Today was a good day (and it's not even over yet)

For some reason today I walked around in a state of blissful wonderment. It rained last night and was still raining this morning--perhaps that was what set the tone for my mood. I absolutely ADORE rainy days. Rainy days delight me with their freshness--there is something completely exhilarating about the smell of rain. Not to mention there is no need to mess with your hair, because no matter how hard you try, it will still end up soggy and frizzy within minutes of stepping outside. I say, embrace this small inconvenience and enjoy the extra time in the morning that would normally have gone into your happy hairdo.

Shortly after waking up I got a conference call from two of my dearest friends. I guess the big "how to contact us in HK" email seems to have worked. It was so wonderful to hear some friendly voices. [My mom called me from Hawaii last night. That was the firtst time we've spoken on the phone since I've been here. It was great to hear her voice, too.] Keep those calls, emails, IM chats, etc. coming--they keep me sane and grounded.

Around noon I headed out the door in hopes that by making myself scarce around the apartment, the cleaning fairies would make themselves at home and vacume the place during my absence. We were sort of overlooked again this week (usually the place is cleaned on Tuesdays and today is already Thursday) and me, being the chicken that I am, am too shy to ask the front desk about it. (I know many of you think that I am a generally brave and self-confident person, but you would be amazed at how many everyday, ordinary things I am a complete and total coward about. Just ask my husband. It drives him nuts.) So I thought that if I just left for the whole day, maybe the problem would solve itself.

My first stop was my favorite coffee shop down the street, which seems to be turning into quite the lucky charm, because I made another friend there today. A nice girl from the UK sat down next to me in the big, cushy chairs and we started chatting. We ended up talking for the next hour and decided that we must stay in touch. She likes to hike, so maybe she can come along on our next trip with our new hiking group buddies. Regardless, she was really nice so I'm sure we'll stay in touch and have lots to chat about.

After lunch, I wandered around and took in all the greeness of Hong Kong. After a nice rain, HK looks extra lush. They do a really nice job of keeping things well landscaped here. My new friend gave me directions to "Armani Fiori", the upscale floral shop sanctioned by Giorgio Armani himself. There wasn't very much on display, but the arrangements were amazing--the kind where you pay more for the empty space around flowers than for the flowers themselves. That's the hallmark of a true floral genius--someone who can sell air.

I ended my wanderings at Page One, a very expensive, but utterly inspiring bookstore. I could (and did) spend hours just paging through books about floral design, papercrafts, cake decorating, t-shirt design, knitting, etc. at that bookstore. They have a great selection of books and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite hangouts.

When I finally made it back to the apartment, much to my surprise and delight, the cleaning fairies had come and gone. Yeah!! Another cowardly triumph. (Just wait--tonight Matt will tell me he called about it 'cause he was sick of hearing me complain.) So now I'm just hanging around, watching Sesame Street (in English!), and waiting for my husband to come home. Tonight we're going out with some people from our Bible Study. We're going to a "chili crab" restaurant. Matt tells me that chili crab is the unofficial official dish of Singapore. I hope it's tasty. Wish me luck! If it's anything noteworthy, you're liable to hear about it on a future blog.

I hope I have many more days like this.