New Year's Day

"It happened so quickly... my last post of 2008," was how this post started yesterday. Then I got a little busy and now it's become my first post of 2009. At least the title came easily. I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year's. And of course, I must say happy birthday to my hubby. I've known him for 18 birthdays, officially half my life. I know! It doesn't add up to half his life yet because he's older. What? I did not point that out just to say that he's older.

We spent our Christmas Eve at my friend Peggy's. She lives in Sai Kung, in the New Territories, which is about an hour from here by train and taxi. I've visited her there once before. It's very unlike the city. They occasionally have cattle wandering the streets. She has two young children so they enjoy the space of a large house, though she and her husband probably make the trip and go out in our neighborhood more often than we do.

We ate Greek food prepared by a Filipino woman at the home of our Dutch friends from New Zealand. One of my English friends was also there with her husband and his visiting parents, as well as an Australian and a Chinese woman who lives in Japan. The craziest thing to me was that we spent the evening comfortably sitting outdoors in their yard - barbecuing!- without shivering. It was a lovely night and Peggy and her husband were wonderful hosts, the kind who make you feel at home and who prepare more food than you could ever eat. I even helped wrap a few presents for the kids after they went to sleep.

Wrapping a tricycle

I did think about everyone at home but I think it struck me most, strangely, earlier in the day when I passed through one of those international supermarkets and the place was jammed with people picking up their orders. I don't know; I guess it reminded of me of waiting on line for fresh mozzarella and things at Pastosa or for canollis in a bakery on Staten Island in preparation for the big family meal.

On Christmas Day, after sleeping in, we had dinner, just the two of us, at an Italian restaurant called Isola in the IFC (International Financial Center, currently the tallest building in HK, as seen in The Dark Knight). Paul got four days in a row off from work since the day after Christmas is also a public holiday here, and we couldn't have been lazier throughout those four days. Eating and drinking continuously takes a lot out of you.

I sneaked a quick photo of the tree in our lobby

Good thing we rested up. Then came New Year's Eve. We started out at a party at the home of a friend of my friend Maggie's. This friend Jeff actually lives in one of those shiny new luxury high rises on the corner of the street we lived on when we first moved here. It was just scaffolding and building materials and noise at the time. I guess it opened at the wrong time because I think he said he has about seven neighbors in the whole building. He had rented an outdoor area but it got a little chilly this week, so he thought it might be too cold for everyone out there. We ended up in his small apartment, but without any neighbors, moving the couch into the hall for more space was not a bother to anyone. Everyone brought food (and drinks) and the musical entertainment came mostly from the video game people were playing. I don't know the name but it was something similar to Wii's Guitar Hero. I contributed vocals to "Jesse's Girl."

Maggie and Chris, rock stars


Pre-2009 revelry


The Center (Paul's office) and IFC in the background

The view from his apartment was spectacular. If we stayed we probably would have had optimum viewing of the midnight fireworks, but before midnight we proceeded to the club we went to on my birthday. A countdown by the DJ, lots of bubbly, some friends and some others we just met, and that's how we spent the transition from 2008 to 2009 in Hong Kong.

The birthday boy


2009!

Needless to say, we spent a good part of the next morning in bed. We were awake for the countdown in New York so we had to watch it, but what happened to that coverage? I just wanted to see the ball drop and instead of showing it in those final ten seconds, they mostly showed Ryan Seacrest yammering about how exciting it was. Disappointing. The ball reportedly cost $5 million. At that price, shouldn't it stay lit when it hits the bottom? C'mon New York!

Near the end of 2007, I couldn't have predicted what 2008 would bring us. I suppose I pictured another quiet year in Fords, working on the house. Then we were given this extraordinary chance to experience so many new things and meet wonderful people from all over the world, and sometimes it feels like a dream. I hope 2009 brings good things to everyone. I also hope you continue reading the details of our vibrant dream. I write them so that we're never that far from home.

Happy New Year!

Christmas Wrapping

So many favorite Christmas songs, so little time.

You see, I saw your weather forecast in NY and NJ and my last title fit better than it seemed.

I just finished my Christmas shopping and shipping a couple of hours ago. It's typical of me to wrap things up somewhere around the 23rd. The problem is that it doesn't matter to international postal systems that I am finished; they still have to do their thing. So if you're a family member and you're reading this, the estimated date of arrival of your Christmas gifts is December 29. If it's accurate, it's still impressively quick. I wish they were there by Christmas, but it wasn't an easy task shopping here, as you might imagine from my previous descriptions of shopping experiences. I didn't expect to, but I still found myself running around for the last couple of weeks in that familiar frenzy. The additional challenge here is that things seem to cost either $1 or $1000, without a lot in between. Now let's hope that as I was in a rush to pack and seal the boxes as the post office was closing that I put the correct labels on the corresponding boxes. Oh, wouldn't that be a laugh. Just make sure you check the gift tags.

We purchased a lovely artificial Christmas tree the other day. I'm lying. It's entirely made of silver tinsel with fake tree leaves (cause it's a tree?) stuck uniformly all around it. It took Paul about one minute to assemble, so it won his vote there, and it folds into one flat piece so we can store it here in Tinyland. Though if we can't fit it somewhere, we'll get over the approximate $6 we spent on it... half the price from the day before! I say, it has just the right amount of weird tackiness - or tacky weirdness - to make it very enjoyable to look at. I added red bows and the angel on top was a gift. I know it looks a little sad without gifts underneath. That's what happens when you give yourselves the gift of travel. I'd like boxes under the tree, but I'd rather to go to Vietnam in a couple of months.


I didn't put any Christmas music on the computer - and I am a fan of a particular few - in the hours of marathon downloading back in March before we left, but we're not without it. Through the wonders of playlist.com, I found all my favorites. We listened to many on Sunday night and I started to feel a little sad that we won't be home for Christmas now that it's practically here. We'll have to watch A Christmas Story seven or eight times when it's on TBS, on the Slingbox.

Can I share my exciting news that I'm aware is only exciting to me? There are a couple of gourmet, international, i.e. expensive, supermarkets around and on a day of Christmas shopping in Kowloon (alright I'm lying again - I went over to check out the new Sephora), I stopped in one on my way home through Central. They appear to stock up on certain items around the holidays for ex-pats preparing their native holiday meals, so I believe because it was near Thanksgiving... lo and behold... Cool Whip! I bought two. I may never see it again. Also, in my regular supermarket, Louis Rich Turkey Bacon is now making an appearance. I don't think it's holiday-related, so maybe it will remain a regular item; you never know around here. But I know we had a good breakfast last Sunday morning.

Now for actual good news: Paul received a promotion last week. He is now a Vice President, referred to in the HK office as Executive Director. I just call him Sir. Aren't we proud of him? He certainly deserves it and it's another reason to be thankful for all that's happened for us this year.

I'm thankful that I didn't have to shovel any snow, but I can't wait to finally visit home soon. Hey, it got chilly here the last couple of days. It's only 55 now.

Maybe I'll write something quick in the next day or two but if not, we hope you all have a very merry Christmas and enjoy being with family and eating wonderful food and counting blessings. We miss everyone and we'll be thinking of home.

White Christmas

I know it's been forever and I apologize but we really have been busy. Spending the first two weeks of November in Australia felt like a long time to be away, but it seemed even more so once we came back to Hong Kong mid-November. The weather had changed; the Halloween decorations had disappeared and the Christmas decorations started appearing. Here are some highlights of our last month.

Just before we left for Oz (picked up the Australian lingo), my friend Liz, probably my closest friend here, told me that she was returning to London due to her boyfriend's job. Yes, I'm aware of the transiency of ex-pats here so I should have expected this sort of situation, and I should still expect it in the future, but this news was more sudden than we both anticipated. Just days after returning from Oz, I said my farewell to my friend Liz on Queen's Road, Central. She's back shivering in London now, hopefully settling in and happy to see family and friends again - and driving a car.

In the days leading to her departure we had two lunches at one of our favorite places, Wagyu. We also spent her last night in HK with a couple of other friends at the races in Happy Valley. They take place every Wednesday night most of the year and this was my first time there. Everyone else won at least something; I won nothing. But it was a fun night and a good atmosphere.

Liz and I after our final Wagyu lunch

In wine news, I passed my Intermediate Certificate exam which I had taken just hours before we left for Oz. It was certainly not easy. I already started the Advanced Certificate course. In fact, I missed the first class while we were away. It covers the same type of information but in more depth. It will be quite a challenge. I've already learned some agriculture, the difference between grafting, hybrids and crossings; I know the Latin terms for different grapevines. And France... those people need a talking to about all their rules. The exam is at the end of March. Paul has called me a geek once so far. I think it was when I broke out the Latin.

For Thanksgiving, we ate at a Thai place with some friends and friends of friends. It was a private kitchen, places that don't usually have menus and serve only through reservations. It was low on atmosphere, but the food was good and for once, cheap, especially since it was BYOB. Somebody was kind enough to bring some pumpkin pies, so that helped, but I have to admit that I've been craving real turkey ever since.

Thanksgiving Feast

Thanksgiving curry, anyone?

Maggie and Chris

Kathleen and Derek

Showing off the fine table linens


Random guy who asked for beer and received

It also doesn't feel like Thanksgiving when you're able to wear flip-flops without your toes freezing. Though we never believed it could happen through the hellish steam of summer, the weather has indeed turned cooler over November and December, but it is by no means cold. It's quite lovely, really. I guess the temperatures range between 58 to 72, usually falling somewhere in the mid 60's. On occasion I have under-dressed and felt chilly, but the other extreme is the locals who walk around in their coats and scarves looking at me in plain long-sleeve shirts like I must be mad. I confess that we had the air conditioning on no less than four days ago. I did have my first cold here a couple of weeks ago. I blame the air travel along with the change in weather and that everyone around seemed to also be sick.

Now we're just a week away from Christmas and it feels like it, and it doesn't. There are decorations around; our building's lobby has a big, real tree. It made me happy when I walked in and smelled it the day it went up. I'd try to take a picture, but I'm guessing lobby photos are off limits if rooftop photos are. There's Christmas music playing in stores, mostly choir type stuff, but I have heard some favorites here and there. On the other hand, Paul said that a coworker who was here last Christmas said that it felt odd because on Christmas day everything is open as if not a holiday. Makes sense... you can always go to a Chinese restaurant on Christmas, can't you? Think A Christmas Story... Fa ra ra ra ra.

The thing is, many ex-pats flee the city for home around Christmas. This is why we were booked most nights over the past couple of weeks and why we don't currently have anything going on. A couple of my friends are still in town, but most are leaving or have left for home. As a matter of fact, I'm foster caring for two cats upstairs for my friend Maggie while she's in the U.S. I'm a little envious of those folks, but we'll try to make the most of it here.

On the day of my birthday, I attended a lunch for the American Women's Association (AWA) of which I'm a member. It was kind of a boring event, but there was something interesting about it. I would estimate about 70 attendees. Out of those, I spoke to the one who happened to sit next to me. Her name was Elise. She heard me speak one sentence and asked if I was from NY. As I was about to plead guilty, she said she recognizes it instantly because she's from NY. A few questions later and we established that she grew up in Oakwood Heights, about five minutes from where I grew up on Staten Island. She also bought and lived in a house in Woodbridge, NJ before she and her husband moved to HK. She's been here for nine years and goes back to S.I. twice a year. She said she's only met one other person from there since she's lived here. I didn't ask where her family gets their cars fixed...

On the night of my birthday, Thursday, we went to a comedy club right in Wan Chai with a group of friends. The place has a monthly show with comedians imported mostly from the U.K. This round, there was a Scottish fellow, an Irishman, and a Canadian. They were all actually quite good, so I got to laugh more than I probably ever have on any one birthday, especially once I started to understand Scottish.

The next night, we had a nice dinner with a couple of other friends and Maggie arranged a little shindig at a club afterward. It was fun, but the next day I felt my age - and my head. The important thing is that I don't look my age.

Maggie, Birthday Girl, Kathleen, Chandni

And to finish off the birthday festivities (which typically include a trip to Denino's, sigh) Paul and I finally had a nice dinner by ourselves that Saturday night. I had read about this place, M at the Fringe, and wanted to try it for months so I chose it as a birthday dinner, but I wasn't that enthused because most places I read about that are supposedly fantastic are just not that fantastic. Happily, this place was actually good. Then we ended at one of our favorite old man bars (seriously, there are old men there and I don't just mean Paul) The Captain's Bar.

Last Tuesday I experienced a bit of club life, not of the nightlife variety but of the cricket and squash and tennis variety. There are a number of clubs here, The American Club, The Cricket Club, etc. One of my Brit friends belongs to the Cricket Club and we had lunch there. I had sweet and sour chicken. This may be surprising, but there isn't a lot of sweet and sour chicken available here. It's not exactly a Cantonese specialty. But the Cricket Club restaurant had a large menu with all kinds of cuisines and it was delicious. Refreshingly, no bones or necks or beaks were attached.

Last Wednesday night we went out to dinner with two of Paul's coworkers from the "Business" unit. Two nights later, Paul had another dinner with the "Operations" unit, but I was not invited, so Maggie and I had our own "Work" dinner since her husband also had a company thing that night. In between those two dinners, I went to a dinner at Wagyu (recurring theme) with the girls from my Y group. We did the secret Santa thing and all. Alright, Paul wasn't invited to that, but I did bring home half my dinner for him. And finally, Saturday night we took a junk trip around the harbor (through the AWA) to view the festive lights of the buildings along the water.

Me, Peggy, Victoria - Christmas Dinner at Wagyu

A little blurry but an idea of the holiday lights

So you see, we have been busy! And now... nothing. Though my New Zealand friend Peggy did invite us to her home on Christmas Eve to celebrate with her husband and two kids and a few others, so at least we'll spend the eve with a family, even if it's not our family. We booked a dinner for just the two of us on Christmas day.

Since I have been absent for so long, I missed a bunch of greetings and wishes. We're ages past Happy Thanksgiving, but there are still a few that I should mention like happy birthday to Dad C. and Scott and congratulations to Mark and Dora.

At least I rewarded you all with lots of photos after the long wait. And I'll try my best to write a few more in December just so I can use my favorite Christmas songs. Consider the Drifters a gift.

Lisa, It's Your Birthday

Sound hint: Click the tiny Stop button on the Tunes box on the right to turn off "Down Under." Then click Play on the video above.

Sorry about the flashing things in the video. It was the only clip where the video accompanied the song. Some people can be so fussy about copyright. Otherwise, it says it all.