A few things from today

It's the end of Friday here. Rob and I are preparing dinner and staying in this evening. We're having sauteed veggies and pork with pasta. Rob is playing in a 14-hour softball tournament tomorrow with an expat league. We looked all over town today for a baseball mitt and could not find one anywhere. We were able to find badminton rackets, though. I picked up some new running clothes.

The job search was pretty slow this week. Hopefully it will pick back up next week. I tend to run off the stress when job stuff slows, so I've been spending more time at the gym. Yesterday I did a bootcamp class, which may be the most difficult workout I've had since Mr. Warner's pre-season field hockey practice. Today I decided to switch it up and run. Leave it to bootcamp, but I ran my highest mileage yet....all while watching the European synchronized swimming tournament on TV. That is an impressive sport.

I guess the main theme of this week has been "When you don't have a job, you spend extra time at the gym," followed by "Televised sports in Asia are weird awesome." Click here for picture.

Dinner's ready. Have a great weekend.

~Lizard

You Learn Something New Every Day

...and today I learned that badminton is a competitive and televised sport in Asia. As I logged miles on the treadmill this morning, I was pleasantly surprised by this televised sport. I could not understand what the Chinese-speaking commenters were saying, but the sport is still fun to watch when you sub the audio with Passion Pit and Milkman.

...If only the networks would air NFL football games, we'd all be happy!

Congratulations!

Congratulations Schwab and Brian!!
(Schwab, will we have to start calling you Anna?)
Love and Miss You!!!

Weekend Pictures

So exhausted today...here are a few pictures from the weekend:

Polishing up before heading to my surprise birthday dinner! (at Posto Publico...so yum)

post-dinner champagne at Wagyu, a favorite watering hole for Westerners  in Hong Kong. Great music and dancing!

I love bubbles

Roberto goes along with zee bubbles
I almost convinced him to dance to the 80s music that was playing, better luck next time...

This random guy, Charlie, (walking through the picture) was a Canadian wild man. He was very friendly but kept walking through our pictures and striking up conversations with us. The necklace he is wearing is actually his house key--his friends make him tie it around his neck when he goes out so he won't lose it. I truly wonder if he remembers this or us.
He is a good representative of the Lan Kwai Fong going out scene...more pictures below

Lan Kwai Fong going out scene on a Saturday Night. You can walk anywhere in Hong Kong with drinks in hand.

Rob, Thayer and her college roommate, who was visiting from New York.  

Hong Kong horns

At Beijing Club...the first "real" club I've been to in Hong Kong. We were the only non-Asians there. All music was new Western music. 

One full day later, Rob and I decided to have Vietnamese food for my birthday on Sunday night. Vietnamese is my favorite Southeast Asian cuisine. This is the seasoning here. We did not take pictures of the fried soft-shell crab spring rolls, which we eat at least once a week it seems. If you can get your hands on some vietnamese ravioli, do. It's good.

Jasmine tea. I've grown to enjoy tea. I used to think it tasted like grass.

We finished the day at Holly Brown Coffee, where I had tiramisu and chocolate gelato.

The works. Worth every bite.

Flowers :)

Close-up

Happy 10/10/10

Today's date is 10/10/10-- I'm really happy about that for two reasons: one because it's an awesome date, and two because it's my birthday!

It's the end of the day here in Hong Kong, and I must say that today (as well as the rest of the weekend) has been an absolutely wonderful 25th birthday--complete with Rob and new friends, but also with pancakes, champagne, an Asian spa day, several surprises!, a new favorite restaurant and chocolate upon chocolate! Now that I feel more than spoiled, it's time to watch my Shenzhen edition of Gossip Girl Season 3. Gym will have to wait until tomorrow...

I miss all of you whom I could not spend the day with!
*Polly and Rawleigh, Happy 1st Anniversary :)

~Lizard

Others who were born on 10/10: Brett Favre, John Prine, Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

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Humidity

Trying to blow dry your hair straight for an interview in a tropical climate is next to impossible, even when you have a dehumidifier whose water tank you empty every day. I've touted the positives of Hong Kong...this is a major negative!

Shenzhen/The North Pole

Hello!

Just awoke here in Hong Kong in a very sleepy way. I am wiped out from yesterday's day trip to mainland China with my friend Anne and a new friend, Farizeh. If you're like me, you probably haven't heard much about Shenzhen, but chances are that many of the clothes in your closet were made in or near it. I had no intention of going until Anne asked me to go, and boy I'm glad I did.

After a 45-minute metro ride to mainland China (yep, the real deal!), you go through immigration and walk outside. In front of you is the most mammoth grey complex I have ever seen. It is the size of a Super Wal-mart but with 5 levels. Truly enormous. Tiny shops are jam packed into this complex. It is here that you find any textile product you could imagine.

Throughout the day I kept saying how it felt like a dream--a really good, really strange dream, complete with VERY few English speakers! Most of the people in the shops are tailors, manufacturers or salesmen who don't seem to bother themselves with the concept of Copyright. Most of the buyers mean business and seem to know what they are doing as they haggle prices down and nicely argue with the shopkeepers. I am almost certain each shopkeeper could double as a currency trader, too, as you can pay for goods and receive change in many currencies. All of the shopkeepers I encountered knew the current exchange rates.You can find anything here with a quality that rivals the "original." Handbags, shoes, watches, jeans, jewelry, ipads, iphones, Wii, dresses, scarves, DVDs--at prices that make Wal-mart look expensive. I had heard the stories about getting "cheap stuff" in China, but this gave me proof. Wholesale in China is impressive.

I went to China yesterday with the intention of having a tailor make custom copies of my favorite dresses for $15 USD, but I found better value elsewhere and decided not to have the dress copied. When I returned to Hong Kong and looked at my loot, I felt like I had visited the North Pole.

I hope you'll come visit so I can show you. Mom, I kept thinking about you while I was there...you've got to come visit.

Green Curry

This morning Rob asked me what I thought we should have for dinner tonight. We discussed a few options, and the most exciting idea we came up with was green curry. There are tons of good Thai restaurants in Hong Kong, and we have sampled a fair number, but tonight I wanted to stay in.

After spending some time climbing up and down the mountainside of Hong Kong today, I needed a nap this afternoon. When I awoke, I found that Rob had been to the markets, where he had picked up the ingredients for green curry! Turns out he had decided to cook for me, making my favorite Thai dish from scratch. It was delicious! I was so touched, I decided to share the pictures here:

The chef at work

Green curry paste, coconut milk, a mixture of favorite veggies and chicken--these are a few of my favorite things!

Our table setting

The accomplished chef