9 months & counting... finally bought a dehumidifier

Its June already... wow time flies! Its almost time to renew my annual work permit in HK! 


Sorry for the delayed blog. This past few weeks has been busy for both Stephen and me. He's been up at 6am daily for the workweek, and between relatives and parents visits and various biz trips, I've also been busy.  


Let's see hmm.. I've been in Taipei the past two weeks for Computex Conference (2011 is the year of the 'copycat' tablet/slate machines... chasing iPads... there are 100+ variants whoa) and also visiting AMD's Manufacturing partners. On a more interesting note, the weather has been lovely -- if not a bit TOO humid.


My parents spent a few weeks touring China including Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou and then finally HK. We took them to Macau (brand new Galaxy hotel has a wavepool - wow!), ate meals with my HK relatives, enjoyed some shopping and dim sum. I also took them to the Peak which was a nice view and breeze compared with in-town. 


Daily life continues... and we finally caved and bought a dehumidifier.  This is a right of passage if you live in very tropical or humid places to avoid your clothes smelling or molding. Its amazing how much moisture is in the home!


bye!

Recent photos to accompany blog

Beijing food:), Oysters in Shenzhen, Yunnan bamboo wine, Stephen in Toronto

 i finally spent a week in Hong Kong renewing my China visa, hiking, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning and napping.  Its been a shockingly good week this week in China for food.  Monday in Shenzhen I ate the BEST meal ever eaten in Mainland.  Simple but great dishes in an outdoor oyster restaurant. I wasn't an oyster fan until these garlic flavoured plump ones, AND I didn't feel sick thereafter!  Then in Beijing I had Yunnan meal where they served rice wine from a tall bamboo stick, yummy soup noodles and some egg thing.  On the same night, I went to a going away dinner at Quanjude Tsinghua beijing duck. I was totally full and barely ate a thing.  At lunch, I had a stone hot pot with unagi (i still avoid raw fish in China) downstairs at work. Tonight a Muslim colleague was in town meeting Lenovo so I joined them for lamb (x3 various dishes) at a halal restaurant.  I better stop eating or will get fat and probably food poisoning on the way.  All in all, the food in China has improved in the past decade since coming here!

Stephen is back in Toronto for this week then off to work next week! ;) He enjoyed setting fireworks off with his cousins, meeting his new nephew Joven, spending quality family time, breathing fresh air, eating good food and getting mentally prepared for the crazy HK work hours...miss you!

have a great Wed everybody!  The weather in Beijing has been fabulous and I hear its great in Toronto too!

May - dragon boat, hiking, new nephew and homesickness

Stephen and I are getting homesick... his sister just had a new baby boy Joven and we're excited to meet him.  Also managed to get some hiking done; this time on HK Trail Section #5 and I competed in my second Dragon Boat race of the season at Deepwater Bay beach.  Yesterday we hosted my aunt/uncle's visit from TorontoHowever skipped my team's races in Borocay Philippines and in Lamma since cannot make it often.  Life is becoming a little less 'new' and more 'settled' in HK these days.  But look forward to a trip home in June/July to catch up with the family and new babies... work life is kind of a drag so I'll skip writing about this for now.  Mandarin lessons in full force so that's a bright light...:)  Happy Monday!

Vietnam: Wifi, coffee, honking, pho

Stephen organized a short but fun trip to Hanoi and Halong Bay (north Vietnam) over Easter weekend.  To our surprise, despite relatively low living standards, high pollution with scooters/cars - most of their cafe's have wifi! Wow! Pleasant.  Additionally unlike their tea obsessed Asian neighbours, coffee is the drink of choice in this former French colony.  Sadly development is clearly sub-par with scooters and pot-hole filled roads. Additionally the drivers HONK every other minute - even if there are no cars around. Needless to say the main streets are very loud.  Pho noodle soup is fabulous, cheap and readily available.  Not much vermicelli (bun) to be found (maybe that's in Ho Chi Minh / south?).  We loved the people and the food. Final observation - their architecture is TALL narrow multi story homes. Anyone know why?

I don't miss traveling in the US

Air travel is inconvenient already (relative to rail, which I LOVE).  But the insane security, queues, crappy airport food, rude staff and countless delays makes me really hate traveling to the US (sorry to my American friends).

I am in Chicago after spending 5 days on a business trip to Austin.  The stay was fine due to sunny 85F weather, 'gas station' Texas BBQ restaurant, great PHO and good sleep.  Getting there via Houston was another insane headache and now on way back to Toronto - drizzling rain and 3 hours delay. ARGH!

I really miss Stephen and being in Asia.  Been gone for about 1.5 weeks and itching to get back home. He was lucky to have gone to Phuket and Bangkok with his cousin (although I still haven't seen his photos... hmm.).

Have a great rainy weekend everyone!

Qing ming holiday, Beautiful weather; but snowy Toronto

Tuesday is tomb sweeping holiday ('qing ming').  We only get Tuesday off, which is wierd because I had a bunch of meetings on Monday. Anyway China and Taiwan get Mon-Tues which makes more sense for a long weekend.

This past weekend we had perfect weather.  On Friday I spent a gorgeous day in Taipei, taking a 30 mins break for a coffee in private in a patio in Beitou. 24C and sunny. On Saturday woke up VERY early for erg trials on a rowing machine then dragon boat practice in Tai Tam Tuk. Thereafter a group of us headed to Lamma Island for the 'family hike' (about an hour past a few nice beaches, some hilly sections) then seafood before the ferry home. It was a great day!

On the flip side its snowing again in Toronto... heading there this Wednesday and to the U.S. for some meetings.

Can't wait for a day off tomorrow in town.  Stephen is off to Phuket. so jealous!

See everyone soon!

Fresh seafood, Rugby 7's means packed bars

This weekend was crazy busy at first then extremely relaxing.  Overall so quite good!  Last Thursday evening we had a nice dinner of dumplings, ribs and veggies at Shanghai Lane with Jean Pierre before he left for Malaysia, and then attended a bar fundraiser at Joyce is not Here pub; 50% of proceeds went to the Earthquake via Red Cross. 

Then on Friday evening after a long day of customer meetings and conference calls, we went to Prive - a club that was packed 10x over!  Its the Hong Kong Rugby 7's where hundreds of thousands of british colonies expats are drinking like mad and dressed up like characters (I saw Angry Birds and SpongeBob - its practically hallowe'en... heard that may be 10% of people watch the sport match!)

Luckily my friends got us past the line to a private table. 4am rolled around, we ate McDonalds and surprise surprise, I couldn't wake up for my 8am dragon boat practice. Rough week needed a relaxing end on Fri/Sat!

The rest of Saturday was spent in Cheung Chau island, a seafood island with a pretty beach and nice hiking trails. Its known for their bun festival in April. We had a 4 course dinner for $188 HK (great deal, approx $25 USD) of fresh oysters, crab, fish and veggies then headed back to Hong Kong by ferry boat.  Worked out at the gym and watched two pretty good movies downloaded at home. Nice and relaxing.

As with our typical Sundays, we usually brunch with friends. Of course after the previous evening of gym workouts, we stuff our faces - this time at Wagyu Lounge, where my big breakfast of sausages/bacon/eggs is in a bun sat in my stomach ALL DAY!

Now... back at work after a busy morning of conference calls with customers, and lunch at Simply Life IFC with Domina.  Brown rice and fish and pumpkin soup. Not bad, but not great.

This week...off to Beijing and Taipei. Back on Friday. See you soon!

We live in WAR/CONSTRUCTION ZONE...with no salt

My building is too cheap to have double pane glass windows.  Effectively we live on the 40th floor near Central, with 2 bedrooms. The intent was for me to work from home as needed. However there is CONSTANT, all day BANGING of a construction site down the street; they are pounding / digging into the ground at a non-stop rate.  Seriously I have a major headache and actually cannot work at home.  Its unbelievable to me why on earth they need to bang so much! I want to file an official complaint but don't know how.

As for the SALT comment, HK seems to have a herd mentality. When the rumor starts that SALT will reduce your chance of radiation effect (via Japan)... its all sold out in the supermarkets!

This weekend is Cathay Pacific / Credit Suisse Hong Kong Rugby Sevens. A big drinking fest over a very British sport... i only know they cannot throw the rugby ball forwards (only backwards)!  Maybe we won't partake. I recall being in LKF last year for the 7's and it was sheer madness!

When every waiter is your waiter...the service sucks

I finally have to write about the terrible hospitality and restaurant service in Hong Kong.  We all got a sense of this, even eating at Asian restaurants in North America. Waiters for the most part are rude and in my own experience, Hong Kong people care a bit less about ambiance and service than most. However, I'm now convinced that one of the main issues is that EVERY WAITER IS YOUR WAITER.  do you know what I mean, people? That anyone who walks by you can serve or help you. In theory this is good because someone is always walking by.  HOWEVER it means no one has the X on their back or owns your overall dining experience. And in the simplest explanation, people forget things, or never come back! Argh.... i guess no 'tip pooling' and restaurant management getting the fixed 10% service charge does not incent waiters to care as well.

This was precisely the experiences we have had at low end and high end establishments in Hong Kong.  For instance, we went to The Square - a fairly high end Michelin star rated restaurant in Exchange Tower area.  Same issue - every waiter forgot or tried to help then never came back. Today, had lunch with Jean Pierre and Stephen at IFC Cafe Costa (patio view of harbour, inside Lane Crawford). Same issue. Asked 3x for butter, then they screwed up our order so often.  Also, for consistency, at Sevva outdoor patio, same issue.

Given the high price tags and fabulous venues, you would think a bit of "Service 101" is taught. I guess not!  In some cases the happy (or at least efficient) waiters at Tsui Wah or Dai Pai Dong restaurants is more ROI on our time and expectations!

Peking duck pizza, charity billiards and dai pai dong

Except for Paisano's pizza, the Italian food in hong kong so far has been terrible! We went with stephen's cousin, his friend from France, Bikky and Ivy to check out Pizza Express. Of our 4 pizzas to share... Peking Duck was the BEST... A good spicy kick plus the duck itself incredible. Far beats the peas and corn pizza in Taiwan Pizza hut, and last week's HK pizza hut (too little sauce, sweet pasta weird)!

Then we went to Peel pub for a charity fundraiser for Japan. Played pool. Four hours later I somehow emerged with $700hk in winners coupons. Fun times. Then Street Food in an alley near central... Hot pots of eggplant/pork, fish/tofu and veggies. Guess we should have been hungry since stephen took his cousin for an intense gym workout and i had a 2 hr boat practice and beach jog that morning. Oooops i forgot to mention our dim sum feast and dessert in between exercise and pizza. All Tasted good. Still full this morning! So, why are we going out for brunch now!? Instead of Lamma hiking today we shall stay in town. Soccer for stephen and maybe haircut for me.

I also called home, which is not often enough for me. Miss u all!


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Location:Hong kong

Japan crisis - felt around Asia

There was an 8.0 earthquake/tsunami near Sendai/north east in Japan last Friday.  So scary. Two close calls:  my colleague Patric who shares my cubicle flew out of Japan the day prior to the earthquake.  Stephen's cousin Jean Pierre from Paris had been living in Tokyo for months, dropped by Hong Kong then (thankfully) decided to go to Korea for the days before the earthquake.  Finally my classmate Yas is safe in Japan as well... wow life is precious!

Additionally there is a nuclear radiation leakage from several plants in Japan.  Expats get evacuated but Japanese must stay.

Finally on the response effort, Japan is a first world country. 2nd or 3rd largest economy, intricately linked to the Western world but retain own unique culture.  Needless to say, help is coming to Japan faster than Haiti or Indonesia.

Be safe everyone, and count your blessings!

Visitors in and out of HK....

I forgot to mention that my dearest friend Domina Park was in town this weekend (her hubby Billy is working in HK for 1 month). We did dim sum, a bit of shopping at Sasa, (average) dinner at Shanghai Xiao Nan Guo on Friday then Sevva patio.  On Saturday, after dragon boat then after a great mediterranean tapas meal w/ Stephen, we met up at Sift for dessert (too sweet for me) and then Elgin Nine for some more drinks. It was relaxing; lots of story sharing with others and meeting some mutual friends. I wish Domina and Billy move here to Hong Kong... fingers crossed.  In-laws left town last Friday after 7 weeks in Asia. I think they were finally enjoying themselves too!

Dragon boat. A truly universal sport with roots in Hong Kong

Dragon boat racing is pretty universal and a great way to meet friends.  Irene (me) joined the BGC Stormy Dragons team a few months ago and raced for the first time in Hong Kong this weekend in Shatin.  Great times but tiring. Besides attending Catholic Churches around the world, I'm convinced Dragon Boat racing is fairly universal and almost standardized. There are subtle differences in the stroke, lingo ('point' not 'pacers') but generally quite universal. Mind you, I've now only paddled in Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, Portland, Boston, Singapore and Hong Kong. Anyway pretty draining weekend which included 10 person small boats, 200m courses (its usually 500m) and 2km circle races. All the best to my dear niece Mia who has surgery on Monday. Be brave as I know you will be!

Enjoy Sunday everybody!

BBB: Babies, Beijing and Bedrest

Its a time for babies!  Not me.  But my sister in law Janne just had her baby shower (she's due in May). Sad to have missed it but we sent over some Babies R Us registry gifts to Toronto.  Additionally my other sister in law Tanya and my OWN sister Christine are all expecting in July.  Finally I just spoke to my new friend Veronica Lin who lives near ICC and she gave birth 4 days ago.  Wow!

This past week I went to Beijing - for one day.  Yikes its a long 4 hour flight + 2 hour taxi door to door - too much for one day in my opinion.  Tiring but productive to see a customer.

Finally needed bedrest. I'm a bit sick.

See you soon!