4/12/99 Monday 6:46pm – I was in bed all day yesterday the 11th…some kind of stomach bug. I was throwing up early this morning and stayed in bed and had the doctor come up. He gave me an injection to stop throwing up and some medicines. Saturday night during the banquet I started having stomach aches. Richard Tsui was speaking after dinner. We were all in the room we’ve been studying in each day for classes.
Richard Tsui: Devoted to the study of Feng Shui for over 50 years (back in 1990), has gained vast knowledge and experience in the field of Feng Shui, Palmistry, Physiognomy and Divination. Richard was the original teacher of Derek Water, a well know English author on Feng Shui. Richard is a member of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain, of which all the followers are world renowned professors and authors of works on Divination. He lives and works in Hong Kong and at 82 still travels and teaches Feng Shui around the world.
My Study Notes from Richard Tsui:
– Kowloon means 9 Dragons
– Hong Kong, the Pearl of the Dragon – 2 miles wide
– Chi (energy) flows from the West to the East starts from Mountain stops at Water
– Feng Shui is Lunar Time, Direction, Five Element, and about location, place.
The evening of the 10th, everyone dressed up, I wore my new frock from Beijing. It was quite nice. After we all ate Richard, a local fortune teller, palm reader, face reader and feng shui consultant, spoke on the subject. As soon as he was finished, I came up stairs and went to bed. I couldn’t even write in my journal and missed the last day of Zi Wei with Michael Chang.
Today I felt somewhat better. We did a tour of Hong Kong Island, someone in the group planned it, because it was our day off in Hong Kong. It was supposed to be a Feng Shui tour of the city and although interesting turned out to be more basic teachings since it was also open to the public. I was bummed because when we got up to Victoria’s Peak it was all fogged in. Victoria’s Peak, basically a hill on the western half of Hong Kong Island, also known as Mount Austin and locally as just the Peak, is the highest hill on Hong Kong Island.
We also went to Aberdeen and Deep-Water Bay and all over Hong Kong Island and Repulse Bay which is a southern district on the Island that is the most expensive residential areas and one of the most famous statues and buildings, an apartment with a hole in the center to let the Dragon through. We ended the tour in the Financial Center, the Dragon’s Den where Hong Kong Bank and the Bank of China have an ongoing Feng Shui “war” using items and shapes and structure to “Cut the Chi” of the other’s business.
Then it was back to the hotel around 1:30pm, Michele, Anastasia and I ate quickly and then went to the Wong Tai Sin Temple by subway through Hong Kong…it was fun. We went and visited Richard Tsui who does his fortune telling in the area with 161 other fortune tellers of all sorts, palm, astrology, calligraphy, etc. It was on the side of this Temple where there were crowds worshiping and lighting incense in the middle of the workday. It was all very interesting to take in. Then we made our way back via subway and went and visited Andre who also by now had this stomach thing. He was in bed all day today and Michele is still with him while I’m writing postcards and journaling. Well until later.
4/13/99 Tuesday 11:30pm – I’m just about to go to sleep after packing for Taiwan. Tomorrow, we leave the hotel at 8:30am as a group to fly there. Last night Michele and I grabbed a bite to eat in the bar. The Feng Shui of the restaurant sucks. It’s very loud and crowed. We sat and talked with the couple from Virginia, Ray and Lita, nice people who reinvented their marriage after growing apart and he was along to support her on her interest. I love that. A few others joined later and after a while I came up to bed. Michele said she’d finish her beer and come up. Around 10:00pm she came up and said she met R.D. Chin and she was going to the Peninsula Hotel with him down by the harbor overlooking Hong Kong Island. We had been there almost every night since I got back to Hong Kong. Quite the place to be around here I suppose…very expensive and the bar at the top is called the Felix. Anyway, off she went, she hasn’t stopped yet! I nicknamed her the energizer bunny.
This morning we got up around 7:30-8am, got ready, and went to breakfast. Raymond Lo was speaking today on Flying Star and 4 Pillar Astrology.
Raymond Lo: A teacher in advanced 4 Pillars and Flying Stars methods. He is the author of several books on Feng Shui and is an accomplished lecturer on many Feng Shui subjects. His in-depth knowledge makes him one of the most sought-after consultants in Hong Kong.
My Study Notes from Raymond Lo:
– Dragons mean Mountain
– The energy of the Dragon will be dispensed by the wind and will stop at the boundary of Water
– Dragon turning his head to greet his ancestors, the head of the Dragon’s Den, is central Hong Kong where the banks are.
– Form school Feng Shui is about the landscape, Compass School Feng Shui is about the when and the why…abstract energies you cannot see.
– Dragon of Mountain does not come to the Water and Water does not go up to the Mountain.
It was very interesting, and I was proud to have known so much already since I had studied with Raphael Simons learning to read, write and speak Chinese for Feng Shui purposes and had been studying now for more than a year in the field. I had gotten that stomach thing and was just starting to feel normal again today. After the seminar which was 9-5pm, we went to Hong Kong Island again, just me and Michele. She wanted to shop, and I just wanted to ride the Ferry. We took the subway there, the ferry over and shopped around, took some pictures, and took the Ferry back. We were meeting Gabriella and Andre at the hotel to go to the Open Market tonight. We were a little late and Andre and Gabriella were just coming outside as we walked up. Michele told me she liked Andre which made sense since she was always hanging around and looking for him. He wanted to eat but we just had frozen yogurts. I didn’t really want to go, but Michele had said we would. I’m easy going I didn’t care either way. So, we went across the street to sit with them while they ate. When we all sat down Michele asked if we should go to the market while they finish eating, I said yes, and we’d meet them back here at the restaurant. Off we went to the Outdoor Market…kind of a street fair looking thing…same shite different city as far as I’m concerned. Not much there for me to buy but an experience all by itself. We walked around for about a ½ hour and went back to the restaurant. They were gone by then, so we headed to the hotel to see if they were in the hotel. We checked the bar, but no one was around so we came upstairs and knocked on Andre’s door. He was in his room, Gabriella was in her room, so we ended up sitting and talking with her for a while.
I came back to my room before Michele and finished postcards and started to pack for Taiwan. I checked out while Michele took a bath and then I called my parents. Although my parents have been divorced for years my mom is my dad’s office manager, so I called. I hadn’t talked to my dad yet, so I had a quick chat with him then talked to mom. I told her everything’s great and I’m having a blast. I finished packing and now I’m writing in here while Michele packs. OK until later.
