Hello! My name is (Leung) Hafong alias Lily Leung. You always say the last name first….that is the Chinese way. That is my partner lurking behind me. Since this is my blog, I won’t mention his name. But this is a rather cool picture. You see me and yet you don’t…sort of the way I feel about myself most of my life. So this blog is a self-exploration, an archeology dig of some sort. My tools…..words of a thousand or so at a sitting. I will try for that.
I was born in China. My parents’ marriage was arranged. My father left for America (Canada) when I was two. And I didn’t see him again till I was eight, when my mother and I joined him in Hong Kong. I lived in a matriarch environment for those first years, since my paternal grandfather was also overseas. I am certain that has important impact of who I am today.
My father stayed with us in Hong Kong for over a year. And my sister was born. He returned to Canada shortly and my mother, sister and I followed at a later time. By then, my sister was two. We settled in Maidstone, Saskatchewan….a small community of 600 people. My father and his cousin ran the Rex Cafe. There was one other Chinese family in town. They had the Star Cafe, which was directly across the street. And so our life in Canada began, with my brother being born a couple of years later.
onethousandandtwo 
This is a pretty fascinating, but also funny bio. Why “Rex Cafe”? At least, it’s original – not something like Happy Lucky Dragon Super Bruce Lee Buffet.
Hi Susan: Thanks for your interest! Still not sure how this works. Thought I posted a reply via my IPhone but it obviously didn’t work. The name Rex Cafe came with the cafe when our family bought it.
As one of my beloved followers, I would like to extend my sincere thanks and gratitude by sharing with you my exciting news of becoming a newly published author! And, of course, I wanted you to be among the very first to get a chance to read the rest of my debut novel, The Legacy of Blood, now available in e-book format.
(No worries if you don’t have a Kindle or other e-reader device, they have free ones to download on your computer. I went on Amazon and downloaded their “Kindle for PC” absolutely free! Love it! Here’s the link if you need it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/kindle/pc/download .)
Again, I want to thank you kindly for all the support. And you never know, as some of my followers have told me, you could say you’ve had a big hand in helping make Shelby Westland a household name! 😛
The Legacy of Blood on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Legacy-Blood-Sanguivore-Saga-ebook/dp/B00C5J7V2E/
Other e-reader retailers to follow soon!
Cheers!
XOXO
Good luck!
Thanks for your comment and for following my blog. I was in Hong Kong and loved it. But it was so long ago that I wouldn’t know much of it if I went there today. I still have tattoos (faded ones) that I got in Hong Kong way back when.
We would be in the same boat in HK then. Last time I was there was over 10 yrs. ago. When I tried to speak Chinese, people told me to speak English!
Glad you liked “Freud factor. Thanks for that and for your boating narration, which reminded me of a little of being in small boats that took us back and forth from ports when our ship was anchored in the harbors. But only a little bit because your boat sounds much more luxurious.
I appreciate your appreciation! We have a trimaran. I didn’t think it was luxurious but thanks. My man is out sailing and camping with a couple of guys for a couple of days. 3 men, 2 boats, 3 tents. If it was women, we would probably all snuggle in 1 tent. 🙂
“Thanks for your blog follow! I’m following you in kind. You seem to know alot!” – likewise, keep in touch 🙂
I’ve added you on my links –> friends, you doing the same helps people find our blogs 🙂
Keep in touch …
Cheers
Don Charisma
Hi! thank you for following my blog, sorry it took me so long to get back to you, been swamped at work 😀
You are welcome!
NIce to meet you! Thanks for following my blog, I’m looking forward to getting to know you and assisting one another on our journeys! 🙂
Nice to meet you, too! Thanks back!
Hi Lily! 🙂
Wow, what a great life story and about page. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
Have a great weekend, hugs Paula xxx
Hugs back, Paula. And you have a good weekend also.
Thank you! x
Thanks for the follow back. I like your writing style it flows very well. I look forward to reading more from you.
🙂
Thank you for following my blog. I look forward to reading yours.
Jovina
I loved your root vegetable recipes.
I love your history and you’ve been busy! Good job and so interesting! Nan 🙂
Thanks Nan! Yes, I guess I have been busy. Slowing down a bit now, sleeping in. It is cold and dark here in the morning.
Lily
I live near Maidstone, Kent, England. 🙂
Oh, nice! My Maidstone can boast that Joni Mitchell lived there when she was 2 – 5 years old. 🙂
Lily
Maidstone here goes back to the Stone Age. There’s been a lot of history since then! Out of the list of notables who came from/lived in Maidstone, there’s Thomas Wyatt, 16th century poet. The town’s twinned with a town in France. I wonder why it’s not also twinned with your Maidstone? It’s to do with the wars I expect. 🙂
I know of your Maidstone but not much of the history or twinning with a French town. We were in France in Oct. and stayed with my partner’s daughter-in-law’s parents. They live in a small town of 100 people, even smaller than our Maidstone which has 1200. Our Maidstone has Shiloh Baptist Church and Cemetry nearby which is the site of the first black settlement in Saskatchewan. No one lives there but it kept up as a historic site by their descendents & some Maidstone people. I will have to research the Maidstones. It is very interesting.
Lily
You are very brave for getting your story out!
Thanks. It is just the truth
It’s great to meet you! I love how you described the photo: we can see you and yet we can’t. It’s such an apt metaphor for life in general, I think. Looking forward to exploring your blog 🙂
-Jade
Thank you, Jade! Nice to meet you, too. I have lots of cousins in NYC. Been there visiting a few times but not recently.
Lily
Hi Leung Thank you for popping over to my place. Yours looks interesting as does your not one but two about and about me pages, i will be dropping by for a read again soon. Have a happy Autumn day😇
I enjoyed reading a bit of your history.
My classmate George Young and his sister Lucy came to Oregon when we were young teens. Their dad Johnny had “Johnny’s Cafe” in Redmond, and my mom, dad and I ate there at least one Sunday each month. My mom loved rice, but my dad had “too much rice” during the depression, so we just had it at Johnny’s! (And he usually had something from the “American” part of the menu.
The kids were each put a couple of classes behind, so George was in my grade, but a few years older … We celebrated our 50th reunion this summer, he’s been to all of them.
I’ve never been to any of our class reunions but have been back to my home town recently on visits. Strange that I expected my classmates to look like way back and shocked that they don’t. 🙂
Lily