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)
06 December 2009
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?
27 November 2009
Yet another Bridget Jones moment
Hong Kong has got to be the only place I have ever lived where, when something is to be delivered to your home, you don't get a 12 hour delivery bracket but a two hour one, and the delivery guy actually calls you 30 minutes before arriving to make sure you are at home. You can go about your normal business and just pop back for the exact time the delivery arrives.
Or when your internet provider contract runs out, instead of just continuing to charge you until you cancel, someone comes to your home to inform you that you will now be paying less money each month...
Last night, just such as thing happened. As we were quietly watching Into the Wild, waiting for our supermarket delivery to arrive with the goodies for our early Xmas feast tomorrow night, there was a knock on the door and Krusty opened to find a representative from our cable/internet company, here with the good news about our fee going down.
And then began the most surreal evening of our lives.
At this point I should warn you that I am about to embarrass myself immensely by telling the story of what happened, but it's not like I have ever shied away from looking ridiculous on this blog. And since I found out that I only have about four readers anyway, the damage won't be too extensive...
Anyway, as the cable guy was taking quite a long time to explain and update our contract, I decided to get a head start on the cranberry sauce. That's the beauty of having an open kitchen.
As Krusty was waiting for the guy to fill in the necessary papers, he asked how the sauce was going, to which I replied "you know, I don't think I'll ever be able to cook on with electricity again, gas is awesome."
At this instant, my unborn child, who has turned my entire body into a gas machine, decided, without warning, to make me produce a very audible fart, right in front of the cable guy. That's right, after saying "gas is awesome" I managed to provide my audience with gassy bodily proof. I was mortified.
Not sure whether the guy had heard me, I ducked into the bathroom, half crying with laughter, at which point the guy asked Krusty if he had said something wrong.
I finally got over my shame and came back, at which point the door knocked again. There stood a very sweaty man, carrying the dozens of bottles of water that I had ordered. "Next time, only order half as much please," he panted. At this point, I started to think I might be in a dream.
The cable guy had almost finished, but of course now he started trying to sell us more channels. It was too late though, Krusty had already stuck his hand up the bottom of the turkey on the counter to extract the giblets in time for the stuffing. At 11pm on a Thursday night, our cable guy was negotiating with a man who had his hand inside a turkey while the supermarket delivery man continued to curse us for ordering so much water.
Then of course, as Krusty washed his hands, he realised that the shopping had come with a stack of dry ice, and so as he rinsed his fingers the sink filled with a mysterious smoke that awakened the childish scientist within.
We ended the conversation with the cable guy with me licking cranberry sauce off my fingers and Krusty holding a cup of smoking dry ice as he waved with a stupid grin on his face.
I'm guessing this particular cable guy might not come back at the end of the next contract!
(On a separate note, I think that the protagonist of Into the Wild was a selfish, ignorant idiot who did much more harm than good, and he really shouldn't be glorified in any way. Not only did he close the door on every single person who ever tried to love him, but he destroyed his life and that of his parents for no apparently justifiable reason. Just because you can quote Tolstoy, doesn't mean you're intelligent. I don't know what I'll do if I end up with a son who does the same thing. I might literally follow him into the woods and feed him poisonous berries myself...)
Or when your internet provider contract runs out, instead of just continuing to charge you until you cancel, someone comes to your home to inform you that you will now be paying less money each month...
Last night, just such as thing happened. As we were quietly watching Into the Wild, waiting for our supermarket delivery to arrive with the goodies for our early Xmas feast tomorrow night, there was a knock on the door and Krusty opened to find a representative from our cable/internet company, here with the good news about our fee going down.
And then began the most surreal evening of our lives.
At this point I should warn you that I am about to embarrass myself immensely by telling the story of what happened, but it's not like I have ever shied away from looking ridiculous on this blog. And since I found out that I only have about four readers anyway, the damage won't be too extensive...
Anyway, as the cable guy was taking quite a long time to explain and update our contract, I decided to get a head start on the cranberry sauce. That's the beauty of having an open kitchen.
As Krusty was waiting for the guy to fill in the necessary papers, he asked how the sauce was going, to which I replied "you know, I don't think I'll ever be able to cook on with electricity again, gas is awesome."
At this instant, my unborn child, who has turned my entire body into a gas machine, decided, without warning, to make me produce a very audible fart, right in front of the cable guy. That's right, after saying "gas is awesome" I managed to provide my audience with gassy bodily proof. I was mortified.
Not sure whether the guy had heard me, I ducked into the bathroom, half crying with laughter, at which point the guy asked Krusty if he had said something wrong.
I finally got over my shame and came back, at which point the door knocked again. There stood a very sweaty man, carrying the dozens of bottles of water that I had ordered. "Next time, only order half as much please," he panted. At this point, I started to think I might be in a dream.
The cable guy had almost finished, but of course now he started trying to sell us more channels. It was too late though, Krusty had already stuck his hand up the bottom of the turkey on the counter to extract the giblets in time for the stuffing. At 11pm on a Thursday night, our cable guy was negotiating with a man who had his hand inside a turkey while the supermarket delivery man continued to curse us for ordering so much water.
Then of course, as Krusty washed his hands, he realised that the shopping had come with a stack of dry ice, and so as he rinsed his fingers the sink filled with a mysterious smoke that awakened the childish scientist within.
We ended the conversation with the cable guy with me licking cranberry sauce off my fingers and Krusty holding a cup of smoking dry ice as he waved with a stupid grin on his face.
I'm guessing this particular cable guy might not come back at the end of the next contract!
(On a separate note, I think that the protagonist of Into the Wild was a selfish, ignorant idiot who did much more harm than good, and he really shouldn't be glorified in any way. Not only did he close the door on every single person who ever tried to love him, but he destroyed his life and that of his parents for no apparently justifiable reason. Just because you can quote Tolstoy, doesn't mean you're intelligent. I don't know what I'll do if I end up with a son who does the same thing. I might literally follow him into the woods and feed him poisonous berries myself...)
26 November 2009
World of pain
Any girl who receives a coupon for a free eyebrow wax just because she is a member of the press should feel pretty lucky, and so I righteously did last week, when said freebie appeared out of nowhere.
This feeling of joy occurred, however, before I had ever had an actual eyebrow wax.
All giddiness swiftly disappeared when the first strip of hot wax was ripped from my forehead. I squealed as the beautician giggled, saying "First time?" Why, oh why do women submit themselves to this torture?!
The nice lady asked me to close my eyes as she continued (I was probably scaring her with my look of wide-eyed shock) and soon the pain and throbbing starting acting like a drug, making the room start spinning in my head. Daft Punk's Around the world came on the radio, and I sat trying not to spin away from the dominatrix's tweezers as my own world of pain went on.
And then of course I had to go back to the office and pretend nothing had happened as my colleagues pointed at my red, swollen forehead.
I'll keep the next coupon for my worst enemy.
This feeling of joy occurred, however, before I had ever had an actual eyebrow wax.
All giddiness swiftly disappeared when the first strip of hot wax was ripped from my forehead. I squealed as the beautician giggled, saying "First time?" Why, oh why do women submit themselves to this torture?!
The nice lady asked me to close my eyes as she continued (I was probably scaring her with my look of wide-eyed shock) and soon the pain and throbbing starting acting like a drug, making the room start spinning in my head. Daft Punk's Around the world came on the radio, and I sat trying not to spin away from the dominatrix's tweezers as my own world of pain went on.
And then of course I had to go back to the office and pretend nothing had happened as my colleagues pointed at my red, swollen forehead.
I'll keep the next coupon for my worst enemy.
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