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.
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