Assigned movie seating after a Macau trip

Seat I18 & I19.  These seats were printed onto our movie cinema tickets on top of I-Square.   And so we didn't have to rush. Assigned seating at theatres is simple - yet too smart for us North Americans to employ. No lining up well in advance to find a seat. Then taking turns to go out to restroom or to buy food. Or holding our seats by laying down our coats. Brilliant!  The Unstoppable Movie was not bad (And yes the train stops eventually :)) It was the IMAX theatre but Unstoppable was not an IMAX film.  Be warned. And... we know we're finally "living" here (not visiting) when there is time and intent to relax at a cinema.

Earlier this weekend, Stephen and I had a busy Friday heading to Billy & Ivy's wedding in Macau.  We missed the pool side ceremony at Four Seasons, but made it in time for a lovely and well-served banquet dinner.  10 courses.  The food was great, and there was plenty of time after to socialize, relax in their suite and also hit up the Hard Rock Casino.  Our strategy that night included surrendering on 16 in BlackJack while not hitting on ANY hand.  The dealer busted a lot. We won - without ever seeing an Ace or many face cards. Brilliant!  My friends played craps which confuses me... maybe next time!

Macau is a very different scene from Hong Kong. First of all, every sign in Portuguese - and the architecture is more pretty and European.  Too bad the food we selected was so-so near Senado Square. Secondly, there are hardly any taxis, so the lucky few taxi drivers 'round up' fees for tips....sigh.  we walked A LOT. Thankfully didn't have to walk from Taipa island to downtown Macau.  Thirdly, a lot more mainland tourists around which *may* (or may not) be related to the smoking allowed in hotel lobby areas.  It was a nice 1-1.5 hour journey away from Hong Kong, but we were SO thankful to be home on Saturday late afternoon.

Senado Square. Beautiful weather!

Ruins of St. Paul.  Lovely. But...it looks the same as two years ago

Happy newlyweds in their awesome suite

Sloan friends... overlooking Cotai Strip

Country clubs, hiking and HK outlet mall

Its hard to believe the weekend is over. Bright and early Saturday morning, we went for a long hike (Hong Pak Country Trail near Taikoo, followed by Quarry Bay Jogging Trail). http://www.hiking-hong-kong.com/hong-kong-island/hong-pak-trail-reversed.php

The views and gorgeous and the climb was steep. Weather was cool (about 20C) so we got a good sweat and exercise. Lovely views of Quarry Bay from far up the 270m climb. To our shock, we climbed far down very steep stairs looking for a short cut to North Point MTR -- only to get caught at a DEAD END and had to climb back up... worked up a big appetite!

Thereafter we had lunch near Fortress Hill and wandered around various shops in the area. After lunch we took the tram for the first time ('streetcar'/double decker/open air) to Causeway Bay. You only pay when you exit the Tram, and its $2HKD (around 27c Canadian)...

SOGO was having a 10% sale and it was a complete ZOO! Finally we went home after a Uniqlo stop and bubble tea.

Took a restful nap before heading off to the MIT Alumni Event at Hong Kong Country Club. You need to be 'invited' to become a member of this exclusive club. Apparently Li Ka Shing (richest man in Asia) plays golf here every day with his 'servant caddy friend' who carries a chair for him!

Ironically, we just strolled right into the club, walked right through the restaurants out to the open bay view. No one stopped us! ha ha.... Anyway there was a BBQ set up by Alumni near the Deep Water Bay lawn front. About 40 people at an intimate gathering of 'old' and 'recent' MIT alumni. Caught up with some classmates, and met some Sloanies '09 and Engineering grads from '88 and earlier... dropped by Ploy and David's nice digs near Kennedy Town on the way home...then watched The Social Network movie at home that night.

On Sunday, we arose early to have dim sum at Choi Fook in Causeway Bay. My friend Josephine is in town from Toronto; she spents weeks in China teaching English on a mission. Awesome views, great fresh dim sum at a reasonable price! Thereafter, headed to Citygate Outlets in Tung Chung (FAR past Disney/Airport)... spent the afternoon mulling around with mainlanders doing shopping. Their food court is amazing - a stall each for different Asia foods like Singapore, Korea, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, Shanghai, Taiwan, etc. I settled for La Desse de Vietnam pho. Yum! Too bad we missed my friend/old classmate/colleague Siew Chan from Singapore (she was at disney with her kids).

Today is Monday :( I'm off to Taipei - again - tomorrow. Have a great week everybody!

TGIF. Sort of.

Its been one of those dreaded work weeks. First week back in Asia and my sleep schedule is all over the place. And my work schedule is mornings and nights. Yuck!

Stephen has been awesome.  Its nice to have a partner in crime again.  Jetlagged and unshaven and all! His cooking at home is a treat, and he set up a nice desk area and cleared up our shipped boxes.  And now we're hitting up a (friendlier) gym called Fitness First. He met up with a "CBC / ABC" social group called HK Buffalo (I couldn't go due to work), and today we had dim sum with his sister's in-laws who are in town.  Tonight we may see our friend Josephine who's here from China for a bit, and tomorrow we have an MIT Alumni BBQ at HK Country Club in Deepwater Bay. 

TGIF.  Sort of. Sadly I have to work tonight from 10-12.

Hello Kitty is huge in Asia

This is the (grand) entrance to Langham Place shopping centre (my office tower is attached to this complex).

Hello Kitty, while designed by Sanrio (Japanese co.) is all the rage throughout Asia.... I recall while living in Singapore that McDonald's Happy Meals gave out Hello Kitty stuffed toys and there were queues for blocks long... and my Taiwan colleague tells us they like Japanese stuff citing Hello Kitty as the (only) example!

Can't wait for Japan snowboarding in Dec!

Did I even move to Hong Kong? Its been a long time away...

Its been 3 weeks in Toronto (1 week longer than planned).  Did I even move to Hong Kong??  I forgotten what my Sheung Wan digs look like... :(  Finally hubby has moved here though!

My best friend Domina got married last weekend, at a Korean-Canadian-American style gala at Casa Loma.  It was lovely.  Too bad the limousine got a speeding ticket with the bride & groom inside!! lost 30 mins enroute to banquet!!  The nerve of those cops.... 

I also met my friend Michelle & Mark's 3 month old son, Jackson.  And met up with Stephen's uni friends and attended a Yang family memorial. Busy busy!

On Friday, Nov 12...returning to HKG was as usual a long trip (15 hours direct).  Only one of us got upgraded so we switched half way through the flight to nap and eat better food. I drank some bad tomato juice on board - yuck! After the speedy HKID shortcut automated immigration line, we traveled with no issue to Hong Kong train station (near Central/IFC), only to wait ONE HOUR in the darn taxi line.  This place has slowed down significantly in the past month :(  If not for our heavy bags, we could have walked in 15 mins!

We napped from 5pm to 1am then ate our first meal together - at McDonald's! ha ha... mcnuggets taste good at 2am!  Today is Sunday where we at at Green Waffle (35-39 Graham St, Soho).  Their waffles are actually green color, pretty good. Skip their eggs and potatoes though. Then off to IFC to buy Nepresso sleeves, groceries in street market / stores, then home for a nap. Stephen cooked a great dinner at home...

Debating whether to go to LKF Carnival ; it looks like a circus less than a party. Sigh. Maybe next time...

Must move every year!!

Hi friends. Its been a busier week than usual. Finally moved out of our condo. How liberating!!  I MUST move every year. Anything longer means too much accumulation of 'stuff'!!! It was a rough move last weekend.  Didn't even make it out for Hallowe'en. Luckily we found Le Select Bistro http://www.leselect.com/, a lovely French brunch place on Wellington/Spadina near our beloved 10 Navy Wharf condo.  MUCH better than Cora's!

Will miss the good times at our condo... view photos enclosed here below.

Also I helped host Domina's Bridal Shower at the King Edward Hotel.  I ordered a Pink Burberry cake, which looked quite real.  The games were fun and we had great laughs realizing that Billy knows Domina much more than vice versa, ha ha~

My family has had numerous gatherings, despite some worrisome hospital visits as well.  I even went trick or treating with my niece and nephew.  Witnessed Marcus trash talking the other Buzz Lightyear neighbour's costume.  He's only 2: "I'm the REAL Buzz lightyear, not you!"

Work is a disaster as its busy as hell this week.  Pray for my husband's family who suffered a sudden loss recently.

See you in Hong Kong (with hubby) on Nov 12!!
Irene