to make a LONG story short

Devin

2011-04-17T22:37:00.006+08:00

Well, while I was searching desperately for Outbacks and trying to ride kangaroos, Devin went to Beijing with the usual suspects. Of course he took no pictures but Long took some good ones and I wanted to post the link to them so you could check out their travels.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee

I hope the link works, but if not maybe cutting and pasting into a web browser might help?

The Land Down Under

2011-04-11T14:46:00.024+08:00

When I found out my time was coming to an end here in China I vowed to try to do as much as possible before going home. At the exact same time my friend Ann, who used to live here in Hong Kong and has now moved back to the States, asked me if I wanted to take a trip with her to Australia. She was going for a wedding and said I could be her date and we could get in some good sightseeing while there! I jumped at the chance and so I took the 9 1/2 hour plane flight to Sydney to meet Ann there. This is the Sydney Harbour Bridge that welcomed me in the very first night I got there! A rather spectacular sight, no?

We spent the first day exploring Sydney's highlights...the Opera House, obviously....

Bondi Beach

We asked this nice man to take this shot of us and I wanted him to take one with Ann's camera too, which was on the ground. He thought I said will you take one on the ground and he laid down on the pavement and took this one! ha! Does that translate funny in writing? It sure was funny in person. Funny with a hint of awkward.

The next day we made our way to the beach where we got in a surfing lesson...

Top 3 most fantastic things we did while there. It was so much fun!

After spending a few days in Sydney we took a flight to Melbourne to begin the wedding weekend festivities. Our hotel in Melbourne was what you could call "shabby chic" with more shab than chic but the lobby had fun stuff to take pics of.

A humongous portrait of the Rolling Stones (at least I think it's the Rolling Stones) hung in the lobby and I made Ann snap a solo shot with it.

We spent a lot of time touring around the main streets of Melbourne but our hotel was in somewhat of a cute residential area where I got this shot....

Downtown Melbourne.....

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the city at the rehearsal dinner that was held at the mother of the bride's house.

If I could have created a perfect travel partner it would be Ann Ball Lawson. She was a BLAST!

We woke up early the next day and rented a car to drive to the wedding site about an hour away in the Yarra Valley which is the "Napa Valley" of Australia. Ann was such a trooper to drive on the opposite side and there were some close calls at points where we almost meandered into the wrong lane but overall, she did a fabulous job. Let's be honest, the entire continent would have banned me from ever returning had I taken the wheel. That was a strict deal breaker for me when planning the trip. I would go, but I WOULD NOT drive.

Getting into the Yarra Valley on a cloudy day....

Vineyards everywhere...

This was the American Crew we hooked up with that came for the wedding as well...

The wedding was a blast and it was so fun to experience an Aussie wedding! This is my, "I'm having a blast" face!

The day after the wedding we took a tour of some of the "bush"

We came across some kangaroos which can get up to 6' high. Who knew, huh?

A pretty creek....

A wallaby which is smaller than a kangaroo and oh so cute....

We left Melbourne the Monday after the wedding and flew to Cairns to visit the Great Barrier Reef. It was super cloudy and windy the day we went to the reef and I got WICKEDLY sick on the boat but the experience was still one of the most incredible ones I've ever had! Ann and I with our coffees before getting on the boat where I would later be oh so sorry I drank that coffee. Live and learn.

Another teachable moment in my day was when the guides asked us to put our "stinger suits" on and I did not get the memo from Ann that I was to wait and only put it halfway on for the photo session. So alas, I look like a crazy weirdo and my fellow travel companion looks like a brunette Cameron Diaz from Charlie's Angels, but the picture makes us laugh, so it was well worth it!

Action shot. You can barely see it, but that's the reef's corral behind/under me.

Some of the fish we saw that day....

So, now I'm back in Hong Kong and the weather has turned into full summer mode. We spent the weekend by the pool and it's already a steamy humid mess outside. "The air so heavy it could drown a butterfly." It makes me think about how long I've been here seeing as Spring marks me having experienced every season in this place. It's bittersweet to think it's over but I am so very grateful for the life experiences I have been a part of. I look forward to coming home and will always treasure this adventure I got to be a part of. So, I guess in essence, this is the end but bonus that I have this blog to always look back on and remember my experience in the Orient.

Shanghai

2011-02-28T14:24:00.015+08:00

Devin couldn't decide on the soup choices...

For you, Dad....

This dish was REALLY GOOD! It's some type of fish.

The future of Shanghai's architectural layout at the Planning Museum

Spelled wrong but the website was Long.com

Good thing we had Long with us (who speaks fluent Mandarin) because our English signs we take so for granted in Hong Kong are nowhere to be found in Shanghai

China dolls in the market

An old Shanghainese man enjoying afternoon tea

So hazy you can barely see the skyline

A pagoda in a 400 year old garden we walked around

A lost in translation moment that had me laughing out loud. From the staff at Starbucks.

We took the bullet train (fastest train in the world) back to the airport. You can sort of make out the speed above our heads (310 kph which is almost 200 mph)

Weekend Festivities

2011-02-21T16:33:00.015+08:00

This weekend we got invited to our friend, Petrina's house (lovely lady in the center of the pic) for a traditional English Sunday lunch. We ate yorkshire pudding, roast and veggies. It was so fun and delicious. Here are the ladies right before lunch.

Steph's mom is in town with her friend and they came too. They are THE. CUTEST. EVER!

Here's Devin with Petrina's dog, Bob (who closely resembles a squirrel/fox combo, right?). They ran out of Prozac for him before the lunch and you couldn't put Bob down on the ground due to his anxiety...so someone always had to hold him. The last sentence you just read is not a joke. I am being dead serious about all of that. Anyway, good thing Bob liked Devin.

Right before lunch we all met up at a coffee shop and planned (well Long and Devin planned) our trip to Shanghai for this coming up weekend. They usually plan the trips and Steph and I just arrive at the airport when we're told to be there. Seems to work out better that way.

Friday night we all met up for burgers and beer. Legit burger huh?

Here's the clan reunited again, at least for the next few months!

I'm Back

2011-02-16T16:00:00.009+08:00

Soooo, hello there you. And by you, I mean the one person I can guess is still perusing around this site. Sorry I have been so absent. Soon after we got back from Bali I flew to San Diego to be with this lady, because she is beautiful and I love her. She's my mom-in-law and I spent a relaxing enjoyable few weeks with her in the 77 degree sunshine of Southern California. Seriously, they don't call it America's Finest City for nothing.

After spending almost a month in the States, I'm back in Hong Kong nursing a really bad case of jet lag and filling you in on what's coming up. Our time in Hong Kong is coming to a close. I will be leaving in May with Devin following close behind after he finishes up some loose ends at work. I am both excited to come back and really wanting to soak up as much as I can of this place for the remainder of my stay. So, hopefully many a trips will be happening for me to blog about (I've just assumed my day to day is too non-important for the blogosphere.) So, I'll keep you posted. Thanks for sticking around. Let's not make it awkward if I'm not back for awhile, ok?

Bali

2011-01-04T12:19:00.003+08:00

Not much to say about Bali other than it was a lot of this....

by this....

Happy 2011 everyone!

Cambodia in Pictures

2010-12-30T16:40:00.016+08:00

Vietnam

2010-12-23T18:05:00.028+08:00

Holiday Greetings from Vietnam! We are on the first leg of our Christmas journey through Vietnam, Cambodia and ending in Bali for New Years. The hotel in Hanoi has wi-fi and so I thought I would start the blogging so I could remember everything and not leave anything out. Vietnam is a crazy, loud and very crowded place and worth seeing but I will be honest in saying that our calm quiet hotel room has beckoned me more often than the crazy streets of Hanoi. Their currency is called "Dong" and the exchange rate is 19,466 Dong to 1 US Dollar. It has made for many 5 million Dong meals and I'm not proud to say the 6th grade Dong jokes have been flying around like water. But, no more stories...here are the pictures:

The Vietnamese Flag

A side street in Hanoi with hundreds of Vespas parked

Such a cute Vietnamese woman selling fruit and perfectly walking through the craziest traffic I have ever seen in my entire life! I had to take like 6 pics to not get a car or a Vespa in one.

On our second day in Vietnam we drove a few hours out to a place called Halong Bay which is essentially a place with thousands of limestone karsts which you can see in some of the pictures. A karst is basically barren rocky ground, caves and sinkholes (I had to look that up.) We took a cool little boat out overnight and enjoyed really great food and some of the most breathtaking views. The pictures don't do it justice (as I always say) but I hope you can get a good idea.

Our "boat" that we took. It was very comfortable and quaint.

And then these are the limestone karsts.....when we first set out we were crazily taking pictures and then we realized these karsts were ENDLESS so we relaxed and ate our faces off at the buffet. That has sort of been the theme of this trip, eating and spending Dong.

Long and Dev hanging out (two peas in a pod) but a cool pic with the Vietnamese flag

A pic of what the "caves" looked like.

We got to go into one of the caves with a million stalactites and stalagmites (stalactites are tapering structures hanging like icicles from the roof of a cave formed of calcium salts deposited by dripping water and stalagmites are ones that rise from the floor of the cave.) Who knew this blog would be such an educational experience for you, huh? Anyway, this cave was incredible! I LOVED walking through it. Here's Long and Steph walking in....

The pictures DO NOT do the amazing natural structures justice....

Our guide had us guess what images some of the different structures formed. Sidenote: Devin MADE me put this picture up amidst me telling him we do not know who views this blog and that are grandmothers view it but there was no cajoling him . He wanted you to guess what this one was. He said even my mom would think it was funny (so, sorry Mom.)

Sigh, boys will be boys. Good luck-it's a toughy to decipher....

Leaving the cave we saw this amazing view of the harbor. Again, not a fake backdrop but a great prom theme if someone wanted to do

"Under the Karst Stars."

This was the most "sunset" I could get due to the clouds but still a cool view...

Devin and Steph kayaked around the harbor....

We got to go exploring one day and came upon these monkeys...

So, now we head to Cambodia. I can't wait to see what awaits us there! Merry Christmas to all of you back home! We love you and miss you so very much!

Taiwan

2010-11-23T10:44:00.018+08:00

We just got back from a weekend in Taipei and it was my favorite place we have been so far! I decided I love all things Taiwanese and Long Long was born there so it was fun to go back to her homeland. Plus, her friend went with us/hosted us and his brother is a famous Taiwanese movie star so he took us to all his favorite "hot spots." It was an amazing time!

This picture was specifically a posed shot (taken for the blog) as soon as we arrived in the airport. Long and Steph were good sports and the fact that we all wore purple was a coincidence.

Our hotel's beautiful tree put me in the Christmas spirit!

We put our bags down and hit the night food markets which is what Taiwan is known for. It's like thousands of booths with all this great food. Whoa! The food was so good! So so good! Picture the fair with no rides or rednecks and all food booths...that's what it was like.

This guy was my favorite and sort of tasted like a cajun fillet chicken biscuit from Bojangles without the biscuit. Lawdy, it was yummy!

There was beautiful fresh fruit everywhere but we opted for more unhealthy picks this night.

Here you can get a sense of how many booths were set up! Hundreds!

These were strawberries with a candy apple coating. Duh right? I was LOVING these!

An unfortunate misspelling of t-shirt....

Fish balls. They were surprisingly really good but maybe my palate is changing...

Devin (to no one's surprise) liked the fish balls.

My palate has NOT changed enough for me to try these guys....yowsers

Ok, this is not meant to be a picture of me...check out the girl's outfit in the background. Awesome. Pure awesomeness. I just love that she is all trended out but still sporting the face mask. As if her mom was like, "you can wear that outfit, but you have to wear your mask" and she actually obeyed her. Maybe teenagers in Taiwan are more obedient than I was but I would NOT have been caught dead sporting my furry knee high boots with a mask in high school...TSC

This was our movie star friend. We said he reminds us of Jackie Chan but I think that's because that's the only other Chinese movie star we know. He is the NICEST guy alive!!!

Y'all, the cabs had karaoke IN THEM! WHAT?!?!?!? Funnest thing ever. I wanted to just keep driving all over town. They call karaoke "K-TV" there and it's very popular. I think I was supposed to be Taiwanese. The back of our seats had the screens with the words.

All dressed up ready to go to dinner where we went to the best sushi restaurant I've ever been to. The guy on the very right was our wonderful host for the week. Such a great guide!

We went to K-TV that night as well. This is Nick who they tell us is like the Justin Timberlake of Taiwan. We didn't believe them really until we left the Karaoke place and saw the paparazzi outside and then saw him on the cover of a magazine at the airport. So, we got a free concert!

We enjoyed a very Taiwanese breakfast one morning of dumplings and rice soup with some Chinese pastries. Long was explaining what everything was to us here....

This is the guy that made them for us.....

Taipei Street

Scooters everywhere....

The last few pictures are famous temples of some sort. Long Long complains I don't listen to her enough when she explains the culture. "I don't really remember, I wasn't paying attention." I'm kidding, that is a movie quote from an old classic. :)

Megan's Visit

2010-11-16T09:44:00.024+08:00

A "tai-tai" is the word they use for all the xpat wives that come to Hong Kong and don't work. It means a lady of leisure or a lady who lunches. So, as an official tai-tai, I have also been deemed the "Tammy Tour guide" of the group since I have time to explore and figure out the ins and outs of finding new places, restaurants and sight-seeing spots. And the true reward of being a tai-tai and a "Tammy Tour guide" is getting to show visitors the city when they come. My sister-in-law, Megan just left us and we had a BLAST!!! It was SO FUN to wander around the city with her and boy, was she a trooper. Here's the two Longs on our first outing.

We took her to the big buddha because well, it's just so big.

And you get to ride the cable cars over the water to see it....here's the clan on our way

Megan and Devin in front of the Buddha before ascending the gajillion stairs to see it up close

And then, duh, we went to get Megan her fish pedicure, because that's what we make visitors do. I figured she'd be more of a trooper than I was but it was still pretty classic.

Can't you just hear her? "So, wait? What is this going to feel like?"

Wait for it...wait for it...yep, there it is. Horrible. It's going to feel horrible.

But the view from where you hike to get to the fish is the best. It never gets old.

Doesn't this picture look like a fake backdrop? Like, "A Night To Remember-Prom '96" I love it! So surreal.

Devin took off a couple of days and we went hiking on our favorite trail that leads us to Shek-O beach where we enjoyed a Thai lunch and then came and lounged on these rocks like lizards and just soaked up the sun. The weather during the day is 75 almost every day now so it's beautiful!

I made Megan get amongst it in the bamboo. She was such a good sport.

Megan and Devin on the hike....

The next day we took a ferry to Lamma Island which is known for it's seafood restaurants and we went hiking AGAIN after eating at Devin's FAVORITE hole in the wall lunch spot. To get to the restaurant you go through this really seedy market area where I always think, we could be going to eat Indian today, or we could be going to die. Either one is a possibility at this point. But, I must say, the food is incredible there. Some of the best Indian I've ever had. As you can tell from our 20 empty plates on the table. Ha!

Lamma Island

We found these RANDOM mops on our hiking path....who knows

We ran across this little old man watering his plants. I love him.

And we ran across this unknown fruit....

Again, I made Megan go stand by this thing because it just looked so Chinese. I kept saying that so much she started saying "TSC" for "That's So Chinese." We used the saying out...

That's the mountain we hiked along.

Crabs ready to be feasted on at this seafood restaurant.

That night we went to the horse races which are HUGE here in Hong Kong!

It's so cool because behind the track you can see the city lights.

Look at how many people were there! I said a million. Devin corrected me to guess maybe 20,000. I speak in hyperbole. He speaks in reality. It is what it is.

We snacked on kabobs....

The horses were so so beautiful!

Look! I got a picture of them coming around the finish! It was so cool!

So, I asked if animal prints were still in the other day and then I saw this leopard jumpsuit and got my answer. Apparently, they are in here.

The next day we took to the seas. We rented a kayak to take around the South China Sea. It was classic because the night before while we were making Devin call some guy to set up our kayaking day Devin, in his ever present logical state, asked if we had ever kayaked in our lives. We looked at each other and then back at Devin and said nope. But, I knew we could do it. We did! It rocked! In the picture below you can see where we started from. We went for a while out there and rested on some little islands we found. It was pretty surreal and awesome!

Megan's last night here (sniff, sob, sniff) we went to the Night Markets. I made her take a bunch of pictures because it was all so Chinese. See, I do say it a lot. "TSC"

We finished the shopping night off with a beer and some spicy szechuan dinner. We get a kick out of how big the glasses are that they serve Hoegaarden in. It's as big as her poor face.

To say I was not ready for Megan to go is an understatement. What a fabulously fun week! Thanks for coming, Megs. I love you so very much!

"The World Spins Madly On"

2010-11-14T16:59:00.006+08:00

Well, for whoever is still reading this blog I must tell you, I never finished a page of a coloring book as a kid. Never. I maybe got Cinderella's dress and her hair but I'd give up, put it away and move on to riding my bike or climbing a tree. So, I actually gave the blogging longer than I thought I would. I'm trying to come back. To get back on that train and keep blogging so hang with me, if you will.

We're 3 1/2 months in to our "adventure" which seems insane! It has been amazing, exhilarating, hard, smelly, new and life changing. As the days go on it sometimes gets easier and sometimes much much harder. Harder in that there are days that I miss those I love so much I can't breathe. Those days leave me wanting to pull the covers back over my head as the sun shines through the windows and sleep forever. My body feeling too tired to move even a single muscle. But, I do get up, whether it's from sheer willpower or the embarrassment I know would come if I were still laying there when the housekeepers open the front door, I'm not really sure.

I leave the house and go down the escalator system that now seems so familiar. It's cooler out now, which helps. I only work up a tiny bit of sweat as opposed to the deluge of perspiration that used to just accompany me always. As my sister-in-law puts it so perfectly, my ridiculous factor was at an all time high back in those hot summer days. One hot mess.

As I turn down the street I sometimes don't even notice the loud (I mean loud) noises of construction that always welcome in a new day as the city never slows down production of building homes for the ever increasing population. As the bus exhaust puffs a black film of soot through the air and into my face I no longer cough and cover my mouth (cue the scene from What About Bob when he first leaves his apartment...anyone?) My lungs know it's coming now and in fact, they're cool with it. It's probably taking years off my life but whatevs.

I have the walking down to a science these days as I maneuver my way around the city, gliding amidst THOUSANDS of other people always in a rush to get to their destinations. Step, step veer left. Step, step shuffle right. Ooops, messed up and end up getting a rough shoulder that knocks me back for a second (happens every day) but now I no longer look back to see what idiot just ran into me (I'm usually the idiot responsible anyway.) I take no more notice of it now than I used to of having to stop at a red light while driving (we all know I never did that very well either.) So, I continue on with the ever present game of "walking chicken" as I face the next oncomer. That's how it's gotten easier. I no longer even need a map to get places. I know most streets around the neighborhood and I now have my favorite restaurants where the staff knows me and smile kindly as I come in for the third time that week to order the same thing (Beef Noodles and Iced Lemon Tea-it's the greatest. Free refills would make it simply divine but I'll take what I can get.) I am in fact, a woman of routine and I have settled quite well into one here. I have found my favorite tailor, manicurist and drug store. My gym basically can set their clocks by when I'll arrive every day. All in all, life has become quite normal in some ways. And this morning, as my husband figured out how to get the USC vs. Florida game on the internet for me (BLESS HIM FOR THAT) and I watched it live from the comfort of my bed (since it was my Sunday morning) I did think, I could get used to this. PS: GO COCKS!

But, I do miss my home so much. I miss my job, my family, my dog and my friends who I love so dearly. I miss quiet Saturday morning walks around my neighborhood and the ease of being able to communicate with everyone around me. I miss doing my own laundry and shopping in stores that have my size. I miss beers for $2.50 not $12.50 and a regular meal for under $50.00.

But, I am grateful, up to this point, for this experience and for the growth I have had thus far. Last night I met a bloke (that's right I said bloke) from Equitorial Guinea. I had to get someone to look it up on their iPhone to even have a clue where that was (of course I totally pretended to know in front of him. Duh.) NO IDEA! Well, now I know. FYI- It's in the Western part of Africa right on the Equator. You're welcome. :) I have learned so much. Like, did I even mention I know three sayings in Cantonese? Yep, that's right. A saying for every month I've been here. One is my address for the cab drivers. One is thank you and excuse me (same words) and the last one is not for censored blogs but it will be useful if I ever need to really tell somebody off.

I look so forward to the "final stretch" of this journey (that's what I keep referring to it as in my head) and to what I'll learn as I keep living, shuffling and breathing through this crazy place.

The Bing Sutt Starbucks

2010-10-21T16:11:00.010+08:00

The bing sutt literally means "ice room" but was actually the coffeehouse (tea house) of the old days where people would gather and were served coffee or tea and Western treats. I had heard of this Starbucks that had been built as a collaborative project with the quintessential Hong Kong brand G.O.D. (Goods of Desire) to "recreate the fusion of Eastern traditions and Western Modernization" and so I thought I would go check it out today. Man, I'm glad I did. It really was such a unique fusion of the two cultures. People say that it does closely resemble the Hong Kong tea houses of the 1950's with half the restaurant also looking just like a Western Starbucks. My sister, Marcie, would have loved it! So, I ordered myself a creme brulee latte and an egg tart (my own fusion.) Egg tarts are very popular little delicacies here and y'all, they. are. delicious. I mean, WHOA! And then I went to town taking pics. Enjoy....

Here is the Western side. Just like all Starbucks big comfy chairs and small tables line the floors and other than the vintage birdhouse it is just like the ones in the States.

And then you turn and it's just SO COOL and VINTAGE and HONG KONG...

I heard this took some serious convincing to the people in Seattle (Starbucks' headquarters) but I'm really glad they obliged. This is a very unique and quaint set up they've created.

Light Show

2010-10-21T14:43:00.002+08:00

Every evening the city puts on a light show and all the buildings light up to music. It's a pretty fabulous thing to watch and we went over to the other side of the island to check the show out this past Friday night. It's hard to capture with a still shot but here's the best I could do....

Ocean Park

2010-10-21T14:02:00.007+08:00

So, I've sort of found myself a tutoring job that occupies some of my time. Devin met a guy from his work who offered up his kids for me to go read to and tutor in English. They are an Australian family, so the kids (a little boy and girl) already know English, so I just go over the kids' vocabulary words and we practice writing, speaking and reading. All that to say, these kids are the most precious little things and it was J's (that's what I'll call her) birthday this week so I took her to a theme park right by the house and we had A BLAST frolicking around and trying to steer clear of the "baddies" which is what she called the scary Halloween characters.

She rolls in style....

Self portrait of us on the cable cars. She sort of melts my heart....

See what I mean?

We saw a show that was completely in Mandarin. She LOVED it but it gave me an epic headache. It was a really fun day in all, though! Nothing like being around kids to put you in the right mood!

A LONG CELEBRATION

2010-10-21T13:53:00.003+08:00

This Sunday we celebrated this lady's birth, Ms. Long-Long Wu. Because she is amazing and we love her and she is part of "Team Long" which our other friends have nicknamed us.

We took the celebration to this floating restaurant which I've shown you before because Michelle and I visited this place by boat but we'd never been inside.

It was so intricately detailed and so Asian. It was a fun experience and the day was beautiful!

Super Target

2010-10-13T16:29:00.010+08:00

So, of course there is nothing close to a Super Target near us. But, one of the coolest things about this place is how there's a little local shop or market for ANYTHING you could ever need. It's like each aisle of a Target has it's own store and local owner which is pretty amazing. Here's a glimpse of what I mean....

My most favorite: The banana lady (Fruit Aisle) She has to be 100 years old but goes out there and sells bananas in the heat every single day.

The paper guy (School Supply Aisle)

Holiday Decor Aisle (Halloween is really huge here)

The Bow Lady (ummm, I guess Hair Accessory Aisle?) She was selling a gajillion bows and scrunchies circa 1992

The piano guy (Music Aisle)

The light guy (Electronics Aisle)

The ribbon lady (Arts and Crafts Aisle)

The shoe guy (Shoelaces Aisle? I'm stretching on that one...)

The Rare Book Guy (Book Aisle...Obviously)

The coffee guy (my favorite aisle because at Target it also houses the candy)

I just liked this picture of the cobbler working hard on a shoe-they claim same day service...

Now granted, it takes MUCH longer to get the shopping done but it is such a unique experience to shop this way and though it's still a thousand degrees outside I don't mind meandering around to pick up what I need from these guys. It's a memory if nothing else. Except-no scrunchies. That was just to show you what I meant. I haven't completely lost it over here.

Dancing

2010-10-12T18:39:00.005+08:00

I just read in a magazine today that dancing around your house can burn 300 extra calories a day! That's two bags of Tropical Fruit Skittles, which they don't have over here anyway, but still a rather substantial amount. So, I have downloaded some new tunes and I'm about to make use of all 600 sq ft of this "apartment" before my husband gets home. Because dancing makes me feel like this....

I hope you have a dance around your house kind of day! I apologize for the lack of blogging. We've both been down and out with some kind of sickness going around. Might have something to do with never getting any immunization shots before we came but that's a theory. I'll be back to the world of Hong Kong pics soon enough and there's a trip brewing to Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia so if that pans out...stay tuned.

Boracay

2010-10-04T08:43:00.013+08:00

We just got back from Boracay in the Philippines and my feelings for the place can be summed up in this billboard I saw right when we got there. I'm with Ace on this one....

This is the view from the resort's backyard....

Cue the steel drums huh? But, it's not very easy to get to this paradise. We first took a plane to Manila (the capital) on Thursday night. Then we boarded a bus to take us to a prop plane that then took us to some place I can't remember the name of (this was the view from the little prop plane which weighed you before you got on the plane to situate the weight evenly-scary)

This is the little town we ended up in before heading on a boat to get to the island

This exact boat actually....

The crew getting on the boat

But then we arrived to the crystal clear waters and it was perfect....

Here is the crew. 10 of us in all...

Saturday night we went to this wet market where you pick out your fish from the market and they cook it for you at this little restaurant next door...it was AWESOME!

You could take your pick from fresh lobster...

clams....

oysters....

Here's the grill they grilled them up on....

The shrimp were the biggest I have ever seen....

They were also more delicious than any shrimp I have ever had...

Steph got the Snapper which tasted so great too

Ann, seen below from our Thailand trip, loved her Ray Bans so much that she ran off while we were eating and bought some for the WHOLE crew!

And so here we are.....

Devin proceeded to wear his for the rest of the night...almost.

Stuck On You

2010-09-29T23:02:00.003+08:00

Lionel Richie came through Hong Kong and I really (secretly) wanted to go but didn't think I would get any takers on coming with me. To my surprise, two of my three "American Dream Team" girls were up for it so we went! The tall guy who joined us was Ann's friend from Atlanta (so the South was really representing that night). No pictures were allowed inside but it was an amazing show and Lionel hadn't been to Hong Kong to perform in 20 years (that's a true legend folks). He played everything and we danced (Brick House), cried (Stuck on You) and enjoyed the show immensely. It was a fun night.

We head to Boracay this weekend (which is in the Philippines. I'm not questioning your intelligence I only put that because I, upon hearing we were going there, had no idea where Boracay was) so I will post more pics upon our return home!

Lunch

2010-09-26T23:40:00.005+08:00

I met Devin for lunch the other day and we went to a sushi restaurant which slightly resembled a Waffle House except with no rednecks or smoke or waffles. So, whatever, not like Waffle House but it housed a conveyor belt that rotated a BUNCH of sushi you just grabbed as it went by. It was really fun and REALLY good sushi...I got a few pics.

Wasabi anyone?

You put some green tea powder in your cup and then there's scalding hot water right by your place setting to pour in to the powdered tea. I thought that was super cool...sorry for my weird awkward fingers in this pic...

They charge you based on how many empty plates you end up with...we had A LOT of empty plates but I just couldn't get enough that day....

The Windows of Hong Kong

2010-09-26T23:30:00.005+08:00

Sometimes the days go by and I forget that I'm living in this HUGE city and from my balcony, at night, I'm reminded when I turn and see all the little apartments all lit up just how many people are running around this place, calling it home. Surreal.

Mid Autumnal Festival

2010-09-22T22:31:00.014+08:00

Tomorrow marks one of the most important holidays in the Chinese calendar, the Mid-Autumnal Festival. This festival brings families and friends together to admire the full moon (the date falls when the moon is supposedly at it's fullest and roundest) carry around lit lanterns and eat moon cakes (which are popular Chinese pastries). Schools and businesses are closed so Steph and Devin had the night to dink around with me since there's no work tomorrow. We went to a lantern festival near our house and horsed around after having some dim sum again (second night in a row).

I think it was a full moon behind the clouds

Being silly with the lantern fish

Didn't I tell you how cute the kids are?

Took this shot to show how CROWDED the streets were for the festival

Dim Sum

2010-09-21T23:14:00.002+08:00

Our friend Steph spent some time in Australia and met some amazing people that when hearing she was in Hong Kong thought they would come visit her. So, we've spent the last 4 nights with those Aussies and they are FANTASTIC people! Some of the funnest people I have ever been around in my life. Tonight was their last night in Hong Kong so we went and got dim sum. I snapped some pictures for the memories.

Tales from our Marriage: International Edition

2010-09-19T17:24:00.012+08:00

A conversation I had with Devin before leaving for Hong Kong:

Me: Babe, I bought a bunch of toiletries for myself that I'm worried they won't have over there. Do you want me to get you anything while I'm shopping?

Devin: No, no, I'd like to just get the local stuff (weird voice and hand gestures substantiating the point that he knows what "local stuff" entails)

Me: (eye roll) Whatever then.

Fast forward to this week when Devin says, "hey babe, can you pick me up some shampoo while you're out today."

Me: Sure thing. Local right?

Doesn't get much more local than Jackie Chan. Devin loves it by the way (he would).

Black and White Shots Around The Neighborhood

2010-09-17T00:23:00.011+08:00

I know I've been slacking on this blog lately but I think it's just because life has sort of fallen into the ordinary day to day routine stuff and I know you are not interested in the "day to day" category. I had a little time this afternoon to go out and get some pics of the neighborhood and thought they might be cool to show you in black and white.

That is correct folks, 913 sq ft for 8.3 million Hong Kong roughly 1.1 million US

I can't help but say "letter box" in a British accent

There's a Pizza Hut right by our house....

The sign that leads you toward the escalators....

Mannequins outside a clothing store yet to be dressed....

Only 1 of a million 7 Elevens....

Justiss For All

2010-09-12T13:25:00.005+08:00

August and September are Typhoon months in Hong Kong. Those months bring many storms and tons of rain. We were pretty lucky to have a very mild August but September has been crazy rainy. We've had some pretty hard core storms in which I was pretty sure our building would crumble down the mountain at one point (irrational fear, I know) and this weekend has rained non stop. BUT, my buddy, Nate Justiss from College of Charleston was here in Hong Kong and we were not about to let a little rain stop us! So, we started the day at a Vietnamese restaurant up the street where we enjoyed a good noodle lunch....

This is Nate, who I hadn't seen in 6 or 7 years before meeting up again here in HK. He was just as fun as I remembered, so that was a plus.

This sweet sweet old couple came in and sat at the same side of the table to eat their lunch and I just had to get a pic of them to show how awesome they were....

After our Vietnamese we decided to hike up to the Peak and the waterfall was splendid because of the rain....

Nate got this pic because my friend Gray always told me people like pics of scenery as long as people are in the picture. See, Gray, I haven't forgotten your life lessons....

The rain makes it so green and beautiful!

Some of the scenery on the hike up to the Peak....

A huge snail we saw on the way...

A hike in the rain wouldn't be as rewarding without a foot massage after. Nate is crazy ticklish so we didn't know how he'd do with the reflexologist (there was fear at one point that he might kick him/her in the face) but he was ok in the end

It was so fun to reconnect with my buddy and I can't wait till work brings him back!

GUEST BLOG by Michelle (aka Notes from the BEST VACATION EVER!)

2010-09-09T04:12:00.014+08:00

Let me begin by saying, Hong Kong was the BEST TRIP EVER! Julie and Devin thought of everything and were the most gracious hosts. Julie planned out an unstoppable itinerary and we hit absolutely everything on the list and even added a few stops in. I loved ever single minute. THANK YOU LONGS!!!!

The gondolas were one of my favorite activities. It was so clear and up so high!

We saw the big buddha, but were too tired to climb the stairs.

On the way back, I turned to Julie and said, "I have an idea!" She said, "I am not lying on that floor." HOW DID SHE KNOW?!?!

She eventually agreed to do it, but did not fully commit. In her defense, we were not alone on the gondola. In fact, that leg behind her, belongs to someone we don't know.

I gave it my all, with a Hong Kong peace sign to top it off. Again, that shoe is not with us.

At the biggest mall in the world, there is a blinged-out merecedes. Reeeediculous.

Julie and Devin on our hike. I almost died on the way back. Not from a mountain lion or anything, just from the sun and an unreasonable slope. Thankfully, there are no pictures.

Downtown was a lot of visual stimulation.

We spent part of my birthday shopping. It was an out of body shopping experience. Julie prepared me that the Hong Kongers would tell me I am a large and I can't fit in their clothes. These women told us we were mediums, so we thought we should try on a few things. This was the first dress. BAM! It looked AMAZING... AND it was 50% off! This led to an all out frenzy that involved clothes flying, Julie and I shouting requests (Do you have this in another size, another color?), and me buying myself several birthday presents. We created such a shopping frenzy that the store soon filled with about 20 other shoppers- and all of them had caught our fever. It was a good day for that store.

This is the Harley guy Julie mentioned. You might not be able to tell, but we are besties at this point. He told me he loved me. Well, he strongly implied it. With his stern, but amused smile.

MARKET DAY! This was one of my favorite mornings... I loved to see everything.

The spiky fruit is stinky fruit. Julie says its smells so bad, it is banned from a lot of public places.

I adored the flower markets.

After a long day at the market, 10,000 buddhas, and heritage museum, we took the ferry home.

The view from the ferry.

After we rode the ferry, we went to a roof top public park that overlooked the harbor.

Only in Hong Kong will you see this at sunset.

Julie and Devin at a really delicious Italian restaurant. I was there too... duh.

Julie claimed to have "out ordered us."

This was a yummy breakfast place just off the escalator. You can see it behind me.

One of my favorite things we did was ride the boat around the harbor.

The restaurant was one of the many we passed on the street escalator that I was dying to go into. Basically, if we passed a place on the escalators, I was enchanted and obsessed with become one of the people inside.

This is the last picture from the last night.... we were so sleepy, we sat there for 20 minutes "waiting for the bill" after we had already paid.

I LOVE HONG KONG

and Julie

and Devin!!!!

Thanks guys!!

Thailand

2010-09-06T18:03:00.029+08:00

Our friend Steph headed up a trip to Koh Samui for the weekend which is an island off the east coast of the Kra Isthmus (a bridge connecting the Malay Peninsula with the mainland of Asia) in Thailand. We went with Steph and a girl named Ann, from Atlanta who is also here for a 6 month jaunt with the bank, and a girl named Ashley who lives here and is originally from Philly. It was an AMAZINGLY fun time with the spinsters (who called themselves that all weekend after Ashely told a story in which on her visa approval form her choices were a. married b. widowed c. spinster). I must say, they were ROCKIN FUN spinsters.

Devin was SUCH a good sport to pal around with 4 girls all weekend and claims he had a blast as well. We left Friday around 5 and it was an easy 3 hour flight to reach the Island. When getting there the airport screamed tropical paradise with open air huts and a customs line surrounded by grassy jungly plants and birds chirping. The air was also slightly cooler and a nice reprieve from the heat.

We were greeted at the resort with fun surroundings and some fruity cocktails

That is Ashley, from Philly, who was super cool and fun

We quickly unpacked and headed into town to get dinner. The markets greeted us along the way with some fun prickly fruit of some kind.

Ann, my Southern sidekick from Atlanta, was an AVID shopper and kept darting off into local market shops on the way to the restaurant to buy something. She found these red Ray Bans first and so those came with her....

Fake bag anyone?

Then she found the hat to go along with the Ray Bans (I found a hat there too)

This was a very Thai looking statue in the restaurant

The land of elephants....

Samui Seafood was the name of the restaurant we stopped at to eat

It had this ship in the front with TONS of seafood on ice

As people ordered fish off the menu they would take it off the ship and then just cook it for you. So I ordered white jasmine rice. Thought it to be the safest bet. Here's the whole group (with our new purchases on).

The next morning we woke up and found it to be a tad overcast so I decided to go ride an elephant with Ann and Devin. Such a sweet face huh?

Here is Ann on her elephant

At first we sat on those little seats on the elephant's back but after awhile the guide let us just get on it's neck and ride it bareback which was REALLY cool!

Then Devin got a turn...

It was a great experience!

But, after the elephants I saw that you could feed a tiger cub a bottle and thought-I HAVE to try that! Y'all, it was the coolest! I ADORED that little tiger cub. It was top 5 most fantastic things I have done on this trip FOR SURE! I couldn't really believe that I got to do it at first.

But then I just enjoyed the moment....can you see how big his paws were? HA!

This one is a better angle to see the size of those paws...

Then Ann got a turn and then we both got to hold him for a little longer.

That night we went back and got cleaned up from the elephant trekking and went out on the town

Steph and Devin with the Asian glow that just accompanies you wherever you are here...

We had dinner at this really great restaurant (near more shops where Ann and I continued to help out the Thai economy). Isn't this light fixture so unique?

This guy serenaded us at dinner with some amazing Beatles cover songs.

Me, in white, with white elephant statues still on my, "I got to hold a tiger cub" high

It must be said, she is one of the coolest chics I have run across in my life

The next morning we went to this place called the Library where you can eat breakfast on beds on the beach overlooking the water. Devin posing with his book...

Here was the set up. We ate breakfast and then pulled our beds out into the sun and laid out/fell asleep. It was sort of magical.

First course of breakfast...

Pretty fruit from breakfast....

We stayed on the beach ALL day and then finished the beach day with a Thai massage in a little hut by the water. The massages were incredible here. We had a massage the day before as well but for only $10 US dollars we could NOT pass them up!

That night we went to a very fun restaurant that overlooked the gorgeousness

Devin took this great pic. Here we are on our last night. It was a fabulous weekend and I definitely think going back to this Island is in our future. Plus, we've made friends for life and got one more stamp in our passports and it's just one more reason I feel more blessed than I ever deserve to be in this life! I am so grateful for the opportunity we got to go!

Here's the group from left to right (obviously, Devin and me) Ashley, Steph and Ann

Top 10 Things I Miss in the States

2010-09-03T12:42:00.003+08:00

We're flying to Thailand for the weekend in a few hours so stay tuned for pics from there but I wanted to quickly jot down the things I miss the most from the States (it could/will change as we further along this journey but for now...these are them.)

#10. The clear blue sky and the sun shining through the trees of our neighborhood.

#9. Chicken biscuits and unlimited refills of tea (with lots of ice.)

#8. Running outside/Walking my dog/Cuddling with my dog

#7. My job and my amazing co-workers that I miss dearly and wish I could laugh with.

#6. My air conditioned car that could get me anywhere in 10 minutes or less.

#5. My dog looking up at me like I'm the greatest person in the world.

#4. My friends and fellow Southern folk that were always so kind and conversational.

#3. My new niece and the trips we'd take to Atlanta to see my wonderful sister and brother.

#2. My parents house and the fun warm family dinners we'd have for birthdays.

#1. My beautiful amazing mother, who is another year older today. I love you so much, Mom. You truly are the definition of love, honesty and strength. Because of you I am who I am today. I am so grateful you are my mother. Happy Birthday!

Aberdeen Harbor and The Peak

2010-09-01T13:20:00.011+08:00

Yesterday Michelle and I started our day by going to Aberdeen Harbor which is a big fishing port and where boat people used to live (and we actually saw some that still do live on their boats). There you can take a ride on a Sampan (small boat) around the harbor with a little guide that drives the Sampan.

This was our Sampan....

JUST KIDDING! (Still cracking myself up...my own jokes never get old to me) this is a sampan

This is a HUGE floating restaurant that sits in the harbor and our guide was kind of enough to take a picture of us in front of it. I love this picture because I feel like if there was EVER any doubt before, this picture truly proves, we are in China.

The restaurant a little closer up...it is HUGE

The whole view

Again with the hats...we couldn't get enough of other people's hats....

At the front of the sampan with the harbor behind me

Some local fisherman we ran across

Our faithful guide who I'm pretty certain uses some pretty hard core Crest Whitestrips but he wouldn't own up to it or the question didn't translate correctly but I know what I know-we gave him a SC pin by the way...he deserved it!

This condo complex was so crazy-it had a hole carved out in the middle of the building

After leaving Aberdeen I took Michelle to my favorite markets in Stanley Village (a little beach town) where she finished up her shopping for friends and family and then it was off to get fish pedicures. I wasn't going to originally take Meesh to do this but she thought she could hang. We have video of the pedicure going down which is hilarious/choppy since I tend to shake/convulse when I laugh really hard. But, hopefully Michelle will put some of the video on the blog when she gets home. She's planning on gracing the blog with a "guest post" so we will see....

A little weary to stick her feet in at this point...which is understandable

Then she decided, oh no no no no no, I do not like this feeling

Then she begs the lady working if she can switch the time of her session from 20 minutes to 1 minute. The lady sort of scared us both and so Michelle just kept her feet in.

Here it is folks....

The reward to doing the fish is being at the Peak afterward for the breathtaking views...

last night did NOT disappoint. The city brightly gave Michelle a proper send off.

Then Michelle had been saving her last SC pin for our nighttime doorman who she really liked and felt like she got to know the best. She kept saying all week, "I have to save a pin for Harold." Here is Michelle and the doorman with the SC pin. PS: His name is Charles.

I had one of the funnest weeks of my life with Michelle here and am so grateful that she came. Thanks, Meesh! We love you very very much!

2010-08-31T22:57:00.008+08:00

Michelle and I had SUCH a FULL day yesterday I can't believe we got it all in! We started the day in Mong Kok which is a popular spot for many markets including a goldfish, flower and bird market. There is also a very popular jade market near there that we never got to.

This is a street in Mong Kok.

The goldfish market included goldfish for MILES! Goldfish are very popular with the Chinese because they are believed to bring good luck and help absorb bad vibes. Devin wants one SO BADLY and I can't quite understand why but I decided it best not to buy one that day with the itinerary we had planned. I did not trust the day wouldn't end with a goldfish being flushed.

Then came the flower market where we saw beautiful and exotic flowers for blocks and blocks. It was fun to take pics and stand by the flower shops because most were air conditioned and I did NOT feel bad about stealing some breeze from the vendors.

Then came Michelle's absolute favorite market, the bird market. Hard to put into perspective with pictures but just TONS of birds and very ornate bird houses.

After we left the markets (with purchases in hand) we made our way to a place called 10,000 Buddhas which the guidebook says is an "arduous climb" to the top of a monastery where the guide then promises that you are "rewarded at the top by a delightful sight of tiny golden buddhas in hundreds of poses." Ok, if by rewarded you mean I cussed the guidebook the ENTIRE way up the climb as Michelle and I both decided this was not so worth it but something we could check off the list of things we did all the same.

Here is Meesh on the climb which was extremely ARDUOUS and at one point I think I tasted blood in my throat. I'm just putting it out there in case you come and want to try it.

This is the thousands of buddhas in different poses. Rewarding? I will leave it up to you. I think the same thing you see at your computer chairs is what I saw after walking for way TOO long and almost dying of a heat stroke. So, enjoy my friends.

Then we went to a MUCH more interesting place where we paid $1 each to visit the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. It was a great museum and I loved the a/c first, the exhibits second and the amazing accents of the museum staff third (pics of staff not included-sorry.)

Michelle's Birthday

2010-08-30T19:24:00.010+08:00

So, the itinerary for Sunday read, "make Michelle happy for her birthday" so this is how the day proceeded from there...here she is folks...all 28 years of her.

Michelle's jet-lag has been causing her to wake up at 3 am every morning bright eyed and bushy tailed so I didn't see a problem in getting an early breakfast in at a WONDERFUL Australian restaurant near our house called Wagyu

I felt like the food was picture worthy....

I ordered the French Toast and decided that I out ordered the table...

The next stop was to find the Harley Davidson store and buy Michelle's husband a souvenir t-shirt but we had so much fun there we left with pictures and maybe a friend for life who worked there. Michelle's father gave her a bunch of South Carolina pins to give to locals as we were shopping in the markets to bring some Southern Hospitality and maybe receive a discount or two. No discount was given at the Harley store but Michelle and I stayed so long we did leave waving goodbye to the employee with the SC pin tacked onto his Harley shirt.

The hats weren't ours...borrowed from the store

Next stop, a common practice here in Hong Kong, called Foot Reflexology but to the common folk, the best foot massage you can receive for 25 US dollars.

A sign we saw right before entering our massage room

Me and Meesh right before our massage...it's worth the flight out just to get these folks

Then we went shopping where Michelle helped herself to many a birthday present. She shopped so much I was done and she was still in dressing rooms-we all know what that means...

I took her to Times Square where I wanted her so badly to take part in eating some street meat for her birthday but she politely declined....

It was SO CROWDED there I tried to take a pic to give you an idea...

Michelle in the chaos....

The mall. It is 13 stories tall and not even CLOSE to being the biggest here.

We finished off the day by hiking up to the Peak where we got a quick sight of the view and went home for a great Greek dinner. I think we sufficiently celebrated Michelle's birth! Happy Birthday, Meesh! Thanks for coming all the way over to celebrate!

Pink Dolphin Sightings

2010-08-28T22:13:00.007+08:00

When I found out Michelle was coming I thought about taking her to go on this boat ride where you see these pink dolphins that are only found off the coast of Hong Kong. It's sort of touristy and I didn't know if she would like it but when I emailed the idea to her she was so excited she almost threw up so I thought, win...let's do this! We had to wear these pink stickers to meet up with our "group" and we were hesitant about committing to the sticker.

Right before we got on the boat....

Ok, did I not tell you the kids here are so cute?

We saw SO many pink dolphins on the tour but it was so hard to get them on camera. This was the best shot I got of one of the dolphins.

That is also a dolphin fin out there but I get it, it's hard to tell that...my bad

Since I didn't get very many from my camera I took some off the guide's website so you can get an idea of just how pink they were. They are actually white dolphins but the way the blush gives them the illusion that they are pink. They're beautiful!

The boat was so fun and provided refreshments and "biscuits" which means cookies...

The New Territories

2010-08-28T20:41:00.016+08:00

We made our way to the New Territories today with Michelle which is a region on the outskirts of Hong Kong that is much less populated than the city with vast beautiful views of the water and some pretty secluded but gorgeous beaches. The New Territories also house many more locals than the area where we live so we thought it would be a fun adventure to check out the difference in the people and culture. Of course, Michelle was up for it!!!

We left pretty early with a stop at Starbucks before we got on the Subway

Our first stop on the journey was a town called Sai Kung

The Chinese kids are so so so cute and I've been trying to get pictures of them without their parents taking my camera and smashing it on the sidewalk and these little guys were hanging out by themselves so I thought I would snap the pic. A LOT of people use umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun. You see it ALL THE TIME here.

We stopped into this little Thai restaurant to get a drink and Michelle and I tried a traditional tea (for me) and an Aloe Vera juice (for Meesh). If this picture makes you think we enjoyed the drink...then looks are deceiving. If by enjoyed you mean we almost spit it out on Devin sitting across from us, then yes, you could say we enjoyed them.

Ok, I heard about these toilets before we left to come to China but I had yet to see them. The toilets in this restaurant were on the floor...it was precarious to say the least

This was just a cool building near where we "enjoyed" our drinks

Then we went from town to the start of a hiking trail that led to a beach....here is Meesh at the start...it must be said that she did this hike still jet-lagged and she is a MACHINE

Michelle making her way through....

Starting to see why the hikes here are worth it....

And again...understanding the concept

Photo Op...

We finally got to the end of the path and this man led us to a nearby restaurant

So we had a waterfront lunch which was AH.MAY.ZING

Before making our way down to the beach....

Michelle asked us why the Bank didn't also provide a yacht with our package...

After lounging at the beach for a bit we headed back towards the buses and the town and saw a group of people gathered around looking down at the water and went to look at what the fuss was about. This couple had a "seafood market" directly off their boat. Most of the seafood was still alive on this boat. I reckon they just take care of that if you buy something.

The Octopus was pretty crazy...

Just when I think this place is becoming "normal" to me....

Lantau Island and the Buddha

2010-08-27T21:52:00.008+08:00

Michelle and I took these gondolas to the top of a mountain on Lantau Island to see this iconic "Big Buddha" the tourist books told us about...the gondola ride was WAY worth the trip!

Our gondola had a glass bottom so we could see EVERYTHING including the water underneath

A beautiful waterfall

I told Michelle they should have filmed a movie on this island..if they haven't already

The shadow of our gondola

Approaching the Buddha

It was no joke about it's size...it was "Big"

Michelle's First Night

2010-08-27T20:13:00.009+08:00

So, Michelle arrived last night. While we were waiting for her plane to land we chose this Japanese restaurant at the airport to eat at....

This dish was actually delicious...if you don't think it looks that way...

So, we picked her up with no problems and took her poor, very jet-lagged body to this rooftop bar to show her some views of our new city

Then we decided to stop in to this Russian Vodka bar because there was an ice room and you wear fur coats and it just sounded really fun and far from anything you do on a typical Thursday night in South Carolina.

Meesh and Devin modeling the fur coats...

But then the night took an interesting turn when we decided to take Michelle to this lounge we had been to before. A friend of a friend knew the owner and we wanted to show her a place we had already been to that we liked. But when we arrived we were the only Americans there, as it seemed to be an Indian night with Bali dancing and an Indian DJ and everything. This is the scene we walked into....yep, that's a pole.

So, we had two choices. We could awkwardly leave after one beer....

Or, well, you know what they say..."when in Rome."

It ended up being a fantastic night with Michelle on 3 hours of sleep after an 18 1/2 hour plane flight and she was such a TROOPER. She's a good sport and the week is sure to be a great one!

The Locals

2010-08-25T16:56:00.006+08:00

This will probably be the last post referencing the local people here. I just can't make any statements as to who they are as a people or what their culture is all about. The language barrier is just too strong. But I've had a couple great "universal moments" that I had to share. Sorry, no pics to go along with this post so feel free to skip over the wordage if it's pictures you came here for.

My first, "moment" with a local was in a cab on the way to Macau. The cab driver, who I will guess was 56 (that's an educated guess, I feel as though I'm pretty good with age guessing) had the music on low but he was really quietly singing along with the song. So, naturally, the next song that came on I felt like I too could join in, so I started humming along as well. He gave an inquisitive look in the rear view mirror and then turned the music up and started singing loudly. It was an awesome moment of bonding over a classic 80's Monster Ballad that I now can't remember the name of (or am too embarrassed to say, I can't give it all away on this blog).

My second "moment" JUST happened on the subway and was even greater than the first. I went in search of some running shorts today since I spend 1/3 of all my days at the gym and found some at a store we have at home (I know, I didn't branch out) but was happily carrying my purchase home on the subway, listening to my ipod, when a lady sat down beside me. She kept staring inside my bag...by staring I mean like craning her neck and getting closer to me to take a peek. So, I politely turned off my Ray LaMontagne song and opened the bag for her to look inside. She grabbed the price tag of my shorts and held up the same amount of fingers as the price with a bemused (mostly shocked) look on her face. So I nodded, yes, and then must have seemed sheepish because she obviously thought it was a ridiculous amount of money to spend on a pair of running shorts (a very universal thought if you're my husband or probably any normal fiscally responsible person). Then she started BURSTING out laughing. Obviously laughing right at me and she couldn't stop. So, I of course started laughing both at myself and just because I was so thrilled to be communicating with a human being (it's rare during my days out and about). AND THEN (yep, it gets better) her 13 year old (again, educated guess) daughter in the most UNIVERSAL "I'm too cool for school" way with her bedazzled Hello Kitty t-shirt, matching bedazzled jean skirt and hot pink Converse All Stars just rolled her eyes at her mother and sighed in this loud, "what did I do in this life to deserve a mom that is acting this weird?" as her mom and I just kept laughing. Their stop came shortly after that and I am so glad because I was literally sitting on my hands so I did not hug this woman for so long that it would get awkward and ruin the moment entirely. So, they exited the subway and I smiled all the way to my stop thinking about my shared laugh and song with the two local people I have connected with here so far.

Hutong

2010-08-23T16:22:00.002+08:00

Devin took me to this restaurant last night for my birthday and none of my pictures did it justice. It was SO ASIAN and the views were spectacular. Their website (with their professionally photographed photos) gives you a better idea of what it was like...

http://www.aqua.com.hk/#/?eng&hutong&concept

Meesh

2010-08-23T14:21:00.006+08:00

This is my friend Michelle who we lovingly refer to as Meesh.

This is also my friend Michelle....in the right corner pulling a sneak attack

And when we are gathered hilarity will ensue....

I tell you all of this because she is COMING to visit and I'm not sure Hong Kong is ready for it! T- minus 3 days and Michelle will be in China. Stay tuned....

29th in Macau

2010-08-22T16:18:00.011+08:00

We celebrated my birthday in Macau which they call the Vegas of the East. Just like Hong Kong used to be owned by the British and has many English influences, Macau used to be owned by the Portuguese and was only taken over by the Chinese in 1999. So, it still has Portuguese influence and once you get there the signs are in Chinese and Portuguese instead of Chinese and English. For the men that read this blog (i.e. my dad) I put the map below so you can see where it is in relation to Hong Kong. It's only an hour away by boat or a 12 minute helicopter ride if you're a big baller. We met a guy there that said he's always wanted to win just enough to take the helicopter back but has not yet been so lucky.

Devin tried to save some money so we took these rickshaws there.

JUST KIDDING! We took this boat which was a really easy way to get there.

This is the last picture of me at 28. One more year in my "vintage 20's"

There were beautiful views from the boat. The views are so hard to capture on the camera. I wish y'all could see them in person with us. :)

Devin had heard of this Portuguese restaurant that was supposed to be amazing. IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT! We enjoyed dinner with another American we met (who was awesome) and his mom, who was visiting from Brooklyn and it was a fabulous night with lots of great Sangria (almost as good as my in-laws make), chorizo, steak, shrimp and clams. Friendships are truly on super drive over here. If you meet someone you like it's hard to not become instant friends and share really memorable laughs and chats.

They have some of the same casinos you'll find in Vegas like the Wynn, the Venetian etc but we didn't make our way into them (I'm not much of a gambler)...

I much preferred to waste my day away doing this....

Devin is on his third book since getting here...

....while I'm on my 300th playlist. BTW (Mom, that means "by the way") if I got mugged I would give everything up but this ipod and hopefully, if lucky, my camera. But, if I'm ever walking around Hong Kong I have a map and my ipod. No. Matter. What.

This is a pic of the hotel which I like because you can see how Spanish it looks

And a couple views from our balcony....

2010-08-18T23:42:00.002+08:00

Had drinks and dinner with some amazing people tonight. I leave you with this freaky picture of Steph, Long-Long and myself enjoying a drink over a rooftop view.

Devin and his ladies....

Chi Lin Buddhist Nunnery and Fish Pedicures

2010-08-15T20:43:00.011+08:00

Today started off calmly with a trip to the Chi Lin Buddhist Nunnery which someone told me I should see because of it's beautiful surrounding gardens and the ornate statues of the Sakyamuni Buddha. You could not take any pictures of the statues but the gardens and lily ponds were as beautiful as people had said.

There is actually a restaurant behind that waterfall which I really wanted to try but we had just eaten so I just took some pics outside....

When we left the Nunnery we met up with our friends, Steph and Long-Long to try out a practice we had all been wanting to participate in. This ritual was brought over from Turkey and it's basically tubs of water housing thousands of fish that feed on your dead skin. It's like a pedicure of sorts and is supposed to leave your feet (or face or entire bodies as we found out some people do) silky smooth. I was a BIG talker and was one of the main voices really wanting to take part in this activity. So, we get there and get our feet all washed up and then take a pic right before the festivities began.

Oh, yeah, it looks innocent enough right before we put our feet in the tank

And then it was the craziest weirdest most horrifying feeling EVER....that's what the face is...pure candidness here folks

The fish just attach to your toes and ankles and feet and just start sucking at your skin. There really is no way to describe how freaky the feeling is.

The fish LOVED Devin's toes...mine were yanked out at this point because I could only handle it for short seconds before I chickened out and picked my feet up out of the water...Devin and Long-Long were the true troopers (seen below)

So, you get used to the crazy feeling and in the end our feet really were smooth and tingly. If we come back to the States with all our toes attached I will call it a success. So, the fish feeding frenzy was on top of the Peak so we walked out after the "pedicures" and it was a CLEAR day so I finally got some good pictures of the buildings. It's hard to believe this is where we live.

Dragon's Back

2010-08-14T16:48:00.005+08:00

Hong Kong apparently has amazing hiking trails that we kept hearing about so we woke up this morning and decided to hike up Dragon's Back today. It was the hottest day of the year but we heard the views were amazing so we thought we'd brave the heat. It was well worth the hike!

The trail was really lush and green and sometimes shady and cool....

We met this little guy on the way...

Devin taking a rest

At this point we felt it was already worth it but we still had some way to go....

The views were breathtaking

I kept making Devin go ahead so I could get pictures...

The trail ends at a beach town called Shek-O

So we found a little restaurant and shared a beer and some really good food

The tank beside me in the above picture housed this guy...

The beer tasted so much better after the hike! Overall, it was a great day!

Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens

2010-08-13T15:13:00.007+08:00

It still amazes me these serene gardens I keep finding in the middle of this crazy loud city. This park is right by our house and you literally turn right off this maddeningly busy road and enter this beautiful sanctuary of flowers, birds and calmness. I walked around and took pictures for a couple of hours. It was very relaxing.

The Peak

2010-08-12T22:00:00.004+08:00

The Peak is almost the very top of the mountain I keep telling you about. It's quite a hot spot at night because you can see the entire city lit up and it is nothing less than breathtaking. I didn't get a good picture of the buildings all lit up but got to share a glass of wine with a friend who lives up there so I took some pics from her house which is on the opposite side of the buildings. I will definitely get up there more to take some better pictures.

Dim Sum and Peking Duck

2010-08-12T21:45:00.003+08:00

This is the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and where I happened to meet my friends for lunch today to share some dim sum and peking duck (both Hong Kong delicacies and staples). The dim sum was so amazing and the duck was different but really really great.

This is obviously the view from the convention centre toward the water

and this was the duck...they cut it (shaved it) for us by the table and you put it in a small tortilla (pancake) with some sweet sauce and some spring onions...quite fabulous actually. It takes an entire day to prepare the Peking Duck so you have to call the restaurant a day in advance to be able to order it for your meal. Luckily, we had a very nice friend who knew to do that for us.

Japanese Restaurant and More Markets

2010-08-11T13:10:00.003+08:00

Yesterday a new friend offered to take me to her favorite spots in the marketplace so I could know the best places to buy my fruits and vegetables and flowers. We started off at a Japanese restaurant where I had a 4 course lunch complete with my first whole fish that I ate in it's entirety. It was a pretty fabulous lunch and I'm making myself sound more adventurous than I was because the fish was very tiny so it was easy to pop in and swallow really quickly. :)

This was one course of my lunch.

Then we headed to the market....I can't help but put the meat pics up....

This is the famous Durian fruit ("Asia's King of Fruit") which I have not yet tried...so stinky you're not allowed to take it into most places like subways or hotels

http://asiancuisine.suite101.com/article.cfm/durian__the_king_of_fruit

Context

2010-08-09T17:31:00.003+08:00

My friend Becca asked for a little context when I spoke of living on a mountain and taking the escalators up this said mountain. She asked if it was more like a hill (I don't know why she thinks I would exaggerate. I don't exaggerate ANYTHING) so I took this picture to show her what I mean. So, we live somewhere behind all those buildings on that mountain in the distance. It's hard to still get a concept because the buildings are so tall.

For example, this building that you see is 86 stories tall. Whatev right?

Don't Mind If I Do

2010-08-09T17:28:00.003+08:00

After an intense training session at the gym today, in which the trainer brought in a trash can in case of "sudden vomit" I helped myself to this....

I don't know if we have the Green Tea flavor in the States (I'd never seen it) but it is fabulous!

Stanley

2010-08-07T16:45:00.007+08:00

Stanley is a beach town on the south side of the island. It has shops and restaurants by the water and everyone is walking their dogs and eating ice cream cones. It is so quiet and lush with greenery everywhere and of course a market place. We ate lunch here today and walked around the markets a little bit.

PS: I Miss These People

2010-08-06T17:42:00.002+08:00

Kowloon

2010-08-06T16:03:00.004+08:00

I took myself to Kowloon today which is much more "local" than where we live. I wandered around for HOURS and just got lost in trying to take everything in. I loved it!

More Kowloon

2010-08-06T15:53:00.004+08:00