Visit the Holy Land, Israel

One of the most heart warming greetings I heard when Ken and I visited Israel in Nov 2003 was "Welcome home!"

Another very beautiful gesture we received was we each received a certificate of welcome from the Tourism Minister of Israel with our names written on it ...

you know, we being Chinese, some of our first name and last name are just the other way round from the westerners ... and to us it may seem rather awkward for some to have their names written the other way round ... as the first name became the family name ... I truly appreciated ever so deeply they bothered to have the whole 3 coach-loads of us ... our names arranged in the proper order and have the certificate of welcome reprinted and given to us before our departure back to our own land...

more importantly what touched my heart and I am sure the hearts of fellow travellers was, the people there were so happy we came ... we met some of them at the shopping mall and they came over with tears of joy in their eyes telling some of us that we were one of the first batch of tourists that arrived after the Sep 11 event ... which indeed hurt their Israel's industry ever so badly ...

to be very honest, I was looking forward to going there ...to see the land where Jesus walked and to literally experience the Bible places coming to life before my eyes ...

there were also some concerns among the people ... however, as one of our church leaders who went after us, shared on Israeli TV when he was interviewed on why our church arranged the trip when everyone avoided travelling there, and I fully agreed with him, and it was : In Psalm 91 Abba protects all of us ... in the shadow of His Wings... the safest place on earth is not even at home but indeed under His wings of protection.

we had a total of about 16 batches of 3 coach loads that went there 2003 which stretched to Feb 2004 ... and Ken and I joined the first batch there ...

I take great delight to share with you my slides and I do hope too that
once in a lifetime, you may visit this beautiful land ... where the greatest Man ever lived and walked, died and rose again!

I would like to share this slideshow with you ... from my own simple, humble, personal photo album ...

Ken's album is more professional as he took with negatives
and slides and SLR camera with interchangeable lens ...
and he picked some of the best pictures and
got them published in his book "The Eden Experience" ...
you may order from SKSbooks.com a
Singapore distributor for the book which handles international
delivery.

Alternatively, you may email him directly at fineflourproduction@yahoo.com.sg

Blessed to be a blessing to the nations

I received this in my email today … and would like to share with you …

blessedtobeablessingtothenations.ppt

the pictures may cause a little discomfort to the viewers

but it is a very good reminder to many of us … who share this world we live in …

blessed to be a ble$$ing to the nations …

let us never be tired of doing good ... in words and deeds, in charity and in love ...
in gifts of money and of time ...

in whatever way we can …

a Singaporean I know works in East Africa attached to The Rafiki Foundation
her name is Yeen-Lan, she has been featured on our local TV show "Find me a Singaporean"
here is her website http://www.rafiki-foundation.org/ros/Lam/lam.html if you want to know more ...

Incidentally I seached her out as one of my relatives wanted to make a contribution to help the starving children in Africa ...

I had always been for India for more than 20yrs on, yes, I agree with her ... India has prospered, and now it is time to look at Africa ...

Cheers
Jewel Kwong ...

Hokkaido Otaru, a town I would like to visit again ...

Otaru Hokkaido Japan ... a place where we can find fine pastries and beautiful glass art pieces ... an enchanting place to spend the afternoon ... the Japanese really has a way of making even the simplest things so delightsome ...

Does it remind you of France? Southern France? You can buy glass paintings, wire crafts and other art pieces here ... you can even have your own portrait captured on canvas (you've got time ?)





we have tasted one of the finest cream puffs in the world here in this pretty town of Otaru ...

I would certainly want to visit this place again if time permits ...

Photos of Old Singapore

Hi I received in my email today a powerpoint presentation of the good old days of Singapore ... I would like to invite you to take a walk down history with me today!

oldsingapore.pps

hope you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed presenting them to you.

planning to visit the modern Singapore soon?

Hokkaido Sunflowers

Have a sunny day today! And each and every day!
One sunflower a day keeps your blues away!

Sunflowers face the sun in a land where there are no nights.

We are like the sunflowers facing the Light.




These sunflower fields are in Hokkaido,
you may ride any of the bicycles there for free ...
so that you can have a good workout while enjoying the vibrant yellows!

Suitable for adults and children ...

A little hut adjacent to the Sunflower fields where you can refresh yourselves
with simple Japanese snacks ...

Sunflowers are grown commercially in Hokkaido, best time to visit is in early to mid Aug for sunflowers ... mid to late July for lavendars ...

Ishiya Magical White Chocolate Musuem

Lovely chocolates , cookies ... and ooh such lovely gardens ... get ready for showtime ... we are transported into a mystical world ... like fairies in the blooms ... in puppet land ... arigato arigato ... thank you ... thank you ... the puppets seem to say ... thank you puppets and golden chirpies for making our day ! A place for children, grannies and in betweens ...

Children and adults young and old, enjoy a day out at this fairyland ... puppet shows every hour ... just watchout for them at the clock tower ... also on the walls of the museum itself!

some adornments on the walls like the golden chirpies double up as musical chimes at showtimes ... indeed a delight to the visitors ... as the staff there enjoy having us around ...

a rose garden outside the museum keeps the shutter bugs busy ...

Ishiya is famous for their White Lover chocolate eclairs which is a layer of white or brown chocolate sandwiched between two slices of cardboard thin cookies ... no sampling ... a box of individually wrapped 24pcs about 1.2inch sq each costs about 1260yen ... I think it is costly ... but it seems everyone in our team of 25 bought at least a box each ... some bought by the cartons ... to bring home as souvenirs ....

from across the museum, our tour guide told us that there is a vast field where the boss has constructed, for the welfare of the staff. they can play their games or have matches there after working hours ...

have fun in Japan Hokkaido, this is one place I truly enjoy ...

Open: Daily 9:00 to 18:00 (enter by 17:00 for chocolate factory visit)
Admission: FOC or 600 Yen if you plan to visit the chocolate factory

If you like to have postcards made of some of these pictures, please send an email enquiry to
jewelkwong@yahoo.com.sg ...

Welcome to Hokkaido Japan

Ken and I love to take pictures when we travel, I will share my travel photos here with you my friends ... for now we begin with our latest travel ... Japan ... Hokkaido ...

do add to favourite this website and come back for a visit every now and then ... as I update our travel pictures as I go ...

We went on a trip to Hokkaido Japan on 6 - 12 Aug ...

and were very pleasantly surprised to find the vast expanse of lands, hills, valleys and most of all -- flowers!

The best time to visit for Lavendars and Sunflowers ... July and August ...
Simply breath-taking!

Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoy sharing with you!

Watch this blog as I unfold our journey to this beautiful land of Japan Hokkaido ...

Cheers

Family with 17 Children

Hi,

I received this powerpoint in my email recently …
and I rearranged it in a slide show for you ...

they are indeed greatly blessed, highly favored and deeply loved.

משפחה מרובת ילדים 17 עד עכשיו

an interesting family, don't you agree?