HK 15km Challenge

Today I ran the 15 km challenge at Sai Kung Park. This is an enormous reservate, all nature with great views. But the hills are steep and the banana I ate in the morning instead of the power bar did not help too. So, no personal best this time but a modest 1:26.

Visit to Lamma Island

This Saturday we had a visit from friends from the Netherlands; Leo and his wife Carla. Their daughter Elvera has been studying the last half year in Hong Kong and at the end of that period they took the opportunity to visit her, see HK and some other countries in the region. We had a great day with dim sum, trip to Lamma (we walked the trail from one site to the other, great scenary), and a good seafood dinner to conclude. I met Leo four years ago, starting the MBA at the Maastricht School of Management, for which he organizes via his company IFMEC the program for Facility Management. A great time! Leo masters serious matters in such a way that there is always goo food and a good laugh, good to meet him, Carla, and Elvera here in HK.

Thai Christmas Tree

From Tokyo I flew to Bangkok. In Japan Christmas was all around (Christmas trees, music, ...), but it was still nothing compared to Thailand! Christmas everywere, but the Thai (famous for their public holidays) don't celebrate it! They just enjoy this Christian tradition for its music, decoration, and presents. The "tree" in front of the building of our joint venture in Thailand was perhaps the most beautiful example... From left to right my collegues: Alain Wong, Denise Blum, and Menno Bosman (who did a great workshop with our Thai collegues!).

Why this collor, you could wonder. It is the collor in the logo of Muangthai, our insurance joint venture.

Yasukuni

Last week (Monday - Wednesday) I was in Tokyo. Walking to the office I mosttimes pass through the (famous and notorious) Yasukuni shrine. Many visions can be shared (or not) around this shrine, for sure it is interesting to watch the Japanese and their traditions. Most interesting is probably to watch the ceremonies with beautiful dressed Japanese women moving according to ancient rites ... Japan is an amazing country!

Quarter Finals HK Championship for Melissa

Melissa and her partner Mark Ashfort managed to reach the Quarter Finals of the Hong Kong Tennis Championships! After playing the qualifiers tournement, they reached the main draw. In this main draw they played and won a great first match. And of course they intended to win the quarter final (certainly as it was "Sinterklaas" evening), but that's for the next year...

Au revoir Pusinne!

This afternoon we had lunch with Pusinne, a colleague at Fortis Insurance Asia in Hong Kong. Next week she is leaving Hong Kong and goes back to Belgium. We had a good laugh; the last year and this Saturday lunch with a nice curry. May the sun shine as bright on Pusinne's future as it did this afternoon on the veranda of the Ladies Recreation Club in Hong Kong!

A Blog?

Welcome dear reader!

Is it time for a blog? Is this the time of blogs? I don't know. And I am stil not sure whether I will have time and patience to make this a sustainable exercise.

But, family and many friends are curious what is happening with us in and around Hong Kong. What are we doing, what are our experiences, what is happening with Fortis, etc. So, let's give it a try and start the blog!

This blog is in English, at least I will try... That's because of many readers in Portugal, The Netherlands, Hong Kong, ... Dutch or Portuguese would not serve them all.

Please send me your comments!