Our Apartment!

Hello from Hong Kong! As promised, here are some pics of our new apartment. The first one is the entry way and the kitchen which consists of a decent size fridge / freezer, a two burner electric "stove" and a small sink. The next is our living room complete with sofa, coffee table and a large TV with DVD player.

The next picture is our bedroom and the closet / entertainment center. And the final picture shows our ultra modern bathroom. We are happy to report that amazingly everything has fit! I am not sure where we thought we were moving when we packed, but we brought a ton of winter clothes which we will most likely not need unless we are going to northern China. Even then, we have excessive amounts of stuff. Oh, well, if we run out of room, we can just ship some back to stick into our storage container.

We had a nice weekend at home. Tony got back from an exhausting trip to India on the red eye Friday morning. He was wiped out and slept for most of the day after unpacking and taking a long hot shower. He did not have the best news to report from the country and in fact at one

point said that I would hate it there. It is extremely dirty, especially in terms of the 1.5 billion people not having a working sewerage system, public urination and defication are prominent. Add that to the roaming animals (camels, elephants, you name it, it has big poop)...it is a poopfest. Then there is the poverty which is astounding, whole families living on the side of the "street" on a blue plastic tarp. That is their home. He did very much enjoy the Hindu Temples and the religious information he was able to gain. The "Bollywood" (that is the Indian version of Hollywood, they have a booming film industry, the most of which is made up of musicals with lots of singing and dancing) was featured everywhere and the movie stars are some of the most beautiful people you will ever see. He did enjoy the food but after a while was looking forward to anything but Indian. He bought me some very nice presents too! I got a string of black pearls (so gorgeous!) and a string of white pearls as well as a bunch of bangle bracelets and two beautiful silk shawls. Everything is wonderful!

On Saturday we headed out to Julyfest with our friend Brian (that is him in the pic with Tony). This was a two day festival in the Lan Kwai Fong area featuring beer tents, food tents from the local eatery's, as well as entertainment. They had one band which was playing dixieland music which we really enjoyed. You could purchase beer, sangria or red bull and vodka (want to stay up for two days?) by the yard and walk freely among the streets. This Kid was cracking me up. He was standing up in front like smack dab in the middle of the dixieland band while they were playing, three feet in front of anyone else, and he was going to town on his sangria. There was a collection of fruit stuck in the bottom that was giving him a bit of trouble so he kept dumping the glass upside down trying to get it out. Then, whenever the bands stopped, he would cheer and he sounded like a walrus going "uuuuuuugh". It was hilarious. He needed to be photographed.

On Sunday, Tony and I decided it would be fun to walk around our new neighborhood to get our bearings and find the markets to do some shopping. We went on this little tour through this area where they had tons of markets selling dried seafood. Some of the stuff is unidentifiable, but if you can see it in this picture, Tony is pointing at dried turtle! They are the funniest looking things, no shell on, spread eagle like a flying lizard, they still have a head and they are attached to this wooden stick with their mouths wide open. Turtle soup, anyone?

We bought a new wok and frying pan for our apartment since the ones they provided would never fit enough food for two people. We also purchased stuff and cooked our first home cooked dinner in Hong Kong. We bought baby bok choy, and other veggies from the market and then purchased a bunch of live shrimp and made a delicious stir fry. The shrimp were a different breed then what you find in the US and they were very difficult to shell and devein (Tony took the heads off, not me : ) but they were just as delicious and super fresh.

So that is all for now. We are enjoying being out of the hotel and looking forward to a week where we are both at home in Hong Kong! Till next time LOVE YOU & MISS YOU!

Random thoughts and observations

Hello Everyone! Another week has flown by here in Hong Kong. I am getting very excited because Tony will be coming home tomorrow! He has been on the road for basically four weeks straight and has even worked the last two Saturdays with a customer appointment and a trade show. He will definitely need to relax this weekend. The good news is that we will both be in town all of next week!

The new apartment is working out great so far. I took some pictures and will upload them on the next blog - promise! I love the area of town we are in, all the buildings and everything are in Chinese, but we are within walking distance to the main expat bar and restaurants areas, only about a 5 minute walk. I also went to our new gym this week, it is called California Fitness and they are a partner of 24 Hour Fitness in the USA. We both got free memberships with our apartment, and it is only like a 7 minute walk from our place. I took a great class last night that was called "BodyBalance" and it was a combination of Ta Chi, Yoga and Pilates with all these standing on one foot moves. It was really good!

If you walk around town in the mornings, even in our own office, you will smell incense burning. The Chinese believe that incense will bring good luck and good business so every morning they light up a few sticks. Maybe that was why we burned so much of it in college and still got good grades! ; )

They also use tongs in the bathrooms! Instead of a broom and bucket, the bathroom attendants use long kitchen tongs to pick up paper off of the bathroom floor. Pretty good idea, no? I mean if you try to sweep up paper, it just flies around where with tongs, you can pick it right up and be more exact with your placement. They also clean the office five times a day and the most annoying part is that the crew starts vacuuming at 4:00 PM. It is a big joke around here to not make any calls after 4 because they will literally come into your cubical and vacuum under your feet while you are on the phone. At least it is very clean though!

If you like fresh crab, Asia is the place to go. We have come to love this one restaurant called "Hot Spicy Crab Under the Bridge". When you get there and order crab, they decide how large of a crab to bring to you depending on how many people you have. You also have to pick out the level of "hotness" that you want. We have tried the Mild and the Medium which were both very spicy and I think there are at least three other levels up from there! Then, they bring a crab over to your table, alive and squirming to confirm that it is OK. A few minutes later, you are delivered a platter of crab smothered in fried garlic, chillies and scallions. It is very messy to eat and that is why even though most places don't have napkins, you have a roll of toilet paper on your table here to sop up the crabiness. I would suggest it for a first date, but it is definitely a place you must go. Don't worry, if you are coming to visit me, you can experience it for yourself! I promise!

I have a feeling that I am going to get very spoiled here, especially having a serviced apartment. I have not had to make my bed (which you know I secretly enjoy), clean, or wash a single dish since I have been here. I haven't even done my own laundry yet, but that will change this weekend - can't wait to get my hands on Tony's clothes from India! I bought rubber gloves at the supermarket, mostly just to have them in case, but every night after I am done with dinner, I just leave my glasses, plates and stuff in the sink and when I get home from work, everything is washed and put away. It is like a magical dish washing fairy. Maybe I can bring her back to the states with me, I don't know how I will be able to go back! It is heaven. It is really amazing how much more time you have in your life when you don't have to clean, even making dinner seems like so much less of a daunting task. I know, you hate me already....The average salary of a full time live in housekeeper here (they are all from the Philippines) is about $100 USD per week and they do all the cooking, cleaning, shopping AND taking care of the kids. Sunday is literally "Maids Day Off" and so as not to get stuck in their employers apartments, but without really having anywhere else to go, they all flock to the parks where they spend the whole day sitting outside, catching up with friends. Many families have more than one helper because it is so ridiculously affordable.

Oh, here is a cute picture of my boss and I while we are in Thailand. No, he usually does not dress like that! Everyone was making fun of his loud shirt. He had not brought any casual clothes with him for the trip so he went across the street to the mall and bought a shirt and shorts for $5.00 USD.

Till next time, I MISS you and LOVE you!

The King and I: My trip to Thailand

Hello my loyal blog readers! Sorry to have been away for so long, I have been very busy and just got back from a week long trip to Bangkok Thailand. There were so many new stories and experiences my only regret is that I won't be able to post all of the amazing pictures I took, but I will do my best to describe what I saw. Where should I begin?

Well, one of the most important things about Thai culture is their undying love and loyalty to their king, His Majesty King Bhumibol, has been ruling the country for the past 60 years since he was 18 years old. Every Monday, and whenever else you feel like it, people wear yellow shirts to show their adoration and the color is prominently displayed on all pictures of him at various ages which are spread throughout the city. The country is extremely devoted to him and no one would ever speak out against or insult the King or his rulings. They play his theme song if you will before movies, similar to how we play the national anthem before sporting events. He is now 73 years old, LONG live the King!

The taxi cabs are hot pink, adding to the city's color. They are very concerned with security and before a taxi cab or any other car can enter into a hotel car port, security guards make the cars pull over, open the trunk and hood, and then use a mirror to search under the car for bombs. They do the same regarding ashtrays or wastes baskets - there are none to be found anywhere due to the same threat.

There are elephants, everywhere. The hotel where we stayed must have had 100 of them on the premises, in various forms. It was like elephant heaven (to my fellow Tufts alumni, "GO JUMBOS!!!") I took lots of elephant pictures.

I also have never seen as many women wearing the burkas (for those of you not familiar with the word, or if I spelled it wrong, it is the long cloak that some Muslim women wear over their entire face only exposing their eyes)! It is a pretty scary sight to turn the corner and see a group of these faceless eyes staring back at you. I even saw a few women with a metal one that looked almost like those groucho Marx glasses, nose, mustache thing that kids wear. Very sad and very controversial. You do get more used to seeing it after a while, but initially it does scare you like if you saw a ghost or something. Someone told me that the Muslims have been flooding into Asia more and more for their vacations because of the strong prejudices they encounter in Europe and the USA which is awful.

We had some wonderful meals while we were in Thailand. One of my favorite things we ate was at the group dinner for the function I was there participating in called RSTechEd for South East Asia (SEA). They served us an appetizer called "Mieng Kam" and it consisted of a platter of eight difference items served with chaplu leaves which you then took and made like your own personal lettuce wrap. It is kinda hard to see but what you are looking at in the picture here are dried shrimp, diced lime (peel and all), ginger, peanuts, dried coconut, sliced chillies, red onion and a sauce. It was so delicious, all of the flavors combined together, I think I ate five wraps and it was just the appetizer course! I could only handle three chillies though, when I put four of them inside I almost died. Three is perfect. Another meal we ate was out at a traditional Thai seafood restaurant where we dined with the people from our Malaysia and Singapore offices. The traditional drink they serve is a Nam Menow Soda, which is essentially a lime soda made from fresh lime juice and soda water. The limes are different here and much juicer. Sometimes they serve it straight up, and sometimes they give you a bottle of sugar water on the side to add your own sweetness as necessary. It is a great balance to the spicy food. Here is picture of what we ate at the seafood restaurant: starting at the bottom we have crab in curry sauce, whole sea bass fish cooked at your table on hot coals, the biggest grilled prawns I have ever seen, a green vegetable with garlic and soy sauce, crab balls (which look like pigs in the blankets), and shrimp balls and that is Thai fried rice in the middle. We also got to eat this favorite soup of mine which is a very hot and spicy shrimp soup with thai herbs, fresh cilantro and lemongrass, called Tom Yom Goon. I highly recommend it if they serve it a Thai places in the USA.

One night after dinner we decided to take an adventure and head out to the night market for some shopping. What we found was quite a bite more interesting. We went to the area called Patpong and there was a million places selling...Hmm, how do I put this as PG-rated as possible...Like Naughty by Nature said in their classic song "O.P.P.", the word I am looking for is "sorta like another way to call a cat a kitten". In between the market stalls selling everything from DVDs and Faux-lex watches, "Tiffany's" jewelry to elephant trinkets and Thai silk, there were men and women jumping out showing us menus for the go-go bars, touting the thrills awaiting you just along the sides. OK, insert that P word here for a sample of what was on the menu: P smoking a cigarette, P blowing up a balloon, P cutting a banana, P writing a letter, P blowing out candles and the ultimate show, the one which all of them use to lure you in, the "Ping Pong Show!". Anyone seen "Priscilla Queen of the Dessert"? I highly recommend it for the costumes, the drag queens and of course, the "Ping Pong" show. Ladies, if you are concerned that you are lacking the P talent of your Thai counterparts, don't worry because there is also a school you can go to to learn how to do the P tricks. I got a business card from one of the establishments (no, I did not go inside!) called Super P's and took a picture of the neon letters at another one called "P Collection". They also claim to have "cucumber shows", but they did not talk about those nearly as much!

In the end, I did actually do some shopping though, I bought a vase and this really cool three tiered tea light candle holder type thing which the opening bid was 1250 bhat but we bargained down to 1050 bhat for three of them! It is pretty. Maybe after I light it, I can have one of the talented P's come over to blow the candle out for me! Needless to say, after our adventures shopping in P town, we promptly returned home and showered! My friend Patti mistakenly called it Putang market the next day (as I said above, it is Patpong, but an easy mistake ; )

Once the weekend rolled around it was time to do some sightseeing. Patti and I went over to see the Grand Palace and the Reclining Buddha. The Palace was gorgeous, gold and gems all over these buildings, I hope that some of it is captured in the pictures. This is also home of the Emerald Buddha which is one of the most visited sights in Bangkok. He is a small green Buddha that sits on top of a beautifully adorned shrine where people go to pay their respects. One of the coolest things about it is that he has three sets of clothes made out of gold which change with the Thai seasons (rainy season, hot season and cool season). Hey, Buddhas need to be climate controlled too you know! One of the nastiest things is that you are not permitted to wear shoes of any kind inside of any of Buddha's temples. I squirm at my desk thinking about it, but Patti made me take off my flip flops and go inside with all the millions of other feet. She said that I had to go because when else would I be able to visit our little green friend? So, I caved in and seized the day, but I made her carry my shoes in her back pack so that no one elses feet mistakenly walked away with them. And, yes, there was another round of showering and scrubbing after this experience as well!

After touring the Grand Palace we stopped over to see the "Reclining Buddha". He is 46 meters long, made of gold and is lying down to represent Buddhas passing into Nirvana. Yes, this is another place where you have to take your shoes off. I hope Buddha is happy I paid him a visit! Nothing has started to grow out of my feet yet, but I am watching closely...please send acid, athletes foot cream, and fungus remover asap.

The other great thing about Thailand is that there are a million massage places offering extremely affordable pampering. I went to this one place two different times. The first time I got a one hour foot massage which cost 250 bhat ($7. 58 USD). That is what you do if you are not sure of the quality and cleanliness of a place, start out with the foot massage. Barring the instrumental 80's 90's cheesefest love songs playing in the background, the massage was well worth the price of Starbucks. So, I went back the next day, and I got a Traditional Thai Massage (moving up in the world, this one was 300 bhat, or about $9 USD). They use every part of their bodies including arms, knees, elbows and feet, to step on you, stretch you and contort you into different poses. Some parts definitely hurt more than your traditional massage, but it was a cool experience for those who have a high pain threshold and don't mind people standing on you.

Back home in Hong Kong, we were able to move into our apartment! We are on the 19th floor of a 24 floor building in the "Central" area of town. It is a one bedroom unit with a bathroom, living room and open kitchen which looks more spacious compared to the other available layouts we saw around town. Plenty of room to throw the air mattress down for my visitors! There is also an additional "maids quarters" bathroom that is out in the hallway where we will be able to store bulky items like our giant suitcases and maybe winter clothes which we won't use the majority of the time here. Tony took care of most of the unpacking while I was away in Thailand and I think that we will be very happy here once we get settled in. I have way way way way too many clothes though, and will either have to give them all away or bring some back when I come to the states. Speaking of which, I am currently looking at making my first return journey in August for my beautiful cousin Shara's big wedding! Hurray!

Well, I can't wait to hear the comments back about my adventures in Thailand! Write soon and till next time, I Miss you and Love you!

To China and Back

Hello again! Last week was a very interesting week for us here in Asia. Tony and I both did our first bit of traveling outside of Hong Kong, Tony to Korea and China and me to China. Uncle Kenny, I have to give you a shout out here because guess what Tony ate while he was in Korea? Live Octopus! While he did not use a knife to "kill" it first, he promises that he chewed it up well because he could feel the suction cups gripping the side of his mouth as he swallowed. He heard the same stories about people choking to death after eating it, but glad to report he is alive and well. Boy did he ever impress the hell out of the Koreans, both in the sales calls he made as well as in his ability to try everything the put in front of him to eat. He had a great time there and really enjoyed the people, the city and of course the food.

I headed to Guangzhou China, which is the third largest city (after Shanghai and Beijing). The city has about 15 million people, but as soon as you get on the road outside of the main area, all you see is the Pearl River and tons and tons of banana trees. All along the sides of the road are little banana stands with banana sellers. I never knew there were so many here! Hey Rockwell people, does anyone remember the story about the Chinese woman trainee we had in our office back 12 plus years ago who came out to the field and submitted her first expense report and it included thousands of dollars for taxis because no one checked to make sure she had her drivers license before we hired her full time? I think I have figured out why! I spent the week with my counterpart from China, his name is Leo and we got along great. He is 28 and lives in Guangzhou. He speaks English, Mandarin and Cantonese - and he is the perfect host and tour guide. However, Leo, like many people here, does not have a car or even a drivers license, so we had to take a lot of taxis to our sales calls. But they are not nearly as expensive as in the USA. The other interesting thing is that even the taxis don't know how to get anywhere. The cities are growing and developing at such a rapid rate that if you have an address on a piece of paper of a plant and don't know anything else about it, you are basically out of luck. They drive you places based on landmarks (i.e. "it is on the street near the statue and McDonald's" instead of "it is on Industrial Road"). Then, once you get close to the place, you have to find a person whose job it is to ride around on a motorcycle charging taxis and other lost drivers 5 yuan (about 70 cents) to have you follow them personally the rest of the way. So, needless to say, we were lost or looking for the customers for most of the time and had plenty of time to bond and talk in the car on the way to our appointments (over two hours in the car in each direction!) The other thing is that since there are not enough police to support or enforce any driving violations, the cars drive like Mario Andretti. The lines on the road separating lanes are merely for decoration and people weave in and out, half in each others lane, trucks in the car lane, slow cars in the fast lane, motorcycles and bicycles in between, slamming on the breaks, it is amazing we are still alive. Don't worry, I wore my seat belt : )

The plant I went into was a toothpaste plant and I have to say was one of the more pleasant plants that I have ever been in. Everything smelled like minty fresh breath! Quite different from the rest of the country. I have to say, the Chinese people have, um, interesting eating and personal hygiene habits. It is perfectly acceptable to let out a giant burp in someone elses face. They hock lugees and spit, even the little old ladies. They chew with their mouth wide open making a loud smacking sound with each bite. And, if there is something in your mouth that you don't want, like a bone or something, it is perfectly acceptable to spit it right out onto your plate. You almost never get a napkin when you sit down to eat a meal, although you do get a moist towelette at the start to wipe your hands before you eat. And, as I had heard but didn't quite believe until I saw for myself, Shanghai is quite polluted. The second I got off the plane, my eyes started to burn. Even when the sun is out, there is a cloudy haze over the city. The water that comes out of the faucet smells like doody. I brushed my teeth with bottled water the whole week!

But beyond the dirt, there is an amazing city that lies beneath. The skyline of Shanghai is something out of the Jetsons. Every building has lights and these big globes and roof top restaurants, it is amazing. The Huangpu River separates the east (modern high rise structures) from the west (the Bund, more western style structures). On Friday night after our long week of work and traveling, Tony and I met up in Shanghai and had dinner at a place called Jade 36 on the 36th floor of the new Shangrila hotel. The view was amazing and so was the five course set menu. Mostly French influenced dishes, it was interesting to look at and taste. My favorite was the black cod course which could rival Nobu in Manhattan.

During the day on Saturday, we took at cab over to Yu Gardens. Yu Gardens is the old city that Shanghai was built around and it has mazes of pathways and bridges over ponds with beautiful flowers and bamboo all around. The local people like to sit amongst the bamboo on rocks to cool off and hang out away from the sun. From there we walked up to the Bund, one of the most famous streets in Asia where every big Asian company had a place here over looking the river. From there we walked along Nanjing Road which is the major shopping street in Shanghai. There are blocks and blocks of malls, department stores, and small shops. I must have been approached 20 times to see if I wanted a watch or a handbag. But all we bought was some toiletries that we were running out of and some T shirts for Tony.

On Saturday evening we met up with several people from the Shanghai sales office to watch the New Zealand vs South Africa rugby game. There was a guy from each country as well as a bar filled with both teams fans, so it was a ton of fun. I didn't really understand all of what was going on, but there was a lot of action, cheering and beer, so it really didn't matter. It was a great time. By the end of the evening, we had hit our third pub and Tony was dancing on the bar - if you are nice to me, maybe I'll show you the video I shot from my camera sometime- it is great!

This week I am back in Hong Kong and Tony is in Korea and back to China again. He will be home for the weekend though. Then next week, I head out to Thailand! I am SO excited for that!

So, everything continues to be a wonderful new experience for us. Keep those comments and posts coming! Love you & Miss you!

The rugby game - a bucket of Carlsbergs for 100 yuan ($13.00!)

Indepence Day, Hong Kong Style

Hello from Hong Kong! This weekend was a three day weekend, Sunday July 1st marked the 10 year anniversary of Hong Kong being returned to China from Great Britain. As such, we had Monday off from work and plenty of time to celebrate.

On Friday evening we headed out to dinner at a wonderful Vietnamese restaurant where we all ate a bowl of Pho which is a traditional beef and noodle soup made with ginger, scallions, onions and cilantro. It was delicious and very inexpensive. Dinner for the four of us, including 2 beers and 1 glass of wine was about $30 USD. Can't beat that! We did find something funny on the menu though. The best I can muster is that this "COCKAGE CHARGE" is similar to what would be a corkage charge, that if you BYO wine, you would have to pay for them to open it? Any other guesses? How funny!

After dinner we headed out to a few bars. This one place called "Bar George" was packed and very fun. They played all different kinds of cheesy music and everyone was having a good time. This is my friend Patti who ordered what she thought was a pint of a beer called "Hoegaarden" and it turned out to be this mega glass. She finished it though, like a champ. We had a little too much fun on Friday night because we did not make it out for a hike on Saturday morning! It was OK though, it turned out to be a rainy day anyway, perfect for sleeping in!

On Saturday night we returned to the same area of town. We ate dinner and then headed over to this bar called Havanah where they have great mojitos. We met this adorable Indian family (dad, mom & daughter) at a bar called Storkies. The daughter was 18 and about to start NYU in the fall, so we were instant best friends. The dad turned out to be the coolest though, he is like the manager of Marriott for all of Asia Pacific! Maybe he will be able to get us some great discounts on our long weekends around Asia. We danced with them all night and closed the bar at 4 AM.

Sunday was the celebration for Hong Kong's Independence Day. Since it was the 10 year anniversary, they had a huge fireworks party planned in the Harbor. We purchased tickets to go to a party on the top of the Excelsior hotel which has a great view, buffet and beer all for $30 USD. It started out with some amazingly synchronized blasts off of several buildings around town, followed by the real show going off in the harbor. The blasts were coordinated with music which was playing on the hotel as well. The fireworks display went on for 30 minutes and had one of the greatest finales I have ever seen. After the show, we went down to the IFC (International Financial Center, the tallest building in Hong Kong) and had drinks outside at a restaurant on the water with a great view of the Kowloon island across the way. We didn't make it a late night this time because Tony had to get up early and fly out to Korean this morning. He will be there until Thursday. I am heading to Guangzhou and then meeting him in Shanghai for the end of the week. We are going to spend next weekend in Shanghai sight seeing and taking in the city - hey, when in Rome! Should have some great pic next week!

I don't want to jinx it, but we may have found an apartment! Just waiting for the paper work to get done and the lease and all, but if it all works out we will be very happy and able to move in July 18th. So, a few more weeks in the hotel room...We haven't killed each other yet ; )

I need to do this more, but I have started to take pictures of interesting / beautiful meals we have eaten....We'll call it "Supping with Sid". Below is a whole fish that we ordered in a Thai restaurant. It comes to your table raw and then they turn on this little personal hot pot and give you a bowl of veggies (ginger, celery, scallions, peppers) and cooking liquid and you watch it cook and boil away right in front of you. Delicious!

Till next time, LOVE YOU & MISS YOU!