggling in Sydney and had compassion on them. He took his proceeds of his life insurance, bought stacks of land out near Liverpool, and began to give plots to families who were unemployed, homeless, destitute, have at least three children, and were "of good moral character". Small weatherboard huts were built by unemployed tradesmen, and supplies were given to the families to help them to built vegetable gardens and poultry yards.

What an example of love! This man gave all he had to save others.

It's clear that his example to us is merely a reflection of the Lord Jesus' example to him. Giving up all he had to save us.

John 15:12-13

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

New Church

2009-01-26T00:05:00.000-08:00

Well last yesterday Naomi and I spent our day at our new church - Moorebank Anglican.

The day started with the 9am service at the Hammondville congregation. We were interviewed, which went well, and Ed did a cracker of a sermon on Joseph (Genesis one, not Jesus' 'dad'). We also had communion. That was funny, because I went first, and having never taken communion at a church with rails, I just stood there looking at the minister, until Naomi came and knelt next to me, at which point I quickly knelt too. I felt a bit silly, but it was ok, and no one seemed to notice.

The congregation was much smaller than what I'm used to, which was nice. There was only one piano and the service leader lead the singing. Again, it was very different, but it was great. Since the congregation was small we probably met and chatted about 1/4 of them, and they were so welcoming.

During the day, Ed had us over for lunch and dinner, and we had a sleep. Thanks for your hospitality!

At night we went to the 7pm service at Moorebank. We were interviewed by Steve, and Ed did a repeat of his sermon, which was even better than the first one! While only being a bit bigger than Hammondville, this congregation had more youth in it, and the music was pumping! The bass player was a girl called Beth. I like seeing girl bass players! Woo!

After the service, heaps of people came and talked to us. They were all really friendly and welcoming.

All in all, we had a great day and met lots of great people.

Today though I've felt a down about the whole thing. I think that going to our new church made it hit home that I've actually left Jannali. If you were there at our farewell, you'd know how sad I was to leave my family there. I will and already do miss everyone at Jannali.

Despite this, we're really excited about the next couple of years at Moorebank, and looking forward to serving amongst a great group of Christian people.

Specialisation

2009-01-23T05:32:00.001-08:00

Speaking of specialisation, I thought I'd share the original quote with you:

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

-Robert A. Heinlein

Not sure who that guy is, but I love the quote! Incedently, I found it in a most unusual place - a book on barbell training! Anyway, let me know what you think about specialisation.

New Blog!

2009-01-23T05:13:00.000-08:00

Well, the last thing the world needs is a new blog! But after reading a few blogs for a while, I thought I'd start my own.

In terms of purpose, direction, that sort of thing - I decided not to specialise. After all, specialisation is for insects. I'm interested in a lot of things, so I guess I'll write about a lot of things. I also like thinking and sometimes I manage to collect my thoughts in writing, so I would also like to do some of that. Thinking... and writing... wow, that sounds like a good idea! To be honest, you should expect stuff on theology, church, music, and other stuff about me.