HKG078: Friends in Wet Places

livie playing pat-a-cake with la fu

la fu looking adorable

monica, chandler, ross, and rachel

today was a nice, mellow monday. livie woke up still a bit sniffly and sounding stuffy, so i decided to keep her home from school, which opened up our day with no time constraints. i got to skype with a dear friend this morning, and then we headed out to the wet market to get a new air pump for monica and chandler.

the kids briefly asked if they could have another fish, and it took me less than 30 seconds to agree. monica and chandler now have been joined by ross and rachel. the air pump errand turned out to be a comedy of errors. i neglected to purchase new tubing or an air stone, so when i got home, i had the distinct privilege of digging our household trash out of the communal trash to rescue the tubing i threw away last night. the fish had endure an air tube held down by one of livie's clips until this evening because the tube can't stay down without the weight of the stone. josh stopped at a pet store in wanchai to get another stone, but it is too small to maintain the tank, so we will head back down the hill to get another stone or two tomorrow morning.

ross and rachel seem a little shy. i do not understand fish politics, but they seem to spend more time at the bottom of the tank while monica and chandler stay at the top making cute fish faces at me in an attempt to get more food. i am hoping that they will all be social soon.

other than this quick trip into the wet markets, we hung around the house. the weather got a little stormy this afternoon, which provided the perfect excuse to stay in and cook and bake while trying to persuade the kids to play with their toys (why is this such a chore?!?). i had some fun telling my friend about the difference in costs here vs. in texas, and i thought it might be interesting to make a little spreadsheet to show the differences. some are astounding! check out the cost comparison tab above for a table and some pics of typical grocery prices (and the conversions).