HKG170: Holy Curry!

today was a better day than the last few. i am still feeling blech, but the blech is lessening or at least responding better to tylenol. this morning, we got out to the caine road garden ...a.k.a. mosquito garden. thanks to the b family, we were all set with some california baby bug spray...it worked wonderfully AND it smelled pretty good! the garden was empty. i know i am beating a dead horse here, but i just don't get it. WHY does no one go out to play during the day?!?!? the kids have gotten used to it...they don't grumble about the lonely playgrounds as much as they did a few months ago. this is kinda sad, though my ears are happy for the relief.

this afternoon, we went out again to play at the shake-shake bridge playground...this is a nearby playground in which the playset has one of those wiggly bridges. quinn, being the thomas aficionado that he is...and the major fan of the misty island rescue movie...is really into the shake-shake bridge playground (if you have not watched hours of thomas movies and videos, this will make NO sense to you). fortunately, this playground has enough climb-y things for my monkey girl to keep her happy, too.

today, the shake-shake bridge playground was pretty full when we got there around 6:20. all of the kids there were locals and were speaking only cantonese, so olivia and quinn just kinda did their own thing for a while. at one point, q noticed two older boys playing kickball and decided to join in...this means that he chased these boys all over the playground trying to get their ball. they were super patient with him, and the older of the two boys actually gave q the ball on several occasions. this same boy was also very patient when livie wanted to join in the game. the kids had a great time. this is the first time i have really seen them interact with people they are unable to talk to.

the highlight of my day was curry. i have been in a bit of a cooking slump...i am still cooking all the time, but i have just been rotating the same recipes for a while; i haven't tried anything new for a couple months. today, i had some peaches and nectarines i needed to use up, and i remembered that i had a curry recipe that called for peaches. omigod. it turned out DELICIOUS. a couple months ago, i went out with my friend, c, and had what i decided was the best curry i had ever eaten. well, this recipe comes in a very close second. i have put the recipe in the random recipes tab. if you like curry even a little bit, you gotta try this recipe. it's super simple, and very, very good!

livie and quinn having a great time playing with some kids at a nearby playground

caine road garden. empty. that's a fantastic playground, yes? but it's empty. ?!?!?!

the kids decided to package themselves this morning. they could not be any cuter!

HKG169: Texas Friends Made Our Day

caught q mid sentence. this little guy has a lot to say these days...he's quite fun to talk to!

self portrait of a cutie...yes, she was wearing clothes, but had turned a long skirt into a sun dress...and thus the nekkid shoulders

i know i sound like a broken record at this point, but today was another low-key day. i am still feeling crappy, so we stayed home until early afternoon. when we finally got out, we headed to a nearby playground and to check out a pet store to find la fu his stinky fish treats. these things are seriously nasty...they're kinda like pressed fish jerky, they smell terrible, and he LOVES them. we had been supporting his habit with a pet store very near us, but they are no longer carrying this product. fortunately, this other pet store is also within walking distance AND it has better prices on la fu's food and these treats...it's a win-win.

this afternoon, right after q woke up from his nap, a box of awesomeness arrived! our dear friends, the f family, sent us a ton of awesome goodies. the kids had a blast pulling all the prizes out of the box and then playing with them for the remainder of the afternoon. have i mentioned how much i love getting mail and sending mail? f family, there will be a new box coming soon :-)

HKG168: The Artiste and Her Gifts

this is a couple of drawings livie left on our bed as a surprise. mine is the butterfly drawing; josh's is the orange card. it's taken me about three years, but i am finally over being the second-rate parent. now, when i hear (or see) livie declare that she loves josh best or most, it makes me smile.

olivia recently turned 5.5. she's been learning to read for a few months now. one of her recent favorite activities is to write us notes and/or draw us pictures, wrap or roll them up, and then leave them on our bed as surprises. it is pretty awesome to walk into our room and find one of these treasures. my collection of these notes and pictures is getting pretty massive. i have been using blue tack to stick them up on our closet doors and/or the bathroom mirror...she creates so many things that we are running out of display room.

other than artistic pursuits, today was another very quiet day. i am still feeling pretty crappy AND we were in lockdown waiting for a repair technician to come and resuscitate thor. thor needed a new motor and drum; he's been fussy and temperamental lately. here's hoping he can now keep up with us. i have to say that trying to get through vacation laundry for the four of us when a typical load is around 6 items AND the washer was acting up....well, it was painful. i think i will probably kiss our 3rd-hand whirlpool washer when we return to texas, and i will probably do a happy dance when i can wash more than 6 items at a time :-)

HKG167: Future Cinematographer

waffle portrait by livie

today was a slow day...i wasn't feeling so great and just didn't have it in me to run hither and yon. we did get out for a short stint at our apartment playground early this afternoon and then out for a couple errands this evening, but that was it. the kids were pretty happy to stay home, but we did have to get creative on activities. i showed livie how to use the movie feature on my phone. she had a ton of fun with that, and her creation was interesting. she also used the camera to get a great picture of the waffle kitty.

livie's first movie

HKG166: Apple Crisp

today was a nice, low-key day. we are still catching up and normalizing after being away, and it was nice to keep it mostly quiet.

we skyped with a dear friend this morning, and then josh took the kids to the pool while i sat on my tukus and did nothing. once they got home, it was time for lunch, so i whipped up some grilled cheese and tomato soup. while i was slaving over the stove, i kept smelling burning plastic. i moved the pans around to make sure their handles weren't over the flame...still smelled the burning plastic. i then realized there was an apple behind one of the pans...an apple i bought at a fruit stand last night and that had fallen out of the fruit bowl i moved before starting lunch.

the apple was producing the HELLACIOUS burning plastic smell. this makes me wonder exactly how much wax/plastic is on this fruit to make it look shiny and fresh. finding organic food here is not really hard, but it is SUPER expensive...far more expensive than in the states. i do 90% of my fruit and vegetable shopping in the wet markets, and i know that nothing i buy is even remotely organic. i did not realize, though, exactly how unnatural it was. the apple was exposed to a high, open flame for several minutes and it has a big, crispy burn on it...like a burn you'd see on plastic that had been exposed to an open flame.

YUCK!!!!!!

HKG165: Jogging to Victoria Harbor

this is the view at the start of the last leg of my jogging route

a couple weeks ago, i decided to become recommitted to being physically fit. exercise is something i really enjoy, but it also is something that's hard to make time for now...with two small kids and with josh's travel schedule, it is nearly impossible. i am trying very hard to just DO it no matter how tired i am in the evening.

i started out looking for a gym...too expensive. i then moved on to using the gym downstairs...cheap, but dreary and very small. i prefer to be outside, so i started the couch to 5k program...AWESOME...until the knee pain started. i tore my right ACL 4 years ago, and though my knee is largely asymptomatic, running more than once or twice a week brings on a LOT of pain, so it's back to the drawing board...at least a little.

today, i jogged down to the harbor again. man, this is just plain AWESOME. i miss texas every day...i miss jogging around the greenbelt and with friends at local tracks and 5k races, but nothing compares to this jog down to the harbor. okay, the jog down is not that great...i am assaulted by sewer gas, diesel fumes, and general city-living ick, but once i get to the harbor...i'm golden. if i was in better shape, i could spend hours just jogging around in circles with the harbor in view. i have been jogging down to the harbor, around the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park a few times, and then along the harbor to the Western Market in sheung wan. it is glorious. i wish my knee could withstand more of this, but once or twice a week will have to do.

HKG160-164: GZ, Baby!

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monday afternoon, we all piled into a cab and headed to a train depot in kowloon to catch the westbound train into guangzhou. the plan was for us to spend two days in the area near josh's work, and then the afternoon of the second day, we'd head into the countryside to a resort where we'd spend a couple more nights/few more days.

the first place we stayed was in a hotel josh typically stays at when he works in GZ. the room was spacious (almost the same size as the happy valley apartment), but it did not have a sleeper sofa, so we asked for a cot figuring we'd put one kid on the couch and the other on the cot. little did we know that the cot was going to be a crib that q would have fit comfortably when he was about 9 months old. surprisingly, he loved it and slept well in it despite the fact he could not extend his legs fully.

the weather did not cooperate with us, and in fact was so bad at times that we contemplated canceling the remainder of our trip. both mornings in the first hotel, the weather was so terrible that we basically could not see out our window. both days it cleared around 11. the first day, tuesday, that worked out fantastically. the kids and headed to a nearby zoo and had an absolute ball. thanks to a woman in josh's office, we had a booklet of cheat sheets we could use to show the taxi driver where we wanted to go (the sheets gave our requests in english and in mandarin)...genius. the zoo was very large and there was a lot to look at and do, so we spent a few hours there. after a little bit of rest at the hotel, we headed out once again to meet up with josh at his office and to join some of his officemates for dinner at a restaurant that also looks like a pet store. going through the "pet store" part to pick our dinner was sad and not really fun. the meal was very tasty, though, and josh's officemates were gracious and friendly.

on wednesday, the weather again started out bad and again cleared around 11, but since we had only a couple hours until it would be time to check out and head to the resort, we just hung around the hotel room. this was slightly painful, but we all survived.

upon arriving at the resort, we were surprised to find that our family suite was much smaller than the room near josh's work, and offered NO privacy. we basically had a gigantic sleepover with the kids. considering we are not a co-sleeping family, this was not a rousing success. there were late nights, no naps, and some tired cranky people by friday. in the mean time, though, we had a ball. the first night, we went to a circus at the resort. it was much more cirque du soleil than barnum and bailey...and it was really cool. the next day, we headed out to a safari park...this park was HUGE. it took us more than four hours to get through it, and i am pretty sure we still did not see everything. in the evening both wednesday and thursday, we headed to the hotel pool to give the water babies some fun exercise. on friday, we were all completely knackered and didn't have much adventure left in us...this, combined with a noon checkout time meant that we kept the entertainment limited to the hotel pool.

my first impression of china/GZ is that i like it... a lot...and i finally understand why other expat friends who have lived in china (and not in HK) have told me how easy we have it in HK. getting around was a bit of a challenge. being an "exhibit" was tiring. overall, though, i really liked the feel of GZ and look forward to going back and exploring more. the zoo that we spent hours in...we didn't even scratch the surface, so i look forward to going again. i also would like to check out the interesting shops around where we were staying. unfortunately, there were no playgrounds or other kid areas near that hotel (besides the zoo), but i am sure we could find something interesting to do.

the week's outtakes were mostly about being different. we got stared at a lot. we had people sneaking up on us to take pictures...we had people pretending to take pictures of one thing while they were actually taking pictures of us, and we had people just flat out request to take pictures of or with the kids. everyone we encountered in this way was friendly, but the kids did tire of it pretty quickly. the scariest outtake, by far, was quinn nearly falling off the balcony on our room at the resort. after he threw a toy off the balcony, he was on close supervision (after a timeout from it). we turned our heads for just a couple seconds only to hear livie SHRIEKING and turning to see quinn with 3/4 of his body dangling five stories up. i don't ever want to feel that feeling again. the balcony was not climeable, but he found a way to wedge himself under the railing...and fit most of himself through it before livie alerted us. again, it was incredibly scary.

the most unexpected result of this trip was my finding myself feeling at home in hong kong. i have not felt at home here, but returning to our apartment and our "normal" life after a few days away has made this transition for me. coming home to our attentive (meaning DEMANDING) cat, la fu/waffle has cemented this, too. if you are not a pet person, this won't make any sense, but if you are it will...having a fur baby to come home to really makes a house feel like a home...not just a place you stay, but a place you are invested in. i missed our crazy cat terribly while we were gone, and i was thrilled to get back to him and listen to him yowl at us for HOURS (i think he was scolding us for being gone). he yowled at us for so long that he lost his voice for a few hours. he's back to his normal self this afternoon...i think he feels more secure and that we're not going to leave him again. i don't know what we're going to do with him when we return to texas for several weeks!