Bon Voyage, er, Baai Baai Party!

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!

One final adventure: We Heart the Taj Mahal!

Now my blogger friends, if you recall, back in my December 2007 post about my trip to India, I threatened to NEVER return, unless promised a visit to the Taj Mahal. Well, that destiny was realized when just a few weeks ago, we got the word that Tony had to go to India one last time and he was going to be based in the Delhi area for the trip, so I hopped to it, cashed in all my frequent flyer miles and got me a plane ticket to join in on the adventure!

We left Hong Kong on Friday and after 5 hours (some prep for our upcoming LONG flight home next week!) we arrived into Delhi. We had arranged through our coworkers for a complete escorted journey to Agra, the city where the Taj is located, which is about 4 - 5 hours depending on traffic from Delhi. Complete in our package was a private hired car and driver, personal tour guide, admissions to the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort, as well as accommodations in a 5 star hotel for the evening in Agra. Everything worked out perfectly! Much better option than trying to take some form of public transportation down there, which if you recall from my last blog looks something like this...Thanks to the man in the back who even gave me a good pick of his nose as I snapped the shot - priceless! Got room for two more? Well there is only one guy sitting on the roof so I guess the answer is YES!

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...

The Taj Mahal was built back in the mid 1600's by Mughal (non-magic folk for you Harry Potter fans, lol) emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum (where people are buried) for his favorite wife Mumtaz Mahal. He had three wives in total, but this one lady got the Taj. She apparently also had 14 children of his, so in my estimation, this is the LEAST he could do!

Then entire structure is made of white marble. The decorations of flowers, vines, text from the Qur'an, and everything are all made from etching into the marble and shaping precious and semi precious stones which have been hand carved by the people of Agra and come from all over the world. The colors used include Blue (Lapis-lazuli), Green (Jade), Orange (Coral), Yellow (Cat's eye), Black (Onyx), Turquoise, and Red (Blood Stone). The Cat's Eye Yellow ones were the coolest though - when you lit them up with a 'torch' (that is a flashlight to you and me) they glow like they are on fire due to their transparent qualities. The white marble glows the same way. So pretty! There is also a prevalent theme of 'hearts' everywhere and the Taj is considered one of the greatest declarations of ETERNAL LOVE in the world.

Along with the colorful inside, the Taj glows different colors throughout the day due to its white marble facade: In the morning it looks pinkish, afternoon milky white and in the evening with the sun setting, golden. It is said that these changes depict the different moods of a woman. What moods? I haven't seen any moods around here...

The absolute symmetry is another amazing site. On the four sides of the Taj stands these towers and they were designed to lean slightly out, all at the same angle so in the case for some reason they would fall, they would fall away from the Taj. Also, there is a Mosque on the West side (facing Mecca if you are in India) and a mirror image of the building on the East side which is just an empty building (you only get one west facing mosque).

And unlike the rest of India where there is just garbage and crap everywhere, the inside grounds around the Taj were immaculate. I guess people try not to pee inside here! Also security was very tight, metal detectors and everything. You couldn't bring in anything that may deface the structure including pens, lighters, any electronic equipment except for your camera, no food, no large bags, and a total limit for five items per person. They charge different entry fees for foreigners and Indias too, and we had a separate bathroom which charged us 5 rupees to use.

Before this journey, the only Taj Mahal I really knew about was Trumps Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City (not to be overlooked either my friends!) So I was truly not prepared for the beauty, craft, and money that has gone into this structure. I was completely AMAZED! Enough of my blabbering, onto some Taj pics.

Here is the first view as you enter through the main gate.

Once inside, you stand in front of the fountains for a great pic or two. Our tour guide was also our photographer! 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!

Then, there is my pal, mister camel. I saw a lot of him and his friends along our journey round trip from Delhi to Agra. Here he is in the middle of traffic, hauling a load of garbage. Nice eyelashes!

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.

And most importantly, I survived another journey to India! I made it! I don't think I will be back anytime soon, now that I have seen the Taj Mahal and all. Plus, I am most excited to report, I escaped without a case of 'Delhi Belly'. Phew! That would have been ugly for 8 hours in the car ; )

So, if you EVER find yourselves in India, you must go see the Taj Mahal as part of our trip. No excuses. It is another wonder of the world which no picture or television show or account by an excellent blogger like me can possible capture - you must see it with your own eyes.

Till next time, I LOVE YOU & MISS YOU!

P.S. I got a blue dot for my head, it matched my shirt :)

Some Final Thoughts: Three week countdown to return to the USA

Hello blogger friends! I am feeling quite wordy today, so be forewarned : )

As we prepare to return back to the USA, I have been thinking a lot about the things I will miss from our experience here as well as the things I definitely will not miss...Of course there has to be a list! I am even organized in my stream of consciousness. And it goes without saying that we definitely have very mixed feelings about leaving our lives here and starting all over again in the USA. Neither is better, just different. Read on for some of my more candid points on the topic.



THINGS I WILL MISS ABOUT HONG KONG:

1. First on my list is the friends we have made: Our little Rockwell family here who has taken such good care of one another, loved and encouraged one another, and shared our holidays, our traveling stories and our experience with. We will miss you guys the most!



2. City living: From being downtown and in the middle of all the excitement, going back to suburbia will be tough. We have loved being in the middle of the city!



3. The travel and jet set lifestyle: Four countries in four weeks? Not a problem here! VIP on the airlines, access to the club lounge, upgrades, and the best airlines in the world! Need I say more?! We will very much miss the adventures and travel to places in the world most people can only dream of visiting. Seriously everyone should think about coming to Asia for your next vacation, we have plenty of recommendations and tips for you, just save up your $$ for the plane ticket and of course at least two weeks of vacation to spend in the region.



4. The Hiking: A favorite past time of all Hong Kongers which we have grown to love is the hiking. Being able to step outside the city to beautifully manicured paths and trails filled with steps and mountains has been a great way to exercise and laugh with friends on the weekends.



5. Transportation of Hong Kong: This has three main categories or benefits. First of all, as many of you know, I hate driving! I have loved not having a car and being able to be driven places in a taxi, or even better, to walk! When I do need to get somewhere though, Hong Kong has the cleanest most well maintained subway system in the world, second to none. And not only that, seasickness aside, I have loved the network of ferries for all of my weekend island hopping. There is no greater way to travel.



6. Being told you are beautiful all the time: Not such a bad thing to stick out like a sore thumb, yes, I have eaten up every compliment and stashed them away for my future old fat and ugly days when my ego needs a boost. It has been nice to be the only person with curly hair, the tallest female in 3 counties, and of course having the whitest skin which is so coveted by this culture. See all you straight haired, petite, tanned bodies back in NYC? This is the real key to beauty! Lol...just goes to show, it is all in the eye of the beholder, we knew that already, didn't we?



7. Serviced Apartment: How did this get so far down on the list when it is OH SO important? Do you know it has been a year since I have cleaned my own toilet? I only have to make my own bed on Sundays. And we get fresh towels every day and fresh sheets twice per week. What am I going to do without my full time helper Jenny coming every day to do all of these things? Not living in a serviced apartment will be a rude awakening! Better stop by COSTCO and get those cleaning products in bulk!



8. The wet market: We have thoroughly enjoyed shopping for all of our fruits and veggies at the local wet market, an area of the streets where local farmers bring their produce to sell. We walk out of there with two bags full of the best stuff you've ever seen for like $12 USD. Plus not to mention all the new exotic fruits we have come to love: Dragon fruit, Mangosteens, Jack Fruit, Lychee, Pomelo, mmmmm I could go on forever.



9. Smoothies: In conjunction with endless supply of fresh fruits comes the smoothies. Hong Kong is very big on them and nearly every store has some delicious blended concoction you can purchase as an afternoon pick me up or just a drink to go with your meal. Nothing is more refreshing on a hot day. Maybe I will start to use my blender for something other than margaritas!



10. Working with a young sales force: OK finally a comment about the job experience! Did you think I was just on vacation this whole time? No, I actually did do some work ; ) Our sales force here in Asia is both young in age and in years with our company - most have less than two years across the board. It has been great mentoring them, teaching them how to find opportunities, and working within our own companies organization to get things done. There are some bright young people out there, hopefully they stick around long enough to make an impact.



11. Octopus Cards: So, this is probably the coolest thing in Hong Kong. Everyone has a little multicolored card, about the size of a credit card which you can use as a debit card tied directly to your bank account for replenishment, using RFID technology, and then this card gets you on any public transportation, you can buy your groceries or even your Starbucks coffee, 7-11 mini marts, and one day soon, even your taxi fares. There is almost no need for cash when you have this little fellow in tow. Now, NASA scientists, get to work on designing one for us in the USA! We want the Octopus!



12. Bootleg DVDs: Why go to the movies when you can get your very own copy of the film on DVD the next week for only $2 - $5 USD? Alright, don't call the copyright police on me, this maybe the only quasi-illegal thing I have partaken in lately (just kidding mom!) but I love to go to the market and pick up all the latest movies. Don't you think those movie stars get paid enough? I do! Will these movies work on our USA DVD players? Probably not, we may have to gift them to our next expat replacements...but they were fun while they lasted.



13. Being surrounded by water: Maybe it is the Scorpio in me (a water sign for those astrologically challenged folk) but I am so in love with looking out my window and seeing water. Island living is where its at. Maybe we can find a place on one of the 1000 lakes in Minnesota?



14. Asian Service: These are the most hard working, dedicated service professionals in the world, bar none. They are attentive, they run to get you things, and they operate as a team to keep you as happy as possible when receiving any service in any form here. I will miss that next time I go to the diner in the USA and the gross old fat waitress with stained teeth, coffee breath, and a cigarette hanging from her lip asks me "What do you want?" Ugh.



15. Cheap yet wonderful shopping finds: The shopping here is amazing. I will not blow my cover on how much things are, but if you go into the markets and pick up seemingly expensive things only to find out they cost no more than $1 USD for something which would be upwards of $25 USD in the states, you cannot beat that. Plus the endless supply of knock-off bags and other merchandise...Made in China baby!
16. Being an expat: There is something to be said for living in a city filled with fellow expats - our visitors have all been amazed at the vibe of Hong Kong and how it really feels very International, Cosmopolitan, Modern and yet truly Asian all at once. This city has more expats than any other place in the world and I will miss meeting people, finding out where they are from, and how long they have been in Hong Kong. It is truly a place of "East meets West"

What will I do without all of these wonderful things in my life? How will I cope? Well, for one thing, I can look at the list below and remind myself of what I will not miss about being here, and of course all the great benefits of our own fabulous nation.

THINGS I WILL NOT MISS ABOUT HONG KONG:

1. Chinese toilets: Gotta top the list. Who wants to pee in a hole and then hope that you have your own tissue in your pocket to use as toilet paper which you then throw into the waste basket in order to 'keep the toilet clean', try to wash your hands with no soap and then again have no towel to dry them off? Think of all the money I will save by coming home to free toilet paper and soap in the public restrooms! Well, at least I will save on an endless supply of hand sanitizer.



2. Pollution / Water Contamination: This goes hand in hand. I will not miss the smog of China, the grit coating your entire body when you finish the day, and the awfulness of having to brush your teeth with bottled water and ensure your mouth is sealed shut even in the shower for fear of pollutedness making you sick. Hey India, you are on my list too! I have nothing more to say people, it is called the EPA and emissions regulations - start an org today! You are killing our whole planet!



3. Imminent smell of Dried Seafood: Nothing is more nauseating in the morning than to step outside and take a deep breath of fresh air only to smell dried seafood. There is a scent which lingers in the air as you walk down the street past the different food stalls. You can't get it out of your nose no matter how hard you try...no, won't miss that one at all.



4. 'Yellow Fever' couples: Sorry all you old American loser guys who have been dreaming of an Asian comfort women to be your love slave for life in exchange for your wallet...I am so sick of seeing these old ugly loser white guys with these pretty young things. Poor girls, their families have sold their souls to the white devil. Granted not every single couple has this yellow fever disease, however, just take one look at the guy and typically you can tell what a big loser he is and how he had to get his mail order bride because no American women would touch him with a ten foot pole. But the girls are using them too, they send all their money home to their families in their own countries so they never need to work again. So it is kind of a mutual thing I guess. But it is still so gross.



5. Shopping for things and knowing where to buy them: This is a very broad category which spans many aspects of life. I will not miss having to ask for the 'largest size' when trying on clothes; I will not miss not being able to purchase shoes anywhere; I will not miss going to the grocery store and guessing which of the Chinese branded things I should try out this time for laundry detergent; I will not miss needing something and having no idea where to go to buy it. Praise Bloomingdales! Praise Stop & Shop! Hell, I'll even give a shout out to Walmart! Very much looking forward to the American stores...



6. Seedy fruits: What is with this people? Why can you invent the Octopus card yet growing seedless grapes, watermelon and oranges seem to allude you? I will put you in touch with NASA and you can exchange your intelligence. Seedless is SO very nice.



7. Smoking, everywhere: Cough, cough. I know there are plenty of smokers left in the USA, but everyone smokes here. And they smoke everywhere. My lungs are looking forward to fresher air on many levels and this tops the list. I am so happy that at least Minneapolis has joined the ranks of the other great states who passed the no smoking in bars and restaurants law some years back. Now if we could only change Wisconsin...



8. Change: So they may have the Octopus card, but Hong Kong also has some of the absolute heaviest change in the world if you do dare to use your cash money. I think my wallet is permanently fattened from carrying around these heavy pieces. Just wait as we really wind down here...I already have been paying for taxis with all change, they just love me! Need to get rid of it all before we split! It would put us over the weight limit in our luggage for sure!



9. American TV: Yes, sure we got this season of American Idol via satellite one day later...but every other American show which is on TV is from like three seasons ago! And yes we do have HBO and Cinemax...But it is like we decided to export all the most awful movies in the world, and yes, most of them are over 10 years old! We just got a new one on HBO last week...The Pursuit of Happiness with Will Smith. Um, that came out in 2006. That is NOT NEW! We are so getting Tivo when we get home.



10. Another work related one for you - I will not miss customers having no idea who our company is! That is not even a possibility in the USA unless you are going after some brand new market space or industry...everyone knows us. I guess it is good to be king because here, I have had to give my little elevator speech as those sales folk call it several times - you are supposed to be able to summarize what your company does and what value you bring in the time it would take you to ride with a potential customer from the ground floor up the elevator. I will be happy to return to a place where every body knows our name, and they're always glad we came. But I will be sure to instill on my global counterparts that everything is not chickies and bunnies over here in Asia and we have a long way to go to prove ourselves in this market.



11. Mapquest, Google, The YellowPages: Sure we may flatten a whole forest printing these things out every year, but can I tell you that I would have given my left arm for a copy of the Yellow Pages here? The websites are not very good, even if you can find them somewhat translated into English. And with the cities growing with leaps and bounds, there is no official maps, let alone Mapquest. Ahh, going back to the information age, let my fingers do the walking!



12. Bless You: This is a small thing but just in case I have gotten so used to NOT saying this, and you happen to achoo in front of me, lemme explain. They do not say 'bless you' when you sneeze. In fact, they don't say anything. They just kinda look at you and move on with life. In the off chance I have lost my head and offered up a 'bless you' to someone, they look at you like you are crazy and why are you drawing attention to their bodily function?



13. Not knowing the language: This has probably been the toughest part of it all. Feeling like you are only getting part of the story, having to rely on people to translate for you, then they talk for ten minutes and the synopsis you get is two sentences long...I am sure I have missed out on a lot. And it has been very hard to communicate with potential customers at times either thru a translator, or through me talking so slowly I want to kick myself and my head hurting by the end of the day for trying to find all the simplest words and sentences to get my point across. It will be nice to speak English to everyone again. But I will have to be careful not to talk about you in front of your face thinking you won't understand what I am saying anyways...whoops.



14. Food: No, I will not be missing Chinese 'food'. Chicken feet, intestines, mystery meat, orange squid on a stick, glutenous jelly type things, everything on the bone with skin...it is amazing I have not starved! I will miss my dim sum though, and yes we have eaten well in other parts of the world...just not in China. Chinese food is just not good people.



15. Trying to cook in our apartment: I will not miss Tony and I trying to make one of our normal fabulous meals with no oven, no grill, and only two 'hot pads' for a stove which we can only fit one pot on at a time anyways. I may actually hug my grill when I see it. That goes for the All Clads too. My babies! Mom & Dad are coming home, dust yourselves off, you are going to get a workout!


16. Uniformity: You go to China, it is all Chinese people. You go to India, it is all Indian people. You go to Hong Kong, well we are the most diverse of the bunch but just because there are some white folk from the UK and Australia, this does not get to count as a diverse culture. I miss Black people! I miss Hispanic people! I miss walking down the street and seeing a blend of every gender, culture, creed, color and religion all on the same road or in the same line at the super market. Homogeny sucks. But I guess mostly you only really get to see thru diversity at work in our very own country, one of the things I love about us the very most.

So there you have it! My thoughts on leaving, my things I wish we could have left behind long ago...Keep in mind that none of these things are in any particular order. All of them will be missed / and not missed accordingly. And yes, the lists are intentionally even, no one wins, we love both options equally...how politically correct of me.

Most of all, we are just so happy to be coming back to be back in YOUR lives! We've missed our families and friends so much, so you all make it worth leaving all this fabulousness behind. We couldn't last another day without you!

Would we do this again? Yes, in a heartbeat. I highly encourage anyone to work with your company and try to find an opportunity like this. Of course it does help when your spouse is employed by the same company I guess. But completely worth it! It is life changing, mind altering, universe shattering. You will never see the world in the same light again.

Not that the countdown is on or anything...but we will see you in the homeland in less than 3 weeks!

Till then, I LOVE YOU & MISS YOU!

The Grand Finale: Jessica & Sharon come to Hong Kong!

Let me start by saying I have already written this whole thing once, uploaded pics, edited and formatted everything and it is GONE! Never happened before or since to me, not sure why but I am officially angry at Blogger and may express my anger through out this blog in various fashions...Grrr!

So two of my BFFs arrived for the final visit to Hong Kong before Tony and I head back to the good ole USA. Jessica (aka Messy Jessy, or just Messy for short) and I have been friends since the first week of my freshman year of college (1995, ew that sounds really really long ago and makes me feel OLD!) Post college, when I joined Rockwelll in 1999, I headed to Milwaukee and moved in with two random girls, one from Texas (Sharon) and the other from Indiana (Tessa). Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would click with these two country gals, but it was love at first sight for all three of us, Sharona and I have been great friends ever since. If you were at our wedding, you would remember these two beautiful bridesmaids for sure!
Messy arrived on Friday, May 9th after a long journey from Boston, through JFK and finally to Hong Kong. After a quick shower and flight recovery, I had made us appointments to go over and check out the American Club which is a private club with restaurants, gym, pool, country club type thing where you can entertain business associates or bring your family to escape the Hong Kong madness. Her dad used to be a member when he was working for an international publishing firm back in the day and he had such great memories of the place, it was great for her to get to see it. After our American Club tour, it was time for Happy Hour! Hey, it was a Friday night OK, so things can start around 4:30 sometimes! Sitting in a bar in the middle of the crowd, all of a sudden we hear a guy call out "Jessica?"....It was a gut we knew from college who happened to be in Hong Kong for a business trip, who happened to be heading to meet friends himself, and happened to be walking past the very bar we were perched at street side. Such a small world! We had a few drinks in Lan Kwai Fong before heading up to an early dinner at Cru, a great international place in Soho. It was great for us to catch up since all we've done is basically email for the past year. Don't worry friends, I will be home soon enough and we all can chat on the phone! We made it a pretty early evening since Messy was exhausted from flying and I was exhausted from it being Friday and working all week! Plus we had big Big Buddha plans for the next day...

On Saturday morning, we rode the Npong 360 cable car up to see the Big Buddha to pay our respects for his upcoming birthday which was on Monday May 12th. Different countries celebrate Buddha's birthday on different days..not exactly sure how that is possible, since I think he is all the same dude, but whatevs. Happy Birthday dear Buddha! He was looking good, we got to see the monastery and all the people praying, and we ate a great free vegetarian lunch before making our way back to Hong Kong island. We had just enough time for a quick nap and a shower before heading to the airport to meet Sharona!

Sharona landed and we had a quick turn around time to get back to my apartment, get all dolled up and hit the town along with my friend Patti for a girls night out. We started at Aqua which is a famous restaurant on the Kowloon side, boasting excellent Japanese or Italian cuisine and amazing views of Hong Kong island. Then the martinis started...We had a great meal and took some beautiful shots of the skyline even though there were a few raindrops getting in out way, they had all cleared up by the time we were finished. We decided that it was time to hit the town and meet up with our old college friend we bumped into the night before. We stopped by a few bars and before we knew it, it was 2:30 AM! How Sharona was still functioning, I have NO idea!
The next morning we had planned to hike the peak but after peering out the window at the gloomy cloudy skies, and considering all our fun from the previous evening, we bagged that idea and opted for a day of shopping at Stanley Market. The girls picked up so many great things, and I too was shopping as my days here are winding down...it was a marathon, we got great stuff for friends and family as well as for ourselves of course. With Buddhas birthday being the next day, they had a bunch of stuff going on down at the pier including dragon boat races. We ate a seafood bucket at the Boathouse for lunch and continued to shop into the early evening. We then headed back to my place to drop off all of our purchases and decided we had just enough time for a quick massage before dinner. We all three opted for a foot massage, and promptly fell into a state of complete relaxation! After our foot rub down, it was time for Korean BBQ! Messy and I used to go to this one place in college all the time for our birthdays for Korean BBQ because they let us drink as much Saporro as we liked without carding us! But it was Sharona's first time with the Korean cuisine so I was happy to introduce it to her. This time they gave us our own private room and we feasted on our favorite beef, kimchee and hot pot. It was a great meal. Since it was a Sunday night, we kept it pretty mellow after dinner and just headed over to the IFC to have some drinks overlooking the Kowloon side this time at the Isola bar...it is a great outdoor spot right on the water with amazing views and wicker chairs. The night sky was clearing up so we had high hopes of being able to get in a great hike to the peak the next morning!

We woke up early on Monday and we lucked out - the sun was out for our hike. The girls did a great job getting up the mountain in one piece and I have dubbed them as the best hikers of the bunch. It was very humid and we definitely worked up a sweat and an appetite, so off we went back to my house to shower up and hit up some local Dim Sum for lunch. We enjoyed array of dumplings with various combinations of shrimp and pork, but the biggest hit was the dessert - Chinese egg tarts. They loved them! What's the worst thing you can do after a big lunch when you are gut busting as it is? Go shopping for clothes of course! We headed to the Pedder building where you can find lots of designer clothes with the labels ripped out...a bargain! We all did very well here, picking up new digs for our summer season which is just around the corner (cannot believe it is Memorial Day next weekend!) Before we knew it, it was early evening again and Tony was flying home! The four of us went out for Thai food, even though some of us were still full from lunch, we managed to get it down. Tony had just come back from the US so he was ready for bed after dinner, but the girls and I went over to Kowloon again to hit the night market. This time on the shopping list were mostly silk robes, shoes, and dresses for friends and family. I also picked up some new bootleg DVDs....6 for $12 USD, can't beat that! Plus the guy told me if they didn't work that I could come back and punch him in the face. Good to know.

Early the next morning the girls left for an adventure to Beijing China. I had them well armed with travel guides, lists of sites to see and tips on how to get around. They did very well and even managed to link up with some other westerners who had tour guides to take them around the city. The one thing they missed out on was the food. After getting sick after their first meal touching down in China, they had two meals of McDonalds and one of a Snickers bar, before they were ready to go out to dine at the Peking Duck restaurant I had recommended. The did enjoy their duck very much, and also tried the sharks' fin soup, so all was not lost in the Chinese cuisine. They were quite hungry when they got back to Hong Kong though ; ) And they did make it back in one piece, even after missing their original return flight home due to Beijing traffic and a possibly intoxicated cab driver. All part of the adventure!

Friday was a day of resting in the morning since the girls arrived at almost 2 AM on Thursday night. I took the day off from work and it was the most beautiful weather yet. We headed by ferry over to Lamma Island where we went on an easy 1 hour hike exploring the island before winding up at the restaurant pier for the famous seafood lunch. We shared a set menu which consisted of fried calamari, my fav scallops with garlic and noodles, lobster in butter sauce, a whole fish in soy sauce, shrimp with scallions and garlic, fried rice, and baby bok choy. It was delicious and the girls dubbed it their favorite meal of the trip. We had some time to kill after stuffing our faces before the return ferry, so we hopped on a small boat over to the floating village to partake in the "Funny Hookless Fishing". Tony and I had tried this out back in October during National Day when we went to the island, but it was even funnier than I remembered. The best part is the first instructional video where I am showing the girls how to lower my bamboo rod into the swarming mutant pool of giant fish gently and try to feed it to a small one before being viciously attacked by a giant mutant, sending me screaming and the fish on the end of my rod flying. Sharon had a similar experience where she lost her fish and her flip flop in one fell swoop, and Jessica lost half her fished body and dropped her rod and ran away after trying to pull it out of the death grip of a mutant fish. We laughed so hard, and of course had to each have multiple tries. Still, no one has been able to hook (less) us a fish.Back at home we got all dressed up again for another night on the town. (Doesn't Tony look hot in his new tailor made shirt? ; ) This time we headed to the famous Peninsula Hotel to their bar, Felix, for cocktails and to watch the laser light show which is put on at 8 PM nightly by various buildings on the Hong Kong island side. The bar was not as nice as I imagined and had a weird peach booth at a diner vibe to me. And the drinks were very pricey as one may imagine, so we only had one there and then headed back. The Peninsula hotel is amazing though, I would have loved to peek inside one of the guest rooms. Why can't we get our corporate rate there? I wonder. This time for dinner since it was Friday night and all we hit up the swanky Wagyu Lounge for some Wagyu beef! This is similar to the other Wagyu restaurant but has a more bar / club feel with loud music, lots of happy hour revelers, and a great atmosphere. Our table was not ready the second we walked in the door and as such they bought us a free round of drinks on the house. The staff was very attentive all night and even gave us two rounds of shots on the house as well - Booze and Beef! What more could you ask for? Everyone had a perfectly cooked steak, and no room for dessert. We had to go somewhere to burn off the calories, so we hit up a dance club. Tony was his usual dancing self and proceeded to rule the dance floor to the point that some guy actually pushed Jessica out of the way to go battle with Tony. For those of you who know Jessica, you know she is probably the best dancer in the whole world, so she was quite insulted! It was so funny.

The next morning after a great Brunch, the girls and I took the ferry over to Macau for the day. We had thought about staying over night but with all the travel and expenses for the week, we decided just to make a long day out of it. First stop was the Macau tower where I encouraged the girls to do the Skywalk which Jay, Christopher, Tony and I had done back in August. I stayed on the inside this time, acting as photographer. They were laughing at me though because the whole way around the perimeter, I was being followed by this adorable group of little Japanese women who were snapping pictured of the girls out on the sky walk. Somehow I communicated with one of them who was able to get this great picture of the three of us...they really ARE the best photographers!

After the death defying walk, we headed up to view the church on a hill where we saw two Chinese brides getting their pictures done. We then hopped a taxi down to the outlying islands to dine at Fernandos, famous for their delicious Portuguese cuisine. It was definitely a no frills place but we got there early enough we did not have to wait for a table. We had the special clams, a steak cooked in Burgundy wine sauce, the suckling pig and a salad. Another great meal! After our late lunch, we hit the beach next door to check out the ocean before hopping another cab over to the Venetian Hotel. We are happy to report that they now have Craps in Macau (Alexis, for next time I guess). The casino was packed with nearly every table in play. We took a nice walk around the grand canal upstairs and had a drink at the bar before calling it a day and heading back to Hong Kong. We were a little hungry for a bite of something so we headed out to a wine bar in Soho for a bottle of white and a mushroom thin crust pizza. Yummy.

For their sadly last day in Hong Kong, we met up with two of my girl friends for Brunch at the Flying Pan and then took the train over to Causeway Bay. I wanted them to see all of the helpers in the park for 'maids day off'. They were amazed and could not believe the sight. We were even stopped by a few who wanted to take pictures with Jessica and I. Must be the curly hair or the super white skin, because they had no interest in taking Sharons' picture - she was used to this though, after being in Beijing with Jessica and having people everywhere stopping her for a photo. I showed them the hotel where Tony and I spent our first month here, and we walked over to one of my favorite home good stores for the final shopping of our journey.

After that it was home to attempt to pack to get all of these purchases into suitcases. They were very well prepared though - Sharon had brought a nearly empty one with her on the way here, and Jessica bought one at a steal price of $23 in Stanley Market. Surprisingly everything fit! We had time for one last foot massage before heading out for our final meal. They had not been over to Wan Chai yet, so I picked out the Dirty Duck Diner for Dinner. The Dirty Duck got its name from back in the day when they were constructing the restaurant, a flock of ducks landed inside to escape some bad weather and they left muddy footprints in the newly laid floor. The food is Balinese cuisine and we shared a mix of beef, chicken, rice, salad and avocado dip. And there is always room for dessert...coconut pancakes, and banana fritters. Delicious!

And then they were gone! The ladies left on Monday and left me all alone to suffer out the last three and a half weeks of Hong Kong without them. Waaaaahhhh! Come baaaaccccckkk!

Till next time, I LOVE YOU & MISS YOU!

Birthday Boy and Baby Elephants!

Hello again my blogger friends! I have been a terrible blog writer as it has been over 1 month since my last post. The horror! Please accept my apologies and promises for better quicker future postings.

The month of April really flew by. For Tony's birthday, April 11th, we decided to take a much needed r&r trip to Phuket. It is pronounced Poo kete, not F*ck ette, for those of you with a dirty mind, and it is the largest island in Thailand. Remember that awful tsunami a few years ago? Well Phuket got hit very hard by it and thus almost everything you see if brand new construction as a result. We opted for the JW Marriott resort & spa knowing it was a secluded oasis and that if we didn't ever want to leave the resort, everything was there for our enjoyment.

Upon arrival we were greeted with a lime juice cocktail and a beautiful flower necklace. The people took us right to our room and we checked in there rather than waiting at the reception desk. After a quick unpacking session, we suited up and hit one of the resorts three pools. One pool was the main pool and was where most of the kids and families hung out. The other pool had the swim up bar and was on one far end of the resort. And the final pool was shallow all the way through, perfect for lying in the water and escaping the sun, like a lagoon. We tried all three and could not pick a favorite! Everyday was more relaxing that the next. We just read our books and swam and drank and napped. We mostly stayed on the resort grounds. Here is a picture of our favorite bar, the Blue Lagoon. Set up outside on the beach were these big comfy beds / chairs where you could sit and sip your cocktail while watching the sun set. Here is a pic of the view....ahhh!

But the best part of each day was the afternoon around 3:30 PM when the baby elephants arrived!

There were two babies. The older one is Yum Yum, and he is three years old. He was very smart and friendly and he loves to pose for the camera and make little squeaky nosies. He also did tricks where he would sit on his butt or climb up onto a rock. Any little kid who dared could hop on his trunk and get lifted to the sky. He was so sweet and gentle. Here are some pics of my friend Yum Yum.Tony really loved him too, but not as much as I did. He has my heart!
The second baby was Dumbo. He was just a little guy, and not quite yet two years old. He still had his baby elephant fuzzy hair on his body and unlike Yum Yum who would pop a whole bunch of bananas in his mouth at a time, Dumbo used his ninja trunk to peel each one individually, drop the peel on the floor and scarf down the banana. He also loved to swim! We caught them in the ocean one afternoon where Dumbo was floating around and body surfing. It must feel good to be weightless if you are a big baby elephant! It was the cutest thing I have ever seen.

Here is Dumbo at the pool after he had just taken a trunk full of pool water and squirted some of us in honor of the Thai New Year.

For Tony's birthday, we saved the fancy Italian Restaurant, Cucina, for his birthday feast (of course!) The best part was that I had arranged with the hotel a birthday set up where the seranaders came over to sing him happy birthday complete with cake and candles. He was pretty embarrassed, it was funny! Can you believe how old he is now? 33, old man! He never remembers, he always asks me how old he is when someone asks him. Must be starting to lose his memory already showing signs of age!

And as the birthday boy, he also was able to enjoy a massage on a daily basis. Right at the beach, they had these little thai ladies offering a one hour thai massage for 400 baht or about $13 USD. Can't beat that!

We did take one night off the resort and head into the Phuket city. Not too much to see there, but we did go to a very nice restaurant where we had a delicious Thai meal for the equivalent of $25 US. A lot cheaper than the resort prices!

We also happened to be in Thailand for their New Year! Called the Songkran festival, the New Year spans April 13th - 15th and is most noted by the fact the everyone gets into a big huge water fight! People roam the streets with water guns and it is an all out battle to drench each other. We got squirted some but not too badly, all of the kids at the resort thoroughly enjoyed to fight, it was very cute. Just don't be caught in an all white outfit on any of these days or you will give the thai people the best wet t-shirt contest they've ever seen!

As for the rest of April, we did have another outing adventure over to a sister island in the Hong Kong mass called Cheung Chau. Tony, Patti, Grace and I went over there with the hopes of renting bicycles and cruising around a funky fishing village island. Well, we must have gone wrong somewhere because although we did find the bikes, the bike path was somewhat confusing - there were STEPS! Up steps, down steps, lots of steps. And also some ballistic hills that none of us except for Tony could get up. I had not been on a bike in about 10 years so the whole time I thought I was going to go flying off the front end and die, falling down the side of a cliff into the deep blue sea. It was pretty funny though. After we finished our biking attempt, we settled into a table by the water and ate a fabulous seafood lunch complete with Scallops on the half shell with garlic vermicelli, a steamed whole grouper with soy sauce, pan fried calamari with peppers and mushrooms, and some fresh baby bok choi with garlic and oil. Yum! So, not a total bust. Plus it was a beautiful day so we at least got some fresh air and exercise. Cannot explain to you how bruised my legs were from carrying the bike and bumping into my shins with the wheels, pedals, gears...ugh!

In other news, the countdown has begun! It looks like the Sollazo family will be returning state side in mid June! So, six weeks to go or so, the official day has not been determined but we have found out where we will be returning to. Tony has accepted a job as the Branch Manager of our sales office in Minneapolis, Minnesota! It is the biggest office in the country ($$ wise) and this will be a great challenge and promotion for him. He is very excited. My job has not been finalized as of yet 100%, so more on that later, but of course I will be based in Minneapolis as well. A few things you should know about Minneapolis (don't worry, I just learned them too):

• It is the 16th largest city in the US (combined with sister city St Paul)
• It is America's most literate city, and as such draws creative people for theatre, visual art, writing and music
• Nickname is the "City of Lakes" and is very rich in water, wetlands and the like
• It is COLD! The average annual temp is 45 F making it the coldest major metropolitan city in the USA. Oh yea, and the average snowfall? 50 inches per year!
• The greatest artist of all time, Prince, hails from there. Maybe he can be my friend.
• Forbes ranked Minneapolis as the 3rd best city for couples
• The Mall of America - over 520 stores, 20+ restaurants, movie theatre, amusement park, Apparently it attracts more visitors than Disney World, the Grand Canyon and Graceland combined - OMG! Need I say any more?
• Minneapolis is one of the "greenest" cities and is very big of eco-friendly practises, a goal of mine is to become greener but as Kermit said, it's not easy being green
• Ranked the 3rd best metro area for raising kids
• The Minneapolis / St. Paul International Airport was deemed the best in country for 'road warriors' by CNN Money
• Named the "Most Athletic City" by Men's Fitness magazine in 2005
• Minnesota has the nations lowest percentage of people without health insurance, and the second lowest percentage of people living below the poverty line

So, start your "Fare Watcher" and put us on the list for a visit to the mid west! But I'd suggest coming in the summer time, which lasts from July 1st to August 30th ; )

Till next time, I LOVE YOU & MISS YOU!