Wow! We are leaving Hong Kong in two days...that is crazy! Luckily for us, our final weekend here was a three day one, due to the Tuen Ng Festival...remember him? The crazy fisherman who drowned and now they race the dragon boats in his honor? Yes, we were here for that festival last year, and we have come full circle, seeing it once more on our way out. Our movers and packers came this morning so our household goods are on their way back and we will follow in a few short days. Time for one final weekend here in Hong Kong!
Friday night we decided was girls night out. Well, maybe the boys decided it was boys night out first, but we had a great time nonetheless. Robin, Patti and I headed out to a super trendy Japanese / Chinese restaurant / night club type place called Dragon-i. We decided that the people who we saw at this hot spot were different from those that we find typically out and about in Hong Kong. Call them the 'cool club' if you will, but they were quite euro-trashy and really fun to people watch and make fun of. So mean, I know, but there was so much to say! Including the guy in a black trench coat (looking rather like a flasher I must confess) with silver dress shoes and silver weight lifting gloves! We thought maybe for a second he was trying to imitate Michael Jackson, that is how sparkling these things were, but even MJ knew that one glove was more than enough. In any case, the food was great, especially the black cod, the Beijing dumplings, and the spicy Chinese lettuce in shrimp paste. Yummy! We hit up a few more bars afterwards, but the weather was so awful - it rained all day and all night long - we didn't make it too late of a night. Tony rolled in from his boys night in Wan Chai not too much after me. They had started much earlier though, and did their jobs at hitting nearly every single place in that section of town, not an easy feat!
Saturday was the day we dreaded all week...the big PACK! We had to go through all of our belongings, sort out what was coming with us in our suitcases back and what was getting shipped, and then inventory all of the shipping items for insurance purposes. Good thing that the rain had not let up and even if we wanted to, we probably would not have left the house all day long...Until the evening! My friend Patti had organized a Bon Voyage party for us. About 15 of us had met up at a great Italian restaurant in the middle of town for a feast of the land native to the Sollazo family. It was funny to see our little local Hongkee counterparts eating Italian food - they had never tried it before, but I think everyone liked it - except for the Grappa! Even I don't like that vicious substance, but poor Carl, Ivy and Grace! Everyone made them try a grape soaked in the stuff and the faces they made were priceless! While I did not get a pic of that, I was able to capture the rest of the folks. Let me introduce you to our Hong Kong family.
First up, Darryl and Robin. Darryl works for Rockwell, he and his wife are Americans from the San Francisco area and even though he gets asked 100 times per day, no, he cannot speak Chinese. I love it when that happens.
Next is Chuck and Cathy. Another dual Rockwell income family, these two recently relocated here from the US about 4 months ago. They both have 25 years with the company already and are enjoying their latest move and adventure. 
Here we have our noble President of the region, Keiran, with Joe who was working for Tony on his team. Pretty cool to have the president at our going away party, huh? We love him, he is the greatest.
Next we have Tony, Carl and Grace. These two beautiful girls were our admin assistants during this assignment, and have been the best in the world. We will miss them so much! We wanted to put them in our shipment, don't worry they are very small and would not take up hardly any room.
Next we have my friend Patti (who threw the party) with Ivy from our human resources department. Patti as you know has been here pretty much since we started and she is on a 3 to 5 year expat package working within our marketing group (hopefully running it one day!) Ivy has helped us with everything from employment visas to company outings like the annual dinner and bowling nights. She also made Tony and I a homemade cheesecake as our goodbye present - delish!
Next up are the McRoberts family - Paul (pictured with Robin so he didn't have to pose alone), Linda and their son Ryan who was visiting from the USA. Paul was one of the guys who took us under his wing upon our arrival here and showed us how to get everywhere and do everything (along with Darryl & Robin). Paul even met us at our hotel early in the morning on our first day and showed us how to catch the Rockwell bus to the office! Such a great guy!
After dinner, it was time to hit the town. First stop was the Russian Ice Bar. They give you these lovely fur coats (don't tell PETA!) because even though it is about 90 degrees outside in Hong Kong, it is always a cool 20 degrees inside the ice bar. They serve a variety of, what else, Vodkas! We had a few good laughs in this life size freezer.
Next up was a stop at a newer place in town called Lei Dou. Patti reserved us a table with whom she though was a friendly girl named Bong, but turned out to be a guy named Bong. Anyway, Bong (ha ha ha, I said Bong) had us all set up, after moving some as he called them 'ugly people' away from our reserved section. The vibe of this place was very cool - comfy couches and antique looking furniture, accompanied by electric Picasso like art, and a dj spinning various types of music. 
We lost a few souls after Lei Dou and only a few of us wound up at the final stop of the evening. The top of the Lan Kwai Fong hotel to a place called Azure. Tony busted out some of his famous dance moves while the rest of us enjoyed the view. After raining for two days straight the sky took on a purple hue, it was very beautiful. But then it started to rain yet again, so back inside from the roof deck we went and found a table to hunker down for the rest of the evening.
Sunday we slept in for a bit and then took the ferry over to Discovery Bay to meet up with some pals from the evening before and catch a view of the Dragon Boat races. We had a great table reserved for a leisurely lunch out by the water. Finally, it was a almost rain free day! But let me tell you, it was HOT and HUMID! I was melting. The boat races were exciting to watch especially since a local guy from our office was on one of the teams who made it into the finals! Woo hoo! There is a rumor of doing a full Rockwell team next year (for fun of course), too bad I am sure they could have used my broad shoulders to help them row row row the boat. Oh well.
What has been amazing to us is the out pouring of love and thanks we have gotten from everyone in the region as we prepare to depart. We have already received tons of 'thank you' emails letting us know that we are always welcomed back and that we both did a great job from all ranks within the organization. We have also received a bunch of gifts! Several books on Hong Kong, coffee table style so we can share the professional photos with our new office mates and our new home; one of our great friends Grace stayed up all night making me a beautiful necklace - she makes all her own jewelry and I have commented on her pieces all year long; and the cheese cake of course; and our pal Carl bought Tony a Giorgio Armani tie and for me a Swarovski Crystal necklace - too much!; and from the team in China we received a beautiful tea set along with some paintings and silk scarves. These people are just amazing. We should be getting them all gifts! Our President had picked up the dinner tab for everyone at our party, totally unnecessary and unexpected but completely sweet and thoughtful. They will all be sad to see us go, but not nearly as sad as us when we wake up and learn that Tony & Sidney's Adventures in Asia have ended!So what now? Would anyone be interested in a Minneapolis blog? I can't imagine it would be nearly half as exciting. What would I write about? Well, we shall see, I will miss being a blog writer...you never know, maybe there will be a new topic soon after all ; )
Till next time, I LOVE YOU & MISS YOU!
I have to admit that other than knowing that I wanted to SEE the Taj Mahal, and knowing that it is one of the 'wonders of the world' and all, I really didn't know too much about it. History lesson time kids...
Look at me, I am so strong! I can lift the whole thing with my two fingers! I know, everyone has this pic, but I could not resist.
Here's one of Tony a little bit closer so hopefully you can see some of the detail.
Here is one of the inside walls of the main area where you are not supposed to take pictures but everyone else was so I got jealous. See the heart symbols? Again, all those colors are semiprecious stones which have been hand carved and inlaid into the marble - just breathtaking!
And one more for you, the lighting was a bit different on our way out (looking golden now, huh?)...this is our attempt at making a heart with our hands...not too bad!
After the Taj Mahal, we were off to nearby Agra Fort (also know as the Red Fort of India). This is where the very same Moghul Emperor was banished under house arrest by his own son who over threw him! It is not so much a fort as it is a walled city, reminded me kind of like the Forbidden City in Beijing....but in FAR worse condition. If the Taj has been preserved to the fullest, the Agra Fort has been left to die. It really needs a face lift! Almost none of the original paintings remain and there is a ton of graffiti on the inside. That and it started to rain when we got here making it look even drearier I imagine....that is rain on Tony's shirt, not monkey crap (the monkeys are everywhere - like squirrels....EW!)
One of the most interesting things to me at this fort were the intertwined symbols of religions - you had everything from crosses (christian) to five, six and eight pointed stars (muslin, jewish, buddist, baptist), to lotus flowers (Buddhist) to hindu symbols like the sideways swastika, and they have their own version of the 'star of david' called the Prakit which looks like a six pointed star with a sun and a swastika in the middle. It is crazy to see a symbol (the swastika) which I have hated and dreaded all my life mean something that it is so not - the Nazi's stole it because they thought it meant religious purity but it is actually used as a charm to bring good fortune. In Thailand I remember seeing swastikas on Buddha's feet. And we know that Buddha would never be so hateful toward anyone. Stupid Nazis.
And of course there were more symbols of hearts in the structure. Waaaay in the back ground here is a view of the Taj Mahal. Love it!
Oh and you remember those not so fancy 3 wheeled vehicles which ride all around the country with people hanging out from all directions? Well in Agra, the land of LOVE, they have pretty heart-shaped rear view mirrors. Cute huh?
And before we sign off for the last adventure, I will leave you with some animal photos. First, this sign was posted on our balcony door of our 5 star hotel in Agra. Can you read it? If not double click for a bigger view. Naught MONKEYS!
And finally, a flock of a hundred goats which crossed the highway (yes, the highway) forcing us to slam on our breaks and nearly get in a goat accident. I couldn't fit them all in one pic, so just imagine four of these pasted together to get the true goatiness proportions.
