Guest Blogger: Derek Treuer

Note: Two new posts, make sure to read them both (“Guest Blogger: Derek Treuer” and “Old Things.”)

Note: Pictures associated with this post and taken by my parents Derek and Elissa Treuer can be found in the picture album titled “Israel: Guest Blogger Derek Treuer.” To best view the pictures, click on the link, then double-click on the first picture. From here, you just use the arrows to go through the pictures and see the captions. There are three albums: Israel Friends, 1st Week with Paula and Mutzi, 2nd Week with Devorah and Noa. Take a look!

 

My trip to Israel in May 2011 quickly became a fascinating journey with the friends we visited. Paula and Mutzi in Nahariya, Gabi and Rachel in Haifa, and Devorah and Noa in Jerusalem. So many friendly and delightful people! Add in our happy reunion with Zoë for the last week and you have a wonderful mix of perspectives.

And, I found, lots of perspective is required for being in Israel. Seems like every person has at least one or two opinions, every place has at least a millennium or two of history, and every situation has an unending number of interpretations. Facets upon dimensions upon eras ... and all of it wrapped up in a beautiful country.

We were in Israel for 2 most interesting and engrossing weeks. I'll be thinking over my impressions and experiences for much longer than that ...

--Derek Treuer

Guest Blogger: Day 4 in Macau

October 24, 2010

While gambling in Macau is indisputably the main scene, it is definitely NOT my scene, and while I was not so excited to go, Jeff, Zoe and I decided that we would not stick with the group for the afternoon in the casinos! As a former Portuguese colony, this island has an amazing culture. It lies on the western side of the Pearl River Delta, bordering Guangdong province to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east and south.

Our first stop was the Museu de Macau…an amazing place that really sets the cultural stage. It aptly depicts the traditions, art, cross culture and religion of this tiny island of half million people. Macau is considered a “Special Administrative Region (SAR)” of the People's Republic of China since December 20, 1999 with its own constitution-like charter (the Basic Law).

 

As we exited the museum we headed to the featured attractions of the city: Ruins of St. Paul's, a former screen wall of St. Paul's Church and the Monte Fort, one of the best-preserved forts in Macau. The façade and intricate mosaic floor are all that remain of Macau’s grandest church, perched atop a steep flight of stone steps and propped up by viewing platform at the rear. In its heyday, the Jesuit-designed Cathedral was hailed as the greatest monument to Christianity in the East. This Catholic façade is the only one to have Chinese characters on its face. The church caught fire in 1835 during a massive typhoon and only extensive structural work in the early 1990s stopped the façade from crumbling to rubble!

After wandering in the downtown area for an hour, our stomachs started to rumble and it was lunchtime. Thunderbird alumni recommended Fernando’s and what a great recommendation it was! Despite the fact that we had to travel (by cab) to Coloane, which is the most southern island, it was soooo worth it! Coloane is considerably less developed than the other regions due to its mountainous terrain. It does have two beaches, several hiking trails and a resort. It is also the location of Macau's first golf course.

Fernando’s food was outstanding...we started with a pitcher of Sangria, cheese and bread as we waited for our table. Our lunch was a two-hour love affair with garlic prawns, a platter of roasted chicken and spiced greens.

After lunch/dinner we wandered down the Hac Sa Beach and collected shells and stones and ended up at the Macau Country Club where we purchased souvenir golf balls, shirts and hats. We made it back to the pier to catch the 5:00 PM ferry back to Hong Kong.

Guest Blogger: Day 3 in New Territories

October 23, 2010

Zoe didn’t think I had enough climbing the day before, so she suggested we go to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery—yes, 400 more steps up (and then, of course, I had to navigate down as well!!).

But, oh, my it was well worth the trip! There were actually well over 13,000 Buddhas, everywhere…big ones, small ones, in niches, along the path, but I get ahead of myself.

When we arrived on the subway, we could see the monastery up on the hill in the distance, so we headed in that direction. We made a wrong turn and ended up at a mausoleum with thousands of niches with remains. There was incense burning everywhere and it was a very hot day. We also witnessed a couple of burial ceremonies. It was very touching and an incredible cultural experience. No one seemed bothered by our presence. We ended up going back down the hill and finding the right path to the temple…

The Ten Thousands Buddhas Monastery is on the hillside sanctuary at Pai Tau Tsuen, Sha Tin. It was built just 60 years ago by Yuet Kai, a monk, poet, and lyre-player whose mummified remains now form the centerpiece of the monastic temple.

We began the long climb, but how entertaining as we encountered all these incredibly expressive life-sized statues! There were thin Buddhas, chubby Buddhas, bald Buddhas, hairy Buddhas, Buddhas with walking sticks, Buddhas with dogs and dragons and frogs and little children, macho Buddhas. The entire climb was a lesson in Buddha diversity. The only Buddha I didn't see, though, was a sweaty, exhausted Buddha, which is exactly how I felt like by the time I reached the top of the hill! Okay, I’ll admit, about half way up this hill, my knees starting aching! However, this dramatic sacred site in Hong Kong was so worth the long climb. Again, I was amazed to see people with canes and walkers taking this journey. The monastery itself contains a beautiful giant pagoda and a temple with many more small buddha statues lining the walls.

At the top is the nine-story pagoda for which the Monastery is famous. The pagoda earned recognition when it was printed on HK$100 bills.

We navigated yet another several steps but the prize at the end was absolutely spectacular! The white Buddha (see right) is beautiful and a testament to the incredible spirituality of the Buddhist religion.

The Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery is definitely off the beaten path; but I'm really glad I took the time to visit. This was a really interesting glimpse into the recent history and religious life of the Cantonese.

Guest Blog: Day 2 in Hong Kong

October 22, 2010

Despite level 3 typhoon warnings, Zoe and I planned a trip to Lantau Island and the Po Lin Monastery via subway and, we were hoping, the tram. Upon arrival, however, the tram was closed because of strong winds…the typhoon was reportedly headed toward Hong Kong. That, however did not stop us and we opted to take the bus over the two-lane, twisty turny highway and it was well worth it!

The monastery was founded in 1906 by three monks visiting from Jiangsu and was initially known as "The Big Hut." It was renamed to its present name in 1924. The main temple houses 3 bronze statues of the Buddha representing his past, present and future lives as well as many Buddhist scriptures.

Tian Tan Buddha, a Giant Buddha statue completed in 1993, is an extension of the monastery and soars nearly 85 feet tall. We will come back to the Giant Buddha.

We initially wanted to get away from the crowds and wandered past the Giant Buddha toward the “Fun” Path. This place was amazing…peaceful and surreal. We ended at what appeared to be a prayer place for the Monks and probably people who were lucky to find their way to this area. But the best was yet to come! We backtracked from the “Fun” Path and followed the path toward the Wisdom Path and the “Heart Sutra” pillars.

The Wisdom Path is a wooden version of the famous 260-word prayer, “Heart Sutra.” It is made up of 38 wooden rectangular beams or obelisks varying in height from 26 to 33 feet in the shape of a figure eight to represent infinity. It is impossible to describe this place, but the photo to the right gives a sense of the enormity of each of the pillars. Each obelisk bears a portion of the prayer, which is written in the traditional Chinese characters.

This unique attraction is based on calligraphy by the renowned Chinese scholar, Professor Jao Tsung-I who first saw the Heart Sutra at Mount Taishan in Shandong in 1980. This inspired him to do a calligraphy of the prayer. Once this masterpiece was completed, Professor Jao presented it to the people of Hong Kong in 2002.

The Hong Kong government decided to reproduce this artwork in the form of a large-scale outdoor wooden display at the foot of the Lantau Peak near Ngong Ping on Lantau Island, the home of the Giant Buddha at the Po Lin Monastery.

But WAIT, there is more…always more with Zoe and me. We couldn’t resist at least walking toward the steep path that worked its way up towards Lantau Peak. Despite the clouds and a threat of rain (and maybe even the typhoon!), up we went, and up and up and up! It felt like we climbed to the top of the world but nothing like the Fourteeners! Lantau Peak is the second highest mountain in Hong Kong at a mere 3,064 feet above sea level! From our vantage point you could see the Giant Buddha off in the distance (see below). No one else was there…again the tranquility of this place was awesome. We could see the storm clouds and felt the mist and sensed the shear magnificence of this place.

We climbed up for about two hours and came to a bench…we thought we had reached the top, and with the impending storm (and what we thought could have been typhoon sirens), we decided to make the climb down to the bottom. We will never forget this part of our trip, and knew we had experienced something most people don’t even know about…how lucky are we!!

Lunch was an experience, and while we were turned away from the vegetarian meal because of my gluten restrictions, the deli ladies were more than happy to read (in Chinese) what I couldn’t eat and hand picked a variety of interesting dishes including a warm tofu with honey syrup (yum), a couple of bean cakes and nicely spiced rice noodles. This was more than enough to refuel, and off we went to complete our day of exploring.

Even though we had climbed about a million steps up Lantau Peak, we still decided to climb the walk to the top to experience the sheer size of Tian Tan Buddha. I was humbled by the elderly who made the trek up the 260 steps to the top.

The bus ride back to the main station on Lantau lulled us both into a serene state. It was, indeed an exhilarating and fulfilling day!

--Jan Mueller