Here are some pictures of the apartment:
This is a picture of the outside of the building and the road around us:
Trash Can
I wanted a trash can that was small and silver with a step pedal that opened it up. You wouldn’t have thought that this was a problem to find. It was. When I finally found the one that I wanted, it was over US$100 for a small 20L can. I said no, and then found one that looks just like the expensive one for US$20. Much Better!
Running/Hiking
Here are some pictures from Jonathan’s runs. He was telling me how great the run was. There were beautiful views of Central and the Harbor from where he was running. The only problem was it was over the top of a mountain, and one wrong step and you were a goner off the mountain. Ummm … No thanks.
I have started to run again. Holy crap, GA almost looks like the middle of Kansas compared to Hong Kong. The humidity is really not like anything I’ve dealt with before. Hot, Humid and Hilly (Jonathan’s 3 H’s)
Apartment Living
Apartment living has been good for the 3 weeks we’ve been here. The walls are made of concrete and we have not heard anything around us. We live in a great little complex that has a total of 11 apartments. What is really nice is that the whole building is owned by one person. This really keeps things pretty nice and uniform for everyone. We have a guard on duty here. (Almost all the buildings around us have them). They really aren’t guarding anything, but really are more like building maintenance and are there if you need help. So, while we are talking about “needing help”, here is a little story. I was in need of a bit of “alone” time, so I told the girls to stay in the apt, and don’t do anything bad. How hard is that? While I was out, my phone rang, but I didn’t hear it. I checked in with the girls around 15 minutes later and they had told me that an alarm went off in the apt and Mr. Peter, the guard, came to the door. The girls were instructed to not let anyone in, but they knew him and let him in. It seems that somehow, this button was pushed. No one has yet to claim responsibility for it yet. This button is a panic button that is next to our bed and it alerts the guard who then comes to check on you to see if you need him to call the police. BTW, the police station is right across the street and if I really needed them, I cold just yell out my window to get them.
We have these really nice big windows in the living room/Dining room. When you sit on the couch, you can look down into other apartments that have their curtains open. No big deal, except when someone in the other apt complex has his “Hulk” gloves sitting in the window. I still laugh at it.
Cantonese vs. Mandarin … the saga continues
Jonathan is taking Cantonese classes at the Y on Tuesday nights. He has really been pretty open to learning this language and has started teaching the girls some lines. One of the lines that he taught Gabby was, “What kind of beer would you like?”. She “practiced this line with Jonathan while they were walking up the street. A local heard what she said, and whipped his head around. So either she said it quite well and he understood her or she butchered it and said that Jonathan has 3 goat heads.
I did try to sign the girls up for Cantonese classes, but they didn’t have any classes for kids. When I went to sign them up for Mandarin classes, we found that they were taught from a base of Cantonese. Damn …
I just ordered Rosetta stone in Mandarin for us to do while we home school. Jonathan is still against us learning Mandarin, but what are you going to do? I am a hard headed, stubborn person, and I’m really going to do what I want. (Shocked?) I really think that the girls will benefit more from knowing Mandarin in their lives.
Home School
My mom sent all the girls books two weeks ago and we got them last week. We have started spelling and zoology. I am slowly getting this started. I think that we will start adding more subjects on 1 August. The girls seem to be enjoying it. (We are only on day 2)
Trips
We planned our first trip for the upcoming weekend to Macau. Jonathan is really looking forward to being outside. We have been inside for so long, it will be nice to have a drink by a pool or coffee on the balcony in the morning. We are also planning on a fall trip. I think that Korea may be in the plans for 4-5 days. I also think that we are going to go to Phuket, Thailand for Christmas. We are not going to fly home, and no one is coming here, so we are going some place with palm trees.
We have also been talking about some of our other trips that we want to do while we are here. I think that we originally thought JC would do the Great Wall of China marathon next year, but we started to look at the cost of it. It looks like it would cost of somewhere close to 8K for the 4 of us to go for 11 days. Instead, we talked about staying at family hostels and do a back packing things through parts of China. I have found that I don’t need the highest quality hotel; I just need someplace clean to sleep.
Typhoon Season
Typhoon season is upon us. Today is our second time we have been at a T1 warning. This just means that there are some winds in our area. Here is a link to the whole warning system. http://www.hko.gov.hk/informtc/tcsignal.htm
When the warning went up last week, there were some BIG winds. Interesting to watch, not much fun to be in it.
