Here we are, back in Hong Kong after a visit home for Christmas. It was great to be home. As much as I enjoy being there, after two trips back so far, I cannot seem to master the art of balancing time. This trip was two days shorter than our March visit, plus Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are automatically occupied, plus we lost a day to snow (and an hour to shoveling it). Combine that with feeling tired for several days due to jet lag, and time flies.
We run around a lot when we are in the homeland, whether to see people who are generous enough to fit us in, or to shop for items from lists we accumulate living in HK. Of course, we don't fly 15 hours to sit around and be lazy, but I hate to feel so time-crunched. There are things we need to do versus things we want to do and no matter how much we actually do, it never seems like we've done enough, spent enough time with people. Then again, I've never had a proper handle on fitting events into a limited time frame.
I don't know if there's a magic formula to accomplish every task, spend enough time with friends and family, eat at Denino's more than once, and feel relaxed and content while doing it all in 12 days, but if there is... maybe next time around. So if we didn't get to see you, or see you more, we're sorry. And if you made time for us, thanks.
At least our flights went without incident. Just long, boring and body-stiffening.
So it's the last day of 2009, and as I look at my blog archive over there to the left, I see I will end the year with 30 posts - half of last year's number of 61. What can I say? I mean, literally, what can I say after living here for almost two years? As we begin 2010, I will try to see Hong Kong anew as in our first days here. It's a worthwhile goal beyond the blog since we won't be seeing Hong Kong for much longer. Stay tuned.
And tomorrow, on New Year's Day, my favorite person turns 40. Only someone so charming and intelligent and handsome could have such a charming and intelligent and adorable younger wife. So happy birthday, Paul. Here's to 40 being even more wonderful than 39, and 39 was pretty wonderful. Written and photographic proof provided.
Happy New Year to you all!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
OK, we will!!!
In two days we will touch the ground at JFK. I hope it's not too cold and wet a December day. We are quite happy to be coming home for Christmas this year. It wasn't bad being here in HK last year, but of course it will be better to be with family. And food.
Paul and I were both under the weather back in November with the worst colds we've had in a long time. For Thanksgiving, my friend Maggie had arranged dinner at a private kitchen in our neighborhood, but I went husband-less because Paul was about a day behind me in the course of the cold, so he still didn't feel well enough to go. I didn't feel too wonderful myself and came home fairly early. By that Sunday we felt well enough to go to a local Italian restaurant that was serving Thanksgiving dinner, right down to pumpkin pie. It wasn't exactly like home, but it was something.
Just a side note, my English friends are fascinated by the idea of Thanksgiving and by pumpkin pie. I answer a lot of questions on the subjects. They are also intrigued by eggnog. I don't really know what to say about eggnog.
I had a lovely 37th birthday, much better than my sniffly Thanksgiving. Paul and I went to happy hour at Morton's Steakhouse for martinis and FREE mini steak sandwiches. Morton's is on The Other Side, in Kowloon. We have been in Hong Kong almost two years and that was the first time Paul has ever seen Hong Kong Island from across the water. I held his hand and he made it safely through the journey (a 5 minute train ride). After filling up on free steak we came back to Wan Chai and went for some sushi at our favorite little neighborhood place - I had finally recovered from the massive sushi breakfast in Tokyo a month ago.
The next night a group of friends celebrated with us at a fantastic place that has decent Italian food and live music. The first Saturday of the month a big band called Stray Katz plays. Paul and I went one night awhile back and enjoyed the atmosphere of dinner and music (there was a lot of dancing but not by us) and we thought it would be a good place to return with a group. My birthday weekend also happened to be the big band night. My friend Maggie, the Great Organizer, arranged it all for me and it turned out swell. That's right, I said swell. I really had a lot of fun and I felt fortunate to celebrate with friends.
Last week, I went to the U.S. Consulate to add pages to our passports. I didn't even know that that was something people did. But if you hit about a dozen countries in less than two years, well, you run out of pages. Most of the people who were waiting with me were there with their infants and small children, swearing them in as U.S. citizens. It was kind of moving to witness. I felt patriotic somehow, watching the parents raise their right hands, holding their new little U.S. citizens in the other hand.
It's been around 21 degrees here. Celsius, that is. It's about 70F. There was a cold spell about a month ago (probably one of the reasons we got sick) when it was down to 50F for a short time, but in the last few days I have managed to work up a sweat while walking around the city. It's supposed to get that cold again the day we leave for NY.
When I look up the forecast for NY and it says 27, that doesn't mean Celsius, does it? Oh boy.
Last night, a friend invited us to The Cricket Club, where she is a member, for a dinner buffet and Christmas carols sung by students from a local school. We didn't quite think Christmas, standing on a cricket field without so much as a jacket, listening to carols. (By the way, I have a few questions for Europeans regarding 'mulled wine.') But it was nice to be around a lot of kids, including the adorable boy my friend and her husband adopted this past March.
To add to the spirit we came home and watched A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Christmas Story. (Thanks, Scott).
You'll shoot your eye out, kid!
See you soon.
In two days we will touch the ground at JFK. I hope it's not too cold and wet a December day. We are quite happy to be coming home for Christmas this year. It wasn't bad being here in HK last year, but of course it will be better to be with family. And food.
Paul and I were both under the weather back in November with the worst colds we've had in a long time. For Thanksgiving, my friend Maggie had arranged dinner at a private kitchen in our neighborhood, but I went husband-less because Paul was about a day behind me in the course of the cold, so he still didn't feel well enough to go. I didn't feel too wonderful myself and came home fairly early. By that Sunday we felt well enough to go to a local Italian restaurant that was serving Thanksgiving dinner, right down to pumpkin pie. It wasn't exactly like home, but it was something.
Just a side note, my English friends are fascinated by the idea of Thanksgiving and by pumpkin pie. I answer a lot of questions on the subjects. They are also intrigued by eggnog. I don't really know what to say about eggnog.
I had a lovely 37th birthday, much better than my sniffly Thanksgiving. Paul and I went to happy hour at Morton's Steakhouse for martinis and FREE mini steak sandwiches. Morton's is on The Other Side, in Kowloon. We have been in Hong Kong almost two years and that was the first time Paul has ever seen Hong Kong Island from across the water. I held his hand and he made it safely through the journey (a 5 minute train ride). After filling up on free steak we came back to Wan Chai and went for some sushi at our favorite little neighborhood place - I had finally recovered from the massive sushi breakfast in Tokyo a month ago.
The next night a group of friends celebrated with us at a fantastic place that has decent Italian food and live music. The first Saturday of the month a big band called Stray Katz plays. Paul and I went one night awhile back and enjoyed the atmosphere of dinner and music (there was a lot of dancing but not by us) and we thought it would be a good place to return with a group. My birthday weekend also happened to be the big band night. My friend Maggie, the Great Organizer, arranged it all for me and it turned out swell. That's right, I said swell. I really had a lot of fun and I felt fortunate to celebrate with friends.
My birthday at Grappa's Cellar
Last week, I went to the U.S. Consulate to add pages to our passports. I didn't even know that that was something people did. But if you hit about a dozen countries in less than two years, well, you run out of pages. Most of the people who were waiting with me were there with their infants and small children, swearing them in as U.S. citizens. It was kind of moving to witness. I felt patriotic somehow, watching the parents raise their right hands, holding their new little U.S. citizens in the other hand.
It's been around 21 degrees here. Celsius, that is. It's about 70F. There was a cold spell about a month ago (probably one of the reasons we got sick) when it was down to 50F for a short time, but in the last few days I have managed to work up a sweat while walking around the city. It's supposed to get that cold again the day we leave for NY.
When I look up the forecast for NY and it says 27, that doesn't mean Celsius, does it? Oh boy.
Last night, a friend invited us to The Cricket Club, where she is a member, for a dinner buffet and Christmas carols sung by students from a local school. We didn't quite think Christmas, standing on a cricket field without so much as a jacket, listening to carols. (By the way, I have a few questions for Europeans regarding 'mulled wine.') But it was nice to be around a lot of kids, including the adorable boy my friend and her husband adopted this past March.
To add to the spirit we came home and watched A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Christmas Story. (Thanks, Scott).
You'll shoot your eye out, kid!
See you soon.
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