HKG024: Movin' on Up!

skyping with the franz family this morning. note the closet open beside my computer and the fact that there are coke zeroes in there...that's b/c i use it as my breakfast table in the morning. yes, i drink coke zero for breakfast ;-p

two cuties on a toy at the park

family snuggles...quinn still loves to be held like a baby sometimes

quinn giving me kisses

upside down sissy

today was a slow, relaxing day. we just did the usual, but seemed to do it more efficiently today somehow. instead of regaling you with the mundane details, i will give you my top ten thoughts about moving out of the closet!

1. i can't wait to cook in my crockpot. i am not sure which of our favorite crockpot meals i will make first...i have crockpot ADHD.
2. i can't wait to have a bathroom with a door that locks. the bathroom here has only a sliding pocket door that does not lock.
3. i can't wait to have a fridge that is somewhat normal size. the fridge here in the closet is a dorm-sized fridge...a soda fridge. we can fit no more than 10 items in it, and when we max the capacity, we constantly have to check that it is closed/stays closed.
4. i can't wait to have a freezer.
5. i can't wait to sit on a couch.
6. i can't wait to eat at a table.
7. i can't wait to do my own laundry (more about that in this week's randoms).
8. i can't wait to have more than 4 rotating outfits to wear.
9. i can't wait to be able to watch TV after 8 p.m. currently, we cannot turn on the TV after the kids go to sleep because it is less than a foot from their room and the noise bothers them.
10. i can't wait to be settled and not constantly anticipating the NEXT thing.

the big move starts tomorrow. we still won't have beds until early next week, but we do have an interim solution, though it is not an ideal solution. we have to be out of the closet by noon on saturday, so we will definitely be in the new place full time by then. we will probably spend thursday and friday nights here in the closet simply because we have beds here. there's no reason to sleep uncomfortably if we don't have to, right :-)

HKG024: Reunited, and it feels so...

cramped? broken? but also, great! we got our stuff from TX today!! our shipment made it in decent shape...several of our plastic bins are broken, but only one item seems to be broken so far. fortunately, my crockpot is still in one piece!!!

today was a strange day and instead of recording all of the mostly mundane details, i think i'll go with highlights and lowlights!

the (some funny and some just plain) highlights for today were these:

• royally embarrassing myself with our new neighbors by fighting to unlock our outer door...forgot that to unlock the dead bolt, i needed to turn the key to the right, not the left. in the process, we did find out our neighbors names and also found out that there are two kids in the apartment who are close to livie's age.
• watching the kids reunite with their toys was pretty awesome. they squealed with delight over and over and over again.
• finding a business card tucked into the ceiling tiles in one of our bathrooms in the new place made me giggle. i think it was from the cleaning crew, but i'm not sure b/c i can't read chinese.
• listening to olivia sound out and read her very first word! she picked up one of my books, for which the title is "slam," and she sounded out slam until she asked me, "mommy, is this word "slam?" that was PRETTY AWESOME!!

the lowlights for today were these:

• a very early wakeup call from the monkeys.
• nearly getting hit by a car that did not have its turn signal on while walking to the playroom this morning (we were crossing a street it turned onto, but we didn't know it was going to turn, b/c it did not have a turn signal on!)
• getting hit in the knee by a taxi while i was swooping quinn out of its path (very low speed...no damage done except to my racing heart)...this was the taxi we just exited while going to the new apt...the taxi gave us less than 30 seconds to get out and get the stroller and was moving before i got quinn away from it. that scared the ever living shit out of me.
• missing josh as he began his official work schedule in guangzhou this week, though his away work week is cut short for us to move on thursday and friday!

sleepy bug snuggled up on the couch while we wait for UPS to deliver our goods

quinn standing still for a second...we're hanging around waiting for UPS.

snack time on the floor in livie's room

my beloved crockpot all in one piece

i let the kids dig into this box while i was doing other stuff...they had fun making this mess!

livie looking up from reading one of her favorite books, and quinn playing with one of his train tracks

this is one of several bins that was broken...they were all broken on corners or edges...i am guessing from being thrown rather than from being crushed. ironically, the bins that held up the best were the ones that i got for $4.50 from mal-wart the night before UPS came to pick up our stuff. the ones that i spent a lot more time researching and buying off amazon...all but one is in pieces. things that make you go hmmmmmm....

our fridge with a pic of baby kitty when she was a baby...boy, do i miss that hairy little cat. i miss her TONS. i get to see copper and sookie on camera when i talk to my dad, but baby kitty is in a new home now (looooonnnngggg story that i will tell another time), and i don't get to see her. i know she's being loved and well cared for, and i get emails about her, but i don't get to see her.

this is the business card tucked into the ceiling tiles in one of the bathrooms. interesting way to get business, eh?

my crazy son being crazy in the shower before bed tonight. yes, i drew a heart on his butt. this might embarrass him less when he's 16 than if i had actually posted a picture of his butt. maybe.

HKG023: Birthday!!!!

sleeping on duty...this is dho-dho, the guard kitty. cute, isn't he?

self portrait of one cute little foot

self portrait of two cute little feet

fancy, schmancy birthday dinner on the suitcase table

this is gnocchi with french sausage (couldn't find italian), newman's sausage and pepper sauce, some extra onion, garlic, and cream cheese to change the texture/flavor a bit. it turned out super yummy!

birthday cake from maxim bakery...very light and yummy...not my mom's bday cake, but still pretty good.

today is josh's birthday. he had to work, so it was business as usual during the day, but we had a yummy dinner, some gifts, and some yummy cake tonight.

the day was pretty status quo for me and the kids : park, indoor playroom, lunch, nap/quiet time, laundry pickup, park, grocery, and then home for dinner and night time routine. the only thing that was different today was that it was HOT!!! i can't wait to be reunited with our clothes...especially our shorts. if i had had a pair of scissors today, i would have cut quinn's pants into shorts. as it was, i left him in his dash (of the incredibles) pj top b/c it is short sleeved. for that matter, livie was out and about in pj shorts, too! even though we were broiling, we still saw A LOT of people out and about in jackets and sweaters. i don't get it...makes me scared for what summer is going to be like if the locals think these temps are cool enough for jackets and sweaters. i am increasingly glad our apartment building has a pool that is open from april until october!

since today was quiet, i might get us out on an adventure tomorrow to see a snoopy-themed park. we'll see. there were some attitude issues today, and if those persist tomorrow, we will be keeping quiet again tomorrow.

HKG022: Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

quinn and a friend at the park. this little boy came right up to quinn and told him "c'mon, let's play!" josh said quinn was THRILLED at the invitation and that the little boy was patient with quinn's being younger/slower.

quinn at the park

this is a beautiful park and garden right behind our apartment building. it's startling and beautiful to see these beautifully maintained gardens in the middle of all the hustle, bustle, skyscrapers, and traffic. i see many gardens like this one t/o hong kong.

this is the view of sing woo road about a half block down from our apartment building.

this is the side view of our current apartment building

these buildings are above the garden that is behind our apartment building. it was very hazy/foggy/drizzly today, and i like the effect in this picture...the way the tops of the buildings disappear into the elements.

this pic is for peyton f....this is about 1/3 of the police station motor pool. everything is so neat and organized. i am a little obsessed with how the motorcycles are lined up perfectly.

livie playing games on my computer in our room

me and q in our luxury seats watching chinese robot ninja cartoons

"ditalini" with chinese cabbage...not half bad!

use your best used car salesman voice to say the title...you know, the salesman/announcer who tells you that the dealership is open on sunday? that one.

today was pretty slow. we headed down to the prince building to do some shopping...we were looking for an air mattress b/c we don't have beds in the new apartment yet, and we have to be there a little early to take deliveries on thursday. it turns out that we will be catching a cab to get there on time b/c the air mattresses were WAY too expensive. we also took some time to peruse a book store for the kids and for me to do some birthday shopping for josh...he turns 25 tomorrow. yes, i am robbing the cradle. okay, i AM robbing the cradle, but not that many years :-P we made one more stop at a store called mothercare, which is similar to USA baby in austin. a little rich for my taste, but fun to look through nonetheless. i was looking for safety equipment and to price booster chairs...there was none of either, but i did find a selection of high chairs for no less than 100 bucks USD and as high as 800 bucks USD. oh mah god. that high chair better feed the baby, burp the baby, and wipe up the baby for that amount of cash!

we got distracted by the bright lights and delicious smells coming out of a store called olivers, and we spent some time in there shopping for josh's bday dinner. i could spend hours and a LOT of money in there...there was all kinds of good foods...familiar comfort foods from home and all sorts of interesting stuff i have never tried. there was a pretty good selection of cheeses, and i procured myself some ricotta and pasta to make one of my all-time favorite comfort dishes...something my nana called ditalini...pasta and ricotta together...very simple, comforting, and YUMMY.

the rest of the day was super slow. josh took the kids to the park so i could putz around the closet by myself and get out to the wellcome by myself (nancy, the wellcome is the regular market...not international and not american...still loads of fun when not accompanied by two monkeys).

i went out to snap a few pics of the area around us, including the police motor pool. i felt like i might be breaking some kind of law doing that and told josh i was waiting to be followed and arrested. so far, so good...they are not on to me yet ;-p

HKGW03: Top 20 Random Observations

1. the octopus card is INGENIOUS. it's this smart card that you fill up with funds and use to pay for public transport (bus, tram, MTR). you also can use it at many grocery stores, convenience stores, and even some restaurants. it's awesome. i have been tempted to just put a bunch of cash on mine and use it for everything...right up until i lost it last week. fortunately, i lost mine when it was empty. i got a new one (which cost 50 bucks HKD (use the nifty converter on the side bar to see that in USD) to replace), and i now have a special draw-string pocket on my new/ugly bag that is ONLY for the octopus card and ensures i won't lose it again. i had been keeping it in my back pocket and must have accidentally pulled it out or it fell out when i was sitting down.
2. cream cheese is surprisingly good on pizza. the local pizza hut is advertising this specialty cheese pizza, and we got it this week. it was delicious, but unexpected.
3. local bakeries pack surprises in their baked goods. we got something called cocktail rolls this past week. they are super yummy....contain a filling of margarine, coconut, and sugar. we did not expect this...thought they were just rolls...the kind you eat with dinner.
4. pizza-flavored chips actually taste like bbq. i am hooked on these chips that are in a red, white, and green bag with pictures of pizza all over it. they don't taste a thing like pizza...they taste exactly like lays bbq chips back home!
5. i have yet to see a dirty car here. what i do see is ayahs washing cars and hand drying them.
6. i also see ayahs walking dogs.
7. i also see ayahs taking care of elderly folks...pushing them in wheelchairs for time outside, giving them massages and physical therapy in the park.
8. since i began reading the book, factory girls, i am looking at ayahs with new eyes. this book is INTENSE and it is eye opening.
9. i am constantly amazed by the number of people that take the time to help me. several times this week, i have had people help me with the kids on the buses. you see, we don't have our sea legs yet, and a bus does not wait around for you and your two small kids to make it to a seat before it takes off. many, many gentle and well-meaning hands have reached out to catch quinn or livie and make sure they get to a seat safely.
10. i have yet to find a speed limit sign for our street. traffic is pretty crazy on our street in part because there is at least one driving school on our street, but also because there are young men who like to race their maseratis up the steep hill that crests just above our apartment building. we have seen only one accident and one near-accident.
11. hongkongers don't like rain. i have noticed in the last few days that even though it is raining very lightly most of the time, hongkongers are all bundled up in rain boots, rain jackets, rain hats, and umbrellas. i have gotten many scathing looks and even a couple comments about why i have me and the kids out without rain gear. i know that soon enough it will be the rainy season and we WILL have to get some hard core rain gear, but for now, it's fine. as nancy says, we are wash and wear.
12. it is rather difficult to walk in a crowd while holding an umbrella and NOT poke out anyone's eye. it's a good thing i am taller than most people here.
13. i am fascinated by fashions here. there is a look that i shall call contemporary slut, and it is totally acceptable and common place (and the people wearing are not acting like they are wearing it, if you know what i mean). my eyes nearly fall out of my head every time i see a young woman wearing tights underneath very short shorts and with high heels or sneakers. it's the strangest look i have ever seen be "normal."
14. i am amazed by the number of women i see wearing high heels. this is a place of much walking, and these folks are walking in very high heels for very long distances. i am in awe.
15. i also am fascinated by perfectly wavy hair or spiky hair or whatever hair that seems to be impervious to the humidity here. my hair used to be curly...it went straight when i was pg with olivia, and has not curled since. until i moved here. i now have all these little curls in the front of my hair that are due to the humidity. there must be a hair product i am not aware of. shellac, maybe?
16. i can't remember the last time i saw so many people smoking openly and everywhere. the irony is that most of the area is posted as a non-smoking area. i am not sure how the smokers manage it, but they do.
17. my favorite thing to look at right now is store fronts. clothing stores are absolutely beautiful here...they are lit with soft, pretty lighting, they are full of shiny glass and mirrors, and the are beautifully arranged. in comparison, home goods and food markets are chaotic and i cannot fit into them with the kids. i am beginning to live for saturday and sunday when i can get to the market BY MYSELF and not have to squeeze and hold my breath every time we three turn a corner. we actually had to back out of the wellcome twice the other day because it was so crowded with shoppers and stock boys that we could not walk in with the three of us (q in the stroller).
18. i cannot figure out walking patterns here. at home, i tried to always walk on the right and get my kids to do the same...to follow natural traffic patterns. everyone just walks wherever here. i can't tell you how many times i have had to pull livie into me to keep her from being trampled by someone walking straight at her without slowing down. i guess they think they can just push her aside. they haven't seen my mama bear yet.
19. i gave up on the local store brand peanut butter. it was the consistency of wall paper paste and had about as much flavor. i happily paid 5 bucks USD for a jar of skippy.
20. i found honey nut cheerios at the international market for about 4 dollars (USD) less than at the american market. that will be our first and last venture into that store. i also found that bread (crustless, no less) is super cheap at the international market (it's also cheap at the wellcome, but even cheaper at the international market).

HKG021:Slow Saturday

attempted shaping up of the closet. it's better than it was. i have been annoying everyone by following them around to make sure they put stuff back where i designated it. no one is as obsessed with the messiness of the closet as i am. btw, quinn took off his own pants. i didn't mean to photograph my son half naked. this is a new obsession of his and one of the signs that he's ready to potty train.

livie captured this pic of sing woo road beneath our apartment complex. you can't tell it from this pic, but where the road is curving to the left is also a mega steep hill. when we want to catch the number 19 bus, we go up this hill...by the time we get to the bus stop, which is up the hill to the left and then up even higher as the road curves sharply to the right), we are gasping (well, me and livie...not quinn since he's riding in style) and our legs are cramping

.

good lord, she's cute! livie took this pic of herself. actually, she took about 50...i had to cull them to the best of the bunch. i like this one because it shows off her beautiful eyes.

livie captured both herself and the building next to us. this building actually has a car park...FANCY SCHMANCY.

here, i am trying DESPERATELY to nap next to little miss busy body. it didn't happen...she kept asking me to fix the camera on the phone and/or asking me to look at the pics she took.

feigning sleep (self portrait)

self portrait of her tongue

great pic of the building next to us (livie took it)

the makings of tonight's dinner. that shredded cheese was 48 bucks HKD, and the tortillas were 31 bucks HKD. check out the nifty converter on the side bar to see what these values are in USD. trust me, these were some EXPENSIVE tacos.

that's taco meat cooking on the left and "fried guacamole" on the right. i accidentally cut the tomatoes and onions on the same cutting board as the chicken without washing it, and rather than throw it all away (or give us food poisoning), i fried the guacamole. this was probably for the best anyway since the avocado would be ripe in about 3 weeks (and was the ripest in the bin i dug through at the international market). it was YUMMY...a little salt, cumin, and margarine with onions, tomatoes, garlic, and avocado and about 15 minutes on low medium flame, and voila...fried guacamole!

my search for salted butter-like substance continues. i think i may have found it in this product from japan. the ingredients are similar to margarine, and most importantly, salt is the 2nd ingredient. yummmmm!

bought q name-brand diapers tonight...i NEVER do this. we had gotten him a big ol' pack of the international market brand diapers when we first arrived, but we have just one left. you see, only the international market has a size big enough for quinn. the international market brand that fit him are size L for up to 17 kg. those were sold out today, so i went with these huggies. do you see the size XXL there...and the diaper is rated to fit someone up to 15kg...quinny is just over 17kg. they do fit him just fine, but my delicate psyche doesn't like the XXL label. a local person asked me today if quinn is 4...he is very big for his age both in the u.s. and here...ESPECIALLY here...he's a giant compared to local 2yos.

today dawned cloudy and drizzly, but warmer than yesterday. we hung around the closet for a long time, and then josh and livie took off to order some furniture from IKEA for delivery. quinn and i putzed here a little longer while i tried to spiff up the place, and then he and i went out for an apple and some play time.

what was the big deal with the apple, you wonder? well, last night i had asked josh to pick up tomatoes on his way back from work, and he accidentally got a box of persimmons. quinn spent the morning telling me the persimmons were apples and gleefully requesting one. i washed one and gave it to him. BIG mistake. persimmons are a VERY messy fruit. within less than five minutes, that persimmon was EVERYWHERE. there were many tears shed at the removal of the persimmon from two sticky hands, and it was only the promise of an apple on the way to play that calmed the tears.

it was raining so hard by the time we headed out, that we took only enough time to get some apples (and get soaked) before we cut our trip to the park short and went to the playroom instead. we had a ball there...quinn took a long time to devour his apple while heckling some ping pong players, and then he finally agreed to GO PLAY. he had a ball chasing around several big girls, playing peek-a-boo with me, and climbing all over the playscape.

the afternoon was even more quiet. the big event for today was tacos. yes. tacos. these were the most expensive tacos i have EVER eaten....it's a good thing they were pretty tasty. my love of tex mex isn't going to get much attention here...i may need my mommy to send me TORTILLAS and i will just hope they show up not-too-stale :-)

HKG020: Admitting Defeat = Taxi

bug's upside down self portrait

bug's capturing quinny

upside right self-portrait

jammie portrait with our incredible mess in the background and the flash covering her face

climbing at chai wan park

quinny trying to imitate sissy

still trying to imitate sissy

fountain at chai wan park

quinn at jumpin' gym

sissy playing a driving game at jumpin' gym

this was hands-down the best game at jumpin' gym...miniature bowling with 8 frames. livie LOVES bowling, so this was right up her alley (pun intended).

quinn deciding he was done with this ride

the monkeys together in a dinosaur ride...without tokens, and they didn't complain!

concentrating on chocolate, papaya, and vanilla yogurt with white chocolate chips

sweet sissy feeding quinny

taking turns making sure no yogurt is left behind...

today, the kids and i headed out to find one of these jumpin' gym u.s.a. places...there are many of them all over HK island. of course it was not simple...i was the person in charge of getting from point A to point B...did we expect anything different? nope. i did manage to get us to the same place as we were earlier this week : victoria park...since i have been there before, i figured it was a good mid-point and where i wanted to make our bus transfer. i neglected to consider the size of the park, and when i couldn't find a bus stop that included bus number 8, i began walking. i have no sense of direction....have i mentioned this? we did eventually find a stop for bus number 8, and away we went. i knew we were headed to heng fa chuen, but i wasn't sure what street i was supposed to get out on. i undershot it. we found a great park in the process (the chai wan park) and had a great time there. josh looked some stuff up for me while we were there, and he mentioned that the mall was right next to an MTR station...i saw signs for an MTR station near the park and figured we were golden. nope. i cried uncle at this point and flagged a taxi...that was the best 24 bucks HK i have spent yet.

we were starving by the time we got to paradise mall, so we stopped at a KFC before venturing into the jumpin' gym...that was an exercise in frustration. even with a picture menu and me holding up fingers to show the number of meals we wanted, we still ended up with one meal between the three of us.

jumpin' gym didn't look too fantastic upon first entering (there were NO jumpers), and all the signs were in chinese, so it took me a while to figure out it was a token system and where to get the tokens. fortunately, the token station had some signs in english; i quickly ordered the smallest number of tokens and off we went.

the first machine ate all 8 of the tokens i had given livie (we had purchased only 35 of them for about 6 bucks u.s.) without actually working. we found a game for quinn to play, and then a few others for both kids. there was not a whole lotta jumpy about the place...we found only one bounce house that was 6 to 8 feet square and cost an extra 3 dollars u.s. per kid to jump in it.

after our disappointing venture into the non-jumping place (it was like an expensive CEC without the pizza), we did find a great frozen yogurt place, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves there. we found a stop for the number 8 bus right outside the mall. i made the executive decision to ride the bus to the end of the line b/c the end of the line is in wan chai...an area i thought i was becoming quite familiar with. wrong. once we reached the end of the line and got off the bus, we walked around for a long time trying to find a bus stop for the number 1 bus, which would take us back into happy valley. no dice. eventually, we walked long enough and far enough that i realized we were right near josh's building, so we stopped in for an impromptu visit with daddy. our plan after that was to flag a taxi back to happy valley, but it had started to rain, and for whatever reason, just about every taxi we saw was out of service. i did flag three different taxis that were in service...only one stopped and when i told him i wanted to go to happy valley, he shook his head "no" at me. this is actually becoming a common occurrence that taxis won't pick us up...this happened to us in the mid-levels last week, too...a gentleman near me that saw it happen explained that taxis often won't pick up a family because they think that the family will want to go only a short distance and not be a good fare. whatev. it made our afternoon long, but we did eventually get home in time for some hot chocolate (it's cool and rainy here today) and some relaxation before dinner.

so, the moral of the story is that i still haven't figured out public transportation, i need a compass, and jumpin' gym stinks....at least this particular location.