Stereotypes

I had lunch yesterday with I and P, two work colleagues. Being the only gweilo in the office, I often take the opportunity to pick their brains about local customs and opinions. Here's what they had to say on how to identify mainland Chinese visitors. Obviously, we are totally into the realm of the slightly politically incorrect stereotype here, but just go with me on this one.

1. The women wear flesh-coloured pop socks whatever the weather, especially with sandals or slippers. 
2. The men wear smart leather shoes and suit trousers with a (usually tucked-in) tshirt
3. Both men and women ALWAYS drag a rolly case along behind them in which to store all their purchases from Mannings / Watsons. I saw someone in Mannings this morning buying $5,000 worth of baby formula.
4. Around Times Square, you can usually see a number of Chinese tourists sleeping. The preferred "bed" is the afore-mentioned rolly bag. Yesterday there was a family of three asleep outside Salvatore Ferragamo. You can see pics of Chinese Sleeping here. It's just more socially acceptable. 

Just to try and even things up, maybe I can offer a couple of stereotypes about Ying Gwok Yan (English people)

1. We always wear shorts, flip flops (thongs / slippers, depending on whether you are Aussie or Flippa) and vest tops, whatever the weather. 
2. We tut loudly at all the people who are inconsiderately in our way on OUR pavement (I have largely stopped doing this since pushing a stroller around the city - life's a lot easier at the median pace of whatever pavement you are on)
3. We're all obsessed with football

Any more to add?

what we've been doing

Hiding in Granny and Baba's suitcase

Eating gloopy chinese food in Mui Wo from fabulously retro baby chairs and bowls

Taking the slow boat to Central

Giving our love to Lyuba at the IFC

Getting dolled up by men in mantyhose

Sniggering at funny slogans

Encouraging our taxi driver to take a break from his toxic cab

Eating choccy cake

Getting ready for BALLET with Hoppit

Actioning late night spag bol for Daddy

Countdown to arrival

Only 5 sleeps until Granary and Grandpa get here! There has been a stunning thunderstorm this evening, so don't forget to pack your wellies.

So what do you do on your fourth visit to Honkers in as many years? Leave! we'll be heading to Macau for the day to eat Fernando's roast chicken and drink sangria.

At the other end of the scale, we'll do the hyper-touristy rickshaw bus. I'm looking forward to the 540 degree panoramic view. WTF?

Joshy-san

Swimming

We've taken the boys to the SCAA quite a few times in the last couple of weeks, in order to get them used to the pool again before we go on holiday. They're doing really well. The SCAA is ok, but it's not exactly stylish. Or clean. Or well-kept. Actually, the pool itself is clean, but the changing rooms have seen better days. Thank God we live so close and can come home for a shower! It's a good budget option, just $22 a time for adults and $10 for kids. You have to join the SCAA, but I think that's only $100 a year.

It reminds me a bit of the Stour Centre, down to the little details like everyone wearing swimming caps....

I am sitting at home, after working this morning. The boys are in bed. It's quite an overcast, grey sort of day, but it was just significantly brightened when a gorgeous black and orange butterfly landed on the corrugated iron awning under our bedroom window. I was too slow to catch a picture, but I think it's a Common Lascar.

Poisson d'avril

Did you April Fool? no, nor did we.

I remember the good old days when Uncle Hairy and I used to get up early to prepare such treasures as covering the loo seat with clingfilm, and swapping the contents of the cereal boxes. So when Daddy came to prepare his speciality Coco Pops and custard combo, he'd tip the Coco Pops box, and out would come cornflakes. Hilarious. Good times.

Not much has happened of late. The boys have been learning lots more words, including zoom, door, moon, pull, cop cop (helicopter), bowl, toes, toast (quite similar those two), elbow, knee, dog, heart, tick tock....so while they may not tick off the list of 25 words every two year old should know*, they've got their own plan for progress towards communication.

I've been thinking more lately about our place here. I have suddenly experienced a hankering for more local food. Back in the Wan Chai days, we used to go out for dinner every night to a random eatery on Jaffe or Lockhart Road. Sometimes it was successful, sometimes not. Sometimes we didn't really know what we were ordering, but most of the restaurants had English menus, so it didn't happen every day.

Recently we have got into a habit of eating Western food, or Westernized Chinese. Which is bad, not to mention over-priced. So I am taking the bull by the horns and picking out places to eat whose names I can't read. We went to Mak's Noodles on Leighton Road the other day; apparently it's in the HK & Macau Michelin guide, but I don't know why. Seemed pretty mediocre to me. But it did remind me of how awesome oyster sauce is.


* I was going to add a link to this article, but when I googled it the first result was on HollywoodLife.com. Which makes me think perhaps it's not based on a highly respected scientific analysis.

A few pics of the boys before Carol & Eugene's wedding at The Repulse Bay

Tam Kung Temple, Ventris Road, Happy Valley

A treat for Daddy

A scene of destruction / creation

Good times!

We have had some really fun times with the boys recently. They are awesome if we take them out for dinner. Last night we get the bus from Hillside Kindergarten to Wan Chai, and ate early at Pizza Express. Ross joined us there and the boys were thrilled to see him (and really didn't want to let him go to work this morning!) They were so good, quiet, ate some pizza and dough balls, well behaved...even the waitress, who was pregnant, was smiling indulgently at them.

And the other night I had a supremely decadent foot massage at Health Creative with Little Miss Sunshine, accompanied by a bottle of Veuve. This place must be good, since the Financial Secretary goes there (according to the interweb)

Then the next day we went to the gym to atone for our sins. Cali Fitness, the shittest cheapest gym in town, has closed down in Causeway Bay, temporarily at least, so we went to the Wan Chai Club. Not sure why they call it a club. Surely that implies a sense of belonging? Anyway, it was lovely to have someone to explore with me - we haven't been before, so we had to work out where the changing room was, where to pick up towels, all that malarkey. Then we got 2 treadmills side by side, directly next to the window which looks out onto that big Wan Chai walkway. Thousands of people must have walked past. And one poor guy was standing there, offering leaflets. I don't think he got rid of a single one while we were there.

Baby Central showroom in Wong Chuk Hang

In other news...

Josh has realised that he can copy what we say. So he has added the following to the list:

• Dada
• Mama
• Day
• Ear 
• Baby

Awesome right?! better late than never. Let's gloss over twin 2, he's just biding his time. He won't say anything until he's 3, but by the age of 4 he'll have a job as a speech writer I reckon.

We had a great time at Hong Kong Park the other day. The boys were really interested for the first time in the fish, the terrapins, the flowers, the birds, and everything else. It was lovely to see them having such fun.

We also saw Daddy's office. He won't be there long as he's moving over to Olympic. Did you know that:

The station was originally named Tai Kok Tsui in proposals outlined by the government in the Airport Core Programme during the 1990s. In 1996, however, when Lee Lai Shan won the first ever Olympic gold medal of Hong Kong in windsurfing at the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics and two Hong Kong sportsmen, Cheung Yiu Cheung and Chiu Chung Lun, also won Gold medals in Paralympic Games of the same year, the (then under construction) station was renamed Olympic on 16 December 1996, paying tribute to those achievements of Hong Kong athletes. The station is decorated with the pictures of 1996 Summer Olympics and is named after the Olympic Movement.

Fascinating isn't it? Or isn't it? Thanks Wikipedia, don't know what I'd do without you.

Lei Shit Court

The gradual destruction of Lei Shit Court continues. Here is the scene of devastation down the hallway from us. It used to be 5 flats (can you believe it?!)



While everyone has a right to renovate, and the noise is annoying but understandable, I wish they didn't make such a horrific mess in our corridor, in the lift, downstairs....and the workmen (and ladies) smoke in the corridor which irritates me. Unfortunately the lift nearest our flat is broken (i am reliably informed that that's what the note below says) so all of the rubble that is being created must leave the building via the only other lift on this floor, meaning that there is not much room for passengers between 9am and 6 pm.