Renfrew -Downtown from website What road do I take to get in the direction of North Bay from downtown Sudbury? Three answers were, "Take the Kingsway and keep going." And that is what I did. So you ask why the title Renfrew not Pembroke, which was to be the end point of today's driving. Three hundred and ninety three kilometers later shot my expected coverage of 200km/da right out of the water. It took me six hours instead of the proposed 4.5hrs as predicted by the distance info site ... how fast ar... read more

January 12, 2014. Toronto has declared an extreme weather alert warning ... the temperature will go down to -17 and then -25 with the wind chill factor and I am here, not in Harbin, NE China, with millions of others enjoying the Winter Ice Festivsal. Jan. 9, arrived 14:20 by direct flight, Beijing to Toronto, after 13hrs and three to four video movies, on Hainian Air. Waited till 17:00 to be picked up because of traffic difficulties. Great relief to be on familiar ground and able to speak with and help others with confidence speaking fluently in English. Am trying conscientiously not to inflict verbal diahrrea on anyone in my immmediate space. It has taken my body and mind two and a half days to realize and wakeup knowing that I am back and that there ... read more

The market in Lijiang is huge. The 23/twenty-three/23 pictures posted at the end of this story give a true image of the hectic activity taking place there every day. I love markets. This one can only be topped by a market in Kolkata where fruits and vegetables were artistically arranged. Found lots of eggs ...avoided any contact with chickens here and in HongKong. At this writing six months later, the images experienced at the market are still very vivid. Lijiang Market Once an acceptable comfort and confidence level returned to my psyche, I was prepared to undertake a foray into the maze of the old town of Lijiang and go to the famous Zhongyi Market. The desk clerk at the Crowne Plaza gave me a map with English names. The map was printed on brown paper. ... read more

It is June ... I am at the cottage/camp/cabin valiantly attempting to share my experiences during the China trip. The calamity on the Yantzebrings many memories of the China trip to mind ... many good stories to impart ... so here it begins .... December 17 ... very close to the departure from Hong Kong. I discovered that the plane was leaving 2 hours earlier than I thought … good thing I checked…the clerk at hotel helped by calling the airline. Mini-Central Hotel a good choice …tiny room but sufficient! ...had coffee at Starbucks, went to the big Post Office to mail my silk(?) square meter of cloth from Western Market and info about Ma Wing-shing, the comic book artist. Visited the Happy Room ( WC) (toilet), topped up my OctopusCard so as to pay for ... read more

What a lazy day. Slept until 08:30 and then worked on computer looking for info about Lijiang Airport. Finally by 11:30 I was out and going to deliver my bag of laundry. Whereas my few pieces cost $335HKD at the Nina Tower Hotel here at the downtown Laundry for 6 pieces I paid $60HKD. The clothes will be ready by six tomorrow. Then into the MTR at Central and to Admiralty to find the Flagstaff Museum where the teapot collection of K.S.Lo is housed. The man became rich by selling Vitasoy products all over the world. He donated his collection of teapots to the city when he heard that Flagstaff House was going to be turned into a museum after being the residence of the Commander of British Forces in HK. In 1984 it became the ... read more