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!

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 13^th 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 (9^th 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!

Fame at last

So I was on the telly the other day for a whole two seconds. We did a charity screening of the DisneyPixar movie Up, and there was a TV crew there from ATV news to cover the event.

The UA cinema is over at Whampoa Plaza in Hung Hom, right opposite the shopping centre shaped like a boat.

The movie was shown to 330 kids and their grandparents, I don't know which was cuter, the 2-year olds balancing the 3D glasses on the end of their noses, or the 92-year olds balancing the 3D glasses on the end of their noses.

Here are the sacrifices I made:

• Getting up at 7.30 on a Saturday morning



• Missing Pilates



• Wearing a t shirt that says "VoluntEARS" (witty pun no?)



• Having breakfast at Maccy D's in order to gulp down my antibiotics (yes, dear readers, I've had flu, tonsillitis and an eye infection)



• Suffering many severe (but inexplicable) tiny cuts on my fingers as a result of playing an integral role in the "Blowing up 330 balloons team"



• Taking part in a marathon photo-taking session which became more creative and elaborate (not to mention obligatory) as time went on.

On the plus side, I learnt how to say "Would you like to have a photo taken?" in Cantonese - "Ying seung". I also met lots of lovely people from other departments at work, including Kactus, which I think you'll agree is an interesting name. Anyway, I assume the participants enjoyed the film (as well as the complimentary popcorn and water I served with my own fair hands) but the day's proceedings were very much in Canto, so I can't be sure.

The bonus of this video is that you get to see the opening credits of the news, which I love. They remind me so much of The Day Today. Or Drop the Dead Donkey. Or something like that.

After the screening I got the ferry back from Hung Hom to Wan Chai. A month or so ago, we noticed that the roofs of the ferries were all very white - I think they had their annual repaint - but the one I got on Saturday was liberally sprinkled with black dust. I don't know what the Star Ferry runs on, but it ain't unleaded. In fact, I can only assume that they have a big furnacey thing on board (like in old movies) into which they shovel some fossil fuels. Big chunks of coal, most likely. Anyway, the ferry pier at Hung Hom's nice, much more spacious than the others, and Hung Hom itself is cool too. Actually we considered living there, but that tiny (and ever-shrinking) harbour is just too much of a mental block.

Mr Moore has booked his tickets for Blighty in October, while yours truly will have to stay here, slaving away over a hot Lenovo Thinkpad X200. Boo for local annual leave!

Very strange path for this tropical depression to take...it's currently heading this way (HK is the little red asterisk) but that could change at any time.

Update

We have booked our flights home for Christmas, which has helped to ease my pangs of homesickness. So we'll be back for a short while in 5 months' time - I'm sure it'll fly by.

We went out to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary on Saturday with friends. We went to Vivo for a couple of drinks, then to Cicada for supper (it's the sister restaurant to Erotica, as the Old bean likes to call it). Moved on to Gecko later, which is always dangerous and pretty much guarantess that the next day will be a write-off. And it was.

So a year and a bit in, we're pretty well settled. We still manage to motivate ourselves to do interesting stuff and discover new things, but it's hard not to be lazy when it's soooo hot. Last week I went to see a production of Antigone at the Cultural Centre, by a company called Theatre du Pif which I enojoyed very much. In fact, it was so good that I went again the next night with Ross. It was very simply but attractively staged, and after months of TV and films, it reminded me of the power that a live performance can have. Such a treat to see English-language theatre here that is good, strong and thought-provoking.

Still waiting for our next visitors - with any luck, Oliver will be next (you'd better sleep well on the plane cos I have lots and lots of plans!) followed by the Parental Moores. I just hope that the weather has cooled down by the time you all arrive because it's pretty horrendous right now. Next time we move we're going somewhere with a pool...

Rain rain go away

Here are a couple of videos of my walk to work on Monday, 27th July '09. The fountain in the middle of the crossing is usually a manhole cover. There was no rainstorm warning on this day, even though 70-100mm of rain fell in about 2 hours. 100mm is about twice the average monthly rainfall in the UK.

The more observant among you might notice that cars have stopped taking any notice of the traffic lights!

Typhoon Molave arrived this weekend - it was the 3rd typhoon in as many weekends, but this time it actually had a bit of an impact! This was not filmed by me, but some storm-chaser dude. Apparently over 400 trees fell during the storm, but only 3 people were injured. It really hit HK in the middle of the night, so I guess that limited its effects.

Langkawi

Bet you're all dying to hear about Langkawi, OK, maybe that's a slight exaggeration. But I feel I should record it for posterity anyway.

Flew to Langkawi via KL, all very smooth. Slightly surprised to be offered beer at 9am, but not complaining.

Got a taxi from the airport to the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club, just half an hour or so. Much of the journey was through settlements very reminiscent of Indonesia and Cebu - maybe that's what they mean by Malaysia Truly Asia - Malaysia Same As Everywhere Else in Asia. Bit of a generalisation maybe. Sunsail guy, Andy, was super chilled, really nice and helpful. We took our bags across to Princess Anna, our floating home for the next week, and then Andy gave us a lift to the supermarket so we could stock up. Ross actually bought Corned Beef in a tin - obviously we didn't eat that.

We spent the first night in the marina, getting used to sleeping in a 35' sauna without air conditioning.

First day's sailing - let me just mention now that if you're chartering a yacht, you might want to check that it has above deck GPS - we had this in the BVI, and it makes navigating a whole shed load easier. And lazier.


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Out of the frying pan, into the fire

AKA, leaving the T3 in Hong Kong, and flying to the severe heat warning in Beijing.

So there's a T1 right now, anticipated to be upgraded to a T3 this afternoon (no days off work till we reach T8). We're flying to Beijing tonight, where the heat will be quite extreme.

It's been quite a quiet week, unpacking and repacking. New photos on Flickr of Langkawi, which should also be showing on the slide show at the top of the blog.

Going going gone.

Welcome to our 100th blog post. Takeaway from CPK has just arrived, we've packed and we fly to Langkawi (via KL) tomorrow for a week sailing. Fingers crossed that they let us back in a week from now...

ps, HK visas renewed, and China visas collected, yay!

Breaking News

All primary schools, kindergartens closed for two weeks

Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has announced that all primary and
lower-level schools will close for a fortnight.

The decision for the two-week closure, effective from tomorrow, was made
after a cluster of influenza-like cases at St Paul's Convent School was found to
be swine flu infections.

The school is about 1/2 km away from the office.

Lantau Trail to Pui O

Snot Frappuccino

Went to Starb's with Jacqui at lunchtime, to check out the new summer menu. Today's Specials - snot in your coffee. Actually, jelly in your coffee, but it's pretty snot-like! It's much nicer than it sounds. Combining textures is a big thing here, so sago balls in your tea, snot jelly in your coffee and gristle in your noodle soup are all local faves.

Also, here's a classic food picture, just for Jo. Aubergine bake.

And another one to sum up our Dragon Boating experience the other day. The weather was a little inclement.

June 4th

There's a 64 hour hunger strike going on downstairs at Times Square - doesn't take a genius to figure out that this is to do with Tianenmen. When I came past everyone was feasting on big bowls of noodle soup - preparing I guess. More later.

Photos

It's been a long time since I posted any photos - the blog's looking a little text-heavy to be honest. So here's a few from Romain's visit to keep you amused.

Photos are always on Flickr - hope the link works.