A nice afternoon’s walk to the monastery

A little way along the path, the "Filipina Village", looking back
towards Discovery Bay

Looking towards Peng Chau Island, East of DB
The Peak on HK Island in the background, looking East

DB hi-rises, near the Marina Club, and Nimshuwan Bay

All on last Wednesday afternoon: 18 degrees and dry

To Maintain Muscle and Lose Fat as You Age, Add Weights - The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/15/well/move/to-maintain-muscle-and-lose-fat-as-you-age-add-weights.html


Sent from my iPhone

Aren’t I handsome!

Here I am guarding the house while the boss and 

Yaya are off shopping. 

Many people commented on my flash scarf when

I was out on my morning walk. 

Woof!

My Ethnic make up percentage

Well, here it is, courtesy the test with FamilyTreeDNA, the makeup of my DNA...

Sadly, nothing romantic. Mostly European, with a tiny bit of Jewish diaspora, in the shape of Ashkenazi Jews.  As a philo-semite, I would rather have had a bit more of that!
There's also a touch of Finnish in there, which I'm going to assume is Viking!

Australia June 2017, parte le deux

So... the Chinese on the Great Ocean Road.  I remember when Chinese
thought a trip to Hong Kong was a huge deal.  Now they travel everywhere and
are about to be named the largest tourist numbers in the world.  22 June.

Mutti at the Melbourne Botanical Gardens.  23 June.

Mutti at the Melbourne Botanical Gardens.  23 June.

Melbourne Botanical Gardens.  23 June.

Meredith, East Brunswick "study centre".  24 June.

Murray River, Echuca, from our cabin hotel.  28 June

The old wharf, 19th C, at Echuca, on the Murray. 28 June.

The old wharf, 19th C, at Echuca, on the Murray. 28 June.

Mutti on the Murray. 28 June

Mutti on the Murray. The Pevensey is the oldest operating paddlewheel
steamer in the world, mid 19thC.  28 June

Another grannie on the Murray. 28 June

The beautiful old original steam engine on the Pevensey,
still working. 28 June

Lake Mulwala, at Bathumi, Vic. 28 June

On the road, coming into ACT. 29 June

Mutti can you tell us these folks?

Australia June 2017

Again, maybe better late than never....

Metung, E. Gippsland.  16 June 2017.
Right by our hotel, evening, overlooking the lakes

Metung, E. Gippsland.  16 June 2017. Ditto above

Metung, E. Gippsland.  16 June 2017.  Ditto above

18 June. Great Ocean Road.  Lorne (?).
Joe's place.  Bledislow Cup game, Brisbane. We lost...

The Fishy Place, Torquay, Great Ocena Road.  21 June.

Mutti at Great Otway National Park. The waterfall path. 22 June

Great Otway National Park.  22 June.

Great Ocean Road. Wonderful drive, wonderful surf -- but scary! 22 June.

Great Ocean Road. Wonderful drive, wonderful surf -- but scary! 22 June.

Great Ocean Road. Wonderful drive, wonderful surf -- but scary! 22 June.

Chinese tourists, Great Ocean Road.  22 June.

RIP Nikki 15 Sep 1999 — 15 Sep 2017

RIP Nikki

15 Sep 1999 — 15 Sep 2017

Basil and Marcus mourn Nikki.  They do miss her, in fact

We had got Nikki as a pup in around October 1999.  We were living in Middle Lane, Discovery Bay at the time.  A few years later we moved to Siena One, here, and Nikkie hated it.  She howled and yowled for weeks, and we were about to give her away, when she settled down and accepted her new digs.  Which she never left thereafter. Save to go for walks in the hills, which she loved.  She hated cats her whole life and killed a couple to our great embarrassment and had, of course, to make good.  She also killed some rats in the hills and around the park.  She was a good, tough, loyal dog.  We always thought she'd be the only one to survive had there been "A world without humans".  Marcus and Basil would not: they'd just sit around waiting for dinner....

[The "movie" was done off the cuff, sitting watching TV, with no editing, as my first go at iMovie, but decided to leave it for now.. : I'd just come across iMovie on my phone when I was cleaning out some Apps, and decided to have a go at it.  It's pretty easy! As exemplified by the fact that I managed to make one!].

Bali May 2017

Some photos, better late than never (perhaps!)....
LATER (9 OCT): Added a few photos, and Mr Oberoi's response to me!  (See bottom)

Echo Beach

Releasing turtlings

Baby turtle release just twice per year. We were just luck to be there
when they released this lot -- on the day we arrived

Some of the other releasers, watching their releasees make for the wide ocean

The beach in front of our Oberoi Hotel, where the release going on

Five pm-ish on our first day, at turtle release

Looks like we're pretty much the only people on Kuta beach

"Jing" makes her way to the ocean. She has a 1 in a 1,000 chance of adulthood

Our Pool Villa at the Oberoi, the first luxury hotel on the island
having set up in the 1970s on what was rice paddies

Another view of our Pool Villa, with my new iPhone wide angle

Our guide when we went inland. Hindi.  He's Hindu

Echo beach. Waves don't look much, but top left out on the break they're
a decent size. You can just make out a guy on the rocks timing his
jump into the waves. Gets it wrong he's on the rocks...

Seminyak night life.  "The Beatles"

Danau, volcanic lake in the north east

We went looking for some Balinese clay pottery.  Not much available and all
expensive ($US 100+) and twice as much again to ship to Hong Kong!

After our stay, I wrote this letter to Mr P. S Oberoi ("Biki") the son of the founder and current Chairman of the Group.  I'd met Biki in 1997, when I was with DFS and he was a stripling of 68.  I went to his Farm, where he still lives.  It's just outside of Delhi and if you can imagine simply the most elegant, grand place in the best Indian (Raj?) tradition, with attentive servants and a gracious host, you've got the picture.

The cc. of the letter is to Vikram,  Bikki's son, third generation in charge of Oberoi Hotels.  They are truly wonderful hotels -- I've also stayed at the one in Cairo, which overlooks the pyramids, so strongly recommended! (yes, pricy, but worth every penny...):
LATER (9 OCT): Mr Oberoi's response to my letter (below his)

H.E. Prithviraj Singh Oberoi (P.V.)

Chairman Oberoi Group

Oberoi Farms

Palam Farm, Delhi,  India

Dear Chairman Oberoi,

You may recall we met at your beautiful farm in 1997.  I was then working for the American company Duty Free Shoppers, based in Hong Kong.  We discussed a possible joint venture shopping centre in New Delhi, a project that sadly did not materialise.

I’m writing today to tell you about our very good experience at your hotel in Bali.

We stayed at the hotel in late May, flying in from Hong Kong, and stayed at one of the lovely Pool Villas.  (My apologies for such a late “thank you” note!)

The main reason for writing is that your staff went well beyond the “call of duty”, in handling our stay. Before we arrived, I had written a rather stern letter to the management, expressing disappointment with the fact that the Villa did not include a limousine transfer from the airport and that breakfast was not included.  Now the fact is: this was my fault. I had not read the Terms and Conditions carefully.  But rather than pointing out the T&C,  your staff instead gave us the airport transfer and the breakfasts included in our tariff.  They also invited us to an evening cocktail party with the management, and made sure we were involved in the release of baby turtles into the sea – which was a truly marvelous experience.

One of your senior staff , Arie Ermawati, Executive Manager (Rooms), was particularly keen to ensure our stay was as memorable as it was.

I should be grateful if you could pass on our warmest thanks to all the Bali Oberoi staff.  They said they felt that working in the Oberoi Group was like “being in a family”.  That feeling is clearly genuine.  It is a tribute to your late father, to yourself, to your son and to all the family and staff involved in the business.

We shall always stay at an Oberoi Hotel wherever there is one, and will recommend them warmly to family and friends.

Yours faithfully,

Peter Forsythe

9 Siena One Discovery Bay Hong Kong

cc: Mr Vikram S. Oberoi, MD & CEO EIH Ltd, 7 Sham Nath Marg,  New Delhi 110054 India

Seminyak and Kuta beach in SW of the Island