Welcome to our Special 1964 Web Section
This section contains articles submitted by classmates of 1964
- We love to share your latest news -
By Margot/Clement Ip
Dominic/Cecilia Chan and Clement/Margot Ip traveled together on the Viking Elbe River cruise in September of 2015. The journey began in Berlin, then headed southward through Saxony in former East Germany, and ended in Prague of Czech Republic. The following narrative describes, in chronological order, the places we visited in the 2-week itinerary.
Berlin
Viking provided us with a guided city tour of Berlin in a company coach. We passed by a string of attractions, including the Bundestag, Reichstag, Berlin Cathedral, Chancellery, Templehof, a section of the original Wall, Holocaust Memorial, Kurfurstedam shopping area, Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Chapel, Charlottenburg Palace, Brandenburg Gate ......... and more. Due to time constraints, we were able to stop at only a few selective spots. Berlin has so much history and so many historic landmarks that our guide had no trouble talking continuously for 4 hours.
Once we got our bearing from the bus tour, we decided to venture out on our own. Aided by Dominic's built-in GPS in his head, we took off on a sweeping loop around the central part of the metropolis. Along the way, we lingered for a brief moment at the Tiergarten (a large public park), Victory Column (commemorating the Prussian defeat of Denmark), and Soviet Memorial (where thousands of Red Army soldiers who died in the battle of Berlin were buried). Lunchtime found us at the KaDeWe department store, which has a footprint the size of a soccer field. It is a paradise for high-end shoppers. One floor is devoted entirely to gourmet food from all over the world. After fortifying ourselves with a delicious snack at the rooftop cafe, we proceeded to Checkpoint Charlie. This iconic guard station, once the gateway to the American sector from East Berlin, now stands in the middle of a busy intersection. One corner of the intersection is occupied by a photo gallery showing old images of the same location during the Cold War era. It was time to head back to the hotel. We followed Unter den Linden to the Brandenburg Gate (the Nazi parade used to march on this wide boulevard), then cut in front of the Reichstag to admire its elegant architecture. The Reichstag, which was rebuilt after WWII, is now capped with a glass dome to symbolize transparency of the government.
Click here to watch the trip video
A mini reunion was held on Tuesday 6 Oct. at Yau Yat Chuen Hong Kong. Here are some photos sent from Anthony Poon and Tom Luk
Anthony 潘漢雄:
"015-08-28 自灣仔峽道行往香港仔，途經香港仔水塘山徑。是日酷熱，山客急步，鮮有留意坡叢之小蘭花，淡張黃瓣，幽吐孤芳，安閒自得。想到李商隱名句：「天意憐幽草，人間重晚情」，頓然身心舒暢。"
|
野徑幽蘭 |
五絕 押陽韻 |
Anthony 潘漢雄 對 Henry 胡國亨 '一年一度一良宵' 首詩有以下評價,
" 謝謝 Henry大作，情深詞雅，性情中人也！我也來應景，附庸風雅，隨意拍攝並題詩，續貂之作，難入法眼！"
|
林中鵲鳥向天歌， |
七绝 押歌韻 |
Palm Spring, California
We had a wonderful 20 day road trip with Gary and Lola after they picked us up from our hotel in L.A. We stopped at Palm Spring for a couple of nights and drove through Joshua Tree National Park and the Mojave Desert across to Arizona. Truthful to its name, Palm Spring is an oasis full of palms made famous by Hollywood film stars somewhere in the middle of the Mojave Desert in California. The Park is punctuated with outcrops of rocks and spare vegetation such as the Joshua Tree and the Teddy-bear cholla. Palm trees are seen wherever there is an oasis and human habitation. We stayed in Palm Spring for 2 days with daily excursions into the desert where we did trail hiking.
London Bridge and Lake Havasu, Arizona
Continuing on the desert road and crossing the Californian border into Arizona, out of nowhere came a town called London Bridge. Spanned across the banks of a section of Lake Havasu it was re-assembled from bricks transported all the way from London! To make the surroundings more English, there is a fountain flanked by English Lions and even an old English red phone box nearby. We walked across the Bridge and wondered how pioneers could think of this idea to liven up the town. There is a ferry which takes people across Lake Havasu to California and the ticket only costs $2. Little wonder that the destination is a casino. We didn't have lunch there because at my request I asked for the opportunity to try out the hamburger jaunt, In and Out. I was not disappointed as it tasted quite different to MacDonald’s and much more substantial.
