Pass the Cheese, Please

Notice anything unusual in this picture?


I just found a bag of shredded cheese tucked neatly in between some books on the bookcase. I can confirm that the bag has been there at least three days. If only I could peg this one on my husband...

Hair Raising, part II

Just got back from the salon and everything went great! My friendly interviewer and I really hit it off and he seemed very interested. I'll try not to get my hopes up too high, but I definitely LOVED the vibe of the place and am VERY interested in working there. I'll know by Monday afternoon. For those of you praying folks out there, thanks for any you might have offered up. I appreciate every single one.

And to those of my readers who cast their ballot in the clothing vote, I am grateful to you all. I went with my gut and wore neither outfit. I warned you that might happen. In the end I opted for something light and breezy, as it's still a million degrees in my car and the blouse (being white) is much more resistant to cat hair than the rest of my wardrobe (which is primarily black).

Here's what I wore:

The shirt is a favorite HK purchase of mine and has nice little button detailing down the front. And for all female readers wondering about my hair, I wore it very straight and simple, parted down the middle (channeling my mother's look from her younger days).

Thanks again for all the feedback. You guys are great!




PS Rumor has it my sister-in-law's husband's aunt was none-too pleased that I went nearly 2 weeks without posting. I'm very sorry about that and I'll try not to let it happen again unless I have a very, very good reason. Like if there's a nuclear disaster. Or if MTV develops a 24-hour pageant channel. Or if I give birth to kittens. Gotta keep the fans happy!

Hair Raising

I have an interview at a hair salon tomorrow. It's a hip, little shop not too far from where I live, and they are looking for a salon director (fancy term for front desk person). The job post specifically mentioned they were looking for someone with "an overly enthusiastic personality." Pretty sure I fit the bill. Especially if you get me started talking about pageants, lottery tickets, Mexican radio stations, or vacuuming. (Have I failed to mention that I ADORE vacuuming? Yeah, I know. I'm a glutton for punishment.) If I know what's good for me, I'll probably keep my mouth shut about the aforementioned topics. Honestly, I really want the job and I think I'd be great at it. I just don't want to come across as desperate. Any tips?

You'd think I'd be preoccupied with what they might ask me and how I should answer, but frankly, all I can think about is how I'm going to do my hair. I had a non-interview interview at a different salon last week for a similar position, and it was disastrous. San Diego was in the midst of a record-setting heat wave and I had to tackle 45 minutes of highway driving (I'm breaking out in a sweat just thinking about it), in a car that only spits out ample air-conditioning during the evening hours when it's chilly outside, in order to get there. I was a right mess upon arrival. Rumpled and frizzy, enough said. They never called back. It's a lot of pressure interviewing at a hair salon.

So I really want things tomorrow to go well. The entire contents of my closet are strewn about the house as I type, since I tried on everything I own and paraded around in front of my husband hoping to glean some wisdom from his discerning eyes. What do you wear to an interview at a place where you know the interviewer is going to be fabulously but casually dressed, and you, the interviewee know you need to look hip and dressed to kill, while striking the fine balance between underdressed and overdressed. Am I rambling...?

I took some photos to show you all the two options I'm deciding between, but I'm not sure if I want to post them. After seeing them full-size on the monitor, I really just wanted to scream "WHOSE IDEA WAS IT TO FEED ME ALL THOSE TACOS?!??!! *%*&@%!!!"

Yes, this was my dinner tonight.
Don't let the lettuce fool you.
It's hiding all the delicious lard lurking beneath.

Ok. I need to relax. Upon my better judgement, I'm posting them anyway. I say the camera doesn't give the outfits full justice (and isn't there something about the camera adding 10 pounds?), but I'll let you fine folks do the choosing. You have until Thursday, 11am [Central Time] to cast your vote. And don't get upset when I completely disregard you opinion and panic moments before I'm supposed to leave and change into something entirely different.

Option A
Dressy, but not too dressy?
Do I look like I'm trying to hard?

Option B
Matt prefers it without the belt.
I think he's right about that.

He is a designer, afterall.

House-Wifey

It's time to break my silence. I'm afraid I've been in a serious slump the last two weeks. It all came to a head this past Thursday when I was sitting at home on the couch for like the millionth day in a row, having finished my daily scour of the internet for plausible jobs in San Diego and coming up nearly empty handed again, watching old episodes of Desperate Housewives (and feeling like one), when I realized that the waves of self-pity that kept pouring over me were liable to take me under once and for all if I didn't do something about it.

Ok, so that's a bit dramatic. Really I've just been bored silly that last few weeks, lacking all motivation to do anything with myself besides feebly search the internet every few hours for a job that might pull me out of this slump. And why don't I explore this amazing new city I just moved to, you might ask? Well, I've got lots of excuses (all of them lame, I promise), but it really just boils down to laziness. I'm plumb lazy.

Anywho, I've finally got up the gusto to write a post again which means I'm definitely on the up and out. Oh, and since last Thursday, I've had a proper case of the craft-bug, so I've been making all sorts of fun things in the past few days. If I don't have a job right now, I might as well pull my weight by selling some things online. At least I have a fun way to occupy myself right now.

It's also high-time to finish writing up our adventures during our move to San Diego before you all forget we ever didn't live here. Ok, that's it. I promise not to waste my life away anymore. Thanks for listening and understanding. Oh, and if you know of any job openings in this corner of the world, I'd appreciate the heads up.

Delicious Breeze

Hong Kong smelled like dried seafood. San Diego smells like burritos. Oh, its heavenly.

Bumbling Idiot

What's left of my sunglasses

It would be quite fair to say that I didn't wake up on the clever side of bed yesterday. I successfully shrunk some of my husband's t-shirts (guess I'm still re-learning how to use a dryer), nearly mooned a batch of shirtless boys in the car next to mine at the car wash when I accidentally vacuumed up my skirt with the industrial-powered hose (twice), felt hood-winked when I put a $20 in the change machine and got a pile of fake-looking $1 gold coins with Mr. Washington's face on them in return (how was I supposed to know they came out with new money while I was out of the country?), sat on my new sunglasses (there's a reason I refuse to buy expensive eyewear), and perhaps my most glowing achievement of the day, got stung by a bee.

$1 George Washington coins

Can any of you, my lovely readers, even remember the last time you got stung by a bee? I feel old admitting it, but it's been easily 15 years since I last experienced the excruciating pain brought on by a feisty, angry bee. This bee nearly became my lunch. It stung me less than an inch below my lip, after successfully dive-bombing Matt and I as we stood near our car during his lunch break. Maybe it was one of those sad little bees that can't make its way back to the mother hive and it took out its fury on me. Regardless, it was one angry little bee.

Honestly, once I got over the pain (which was surprisingly intense), it didn't seem like such a big deal. There wasn't much swelling and the pain eventually subsided. It kind of just felt like I'd been to the dentist and was recovering from a shot of numbing Novocain.

I woke up 4am this morning (I think because my husband was giggling in his sleep) to discover that my face had swollen considerably during the night and, except for the part near the sting that was itching like mad, I could no longer feel the lower half of the right side of my face. I (groggily) panicked, went straight to the kitchen pantry and mixed up a hearty slop of baking soda and water, and turned on the computer to consult Dr Google. Was this normal? Would I have to rush to a Mexican hospital in the middle of the night to go to the emergency room? (It's a long story, but in a funny turn of events, Matt and I have full health insurance coverage for every country in the world except for the USA--we think it might be a blessing in disguise that we just moved to a city within 20 minutes from the Mexican border.) Would my face stay like this forever?!?

No, of course not. I'm sure I'll be fine in a few days. Apparently bee stings swell the most around the eye and mouth area, and when stung, the stingee should immediately brush the stinger off the skin to ensure minimal swelling. Had I known this I would've done so, but I just stared crazily at the stinger protruding from my chin for about 45 seconds or so before making Matt pull it out. So I'm stuck like this for a few days (or until, according to Dr Google, my body develops the antigens to fight the bee venom). Hopefully I won't get called in for a job interview in the next few days.

I feel quite justified knowing my feisty little friend is dead now.

Pie

The first pie I've made since returning to the world of full-sized ovens.

Lengthy Travels: Part One

United Airline's Coach Class Breakfast

I'm officially back-online with no more excuses to keep me from blogging. Sorry for the long delay. What a whirlwind few weeks we’ve had since landing on American soil. I find it ironic that (it feels as though) I’ve seen more of the USA in the last three weeks upon our return to the homeland than I have in my whole life.

We arrived in San Francisco on July 22 at 9:30am, (which I only mention because we left Hong Kong at 11:30 am on that same day, two hours before we landed—gotta love that sneaky time difference), bleary-eyed and full of anticipation and excitement. We’d spent that last 12 hours on the plane with our 4 eyeballs glued to a shared copy of the seventh installment of Harry Potter, devouring it page by page. Every 4-5 aisles of the plane there was someone reading the book. One of the flight attendants begged us not to reveal anything about it, as he had yet to make it to a bookstore to pick up his own copy. Every time we stopped reading to take a bathroom break or eat a meal, we considered letting slip ridiculously false tidbits as we made our way down the aisle past eager readers. “Can you believe Hermione’s pregnant with Grawp’s baby?!” or “What was JK thinking letting them BBQ a house elf at the Quidditch Championship after party?!”, etc. were just a few of the options we considered. We'd pondered waiting to read the book until we started our cross-country drive from Kansas to San Diego, but the thought of putting ourselves on a complete media black-out until we’d had a chance to read the book seemed too daunting a prospect. Overall the plane ride was completely uneventful. It's such a short (relatively) trip when you land in California instead of Chicago or Detroit.

Quincy and his adoring fans at the HK Airport

After retrieving our beloved Quincy cat from the bowels of the airplane, and getting him through customs (which was so astonishingly low-key I think an elephant could pirouette past the customs officials and they’d barely bat an eye), we re-checked Quincy for the next flight and sat down at our gate to take in the American-ness of everything around us.

To be continued...

Home Again

Matt and I made it to San Diego...finally! We moved in to our new apartment a couple of days ago and I have lots to tell about our trip, but as we don't have internet access yet, I'm at the mercy of my web-designing husband (who happens to be SO excited about being self-employed, he's all into his new gig and VERY reluctant to cede the computer to his eager wife). So, folks, SOON I will fill you in on the adventures of the last few weeks. I promise.

Spoiled Rotten

I think I've spoiled you all over the last couple weeks. Who knew there would come a day when I would post 2 items in 1 day! Well, don't get used to it. Just wanted to let you know that Matt and I (and Quincy!) made it safely to San Diego earlier this week. We'll be on the road over the next couple of weeks, which means this blog could get a little sparse. I've got some great highlights from our flight to the USA, but until I can manage to wrangle the camera, the camera cord, the computer, and some internet access altogether in one room at the same time, you'll just have to sit tight. (Harder than it sounds considering the atrocious state of our suitcases these days.) Keep re-reading HK's Top Ten over and over again to keep yourself occupied until then.

#1: Friends

By far the best thing about our year in Hong Kong is all the wonderful friends we've made. Thanks to everyone for taking a chance on us and helping us to feel so welcome. We miss you all so much!

Mike and Helen

Helen and Michelle

A few people from the Care Group
(a handful of husbands and wives are missing)

Arielle

Ellie and Lin

Baby Elias
(Sadly, I'm lacking a photo of his parents, Dustin and Nikki)

Kelly and Malcolm
(They welcomed us to Asia--sorry this was the only picture I could find of you guys!)

Jamie
(who is quite possibly a distant cousin, as her and my grandma share last names)

I've posted lots of pictures, but I'm missing some key people. You know who you are! (Lack of pictures doesn't equal lack of missing you.) Keep in touch!

#2: Sham Shui Po

Fabric District

Hong Kong is made up of many smaller districts. And each district has it’s specialities. For example, our neighborhood contained the restaurant supply shops and the professional salon supply stores. Quite nice for a girl who is fond of high-end shampoo at wholesale prices.

Piles of wonderful ribbon!

Fabric Swatches

Sham Shui Po is by far my most favorite district in the whole city. It’s a crafters paradise. Many of the factories in Southern China keep a small shop in this district, allowing designers, product managers, sourcing people, etc. access to samples of what these factories produce. You’ll find a few blocks designated for buttons, zippers, and clasps, another area with beads, charms, and semi-precious stones, and on and on. My favorite area in Sham Shui Po is set aside for fabric and ribbon. The selection is incredible!!! And most shops will sell you a few pieces (samples) of each item that strikes your fancy. Ultimately, these shops hope to reach designers and the like, not just craft-fiends like myself, but they usually can’t tell the difference.

I was very excited to discover that my friend Michelle had the same love for SSP that I did. A couple of weeks ago we hit the shops together and it was great fun!

Michelle trying to decide which fabric she likes best

She decided!
(And already made me a beautiful bag from it!)

I love places that bring out the craft monster inside of me. As I exit the MTR and begin to walk around the SSP district, I get the most unbelievable creative surge and immediately want to buy everything, go into hiding, and make stuff! Lots of stuff! So, I made sure to stock up on all my favorite bits and bobbins before packing up and leaving town. And I can guarantee upon my next trip to Hong Kong, I'll be bringing an extra suitcase to fill with lovely goodies!

#3: Street Markets

Overlooking a local market on Fa Yuen Street

I love to shop. I love a bargain. And I do a special little dance when those two loves collide. HK certainly offers the best of both worlds! This city is rampant with street markets, each with it's own unique bargains calling out my name. The one nearest (to my house) and dearest (to my wallet) is Temple Street Night market, just a few blocks down the street. It's a tourist-magnet, but I don't really mind. Sometimes it a real pleasure to mingle with other foreigners and I always get a kick out of watching them bargain for whatever small treasure they have their heart set on buying.

Cheap Stuff

More cheap stuff

The Ladies' Market in Mong Kok is another favorite tourist spot, selling lots of designer knock-off purses, over-priced Rolex wanna-bes, and tons of other useless trinkets. The "shop keepers" in each stall are especially zealous and are very talented at over-charging for their cheaply made goods. If you're feeling brave, the best knock-off stalls will have someone designated to lead you down a dark alley and up several flights of dingy staircases to a purse paradise--usually an apartment off the beaten path lined with shelves and tables full of more genuine looking knock-offs. You're almost always worth much more to them alive and eager to buy purses than mugged and drawing attention to their secret purse-lair, so there's not much danger in it. Oh, except for those Communist police patrolling the area. You need to keep a keen eye out for them. It's taken me awhile to really hone my bargaining technique, but I think I've gotten to the point that I can haggle with the best of them. It felt a bit awkward at first, especially when I would find myself negotiating the price difference of only a dollar or two, but once I came to understand that's its just a game (and to not take part makes you a party-pooper or a complete sucker), I learned to enjoy it.

Chinese Charms

Kittens, Anyone?

In the last year I've really had a good chance to scour the city for the best bargains and I know if I'm being overcharged or not. The best street markets to hit up are those that are primarily frequented by the locals. You always get the best deals, and the starting bids tend to be much lower than at the markets which are notorious tourist hot-spots. At the end of the day, the shopper is happy because they scored a great deal, and the hawker is happy because they just conned you into buying some cheap, Chinese crap. All's well that ends well. (I feel like I should end that with an Amen.)

Statues of Mao at an "antiques" market

Shenzhen

Matt and I took one last trip into Shenzhen (the city in mainland China just across the border from Hong Kong) to do some shopping and spend the last of our Chinese money. Here are some highlights from our day:

A very beautiful day! This is just outside the Lohu mall, notorious for it's knock-off designer handbags and copy DVDs. Kind of ironic to see 2 policemen out front.

Our friend, Adam, paying for a fresh cocount. They chop a hole in the top and hand you a straw. Not bad for $0.75.

SHOES!

This lady from a t-shirt shop insisted on taking my picture. So I took hers in return.

My favorite moment from the day was witnessing this chubby little kid eat an ice-cream and candy treat the size of his head with chopsticks. Priceless!

#4: Cheap Massages

Cheap massages are offered aplenty in HK. You can't walk down the sidewalk without being bombarded by little ladies shouting "Muh-sah-ghee?" and trying their darndest to stuff your pockets full of leaflets advertising the services of the many massage parlors found sandwiched among the stores and restaurants on each block. (If you happen to be a man alone on the town, it's very likely the ladies will whisper the bonus "sexy muh-sah-ghee?" in your ear as you pass them by.)

And if you even show the slightest interest, they will hold on to you for dear life until you give in to their pleas and agree to get a massage. It's always worth it. There is a dodgy, little foot massage joint just across the street from our apartment that I've been to a few times. There are about 6-8 faux leather recliners in a U-shape, each with it's own doily and matching pillow. If you learn to block out the Chinese soap operas playing on the TVs across the room, it can be a really relaxing experience. For only $11, you can get an hour foot/leg massage. It's such a bargain.

Today I went to my favorite Thai massage center, and decided to treat myself to a 90 minute massage. I even opted for the essential oil massage, rather than the usual traditional Thai massage. I knew it would be my last cheap, HK massage for a long time, so I decided it was worth splurging on. (At $40 for 1 1/2 hours, it's still a great deal!) It was also monumental because this was my first nearly-nude massage, the prospect of which left me feeling a little nervous and apprehensive. The lady showed me to a massage booth and then told me to get undressed, left for a moment, but then came right back and handed me tightly wrapped tube of gauze and told me to put it on. "What?", I thought to myself. "You want me to wear that tampon-looking piece of fabric?" I was completely lost for words and getting more and more unsure about going through with the nearly-nude massage, but then she sort-of yanked at my skirt, saw that I was wearing underwear (of course!) and said, "Oh, nevermind, you are already wearing underwear." Um, yeah. Apparently that little piece of gauze was some sort of substitute for underwear, on the off chance that you had left yours at home or misplaced them on the way there.

My thoughts were momentarily flooded with the memory of when I was visiting a new gynecologist shortly after starting college. The nurse had left a robe for me on the chair and told me to get undressed and that the doctor would be in shortly. As any female can understand, those sterile rooms are never a pleasant experience and you want to whole process to be over as soon as earthly possible. So I quickly undressed, picked up the robe, and immediately panicked. Whatever it was that the nurse had left for me to wear, it was most definitely NOT a robe. I stood there momentarily, knowing full well that at any moment the male-gynecologist would knock on the door and discover me ferociously wrangling with this would-be robe. It turned out it was actually a pillowcase the nurse had mistaken for a robe. (Which I discovered only after putting my clothes back on, sneaking out of the examination room, and sheepishly asking the first nurse I could find for instructions on how to put on a pillowcase.) All in all a very unpleasant experience. I guess they say whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. (Whoever "they" is should learn to keep their mouth shut.)

Anyway, once I actually figured out how to properly undress, the rest of the massage was fine. Actually, it was great. It's a shame I've gotten so addicted to cheap massages, since they cost an arm and a leg in the US. (Hmm...maybe if I'm missing an arm and a leg the massage would be half-price. Sorry, the pun just slipped out before I could stop typing.)

If you meet me on the streets of San Diego someday and I seem particularly crabby, you can assume it's because I haven't had a good, cheap massage in awhile.

#5: Public Holidays

With a whopping 17 days in all, Hong Kong has more public holidays than any other country in the world. And with the ridiculous amount of time people in HK spend at work, they certainly deserve a little time off. While it's great to have lots of days off, the real treat is that many of these public holidays include plenty of fun festivities throughout the city.

Here are some of the highlights:

Mid Autum Festival

"Moon Cakes" are eaten during this festival--the egg yolk in the center symbolizes the moon.

Chinese New Year

Red Lanterns cover the city during Chinese New Year

Dragon Boat Festival

Teams from all over the world compete all day in these long "dragon boats"--I think up to 26 people fit in each boat!

10th Anniversary of the Handover of HK to China

The amazing fireworks show as viewed from the top of Matt's office building. (Yes, the fireworks are being shot off the TOP of the buildings near the harbor!)

Many people use the public holidays as a great time to vacate the city and seek calmer abodes, but Matt and I thoroughly enjoyed each holiday and were excited to stay in Hong Kong and enjoy each one as it came along. We sure are gonna miss all these fun holidays!

#6: The Octopus Card

Behold the Octopus Card.

With just a single swipe of this little card, Hong Kong opens itself up you in the most magical of ways. Most people use it as a rechargeable subway token, but the Octopus card can be used for lots of different purposes. You can pay your gas and water bills (at 7-11, no less), hop aboard any bus, train, tram, cable car, or ferry and catch an easy ride, order a McDonald's value meal, buy your groceries, feed a parking meter, indulge in instant noodles from a vending machine, donate money to various charities, and the list goes on and on. And all with just one little swipe. It's such an efficient system! You can even have a chip implanted in your watch or cell phone and rid yourself of needing to carry the card at all.

More than 95% of people in HK have an Octopus card. Heck, Matt and I have 5 of them. (We stocked up to share with friends and family who were in town, as you get a discount on transportation if you use the card.)

It's pure brilliance. The best part is that if you rig the card in your purse properly, you can just haul your purse over the sensor and never need to take out your card at all. I love it! Can't wait 'til the idea/technology hops the pond and finds its way to San Diego.

One of These Things is Not Like the Other

There are days when I feel just like our friend the troll doll. Neither of us are very good at blending in.

#7: Dim Sum, Full of Delights!

Cantonese food is the main staple in this part of China. As much as Matt and I have tried, we give Cantonese food a failing grade. Thai food I love. Inidan food I adore. Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese food I could happily survive on for the remainder of my days. Mandarin, Szechuan, and Taiwanese food---all good. But, when it comes to the food distinct to the region of Asia we plopped ourselves down in, we just can't stomach it.

EXCEPT FOR DIM SUM!

Dim Sum stands out far above the sticky, saucy mess that is Cantonese food. It's Cantonese perfection, erasing all the gastronomic sins of it's Cantonese food compatriots. In fact, I have a theory that because dim sum is so wonderful, the lovely people of this region stopped working towards perfection of all other dishes, thereby allowing food mediocrity. It's just a theory.

Oh, the magical delights that grace the chopsticks of the lucky dim summer. The meal is served mostly as a brunch or early lunch (no, those are not the same things). It's a rare treat to find it available after 1pm. My favorite dish is "char sui ba" (which I've both misspelled and mispronounced, I'm sure)--a light steamed bun filled with yummy bbq pork. The egg custard balls are fantastic, too. Turnip cakes, Shanghai dumplings, sticky Chicken rice wrapped in lotus leaves, garlicky bok choi cabbage, all washed down with numerous pots of Jasmine tea....YUM!! Oh, and the eggrolls! Marvelous. It's all so good.

If you happen to be passing through HK in the near future, I highly recommend stopping by Maxim's restaurant in the old city hall on the Island--famous for it's old-school dim sum carts, pushed around by slightly disgruntled, older women in marvelous yellow rompers, who lift up the lid of each dim sum steamer for you to choose from as they pass by.

That's it...I'm having it for breakfast!

#8: City Scape

Hong Kong has the most amazing skyline I've ever seen. Mountains, Ocean, Forests--all visible from the harbour. Moving from small-town USA hoping to experience the "big-city" life, Hong Kong certainly delivers.


Now if only they could figure out how to tackle their nasty little pollution problem...

#9: Waffles

I just can't get enough of those tasty waffles the street vendors sell. You can choose from the classic rounded bubble-shaped waffle or the super-gooey flat waffle smothered with peanut butter, margarine, sweetened condensed milk, and extra sugar drizzled on top for good measure. Our favorite stall always has a line, but it's definitely worth the wait. And for a mere $1.25, it's the cheapest heart-attack a cholesterol-enthusiast like me could ask for. Oh, so tasty!

#10: Tiny Spaces

There is no question that HK is a big city comprised of lots and lots and lots of tiny spaces. As a tiny-space dweller myself, I've come to appreciate the continuous creativity and compromise one learns to live with on a daily basis when faced with the task of shoving all of your worldly possessions into a space the size of the average American's bathtub. I think it's a good exercise in materialistic constraint. Actually, I often wonder how a city full of some many people, living in such tiny little boxes could find itself to be one of the world's major shopping meccas. Where people put all their stuff is beyond me. Even though we know we've got a basement full of stuff waiting for us in my mom's house upon our return, our year in HK has been a great lesson on only buying what you need.

The 275 sq ft we call home has served us well, although I do admit I'm looking forward to having a slightly roomier closet in our next home. (The closet Matt and I share now is only 3'x2.5'x4'.) Perhaps the biggest bonus is that when we start to look for an apartment in the notoriously expensive state of California, we'll think paying $1100/month for an 800 sq ft apartment is a true bargain.

But tiny spaces aren't just found at home. Everywhere we go we rub elbows (quite literally) with all sorts of people. The trains are glorified sardine cans. Seats on buses are itty-bitty. And when we go out to eat, Matt and I are often seated next to another couple at a 4-person table. When we first moved here it felt so strange to sit in such close quarters with complete strangers at dinner, but now it seems perfectly natural. And we're seldom speaking the same language as the people next to us, so we're not even distracted by their conversation. The restaurants are small, and they squeeze in the patrons anywhere they can. It's just the way it goes.

I hope I don't too quickly forget what a tiny-space lifestyle feels like and go out and buy lots and lots of stuff I don't need and sit really far away from people in restaurants. I've become accustomed to "rubbing elbows" with strangers.

HK's Top Ten

I realized that in a mere ten days from now, Matt and I will be boarding a plane heading to North America. Only 10 days left in HK! So in honor of this lovely city we've called home for the last year, I'm going to pay homage by giving you the HK's Top Ten over the next 10 days. It begins today. Enjoy!

Harry Potter

Loved every minute of the most recent Harry Potter movie! It was totally worth the inflated movie price (an extra $2/person on opening night!) just to see Dolores Umbridge's litter of kittens.

Rock the Library

In exactly 24 hours from now, I will be leaving the movie theater (having consumed my gigantic bucket of sweet and salty popcorn). The next Harry Potter movie opens in HK tomorrow! Wizard nerds unite!

For all my HP fan friends out there, get yourself psyched up for the movie with a few tunes from the ever popular music ensemble "Harry and the Potters"---oh, I can't help but love the silliness.

Quality Kansas Shoes

As Matt and I were on the elevator going to church yesterday, a British/Australian man (I'm having alot of trouble distinguishing accents these days) struck up a short conversation with us:

Man: So where are you from?
Us: The US
Man: Where in the US?
Us: Kansas, it's in the middle.
[Elevator door opens at our floor]
Man: Oh, Kansas...where all the good shoes come from.
[Elevator door closes, and we are left alone to ponder his last statement.]


What could he have possibly meant? Cowboy Boots? Payless Shoes (since it originated in Topeka, KS)? Huh? Anybody have a clue what our little Brit/Aussie friend could have meant by this? Maybe it was a tactic he uses to appear aloof and elusive. I think the next time I meet someone from New Jersey, I'm going to say "Ah, New Jersey. That's where all the best neckties come from..." And then run away.

Social Networking Gone Askew

Last night while dining out with Matt and our new friend, Hanna, at this tasty Mediterranean restaurant, I happened to mention that I just joined facebook and was very excited to have 37 friends. Further into the conversation I tangled my words a bit and referred to it as "myface," mixing the popular sites myspace and facebook into one word. Suddenly we spawned this fantastic idea that myface.com should be the social networking community for the elderly. Old people are always messing up their references anyway, right? So this way they could impress their grandkids by saying, "Junior, I just joined myface! I'm hip hop, too, now!" It would be the hottest online geriatric destination, with a tagline of "my face used to look like this [insert handsome highschool pic from 50 years prior], but now it looks like this [insert present day pic]." We think it would really take off.

Perhaps you just had to be there.

Regardless, I dragged you, my lovely readers, through this story just to say that when I got home and hopped online to see if myface.com really exists, it does. And it looks like it's a site for vampires. Socially-networking vampires. Check out this picture from the homepage:


Clearly those people are vampires. Perhaps they sprinkle in a few normal people in the photo as a way to lure unsuspecting victims, but they two in front are most certainly vampires. Ok, enough shenanigans.

Now You Are Fat

From what I can tell HKers don't obsess over weight like Americans do. I've met lots of people here who have nicknames based around their weight. A guy I used to work with at the flower shop happened to have the same name as another employee. So he was dubbed "Fat Boy" instead of using his real name. He volunteered it. He said that's what his mom calls him. At Matt's office Christmas party this year, they had a gift exchange. Matt got a book. The receptionist (who happened to be a little chubby) got fat cream. Apparently it's not that big of a deal to be fat here.

Which I guess is why one of the salesmen at a shop I frequent felt completely comfortable telling me I was fat. He said the very first time he met me, I was very skinny, but now I am fat. Instead of bursting into tears, I laughed it off and told him I'd eaten nothing but pizza the last two weeks (which isn't far from the truth considering we're in the midst of moving and our refrigerator is empty). Perhaps what he doesn't realize is that the first time he met me was about 2 months into our HK adventure, at which point I was only eating Skittles and baby-carrots because everything else made me want to throw up. (Surely I've mentioned my drastic food aversions, right?)

But it was still a blow to my ego. Because I am an American, and I am weight conscious and I've been feeling a wee bit tubby these last few weeks.

This little conversation stirred up unpleasant memories of the time I was trying explain to an itty-bitty Asian shop girl that I would not be buying the size 25 jeans she was pushing on me because (clearly) they would not fit me. As I made gestures to my general hip and thigh area and mumbled something about American girls being made differently, she perked up and said,

"Oh, you have baby?!"

No, Lady, I have not had a baby. I just look like this. Boy, these people sure know how to flatter a girl.

I know that I'm REALLY going to miss living in Hong Kong, but I am looking forward to feeling "normal-sized" again. Perhaps even a little on the small side.

Not to mention that my first order of business when arriving on American soil again is to put on 10 pounds. Ten pounds of pure Mexican food. Oh, I can't wait!

Tasty Squid Legs

I keep mentioning squid legs on my blog, but I don't think I've ever posted any real footage. So here they are in all their glory. Took these photos last night in Mong Kok near a night market. It's so funny to see a cute Asian girl in her little highheels and mini-skirt chowing down on a squid kebab. It requires quite a bit of chewing since they're so rubbery. It kinda makes my stomach do sommersaults. Mmmmmm.....so, err...tasty?

Some Answers

Alright, so perhaps I do have a bit of a flair for the dramatic. I wasn't named Buhler High School's "Most Active Thespian of 1997" for nothing. Maybe I felt my crabby rangoon ratings were down, the comments hadn't been what I'd hoped for recently. Regardless, there it is. That big, shocking announcement that my husband has, indeed, quit his job. It's true. Sure got you talking, didn't it?

We have a back-up plan, of course, but it was good to hear from all of you (me being the comment whore that I am), and Wow! thanks to everyone who wanted us to move where they are. After a year of relative isolation, it was nice to hear how many people know and love us back home in the states. Really, thanks to everyone--you made us feel great!

So here's our next step:

We're moving to SAN DIEGO, CA!!!

Matt is joining forces with a college buddy of his who started a web design company last year. It has been a long few weeks in the Kirkland household as we carefully (and prayerfully) considered our next move. And we're very, very excited to be moving to California! Granted, it takes us down a couple of notches on the cool factor by demoting ourselves from Hong Kong to San Diego, but we're ready to face any challenges a sudden onset of nerdiness might throw at us. (To be perfectly honest, we're really just in it for the Mexican food.)

And our time frame, you ask? Well, we're hoping to be back on American soil in about 1 month. Yikes!! We have so much to do! Oh, but what a sweet relief it will be to communicate with people again, and to stretch my arms on the street and not knock 30 people over. (I was having some serious elbow issues yesterday. Note to self: Never ponder something momentarily on the streets of Hong Kong with your hand on your hips and your elbows sticking out. This is a SERIOUS recipe for disaster.)

So my biggest question to all you good folks out there...will you still read my blog if I'm no longer living somewhere wildly exotic? I promise that I'll still be clumsy and have awkward conversations with strangers and create many a conundrum for myself. I'm a natural at that. And let me tell you, San Diego is sure to be just as daunting and mysterious to me as Hong Kong has been (minus the squid legs). I imagine I'll encounter some mighty culture shock on my re-entry into the USA. I haven't seen a cowboy in ages. Or driven a car. Or tried to get a real job. This could get interesting...


We'll keep you posted about when and where we'll be landing on American soil. Thanks again for all the great emails and comments these last few days.

The End?

Sooooo, my husband quit his job today. Any suggestions on what we should do next?