Holland

Heerde, Utrecht, Harderwijk, Rotterdam, Wieringerwerf, Anna Paulowna. Just nine days, and we've been around! 

The land of windmills, wooden shoes and tulips.  All true. This is a florist's paradise, and my two favorite florists, Annie and Stacey would have their eyes popping out with all that's here!

I loved having a bike to ride on the miles of trails while we were in Heerde!  The bright green of the forest was fabulous.  I needed to take photos for Bob's new Christmas CD, but had to turn it to a black and white so the green wouldn't give the season away!

Now, what could be cuter than a Shetland pony?  Her newborn foal!

Enjoying the sunny spring weather in Utrecht and Harderwijk

New York City

Arriving into Newark, NJ completed the Around the World ticket!  One thing that's amazing about NYC is the number of nationalities.  I tried counting the number of languages I'd hear just crossing an intersection, but there were so many it was difficult to count!

Until I'd been to Central Park, I had no idea what an incredibly beautiful oasis in the middle of the city it is.

 And a special treat was meeting up with my new daughter-in-law, Julie (on the left) after lunch one day!  She was on a fun photo trip with other photographers she'd met, either in person or online.  Is it fun having another photographer in the family?  You bet!!

After a couple of weeks with lots of old and new friends in Brooklyn New York, Trumbull Connecticut and Cape Cod, MA, we headed home for a lovely two weeks!

South Korea

On our "around the world" trip, South Korea was the sixth stop (see earlier blog posts).  Heading to the south, we went to Handong Global University in Pohang to be with the students in their chapel times over the week.  The university has an exchange program with many universities worldwide in their study abroad programs, so there were students from every continent with academics across multiple disciplines.

Transiting through Beijing en route to New York

Singapore and Malaysia

This is a continuation of the trip - NYC, Switzerland, Jordan, Israel.  Next stop:  Singapore!  (Jerusalem, drive to Amman,  fly to Cairo, Thailand, Singapore).

We consider Singapore as a "second home".  So many friends, so many great memories.  You know how it is when you're at home, and you just don't take as many pictures as you do when you're away?  Well....after carrying the camera around with me in Jordan and Israel, I took a bit of a break.  Thank you iPhone for a decent, light-weight camera! And it was a really short trip too - just 24 hours, then to Malaysia for another 24, then just a couple more days before jetting off again.

One of the nights, our friend Jack called and said - "let's go to dinner, and bring your passports.  I'll come at 10". For early-to-bed people like us, that was quite a thought. But we were jet-lagged, so why not??  It's not as if Singapore has any lack of restaurants - there's probably more there per square mile/kilometer than anywhere else in the world!  But we crossed the border into Johor Bahru (aka JB) with Malaysia, and had a fantastic on-the-street dinner until 3 AM!

Publish Post

And then next morning, well, actually the same morning, but you know what I mean....we flew to Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur this time - and the one and only photo I took was from our hotel window.

So, not much of a blog post this time, but since I promised an around the world deal when I started out, I wanted to get the whole picture in.  Next stop, Korea!

Israel

My fourth trip to the beautiful land of Israel - always a delight to be back!  Springtime is filled with the freshness and fragrance of new life - the "lilies of field" were flourishing.  It is often thought that Israel is hot and dusty, and while that's true in the southern desert area, which has a beauty all its own, the north is fertile and green.  And the feeling of safety and security is prevalent.  

We were there to lead worship for a tour organized by Omega Tours and Travel and promoted by our home church, New Creation Church (yes, our home is in Hawaii, but our home church is in Singapore!).  South to north, west to east, we traveled the length and breadth of the country in two tour buses, stopping at various historical and spiritual sites along the way.  

In Timna National Park, a replica of the wilderness tabernacle

Fun at the Dead Sea

Sea of Galilee

Next two photos: Capernaum - in the ruins of the synagogue.  Excavation reveals pavement from the first century

Next two photos:  at Banius, (Caesarea Philippi), the headwaters of the Jordan River

Next two photos: in the Orthodox church at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity

  Jerusalem, overlooking the cemetery on the Mount of Olives

   Now THESE are bagels!!

    At the Jordan River

If you'd like to come along the next time we go, send me a note and I'll be sure to send you the information!