Today is the fifth anniversary of my first date with Krusty. Five years... I don't think either of us would have guessed back then that this is where we would be now...
And since I am counting the years, it also occurs to me that I spent the first half of this year counting down the days to the wedding, and the second half counting upwards from the conception of our child. What will we do when the baby is finally here?! Start counting how few hours sleep we have had no doubt...
Until then, I'll just count my blessings. I know it's soppy, but I'm just so happy!
15 December 2009
Tomorrow, boum boum
Our contractor, Mr Fok, has been working in our flat for five days now. And yes, saying his naming without smirking is even more of a challenge than putting up with the white dusty footprints on our black shiny floor.
Knocking through to make a new bedroom and baby room was supposed to take two days according to Mr Fok's original estimate - although he doesn't speak English and I don't speak Cantonese, so I realise now that that might have been a miscommunication. In fact, when I asked him yesterday when he thought he would be finished, he answered "tomorrow, Friday, three days, tomorrow, boum boum". It's anybody's guess!
Meanwhile, being the former British colony that it is, Christmas is in full swing in Hong Kong. (I write this sitting in the building where Krusty works as the Cirque du Soleil take over the atrium in a strange display of Egyptian bellydancers, Victorian ladies and Red Indians flying away towards a Santa on stilts...)
Giant trees, skyscraper high light displays and kitsch midi carols are everywhere, and overbearing as it is, it has put me in the holiday spirit. We're having Christmas in our flat for the first time ever, and my parents and brother are coming over to celebrate. We've bought our first ever tree (which of course, as I was the one who chose it, was judged not to live up to the Krusty standard once it arrived in the flat) and I have decorated it with the strangest ornaments I could find (courtesy of those Scandinavian weirdos at Ikea). Krusty complains every day that it is just too odd, but I like our underdog tree with its huge holes, bent trunk and floating bearded heads... I even knitted a star to put on top, which doesn't really look like a star unless you squint at it from a distance. It's the thought that counts, eh?!
Knocking through to make a new bedroom and baby room was supposed to take two days according to Mr Fok's original estimate - although he doesn't speak English and I don't speak Cantonese, so I realise now that that might have been a miscommunication. In fact, when I asked him yesterday when he thought he would be finished, he answered "tomorrow, Friday, three days, tomorrow, boum boum". It's anybody's guess!
Meanwhile, being the former British colony that it is, Christmas is in full swing in Hong Kong. (I write this sitting in the building where Krusty works as the Cirque du Soleil take over the atrium in a strange display of Egyptian bellydancers, Victorian ladies and Red Indians flying away towards a Santa on stilts...)
Giant trees, skyscraper high light displays and kitsch midi carols are everywhere, and overbearing as it is, it has put me in the holiday spirit. We're having Christmas in our flat for the first time ever, and my parents and brother are coming over to celebrate. We've bought our first ever tree (which of course, as I was the one who chose it, was judged not to live up to the Krusty standard once it arrived in the flat) and I have decorated it with the strangest ornaments I could find (courtesy of those Scandinavian weirdos at Ikea). Krusty complains every day that it is just too odd, but I like our underdog tree with its huge holes, bent trunk and floating bearded heads... I even knitted a star to put on top, which doesn't really look like a star unless you squint at it from a distance. It's the thought that counts, eh?!
Maternity clothes
Jean-Paul Gauthier has created a collection for the lady with a passenger on board. Yeah, this is EXACTLY what I feel like wearing right now...
06 December 2009
Cause and consequence
Three Christmas parties in two days = hangovers for Krusty and ear infections for me.
So not worth it... (OK so it was actually worth it - at the first party we got to watch my boss get so drunk he let a girl put makeup on him, at the second I got to see my favourite lecturer for the first time in 10 years, and at the third I got to remember who my real friends are. So overall, very worth it... But I could do without the infection)
So not worth it... (OK so it was actually worth it - at the first party we got to watch my boss get so drunk he let a girl put makeup on him, at the second I got to see my favourite lecturer for the first time in 10 years, and at the third I got to remember who my real friends are. So overall, very worth it... But I could do without the infection)
04 December 2009
I love this city
Yesterday evening, after work, we went out on the town for the first time in months. We started on a rooftop for a small xmas fair (I was only wearing one layer, in December!), then on to dinner in Mid-Levels, en route to which we bumped into three people we knew.
I know you can get the exact same experience living in a village somewhere, but which other city offers the chance of all the excitement with the small town relationships?! I love it.
I know you can get the exact same experience living in a village somewhere, but which other city offers the chance of all the excitement with the small town relationships?! I love it.
02 December 2009
More scenes from Hong Kong
When we moved in, we had a lovely view of the sea from the kitchen. In true HK style, another skyscraper has sprouted up to spoil the vista, but at least it has provided us with another form of entertainment - watching the fearless workers assemble and dismantle the bamboo scaffolding, swaying in the wind with cigarettes hanging from their lips, as if they did realise that they were actually 20 floors off the ground...
And in other craziness spotted around town, here is Krusty shopping for a bathtub in his lunch hour...
And in other craziness spotted around town, here is Krusty shopping for a bathtub in his lunch hour...
01 December 2009
Turkey Fest 2009
As a couple of our friends are going back home for Christmas soon, we decided to hold a pot-luck Thanksgiving/Christmas last weekend. And it was perfect.
The Swiss-American contingent brought starters (beautifully presented fusion bites), Krusty and I cooked the main course (turkey and trimmings) and the Colombians brought dessert (panna cotta and pecan and apple pies). Our British guest and resident wine expert provided the vino for the occasion. It was eclectic, delicious and so much fun, just like our lives here.
We played Secret Santa, too, and Krusty got a brilliant toy baby and pushchair to practice his daddy skills with. Of course it didn't take long before the silliness to start and Krusty popped the baby's head off... Should I be worried?
After the stuffing, as we all vegged in front of an episode of Fawlty Towers, I realised how precious these people have become to me. They really are our adoptive family, without whom Hong Kong would be rather hollow.
Now I am feeling all Christmassy and thankful, and I can't wait for our Christmas tree to arrive in preparation for my parents' arrival. Two turkeys in one month? Yes we can!
The Swiss-American contingent brought starters (beautifully presented fusion bites), Krusty and I cooked the main course (turkey and trimmings) and the Colombians brought dessert (panna cotta and pecan and apple pies). Our British guest and resident wine expert provided the vino for the occasion. It was eclectic, delicious and so much fun, just like our lives here.
We played Secret Santa, too, and Krusty got a brilliant toy baby and pushchair to practice his daddy skills with. Of course it didn't take long before the silliness to start and Krusty popped the baby's head off... Should I be worried?
After the stuffing, as we all vegged in front of an episode of Fawlty Towers, I realised how precious these people have become to me. They really are our adoptive family, without whom Hong Kong would be rather hollow.
Now I am feeling all Christmassy and thankful, and I can't wait for our Christmas tree to arrive in preparation for my parents' arrival. Two turkeys in one month? Yes we can!
Treasure hunter
Bambino has been awfully kind recently. Not only have I been able to eat meat these last few days, but instead of murderous sprees and terrorism, last night I dreamed that I had found an incredible treasure of hundreds of antique books hidden behind a partition in the flat.
Has the baby just grown out of its rage, or has it finally understood that Mummy is boss and it should try getting on my good side?
Has the baby just grown out of its rage, or has it finally understood that Mummy is boss and it should try getting on my good side?
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