It's a Small World, Afterall.

So we moved half way round the world. It's 8,351 miles from North Carolina to Hong Kong and the world only seems to get smaller. I've already mentioned the list of visitors we have had within our first month of being in HK in my last post. For moving "away" from friends and family, we sure haven't been lonely.

Our first visitors to actually stay with us were Derrald's family. Ramona, Kay, Taraz and Kamila. We had a lot of fun trekking around HK and finding all our favorite places. It may have felt a little bit like squatting in our apartment, I'm ashamed to say that although we managed to get some very basic sheets thrown on the beds they were forced to share towels... (I promise my hosting skills improve daily, our next guests will not be sharing towels! please, don't be afraid to visit us!!)

Taraz and Mimi were put in the maid's room where we have bunk beds. It's down the opposite end of the house so it was kind of like having their own wing (their own non-airconditioned wing, poor things). No matter how many times we tried to convince them that by staying in the maid's room they would also have to accept the maid's duties, we never came home to them doing the ironing or making us dinner. That's because they were too busy visiting this place:

DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!!!!!

Getting our stuff in order for our SEASON PASSES! That's right folks. If you're coming to visit and need me to guide you through the magic of HK Disney, I have Magic Access.

First of all, look at those guns on Taraz!  Buzz Lightyear is a favorite. So is Space Mountain, the Lion King Show and the Golden Mickeys.

The "Golden Mickey's". It's like the Academy's except it's for Disney Characters and it's presented by a lady named "Bebe".

At the end of the show they spray the audience with golden streamers... which the children then love to collect. As you can see, Taraz and Mimi gathered a pretty respectable stash... and we carried them with us to the River Cruise... in English, Cantonese or Mandarin!

Mimi's record for riding on Space Mountain in one day = 10 times. Sometimes we would "Fast Pass" it and sit together, but mostly we would "Single Rider" and our wait time was only about 10 minutes!

Mimi got a fun shot of Kay getting off the coaster on his ride. His expression is a bit different from what it was earlier in the ride...

 Tea cups! Who doesn't love getting dizzy on these? (answer: Kay Stice)

 So, throughout the day people handout stickers, especially to charming girls like Taraz and Mimi who love to share, so Ramona and I found ourselves covered by the end of the day!

The fact that it was both Taraz AND Ramona's birthday might have helped in the "sticker" acquirements... here they are with another birthday girl, she was turning one. 

 "Cars" is all the rage at the moment... the girls are just practicing their "Smiles-de-Paris" for when they actually get to visit next April!

The girls went to Disneyland four days in total. I went with them twice. Kay went with them twice. And Ramona kept up with the Disney madness, I mean, magic, all four days. It was a lot of fun and we can't wait for the new section to open up! Twice the park... twice the fun... eight days of Disney anyone...???

I'm trying to convince Derrald that he needs a pass now too. Then we can head out to Fantasyland for dinner and some fireworks. We found delicious Indian food and good Chinese food too. Plus, sesame chocolate ice cream bars. You gotta love HK Disney. Not a churro in sight, but squid in a bag, yes, you can get that.

Moving Up in the World

Dear Friends, We've Arrived!!

 

The last two months have been extremely busy with a lot of movement across countries, across continents even, but I am excited to report, we've made it. Hong Kong. A new city. A new job. A new life. And we're loving it.

As with all life's choices, you're always hoping you've made the right one, right? So you look for signs confirming you are in the right place. I've decided to share with you a few of the small signs that let us know we are EXACTLY where we are supposed to be:

1. This is the place where D and I went on our very first date. It's where we hung out with our friends. It looked a little something like this:

2. We've upgraded from a one bedroom apartment to a three bedroom apartment. We feel like kings. What on earth are we going to do with all this space?

3. This is the view from our dining room/guest room/office side of the apartment:

I always knew I was meant to have sea views.

4. This is the view from the bedroom/balcony/kitchen side of the apartment:

Who doesn't love a little jungle view while whipping up some dinner?

5. This is the waterfall we love to check in with everyday from our bedroom window (especially after it rains):

Um, waterfall?! I thought they were strictly reserved for people living in paradise?

6. I think it is common knowledge that anyone with a lot of keys is an important person. Well, look how many keys we've got!

Derrald just about died and went to heaven when he read what one of the keys was labeled, look closely... can you see it?  Servant Rm!! Just the fact that we have a "Servant's Room" and a key labeled so, has D believing he was meant for a life of Lordship. As if it wasn't already hard enough convincing him otherwise. Bah.

7. We get to see our families! We've seen our families more in the first 3 weeks of living in Hong Kong than we saw of them in over 1 year in NC. My Dad has visited twice, my Mum once and D's Mom, Dad and his two sisters Taraz and Kamila stayed with us for 11 days. Sounds like a lot you say? Well, it was a little hectic considering we're still moving in... but our shipment doesn't arrive until August so what better way to fill your time (and our eagerly awaiting space) than to spend it with visitors, especially when they take you to Disneyland!