Farewell Hong Kong

Final day in Hong Kong. Matthew and Tony ran to the park first thing this morning. We had dinner with my cousin Stella and her daughter Dior and her beau John last night and decided to do it again today over lunch before we had to take off for the airport. I also invited our friends Mylene and Amy to join us. They were traveling through Egypt and just returned to Hong Kong. It was nice that they were able to have lunch with us. My cousin's daughter Susan also joined us for lunch. We had a leisurely lunch and Matthew was twitching to go back to the park. He HAD to get the most of the park and squeezed as much time as possible before we had to take off. I asked Matthew and Tony to return to the hotel no later than 4:45PM in order to allow ample time to get to the airport.

We were the last ones in the restaurant. That's pretty depressing. The staff were "discreetly" clearing the dishes and milling around us. I think it was their way of saying..."OK- you're done. Now LEAVE." We took the hint and wandered back to the Disneyland Hotel so we can hang out and chat while waiting for Tony and Matthew to return. Dior and Susan explored the hotel grounds and of course, Matthew and Tony saunter into the hotel at almost 5PM when we had to leave for the airport.

It's a sad day for us because it brought the reality of leaving a civilized place such as Hong Kong that much closer. We had a week of proper lining up. Seriously- there was no pushing, no shoving, no jumping the lines. We didn't have to listen to anyone drawing deep into their bowels to hock a loogie and most of all, CLEAN bathrooms. It is sheer joy to be able to go into a restroom and not worry about how clean it is. Tony loved the fact that people can speak and understand English in Hong Kong. Matthew even practiced some of his Cantonese. Sometimes, he would get confused and answer in Mandarin. That's OK. I loved the fact that he tried.

So, after a week of living in civilization, we now face the reality of returning to the bowels of Shanghai. We'll be back into the swing of things like pushing, shoving, screaming, public lewdness and most of all, facing very dirty bathrooms. How depressing.

Unusual Names

One of the things that we've noticed since we've been living in China is the unusual Western names adopted by the Chinese. So, since we've been in Disney these past few days, we've been reading the name tags of the staff at the hotel and the park. Here's a list of the usual ones that we've come across. Venus, Petty, Step, Sonic, Moe, Icy, Food, Chunk, Candy, Kermit and Rainbow. Not names that I would adopt but I'm sure there is an underlying reason that these names were chosen.

I've always wanted to start a T-shirt business with sayings. Most Chinese don't know what the terminology used on the t-shirts means. I saw a woman the other day with a shirt that read "Rock my body." Clearly, she didn't know what it meant because if she did, she wouldn't be wearing it.

I want to go around and ask the Chinese if they know what the meaning behind their Westernized name means. I don't think anyone would voluntarily call themselves Sonic. The first thing I wanted to say was "Is your last name Hedgehog?" In addition, naming yourself Petty or Step is really not attractive. Chunk is another one that I wouldn't want to have on a name tag. I can actually think of all the jokes that could come with it.

So, we'll be on the lookout for more unusual names. I'm sure there will be another entry.

Meals

We've spent the past few days holed up in Disney. Don't get me wrong. I love Disney. Several days of it non-stop is a bit much. For Tony and I we were ready to leave and find somewhere else to dine. For Matthew, it's whole other matter.

We had a reunion with my cousin Cheung Yau and Gloria the other day in the city. It was great to see them again. The last time we saw each other was six months ago when they came to visit us in Shanghai. We met downtown for lunch at Causeway Bay and it was fantastic. Tony and I got our much needed dim sum fix on all our favorites and then some. We all agree that the food in Hong Kong is much better than Shanghai. Hands down. After lunch, Tony and Matthew returned to Disney while I ran errands. It was great. Being away from the happy world of Disney was a much needed break for me.


We ran into the city last night to have dinner with Alice and her husband Jack. They took us to Lei Yue Mun. A place known for it's seafood. You pick out the seafood you want and it's prepared for you at the restaurant. The food was really good and hanging out with Alice is always a barrel of laughs.

We have a few days left here in Hong Kong. We'll be searching for new places to dine and explore. Might as well get our food fix before we head back.

Happy Easter from Hong Kong

Tony arrived home real late Friday night or it was more like early Saturday morning. 2:30 AM to be precise. We had to leave for the airport at 7:00 AM. Pretty painful. He was out with his colleagues celebrating a co-worker's recent wedding. The whole expat gang together with all the locals hung out and ate......drank and then...proceeded to go to various nightclubs.

One of the downfalls of living in China is that most of the population smokes. So when he crawled in and reeked of smoke, I was not pleased. Top that with only three hours of sleep, I felt for him. Mr. Miao looked like he was hurting too. I didn't care that they were hurting just as long as we made it to the airport on time to catch our flight to Hong Kong.

We arrived and was greeted by very heavy rains. Matthew was pretty bummed that he couldn't hit the park immediately. The rain stopped for about 2 hours. Plenty of time for us to run to the park and get on the Buzz Lightyear ride several times, hit Space Mountain and then the heavy rains came again. That's OK- we're here for a week and have plenty of time to do it over and over again.

The weather was a bit better this morning. We hit the Hollywood Hotel for breakfast and then ran to the park. Matthew participated in the Easter Egghunt and in between we did some rides. I even did the Mad Hatter's Tea Cup ride. I have very bad motion sickness and I managed to survive that one. That is one for the books. So, Happy Easter everyone. Hope that you will enjoy the day with all your loved ones.

Empty Nest ..... Almost

We've had a house full of hamsters for the last month. Today, the last of the hamsters have been adopted and we now have an empty nest. Well almost. Matthew is still here and will probably be with us for at least another ten to fifteen years or longer. Speedy and June will continue to live with us in separate cages until ..... they either go home to meet Jesus or disappear under some mysterious extenuating circumstances. All of the baby hamsters have been formally adopted into six new homes. Ina's family decided to adopt a boy and a girl. Alas, they are residing in separate cages but that's what Rene wanted. My friend Andrea helped me find three other homes and two of Matthew's friends agreed to adopt one each. Now the office doesn't look like a pet store anymore.

Now that this duty has been completed, we're flying out to Hong Kong tomorrow morning for a week at Disneyland. Anne will take care of June and Speedy until we get back. Since they've been separated, we won't come home to anymore surprises. Unless of course, we have the equivalent of the Virgin Mary in Shanghai. Then I'll have to make a call to the Vatican and get some attention.

Bully Proof Vest

The entire fifth grade class has been working on their inventions these past few weeks. Matthew decided to work on the Bully Proof Vest and not on the Mom Shock Collar. Thank goodness for me! We went down to the fabric market several weeks ago to design the vest. I had to tell the tailor exactly how to do it and not pad it with filling. He was a bit perturbed why I wanted so many pockets. My response was "So I can steal things." You all know that I was kidding. He didn't get it. Oh well.

The vest was ready and came out exactly the way I wanted it. Tony and Matthew whipped up a batch of non-Newtonian fluid, a.k.a cornstarch and water, and were busy packing the pockets with the fluid. For those who don't know, a non-Newtonian fluid is a liquid that can change it's viscosity when a force is applied. His idea was to use this fluid to absorb the energy when a bully punches you, hurting his hand but not you. Silly you say? Sheer thickening fluids of this sort are being researched for bullet resistant body armor, useful for their ability to absorb the energy of a high velocity projectile impact but remain soft and flexible while worn, ha. The electronic whoopee cushion, used to aid in the escape, was a real hit with kids and adults alike.

The invention convention was a success. Matthew set up his little stand and was busy advertising his vest. The response was good. Many people liked the idea. Of course, without actually putting the prototype through production, Matthew thought he could sell his vest for a mere $29.99. Sounds like a Ron Popeil informercial.

So, if Matthew actually gets this idea off the ground, he may be on his way to becoming a millionaire. At least, I hope so!

Uncle Gus Sideburn Kit

Matthew received a birthday card in the mail from Uncle Gus the other day. The mail system in China is incredibly slow and it's no surprise that it takes a while to arrive. Matthew gleefully opened the card and it was a Star Wars themed card and in it, there was a bit of a surprise. The Uncle Gus Sideburn Kit (TM/Patent Pending). It included instructions on how to adhere the sideburns to the face. Matthew was roaring with laughter as he read the instructions. They are as follows: "The Uncle Gus Sideburn Kit (TM) will bring you hours upon hours of fun! Now with real Uncle Gus hair! Instructions:
a) Carefully remove from patented polyethelene duraclear II sheathing
b) Find left and right sideburn (see back)
c) Peel off back liner
d) Apply
Note If glue is not working, use loogie to apply.
Extra Feature: Doubles and transforms into a mustache!"

Needless to say, Matthew immediately peeled off the backing and applied the sideburns. Quickly posing in various stances, he chose to imitate Elvis by saying "Thank you very much". I must say that Uncle Gus has quite an influence on Matthew. Instructions to use a loogie is not appreciated on my end but then again, they are boys. Need I say more?

Matthew's Birthday

Hard to believe that my child is another year older. The time has flown by quickly and another round of celebrations were underway. The precursory cupcake delivery to school to celebrate with his classmates was the official kick off. Matthew's classmate Kelvin also shared in the celebration since it was his birthday as well. Matthew made a call back to the US to wish his cousin Justin a "Happy Birthday" since they were born 12 hours apart. We then continued the party at home with a chocolate fudge cake complete with milk chocolate frosting.

Of course, those who know us, know that the party doesn't stop there. We celebrated Matthew's birthday in style at the Westin Hotel overlooking the Bund. The usual suspects attended- Ina, Rainer, Rene, Alice, Anne, Tony and Amy. Great food, lots of cake and sugar to spread around. Who said we can't share? We'll probably continue this party down in Hong Kong when we get there next weekend. Another round of eating with our family and friends. Alice will be in Hong Kong at the same time. It's gonna be a lot of fun!

Gender Classification

The baby hamsters are now over a month old and it's time to separate them so we won't have anymore little pups. The other day, my friend Andrea came by and we did the precursory look. It wasn't a pretty thing but it had to be done. We thought we did it right but then started to have doubts. So, I arranged for Anne and Andrea to come by. We decided to have dinner together since Tony and Matthew had guy night. Great food, two bottles of wine and then we proceeded upstairs to do it all over again. Let's just say that the hamsters were pretty traumatized by what we did. Not to mention the laughter that came out of the office. Tony and Matthew were afraid to come up to see what we were doing to the hamsters. I can honestly say that we have five girls and two boys and they've been segregated to the appropriate cages until they get picked up by their new owners.

Once the hamsters have been disbursed, we'll be on our way to Hong Kong. A week long vacation of spinning tea cups and great food. We'll need it.