MANY OF YOU WILL NOT HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO VISIT THE MANY IMPORTANT HISTORICAL SITES OF THE FELLOWSHIP OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS.

I PLAN TO SHARE WITH YOU PHOTOS I HAVE TAKEN OF THEM AS WELL AS PHOTOS I HAVE TAKEN OF SPECIAL MEETING LOCATIONS THAT I HAVE VISITED.





Friday 26 December 2014

DEC 26, 14 .. WISDOM FROM HONG KONG ..

Courtesy of the St. Joseph's Church Group ..



The above and many other bits of A.A. Wisdom are hung on the wall and the window every meeting.


SMILES AND JOY FROM HONG KONG!

Thursday 18 December 2014

DEC 18, 14 .. WISDOM FROM HONG KONG ..

Courtesy of the St. Joseph's Church Group ..


One fun bit of A.A. wisdom. Do you see it located on the extreme left edge of the below photo? It is only partially visible. These funs bits of A.A. Wisdom grace the meeting wall and windows during meetings.


More to follow !
 
Signing Off With A Big Smile !

Sunday 14 December 2014

DEC 14, 14 .. CHEUNG CHAU .. HONG KONG ..

Let's begin with a small map of the Hong Kong Metropolitan Area.  

Do all of you see the small island .. Cheung Chau .. above?

You don't? Let me give you a small hint! 

Towards the bottom left of the above photo is a BLACK ARROW. Get it? Got it? Good!

Hum-m-m-m .. Today is the second Sunday in the month .. I think I will check my Hong Kong Meeting List.


Do I see a meeting over on Cheung Chau Island?  



Just a minute please. Let me get out my reading glasses .. the print sure is small! 


How about that! A meeting in Cheung Chau on the second Sunday of the month!

Are all of you ready to go with me to Cheung Chau for a meeting?

Here we all go!

Because Cheung Chau is an ISLAND .. we will have to take a ferry to get there.


The FAST FERRY takes 30-minutes.  The SLOW FERRY takes 1-hour.  I think we will take the FAST FERRY!


My (elder citizen) fare was 2 HKG Dollars or 26-cents US!




The above and below photos were taken looking towards the back of the ferry.



The below photo was taken looking forward from the back of the ferry.


OH MY GOODNESS! What on earth have I just 'stumbled upon'!





Mister Cheung Chau Chinese Chamber Of Commerce! You need to 'get the word out' about Cheung Chau!


Oh Kind Sir! Just open your eyes!  Where on this good earth HAVE YOU BEEN KIND SIR?

Have you opened up your eyes real wide Kind Sir? Do you see the people Kind Sir! /Respectively signed by the/ .. Cheung Chau Chinese Chamber Of Commerce!






I need a meeting! Where exactly have I been hiding out and missing Cheung Chau?!

Cheung Chau IS a real place!



Complete with modern transportation for visitors!



And a source of local food production!


Where was I? I am all-shook-up thinking about THIS discovery!  

Got it! A meeting! I NEED a meeting!



In the above photo .. straight ahead almost dead-center is a table behind the round vertical pole supporting the red Budweiser canopy.  This was our meeting table.

How fitting to have a meeting under a Budweiser sign!


Below is OUR MEETING TABLE!


One of the guys got a full banana split!  The others got fancy coffee!


We enjoyed a real meeting complete with a standard format and readings. The topic was: Relationships.

How special it is to be going to meetings here in the greater Hong Kong Metropolitan Area.

The guys all said .. in unison .. we call this a 'group consciousness' decision .. 

"Waiter, will you please take a photo of us!"


Home we go back to Hong Kong!

Via the FAST FERRY!


In Sobriety .. Don't Forget ..


GOT IT?!


Wednesday 10 December 2014

DEC 10, 14 .. GOOD ADVICE FROM HONG KONG !



Hit me again dealer!


Once more and I am good!


I am surprised by this public acknowledgement of the issue here in China.

The Chinese language arm of the fellowship here in Hong Kong is from small to infinitesimal! 

Sunday 30 November 2014

NOV 30, 14 .. 12 BORRETT ROAD .. HONG KONG ..

My story and my connection with the A.A. meetings located at 12 Borrett Road in Hong Kong began in the autumn of 1988 in Reno, Nevada.  

While attending a Monday night meeting a long-timer named Harry shared about having just returned from a trip to Hong Kong.  

Harry stated that he had decided that .. since he was in Hong Kong .. no one would ever know that he had picked up the first drink and so he would do just that!

Suddenly Harry realized that he was in imminent danger and needed help.  Harry called the A.A. Hot Line in Hong Kong and two members picked him up at his hotel and took him to a meeting at 12 Borrett Road.



After the meeting I told Harry how touched I was by his share and that .. IF I ever was in Hong Kong .. I would to a meeting at 12 Borrett Road!

Jumping ahead almost two years to the day .. on 25 October 1990 there I was .. in Hong Kong myself.

Since then I have attended meetings at 12 Borrett Road for a period now spanning twenty four years.  I feel a little bit odd that .. sitting in a meeting there .. I am most likely the only member to date-back to October 1990 in so far as attending meetings at 12 Borrett Road.

To get to Borrett Road I begin by catching a Number 9 mini-bus at Exchange Square.


As you will see below .. the Number 9 mini-bus is not yellow. The artificial lighting gives it the above yellow tint.

When you pass the Borrett Mansions you are almost there.



We are almost there .. just a tad further up-the-road.



I show these photos because the bus will be blasting up the hill and you need to know when to signal the driver to stop or he will simply roar past the stop.



On your left above is the bus stop.  The round circle is a Number 9 to designate where the stop is.


The above photo looks back down the hill we just came up.


Two photos of the Number 9 mini-bus in normal day light. This mini-bus has become a real touch-stone for me when I visit Hong Kong.


OK we are off the mini-bus and here is a close-up view of the Carmel School.  


However The Carmel School is NOT our destination. Turning 90-degrees to our right as we stand at the bus stop we look up the hill at the red brick building that is 12 Borrett Road.




"Dad .. Yo Dad .. Take my picture will you Dad?"



If I can stay sober with school buses talking to me SO CAN YOU!

Where was I before I lost my train of thought?  Got it .. up to 12 Borrett Road we go.


Now a straight-on look at the entrance to 12 Borrett Road.




It looks to me like some good things are being done at Number 12 Borrett Road!



Now before we go inside I want to show you an open area to the right of the main entrance where members congregate to visit before the meetings.


On the right edge of the above photo you can see a railing and the blue electrical box.  Below you see the area to the right of the main entrance above.



Inside we go!



Now when you go inside you will turn to your right and you will see the area I spoke of above.


"What's that you say?  This is a program of honesty!".. 
"OK .. the members congregate outside of the meeting room to SMOKE!"


"Shame on me you say?" .. "Is this better?" ..

"OK the members congregate outside of the meeting room to smoke!"

"Anything to keep you happy!  I sure don't want to cause you a resentment!"

In the photo directly above you can see (one of) the two entryway doors into the main meeting room.  This is the exterior entry door as it leads in from the outside porch.

The other door into the meeting room is an interior entry door.

Below we are inside of the main meeting room looking back at the above exterior entry door from inside the room.


Now I will 'pan' to the right.


Below I have crossed the room to look back at the exterior entry door from the other side of the room.


'Panning' to the right from the above photo.



Below are photos showing the interior entry door.

The exterior entry door shown above is not visible in the below photo but it is on the wall to our immediate left below.


WELL! .. We are in China after all!



Beyond the interior entry door in the photo above the Steps in Chinese .. you can see into a second .. very small .. meeting room adjacent to the main meeting room.

Looking straight ahead to the right is the excellent selection of A.A. Books available to the membership for purchase.


In the below photo we have 'panned' to the right in the above photo.

The meeting secretaries sit in the black leather couch below the four framed photos of Bill and Dr. Bob and the Steps and the Traditions.





Now 'pan' to the right of the above photo and you see the below view of that corner of the room.


Below I am standing in the interior entry doorway. The below photos show the main meeting room as viewed when you enter the room from this interior entry door.


The below photo 'pans' left from the above photo. Again you see the meeting secretaries black leather couch and the framed photos of Bill and Dr. Bob .. the Steps and the Traditions.



The below photo looks hard to the left from the above photo and shows a complete selection of A.A. Books for sale.


Below is the other side of the room across from the interior entry door.


The left corner of the room.


Photos of the bulletin board you have seen in the above photos.



x


In closing it would be unfair NOT to show all of Lychee!




Lychee remains sober with the help of his higher power and the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous!

Another great meeting is over at 12 Borrett Road in Hong Kong.  Down we go to the bus stop hoping that we have not missed the last Number 9 mini-bus of the day.


In Gratitude to you Number 12 Borrett Road!