As you know, there is no Thanksgiving in Hong Kong. Obviously. It is a normal work day. After Halloween, which is a big deal here, it goes directly to Christmas decorations. Christmas is a huge deal here. I think by mid November all the malls have there displays up and christmas music playing. It is funny because they have completely separated the secular holiday from the religious one. So everyone it seems is into Christmas.
Thanksgiving though is one of those times were it painly obivous that we are not in the US or North Carolina anymore. It is I think the biggest difference you notice living here. It was the biggest one we noticed. No Turkey Trot, no parade, no leave changing, no Macy's parade, no football. More than that, no collective sense of holiday. From thousands of miles away, I have noticed that this one holiday, Thanksgiving, is maybe one of a few that all Americans, no matter what religion, race or creed, share. In a way, it is one of those defining characteristics of being American.
But there is thanksgiving food here. Even though it is not a holiday, it is very easy to get the food though at the stores: turkey, stuffing mix, cranberrries, pretty much anything you would want for your thanksgiving meal. So that part is fine. And since it is mostly about food, I suppose ok.
Another thing I noticed was that some American expats here kinda of give up on the holiday after a while. Not sure why. I feel like it's giving up on being American to some degree.
So this year, we were invited to be a part of Katy's friend Katherine's Thanksgiving dinner. She invited several people over on Thanksgiving evening. She lives in the same apartment complex as us. Even though Katy and I both had a regular workday and both kids had school, we did get a Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving day. It was really nice.
Then on this Sunday about 20 american famlies in our apartment complex are getting together for a thanksgiving dinner and party. Everyone is bringing something. It should be fun. I like the fact that we found some american families here who don't want to lose our traditions from home.
So in the end, we did have a Thanksgiving however somewhat lacking.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Saturday, November 5, 2011
It's Beginning to look alot like..wait, stop the presses, it's only November 5th, Thanksgiving is not..oh..yeah..nevermind
Yes it is November 5th here in Hong Kong and everyone is putting up their Christmas decorations like it is the week before Thanksgiving. As an American family whose first year is in Hong Kong, we react with horror, right? "Oh come on. It's only November 5th. Thanksgiving is still almost..." then you stop and blink yourself back to the moment.
Yes this is Hong Kong, the Special Administrative District of the People's Republic of China. The next holiday IS Christmas. They don't celebrate American Thanksgiving.
Yes this is Hong Kong, the Special Administrative District of the People's Republic of China. The next holiday IS Christmas. They don't celebrate American Thanksgiving.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Hong Kong Halloween Bust
Sunday Morning
Katy, turning to David: "You want to move back?'
David: "Right this moment, yes."
You never consider how much logistics go into trick or treating with kids or take them for granted when you live in a great neighborhood like McDonald Ave. But apartment complex living sure has busted our Halloween this year. So yes thus begins our first real critique of Hong Kong living for an american family.
Our apartment complex which is 33 floors had a Halloween party on Saturday October 28 from 3pm to 5pm. Trick or Treating was from 5:30 to 7:30pm. If you wanted to open your apartment for trick or treating, you signed up, then the management produced a list of the apartments you could go to. Remember our apartment is yes 33 floors. 2 elevators.
So on Saturday, the kids both crashed with naps in the afternoon and were hard to get up. Nicholas being very tired wanted nothing to do with a costume. But we got the kids in them and headed down to the club house for the party.
It was nice. Food. Pageant. But the main event was a haunted house you walked through. Now in our house we have defined "silly Halloween" and "scary Halloween." No one wants anything to do with "scary Halloween." So as you can imagine the haunted house was out. With that there was not much for a 2 year old and a 5 year old to do. You could see not many of that age group around. So we headed back up stairs to wait to start trick or treating.
Maggie's friend Lacey invited us up to trick or treat with them. Now this entails either taking the elevator or walking up the service stairs. But the service stairs do not stop at every floor's front doors. There is one set of stairs for the odd and one for the even floors. OK. no problem. Maggie and even Nicholas do not seem turned off by the stairs at all.
We get to Maggie's friend's apartment in the same block as ours. (We agree to only trick or treat in our block.) Well Lacey has an older brother who has a friend who dresses up as the screamer with a mask. He puts it on to start trick or treating and Nicholas freaks out. The boy is very nice and feels sorry. But it is clear to me, Nicholas and I will have to go alone. Maggie and Katy stay with the group.
Well the first random apartment Nicholas and I stop at is answered by a middle school boy in a scary mask with blood. Well that is it for Nicholas. He does not, no way shape or how, want to go on and asks to go back to 17. (Our floor.) So Nicholas stops at exactly one apartment. I try another apartment and Nicholas has had it. The lady even comes out into the elevator landing, but Nicholas is too scared.
One the way down the stairs I run into the group and Lacey's mom and dad, no Maggie or Katy. They tell me Maggie has jumped ship as well and headed back to 17. Same issue. Too many scary apartments. I could see Maggie was bummed.
So we have 2 kids with exactly 2 apartment stops. With all the logistics of the apartment building, it comes down to alot of scary halloween masks.
Katy and I both feel that they missed out on Halloween this year which led to the interaction at the top of this post. As Katy said, with homes at least from a distance you can tell whether it seems scary. And the thing is in our McDonald Ave neighborhood, there were more fun Halloween homes than scary anyway. Not sure what the point is of scaring little kids.
Next year we will have to target only the apartments we know will not be scary.
Miss the fun family Halloween. Miss you McDonald Ave, the Yins, the Colwells, the Brittains, the Munceys, the Donaldsons all of you. Miss you Dilworth.
So today, yes James, I'm going to Carolina in my mind.
Katy, turning to David: "You want to move back?'
David: "Right this moment, yes."
You never consider how much logistics go into trick or treating with kids or take them for granted when you live in a great neighborhood like McDonald Ave. But apartment complex living sure has busted our Halloween this year. So yes thus begins our first real critique of Hong Kong living for an american family.
Our apartment complex which is 33 floors had a Halloween party on Saturday October 28 from 3pm to 5pm. Trick or Treating was from 5:30 to 7:30pm. If you wanted to open your apartment for trick or treating, you signed up, then the management produced a list of the apartments you could go to. Remember our apartment is yes 33 floors. 2 elevators.
So on Saturday, the kids both crashed with naps in the afternoon and were hard to get up. Nicholas being very tired wanted nothing to do with a costume. But we got the kids in them and headed down to the club house for the party.
It was nice. Food. Pageant. But the main event was a haunted house you walked through. Now in our house we have defined "silly Halloween" and "scary Halloween." No one wants anything to do with "scary Halloween." So as you can imagine the haunted house was out. With that there was not much for a 2 year old and a 5 year old to do. You could see not many of that age group around. So we headed back up stairs to wait to start trick or treating.
Maggie's friend Lacey invited us up to trick or treat with them. Now this entails either taking the elevator or walking up the service stairs. But the service stairs do not stop at every floor's front doors. There is one set of stairs for the odd and one for the even floors. OK. no problem. Maggie and even Nicholas do not seem turned off by the stairs at all.
We get to Maggie's friend's apartment in the same block as ours. (We agree to only trick or treat in our block.) Well Lacey has an older brother who has a friend who dresses up as the screamer with a mask. He puts it on to start trick or treating and Nicholas freaks out. The boy is very nice and feels sorry. But it is clear to me, Nicholas and I will have to go alone. Maggie and Katy stay with the group.
Well the first random apartment Nicholas and I stop at is answered by a middle school boy in a scary mask with blood. Well that is it for Nicholas. He does not, no way shape or how, want to go on and asks to go back to 17. (Our floor.) So Nicholas stops at exactly one apartment. I try another apartment and Nicholas has had it. The lady even comes out into the elevator landing, but Nicholas is too scared.
One the way down the stairs I run into the group and Lacey's mom and dad, no Maggie or Katy. They tell me Maggie has jumped ship as well and headed back to 17. Same issue. Too many scary apartments. I could see Maggie was bummed.
So we have 2 kids with exactly 2 apartment stops. With all the logistics of the apartment building, it comes down to alot of scary halloween masks.
Katy and I both feel that they missed out on Halloween this year which led to the interaction at the top of this post. As Katy said, with homes at least from a distance you can tell whether it seems scary. And the thing is in our McDonald Ave neighborhood, there were more fun Halloween homes than scary anyway. Not sure what the point is of scaring little kids.
Next year we will have to target only the apartments we know will not be scary.
Miss the fun family Halloween. Miss you McDonald Ave, the Yins, the Colwells, the Brittains, the Munceys, the Donaldsons all of you. Miss you Dilworth.
So today, yes James, I'm going to Carolina in my mind.
Book o Ween Woes
You never think you have to defend your child's creativity so soon in life.
HKIS had what they call Book-a ween on Friday October 28. It was billed as an event where children could pick a character in a favorite book and dress up as them. It sounded fun and the restriction made sense: no cartooon characters.
HKIS had what they call Book-a ween on Friday October 28. It was billed as an event where children could pick a character in a favorite book and dress up as them. It sounded fun and the restriction made sense: no cartooon characters.
As a new family to HKIS, we thought it was a great idea. Maggie was excited and went through her books on which character she liked. She went back and forth between the mom in the Ugly Vegetable to Bree in Fancy Nancy’s Explorers Extordinaire all on her own. She chose Bree. We got together all the things from the book: binoculars, magnifying glass, notebook, hat. Maggie was very clear to collect all the right props. But the thing is Bree being a normal girl did not have a special costume. Maggie chose some clothes that matched Bree in the book.
When she came back from school that day, she seemed really quiet about the whole thing. We asked her, "how was Book-o-ween?"
Apparently some girls made fun of her since she did not have a real "costume." I asked, "What do you mean? Yes you did." Then we find out that a lot of girls went as princesses and bought their costumes. Now you would be right princesses such as Snow White and Belle are fairy tale story characters. But come on. Either way I was annoyed that Maggie's creativity took a hit.
I told her that anyone can choose a princess, but that you were very creative in your choice. I doubt in made her feel any better....maybe a little. I am still very proud of her choice. Pictures are Maggie as Bree from Explorer Extraordinaire before school.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
A Hong Konger work is never done...Really?
Moving and especially working here, an American notes how long everyone stays at work. Wow you think people here must be very overloaded. I leave work pretty much the normal time from the States at 5:30-6pm and people are still at their desks. Sometimes I actually have to look at my watch and confirm it is that late because I walk past alot of people still at their desks.
Now I think I have a pretty good handle on my work. Not only that but with the night phone calls, I fell pretty good about it. But you still doubt when you look at the Hong Kongers. You start thinking maybe their is something to this Asia work ethic. They wear as a badge of honro staying in the office till 8pm. But then again, something always seemed a little off. I could never put my finger on it.
I usually eat lunch at my desk, while mostly everyone here takes a nice long lunhc break. So I thought maybe that is it. I dont take long lunches and usually work through lunch when trust me the floor is a literal ghost town from 12:30 to 2.
Then I read an article in this the Sunday Morning Post and things got a little clearer and not in a good way. The article "Miracle Worker," is about the extreme challenges working women with children have in Hong Kong. Women here are expected to keep the family needs first if they choose to work. This is another story, just think all the progressive gains women in the workplace have made in the US, Hong Kong is just starting down that equality path.
In the article, Bishop's qoute is what made it all cealr to me. Robins is the COO of an NGO promoting work-life balance. (Side note 70% of polled Hong Kongers do not being they have a healthy work life balance.) Robin says, "Hong Kong is built on a hard work ethic. The local culture tends to reward employees for how visible they are as opposed to their output. The more time you are seen to spend at the office, the more committed you are."
Think about that for a minute. "How visible you are as opposed to your output." Wow.
I remember my manager at Chase telling me directly, "There are only 2 reasons you work late every night. One you do not know how to manage your time and that is not good or two you have too much to do and you need to let me know because that is not good."
I still think the American work ethic that prioritize output is the better one.
Now I think I have a pretty good handle on my work. Not only that but with the night phone calls, I fell pretty good about it. But you still doubt when you look at the Hong Kongers. You start thinking maybe their is something to this Asia work ethic. They wear as a badge of honro staying in the office till 8pm. But then again, something always seemed a little off. I could never put my finger on it.
I usually eat lunch at my desk, while mostly everyone here takes a nice long lunhc break. So I thought maybe that is it. I dont take long lunches and usually work through lunch when trust me the floor is a literal ghost town from 12:30 to 2.
Then I read an article in this the Sunday Morning Post and things got a little clearer and not in a good way. The article "Miracle Worker," is about the extreme challenges working women with children have in Hong Kong. Women here are expected to keep the family needs first if they choose to work. This is another story, just think all the progressive gains women in the workplace have made in the US, Hong Kong is just starting down that equality path.
In the article, Bishop's qoute is what made it all cealr to me. Robins is the COO of an NGO promoting work-life balance. (Side note 70% of polled Hong Kongers do not being they have a healthy work life balance.) Robin says, "Hong Kong is built on a hard work ethic. The local culture tends to reward employees for how visible they are as opposed to their output. The more time you are seen to spend at the office, the more committed you are."
Think about that for a minute. "How visible you are as opposed to your output." Wow.
I remember my manager at Chase telling me directly, "There are only 2 reasons you work late every night. One you do not know how to manage your time and that is not good or two you have too much to do and you need to let me know because that is not good."
I still think the American work ethic that prioritize output is the better one.
Monday, October 3, 2011
You are new in town, aren't you?
It's a Monday evening and Maggie and I return a broken dehumidifier at Wing On (Americans read Sears). We meet up with Katy and all head home together.
So I notice across the street a "Taxi Stand" sign. Great. We head to it. About 10 feet away from the sign(Read no where near the sign), the Hong Kongers have lined up to wait for a taxi. A taxi driver points to the line and says to us,"That is where you line up." Ok without missing a beat we line up with about 7 people in front of us no where near the taxi stand sign.
As the line winds down, a well dressed westerner stands right under the sign and keeps looking at our line annoyed. You can see him getting irritated by this. At some point he comes up to us, yes not the 4 Hong Kongers in front of us, and says "the Taxi line is over there." and walks back to the taxi stand sign.
I tell him, "Well, the sign may be there, but the line is right here" as I look at him and think "Hey Mr. Von RighteousHousen, why don't you explain that in Cantonese to the people in front of us. Oh you can't speak Cantonese? Well let me explain something to you. Here in Hong Kong, the line is wherever we decide it is. That is how we roll."
Yes I am becoming a local.......
So I notice across the street a "Taxi Stand" sign. Great. We head to it. About 10 feet away from the sign(Read no where near the sign), the Hong Kongers have lined up to wait for a taxi. A taxi driver points to the line and says to us,"That is where you line up." Ok without missing a beat we line up with about 7 people in front of us no where near the taxi stand sign.
As the line winds down, a well dressed westerner stands right under the sign and keeps looking at our line annoyed. You can see him getting irritated by this. At some point he comes up to us, yes not the 4 Hong Kongers in front of us, and says "the Taxi line is over there." and walks back to the taxi stand sign.
I tell him, "Well, the sign may be there, but the line is right here" as I look at him and think "Hey Mr. Von RighteousHousen, why don't you explain that in Cantonese to the people in front of us. Oh you can't speak Cantonese? Well let me explain something to you. Here in Hong Kong, the line is wherever we decide it is. That is how we roll."
Yes I am becoming a local.......
Monday, September 12, 2011
Fanta and Fire Sticks
This past weekend was a long weekend for us. The moon festival is on Monday nite. So we decided to take the kids to Macao for a short vacation. Macao is about 50 minutes from Hong Kong by ferry. So on Saturday we left for Macao.
We stayed at the Hotel Okura in the Galaxy Casino and Hotel complex. They have the world's largest roof top wave pool. It is impressive. Maggie and Nicholas loved it. We spent the first day there.
Sunday we decided to see Cirque du Soleil's 5 pm show called Zaia. Katy and I had seen it and thought "this would be a nice show to take the kids too." Ok. Well we had a nice morning at the wave pool, ate lunch. Nicholas took a nap while Maggie and Katy went back to the pool, then changed and off to the show.
Zaia is playing at the Venetian Casino/super mall/food court/hotel/vegas style show venue site. It is impressive. We arrived at 4pm and casually walked by some posters for Zaia. In one was a man with a fire stick. At one point in the show, I think they have a whole cast with fire sticks and fire flags doing a section of it. Rewind back to our trip to Borneo. During one of the days, the outdoor restaurant had a ethnic Borneo dances which included fire stick. Now the men were very fierce and scary and close up. Maggie and I had to leave. Maggie got scared and rightly so. So now Maggie is looking scared about this whole "Zaia" thing. She starts saying she does not want to go. Nicholas picks up on her vibe and starts getting worried. We tell her that it is only one part of the show and we can of course leave during it but you will like the rest. To be fair, I think in Borneo there were 4 men with fire sticks and this show has about 20 and with fire flags.
Well as we get closer and closer to the theatre, Maggie and thus Nicholas start getting worried even more. No amount of popcorn will allay it. As the show starts, Maggie sticks it out, leaves with Katy and heads to a seat near the door. I try and pacify Nicholas for the next 30 minutes. He is of course concerned. Where is Mama? Where I Maggie? Somehow when they start the snow machine and it starts snowing from the ceiling that is the final straw for Nicholas. So he and I leave and I notice Katy and Maggie sitting next to the door.
I try about 3 times to get Nicholas to come back in with me. Each time, we hang out in the back and he wants to go. Then the last time, I really think I got it. Nicholas is comfortable, even laughing and I think "Ok now is my time." As I start to head to a seat, yes you guessed it, the fire stick and flag part starts. Literally on cue these giant flames ignite from the back of the stage, men start howling with fire sticks and, on cue, Maggie heads to the door, Katy behind her and Nicholas and I behind them...for good.
To their credit we saw about 1 hour of the 1 and 1/2 hour show.
Ok Katy and I are a little worn out and the kids are hungry.....this never ends well.
We had wanted to eat at a McSorley's bar and grill at the Venetian. When we found it before the show, it was actually a hard core bar. The "no smoking section" consisted of 2 tables which reeked of cigarette smoke. IT was filled with rugby fans who were watching the world cup. So as we headed into Zaia, we had no plan for dinner.
Katy though has a map and we find a "family friendly" Japanese restaurant. Great let's go. Maggie likes Japanese and regains her excitement. We get seated and realize that somehow "family friendly" means we will seat you at a table with fine porcelain Japanese table wear and when you ask about a baby seat, they look at you like you have 2 heads then proceed to to ignore you. "Yes we do have 2 small children who are hungry, so it is fine if we don't get served for the next hour."
Then Nicholas starts getting cranky because, yes, he is hungry. The last straw was when he threw a porcelain chop stick holder. So we leave. And head to the "Food Court." This ws actually the saem Food Court we crossed on the way to the Japanese restaurant and of course poo pooed it.
The odd thing about this Food Court is that it looks exactly like any food court in an American mall. The only difference is that most of the places serve Asian food and everyone there is Chinese. The other thing is unlike the Galaxy, the Venetian including the Food Court has a persistent lingering smell of cigarette smoke. To be fair, the Galaxy has a persistent smell of air freshener, a kind that one would use to dissipate cigarette smoke, but I digress.
We find a seat. Katy and I are frazzled. Now the kids are super hungry. I will make the first run. We pasted a Fat Burgers. So I head there and get a hamburger, fries, onion rings and a milk shake. I also notice the Japanese place has fan fried dumplings. So I go there and order them for Maggie. One of Maggies favorites.
I head back and the kids start eating. Nicholas decides today is the day hamburgers will not cut it. He continues to be cranky. Great. Katy heads back with Maggie who ate her dumplings in record time to find something for Nicholas and Maggie and Katy. Maggie wants some noodles. Yes Maggie is becoming our Asian cuisine lover.
They return with a piece of pizza for Nicholas and a huge bowl of pork noodles: the crunchy kind that soften in the sauce. We all have some. Katy then laughs, hands me the soda pop that came with the noodles, (no choice of soda) and says, "Want some Fanta?" "Why yes", I say, "haven't had it since the roller rink." We have a laugh together. I think this noodle fast food place says, "Fanta, no Coke."
There is no better way to end such an evening than with a Fanta.
Epilogue: we do finally all get fed well and head back to the Galaxy. But on my way, we stop at Fat Burgers and I buy another vanilla milk shake. The best I have had here.
We stayed at the Hotel Okura in the Galaxy Casino and Hotel complex. They have the world's largest roof top wave pool. It is impressive. Maggie and Nicholas loved it. We spent the first day there.
Sunday we decided to see Cirque du Soleil's 5 pm show called Zaia. Katy and I had seen it and thought "this would be a nice show to take the kids too." Ok. Well we had a nice morning at the wave pool, ate lunch. Nicholas took a nap while Maggie and Katy went back to the pool, then changed and off to the show.
Zaia is playing at the Venetian Casino/super mall/food court/hotel/vegas style show venue site. It is impressive. We arrived at 4pm and casually walked by some posters for Zaia. In one was a man with a fire stick. At one point in the show, I think they have a whole cast with fire sticks and fire flags doing a section of it. Rewind back to our trip to Borneo. During one of the days, the outdoor restaurant had a ethnic Borneo dances which included fire stick. Now the men were very fierce and scary and close up. Maggie and I had to leave. Maggie got scared and rightly so. So now Maggie is looking scared about this whole "Zaia" thing. She starts saying she does not want to go. Nicholas picks up on her vibe and starts getting worried. We tell her that it is only one part of the show and we can of course leave during it but you will like the rest. To be fair, I think in Borneo there were 4 men with fire sticks and this show has about 20 and with fire flags.
Well as we get closer and closer to the theatre, Maggie and thus Nicholas start getting worried even more. No amount of popcorn will allay it. As the show starts, Maggie sticks it out, leaves with Katy and heads to a seat near the door. I try and pacify Nicholas for the next 30 minutes. He is of course concerned. Where is Mama? Where I Maggie? Somehow when they start the snow machine and it starts snowing from the ceiling that is the final straw for Nicholas. So he and I leave and I notice Katy and Maggie sitting next to the door.
I try about 3 times to get Nicholas to come back in with me. Each time, we hang out in the back and he wants to go. Then the last time, I really think I got it. Nicholas is comfortable, even laughing and I think "Ok now is my time." As I start to head to a seat, yes you guessed it, the fire stick and flag part starts. Literally on cue these giant flames ignite from the back of the stage, men start howling with fire sticks and, on cue, Maggie heads to the door, Katy behind her and Nicholas and I behind them...for good.
To their credit we saw about 1 hour of the 1 and 1/2 hour show.
Ok Katy and I are a little worn out and the kids are hungry.....this never ends well.
We had wanted to eat at a McSorley's bar and grill at the Venetian. When we found it before the show, it was actually a hard core bar. The "no smoking section" consisted of 2 tables which reeked of cigarette smoke. IT was filled with rugby fans who were watching the world cup. So as we headed into Zaia, we had no plan for dinner.
Katy though has a map and we find a "family friendly" Japanese restaurant. Great let's go. Maggie likes Japanese and regains her excitement. We get seated and realize that somehow "family friendly" means we will seat you at a table with fine porcelain Japanese table wear and when you ask about a baby seat, they look at you like you have 2 heads then proceed to to ignore you. "Yes we do have 2 small children who are hungry, so it is fine if we don't get served for the next hour."
Then Nicholas starts getting cranky because, yes, he is hungry. The last straw was when he threw a porcelain chop stick holder. So we leave. And head to the "Food Court." This ws actually the saem Food Court we crossed on the way to the Japanese restaurant and of course poo pooed it.
The odd thing about this Food Court is that it looks exactly like any food court in an American mall. The only difference is that most of the places serve Asian food and everyone there is Chinese. The other thing is unlike the Galaxy, the Venetian including the Food Court has a persistent lingering smell of cigarette smoke. To be fair, the Galaxy has a persistent smell of air freshener, a kind that one would use to dissipate cigarette smoke, but I digress.
We find a seat. Katy and I are frazzled. Now the kids are super hungry. I will make the first run. We pasted a Fat Burgers. So I head there and get a hamburger, fries, onion rings and a milk shake. I also notice the Japanese place has fan fried dumplings. So I go there and order them for Maggie. One of Maggies favorites.
I head back and the kids start eating. Nicholas decides today is the day hamburgers will not cut it. He continues to be cranky. Great. Katy heads back with Maggie who ate her dumplings in record time to find something for Nicholas and Maggie and Katy. Maggie wants some noodles. Yes Maggie is becoming our Asian cuisine lover.
They return with a piece of pizza for Nicholas and a huge bowl of pork noodles: the crunchy kind that soften in the sauce. We all have some. Katy then laughs, hands me the soda pop that came with the noodles, (no choice of soda) and says, "Want some Fanta?" "Why yes", I say, "haven't had it since the roller rink." We have a laugh together. I think this noodle fast food place says, "Fanta, no Coke."
There is no better way to end such an evening than with a Fanta.
Epilogue: we do finally all get fed well and head back to the Galaxy. But on my way, we stop at Fat Burgers and I buy another vanilla milk shake. The best I have had here.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
August 20: What a Week!
This past week was a typhoon of change. It was one day after another: Maggie and Nicholas both started at new schools and took new buses.
Nicholas had been going to the Woodland Montessori school near us. We had wanted to move him to Woodland Harbourside from the beginning and an opening came up. Maggie started kindergarten R-2 at the Hong Kong International School (HKIS).
Monday: free day for everyone. Except Katy and I.
Tuesday: Maggie, Katy and I went to HKIS for meet the teacher and after school sign up day. After school sign up was in the morning. Maggie is focused on Girl Scout Daises, swimming and gymnastics. We were invited to lunch by our HKIS host mom. Then off to meet the teacher, Ms McGinnis. She is from New Zealand and we think we will get along great.
Wednesday: First day of school for Nicholas. And first time taking the school bus. So Katy and I took Nicholas down the to school bus. It comes up to the lobby drive up level at 8:10. We put him on and drove with him to the school. He saw all the neat stuff at school and was like "bye bye." His day goes from 8:30 to 10:30 M-W-F. I went to pick him up and meet his teacher Ms Jemma. Again very nice.
Thursday: D DAY. Maggie's first day of R2. Her day starts with a school bus pickup at 7am down on the street level. As you can imagine a gaggle, if ever that word applied to people it does to parents standing around waiting for a school bus, of parents and kids. Maggie's bus came, she had a little hesitation, but got on. Maggie's day ends with the bus drop off at 2:15 or so. She had a great day per her own report.
Friday. D DAY PLUS 1. Niocholas' second day. We decide that maybe he should ride the bus by himself. Well he gets on OK and actually stays OK till it pulls out and leave then starts crying. Katy and I figure we will see on Monday. But when Eva picked him up at 10:30 the only thing she heard was he keeps being reminded to sit down in class. But as my friends at FUMCDC will know, it was hard for me to see him cry.
Later that morning I head to HKIS for new parent orientation. The principal and her staff all gave presentations. It was really nice and there will be a lot of chances for us to get involved.
Oh.....During this whole week, Nicholas on Monday somehow got scared of his shadow and would NOT GO TO SLEEP in his room. Crying, screaming, just..wow. So every night Katy or I would have to rock him to sleep. Thankfully it seemed to pass Friday night. The night we were most worried about was Wednesday nite, so Maggie got a good night's sleep for her first day. Through rocking and rocking we finally got him to sleep at 9:30pm. As Katy said, of all the weeks to pick to have sleep trouble, this was not our first choice. So during the week Katy and I got less and less sleep.
So that was our week. In a strange way after all that, I feel more a part of this place than before.
Nicholas had been going to the Woodland Montessori school near us. We had wanted to move him to Woodland Harbourside from the beginning and an opening came up. Maggie started kindergarten R-2 at the Hong Kong International School (HKIS).
Monday: free day for everyone. Except Katy and I.
Tuesday: Maggie, Katy and I went to HKIS for meet the teacher and after school sign up day. After school sign up was in the morning. Maggie is focused on Girl Scout Daises, swimming and gymnastics. We were invited to lunch by our HKIS host mom. Then off to meet the teacher, Ms McGinnis. She is from New Zealand and we think we will get along great.
Wednesday: First day of school for Nicholas. And first time taking the school bus. So Katy and I took Nicholas down the to school bus. It comes up to the lobby drive up level at 8:10. We put him on and drove with him to the school. He saw all the neat stuff at school and was like "bye bye." His day goes from 8:30 to 10:30 M-W-F. I went to pick him up and meet his teacher Ms Jemma. Again very nice.
Thursday: D DAY. Maggie's first day of R2. Her day starts with a school bus pickup at 7am down on the street level. As you can imagine a gaggle, if ever that word applied to people it does to parents standing around waiting for a school bus, of parents and kids. Maggie's bus came, she had a little hesitation, but got on. Maggie's day ends with the bus drop off at 2:15 or so. She had a great day per her own report.
Friday. D DAY PLUS 1. Niocholas' second day. We decide that maybe he should ride the bus by himself. Well he gets on OK and actually stays OK till it pulls out and leave then starts crying. Katy and I figure we will see on Monday. But when Eva picked him up at 10:30 the only thing she heard was he keeps being reminded to sit down in class. But as my friends at FUMCDC will know, it was hard for me to see him cry.
Later that morning I head to HKIS for new parent orientation. The principal and her staff all gave presentations. It was really nice and there will be a lot of chances for us to get involved.
Oh.....During this whole week, Nicholas on Monday somehow got scared of his shadow and would NOT GO TO SLEEP in his room. Crying, screaming, just..wow. So every night Katy or I would have to rock him to sleep. Thankfully it seemed to pass Friday night. The night we were most worried about was Wednesday nite, so Maggie got a good night's sleep for her first day. Through rocking and rocking we finally got him to sleep at 9:30pm. As Katy said, of all the weeks to pick to have sleep trouble, this was not our first choice. So during the week Katy and I got less and less sleep.
So that was our week. In a strange way after all that, I feel more a part of this place than before.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Air Travel in Asia
While I am somewhat hesitant to share this with my American friends, after flying Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines, Thai Airlines and Singapore Airlines, a clear trend emerges: Flying here in the region is GREAT and I am talking about economy class.
First security at the airports is strict, but reasonable and helpful. They usually look the 4 of us over and make the same conclusion any reasonable security professional would: "if there was a category below low risk, that is the one we would tag them with." So Katy can go through the scanner leaving Nicholas in his stroller and rolling it through. If I forget to take the water bottle out of the carryon bag because I am trying to make sure Maggie stays with us, the security politely and friendly apologizes that they have to throw it away and then politely let us pass. No "Sir we will have to rescreen the bag" stuff.
And no ones takes their shoes off...ever.
Actually everyone in the air travel system here is polite and friendly. The only people who are dead serious are the immigration people.
At the gate for our Malaysia Airline flight back to Hong Kong, the 4 of us got in line when they called for first class, business class and families with small children can board first. Well we were about 15 people deep. A nice attendant saw us, gave me the look that "this will not do" and escorted us to the front of the line..after telling a irritated business class gentleman that he would have to wait in line.
On the plane, well, first you get a real meal..and they have kids meals. Actually they serve a snack first, then the meal which includes dessert. And of course wine, beer, whatever you like. Have I said this is economy class. They ran out of coffee and the flight attendant apologized and remembered to bring me a cup later in the flight.
When we flew to Pukhet on Thai Airlines, they were celebrating either 60 years or 100 year anniversary in air service. Every child got a present. Nicholas got a 1 foot inflatable plane and Maggie a coloring book!
I don't know the differences in the cost models between these airlines and the US, but it is clear that they are doing something different and right that makes family travel really easy.
First security at the airports is strict, but reasonable and helpful. They usually look the 4 of us over and make the same conclusion any reasonable security professional would: "if there was a category below low risk, that is the one we would tag them with." So Katy can go through the scanner leaving Nicholas in his stroller and rolling it through. If I forget to take the water bottle out of the carryon bag because I am trying to make sure Maggie stays with us, the security politely and friendly apologizes that they have to throw it away and then politely let us pass. No "Sir we will have to rescreen the bag" stuff.
And no ones takes their shoes off...ever.
Actually everyone in the air travel system here is polite and friendly. The only people who are dead serious are the immigration people.
At the gate for our Malaysia Airline flight back to Hong Kong, the 4 of us got in line when they called for first class, business class and families with small children can board first. Well we were about 15 people deep. A nice attendant saw us, gave me the look that "this will not do" and escorted us to the front of the line..after telling a irritated business class gentleman that he would have to wait in line.
On the plane, well, first you get a real meal..and they have kids meals. Actually they serve a snack first, then the meal which includes dessert. And of course wine, beer, whatever you like. Have I said this is economy class. They ran out of coffee and the flight attendant apologized and remembered to bring me a cup later in the flight.
When we flew to Pukhet on Thai Airlines, they were celebrating either 60 years or 100 year anniversary in air service. Every child got a present. Nicholas got a 1 foot inflatable plane and Maggie a coloring book!
I don't know the differences in the cost models between these airlines and the US, but it is clear that they are doing something different and right that makes family travel really easy.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Why Hong Kong is Like a US College Town
I know this seems a very odd comparsion on first glance. But it is not....if you are an American expat. Let me explain.
Most families here have what we fondly refer to as a "trailing spouse." This is the non working parent. She/he (usually a she) has come to HK with her husband's opportunity or order. She has a "dependent" visa. I know sounds very flattering.
For the record I am a trailing spouse. While I have a work visa and my own job, in essence I would not even be here if not for Katy. When I tell people that here, I feel like I get that look one must get when people say they are gay. First complete confusion because you have turned their world order upside down and then either 1) wow that's cool or 2) never really going to be comfortable with it. Very nice place but for women, the US is light years ahead. Let's hope it continues. But I digress.
So during the summer, the spouse usually takes the kids and returns to the US for an extended period of time. The people you meet here and their kids leave town. They will return in August for school to start.
It feels like alot of people leave town for the summer and HK clears out of expats...at least the wives and kids.
Thus a college town in the summer. Never really considered it, but when you do, it kinda makes sense. But being here, there is alot of neat summer camps for kids though.
Most families here have what we fondly refer to as a "trailing spouse." This is the non working parent. She/he (usually a she) has come to HK with her husband's opportunity or order. She has a "dependent" visa. I know sounds very flattering.
For the record I am a trailing spouse. While I have a work visa and my own job, in essence I would not even be here if not for Katy. When I tell people that here, I feel like I get that look one must get when people say they are gay. First complete confusion because you have turned their world order upside down and then either 1) wow that's cool or 2) never really going to be comfortable with it. Very nice place but for women, the US is light years ahead. Let's hope it continues. But I digress.
So during the summer, the spouse usually takes the kids and returns to the US for an extended period of time. The people you meet here and their kids leave town. They will return in August for school to start.
It feels like alot of people leave town for the summer and HK clears out of expats...at least the wives and kids.
Thus a college town in the summer. Never really considered it, but when you do, it kinda makes sense. But being here, there is alot of neat summer camps for kids though.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Apartment Life
Now I realize this is not specific to Hong Kong. In some parts in might be, more to come. We live in a 31 story building broken into 4 separate tower blocks. You do feel though rather like you can't meet anyone, even though there are so many people living here.
We miss the days we could send the kids into the front or back yards and let them play. Or casually hang out on your front porch and catch up with our McDonald Ave neighbors. Here it is different.
First off families congregate by nationality. I suppose an expat sort of way to feel like this is your home country.
We miss the days we could send the kids into the front or back yards and let them play. Or casually hang out on your front porch and catch up with our McDonald Ave neighbors. Here it is different.
First off families congregate by nationality. I suppose an expat sort of way to feel like this is your home country.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Our Trip to Macau Near 6 Months In
There comes a point when you are set and comfortable enough that you think about a night away from the kids. I can report that on an expat assignment, it comes at about 5 to 6 months. We are very impressed and thankful for our helper Eva to the extent Katy and I started to think about a night away.
Macau much like Hong Kong is also a SAR (Special Administrative Region) of the Peoples’ Republic of China. It was a Portuguese colony before the handover. Think of it as the Vegas of Asia only family friendly. More to come on that. It is one hour away from Hong Kong Island by ferry. So Katy and I thought it would be a great getaway.
Our Executive Assistant Maria’s husband works in Macau and was able to book us at the Hotel Okura in the new Galaxy Casino complex. More to come on that.
So Katy and I decided to go during the Hong Kong handover Day or SAR (Special Administrative Region) Day we had off on Friday through Saturday evening. We went down to the Ferry. There are several classes of seats much like planes: economy, business and first class. We decided to choose the business class which means you have larger seats and get served a light lunch and beverages. (Yes here in Asia most flights and ferries serve food. I can’t seem to understand why US airlines have to cut back but here they don’t. Better not get used to being treated well.)
Because it was a 3 day weekend, the ferry terminal was jammed. Well we got 2 tickets and were told to wait until 30 minutes before to go to the gate. About 45 minutes before, I see all these people headed down and we head down. You get to the gate number for your ferry. But then what no one tells you is that you have to check in at the gate and they assign you a seat. It took Katy and I about 15 minutes to figure this out. Luckily we still got 2 seats together.
Trip over was a little choppy. You may recall Katy has motion sickness. You head out into open sea for a bit. Then landed at Macau. Since it is a separate SAR, we decided to take our US passports with us. We were told later we could use our Hong Kong ID cards. But another long time at immigration.
Like I said, Macau used to be a Portuguese colony so the first thing you see are signs in Chinese and Portuguese and wonder, “wow do I need to know Portuguese to get by here?” At least if you are staying at the hotels the answer is NO. It is exactly like Hong Kong: English, Cantonese and Mandarin. Now maybe the newer casinos are different than main street Macau, but it is like the entire Portuguese experience was forgotten. It is all about money and fun now.
So we get past passport control and take the Galaxy bus to the hotel. There must be a luxury bus for every casino and hotel at the ferry terminal waiting to take guests wherever.
The Galaxy Casino just opened, has 3 hotels and a wave pool with sand on top of the casino complex. Our hotel Hotel Okura had it grand opening when we arrived. The Galaxy is well unbelievable. The Casino, restaurants, malls, shows, private club rooms, and spectacular fountains and exhibits in the halls. We counted about 4 private gambling club rooms. The amount of money that changes hands there must be incredible. Here is where you are reminded of how much new wealth is being created in Asia and not just for the super rich. But you can see middle class families with disposable income like in the US. Once the real power of the Chinese consumer is finally free, watch out.
But since there is clearly disposable income across the classes, the thing that really gets you about the Galaxy is how many families are there from Hong Kong and the mainland. Keep in mind the mainland is only a river away. So lots of families and the environment seems very family friendly. Except for the smoking. I swear the Chinese are in a contest with eastern Europeans to see who are the biggest smokers. And that is another very noticeable thing: if we are a minority group in Hong Kong, and we are, there were even fewer westerners we saw in the Galaxy. But could not be friendlier. You see families with small kids, tours, senior citizen tours, most from the mainland.
I saw these 4 senior citizens with tour badges on their jackets standing outside a food court. The women were pointing to their badge, to the food court and back to what I can assume is one of the tour directors. I recalled my own grandma who used to go everywhere with her senior citizen group and in my mind translated the mandarin I heard from these older women as “The tour said we could eat at any place in the food court and that is what we are going to do. Hey Anna, get back here. We don’t have to pay for that.” Yes the Chinese version of the St Mary’s Senior Citizens Club of Pittsburgh.
So the Galaxy is part casino, part hotel, part supermall, part family resort.
We ate dinner Friday night at one of the 2 upscale restaurants. An Italian restaurant that was incredible. Then off to the Cirque du Soleil Show “Zaia.” Zaia is actually in the Venetian Casino. The Venetian is across the street from the Galaxy. It has 2 manmade indoor canals with gondolas that run through the indoor mall. Really impressive. The ceiling is painted with clouds and blue sky.
The Galaxy has a bus terminal that takes its guest pretty much everywhere. One of the stalls was to the Venetian. We were told it takes about 15 minutes to get there. So we got in and actually watched as the bus drove across the street and into the Venetian’s bus terminal. Not exactly a 15 minute drive.
The Zaia show was great. Then we wandered around the Venetian.
We were treated to breakfast at the executive breakfast room the next morning. Spend the morning at the casino. Yes we gambled. Penny slots. Ha ha. And no Luck was not a Lady. Back on the Ferry and home by 4pm.
Thus ended our first night away from the kids since before Nicholas’ surgery. Maggie has an off day in September and we booked another stay. This time with the kids.
One thing after another about living in Hong Kong really is great. So if you are counting: Disneyland is 1 hour away door to door and the adult playground, that is a lot family friendly, of Macau is 1 hour away by ferry.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Compare and Contrast
One of the really common things in Hong Kong is eating dinner later than we are used to in the US. So with Maggie and Nicholas, we try and east dinner between 5:30 to 6:30.
Eating dinner at 5:30pm- 6pm in Hong Kong is like eating dinner at 4pm in the States. The dinner hour has just started, late lunches are still finishing up, you get a couple strange looks about eating so early and the restaurants usually have a table.
Being out of phase with the rest of Hong Kong by 2 hours usually means we can get a table.
Reservations are a must because restaurants fill up. Walk in is tough. So if one tries and makes a reservation the day of or walk in, you are usually told "I have a table at 6pm, but you have to give it back at 8:30pm." We usually always say yes because we have on record never had a dinner out with our kids that lasted more than 1 hour.
Eating dinner at 5:30pm- 6pm in Hong Kong is like eating dinner at 4pm in the States. The dinner hour has just started, late lunches are still finishing up, you get a couple strange looks about eating so early and the restaurants usually have a table.
Being out of phase with the rest of Hong Kong by 2 hours usually means we can get a table.
Reservations are a must because restaurants fill up. Walk in is tough. So if one tries and makes a reservation the day of or walk in, you are usually told "I have a table at 6pm, but you have to give it back at 8:30pm." We usually always say yes because we have on record never had a dinner out with our kids that lasted more than 1 hour.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Transitions
The thing about being an expat in Hong Kong is your life is about continuous transitions. Even if you are settled, there is always a transition or two or five going on around you: new people coming, people you have befriended leaving, as Maggie would say “forever.” It is a constant state of no steady state. I find myself looking to the local scene for that sense of permanence. Even that is in a constant state of change.
There was a funny story in the paper several month's ago that stated that the average lifespan of a business in Wan Chai, our nieghborhood, is about 16 months if that. And now with all the weathly spending in Hong Kong, upscale stores are pushing out local stores faster since they will pay insane rents. The thing is there is generally no report or story. One day your favorite restaurant is there, the next it is a hole in the building. No time to prepare. The entire city seems to take it in stride. So even the local scene is in a slower yet constant state of change.
With that, a family we befriended almost on our first week here is leaving for Spain on Monday. The Grahams. I remember waiting down in the temp apartment lobby for Maggie’s bus and there was Alistar waiting with his son Alex. Then when I took a taxi to pick Maggie up the end of the day, there was Alistar again picking Alex up. We started talking, thought it silly for us to each take a taxi to the same temp apartment and agreed to car/taxi pool in the afternoons. The preschool did not have a bus in the afternoon.
From there we have had play dates and trips together. We will miss them, but that is the life here. Exciting and changing all at the same time. A life of good byes.
And….
Maggie’s adopted preschool had her graduation day today (Friday morning). Don’t worry Ms Janice, Maggie will always be a FUMCDC girl! It was a very nice ceremony. Pictures on Facebook. I remember how I was so concerned about Maggie’s adjustment midyear to this school. Not only mid year, but a British style program. It and Maggie of course worked out fine there. So just as Maggie and I got settled, we have to say goodbye to Woodland.
I leave with a strong recommendation for the Woodland Beachside Preschool to anyone in Hong Kong. They have taken care of Maggie and brought her into their family. We are very grateful for it.
And….
Maggie starts Hong Kong International Summer Program in July. She will take a reading and writing in the morning and Chinese in the afternoon through July. This will be the last school transition we have to make during our stay. I welcome that.
A least a very little bit of continuity. I will take any small piece I can get.
Slacker
I have been accused of slacking off in my posting duties. (You know who you are. No need to call you out .....Carrie.) Ok so I will do better. I must admit, I have had several ideas in the past weeks and in between fire drills at work, Maggie's social calendar, Nicholas' social calendar, rain storms, cyclone warnings, strep and general exhaustion, forgot and moved on. Mea Culpa.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
June 13, 2011: A Day of Rain
Well we got our first glimpse of what a "tropical downpour" whould look like. It started raining in the night and lasted through the mid afternoon. The thing about it is that this was I think only the first stage of a thunderstorm warning: amber level. Lord knows what "black" would look like. Except this, you don't go out.
So stuck in the apartment. I think we didn't do too bad. The apartment complex has a playroom so we ended up there before lunch.
So our life continues here. Katy and I go to work. Maggie and Nicholas head back and forth from preschool. Eva helps us all.
We planned our next summer vacation at the beginning of August to Kota Kinabalu, Borneo, Malaysia. We decided to book the Shangri-La Resort there. Instead of ajoining rooms, we went with a suite. I think that will work out better.
Maggie's birthday party is scheduled for Saturday June 25 at the Parkview apartments. Maggie and her new friend Alex are having it together. We befriended Alex's parents, Alistar and Anna. Alex goes to the same preschool. They are from the UK. Unfortunately they are will be headed to Spain for good at the end of June. They were only here temporarily as Anna works for the UK government. As Maggie says, "They are leaving and never coming back." It happens so frequently that it becomes a part of the life. We will miss them.
As we will truly miss all of our friends for Maggie's birthday.
The rain is stopping. A little sunshine for the evening. A welcome sight. Signing off from across the planet.
So stuck in the apartment. I think we didn't do too bad. The apartment complex has a playroom so we ended up there before lunch.
So our life continues here. Katy and I go to work. Maggie and Nicholas head back and forth from preschool. Eva helps us all.
We planned our next summer vacation at the beginning of August to Kota Kinabalu, Borneo, Malaysia. We decided to book the Shangri-La Resort there. Instead of ajoining rooms, we went with a suite. I think that will work out better.
Maggie's birthday party is scheduled for Saturday June 25 at the Parkview apartments. Maggie and her new friend Alex are having it together. We befriended Alex's parents, Alistar and Anna. Alex goes to the same preschool. They are from the UK. Unfortunately they are will be headed to Spain for good at the end of June. They were only here temporarily as Anna works for the UK government. As Maggie says, "They are leaving and never coming back." It happens so frequently that it becomes a part of the life. We will miss them.
As we will truly miss all of our friends for Maggie's birthday.
The rain is stopping. A little sunshine for the evening. A welcome sight. Signing off from across the planet.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Sunday May 22: A Family Friendly City... thank goodness
You will hear no doubt how Asian culture and in our case, Hong Kong, is very family and kids friendly that they defer to families and kids. No doubt so far, as we walk about the city, our kids are a instant ice breaker. People coming up to us and asking "how old are they?" which leads to "where are you from?" Well here is 1 vignette have helped me understand how true this is.
Rainy Dim Sum
Yesterday was the first real rainy a for us. Stuck inside we decided to head out to dinner to our favorite dim sum restaurant Ding Tai Fung. We decided to be adventurous and take a bus route to get us there. (Mistake #1.) Then I decided not to bring our large umbrella (Mistake #2). Katy and I worked out that if we walk down to the main street, Queens Road, we could take the Number 5 or 10 bus to the restaurant.
So we all pack up and head out. No rain. Great. We walk down the hill to the street and wait at the bus stop. It's about 5:45pm. Then 6pm, Then 6:15pm. Maggie and Nicholas are hungry. They are of course also tired because they did not nap. The Number 5 bus comes and it is crowded. Because we seem to have forgotten that it is rush hour and in a big city like Hong Kong, Saturday is a work day for a lot of people. And did I mention the humidity has kicked in. So we are hungry, tired, wet and hot. Katy takes a look no #5 down the street. a lot of # 109 buses, 4 actually come by as we wait. Unfortunately we have no idea where they go.
We decided to head over to the subway.
It starts to rain. We took only one small umbrella. The rain stops a little.
We make it to the subway and it is jammed with people. Possibly worse than the buses. Well we make it to the stop but can't figure out, since it's a big stop, which exit is the closest to the restaurant. We take a shot and exit at F. Well we should have exited at E. Not sure exactly where F is. Katy pulls out her iphone and finds us on a map. We are 4 blocks out of our way.
It starts to rain again. We walk as fast as we can toward the direction of the restaurant.
Nicholas starts to hit my head. (I am carrying him.) Katy gets upset at him, but later I figured it kinda felt like a "hey what is the matter with you 2? Fail parenting school? Maggie and I are both hungry and tired and you 2 are dragging us all over Hong Kong." Every couple of minutes he looks at me and hits my head with his free hand..for 2 blocks in the drizzle.
Well we make it to the restaurant. It is now close to 7pm. The dinner rush is on. Usually if you can make it to a restaurant by 6pm there is a small line. The hostess tells Katy "1 hour wait." Now Maggie and Katy are exhausted, I am carrying Nicholas and we both are hungry and hot. Katy heads to me when the hostess sees all 4 of us, rushes over and says "just a moment, she is able to seat us." Literally she takes us to a 4 top table, and we sit down and eat.
We are convinced that they saw our family and gave us preference. It really does take the edge off, and so did the glass of wine we had at dinner.
Rainy Dim Sum
Yesterday was the first real rainy a for us. Stuck inside we decided to head out to dinner to our favorite dim sum restaurant Ding Tai Fung. We decided to be adventurous and take a bus route to get us there. (Mistake #1.) Then I decided not to bring our large umbrella (Mistake #2). Katy and I worked out that if we walk down to the main street, Queens Road, we could take the Number 5 or 10 bus to the restaurant.
So we all pack up and head out. No rain. Great. We walk down the hill to the street and wait at the bus stop. It's about 5:45pm. Then 6pm, Then 6:15pm. Maggie and Nicholas are hungry. They are of course also tired because they did not nap. The Number 5 bus comes and it is crowded. Because we seem to have forgotten that it is rush hour and in a big city like Hong Kong, Saturday is a work day for a lot of people. And did I mention the humidity has kicked in. So we are hungry, tired, wet and hot. Katy takes a look no #5 down the street. a lot of # 109 buses, 4 actually come by as we wait. Unfortunately we have no idea where they go.
We decided to head over to the subway.
It starts to rain. We took only one small umbrella. The rain stops a little.
We make it to the subway and it is jammed with people. Possibly worse than the buses. Well we make it to the stop but can't figure out, since it's a big stop, which exit is the closest to the restaurant. We take a shot and exit at F. Well we should have exited at E. Not sure exactly where F is. Katy pulls out her iphone and finds us on a map. We are 4 blocks out of our way.
It starts to rain again. We walk as fast as we can toward the direction of the restaurant.
Nicholas starts to hit my head. (I am carrying him.) Katy gets upset at him, but later I figured it kinda felt like a "hey what is the matter with you 2? Fail parenting school? Maggie and I are both hungry and tired and you 2 are dragging us all over Hong Kong." Every couple of minutes he looks at me and hits my head with his free hand..for 2 blocks in the drizzle.
Well we make it to the restaurant. It is now close to 7pm. The dinner rush is on. Usually if you can make it to a restaurant by 6pm there is a small line. The hostess tells Katy "1 hour wait." Now Maggie and Katy are exhausted, I am carrying Nicholas and we both are hungry and hot. Katy heads to me when the hostess sees all 4 of us, rushes over and says "just a moment, she is able to seat us." Literally she takes us to a 4 top table, and we sit down and eat.
We are convinced that they saw our family and gave us preference. It really does take the edge off, and so did the glass of wine we had at dinner.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Easter Post 2011
First Happy Easter. What a beautiful day in Hong Kong. Sunny, upper 70s and no, yes, no humidity. It’s one of those rare days when the rain front has blown everything out. We started the day with the arrival of the Easter bunny that came in the night to fill up Maggie and Nicholas’ baskets. Then a quick dress, Skype with the Ericksons’ and off to church.
We decided to continue to go to the Cathedral which is about 5-10 minutes away by cab. Cel, Katy, Maggie, Nicholas and I piled in a cab and we were off. The mass was very nice. Katy found a restaurant Café Deco on the top of the Peak for an Easter brunch. After mass, another cab to the Peak and off to brunch. It was great. Parents take note: they had a kids’ play area AND a magician AND an egg hunt around the restaurant while the waiters refilled your glass with sparkling wine. I highly recommend.
Afterwards, Maggie had the idea to take the Peak Tram down the mountain to the city. We did and found a taxi back to Bamboo Grove. A very pleasant day. Nicholas is asleep and we will have our ham dinner with carrot cake later.
Now a couple of behind the scenes stories about how we made Easter happen…….
I am sure that after some more time here we will figure out the small random stores that carry this, and we are told they do, but after 3 months, we still are working our way through the details of each holiday.
Maggie’s Easter Bonnet. Somewhere we missed that on the week before Easter Maggie was to make and bring an Easter Bonnet to school for a parade and egg hunt. We found out the5 days before the event. OK so generally we know to get a hat, and decorations: plastic flowers, ribbon, bows, you know. For us that would mean a trip to Target and a trip to Michaels. Here not so much. What’s a Carolina Tar heel to do? Text the British nanny. We texted Gail and she quickly said, yes, understood, and pointed us to 2 street markets one in Wan Chai and one in central. Thank God for these Hong Kong street markets. Basically if you can triangulate what you need with the right market, you are set. Need a kids costume, you are set. Need toys, candy, fruit, chicken, baby turtles for pets, fish, gold fish, knock off purses, there is a stall in a market for you.
First stop Wan Chai. Basically a walk away. I find a nice pink hat. Check. Then during lunch, I head over to a market in Central, which I kid you not, is like a Michaels and a fabric store exploded into a 2 block permanent street market. SCORE. Now it does appear rather odd and I kept repeating, “for my daughter,” to see a man in suit buying pink fabric flowers, pink ribbon and pink butterfly decorations, but I got everything to decorate a hat…and Maggie was happy.
Egg Dyeing. In the States, white eggs are well everywhere. Here not so much. We have seen them. But when you are looking to buy them, they are nowhere to be found. So we ended up with brown eyes. Google says that will work. Google is WRONG. What we found midway through the egg dyeing was that if you double up the dye tablets, it works fine. So new note: want to use brown eggs, need to double up the tablets for each color. Better Alternative: look harder for white eggs.
Chocolates. Finding a nice middle “Target like” price range for Easter candy is dodgy (oops, I think I am turning British.) A lot of high end candy and candy from somewhere in China, but alas no Target. If you are curious the closest Target is in Sydney. So we ended up with some high end candy and local candy.
Easter Ham. This is more difficult than white eggs. Katy looked all over. There was even a post of another person asking where to buy a ham in Hong Kong. Apparently there are random super markets that might have them. In the end we settled for a thick cut slice of ham for some astronomical amount.
Easter Baskets. In another moment of brilliance, Katy brought the baskets. But then we realized no straw. Well we had resigned ourselves to it, when a box came from my Aunt (Teta) Jane. She sent Easter candy and it was packed in, you guessed it, Easter basket straw, enough for both kids. Way to go Teta!
So in the end, the Easter Bunny came to Hong Kong. Both Maggie and Nicholas were thrilled.
April 23, 2011: Nicholas turns 2 in Hong Kong
Our Nicholas turned 2 today. For his one year old birthday, it rained and you guessed it rained for his 2 year old birthday. But really only in the morning. The thing about Nicholas’ birthday in Hong Kong is that this year it is right in the middle of a long holiday weekend. In Hong Kong, Good Friday and the Monday after Easter are holidays. So many people take a 4 or 5 day weekend. Unfortunately some of his and our friends were not around. We were fortunate to celebrate with Maggie’s friend Alex and our new friends his parents.
We had a very nice gathering and Nicholas enjoyed himself.
April 14, 2011 Cel Arrives
My mother in law Cel (Cecelia Jennewein) is our first visitor. Or as I say "A Minnesotan Gopher in Chairman Wen's Court." Everyone is very excited.
We hope to have more family and friends visit during our stay.
We hope to have more family and friends visit during our stay.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Hong Kong Allergies
You are told that the allergies here are bad. A mix of pollen and I am sure pollution. But wow, until it hits, it is an abstraction. For the past 2 days, it's been bad. Katy and Nicholas just got over it. And now it's my turn. Lucky I had some recent prescription allergy meds from the States. It helped this afternoon. I took the night one just now.
I miss the green pollen mist of Charlotte.
I miss the green pollen mist of Charlotte.
3 Month Mark
It’s hard to believe we are at the 3 month mark. We were told that it takes about 2 to 3 months to set everything up. I would agree that seems to be right.
Our last big transition was that our new domestic helper Eva started with us last week. For those of you who do not know, Hong Kong has a large domestic helper workforce primarily coming from the Philippines and Indonesia. They repatriate their income back to their families. They live with you. The apartments have a so called “helper room”” in the back off of the kitchen. They have Sundays off and usually do a mix of nanny, maid, cook and a lot of other things. While Hong Kong has a very strict immigration and visa policy for these workers, their treatment varies wildly from employer to employer and as far as I can tell, these women have little recourse for bad treatment. Some treat them as well as a nanny, some as poor as a servant with all the Filipino and Indonesian racist connotations thrown in that you can image.
So after about 3 “sirs” from Eva, I said, “Ok, Eva I am too American to keep this up. Please call me David, or Mister David if you have to. We are a team here.” She smiled and seems to understand. I hope so. I know that 2 weeks won’t undue any hesitancy she has.
So how did we find Eva? Finding a domestic helper is as you can image hard. While there are many women looking for work, it is hard to find the good ones. We got a lot of great advice. We were blessed to have Eva come to us from a recommendation of another interviewee. One of the women we interviewed passed us along to Eva. She was looking to leave her current employer. We met, interviewed and got along great. She is older with a grown son in the Philippines.
Eva’s primary job is watching Nicholas. One of the main challenges here in Hong Kong is the absence of any pre-3 year old daycare facilities for a working family. They don’t exist. The assumption here is that one parent, a nanny or a helper stays at home. Even at 2, the only programs are 1 hour so called “play groups.” Then after 2 and a couple months, the preschool starts to have longer programs.
So Eva watches Nicholas during the day. Our job is to book structured things he can go and do. We have his playgroup at Woodland on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the morning for about an hour ½. Then we are looking at a Kinder music class, a gym class and rugby tots on Saturday. While this seems a lot, it is just an hour and ½ each day. There are also classes here at our apartment complex. We are looking into enrolling Nicholas there as well. Our life still revolved around his nap.
As a working family, that is the one thing we miss that hits home very day: First United Methodist Child Development Center in Charlotte, or 5 star day care/preschool, or Ms Janice and her team!
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The Day your Daughter Knows Her Way Around the Subway
Our apartment is close to a subway (MTR it is called here) station called Wan Chai. We all set out to take the MTR to the local furniture store for some odds and ends on Sunday. Now it is pretty busy in the Causeway Bay district because most domestic helpers from Indonesia and the Phillipines have off Sundays. Causeway Bay is one of many meeting points. The trains are crowded and the stations are packed.
Maggie heads off in front of us, elbowing her way through the crowd, proudly declaring, "I know the way" as she steps on the escalator down to the train platform level. As we enter the station and take several escalators down to the train level, Maggie continues to walk 5 to 10 feet in front of us with an air of confidence.
When we came back, Katy and I both know our station as "Wan Chai." Maggie looks up and says to us, "It's the green station." As if she is taking tourists around. And you know what, she is right. Wan Chai is the Green Station.
So my 4 1/2 year old daughter can navigate the Hong Kong Subway system.
Maggie heads off in front of us, elbowing her way through the crowd, proudly declaring, "I know the way" as she steps on the escalator down to the train platform level. As we enter the station and take several escalators down to the train level, Maggie continues to walk 5 to 10 feet in front of us with an air of confidence.
When we came back, Katy and I both know our station as "Wan Chai." Maggie looks up and says to us, "It's the green station." As if she is taking tourists around. And you know what, she is right. Wan Chai is the Green Station.
So my 4 1/2 year old daughter can navigate the Hong Kong Subway system.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Day 91: Charlotte Dreamin
I am told that one's view of an expat assignment is a series of ups and down when you really enjoy Hong Kong them really miss the US and Charlotte. These past couple of days, I think we all were in the missing Charlotte phase. So it's day 90. Day 90. Miss our friends. Miss our family. Miss our street. (By the way McDonald Ave rules!!, yeah it does!!!!) Miss Maggie and Nicholas school. And you wonder, how bad have I f-ked up my kids by ripping them away from their friends and what they know. You do this little stressful freakout inside your head. You wake up at 3am and wonder "what the f-k?" and you fret and fret and fret.
Then everything starts to erck you. I know up to this point I have made Hong Kong out to be a Shangre La. So it will no doubt come as a shock to you to learn that in fact it is not. In fact it is just like any other big cities with its own idioscracies, its own irritants. Thus I will list some out:
1. No one says "excuse me." they simply bump into you, walk directly in front of you, cut you off, well, you get the idea.
2. It is common practice to herd at the opening of an elevator as if it is the last one down from a burning building. And yes, getting off an elevator means you actually have to fight your way through this crowd as at the same time they are trying to push their way in.
3. The City is in a hurry to go, well, I don't know. But they are in a hurry. Everyone is in a hurry. Everyone. All the time. It's as if in Hong Kong at every minute the entire population is rushing across town to be there for the birth of their first child.
So I fret and get irritated. And as I write, I notice that Maggie has led Nicholas to the green reading chair and helped him up. They sit side by side and Maggie starts "reading" to Nicholas now and he is so attentive to her. They both sit in the big green chair. And Maggie looks at me with this, not sure why your're upset, but we are fine look. And I sit here, write and think, yeah Maggie I think we will be fine.
Then everything starts to erck you. I know up to this point I have made Hong Kong out to be a Shangre La. So it will no doubt come as a shock to you to learn that in fact it is not. In fact it is just like any other big cities with its own idioscracies, its own irritants. Thus I will list some out:
1. No one says "excuse me." they simply bump into you, walk directly in front of you, cut you off, well, you get the idea.
2. It is common practice to herd at the opening of an elevator as if it is the last one down from a burning building. And yes, getting off an elevator means you actually have to fight your way through this crowd as at the same time they are trying to push their way in.
3. The City is in a hurry to go, well, I don't know. But they are in a hurry. Everyone is in a hurry. Everyone. All the time. It's as if in Hong Kong at every minute the entire population is rushing across town to be there for the birth of their first child.
So I fret and get irritated. And as I write, I notice that Maggie has led Nicholas to the green reading chair and helped him up. They sit side by side and Maggie starts "reading" to Nicholas now and he is so attentive to her. They both sit in the big green chair. And Maggie looks at me with this, not sure why your're upset, but we are fine look. And I sit here, write and think, yeah Maggie I think we will be fine.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
A Day in the Life: Until it changes again
A Day in the Life
It occurred to me that it might be fun to follow one day in our life, so far. You might be thinking wow I wonder how exotic and exciting there life is than the one in Charlotte. I hate to be a buzz kill, but with 2 small children, it's more like the Buckaroo Bonzai "No matter where you go, there you are" kinda thing.
Other than the constant background sounds of Cantonese, allot more people, a very well developed mass transit system and none of our great friends to lean, laugh and live with, it's pretty much the same type of routines and worries.
5 AM. David gets up to run outside. The gym here at the complex doesn’t open till 6AM. This is of course in complete alignment with most of Hong Kong which seems to run on a 10AM to midnight schedule. Early risers and morning people will find a very quiet city.
5:50 AM. David gets back and Katy is getting ready for going to the gym.
6 AM. (otherwise known as the mad rush) Katy is out the door. David tries to shower and get ready before one of the 2 kids wakes up.
6:35 AM. Katy gets back, showers and gets ready while David prepares Maggie’s lunch and gets everyone’s breakfasts ready.
7:00 AM. Katy and David switch roles. Katy watches kids and David dresses.
7:00 AM to 7:30AM. Now this is the tricky part: Maggie and David have to get dressed, packed and ready to go out the door in order to catch the taxi to the bus stop.
7:30 AM. David and Maggie out the door, go down to lobby and wait in line for a taxi which drives us to the school bus stop. Maggie’s preschool does not pick up and Bamboo Grove, so we have to drive to the local city bus stop.
7:45 AM. Arrive at the stop. We wait for the bus. Read chit chat.
7:55 AM school bus picks Maggie up and David hails a Taxi to return to Bamboo Grove OR on days I need to go directly to work.
REWIND 7:30 AM: Katy gets ready to go and eats breakfast.
8 AM: Nanny comes to watch Nicholas, Katy heads to lobby.
8:10 AM. David meets Katy in lobby and we take the shuttle bus to a drop off and walk to our own buildings.
8:30 AM In the office.
5:10 PM David heads over to Katy’s building because it is easier to catch a taxi from there.
REWIND:
3:30 PM: Nanny picks Maggie up from preschool and heads home or to a play date.
5 PM: Nanny and kids back at apartment.
5:30 PM: Katy and David take taxi back to apartment.
5:45 PM: back at apartment, start dinner let nanny go home.
7 PM: Tubbies for kids start.
8 PM: kids in bed.
8 PM to 10 PM: potential calls from the states for Katy or David. You see as we both have to work with teams in the US, we have calls sometimes back to back.
9:30 PM. Collapse in bed.
5 AM next morning. Rinse, repeat, rinse.
Now on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Nicholas has a 1 and ½ hour playgroup at a preschool closer in the city. He is accompanied by the nanny.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Comply to Win! Random Thoughts from the Life in Hong Kong
* Language is a funny thing. We all I think at times make fun of other people who try and fail to speak English. But if you ever yourself worked at a language, you instantly become not only patient but forgiving with others. I passed a bank promotion in a mall in Beijing. The large banner near the signup table said in english "Comply to Win."
Then after our visits with the Beijing Branch, we took a group picture with our boss in the middle. I was taking the picture and decided I would count to 3 in Chinese and of course impress everyone. So I stood on the chair, told everyone that I would take the photo on "sun" (3). In my head I said ee, ar, sun (1 2 3), but what came out of my mouth was ee, ar, ar (1, 2, 2) Everyone had a big laugh. Language may be what divides us, but trying and failing to speak someone else's language instantly bridges any divide with laughter. Maybe I will comply to win, because you can't win unless you comply.
* If you ever thought, "you know if I was in some other exotic part of the world, say Hong Kong, my child would not spent his entire haircut screaming in the salon." You would be wrong.
* Every 4 and 1/2 year old should learn to hail a cab.
* If you ever thought,""you know if I was in some other exotic part of the world, say Hong Kong, my child would not spent his swim lesson screaming at the top of his lungs." You would be wrong.
* one of the most important things to learn in a foreign language is "Turn right" and "Turn left."
* a warm smile from a 22 month year old boy is an instant ice breaker between people from different countries. Maybe they should be running the UN.
* If there is an secret international society manipulating the world, it is a bunch of electricians who came up with the idea that different countries in the world should be adamant about their special voltages and differing plugs. You spend a mint buying duplicate appliances that oh by the way, you can't take back with you because if you ever tried to plug in that Hong Kong dehumidifer you would cause a blackout in Charlotte.
Then after our visits with the Beijing Branch, we took a group picture with our boss in the middle. I was taking the picture and decided I would count to 3 in Chinese and of course impress everyone. So I stood on the chair, told everyone that I would take the photo on "sun" (3). In my head I said ee, ar, sun (1 2 3), but what came out of my mouth was ee, ar, ar (1, 2, 2) Everyone had a big laugh. Language may be what divides us, but trying and failing to speak someone else's language instantly bridges any divide with laughter. Maybe I will comply to win, because you can't win unless you comply.
* If you ever thought, "you know if I was in some other exotic part of the world, say Hong Kong, my child would not spent his entire haircut screaming in the salon." You would be wrong.
* Every 4 and 1/2 year old should learn to hail a cab.
* If you ever thought,""you know if I was in some other exotic part of the world, say Hong Kong, my child would not spent his swim lesson screaming at the top of his lungs." You would be wrong.
* one of the most important things to learn in a foreign language is "Turn right" and "Turn left."
* a warm smile from a 22 month year old boy is an instant ice breaker between people from different countries. Maybe they should be running the UN.
* If there is an secret international society manipulating the world, it is a bunch of electricians who came up with the idea that different countries in the world should be adamant about their special voltages and differing plugs. You spend a mint buying duplicate appliances that oh by the way, you can't take back with you because if you ever tried to plug in that Hong Kong dehumidifer you would cause a blackout in Charlotte.
Month Number 2 in the Record Books
Well we have moved into our new apartment. It's hard to believe we spent 2 months in a 2 bedroom, 1 family/dining room hotel room. But now everyone has their own rooms, space and the ability to actually walk to a Starbucks, McDonalds and stores. While I know it doesn't work for everyone, we love to be living in the city.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Day 50: Week of Weeks
Well this week is certainly a "week of weeks" for Team Matvey. Tomorrow morning Katy and I go and sign the permanent apartment lease, we start a new temporary nanny and I go away for a week (more to come on that.)
Our lease for our "permanent" apartment starts tomorrow. We paid the fee to have our sea shipment stored for a couple days until the delivery on Friday. Then Saturday Katy and I get the place ready while Maggie and Nicholas stay at Parkview with the nanny. Hopefully we spend our first night in the new apartment Saturday March 5. We all can't wait. Oh that's not all....
Maggie's school is having a sports day on Thursday where the kids have a special day of team activities. Also the Canadian School has decided to give Maggie her evaluation this week as well.
To top it off, I will be away. I will be flying to Tokyo on Monday afternoon then on Wednesday off to Beijing for the week and come back on Friday night. A detailed work trip to visit our corporate operations sites. It's a great opportunity at the exact wrong time for our family. Katy and I talked long about it and decided it was a trip I should not miss. I have been packing tonight. I leave for the airport from the lease signing. Please note, since I am the "trailing spouse" I actually don't get to sign anything. the entire thing is under Katy's name.....so I better watch my Ps and Qs or I'll be renting a cot in some fishing junk off Hong Kong Island!
So best to get some rest.
Our lease for our "permanent" apartment starts tomorrow. We paid the fee to have our sea shipment stored for a couple days until the delivery on Friday. Then Saturday Katy and I get the place ready while Maggie and Nicholas stay at Parkview with the nanny. Hopefully we spend our first night in the new apartment Saturday March 5. We all can't wait. Oh that's not all....
Maggie's school is having a sports day on Thursday where the kids have a special day of team activities. Also the Canadian School has decided to give Maggie her evaluation this week as well.
To top it off, I will be away. I will be flying to Tokyo on Monday afternoon then on Wednesday off to Beijing for the week and come back on Friday night. A detailed work trip to visit our corporate operations sites. It's a great opportunity at the exact wrong time for our family. Katy and I talked long about it and decided it was a trip I should not miss. I have been packing tonight. I leave for the airport from the lease signing. Please note, since I am the "trailing spouse" I actually don't get to sign anything. the entire thing is under Katy's name.....so I better watch my Ps and Qs or I'll be renting a cot in some fishing junk off Hong Kong Island!
So best to get some rest.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Day 39: Let's Go out For Pizza
If you have been following, I still have a craving for a pizza. A good old fashioned Italian American pizza. Not the kind you get in Sicily but the USA. Katy thought her growing network finds that a place called "Pizza Express" has the ticket. Great. Can't wait. Katy, Maggie, Nicholas and I hop in a Taxi and head down one of 2 locations near us.
Did I mention it's raining?
The taxi drops us off right outside the first location. It's about a 2o table restaurant which seems to be letting out a birthday party. "Yes we are closed for a party until 6:30."
Did I mention it's 5:50PM.
In the rain under 2 small umbrellas, we weigh our options 1. Head for the other location. 2. wander around the area we are in. Now #2 is perfectly fun if a) it wasn't raining and b)Katy and I could go back in time machine 6 years ago when we didn't have 2 small children growing hungry by the minute. We decide on #1.
We get into another taxi and head to the second location.
Did I mention we are not quite sure where the the second location is?
We get to the main area and find a marquee with, thank God, Pizza Express on it. It's on Star Street. Great. Uh where's Star Street, oh right in front of us. Good. Ok, right or left. Left seems better.
After some wandering we find the restaurant. Great. Another birthday party wrapping up. "Can you come back at 7:30?" Well let's see, 2 small wet hungry children. I am thinking no, no we cannot come back at f--kin 7:30pm. I am tired and wet and have 2 hungry kids and will give you a 50 dollar, yes US Dollar bill for a bread stick. That's not what comes out. What comes out is "never mind." Now I am hungry and getting testy.
We remember a nice American style restaurant is near a mall we are now close to. Let's walk there. We get there. "Do you have a reservation?" No. "Well we can seat you but you have to leave by 7:30." This is real common here in HK. No reservation, well then you have to leave by so and so.
We sit down and have dinner and all's well that ends well. Maggie and Nicholas just went with it. I love our kids. Soooooo lessons learned:
1. Always call ahead and make a reservation for everything.
2. Pizza Express is a prime location for kids birthday parties
3. Taxis are NO problem in the rain in Hong Kong (Thank God.)
Did I mention it's raining?
The taxi drops us off right outside the first location. It's about a 2o table restaurant which seems to be letting out a birthday party. "Yes we are closed for a party until 6:30."
Did I mention it's 5:50PM.
In the rain under 2 small umbrellas, we weigh our options 1. Head for the other location. 2. wander around the area we are in. Now #2 is perfectly fun if a) it wasn't raining and b)Katy and I could go back in time machine 6 years ago when we didn't have 2 small children growing hungry by the minute. We decide on #1.
We get into another taxi and head to the second location.
Did I mention we are not quite sure where the the second location is?
We get to the main area and find a marquee with, thank God, Pizza Express on it. It's on Star Street. Great. Uh where's Star Street, oh right in front of us. Good. Ok, right or left. Left seems better.
After some wandering we find the restaurant. Great. Another birthday party wrapping up. "Can you come back at 7:30?" Well let's see, 2 small wet hungry children. I am thinking no, no we cannot come back at f--kin 7:30pm. I am tired and wet and have 2 hungry kids and will give you a 50 dollar, yes US Dollar bill for a bread stick. That's not what comes out. What comes out is "never mind." Now I am hungry and getting testy.
We remember a nice American style restaurant is near a mall we are now close to. Let's walk there. We get there. "Do you have a reservation?" No. "Well we can seat you but you have to leave by 7:30." This is real common here in HK. No reservation, well then you have to leave by so and so.
We sit down and have dinner and all's well that ends well. Maggie and Nicholas just went with it. I love our kids. Soooooo lessons learned:
1. Always call ahead and make a reservation for everything.
2. Pizza Express is a prime location for kids birthday parties
3. Taxis are NO problem in the rain in Hong Kong (Thank God.)
Tao Moment: Having a bad day
Here in Hong Kong you have a "Tao Moment" I think because Zen is Japanese. Having a bad day. So on the off chance I do have a bad day here is how I think about it: I am having a bad day, but I am having a bad day IN HONG KONG. How bad can that be?
Saturday, February 12, 2011
One Month in Hong Kong
It's hard to believe that one month has passed since we moved into the temp apartment. From the little things to the big things, we are slowly checking off the to list from finding a nice pediatrian for the kids to a cable package for the permanent apartment.
One funny little thing story. I have to start my saying there are 2 ways to look at living as an expat: eitehr everything is an adventure or everything is a pain. It's the general theme that defines your stay here. We see it as an adventure. When I say everthing, I mean everything.
I have seen a Pizza Hut delivery cycle outside the condo complex. So one day I think let's order pizza. There is an online ordering service. Great. How hard can this be. Well. every pizza online to order is shall we say unusual. My favorite is a pizza with thousand island sauce, crab sticks tuna and I think fruit. All I want is a pepperoni pizza. after spending a lot of time searching the site I give up. I end up picking up a very expensive imported frozen pizza from the store.
But there is also a very important lesson here. Afterward, after reaching out to my co workers and nanny about it, they tell me about several pizza joints that deliver. The more people you connect with and befriend, the larger your network here is and the greater information you have available to you about where to buy a pizza, or kids toys, or doctors, or books, or the side streets of Wan Chai where you should really should go to buy electronics.
Thus the adventure continues.
One funny little thing story. I have to start my saying there are 2 ways to look at living as an expat: eitehr everything is an adventure or everything is a pain. It's the general theme that defines your stay here. We see it as an adventure. When I say everthing, I mean everything.
I have seen a Pizza Hut delivery cycle outside the condo complex. So one day I think let's order pizza. There is an online ordering service. Great. How hard can this be. Well. every pizza online to order is shall we say unusual. My favorite is a pizza with thousand island sauce, crab sticks tuna and I think fruit. All I want is a pepperoni pizza. after spending a lot of time searching the site I give up. I end up picking up a very expensive imported frozen pizza from the store.
But there is also a very important lesson here. Afterward, after reaching out to my co workers and nanny about it, they tell me about several pizza joints that deliver. The more people you connect with and befriend, the larger your network here is and the greater information you have available to you about where to buy a pizza, or kids toys, or doctors, or books, or the side streets of Wan Chai where you should really should go to buy electronics.
Thus the adventure continues.
Fitness During our Move and in Hong Kong
As many of you know, I try 1. to run for exercise, 2. eat right and 3. get rest as much as we can. So during the move, how well did I do? On all three, not so good. By my estimate, this entire move costs about 6 to 8 pounds...and that is trying to keep a eye on all 3.
So when we got here, we were excited that the temp apartment in this condo complex has running trails around the island park. Did I mention that the complex is actually at the top of one of these mountains? More later.
I was so excited to finally get out on the road for run. I got out there very happy with waking up early, ready to restart the program. I start down hill and down hill and down hill....
The slopes are, no kidding 40% to 70% grades up and down for large stretches of the trail. I think it has to level out right? It does 1 mile down at the dam for about 1/4 mile, then starts up again. Basically I head out on this elite hill profile, proud of myself and feeling great and get my ass kicked. The first thing I think is, "Great my fitness has gotten so bad I can't even run a hill." But then remember, that as I am trying to get your fitness back on track I am living within a monster hill profile....great. Half way up a no kidding 70% incline I stop and start walking. Buzz Kill.
The complex has a very nice gym, so call me "treadmill Davey."
So when we got here, we were excited that the temp apartment in this condo complex has running trails around the island park. Did I mention that the complex is actually at the top of one of these mountains? More later.
I was so excited to finally get out on the road for run. I got out there very happy with waking up early, ready to restart the program. I start down hill and down hill and down hill....
The slopes are, no kidding 40% to 70% grades up and down for large stretches of the trail. I think it has to level out right? It does 1 mile down at the dam for about 1/4 mile, then starts up again. Basically I head out on this elite hill profile, proud of myself and feeling great and get my ass kicked. The first thing I think is, "Great my fitness has gotten so bad I can't even run a hill." But then remember, that as I am trying to get your fitness back on track I am living within a monster hill profile....great. Half way up a no kidding 70% incline I stop and start walking. Buzz Kill.
The complex has a very nice gym, so call me "treadmill Davey."
Day 29: Enter the Dragon...and Lion...to Work
One of the more well known symbols of Chinese New Year is the Lion and Dragon dancers. Whether in the street during a parade or on a float, the Lion and Dragon means "Chinese New Year." Well being in Hong Kong these take on a whole new and very serious meaning. Thus I learned at work on Monday.
I came into work a normal Monday morning with a list of things to do. My secretary came by and said, "The Lion Dancers are coming by today from 2:30 to 4, but don't worry I ordered you the lettuce." "Oh, great, thank you," I said back having absolutely no clue what she meant.
"You have some red packets on you right?" she asks. I actually do have a small stash for Chinese new year emergencies. (Please refer to older posts.) Yet have no idea why I need them.
The morning went on quietly, clearly many associates were excited about this. The about 11 or so, a series of building workmen started hanging heads of lettuce in all the offices and certain cubicles. Slowly they worked around the floor till they got to my space. I am in the middle of moving cubicles and rearranging the layout. This caused a LARGE set of worry and concern. Where should they hang the lettuce? In the current space or the new space? After some discussion, my secretary chose the new space, since that is where you will spend 2011. I didn't have the heart to mention that my boss said don't get too comfortable as the Bank is restacking the floor and we will probably move. Oh well, I hope luck travels.
Then the red packets come into play. You need 2 to hang with the head of lettuce.
I should stop and give some very important facts about all this care of my new internet site for Chinese Wo Jing Martial Arts and I qoute,
I came into work a normal Monday morning with a list of things to do. My secretary came by and said, "The Lion Dancers are coming by today from 2:30 to 4, but don't worry I ordered you the lettuce." "Oh, great, thank you," I said back having absolutely no clue what she meant.
"You have some red packets on you right?" she asks. I actually do have a small stash for Chinese new year emergencies. (Please refer to older posts.) Yet have no idea why I need them.
The morning went on quietly, clearly many associates were excited about this. The about 11 or so, a series of building workmen started hanging heads of lettuce in all the offices and certain cubicles. Slowly they worked around the floor till they got to my space. I am in the middle of moving cubicles and rearranging the layout. This caused a LARGE set of worry and concern. Where should they hang the lettuce? In the current space or the new space? After some discussion, my secretary chose the new space, since that is where you will spend 2011. I didn't have the heart to mention that my boss said don't get too comfortable as the Bank is restacking the floor and we will probably move. Oh well, I hope luck travels.
Then the red packets come into play. You need 2 to hang with the head of lettuce.
I should stop and give some very important facts about all this care of my new internet site for Chinese Wo Jing Martial Arts and I qoute,
"The legend says "Nian" (pronounced Neen) who was a fierce monster, especially liked kidnapping children. He terrorized villages year after year. Finally, one year, a lion defeated and chased the monster away. “Nian” vowed to return next year. This time the villagers did not have a lion to protect themselves. So, they solved the problem by creating a costume likeness of a lion and two villagers used it to scare “Nian” away. This is the reason the lion dance is performed every Chinese New Year.
The legend also says that loud noises from the drum, other instruments, and firecrackers helped scare the “Nian” away. Red is worn during the New Years celebration because it was also believed that the “Nian“, was afraid of the colour red. The word "Nian," thought the yearly ceremony, has become the Chinese word for year."
As much as the Lion embodies all these forces and powers, the Lion is still a wild animal and must be tamed, disciplined and dedicated to help man utilize the yang element (cycle of life mentioned before). One method to achieve this was to find a way to communicate with the spirit world and to influence the workings of these forces of nature for one's benefit.
To achieve this, the Lion must be “awakened” in a ceremony. By this ceremony, the Gods and the Deities are asked to look favourably to grant and bestow spiritual life to the Lion. The Lion is now called hsing-shih (pronounced Sing See) or “awakened Lion”. The Lion now becomes, neither God nor Deity, but agent assigned by Heaven to bestow blessings of wealth and happiness to the community and to dispel evil forces and pestilence.
Other elements of the Lion dance include paying respects via bows to the audience, leading party, deity location (Sun Wei) or location of prosperity (i.e. Cash register, doorway to a business). When more than one Lion appears, elements include playing (i.e. tail chases), fighting (i.e. head bites), grooming, scratching and horseplay.
The Lion will then proceed to the eating element. Lettuce is usually used, and when eaten symbolizes the appeasement of the Lion and, in turn, the Lion will bestow good fortune to the provider. When the Lion spits out the Lettuce, it represents “Fat Choi” (as in Gung Hey Fat Choy), or spreading the greens, spreading the prosperity. Sometimes, the Lion will also be fed scrolls with lucky sayings when lettuce is inappropriate." End Quote
To achieve this, the Lion must be “awakened” in a ceremony. By this ceremony, the Gods and the Deities are asked to look favourably to grant and bestow spiritual life to the Lion. The Lion is now called hsing-shih (pronounced Sing See) or “awakened Lion”. The Lion now becomes, neither God nor Deity, but agent assigned by Heaven to bestow blessings of wealth and happiness to the community and to dispel evil forces and pestilence.
Other elements of the Lion dance include paying respects via bows to the audience, leading party, deity location (Sun Wei) or location of prosperity (i.e. Cash register, doorway to a business). When more than one Lion appears, elements include playing (i.e. tail chases), fighting (i.e. head bites), grooming, scratching and horseplay.
The Lion will then proceed to the eating element. Lettuce is usually used, and when eaten symbolizes the appeasement of the Lion and, in turn, the Lion will bestow good fortune to the provider. When the Lion spits out the Lettuce, it represents “Fat Choi” (as in Gung Hey Fat Choy), or spreading the greens, spreading the prosperity. Sometimes, the Lion will also be fed scrolls with lucky sayings when lettuce is inappropriate." End Quote
So you can see this is serious stuff and I have only been here 3 weeks! The actual ceremony starts in the lobby with a very ornate dragon dance and multiple lions dancing in front of the building executive staff. This lasted about an hour. Then the loins proceeded to each floor, that funded this, for the individual ceremonies.
I started to get very anxious. Then they arrived on 42: one lion, a drum and several cymbal players. Greta they are starting on the other side of the floor. I decided to watch and try and get some on the job training. Once they made it to my boss, my secretary noticed my concern and said, "don't worry I will help you." Thank God for the lifeline.
So the lettuce is hanging above your desk, you put out several red packets of money around it to "attract" the lion over. So imagine, there you are: you and the Lion dancers backed up by the loudest drums and cymbals you have heard. In between you is the hanging lettuce. The Lion did a stylized dance then jumped up and ate the lettuce. OK, pay attention, this is the really important part. The Lion tears up the head of lettuce ad then spits some back out at you and all over the office space. You are supposed to catch some to lock in your luck and prosperity for the year.
I caught some. International incident averted. The Lion takes a picture with you and the ceremony ends. Congratulations from the locals on a job well done. Some actually leave pieces of lettuce around there work space through the year sprinkled across their trading screens.
I cannot capture the essence of Hong Kong better than this. This American blond haired guy of Russian and Slovak ancestry welcomed into a very Chinese ceremony because while so many things are different, Hong Kong is at the core a city and a people bound together by commerce, business and free market and wrapped tight with a strong commitment to tradition and family. Hong Kong if you look close enough is like the ceremony modern yet mystical, serious yet fun, foreign yet very familiar.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Days 24 to 26: Fun During Chinese New Year Holiday
When you have several days off and no school and you are in a service apartment, you can A) Not plan anything and hope the kids (and you) wont go stir crazy or B) plan some trips. We decided to plan some trips and things to do. Trust us, Plan A never ends well. There is a lot of crying and losing of tickets.
For pics see my Facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/david.matvey
Thursday New Years Day.
We decided to spend the day at the Parkview (Our temp apartment complex). They had a great but long Lion Dance we decided to watch before having a Traditional Chinese Lunch Buffet at the Parkview Restaurant. I say "long" because the Lion dance is part performance and part very serious ceremony to bless or rid the complex of bad luck. It is seen much in the same way that Russian Orthodox view a Priest blessing a home with holy water. So that means that the lion had to go to every office, every floor, every part of the complex. It ended with an impressive performance at the front with the executive staff. The ceremony which was to only last to 12:30 did not end till 1:45. Lunch was late.
Maggie was quite concerned about a traditional Chinese lunch. Well it was very varied. There was a fried shrimp ball both she and Nicholas loved. It was more of a Asian lunch with offerings from all over Asia. Maggie learned that yes she can find something to like to eat in China.
By the time we got back to the apartment everyone was tired. So we decided to skip the parade at night. Again a great temptation is to go and see a lot and do a lot. Our recommendation is resist it. Nothing ends well with 2 tired kids.
Thursday Night: Damn you Mickey Mouse.
Friday we decided to take Maggie and Nicholas to Hong Kong Disneyland. Little did we know how exciting with would be for a 4 1/2 year old. I think Maggie came into our room at least 7 times that night, "Mamma I can;t sleep," "Dadda I need to go to the bathroom." I have heard about this illness that affects children. "The I am so excited to go to Disney in the morning I can't sleep" syndrome. Well needless to say Momma and Dadda got no sleep, so it's off to Disney!
Friday: A Great Day at Disneyland
We headed out an hour late because of the above. The subway MTR takes you directly to a special Disney train that drops you off at the entrance. This is truly a Disney we can get on board with. It is small yet has all the things our kids want to see: Princesses, Tomorrowland, Adventureland, rides, main street and the parade. The staff was extremely friendly and especially nice to the kids. It is a perfect day trip that doesn't wear you out.
We got there around 10am. The crowds were just forming so we were able to get around and ride some rides before the lines got too long. We ate lunch and stayed for the parade. Afterward about 4 hours later we left. Maggie was on Cloud 9 throughout the day. Every phrase was an exclamation. I think we won the "Best Parents of the Year" Award.
Saturday: Day at the apartment
Now considering what I said above, you may be thinking, "What? are they crazy?" Because we were interviewing a helper, we stayed home during the morning. We actually found a helper we liked and made her an offer. While she can't start till late March, she was great. Older, experienced. Afterward we went into the city to buy a dehumidifier. NOTE: Buy the western brands because you are assured instructions are in Chinese and English!
Now is about when the Plan A backlash kicked in. Maggie started to get stir crazy, so Katy decided that we should go on a hike down to a lake. The Parkview is located within a great park. Maggie spent the first part of the trip working out her stir craziness and lamenting how miserable she is in her lot in life. It took about 20 minutes, then she popped back, looked around at the 70 degree blue sky day and started acting normal again. We came back and had a nice evening.
Sunday: Do these people ever rest?
Ah....no. We met up with some new friends Anna and Allister (parents of Maggie's schoolmate Alexander). They were headed to Ocean Park on Sunday and invited us along. Now Ocean Park is half Sea World, half zoo and half amusement park. They have a great panda habitat and a really impression aquarium. They also have a kids amusement park area. We had a long but fun day.
Ocean Park has a cable car that goes over the top of the mountain it located near to an even bigger older kid/adult rides park. We did not get there today. It was very crowded.
It was interesting to Katy and I that while Maggie had fun, she had almost a knee jerk excitement at Disney that was lacking at Ocean Park.
And what of Nicholas. He was a his usual smile and make friends with whoever came by. My own "grip and grin" guy. I recall one point when Maggie was still melting down on our hike, Nicholas looked over at me and gave me this "it's a beautiful day and you are offering her a piggy back ride. I dont get it" look.
So that was our holiday. It may seem hectic, but the thing is Disney and Ocean Park are so close that while it is a day trip, it really doesn't wear on you like a day trip should.
For pics see my Facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/david.matvey
Thursday New Years Day.
We decided to spend the day at the Parkview (Our temp apartment complex). They had a great but long Lion Dance we decided to watch before having a Traditional Chinese Lunch Buffet at the Parkview Restaurant. I say "long" because the Lion dance is part performance and part very serious ceremony to bless or rid the complex of bad luck. It is seen much in the same way that Russian Orthodox view a Priest blessing a home with holy water. So that means that the lion had to go to every office, every floor, every part of the complex. It ended with an impressive performance at the front with the executive staff. The ceremony which was to only last to 12:30 did not end till 1:45. Lunch was late.
Maggie was quite concerned about a traditional Chinese lunch. Well it was very varied. There was a fried shrimp ball both she and Nicholas loved. It was more of a Asian lunch with offerings from all over Asia. Maggie learned that yes she can find something to like to eat in China.
By the time we got back to the apartment everyone was tired. So we decided to skip the parade at night. Again a great temptation is to go and see a lot and do a lot. Our recommendation is resist it. Nothing ends well with 2 tired kids.
Thursday Night: Damn you Mickey Mouse.
Friday we decided to take Maggie and Nicholas to Hong Kong Disneyland. Little did we know how exciting with would be for a 4 1/2 year old. I think Maggie came into our room at least 7 times that night, "Mamma I can;t sleep," "Dadda I need to go to the bathroom." I have heard about this illness that affects children. "The I am so excited to go to Disney in the morning I can't sleep" syndrome. Well needless to say Momma and Dadda got no sleep, so it's off to Disney!
Friday: A Great Day at Disneyland
We headed out an hour late because of the above. The subway MTR takes you directly to a special Disney train that drops you off at the entrance. This is truly a Disney we can get on board with. It is small yet has all the things our kids want to see: Princesses, Tomorrowland, Adventureland, rides, main street and the parade. The staff was extremely friendly and especially nice to the kids. It is a perfect day trip that doesn't wear you out.
We got there around 10am. The crowds were just forming so we were able to get around and ride some rides before the lines got too long. We ate lunch and stayed for the parade. Afterward about 4 hours later we left. Maggie was on Cloud 9 throughout the day. Every phrase was an exclamation. I think we won the "Best Parents of the Year" Award.
Saturday: Day at the apartment
Now considering what I said above, you may be thinking, "What? are they crazy?" Because we were interviewing a helper, we stayed home during the morning. We actually found a helper we liked and made her an offer. While she can't start till late March, she was great. Older, experienced. Afterward we went into the city to buy a dehumidifier. NOTE: Buy the western brands because you are assured instructions are in Chinese and English!
Now is about when the Plan A backlash kicked in. Maggie started to get stir crazy, so Katy decided that we should go on a hike down to a lake. The Parkview is located within a great park. Maggie spent the first part of the trip working out her stir craziness and lamenting how miserable she is in her lot in life. It took about 20 minutes, then she popped back, looked around at the 70 degree blue sky day and started acting normal again. We came back and had a nice evening.
Sunday: Do these people ever rest?
Ah....no. We met up with some new friends Anna and Allister (parents of Maggie's schoolmate Alexander). They were headed to Ocean Park on Sunday and invited us along. Now Ocean Park is half Sea World, half zoo and half amusement park. They have a great panda habitat and a really impression aquarium. They also have a kids amusement park area. We had a long but fun day.
Ocean Park has a cable car that goes over the top of the mountain it located near to an even bigger older kid/adult rides park. We did not get there today. It was very crowded.
It was interesting to Katy and I that while Maggie had fun, she had almost a knee jerk excitement at Disney that was lacking at Ocean Park.
And what of Nicholas. He was a his usual smile and make friends with whoever came by. My own "grip and grin" guy. I recall one point when Maggie was still melting down on our hike, Nicholas looked over at me and gave me this "it's a beautiful day and you are offering her a piggy back ride. I dont get it" look.
So that was our holiday. It may seem hectic, but the thing is Disney and Ocean Park are so close that while it is a day trip, it really doesn't wear on you like a day trip should.
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