Happy 100 days amid HK protests!

Happy 100 days to our delightful and cute baby boy Benjamin! He always misbehaves on his "birthdays" (1 month, 2 month, 3 month, 100 day) and tends not to like crowds outside home. Nonetheless we love you and can't imagine our lives without you! It was so nice to celebrate with close family and friends (and utilize our party function room)! 

On an aside note, loved our delicious non-sweet chocolate cake from Complete Deelite. Although I ordered a vanilla cake with chocolate cream and they don't give refunds unless not eatn!! WTF how would i know the inside was chocolate otherwise. Another bullshit non-refundable Hong Kong service.

Hong Kong has been paralyzed for 10+ days now due to massive Occupy Central and student protests. On the one hand people are saying they want democracy. Mixed in there is some deep down resentfulness towards the deteriorating way of life for young people (high cost of living, low social mobility, HK dominated by tycoons/Beijing government). I totally favor the latter protest, but frankly am not convinced democracy was ever in HK and that it is a necessity to achieve improvements to way of life. 

Bottom line? Beijing government is in cohorts with a handful of rich tycoons who own Hong Kong and are driving property and living costs to imaginable heights. 

Why then do Hong Kongers admire the likes of Li Ka Shing and other tycoons? Quite confusing! Media is terrible. I can only learn bits and pieces from various taxi driver conversations! 

Let's pray for the safety of all protesters and the public who are struggling to get around (there was initially tear gas ordered by '689' Chief Executive CY Leung).

It takes a village...

I've never been one for grandiose statements or philosophies, but to raise a child, they say "it takes a village". I can definitely say its a team effort - a rather large team if possible.

A few learnings as I reflect on my 2 months of parenthood:
- seek and accept as much help as available. At one point, we had four adults helping to watch Benjamin (my mom, husband, helper and me). As mom would say, "many hands make light work". Its not light, but certainly more manageable. Although I'm proud to say that I enjoy the alone days with Benny albeit very tiring by end of them

- do what you can to ensure your child is growing healthily. There's a lot of recent societal pressure towards breastfeeding (total opposite apparently in the 70's towards formula). I am "combination feeding" (breast milk + formula) and Benjamin is growing nicely. Maybe its because I am in my late 30's that I don't have enough milk?! Anyway, i'm still trying but don't like the turned up noses of some parents who think that formula is poison or something

- learn to power nap. Thankfully from my engineering days at McMaster, I have mastered the 20-30 min daytime nap. It does wonders. Sadly though, I can't power nap at night and have some bouts of insomnia

- exercise whenever you can. We try to squeeze in a 20 min swim or run whenever Benjamin naps

- going out is not so bad. Benjamin loves to go out and enjoys looking around and naps nicely when we shop or eat lunch. Fingers crossed this continues, and there is no bathroom episode (as HK its sometimes difficult to locate clean and available changing tables!)

- stay in touch with family by photos and social media. We are finally getting regular use out of our tripod and DSLR camera since the baby grows so fast. I realize my smart phone camera could be improved too (too slow). Also everybody has their own lives, so living abroad, we have to be the ones to make an effort to keep them posted on Benjamin's growth (or we'll feel lonely given not many visits)

- go easy on the birthday cakes. We don't like cakes that much but want to celebrate the key milestones like one month, two months, 100 days, and each of our own birthdays. But it takes us over a week to finish (or toss) each cake! Next month: Pie with 2 candles instead of cake.

All in all, parenthood is quite a trip. 

World at War?!

Sorry for my blog hiatus as having a newborn precludes me from blogging as often as before.

Is the world at war? There was MH17 tragedy where yet another Malaysian Airlines plane was destroyed. This time, instead of going missing, it was shot down in eastern Ukrainian territory. Beyond comprehensible is that still weeks later, the crash site and all human remains have yet to be found due to ongoing fighting (and political posturing and finger pointing, no doubt). I admire the Dutch treatment of the bodies that were retrieved so far, and do NOT wonder if Malaysian Airlines will survive (unlike many). I mean - come on - national carriers can always get bailed out by their governments. That said, MAS was hardly ever a well-run airline. I distinctly remember their massive 'oversupply' of 747's, such that we flew one from KL to Ipoh (2 hours drive away only)... and the Ipoh airport (since closed) had a too-short runway... we made a sharp 90 degree turn to avoid backyards (no joke, this was only in 1999!). Nonetheless a real tragic year for MAS with MH370 still vanished without a trace :(

Further the ongoing air and ground attacks in Gaza are very tragic. Its difficult to pick sides, not that it matters much when civilians are most affected.

On a timely note, the FX series "Tyrant" and "The Honourable Woman" are just underway, pretty interesting and do ring a similar bell ... ironically Tyrant is about a fictitious middle eastern country (many key actors are Israeli though... hmm?!) ... and The Honourable Woman is about a UK born Jewish businesswoman trying to partner with Gaza-based Palestinian firms to develop infrastructure. That said, there is some poor acting in each.

So I ask... is the world at war? It seems the never ending strife in Middle East may implode sooner than later, and the Russian aggression on its former territories... well, we shall see. I pray not though.

Welcome Benjamin Tyson Yang!

Dear Family & Friends,

We are pleased to announce that Benjamin Tyson Yang arrived 1.5 weeks early on Sat. 21-Jun-2014 at 6:41pm local Hong Kong time. He weighed 6 lbs 5 oz. and was 46.5cm tall. Baby, Mom and Dad are doing well, adjusting to life back at home. 

Thank you all for the warm wishes from locally and abroad. We can't wait for you all to meet him soon!

Love,

Irene, Stephen and Benjamin Yang

Moving up in my world cup pool, better TV now and mat leave starting

The world cup is underway in notoriously disorganized Brazil.... where transport strikes and late/over budget stadiums are the norm. Let's hope the country eventually benefits from the infrastructure....

but the games so far have been decent. Major upset by the Dutch over reigning champion Spain. Nice header goals by Ivory Coast over Japan. A self destructive effort by Portugal in a head butt red card allowing Germany to kill them 4-0. And last minute heroics from a defender substitute on the US to beat Ghana. If only time zones more favorable to watch during weekdays... my ranking has improved greatly in my work pool due to some good calls on US and Germany. I work for a German company so many people not here early today (game started at midnight last night).

We got a 65" 4k TV. Its amazing but super expensive. And a nice streaming box of real TV channels incl world cup and North American TV like HGTV, discovery and bio channels and ESPN/NBA and HBO! Plus on demand streamed series incl gray's and the usual Suits and Game of Thrones ;) finally looking forward to some quality TV time during maternity leave!

Tomorrow is my last day in the office although I may work from home thereafter.... its a busy few days with meetings, some lunches / coffees and the like. But nothing compared to the crazy 70 hour weeks from during my first trimester...

Officially 2,5weeks to go until due date. Hopefully not too early. I would like to enjoy the TV time off!

Happy baby shower and housewarming

We had a lovely house warming and baby shower! thanks to our friends for organizing! Videos from overseas family and friends were also very touching. 5-6 weeks to go... better pack just in case...

NBA playoffs, 24 "Jack is Back" and life updates

We've been spending a lot of time watching the NBA playoffs. Into round 2 already.

Highlights:
- LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling was recorded by girlfriend with racist remarks, then banned from all NBA games. League trying to remove him as owner as well. This affected me more than I thought, so I'm sure the impact to players, clippers staff and others was HUGE
- Our beloved Toronto Raptors had a decent round 1 against Brooklyn Nets, first playoff series since 2001(?)... but lost 104-103 in Game 7. DeRozen, Lowry and their big center (Name i forgot) all played well. TOO BAD. should have closed it out in Game 6.
- Lots of exciting round 1 series with 5 of 8 going to 7 games! I particularly enjoyed watching Dallas vs. Spurs and Memphis vs. OKC. I was pleased the Clippers beat Golden State given all their stresses these days (I'm otherwise neutral)
- NBA League Pass commercials are super repetitive, with Top 10 assists always being Stephan Curry...

As I am an action drama fan, 24 is back! Jack Bauer's famed series has another 13 episodes with an opportunity for me to watch the two hour season opening yesterday (we had Buddha's birthday off as holiday).

Our swimming pool opened last week so we enjoyed a few days of outdoor 20m lane swimming without all the peeing kids yet (its still a bit chilly, 21-23C water).
 
Lastly my parents are in Brazil this week (pray for their safety; I loved working in Brazil but its not the safest place esp. with World Cup is around the corner). Need to book my mom's flights from Sweden to Hong Kong for July now!

Happy Wednesday everybody!

Perfect weather for babymoon in Okinawa

We spent this past long Easter long weekend in Okinawa, nearly the southern most islands of Japan closer to Taiwan than mainland Japan. The weather was absolutely perfect - about 26-28C with 80-90% humidity (much less than in HKG).

First things first, to prepare, we got our full Hong Kong and International driver's licenses before leaving so we could rent a car to get around the island. The cars there are SO small (Prius and Corollas are the biggest sedans on the road - except for taxis!). After some usual delays at HK airport (probably due to pre Easter holiday congestion), we finally flew into Naha, about 2-2:15 hours direct flight (the baby did not like the air pressure changes I think!)
 
The main city in Okinawa Island is Naha, which is a small town and mostly Japanese. It reminds me a lot of Honolulu (they say this is Japan's Hawaii), whereas north of Naha where the U.S. army bases are, remind me more of Maui (which is very American).

We wandered about looking unsuccessfully for some soba or yakiniku (bbq) restaurants near Kokusaidori Street per Lonely Planet but ended up having decent food at two venues as well. In between, there was lots of souvenir browsing, mostly cookies (butter/pineapple - like in Hawaii), packaged soba noodles (not buckwheat unlike the mainland soba). 

As with every Japanese city, there is Pachinko gambling buildings galore! Apparently the mob Yazuka run all these joints...

Okinawan people are really short and stout, maybe that's why all the cars are SO small! They eat lots of organic vegetables, fruits and tofu. Surprisingly their native diet does not include much seafood despite being an island as it was difficult to preserve. So while the sashimi and sushi are fresh, they're not native to Okinawa (unlike their comfort food of soba). As a result, Okinawans have the world's longest lifespan (most people live well past 100 years old).

After a relaxing wandering evening around Kokusaidori street and near the Naha port, we drove north of the American Village / Chatan to a beach area called Yomitan (also near another army base). We stayed previously in Ho Chi Minh City at Nikko Hotel, so thought to try this one: Hotel Nikko Alivila - which was very Spanish looking, had wifi, great reviews and a nice beach. In general we were LUCKY not to have been exposed too much to the American joints (I hate that) and struggled like normal tourists since most people spoke only Japanese. One exception: A&W. My burger was SO plain and the free refills were only root beer (dang, no caffeine allowed for me :( ).

We spent two days swimming, local grocery shopping, trying out nearby izakaya's (kind of Japanese tapas bars) and great soba soup joints. Their breakfasts allowed us to sample more local cuisine, tofu and fruits as well! 

It was a very relaxing babymoon. You would also think that Japan had a decent birth rate given every family had at least one child under age 3 with them! (their birth rate is world's lowest however i hear)

On the way back to Naha, we took the toll expressway (much faster than Hwy 58, the main route along the coast) and checked out their Factory outlet mall. While nothing is as cheap as U.S. factory outlets, I must say we scored some decent buys in a short amount of time. The sun was baking down on us by then so it was a relief to finally get into their airport. 

While Japanese are very friendly people, the Okinawans tend to be slow ("island time?").  With only 3 international airport gates and one flight per hour, somehow they decided only to open one security lane! Argh!

All in all, a great relaxing long weekend. Now I am officially grounded from air travel until... this baby comes out...

Sunny April days, food coma, but at home... silverfish (!!)

Its one of those tougher work days today. Since I'm usually traveling, in recent weeks, I've been finally able to join some various lunches and team events.

Today was a farewell for a colleague who runs M&A in Asia Pacific. We took a nice photo together outside our office (Jardine House) in Central HK. A bit smoggy but warm at 25C. 

 

Famous Maxim's City Hall Dim Sum. We set a lunch "target" to fill our dim sum menu FULL of stamps... but couldn't achieve it! I'm having serious afternoon food coma!

Even this past weekend we were so spoiled at 28C jogging/walking on Bowen Road - our usual weekend 8km tradition (I didn't even do 4km in my current state!).  I think it was warmer than it will be in Okinawa where we're going this weekend!
 

Our favorite place in Hong Kong : Bowen Road Fitness Trail. This is the 3km/1km park where old people do Tai Chi and where there is a playground for kids. I took a water / bathroom break here.

 On a scary note, we have silverfish at home. May have to get our home fumigated/sprayed. Apparently this tiny creatures love moisture and humidity but these must have been there before we moved in. After weeks of unsuccessful spraying and cleaning... we have to kill them once and for all. Ugh! Knock on wood... luckily only these harmless creatures who love cardboard/paper, and not roaches or something bigger!!! Yuck!

Happy Tuesday everybody, especially Happy birthday to my sisters Amy and Christine!

Stroller, baby advice welcome

Dear friends, now that our apartment move is complete, we can start thinking about preparing the nursery and baby stuff. Please comment if you have feedback on some of any of these topics below.

1) Strollers. As we are 'city folk' and don't have a vehicle, do we need an infant carseat/with frame, in addition to a normal lightweight foldable stroller? For the latter I hear the MacLaren Quest is a good model for 6 months - 3 years but it doesn't lie flat

2) Crib. Are drop side cribs OK? I know they're banned now from US/Canada but they are still sold here in HK.  Also I read that firm mattresses are better and safer for the baby

3) Bottles. I will try to breast feed and my sister gave me a breast pump already. What type of bottles, nipples, storage solutions are best for breast milk? We have a Dr. Brown bottle sterilizer but I'm still looking for a bottle warmer and few more bottles/inserts/nipples

4) Schools. Do we already have to register/apply for our unborn baby to join some HK international schools? (I wouldn't be surprised; my admin told me to rush on this)

5) Baby monitors. Are recommended brand? We also need a nanny-cam if you know of any good ones.

6) Rocking / feeding chair. I'd rather buy a lazy boy or something similar. Anyone know where to find this in HK?

7) Sling and/or baby carrier. I already have a Baby Bjorn Synergy. Do I also need a sling, and an Ergo Baby carrier for later?

8) Baby bath - is the infant insert essential? What do you think about inflatable bathtubs (space saving :))

9) Swings - good or bad?  I have read both.

Missing MAS370 plane, terrible cold & broken teeth = tons of pills

How is this day and age of 24/7 technology do we lose a 777 aircraft?

Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 that vanished two weeks ago is still not found. The latest theory is that it is in the Indian Ocean perhaps closer to Perth Australia given there is evidence the flight from KL to Beijing steered south west (way off course). I have two indirect connections to the flight: 1) my colleague used to work for BCG and her ex-colleague from Beijing is on the flight with his family and in-laws, 2) another colleague's sister works for Freescale Semiconductor in Malaysia which had 20 employees on board (a company that spun off from Motorola - both Stephen and my ex-employer, HQ in Austin near AMD). 

So sad. I remember we never were allowed to fly with colleagues - let alone so many. Over 2/3 of the plane's passengers are Chinese and apparently there are 26 countries involved in the search.
 
On a more personal note, I cannot believe how many medicines and pill supplements that pregnant people have to take. Its more than food!  I have been fighting a terrible cold/flu for 1.5 weeks now and it hasn't really gotten better. My nose is stuffed and runny and I actually took 4 days off work last week (never before so long for illness!!).  Another pregnancy woe is my broken teeth. Already cracked one took two weeks ago and barely avoided a root canal. This past weekend I've cracked now a molar... off to dentist AGAIN today.  Among the list of pills includes: maternal vitamins, Vitamin B12, Calcium Citrate, Vitamin C, DHA Fish Oil (Omega-3)... GEEZ....I never used to take even multi-vitamins :(  Terrible!!!!

Finally back at office today and still feel not 100%.  Drinking vitamin C dissolve in water. Lame. Can't have coffee anyways so may as well drink something else gross.

Have a wonderful week everybody!

Hwang Yang Jr.

Dear blog readers, since there are *so* few of you, I think its safe to announce here (embedded inside my Asia Living blog) that we are expecting a baby boy. So far I am 25 weeks pregnant (this would be approx. 6 months -- each month does not have 4 weeks as I learned so they count in weeks!).  Today's ultrasound shows the nose looks like Stephen's nose! Can you tell?!

Other than that I have made a graph plot of my weight gain by week (vs. normal range, per 'apps'). I will not show it here but despite my low-impact fitness efforts I am gaining weight faster than I should :(  I am eating more frequently and not always the healthiest (except now I eat breakfast which is great!). So its really discouraging. Maybe its because I am not vomiting much!? 
 
Lucky for me I generally feel fine with more energy and less nausea in 2nd trimester (vs. 1st trimester) except its really difficult to sleep. I am a back sleeper so when all the books tell you to sleep on your left side, then of course I try, but I end up NOT sleeping or staying awake all night. Its really horrible.  My doctor says as long as you don't sleep on your stomach, then its fine.... phew.  

There is no shortage of how-to-be-a-mommy advice coming my way though. I appreciate it overall and all the gently used clothes and baby gear!  I just don't know what to ask at the moment. And the baby bump group of moms is a bit too overwhelming for me. Maybe i'll re-join them later but they are 'clique-y' - feels like high school - ugh!  I hate all girls things.

Other than that, we'll move apartments next weekend (yay!) and then maybe head to Japan for a short 'babymoon'.

Keep you all posted. I won't be in North America until December, and will stop traveling in Asia in late April.



 

Live UFC fight...

We enjoyed free UFC floor seats (thanks to Stephen's business associates) at the Cotai Arena in Venetian Macau.  The matches were good, the China title match seemed a bit too well rehearsed (3 rounds, pretty even back-and-forth, boring actually) but the title fight between Korean guy Kim and UK fighter was really good!  Moreover, we enjoyed free dinner in advance and all you can eat food & drinks while seated. It will be tough to go back and enjoy UFC via normal seats next time!

Other than this, we've tried to relax more on the weekends given the househunting trips have ended.  OK back to work now...

First blog of 2014...

At least its still Q1! I am still commuting every week or two to shanghai. I am getting tired of "character building" taxi and china travel experiences. From fist fights to drivers bitching you don't go far enough to those that pull away or don't carry receipts. Ugh.

Look forward to moving homes at end of March into a more spacious unit. Location will never be as convenient as our current home of 3 years... but...we need the space!