This post was republished to Serendipity at 10:43:18 PM 10/23/2010

L.A. Rendezvous - A tale of two housesAccount

L.A. Rendezvous - A tale of two houses

BeckerSuite built in 1923 and an old oak tree house

Sun-Hoo Foo 10 October 2010

Little I know that I will step into this amazing Rendezvous Court, the1923 Biltmore’s Hotel lobby, its grand Spanish Baroque Revival bronze doorway, and the astrological clock when I signed up for the Los Angeles conference.

I feel like walking into the time machine and witness the Beatles’ roof top landing, John F Kennedy walking along the decorated 360+ feet, city block wide gallery hallway under ubiquitous eyes of the Biltmore angles from the ceiling and Thelmer is giving the hotel tour and shows us Suite 308, the Becker suite, named after her who lived there for 57 years..

CAMASC did a wonderful job hosting the 15th conference on Health Care of the Chinese in North America. On the Crystal Ballroom Gala night, I can’t stop thinking of this image from the 1927 founding banquet of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, this well groomed, confident young man and

the similar table settings. Don’t know who he is, he must be important then, Time flies. “The mighty Yangtze flows east, its waves wash away all the heroes –滾滾長江東逝水，浪花淘盡英雄”

In San Gabriel, a Peninsular restaurant 半島酒樓 advertises live King’s crab for three dollars a pound, but I was amazed, wandering along the intricate paths of Rosemead Gardens. Later I find out these wonderful rocks do not come to the garden by chance. Sometimes the owner has to go to the distant jungle and hand picks the one he fancies. Some of them were lifted out of the river bed. Imagine the difficulty transporting these monsters out from nowhere!! I had tried drilling holes in the rock and it was pretty hard, I wonder how he carved this huge rock. Rosemead gardens (www.rosemeadgardens.com ), is where Rich designs and builds the landscape exactly as it appears in his mind.

Not far from there, on Hacienda Heights, hiding from the chanting of Hsi Lai Temple (西來寺), Rich and Mary show me their legendary tree house, awesome and inviting by itself, not to mention its spectacular view of the St Gabriel valley. The oak tree is about 300 years old.

Like the tree in the Lord of the Rings in New Zealand, it is a gathering place for many happy gatherings.

It is just awesome, something out of this world.

Rich wrote on a bamboo mate the following poem and I can see the imagery:

日日深杯酒滿，朝朝小圃花開。 Rì rì shēn bēi jiǔ mǎn, zhāo zhāo xiǎo pǔ huā kāi.

自歌自舞自開懷。領取而今現在。 Zì gē zì wǔ zì kāihuái. Lǐngqǔ érjīn xiànzài.

I enjoy daily glass full of wine, as well as flowers from my tiny garden.

I sing and dance cheerfully and appreciate what is now.

這裡不是 “行到水窮處”

卻可以“坐看雲起時”。

青山依舊在

幾度夕陽紅

Green Mountains are still here

How many memorable sunsets have faded?

《三國演義》調寄《臨江仙》*

* I use Bitmore Hotel ‘s glamour to show the trace of all heroes “The mighty Yangtze flows east, its waves wash away all the heroes –滾滾長江東逝水，浪花淘盡英雄” and the Awesome tree house view for

“Green Mountains are still here How many memorable sunsets have faded? 青山依舊在,幾度夕陽紅” You may want to check this article : http://www.hkptu.org/szetowah/?p=1039 for the three version of the theme from the same author. You may see all Szeto Wah publication on http://www.hkptu.org/szetowah/