News

October 2008:

In October, we went to Beijing! This month's newsletter is written by Jewels:
We were very hungry once we got to the great wall. But Ann said we should buy the tickets. So George bought the tickets. We got on the ski lift, it was very fun. We went right after taking pictures. It was so cool. We saw a donkey. We walked up some stairs. Jewels freaked out, at the top and while we went down. We soon discovered there where many snack stops. We got bananas there. Jewels ate most of her banana Emma ate half of her banana and Darcy ate all of her banana. We got back to where we started, and got on to the slide. George got on first with Emma in his lap. Then Jewels got on second. Finally Ann got on with Darcy on her lap. George and Emma blasted off on their cart down the slide. Jewels kept on braking on the way and Ann and Darcy had to follow Jewels down the slide. At some point they caught up with George and Emma. By then they were close to the end and that is where Jewels started to speed up and then we had to slow down. We got up and off the cart and walked to the cable cars. We saw a camel on the way. Darcy never wanted to leave the camel but she had to. Emma and Ann went to the bathroom. Jewels, Darcy, and George waited right on the stairs to the cable cars. When Emma and Ann returned we started to the cable cars. We all had to give our tickets to the people who worked there. We got on a cable car and rode up the mountain. We took pictures in the cable car. Once we got to the top we had to squeeze through the tiny door that a-million other people were trying to get through at the same time. We walked up and down through little castles built on the great wall. After we went through a little castle George did the rocky pose .Ann, Jewels, Emma, and Darcy heard some people laughing and so did George. So he said “I can’t keep this pose forever”. So we took the picture. We kept on walking. It took forever to the great wall. When we got to the area where we first came (the ski lift area) we got on the slide again. This time Jewels wanted to go faster. But she bumped into George and Emma. An old Chinese dude was stopping every minute. We heard people yell “traffic jam”! Once it was over we started to complain. So we had lunch. We ate Beijing dumplings and thick noodles. We ate it all. We even got seconds on the noodles. When we were done we went outside to wait for the car that was going to pick us up. Unfortunately it didn’t come so George called him but still it took a long time. While we were waiting Emma and Darcy were throwing rocks at the mountain side. Then one them by threw a rock at Jewels. But she dodged out of the way at the last second. Finally the car came. George had brought some tiny apples Jewels hated them Darcy ate all and Emma didn’t even want to try them.
At the Mutianyu Section of the Great Wall of China
Outside the Forbidden City
At the Summer Palace

September 2008:

Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival
On our way to Macau
At the Venetian Macau
In September, Darcy returned to Woodlands International School in the Dolphin class and Ann returned to her Mandarin studies. Also, Emma started dance class again after a long hiatus. This month was full of parent meetings and welcome back coffees as everyone settled into their routines. However, as soon as it seemed like school started, the kids were on holiday again for the Mid-Autumn Festival. We ate moon cakes and brought lanterns to the festival at Bamboo Grove. Then, a week later, Hong Kong was hit with another typhoon. The kids were again off from school.
(We were fortunate not be to affected like Ann's family in Houston was with Hurricane Ike. They were without electricity for almost 2 weeks!)
We managed to squeeze in a quick trip to Macau over one weekend. It is a quick 1 hour ferry ride from Hong Kong to Macau. We stayed at the Venetian hotel, where we rode the gondola and saw the Cirque du Soleil show "Zaia". Darcy began really swimming at the pool there which was very exciting! She went back and forth between mom and dad over and over again.
We will remember September 2008 for the terrible economic crisis that we are experiencing. We are fortunate that George has a job. It is tough times right now for investment bankers. We are also fortunate to be healthy. The stories of tainted milk in China have scared all of us living here.
Nevertheless, we are looking forward to our trip to Beijing in October. (We'll just keep away from any dairy products.) Look for more updates next month!

July/August 2008:

In July, Jewels had her first piano recital in Hong Kong. She played three pieces beautifully from memory. The next day, we hopped on a plane to start our home leave vacation. Unfortunately, the plane had mechanical failure, and our flight was cancelled. United put us up in the airport hotel for the night, and we took another flight the next day. We arrived in San Francisco a day later than planned, then got on another connecting flight to Chicago. That flight had the same exact mechanical failure. This time they were able to fix the problem after a few hours. We had a lovely few days in the Windy City as we recovered from jet lag. We went to the Field Museum, the Shedd Aquarium, the Art Institute, Navy Pier, the American Girl Store, and spent a lot of time on the Lake Front. We also had dinner with Jenny Han.
After spending four days in Chicago, we flew to Houston where Jeanne and her family joined us. Along, with Susan's family, we all took a road trip to New Braunfels, Texas where we went to Schlitterbaun Water Park. We stayed at the Hyatt Hill Country for two nights and enjoyed their lazy river, while the men golfed. We ended our family reunion at Sea World in San Antonio. After Jeanne's family left Houston, we got together with Alicia Cole and her family for swimming and a barbecue at her beautiful house in Katy. Later that week, the girls enjoyed going to the Ringling Bros, Barnum and Bailey Circus in Houston. Our three week home leave went by very quickly and we were on our way back to Hong Kong before we knew it! It was good to get back home and see Daddy again.
In August, we had the opportunity to make our way to Shenzhen, China. George was there on business. So, we took the train up and crossed the border to have the girls' first experience of China. At Lowu, the girls bought themselves gems for their collection.
We spent our last week of summer vacation in Phuket, Thailand. It was a very memorable trip. We had our own pool villa and had breakfast with baby elephants each morning. We road elephants through a forest of rubber trees, took a speedboat to James Bond Island, and went kayaking through remote grottos. We celebrated my birthday there with George at the grill. Other than George leaving us early to close a deal, this trip was close to perfect. We all had a great time together.
Jewels and Emma started school shortly after getting back from Thailand. Jewels started Grade 3 in the Upper Primary school at HKIS, and Emma started G1 in the Lower Primary school at HKIS. We're now back to our daily routines and regular life here in Hong Kong.
On the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier in Chicago
Outside the Shangri-La Hotel in Shenzhen, China
Riding elephants in Phuket
On a sea excursion in Phuket, Thailand

June 2008:

Darcy turned 3 years old on June 12th! She had 3 special celebrations to mark the day. First, she had a party with her school friends in the Penguin class. Next, her bestfriend Sian and she had a tea party at the Crabtree & Evelyn tea room after school. Finally, her cousin Phoebe, Uncle David and Auntie Lillian came for a birthday dinner and cake.
We also celebrated Father's Day this month. George finally got to see his beloved Lakers in the NBA playoffs. Unfortunately, the outcome wasn't what he wished for. The US Open was also an exciting event to watch this year with Tiger winning in the playoff match. Watching sporting events in the US is not easy to do in Hong Kong. The time difference makes it hard, but what is worse is that the TV programming here shows more traditional British sports like Cricket, Rugby and Soccer.
June has been the wettest month in a hundred years in Hong Kong. We had so much rain one morning that the streets were flooding and there were many mudslides around town. We also experienced another Typhoon Signal 8. We taped up the windows and braced ourselves for the worse, but it wasn't so bad. The rain has made it hard to spend any time outside. Instead, the whole family has been exercising indoors with our Wii Fit. It's been a lot of fun competing with each other on the balance board. Emma is exceptional at yoga, and no on can beat Jewels doing the hula hoop.
<--One weekend the girls and I found this lovely cove next to the water. Unfortunately, after all of the rain, the run-off made this tranquil spot into a waste dump the next time we visited it. It was such a sad sight to see!
Jewels finished 2nd grade at HKIS and started her summer program there. She spends the morning learning Mandarin and the afternoon working with clay. Emma graduated from primary class at Woodlands and will be attending HKIS next fall in 1st grade. Darcy also finished up her tenure as a Penguin and will become a Dolphin next fall at Woodlands. We're off to the US next week and we can't wait to see family and friends again!

May 2008:

In May, George and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. We flew to Singapore for the weekend and attended Chris Chua's wedding. We ate well at Din Tai Fung and Lau Pa Sat, and we had fun going to St. James Power Station and the Butter Factory.
The next weekend was Mother's Day which we spent at the American Club in Hong Kong. We enjoyed a lovely brunch and swimming afterwards.
For Buddha's birthday, the girls and I went for a picnic at the Aberdeen Reservoir and then hiked back to Wanchai afterwards. This is a very long walk!
This month, George and I got out to see two movies: "Iron Man" and "Indiana Jones". We also went to the Elton John - Rocket Man concert, which was a lot of fun. Elton played non-stop for hours and hours!
I spent a lot of time too downloading and watching TV shows on iTunes. I caught up on all the shows that I had missed in the States, like Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, Big Brother and American Idol. I watched a lot of TV this month!
Finally, we booked several trips for the coming months. We will be in Texas in July, Thailand in August, and Switzerland in January 2009. We're looking forward to our travels.

Mother's Day at the American Club
On our hike at the Aberdeen Reservoir.

April 2008:

April was a very quiet month. We didn't take any extravagant trips or do anything unusual. I guess we are finally settling into our daily lives here in Hong Kong.
The girls and I explored many new parks and playgrounds in the area. Hong Kong is wonderful for its many family-oriented services. There are parks everywhere with outdoor and indoor play areas. So, even on rainy days, we were able to go out and have fun. This month, we tried Queen Victoria Park, Hong Kong Park, the Happy Valley Park, as well as the Central Library play room.
Speaking of rainy days, we experienced our first typhoon warning. The rain was blowing sideways with great big gusts of wind that several of our windows were leaking!
This month was also full of school activities. I was able to go observe both Emma and Darcy in their classrooms. Jewels had her 2nd grade music performance as well as the annual school fair. Finally, we ended the month with a beach party for the Woodlands school children.
As for visitors this month, we had dinner with Jim and Nancy Shapiro (Jeff Shapiro's parents) from San Clemente, California who arrived here in Hong Kong by cruise ship. We were also hosted by our new friends, Anne and Anthony Guinvarch, to a lovely authentic French dinner at their home with several other families from Woodlands Preschool.

March 2008:

We started this month by celebrating Jewels' 8th birthday. First, she had a few girlfriends from school over for an extended playdate. Then, we had a family dinner with Uncle David, Auntie Lillian and cousin Phoebe. And finally, we went to see the pink dolphins in the China Sea off of Lantau Island.
While we have all been very healthy (not a runny nose in sight), the Board of Education in Hong Kong decided to close all of the primary schools on the evening of March 12th in order to prevent the spread of the flu. (Two children died during the week with flu symptoms.) So, the girls have been home from school for several weeks.
This worked out well as they were able to spend more time with their Grandmama who flew out from Houston, Texas to spend the Easter holidays with us. We spent one day at Disneyland together, one day at the Peak, and one day down in the south part of Hong Kong island at the American Club and Stanley Beach. One night, Grandmama and I went to see Harry Connick, Jr. performing here at the Hong Kong Convention Center in Wan Chai. Then, on Friday, we all flew to Taipei, Taiwan together. There we ate and ate the most delicious food! We also visited all of the tourist sites, including the night market, Chiang Kai-Shek's memorial, the National Gallery as well as the 101, the tallest building in the world. We were there during the Taiwan presidential elections which was a very exciting time. After returning back to Hong Kong, Grandmama and I took the train up to Shenzhen, China to do a little bargain shopping. We wanted to take her to Ocean Park to show her the panda bears, but unfortunately the weather did not cooperate with our plans.
Another highlight of the month was going to Macau to see Celine Dion perform at the Venetian hotel. The concert was amazing! Unfortunately, we were unprepared for the huge crowds of people who were also doing the same thing. We had to wait for a late ferry and also wait in immigration for a much longer period of time than we anticipated. We made it to the hotel just in time for the concert to begin and didn't have time to explore Macau at all.
We ended this month by attending the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, an international sporting event here in Hong Kong that is also a huge party. Although we aren't very familiary with rugby, George and I enjoyed being part of this annual festival.
We were excited to see many old friends this month. Mavis Ko whose son Michael went to Pre-K with Emma at West School is here for a short visit. Also, Cecilia and Bernard Tsui with their girls, Stephanie and Katie, are out for a to visit family. We will end the month of March by welcoming A-Mah and A-Gong (George's parents) from Los Angeles.
At the National Gallery in Taipei

February 2008:

Happy Chinese New Year! This month ushered in the year of the rat, and we celebrated with a week off from school. We spent a day at Ocean Park and a day at Disneyland Hong Kong. We also went to the Big Buddha in Lantau Island taking the Ngong Ping 360 cable cars to get there. It was a bitterly cold day, but the steps to the top of the mountain warmed us up. We came home and donned our winter ski gear in preparation for the parade, but it was much too crowded to see anything.
We added several new members to our household this month. First of all, we welcomed Papias Casimsimian as our helper. She keeps our house wonderfully organized, makes sure that we always have food on the table, and most importantly watches the kids when George and I go out. We also adopted several fish. It's been a bit of a roller coaster ride with them, as some already died, but then we found hundreds of eggs at the bottom of the tank which eventually hatched but none actually survived. The kids are having so much fun with their new pets!
Jewels also started taking piano lessons again. We found a piano teacher to come to our clubhouse once a week. Although we don't have a piano in our flat, there is a piano room in our clubhouse to practice. In addition to piano, Jewels takes an afterschool Chinese paper-folding class as well as a Chinese painting class with Emma.
Speaking of classes, I've finally started up my Mandarin Chinese classes again. It's a daily class, and I'm fortunate to be able to have private lessons right now because no one else is at my level. The schedule works perfectly for me, as I can take the girls to school in the morning and then go straight to my class.
And I actually got to use my Mandarin last weekend as I followed George to Shanghai! We had a fabulous dinner at Jean-Georges and then walked around the city: along the Bund, through Nanjing Road and around the French Concession to Xintiandi. It was an incredible lesson in history and modern culture.
We'll close out this month with Leap Day as we are always reminded of my going into labor with Jewels eight years ago!

January 2008:
We've been in Hong Kong for one month now, and we are finally settling into our daily routines. Jewels wakes up before dawn to catch her bus to Repulse Bay. I walk the little ones to their school in Wanchai. (It's a little far, but all down hill. So, the girls don't mind.) While they are all at school, I enjoy exploring Hong Kong on my own. I'll hop on a bus or a tram, and see where it takes me, and when I'm hungry, I'll stop at a bakery or an alleyway canteen to get noodles on the go. It's been a great adventure for us all!
On the weekends, we've gone to Ocean Park, the Hong Kong Zoo, the Central Library, and have done a lot of shopping... mostly for the apartment. We've had to get almost all new electrical appliances: little things like lights and alarm clocks as well as a new TV. We knew that the plugs were different, but we didn't anticipate that electronics were not compatible. It's been a learning experience!
Our weekend evenings have been fun too! George & I went karaoke-ing one evening. Another week, we went to eat at a nice French restaurant and then went to Long Kuai Fong afterwards for cocktails. We even went to a Chinese foot reflexology center for foot massages one Saturday. Another fun thing we did was to go to Lei Eu Men for a seafood dinner. You walk through dozens and dozens of fresh seafood vendors, then pick one that looks good. You then select the seafood items that you want, and they will send it to a restaurant of your choice in the area who will cook the items to your order. The kids enjoyed it better than the aquarium!
We've already had many visitors in town, including George's sister, Shery and her family, Wayne & Katie Yu from Chicago, and Will & Wendy Hoh from New York.

December 2007:

Our trip to Hawaii was so much fun, but went by too fast! It was a much needed break between moving from California to Hong Kong. We met up with our friends Jeff & Vicki Shapiro and their lovely girls, Isabelle & Juliette who were perfect companions for our girls. We went whale watching one morning and were incredibly lucky to have 3 humpback whales play with out boat for over an hour! We also went snorkeling on Christmas morning, but were not so lucky that day. The waves were very choppy and we all got sea-sick. To make the day worse, Darcy's elbow popped out on the boat, and we had to take her to the emergency room. And then when we returned back to the hotel room, we found that the room had been cleaned, and Jewels' Christmas present from Santa (a small aquamarine gemstone) had been in the sheets of the bed, and was now lost! The temperature was a little colder than what George & I would have preferred, but the girls didn't seem to notice. As always, they had fun spending time at the beach, eating pineapples and papayas and seeing the rainbows everyday. Next time, they want to stay for a month.