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Update 25
Murder in Luk Tei Tong... (sort of)
4th August, 2002
Dear all,
We had a visitor from Oz this week! Craig Allars, a friend from Sydney, came in to see us at work on Saturday since he was in town for business. He was able to do the grand tour of the warehouse, generally see how it all worked, and then we went up the Peak for a scenic dinner. Thanks Craig! And a reminder to anyone else who may be passing through Hong Kong, you are always welcome to visit us, just check the website for our contact details (http://www.matt-ad.com).
It has been a big week for container loadings. Last Saturday, the day Craig was in, our packing team loaded a 40' container destined for Sri Lanka. There was some fear and trepidation earlier in the morning as they watchd the pelting rain outside, knowing that it would be virtually impossible to keep the goods dry if they had to load in this kind of weather. However, right on schedule, it miraculously dried up the moment the team needed to go out there, with just a light sprinkling towards the end. Packing a container is a bit like playing tetris - the bits and pieces need to slot in perfectly so that things don't rattle around and so that no space is wasted. Quite often, this is not a problem, since the shipping department allocates more to the container than is anticipatd to fit, so if some boxes are left out it is not a big deal. For this Sri Lanka shipment, however, the goods were pre-approved with customs, meaning if the pre-approved list states 54 boxes, 40 wheelchairs and a kitchen sink, there pretty much have to be 54 boxes, 40 wheelchairs and a kitchen sink in the container, no more and no less. For this reason, there was a little nail-biting as it appeared there might not be enough room towards the end for all the cartons. But the last two slotted in as neat as could be, with not a square centimetre to spare! There was loud rejoicing all round. This shipment contained a large number of wheelchairs, among other things, which will be distributed in Sri Lanka to a group that works with landmine victims who are missing limbs.
It's hard to imagine what this kind of life must be like, especially if you're too poor to afford a wheelchair. When we hear stories of these sufferers pushing themselves around on homemade skateboards with their hands wrapped in rags, the gift of a brand new wheelchair suddenly becomes a whole lot more valuable. There was also a container packed for the Ukraine on Thursday and one going off tomorrow for Yugoslavia. Although neither of us actually is involved in packing the containers, everyone usually wanders up at some stage during the day to have a look or take photos, since there's a certain excitement about container days - you really feel the link with the people receiving those goods, knowing that the next time the container doors are opened will be in a different country, in a different culture altogether.
To turn to the society pages, we held a 'How to Host a Murder' party at our place the other weekend. Our friend Christy was sent the game from the USA and she organised for 8 of us to play it over dinner on Sunday night. It was an evening of much hilarity, dastardly deeds and bad accents. We can now add it to our list of how-to-have-fun-for-free! We will also be keeping A. Badenhop far away from any sharp metal objects for a while.. We'll be posting some new photos on the website very very soon, so hold your breath!!
Much love as always,
Matt & Ad
Dear all,
We had a visitor from Oz this week! Craig Allars, a friend from Sydney, came in to see us at work on Saturday since he was in town for business. He was able to do the grand tour of the warehouse, generally see how it all worked, and then we went up the Peak for a scenic dinner. Thanks Craig! And a reminder to anyone else who may be passing through Hong Kong, you are always welcome to visit us, just check the website for our contact details (http://www.matt-ad.com).
It has been a big week for container loadings. Last Saturday, the day Craig was in, our packing team loaded a 40' container destined for Sri Lanka. There was some fear and trepidation earlier in the morning as they watchd the pelting rain outside, knowing that it would be virtually impossible to keep the goods dry if they had to load in this kind of weather. However, right on schedule, it miraculously dried up the moment the team needed to go out there, with just a light sprinkling towards the end. Packing a container is a bit like playing tetris - the bits and pieces need to slot in perfectly so that things don't rattle around and so that no space is wasted. Quite often, this is not a problem, since the shipping department allocates more to the container than is anticipatd to fit, so if some boxes are left out it is not a big deal. For this Sri Lanka shipment, however, the goods were pre-approved with customs, meaning if the pre-approved list states 54 boxes, 40 wheelchairs and a kitchen sink, there pretty much have to be 54 boxes, 40 wheelchairs and a kitchen sink in the container, no more and no less. For this reason, there was a little nail-biting as it appeared there might not be enough room towards the end for all the cartons. But the last two slotted in as neat as could be, with not a square centimetre to spare! There was loud rejoicing all round. This shipment contained a large number of wheelchairs, among other things, which will be distributed in Sri Lanka to a group that works with landmine victims who are missing limbs.
It's hard to imagine what this kind of life must be like, especially if you're too poor to afford a wheelchair. When we hear stories of these sufferers pushing themselves around on homemade skateboards with their hands wrapped in rags, the gift of a brand new wheelchair suddenly becomes a whole lot more valuable. There was also a container packed for the Ukraine on Thursday and one going off tomorrow for Yugoslavia. Although neither of us actually is involved in packing the containers, everyone usually wanders up at some stage during the day to have a look or take photos, since there's a certain excitement about container days - you really feel the link with the people receiving those goods, knowing that the next time the container doors are opened will be in a different country, in a different culture altogether.
To turn to the society pages, we held a 'How to Host a Murder' party at our place the other weekend. Our friend Christy was sent the game from the USA and she organised for 8 of us to play it over dinner on Sunday night. It was an evening of much hilarity, dastardly deeds and bad accents. We can now add it to our list of how-to-have-fun-for-free! We will also be keeping A. Badenhop far away from any sharp metal objects for a while.. We'll be posting some new photos on the website very very soon, so hold your breath!!
Much love as always,
Matt & Ad