井㡳蛙看世界 - 「龜」宿🐢

1/7/2019 -Sri Lanka Day 8

🐢「龜」宿

Finally we get to meet the ‘entree’ of this Sri Lanka trip - the Turtle🐢

After a long day travel from Kandy to Ambalangoda, I slept straight 12 hour in the simplest accommodation with just a ceiling fan with 5 of us in one room.  It is stuffy and hot, luckily the huge fan in the common area helped us cool down a lot while we gather.  Ambalangoda, city next to the ocean, lots of tourists come to surf at this untouched turquoise piece of water, the Indian Ocean.

The program manager gave us a brief orientation including safety and the purpose of the turtle conservation center. A 20 minute city tour for us to know the surroundings, where is the ATM, supermarket, ice-cream store and Internet cafe.  There are two turtle conservation sites, just 5 minute walk from our accommodation and our house us just a few meters from the ocean.  The Disabled Turtle Home and the Turtle Conservation Center. Then After lunch, we started working!

Our schedule everyday is different. We will start working at 9:30am at the turtle disabled home, consist of feeding and cleaning the tanks.  Today is Monday, we cut up 355 sardines, preparing them to feed the 26 disabled turtle and babies.  In the Disabled Turtle Center, they only kept turtles that are handicapped. Most of them lost their front limbs, one of them lost 3, I can’t stop my tears, poor animals, lost the ability to live but luckily got save by some fisherman and send them to this place.  A few other turtles always floating on top of water, as they can’t dive as they lost their limbs and they have swallowed too much plastic, this turtle hardly survive and under the great care of the turtle center manager.  My heart drowned to see them swim without limbs.  We are feeding them and putting the sardines right at a distance so they don’t need to dive or swim to get it.  If they are in the wild, they will be starved to death.  These turtle are beautiful and smart animals, for those that can dive, if they didn’t catch the sardines and got sink to the bottom of the tank, all we need to do is point to the sardines in the water, they will be able to dive down and eat it, most of those that can’t dive, we helped them to dive down by pushing them into the water and they are smart enough to pick up the food.

Each of these turtles are named and am still learning to remember their name.  

There is a hatchery which eggs are buried deep under the sand, some of the eggs are hatched and we get to see the babies pulled out from the sand nest.  These cute new babies will be released to the ocean after examination if they are born defective, they will be staying at the conservation. We are lucky that more babies will be hatched later this week. 

Tomorrow, we will learn to clean each of their tanks! 💪🏻

井㡳蛙看世界 - 海上的火車

1/6/2019 -Sri Lanka Day 7

Traveling on the train by the sea

海上的火車🚞

Woke up at 3:30am to catch the train going from Kandy to Ambalangoda for 5 hour, distance-wise it is not far however the train route goes up a little north then westward then comes done along the west coast line.  5:00am the train starts, we bought 2nd class ticket, we manage to get the luggages up in the luggage rail and seats, I was thinking it is not too bad as what I seen on Facebook how people sardined into the train, even standing at the open train door and top of the train. As the train goes on, stopped at various stations, people come in and out, until we arrived at Colombo, people really started to jumped on the train, our cart is full if people standing and sitting on the floor, as we were making a turn, I could see out the window that at each of the train door, some of them have 1/3 of their back outside the train door.  傳說中，歡樂滿東華式的火車載客情景，果真有其事！

When we reached the coastline, the train is literally run next to the ocean.  It got its name 海上的火車，which is also the inspiration Hayao Miyazaki got of the train in the Spirited Away animation. 

Such nice stunning scenery appeared in my eyes.  This bonus surprise is not what I expected on this trip. 

井底蛙看世界 - Watching Discover/National Geographic Channel Live

1/5/2019 - Sri

Lanka Day 6

Yala Safari

On a no planned program Saturday, a few of us decided to go to one of Sri Lanka’s safari. This is an extra program which we need to pay for our own spending. After inquiring about the price and time required, we hired a private taxi to pick us up at 10pm the night before for a 7 hour drive, wait and return. The ride in the car is like a Six Flag ride, wheeling through Sri Lankan mountain after mountain.  The 7 hour ride turns out to be 4 hour and we arrived 2:30am at Yala Safari, the south east of Sri Lanka and we slept in the car til 5:00am and hop on a Jeep who take us in the safari. Oh my.... this Jeep ride is really something... this Jeep driver is very aggressive and fierce. When his phone ring, it means they got information of where the animal appeared.  The thing about safari is that animals are appearing by chance. Luck is of an essence.  These 30/40 some Jeep drivers race to jammed into that little route where a leopard climbed up the tree for a quick nap, most of the time he drove off road to squeeze in for a better position.  We are bouncing up and down through the sand/mud road on the Jeep without any safety belt available to bucket up... talk about how dusty we are when we wipe our face and wash out clothes, mud-like!

First time safari visitor, we got to see a few elephants... walking right in front of our eyes, kicking it’s leg on the sand and his little buddy friend - a buddy, always accompanying him. 

The black-face monkey family, we can easily observed the hierarchy of the family where the leader stay at the edge of the road and directly the other family members to cross the road and the females carrying the babies and the leader go last.

We also get to see the buffalos bathing in the water to ease the 30 some Celsius heat.  There are quite a lot of peacocks, cranes, birds that I don’t even know the names are swirling in the air over us.  

Discovery/National Geographic channel is live in my eyes.  I thank God for His creation, the harmonic of nature among animals and human achieving in this place. Leave the jungle as home for the animal. 

井底蛙看世界 - 除袮以外

1/4/2019 - Sri Lanka Day 5

We mostly walked on bare foot today visiting two temples. A Buddha temple then a Hindu/Buddha temple. Why Buddha is worshipped with Hindu? As simple as that, convenient. Different culture people get married together with different religion, so it will be convenient to have the two confined in one temple. I don’t know how Buddha or the billions of Hindu gods feel but it’s a blasphemy for the one and only God I believe in.  I bet this is how Jehovah God felt when in the Old Testament, the Israelites did the same in God’s holy temple.  God have gave details instruction on how He should be worshipped, no exception.  When the world advocates convenience and universal believe, ‘The One True God’ declare exclusive faith. The moment I walked into these temple, the awareness of “I am a Christian. I belong to God.” is really strong. Amen, I am in the good hand of God and need not bring any flowers, fruits, nor money to plead for blessing. I am already blessed.

“除你以外，在天上我有誰呢？ 除你以外，在地上我也沒有所愛慕的。” 詩篇 73:25 

虛假的神多的是，真神只有一位。

And only Jesus loves His people, died and resurrected for our sin. He is Alpha and Omega. 

井底蛙看世界 - 行之無「道」

1/3/2019 - Sri Lanka Day 4

行之無「道」

Sri Lanka is mainly a vegetarian country.  We arrived on 12/31, for the past 4 days, only once we had meat in our meal. The ‘cooking mama’ at our accommodation cook us Sri Lankan food everyday. Spice is an unavoidable ingredients in Sri Lankan cooking. Our program leader, who is also our language teacher, tour guide, driver as well as cooking teacher. We spent the morning at the house to cook Sri Lankan food using different spices and that will be our lunch. It will be interesting to bring Sri Lankan cooking back to the states.  

Interestingly, the program arranged us to attend a Buddhism lesson host by a monk and a mediation afterward.  First time in my life listening to Buddhism teaching in English.  The monk is saying basic things like love, compassion, forgive and self control, nothing conflict my faith, she (I think the monk is a she with the bald head) even praised Jesus Christ as one of the selfless human being that reached a high level Buddha state of mind, yet, Buddhism never address the secured solution to save this life. 

Insight of the day... Buddha believe in Sri Lanka is not just worshipping a statue, surprisingly it’s a teaching of how to live in this chaotic world in peace and reduce disturbances in life by training the mind and body to desire less, so their next life may be able to ‘born into a better person’.  Christianity is more than that, addressing the original source of pain - sin, initiation of the salvation, practical example of a perfect man and the ultimate reachable home for all who believe. Yet, the disciplinary living and desire to pursuit  solely of their believe is what we lack.

Knowing my own faith and being able to grasp it securely is blessed. However, taking advantage of grace and lI’ve a segregated life is a curse.  Jesus, mercy me. 

井底蛙看世界 - Gems from the soil

1/2/2019 - Sri Lanka Day 3

泥土中的寶藏 Gems from the Soil

We’ve achieved a lot and personally it’s such a fruitful day for me. 

Since I am in the soap and skincare product making, I am as well into natural remedies, herbs, essential oils, spice...etc. Reading books about essential oils, aromatherapy and herbal healthcare.

Sri Lanka is known as an agricultural country.   Spice, rubber, coffee and tea are top world grower/supplier. The orientation week involved a day tour to visit the Spice and Tea garden, we get to see and learn from the local doctor about these gems from the soil.

I am especially fascinated by the spice garden. I have essential oils and spices at home in tiny little bottle sitting on my kitchen spice rack.  Today, I see most of them first time in their original form.  I am not a big fan of cinnamon but the aroma of the spice wood crumbled off the tree then into my palm, smells exceptionally soothing to my scent as compared to it on a cinnamon roll. As we walk along the spice garden corridor, sandalwood planted a few step away from the pepper tree, king coconut tree stand tall among all others, ripen bright orange yellow cocoa fruits hung on the tree which you won’t missed, then turmeric,aloe vera, nutmeg, ginger and numerous plants that I’ve never heard of which can cure lots of diseases and common health issues.  After many stops at different plants and explaining each of their functions, we were stops at a shaded patio setup with at least 25 different natural remedies derived from the plants in the garden. Each of us get to try them and received a massage with the oil on the neck, head and back followed by a face massage with the sandalwood oil cream. The only guy in our group get to tried the hair removal cream on his hairy leg with a spot shaved without blade.  The power of nature is amazing.

Tea garden is actually built on the hillside. Actually the entire Kandy is built on hills, I haven’t seen a structure built on flat land yet.

Sri Lanka is famous for its Ceylon tea, we get to see it from tea to cup by walking up the hill top led by the local dog🐶 (yes, dogs are everywhere in Kandy and they are owned by no one). This dog happened to choose the tea factory as its home and volunteered to escort us up where the tea trees are planted. 

Ranawana Royal Temple Kandy’s oldest temple, stood the tallest walking statue of Buddha and others small Buddha’. Worshippers need to covered ourselves, no shoulder and tight leggings permitted, nor hat and shoes allowed. As a respect to the culture, we all walk up the hills bare foot and it is quite a challenge and my sport watch recorded a record high that 52 floors climbed throughout the day.  Over 100 Buddha statues stood on the hill along the stair pathways up to the top where the tallest one located. Psalm 121 instantly sung in my mind, psalmist sees the gods/idols on the hill and wrote “我要向高山舉目，我的幫助從何而來，我的幫助從造天地的耶和華而來”. When the surroundings filled with 

unpromising hope, recognizing the true God solidified the collapsing circumstances. 

Insights: The one true God who created the world, who design every plants and human, which both originated from soil, draws between them a linkage.  According to 河馬教授（張文亮）human only knows a very small percentage of all the plant species and every plant has its curing power. A lot of fatal illness without a curing remedy today might have an answer in God’s creation right from the beginning, we just didn’t get to discover it yet. Human needs plants, for food as well as for medication reason, ironically doing a lots of harm to the earth, making it a bad place for it to prosper, extinguishing the source of antidote for our sickness. Sigh...我的心呀！謙卑吧！脫下腳上的鞋吧。We are created by Him and made with soil. Walk bare foot up the hill, plead the creator for forgiveness, He hold the curing power for our body and our inner spirit. HE IS EVERY QUESTIONS ANSWER.

井底蛙看世界 - 知道不知危

1/1/2019 - Sri Lanka

Starting the first day of the year with adventures.  We, 4 girls (3 girls and a lady, to be accurate) were taken to a local family’s house somewhere in the middle of the tweaks and turn road in the up and down hills near Kandy, Sri Lanka.  We are told to learn doing the Sri Lanka batik painting on fabric. I am definitely not feeling right with the location, the setting doesn’t look like a painting workshop at all.  What makes my sense of security worse is I am bringing along a teenage girl wearing spaghetti straps overall shorts in a country that traditional women are wrapped from head to toe.  My mind is unrest and alert.  I’ve seen many foreigners dressed in the local fabric long pants, just because they didn’t bring pants that covered they knees and shoulders, as this dress code is required to enter the temple.  Thank God, the family is super nice and they made us homemade lunch.  The batik painting turns out to be great and we all have a good time. 

The real challenge came when the four of us decided to stay in Kandy city for tour shopping and dinner. The leader dropped us off on a side street in Kandy, one of the girl is our GPS leading us zigzagging through the crowd.  I have my eyes on the teenager, thinking the worse and murmuring to her that she dressed so inappropriately in this country(which I told her not to expose to much ‘meat’, she then changed to this outfit). I could see the eyes of the people, mostly men, scanning on her.  I prayed in my heart that we’ll be safe, I rehearsed in my mind what I will do if anything will happen, I even told her not to leave my sight, first time in her life, I guess, she thinks goo jea really is an elder relative to her. I’ve gone through many lessons of conducts for being a conservative female in my mind that I would love to tell her and I did spilled a few words and apparently they are not welcomed.  

Lastly, after such a fatigue eye chasing target afternoon, the real adventure came, how to get back to our accommodation? The two other girls said they did it before and it turns out we asked the tourist information center and without much confident, we all hopped on a sardined bus. Those eyes scrolling on her again and I am like a hen protecting my chick. Teens, they really don’t know how dangerous the world can be out here, they can hopped on a not-100%-sure bus without knowing exactly where to get off just because taking the TukTuk costed more which is only 500 rupees (less than $3USD) We ended up getting off the bus too early and walked a long way back home.  I am glad to be able to see landmarks which regain my confidence to way back home.  Thank God for His protection starting the first day of 2019. 

The insight of the day... 

In extreme physical fatigue and mental fatigue I force myself to jot down today’s adventurous experience... older people are reluctant to risk as they have gone through too many risky moments in life, so intentional uncertainties are not welcome, without knowing that will let go of many surprises in life. 

Young people do not think much about risk as they have been well taken care of in a protected environment though they thought they don’t possess anything therefore nothing can be lose, without knowing they possess the unseen treasure which not worth to risk. 

Risk is a tester of age and a tester of faith. 

井底蛙看世界

Sri Lanka 🇱🇰 is 13.5 hour ahead of Los Angeles and 2.5 hour behind Hong Kong🇭🇰... that 0.5 hour really throws me off... anyway... it’s been a long traveling day for the last day of 2018.  Just a bit of reflection to wrap up the year, 

Thank God for guiding me finished well for my first full time employment since 1999(yes it is last century), for the last 3 years working is a bit of challenge, “life is tough but GOD is Good” and am now through. 🏃🏻‍♀️

Starting to make soap and selling it is another turn of surprise and I am still learning new things every time I put on my gloves to make a new batch, God let me make mistakes that is bearable and He is trimming my short comings for always being a “fast pace”(心急）person.  I always tell myself ‘李翠芬，慢慢來，你唔趕，唔駛咁快。’ Learning to slow down and be patience remain my life long lessons.

And now I am at Sri Lanka, taking on a journey that I never thought of, responsible for myself and my niece, God’s training on me never give up. His Grace is Sufficient. 

Looking out for 2019, I am luxury enough to explore the world a bit before I dive into another “well”, a time to expand my horizon and see the world with my own eyes.

The first impression of all... Sri Lanka... for the limited encounter yesterday and today, people are living a simple, minimal life. 50 of us coming from places all over the world-developed countries - UK, USA, Saudi Arabia, Denmark... (yes I met new friends☺️) wanting to do something different, stepping out of our ‘comfort zone’, ended up joining the Sri Lankan to live their usual life. I find this sarcastically ironic. 無常地走出我們的尋常，去經歷一下別人的日常。Calling it an ‘experience’.  Indeed, it is an inner humble experience.  Seeing it with your own eyes, willingness to take a lesser/insufficient role when we afford a more than ‘better’ living.  The ‘mentality’ speaks it, not requiring to move to a less better place or buy cheaper stuff, nor eat less at restaurant. Our 尋常can remain at norm. Norm, not excessively consuming and wasting... the least can be done.  

I am exciting to anticipate more insights this journey will bring about... 在還未跳進另一口井上前，這隻井底蛙要看看這個世界！

倒數著回憶

倒數一份廿年工作的結束、
期待一段不用工作的假期… 

朋友常問，有沒有擔心？其實，任何一種改變都會讓人擔心。廿年了，日子過得很快，當天第一次來應徵時的心情，見工時的對話仍如昨天，一晃眼就是十九年多。有改變是好事，總好過一成不變。 

這些日子公司裡各人都在收拾自己的東西/文件，老闆卻遲遲不動身，另外一個老闆動作快一點卻沒法完成，因為他們的辦公室裡都滿滿的擺放著他們的過去。他們常在一些物件前愣住好久，每一件東西都蘊藏了屬於它們的價值和故事，每逢我去他們的辦公室，他們都會說起那些東西背後的典故。 

大部分的人每天都過著同一樣的生活，做同樣的事，小小的成就、小小的自豪、小小的虛榮、小甜蜜、小傷感、小小的沮喪、小煩惱、小小的懷念頭、小小的夢想、小小的自戀、小虛偽、小後悔…活著的當兒我們不曾發現，到了後來有一天，我們會懷念這一切微小，也會去學著珍惜它們。

慢慢地結束

打從上年公司賣了最後一家手頭上經營製造子彈的公司，我們便鐡定用2018年為結束年。走到今天，2018年很快便過，公司結業亦正式踏入倒數。時光荏苒，一份廿年的工作，一家開業五十多年的公司，兩位五十年代叱吒一時的企業新貴，我倆位老闆，已踏入耄耋之年。

這些日子在處理那五十多年來濾積的文件和檔案，翻閱他們的開始以及過去… 厚厚的文件檔，整整齊齊地釘裝在皮製的文件匣裡。幾百箱塵封的文件，那個還沒有電腦的年代，一字一劃，紙黃斑駁，是舊圖書的味道。幾百箱的文件，大部將會廢紙回收，一些按法律要求在指定的時間儲存起來，待法定的時間完畢再丟掉。

五十多年的血汗，幾百箱的資料，在2014年他倆慶祝50週年時便把他們創業、屢屢的失敗和技巧的守業過程濃縮成為一本二百多頁的書，記載了他們的legend。公司是會結束，但他們倆的伙伴關係將換個經營方式經營下去。

 老闆贈了我一本，親筆題字：Thank you for being part of it。

 榮之。