Ho, hum, ho hum, another day of full sun..........and blue skies and gorgeous temperatures-23 degrees predicted. It is not very hard to get used to this kind of weather. It does take some re-orientation. When we do our power walk in the mornings it is about 10 degrees, perhaps 12. This is a great temperature for an exercise walk. I'll have to include pictures of this area because it is quite lovely-half way up the mountain in the midst of HK suburbia, if there is such a thing here. The temperature has been foremost in the minds of HK'ers the last few days. A week ago it went down to 8 degrees; two people died; they set up shelters for the aged. The reason for the concern is that most apartments in HK do not have heat. Our apt. does but many do not. So, when it is 8 degrees it is cold; this was the coldest temperature in the last year.

    Well, I've decided to write a pre-Christmas diary entry to say hello and to wish all of you the best of the season. We have been very busy the last few months. Kathleen has been involved in launching a new MBA program at Ivey. The numbers are down but they think they're going to go ahead with the new program regardless. Hopefully, the numbers will be there in future years. The EMBA program that started in August is going strong but this new initiative might need some more work. They have had an extensive ad campaign-the Ivey brand has been splashed on bus kiosks and in the subway. It is unusual to see the name of an educational institute right up there with mobile phones and Coke but that is the way they do things in this commercial city and you have to play by their rules if you want to get the name out there.

    The last few months have been taken up with the usual round of dinner parties and "official" functions. We had one dinner party at our place for 14 people. It was to thank the Alumni committee for the great work they did on the annual fund raising dinner. In short, the committee decided to throw themselves a party. It was catered; we provided the venue. The Chef arrived a few hours before and two waiters dressed in tuxedos did all the other work. Very elegant.....and they cleaned up before they left.....very nice. We had a good round of American Thanksgiving day dinners and celebrations. There is a strong American group here and Kathleen does some work with their board so we have met many great Americans. We had one dinner on the peak in a separate house. It was gorgeous; it went for miles with a magnificent outdoor pool area and patio that had a breathtaking view of the city below. There are very few homes in HK. This property was owned by HSBC, the world's second biggest bank. They have been a force here for over 100 years. They scooped up valuable property a century ago and now most of their senior executives live in these mansions on the peak.

    I've continued to be very busy, what with my cooking courses and lunches and tours and shopping and the countless number of errands that seem to arise. But, I'm not bored yet; I'm not tired of the place yet and I still have a new and different experience almost every day. Kathleen joined me on a junk trip tour of the harbour. We went up the coast and back again, had a nice supper and saw the Christmas lights on the buildings. You can't believe the effort these companies make at Christmas. There must be 50 buildings that are decorated from top to bottom-and I mean top-all 60 stories worth, or 50 or 80-lights strewn from one end to the other. I've never seen anything like this in any Canadian city. There are huge Christmas trees in the major squares. All the malls are decorated with gargantuan seasonal landscapes that you can enter or walk through or around. This is very festive and all of this for a non-Christian country. They tell me that all the decorations come down, get changed and go back up for Chinese New Year  (February some time) which is even more important and festive. You really don't miss the snow when you have all this excitement around you. A cynic said the other day "Well, if it will sell Hong Kong will do it". So, maybe that accounts for the money being spent. I certainly see Cantonese buying wrapping paper and decorations and Christmas cards etc. One of the concierge staff says his children prefer Christmas to Chinese New Year because it is more fun. Anyway, it is great time of year to be here and even to visit.

    Now, that brings me to the visit. Our boys, Jason and John are on their way even as I type this letter. We have been in touch with them every day for a week. We are peeing our pants in anticipation. We have a heavy schedule all lined up for them to keep them hoping. Tomorrow we go to Shenzhen, mainland China, where we will get them some clothes made-pants and lots of dress shirts are on the agenda I guess. We have reserved seats for Lord of the Rings Christmas eve day and a reservation at a 'hot' dinner spot in the evening. That reminds me-why don't we have reserved seats in Canada? How civilized! I went in two weeks before this film opened and picked a time and chose our seats. Marvellous. Anyway, Christmas dinner will be with the boys, here, with Larry and Jessie, the current Dean and his wife. More dinner parties in the next few days and then the boys and I will fly to Beijing for three days. I haven't been in five years so I'm anxious to see the city again. The trip will give them a "nibble" of some of the important sites like the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City etc. Beijing can be bitterly cold so I hope we catch the good weather and that it's not fully entrenched in winter yet. Hell, we're Canadians. We can take any cold.

    I should tell you that the lady and I got away to Phuket, Thailand for a week. In fact we've only been back two weeks. It was glorious-the Sheraton Laguana. You can check out some of the pics-but more about that later. The weather was magnificent-sunny, near 30 each day. We took some tours to neighbouring islands-Phi Phi Lay and Phi Phi Don. Leonardo DiCaprio filmed the 'Beaches' in one of the lagoons. I guess the film was forgettable but the site was just beautiful. We had the chance to do some more snorkeling and this is one activity that we have really come to enjoy. I can see picking spots over here where the snorkeling is supposed to be very good. It is quite stunning to see all the fish go by around you. We ate too much and definitely drank too much, and generally had a very pleasant stay. Dragon Air, one of the airlines out of HK, have some very special rates and tours. It was cheaper to go through them  for the hotel and airfare then it would have been to just book the airfare. Does this make any sense? No. Go figure. But, the deals are great and we will be doing a great deal of traveling while we are here.

    We've joined the computer generation. I've got a blogware site. Yea, me too. What is a blogware site. Well, Jason, has set me up on this site. His company, Tucows is preparing this site and will eventually market it to the public. The inner workings change regularly because it is still a Beta version-but not to worry from your standpoint-it is stable and very efficient. Many friends have said they would like to see our apartment and our area, Kathleen's office etc. Well, now you can. It is not practical to send many large pictures via the net. Many sites, including Microsoft's hotmail will not allow more than 1mg. bite-which means about 5 pictures max. So, here we go. http://ron.slaughter.com   . Just type that into your browser or copy and paste it if you know how to do that and you'll arrive at the site. The main page has all the diary entries that this scribe has written. Some of you did not receive these nuggets because they were accompanied by pictures that were too large. Well, find a comfortable chair and read away. You can, of course, print them out so you're not tied to the computer. On the left hand side of the main page you will see topics-choose photos and you'll get Kathleen's office and the Ivey campus. Then you have the option of viewing our apt. or the Phuket pictures or Hong Kong park etc. When the pictures come up double click on each of them and they will go full screen size.

    Since most of you will not be visiting (you could come over you know), these pictures will be your view of our new Asian experience. In the months ahead, I'll post some more pics, including  some from our Christmas season.

    Well, that's all folks as they say. This entry has been mercifully short. I hope that all of you are well and that you are able to enjoy the best of the season. For the errand boy and the lady.........................Sing daan fai lok.........You can guess what that means.