five minute friday: in between

This is worth a try. A five minute sustained, spontaneous writing session.

"In between" seems like an appropriate first topic for me as well. Today was the last day of work and tomorrow we have the movers coming in.

I am in between Hong Kong and Singapore. It has been three years here. I found it hard to settle here in Hong Kong. Making friends was hard and took me a long time. (Is there any way to learn how to make friends faster and easier?) Now that I have friends, though, it is so very hard to leave them.

Singapore is going to be great; I know that, too! We already have some friend there, actually, two couples. So that should give us a head start we need so we don't feel lonely.

 I am also in between work and holiday. We leave on Sunday for a ten day break; yippee! It will be good to rest, reflect, and recover. Anthony and I are both in dire need of some down time. We are going to have a memorable, no expenses spared time in New Zealand. But to be honest, both of us know that even if we don't do any fancy outings we will be happy just to sit in the car, looking at the beautiful scenery, and not worrying.

Are you in between?
Do you have advice about making friends?

happenings in Hong Kong

Anthony and I have very little sense of "style". We admit it. However, we do have this one painting that I love! It was a gift from the mother of one of the Chinese students Mum and Dad hosted at their home. It was delivered from Shenzhen in an epic saga that took weeks of cross-boarding haggling. I love the colours and the sense of movement in it.

In other news, we have bought a new camera lens - a 10-22mm for wide angle shots. Here is a view from our balcony at night.

And here is a view of Hong Kong harbour at night time. A few months ago I won a one-night stay at the Four Seasons hotel in Hong Kong and this was the view from our room. Wow!

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua

I just finished this book - you may have heard about it a couple of years ago. It's about a first generation American-Chinese mother who wouldn't allow her two daughters to have free time or go to friends' houses. She forced them to practice music (piano for the elder, violin for the younger) for several hours every day and demanded their excellence in every academic subject.

Her book is somewhat tongue in cheek - and hilarious if you read it that way. But it also makes some valid (and scary) distinctions between Chinese and Western parenting (grand generalizations though they are). Western parents make an conscious choice to allow kids to choose their activities - even if it means Facebook and spending time at the mall. Chinese parents make all the choices for their children and demand compliance. This is why so many Asian children are so accomplished, Chua argues. She speculates that teenagers of both types hate their parents. And she also implies that adults of both types love their parents. So she is proud of her parenting style.

A lot of my students have parents like her, at least to some extent. They are driven by their parents' desires and they make academic gains because their parents ensure that they do. I can really tell the difference between those children and those whose parents acquiesce to their kids' wishes.

The real question is which is the right way (or better way) to parent? And how do you decide which is right? (Fortunately for me, I am only pondering in a theoretical way. Many of my friends and acquaintances are making these decisions every day.) What about you and your family?

lost and found

I was wandering in Soho recently and saw these items. A pair of shoes, empty, on the edge of the road. And a hat, on a pole, next to a big pile of rubbish.

When I go out with my camera I want to take pictures of the people I see. But I am shy. Taking pictures of the lost items is easier. And always strange.

reasons to keep running

I was reading in Runner's World this month that the best way to stay motivated to exercise is to enjoy it. Well, duh, that sounds a little obvious. But the more I stop to think about it, the more true I see that it is. I can think of four things that I have found really enjoyable this month:

1. I love the fresh air feeling when I run. I am fortunate enough to live in a part of Hong Kong where the air is quite good and I have a sea view as I run. Being outside with the breeze and the water is wonderful and it's a feeling that I can sense as I get out of bed to lace on my shoes.

2. I have found a great source of fun music for my runs: Rock my Run. The DJ-produced mixes that I have downloaded there are upbeat and motivating. They are full of positive and fun songs that make me look forward to running. Sometimes I want to sing along as I run.

3. Running a race recently makes me want to continue training. I ran my first 10 km two weekends ago and it was so fun. My training went really smoothly in the six weeks leading the to race and I managed to pace myself on the race. Anthony came out to congratulate me with a tiny bottle of champagne (and take these pictures). It was such a thrill to finish the race and I felt great. I want to feel that way again!


4. I do a group exercise sessions twice a week and the friends who exercise with me are such fun to be with. Exercising with them is fun like hanging out together. And recently I have been texting Sonya about my running and that's fun, too, because she is also training for a race (20 km!) and we have been encouraging each other.

So I think I am inclined to agree with Runner's World, it's motivating to enjoy your exercise. So find something you enjoy or take steps to make your current routine more enjoyable.

What do you like about exercise?

Chinese New Year is approaching

I saw this as I walked up the driveway tonight. At work tomorrow I will ask for some help from my local colleagues and learn how to wish you a very lucky New Year in Cantonese. We have just over a week at work until we have the holiday and Ant and I are looking forward to enjoying all that happens in Hong Kong over the period. Our friend Laura will be visiting and we plan to see the dragon parade. And we are going with some of my colleagues on a junk boat on the harbour on the night of the fireworks. Stay tuned for pictures soon!

communicating--by email?

Below is the abstract of a workshop at a school leaders' conference. (For non-Hong Kongers, Sir Donald Tsang is the chief executive of HK Government.)

Donald Tsang Does It.... Do You?

As educators, it appears we use email as our communications tool of choice whether we are communicating with colleagues, with students, or with parents. We still use letters for impact when it is something of real consequence but otherwise we send an ever increasing barrage of emails to our communities. Is this really the best we can do in reaching out to our target audience when we have an array of sophisticated alternatives at our disposal? We pride ourselves on being "good communicators" but when the average student views email as "something that old people do" then perhaps it is time to take a long hard look in the mirror and ask ourselves, "are we really doing everything we can to be good communicators and adapting our communication strategies to meet the needs of our target audience?"

And in case you were wondering what Donald Tsang does ... he blogs!

I wonder if my teenage students will turn to emails when they get jobs? Or will communication be different by then? What do you think communication will look like in our future?

This is on my mind because I got my first smartphone yesterday and now I can be in touch with the world all the time! It feels quite exciting. I checked some email on the bus. I did some Twitter at my desk. What will be next? Maps while I am out and about? How thrilling!

Now I can even blog from anywhere. Since that appears to be the communication of the future.

camping "holiday"

I just got back from a week's camping with 180 twelve year old students. We were there to expand our horizons, try some new things, and have active fun. Actually it was exhausting for the students, and not that exhausting for me. The camp was run by a group of youth leaders and they did all the work while I admired the view. :)

But then I got sick and ended up spending two days at home, lying on the couch and moaning a bit. Eventually I recovered, thankfully, and made it back to camp. Sadly I missed the best parts of the week--the hiking, kayaking, and gorging. Maybe next year?

happy times

A few good things that have happened lately:

Ant and I are both happy at work--though very busy. Every night this fortnight we fell into bed. But a public holiday today has helped us recharge a bit.

We had lunch with dear friends from church last week. It's great to feel as though we are making friends more and more. And we got to try these beetroot brownies while there--exciting times for me (not so much for Ant)!


We went on a sail boat trip with some friends from volleyball. The weather was perfect, the trip was very relaxing. We sailed out past the main harbour to a more remote area and went for a swim. We had a boat-picnic and chatted away with new people. Very enjoyable.


We have booked flights for October half term to the UK and for Christmas for Canada. So we are thrilled that we will get to see lots of family and friends soon!

What has made you happy recently?

yacht trip

Since I last posted, I have gone back to work and it's going well so far. But instead of writing about work, I want to show you some pictures from the other weekend when Ant and I were invited with our care group from church on a yacht trip. We met up with the yacht and our friends--one of them is an employee for the company that owns the yacht. He had arranged to borrow it for the day and invited the group along. There was a crew provided, and our care group members provided lunch and snacks as well.


We sailed west from Causeway Bay, going around Hong Kong island to the south side. We dropped anchor in Repulse Bay and jumped in a for a swim.


The motor boat came along to pull the tubes behind it. Both Ant and I went out for a tube ride, which was really enjoyable. Just the right amount of thrill for me: not too scary but definitely exciting! We had some lunch and relaxed and chatted. After lunch the boat took us further round the island on a tour, and then back past Lamma Island. We saw this little row boat nearby.


Ant and I went up to the top deck and looked out on Stanley, while others were sitting on the front of the boat enjoying the ride.


Just before docking, we went by the floating restaurants in Aberdeen. I've been told that although they are all a bit cheesy, the Top Deck is worth visiting, so I hope we go there soon. You catch a little boat at Aberdeen that ferries you across to the restaurants.


After we went home, I was a bit "land sick". But that didn't detract from how great a day it was. We both had a fantastic time. It was really relaxing and enjoyable.

shopping areas

A funny thing about shopping Hong Kong: the shops can be very focused on just one thing. Yes, there are some department stores, and "home goods" stores, but a lot of shops sell only one thing, like this scale shop I saw earlier this week. The entire shop just sells scales, analogue and digital. I was so surprised, I had to snap a photo; a whole shop of just scales!?

And another thing I find a bit odd, where you find one shop selling one thing, you inevitably see a whole row of them. For example, here's a street (below) in the area called the flower market. The whole street (and the one parallel to it and each side street) is lined with flower shops. There are probably a hundred small flower retailers here, all in the same area. I wish I could go there to buy flowers every week, but the flower market is in Mong Kok, across the harbour from us. In my Western thinking I wonder, wouldn't it be better to have one or two flower shops in each part of Hong Kong? But at least you know where to get your flowers, it's in Mong Kog, of course! (Small amusing anecdote: there are two shops on those streets which do not sell flowers. One is a bakery [num, num] for sustenance when browsing all these flower joints. The other sells motorcycle helmets. I do not joke.)


I visited the Western Market recently ("Western" because it is on the west side of central Hong Kong). The first floor is all fabric shops, row after row of fabrics. I really liked visiting there earlier in my holiday and I bought a few half yards of fabric to use in my food photos (you can see them in this post about nut butters if you're curious!). But I have heard that the Western Market with its ten fabric stalls is not the main place to go for fabric. I don't know where it is yet (maybe my mother remembers?) but I do know that when I find it, there will be dozens of fabric sellers there.

our living and dining room

Our living and dining area is one big room, divided by the couch. At one end is Ant's new TV (bought just in time for the World Cup) and our bookshelves. On the left you can see the doors to our balcony. (Our landlady left us those curtains; what do you think of them?)


On the other end of the room you can see our new painting, which we got as a gift from Jeff's Mum when we went to Shenzhen with Mum and Dad. It's amazing! At the back you can see our front door and the kitchen door, going off to the left.


And I've started a picture collage on the wall--some family photos and some postcards. I am now looking for new postcards, so why don't you send me one from your next outing? ;-)

flowers and rain

Anna, my sister-in-law, has started a photo blog that I love! She posts a photo each day from her travels and experiences and the stories are memorable. Today's photo is one that I took!


When we both lived in the UK I got to visit them more frequently and I visited on Easter weekend when both Micah and Anna got confirmed. This is Anna's hair on that beautiful day. Click through to her blog to read more about it.

Yesterday I stayed in the flat for a quiet day in as there was a torrential downpour outside. This kind of rain keeps Hong Kong very lush. I sat in the window nook of the guest bedroom and ate yoghurt and read my book. It's so nice to be inside when this is going on outside. The view from the nook is a steep hillside covered in trees and a few buildings down the road.

visit to Cheung Chau with Victor & Viviana

It was a treat to have Victor and Viviana visit us from London. One day we went over to the island of Cheung Chau and walked everywhere.


It's a fishing community, and there were fishing boats moored all along the harbour and fish drying and for sale along the paths. It was quite a smelly walk!

Anything will grow in Hong Kong, it seems, due to the favourable temperatures and vast quantities of rain. These tree roots astounded me!


We walked all over the island: along the shore and also up the streets to the hill in the centre, past the homes of the residents.


There were two temples which we saw on the island, one of which had this lion outside. It and the stone ball inside its mouth was carved from a single piece of stone.


There were a lot of little eateries along the main paths and this was the back kitchen entrance of one of them. I asked this lady if I could take her picture and she posed for me. I am amazed by how frequently I see roasted poultry hanging up--do people order a whole one? I think it's to take home for later.


Outside the other temple there was a fruit tree--orange Victor said (he should know, he's from Spain). I sat next to the tree and took its picture while the others roamed about nearby. My feet hurt after all that walking. It was a great day out with friends.

Ant's new suits and shirts

Hong Kong--the place for tailor-made suits. Ant and I each had a suit made when we were here last summer, and I've encouraged him to use some of his first salary payments to get a couple more. He has been wearing only the one suit for the last few months and he's due some new ones. Aren't they smart? He had two white shirts made as well.


The suit he has made last year is navy with light pinstripes (not shown here) and his two new ones are charcoal (at the top of the post) and medium gray (above and below). Now he has three suits and I'm going to suggest that he gets a new one every year (or so?) from here on.

at the mall with Anthony

Ant and I went over to Kowloon to do a few errands. We walked around all afternoon and happened to end up at the Haagen-Dazs store! Ant ordered this impressive item. I had some raspberry and mango sorbet scoops with almond slices. Then we were walking around the mall and I went into the ladies toilets, which included this fantastical mirror. It was all velvety and colourful.

visit from Mum and Dad

Here are some photos taken my Mum when she was here with Dad for a visit. They were so useful to us to arrive just when we were moving into our flat. They helped build the beds the first night they arrived. And everyday when we went off to work, Mum came back form her adventures with another little item to make life better at home.

Dad was away for a bit more than a week teaching a course in Indonesia. Mum spent most of her days traipsing around the city, armed with her Octopus card for public transport. On her quieter days she looked out the windows of our apartment and watched the ships going by.


There are a lot of fountains in Hong Kong (water is a big feature in Feng Shui.) Here is Mum standing inside one of the fountains in Hong Kong Park.


Mum took a bus to central that she loved because it curved along a very improbable route. Such steep, winding roads the bus goes on! The ramp in this picture is about ten stories above ground level. It's amazing that the bus careens around these corners right outside someone's living room window.


Mum and Dad were quite taken with the juxtaposition between the tall, shiny buildings and the packed lanes between them. The lanes are really interesting to explore, with little market stalls of food, clothes, and odds and ends.


I'm a little behind with posting about the last few weeks. Thanks for your patience. :-)

wild weather

You know you live in a country with bizarre weather when you see this. What is it, you ask?


Well, first let me say that the weather here is very changeable. Rainy season is just beginning and the rain can come quickly and with fury. In fact, rain is categorised to tell you just how severe it is going to be. "Amber rain" means 30 mm or more could fall in an hour. "Red rain" means 50 mm or more in an hour, and "Black rain" means 70 mm or more. Since I arrived, we have had two incidents of Amber rain. I stepped out of the flat to go to the bus one morning, and though I was wearing a long jacket and carrying an umbrella, I was soaked to the skin in seconds. I held the umbrella touching the top of my head, and by the time I got on the bus, only my face was dry. The rain pelted down, making my shoes into swimming pools for ants. I looked as though I had stood in the bath under a power shower, fully clothed.

When I got to school that day (and changed my shoes, thankfully), one of my colleagues remarked that in the case of Amber rain, kindergarten students are not required to go to school. She told me to watch the news, because if we ever have Black rain indicated, school would be shut. I can imagine that it would be insane to go outside during Black rain. In fact, at this point, I can't even visualise how heavy Red and Black rain must be. The Amber rain I have experienced was intense enough.

The photo above was taken by my parents, who have also experienced Amber rain. It shows a vending machine for umbrellas! Though if you find yourself already caught in any of these coloured rains, I doubt that an umbrella will make much difference by the time you get your money out of your pocket.

visit to the Peak

Ant and I took Mum and Dad to visit the Peak today. We also met up with Matt, Bree and Jo Beth there. We had a nice lunch at one of the restaurants overlooking the city. The views were really great even though there was a bit of a humid haze over the city.

Matt and Bree left with Jo Beth to go do some shopping and we headed out on a walk around the Peak Circle Walk. We looked out over the lush south of the island and the city on the north side. It took us about an hour and a half to walk around, stopping frequently to take pictures and marvel at the scenery. (Mum, Dad, and I all brought our cameras.) It was hot and we didn't go very fast.


I can see why the Peak is a definite must-do for all visitors to Hong Kong. I am looking forward to being there on a more clear day and also riding up on the tram next time.

football match

Ant got some free tickets for the Hong Kong Football Association Cup semi finals last weekend. We went with Mum to the Hong Kong Stadium. It was quite empty when we arrived, but as the first game progressed, more and more fans arrived. I brought my camera with me (the first time out of the house with it) and Ant managed to get some great action shots.


The games were both quite interesting, with three goals in each and lots of action from end to end. We were in an executive box in the upper level of the stands, so we had a great view. (The food was still the same limited choice, though!)


I had to take along my marking, and Mum totaled the tests after I marked them. I managed to get through several hours of my most hated task this way. It was so nice to be outside enjoying something different.