28th November 63

The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank
Hongkong

Dear Mum Dad and Alan,

Thank you for your letter and for your cheque which will be well spent in due course.  Adrienne's birthday went off very well and she takes the Panda to bed every night.  Her large tricycle is her pride and joy and indeed with its red paint looks very fine.  Margo was going to buy her first party dress for some time, but could not find exactly what she wanted.  So Adrienne got a bicycle and Margo as usual made the dress herself.  It is in Thai silk and looks very well.

We went to a very large wedding on Saturday.  A very bank affair which went on from the ceremony at 4 pm to sometime after 7 pm.  It was the forerunner of several social events.  We will be out tomorrow and the following night.  As usual all together at one time.

We went to the City Hall Theatre for the first time last week to celebrate our 9th anniversary and saw "Iolanthe", very well done too in lovely surroundings.  We happened to be three rows in front of the Duke and Duchess of Kent which added to our evening.   We had seen them out and about previously in Hongkong.

It is colder here now.  Down to 62 F on the way to bottom at about 50 F.  An electric fire is necessary now in the evenings and shortly we will be having a wood and coal fire.  I have now got another colour film in the camera and am waiting for the combination fo a sunny and not hazy day which sometimes occurs here so that the really fascinating views can be taken.  Glad you were impressed with the ferry in my last photos.  There are a lot of them you know.  Not only a lot of ferries but a lot of ferry routes to different places on the island and mainland.  At 20 cents a time this is good value.  At the rush hours they come in and are off fully loaded in minutes.  The constant stream of people coming in and out of the ferry station reminds one of the crowds at the rush hours at the tube stations.  All shapes and sizes and colours.  Then the trip across the harbour is always full of interest, junks, barges, destroyers, steamships, tankers, cargoe boats all flying every flag under the sun.  10 minutes then bump at the other side and off to the buses, taxies, trains & rickshaws which are never too many to carry the thousands on the move to their places of business.

There is more rebuilding than ever in Hongkong.  I was having a look around today.  It is impossible to describe.  As soon as one skyscraper is up then the one next door is taken down.  Pole driving commences and another is on its way up.  Millions of dollars go into property daily with an expected return in the extraordinary short time of 5 to 6 years.  Rents are very high indeed and one wonders if the bubble will burst.  But people have been wondering just that for a long time.  Whilst writing this I am also tape recording from the wireless.  With net result that I have managed two pieces at different speeds!  Most odd, but as it is not a reel for my own amusement it doesn't matter very much.  I must do another one for the children and send home.  They still enjoy playing about on it although Elisabeth goes very babyish and wont do much herself.  You noticed Elisabeth looked thinner in her photos.  She has lost a lot of baby fat but is a lot heavier and her legs have grown well.  They are better covered than when in England.  Although that left leg still shows no signs of life the healthy look to is is contradictory.  The physiotherapist is impressed with her energy which is unflagging - her mind is just as tough though and if she decides she isnt having any then that is that for the afternoon.  The physiotherapist has suggested that Elisabeth use crutches or at least, try to do so.  However, the answer to this idea is, at present, a flat No! but we continue the properganda.

Cheerio to you all for the present and love

Peter.