Monday 28 September 2009

The good news and the bad news

The good news is that we're going to Hanoi this weekend - which should be really exciting. I'm looking forward to eating tonnes of vietnamese food (lots of steak pho please!) and checking out the chocolate buffet at the Sofitel. Not quite decided yet whether we'll go to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum...Looking forward to a bit more open space and just being out of HK.

The bad news is that Typhoon Ketsana (the one that just demolished Manila) is also heading to Vietnam. Hopefully it will stay a bit further south than Hanoi, but if the weather here is anything to go by, it'll still be very rainy. The typhoon is about 800k from HK now, and the weather all day has been atrocious.

The other bit of bad news is that we'll be missing the National Day celebrations on Thursday 1st Oct. This is a bit gutting because it's the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC (as you'll know if you watch BBC World!) so the fireworks and general hoo haa are likely to be spectacular. Oh well, there's always YouTube...

Also in inimitable HK style, there's another public holiday on the Saturday for the mid-Autumn festival. Yes, it's mooncake time again! you'll e pleased to know that my ever-generous employer has kindly provided some Minnie and Mickey themed mooncakes - I'm planning to give them to our lovely doorman, in the hope that he likes mooncakes, or at least knows someone who does.

As if to Nothing

We went to see As If To Nothing at the Kwai Tsing Auditorium last Friday, with Sanae. We booked ages ago, and I was really looking forward to it, but I came away a bit disappointed. I felt a bit like I had been repeatedly bashed over the head wiuth a blunt instrument for an hour and a half. The sound was SUPER loud, too loud for old grannies like me, and it was all a bit directional. Well, I'm sure that those in the know would dispute that. I just didn't really get it. We have seen quite a lot of dance here, and it can be a bit hit and miss admittedly, although this is choreographed by such an acclaimed guy, Sang Jijia, that I thought it would be good. And I have enjoyed performances by the CCDC before too. I guess it didn't help that I had had one of the worse weeks I have had since starting work here - all a bit sad-making really.

Oh well, you can't win them all.

Ross update: Actually I quite enjoyed most of the dance. The music was loud, but full of energy and very urgent - quite industrial though (we're talking experimental Prodigy crossed with... something less pop-y). And the dancing and video effects were odd and I don't pretend to have understood 10% of it, but it kept me engaged for 60 of 90 minutes after a long day at work!

Sunday 13 September 2009

The cat's out of the bag. Well, the cats are out of...no they're not. Never mind. The secret's out.



Monday November 2nd 2009



So I think I have broken the news to everyone who ever reads this blog (all three of you!) so here are a couple of posts I wrote a while ago but didn't publish. I am 13 and a half weeks now, and very definitely showing! Looking forward to Christmas, and coming home to see everyone, and trying to buy some non-tent-like maternity wear. Not looking forward quite so much to spending £700 on a tandem buggy...

Monday September 28th 2009

Having spent the last few weeks alternately panicking, napping and muching crackers to stave off the nausea, I think I am getting the hang of this at last. My Amazon order is in the post, I have been finding out more about how to exercise safely (although that's not stopped me from gaining weight!) and I have not had to fend off too many enquiries about my sudden tee-totalism and new-found "aversion" to sushi.

Things are still very difficult because we are trying to make a decision about a new flat, and that's kind of hard when neither of us can really truly imagine what it'll be like to have a little squawking bundle around. How much space do we need? where will the buggy go? Would we get by ok without a bath? I'm just glad that we found out in time to veto all those lovely 4th floor walk-ups we saw! Also Oliver is coming to stay - by the time he comes, he will kow that sometime in May he'll be Uncle Ol, but part of me wants to tell him to wait until next year, since there'll be more to see then! But if he comes in Nov, it's cheaper as , and I'll still be able to leave the house (wherever that house may be). Heck I might even have a day off! I do have to bear in mind though that I only get 10 weeks' maternity leave (yes that's right, WEEKS not MONTHS) and Ross gets the princely sum of 2 days paternity leave, or something like that. Crapola.


Sunday September 13th 2009

So, I had my first scan on Friday. Which sounds crazy since I am only 4-6 weeks pregnant. The cynic in me would say that since scan cost $600, they offer them to anyone.

Looks like having a baby in this town is going to cost a lot of money – not least because I've been to the HK Sanatorium so far (mostly because it's so close to our flat) which is a private hospital. Hospital visits here always seem to involve at least 6 procedures before you see the doctor – which might be why we didn't get to see Dr Lam until an hour after my appointment time. First you fill in some forms and hand over your ID card. Sit in the waiting rom for a bit. Then you get your temperature taken (plus optional face mask if you look a bit hot). Sit in the waiting room for a bit. Get weighed. Sit in the waiting room for a bit. Answer a questionnaire about your recent travel history and contact with poultry (no questions about your contact with pigs ha ha) Sit in the waiting room for a bit. Take a pee test. Sit in the waiting room for a bit. Finally, see the doctor!

She correctly diagnosed me as very nervous, but I had Ross with me to stop me from passing out (again – I did a fainting special a couple of weeks ago at a very swanky rooftop bar in Wan Chai. Again, my hero was on duty and laid me – very gracefully apparently – on the expensive teak decking while someone got some iced water)She asked some questions, I asked some questions, then I had my scan. It was a pretty scary feeling getting up on that horrible bed thing with (shudder) stirrups. Eugh. Anyway, here's a little pic. The observant amongst you will notice that there are two blobs....at the moment it seems like only one of them is developing, but there is a chance that sometime around the middle of May 2010, the size of our family will double. Gulp. The blob is only 2mm long at the mo, so Dr Lam thinks it's 4 weeks old.


It feels like a rather lonely time at the moment – we can't tell anyone until our next appointment (9th October) at the earliest. So between now and then I have to come up with some excuses for fainting, not drinking any alcohol or eating sushi, and nearly falling asleep by 5pm. I'm a very bad liar, so there's going to be some unconvincing mumbling for the next month. I have spent a lot of time recently crying, yelling at Ross and taking naps at the moment, It's really not as romantic as it sounded. But that's just now, things will get better :-)

I need to equip myself with a couple of books I think. Amazon will be my saviour!