The Yans': A trip down memory lane! Sai Wan Chuen, 302 Central Terrace, Kennedy Town, Hong Kong

We visited the West Point Ward on the Hong Kong Island last Sunday (December 4), it was fast Sunday. We had trouble finding the chapel and was looking up and down the street, then I remembered seeing the chapel (may be in a dream - It is on a second floor), As we were crossing the street, I look back over my shoulder on the right and there it is - the sign of the Church on the building. The chapel entry is on the side street and not on the side that is facing the street we were walking on. We quickly get in the chapel and was surprised to find some familiar faces. President Lau - who presided over the YSA Convention was there, we sat with his wife. No sooner when I sat down, a lady just behind me taped me on the shoulder and asked if I remembered her. She then whispered and asked if I was "Chan Lee Kuen" (Florence's Chinese name). I told her that is my younger sister and then she called out my Chinese name. I felt so bad that I did not remember her but when she got up and bore her testimony, I was able to see her face directly and recognized her immediately. She was the young woman leader that had taught our class how to do Chinese dance! I don't remember her name but I remember her face!!! She was one that came to church faithfully for 4 years at age 14 and couldn't get baptized. When she became 18, she was able to sign her own permission slip to be baptized. It is so good to visit with her, and the joy to find her still in the gospel, raised a righteous family, her children had served mission and the oldest son is working for Nu Skin in Provo, daughter, Haley, just finished her mission and will be returning to Provo for school next month. Her youngest is still in high school.

Upper: Sister who served the same time I was on my mission. Bottom left: the Sister who taught me the Chinese dance when I first joined the church. Forgot her name already!!

After the block, we walked back to the place where I lived growing up. The building looks different but the stairs are still the same - a 100 steps up before we get to the apartment we used to live. I was taking some picture when a man came out of the apartment asking us not to take picture. After I explained to him that I lived there before, He said he remembered when they first move in back in 1977, they get mails to the CHAN family a lot, He was very kind and showed us all the changes the government did to the building, adding an elevator to every floor instead of just on the 5th and 8th floor. Then we walk to my elementary school, we went back to the apartment wanting to take a picture with this young man, he introduced us to his mother. We found out that they are also from China and speak the same dialogue as my parents. The lady described some of the remodeling they did to the apartment and told me they had kept the same material we used as partition. I was so excited and took a picture of it. They are the same I had remembered except that they had painted them green. The lady was really nice and walk us thru the different terrace and showed us the rest of the changes to the "village".

The building with the pink were some of the more wealthy residents 40 years ago, My aunts lived there before.

Sai Wan Chuen

These are the same stairs - 100 steps to the Central Terrace, They added covers so you won't get rained on

Three floors up and two over from the right is the apartment we used to live!

These apartment is right across from my old balcony, they looked so much closer than I remembered

Pano view: from the stairs on the right, across the courtyard, and to my old apartment

Back way up, the walkway on the right side of the pictures is new, It used to be just slopes and trees.

Play ground is still there, only they put in new toys, we used to play Volley Ball and Badminton here, the tree in the middle is still there, used to be 4 stories high, now 9 stories tall!