just as sex and the city was meant to be about two loves: men and new york city - today's post is going to be about two of my men and hong kong. (left: kids in wanchai market on sunday night... [...]
just as sex and the city was meant to be about two loves: men and new york city - today's post is going to be about two of my men and hong kong. (left: kids in wanchai market on sunday night... [...]
i was able to witness something spectacular this weekend.
every year hong kong hosts the oxfam trailwalker. the event is held annually on the MacLehose Trail, a 100 km hiking trail across the mountain ranges of the New [...]
our trip to the philippines backfired a bit.
the kids loved it. had a great time. made friends immediately (of course they were objects of interest to the slum kids, they were visitors, they would be giving away their clothes at [...]
after a two week self imposed break from running, on monday my alarm rang at 5.30am.
sunday night i had slept fitfully. my body was waiting for the alarm, just as it has for the last 14 days. and when the iphone "marimba" squeaked out it's first few notes, i was [...]
last night i had to make a tough decision.
charles was out at maryknoll, at the walk to emmaus.
i had made plans to go to ursula's, to eat a fantastic curry dinner and watch FAME (the original one, not the cheesy remake, thank you very much, ursula is a woman of [...]
although the BBQ is over at kennedy school, i have spent many hours at the school this week cleaning up, putting back and restoring things to their natural order. i am 'on site' a fair amount.
however, where was i yesterday when jasper had an asthma attack?
oh, i was on the [...]
the halloween bbq is over. it was a massive success. people were really happy with their purchases, the evening went smoothly and we raised a shedload of money.
the stairclimb is over. we let hong chi know we are a proud supporter, and we helped raise awareness and funds for [...]
a while ago tertia blogged on WHY SHE VOLUNTEERS. this got me thinking.
as a stay at home mum who is rarely at home, i volunteer a lot. often i am asked, oftener than not, i volunteer to volunteer.
why?
there are several reasons i volunteer, a few not so attractive so i [...]
when i was 15 or so i fell in love with phil collins' "no jacket required".
i liked all the songs, but it wasn't until i saw the video for the last song on the album, take me home, that i knew i had to own the tape.
the video, i remember [...]
we have begun laying plans for the kids to meet the mouse.
believe it or not, disneyland has been open for four years and we still haven't been. there were various reasons for this...but the time has come for us to enter the happiest place on earth.
we are going to stay [...]
the other day i received a text from my good friend weng. it read, "MY SON JUST GOT HIS FIRST KISS FROM YR DGHTR!!!!"
some texts should have special coloured fonts for them, and this was one of them.
dutifully i typed back, "Which girl? WHY?" (besides the fact that he is [...]
some of you may have already viewed this pic, but for those who haven't, this is how we spent our saturday night (after rugby!)... charles and i went to a diwali party. it was a great deal of fun and a great deal of' [...]
there's no use talking when someone else has already said it so well.
take two minutes and check out:
tell me what you think.
are the tides turning?
[...]it has been a very busy week. a good week, but a busy one.
our book club met the same night as the memorial service. i hadn't attended book club for two weeks and this is a VERY BAD THING. i am a founding member, yet given that i didn't [...]
i attended a memorial yesterday.
i did not know the deceased, a kennedy teacher, very well. if i had not volunteered to pour tea and coffee and clear the tables at the tea following the service, i would not have attended.
however i did, and was very touched. this teacher, linda [...]
now that they have been at school for six weeks, i feel i am in a pretty good place to describe how the kids are settling in to their new status.
i am happy to say that sebastian is having a good year. his teachers are fantastic, and with typical sebastian [...]
today has been a fairly busy day. the number one activity on my schedule - get groceries, did not get accomplished, but some other entertaining activities did.
charles had conference calls last night, so this morning when the kids were up at the crack of bottom and wandered into our room [...]
by the end of this summer, when forest fires, accommodation and related other issues were no longer of utmost priority, after uniforms had been pressed, classrooms had been memorised and routines had been establised, i got to several similar emails which had been sitting in my inbox for a few [...]
the other day i was standing at kennedy school talking with assorted parents and the principal.
"where else in the world," i inquired "do kids get to see banana trees from their classroom windows?"
especially as we prepare to head off to the philippines on the building trip, i am painfully aware [...]
yesterday sebastian and i were upstairs both trying to figure out subtraction when jasper spun into the flat, bursting with importance.
of course, at first i thought he had to do a wee, and just pointed him towards the bathroom.
"nnoooooo mummy! noooo! de is downstairs! [...]
it is known and accepted that i am not a hard core runner. i wish i was. i could love to crave running. i like walking for the same reasons i always have, no matter what i weigh: being outdoors gives me the opportunity to appreciate the beauty around me, [...]
after seeing rod the bod (more like grasshopper!) in concert, i have had several of his tunes rolling through my head. in particular over these past two weeks as i have unpacked suitcases and gotten used to my new home and reflected on my summer in canada and the loved [...]
jasper has this less than charming habit of waking up several times during the night.
sometimes, he justifies his open eyes and walking legs with his age old excuse, "i had a nightmare that swiper was trying to kill me". however, one touch of his chest reveals his heart isnt pounding [...]
for the next three years, i will have all four children at one school.
or at least that's the plan. who knows what could happen.
yes right now all my kids are kennedy kids. sebastian in primary three and the triplets scattered throughout the various primary one classes. hooray!!
the first week [...]
the kids asked how babies were born.
i blame auntie pammie and her burgeoning belly.
sebastian has asked before, and i have vaguely alluded to the "birth canal" (quite brilliantly) and then changed topics.
but the other night, there was no where to run. every [...]
on thursday, we returned to fintry.
we heard about the all clear, and debated what was the best thing to do. leave and risk evac three? or stay on at predator ridge? at the [...]
we are having to move units today. we can still stay at predator ridge, but we need to pack up and move units. moving is tiring, a hassle, and not something you want to do.
unsurprisingly, my parents are both sick. i am showing stress in that i am eating way [...]
despite still being on evacuation alert, we were not prepared for this.
we had seen the forest fire all day long, but there was absolutely no talk of it on the radio. we were listening as were two sets of neighbours. [...]
Hop on over to Charles' blog for the latest news and a short video clip of Sela and Carys. [Castanet.com File photo: Jason Henderson (Ok fires 2003)]
' [...]"are you calling to report a forest fire?" the voice over the telephone said.
"no, i am wondering if we are being emergency evacuated" i replied
*****************************
since saturday evening, smoke replaced rain as the clouds causing us most concern. we have had perfect weather [...]
goodbye and thank you.
charles gave the keys for 6a back to the government today. i haven't been back in the flat since last wednesday. i didn't know my last walk out the door would be my last walk out the door...it just was. there was no lingering look over my [...]
an endless source of entertainment for our clan right now is the pheasant fish we are housesitting. apparently there are three of them. as he dropped them off none too gently at our home, chad hinted heavily that there would be no hard feelings if the fish didn't survive the [...]
combine the frustration and exhaustion of moving and you get a tess who doesn't particularly have any fond feelings for 6a 122 road right now.
yesterday, i watched my home being dismantled. it wasn't that tough, because there was a goal in sight.
i was horrified. my kids went from watching television [...]
thank you for the feedback on possible books for little seb. really appreciated. it's like a brand new world finding new authors and series...thrilling for both the young man and myself.
yesterday was a frightening day. janne, victor and 3 yr old amalia accompanied my crew to the boat club. it [...]
when i am not imagining my picture on forbes mag with the headline "one stop chair" - i am packing or worrying and occasionally having second thoughts about the upcoming move.
charles and i bought paint yesterday. talk about second guessing. so much can go wrong...i am placing my trust in [...]
i am never too busy to be brilliant.
with my TO DO list growing increasingly longer, i am thanking myself for all the stuff i managed to do in advance and haven't left until the last minute.
i was talking with a friend outside the pta office today and she was saying [...]
at the back of my mind is a growing thought - canada, canada, canada.
we will be there soon.
as i am packing and labelling boxes, i am purposely keeping outfits out that the quatre terrors will be wearing in canada.
ca-na-da
can-a-da
soon!
i was mentioning to someone i barely know today that we [...]
while i do love the chance to declutter and readily admit that moving flats affords us the perfect opportunity to rid us of baggage, there are some downsides.
1) comfort eating. i just finished off the yummy treats in two party bags because i am in need of consoling. we have [...]
in order to make the move a little less personal, i have packed while watching the entire season five of grey's anatomy. it's easy to trivialise my issues (where should this bookcase GO?) when i have to worry about Christina possibly getting into an abusive relationship and see how they [...]
item #1 - sanity and kids safety in light of school closures...we're doing all right. thank you for asking. i loved a quote from a mum in the south china morning post the other day which essentially said, "who cares about my kids' health? what about my health?" love it.
so [...]
and if it seems repeatedly it is only because i have four children.
this morning i was awoken not so much by the thunder and lightning streaking across the sky, but by jasper, rubbing his face across my stomach and trying to pull himself up on to the bed.
"i'm ever so [...]
the other day at park n shop (or park n ripoff as i heard it called) the cashier wagged her finger at charles and informed him, "your wife is very good tai tai!"
charles' head spun run with a speed that would do an exorcist ridden person credit to see how [...]
on sunday charles and i went to different sermons. both speakers were fantastic, but i had been tipped off that the 9.30 speaker was a real "John the Baptist" type of speaker, and knowing my fondness for JTB, that was enough to get me [...]
thank you for the emails and calls and texts....carys stayed up far past her bedtime, had 22 nodes attached to wire leads taped to her head, neck, face, chest and legs and was stellar.
her mother, ahem, only lost her temper twice in 16 hours which is impressive when you [...]
for a "sleep study" with carys.
i mistakenly showed carys the website today without previewing it myself. (what can i say? i was on a fieldtrip with sebastian from 7.30-3pm) and so what i showed her was new to both of us....
http://www.hksh.com/eng/index.html
"is that what they are going to do with me [...]
...let me count the ways i have fallen short.
in the past 24 hours three of my kids (100 per cent of my three youngest) have really ticked me off.
let's begin this chronologically instead of managing it emotionally.
i was asked to bake five dozen cookies/squares for the CALL2ALL, a religious [...]
in his blog, charles has written wonderfully and movingly of the tumult of emotions he experienced last week when he went to toronto to help his family close down the family weekend farm, which doug is selling.
the farm has been such a loved place for charles, and he came [...]
i have seen friends of mine fall in love with unplanned oopsy-daisy-babies. most recently, tertia. my new zealand friend trinie. my girlfriend laurel, mum to the gorgeous danielle.
so the other day, when my calendar reminded me to pull out the mattress sized feminine products out and prepare myself for five [...]
yesterday i saw a snake.
it was massive.
i was curious and so i googled it, by description....
and here were the options of what the snake could be...and i don't really like the options!
Many-Banded Krait (Bungarus multicinctus)
Chinese cobra (Naja atra)
King Cobra [...]
in recent weeks, part of my monday routine has been visiting the central wetmarkets. would i be repetitive if i told you how the wetmarkets summarise the many things i love about hong kong? today it was the sunlight pouring in down between the canopies, making the lilies smell even [...]
when charles is travelling, as he is now, sundays are always a little harassed in the house. it is tough to load all our wet beach stuff into a taxi plus the tired kiddies when there is only one prompter and that same person is the taxi hailer and kid [...]
there is a doctor's visit i have been avoiding. for several months now.
today, after some research into symptoms, i took the final step into getting my (sizeable) tookus to the physicians office - i told my mother what was up. she IMMEDIATELY and EAGERLY committed to mentioning whether i have [...]
the other day, janne and i had a playdate arranged. if it was a nice day we promised ourselves we were heading straight to the beach. straight as an arrow.
and this is what we did.
there was one cloud grazing in the cornflower blue sky, and the sun was nailing [...]
charles is on a business trip for the next six days.
the week of bribery was begun.
match attax have been purchased and carefully stored in pockets and side drawers where i have quick access to them. i have told sebastian if we can get through today (sunday) with NO CRYING then [...]
it's difficult getting into the swing of family time.
you don't want it always to be about food.
and you don't always want it to be about watching tv. (a bit rich coming from the mum who took her kids and eager husband to see the hugely entertaining and overpriced MONSTERs vs' [...]
it's good to be blogging again. and there is so much to blog about i don't know quite where to begin. let's see.
tomorrow is bootcamp. yet again i fear the highlight of my week is going to be my thursday evening shower. how pathetic does that make me sound? quite, [...]
we had a brilliant time in kk.
the kids spent equal time jumping into the pool/in the pool/in the kids club doing fun activities, while i am proud to report i only finished one book because i was also in the pool with my little kidlets! charles and i didn't watch [...]
today i had just finished lunch at dragon-i with paula and mel when i decided that it was time to get my hideous passport picture taken. do you know that you can no longer smile in your picture?
as i was walking to the cheapest place [...]
it has been a common sight for..ever. jasper wearing heels and a dress surrounded by ella, amelia, his sisters and other playground girls. jasper, racing around with the aforementioned girls, playing "families". when danielle's mother said to her daughter the other morning, "oh, today sela and carys are coming over!" danielle was quick to [...]
i have previously written on how i remember my mum slipping out the door to go running or playing tennis back when we lived in edmonton. how she and her "keep fit" gang would run out, very early, fulfilling their need for exercise and fellowship before returning home [...]
i wondered when it would happen. when the kids would fall in love with their grandparents.
i remember when we lived in edmonton my gran came for visit. she was an eccentric lady and came out with all sorts of comments that you would NOT expect. she came out once a [...]
one week ago i was in shanghai.
a great deal has happened. i haven't even downloaded my shanghai piccies, but odila has. if you go down to the right hand side of my blog to my blog list you will see odila's blog. click on that and you will see [...]
here has been the highlight of my evening.
after fantastic massages we headed over to a brazilian bbq restaurant called cantina for dinner. odila was particularly excited because there was a live band playing brazilian music. steph had called earlier and learned the buffet (meat a thon) was offered until 11.30.
we walked [...]
on tuesday i realised that sela had been sick for a few days. really quite sick - fever only controlled by medicine, cough really quite bad, nose really shooting out interesting colours.
as ursula and i skived off and had a quick smoke (me, passive) between volunteering stints at kennedy school, [...]
last week when our friends the debocks were able to physically remove themselves from the four children trying to show them their favourite dolls and plush toys, or attempting to brush their hair, choose their accessories and wear their glasses, they made an observation about my city.
naturally, i was [...]
school yard words have begun filtering into the flat.
on far too many occasions, sebastian or one of his friends refers to something as, "the suckiest". alternatively, things can also suck.
i will ask sebastian's friends if they are allowed to use that word at home and they will say [...]
i have referred to my lovely friend odila.
she lives in midlevels, where many of my good friends live.
however, next month, she will be moving farther away. even farther than kowloon side! yes...it appears that odila and joel (ever loving husband) are moving to angola. oh, her camera is going to [...]
today has been a busy day. it started around midnight when i was stubbornly refusing to go to sleep. i am reading "the interpretation of murder" and i was at a good bit, and the minutes were ticking by.
no sooner had i decided to be sensible then my second [...]
i had a half morning "vision" session at small world today. after enjoying a very tasty lunch, i texted magnificent and asked him where he was. as i expected, he was with sebastian and jasper, in baguio villa.
they were about to look at flats.
yes folks, we are leaving 122 pokfulam [...]
yesterday is over, and today arrived. a new day.
yesterday was bad. a bad bad day. but do you know what was gorgeous? everywhere i turned, there were arms. reaching out to me, encouraging me, loving me.
i returned andrea's phone call yesterday, and when i heard her voice, i got a [...]
this week has been tough for me parenting wise.
sunday, i went to rugby and got to see my son, jumping up and down trying to get in his coaches' line of vision while his coach divided the players into teams for a match.
the players dwindled down, and sebastian moved again, [...]
i love creeping into the kids' room at night.
the reasons are mainly selfish: they ask so little of me when they are asleep. no questions, pulling, frustrations. and i can watch them. without them making a silly face. and, i can do [...]
i am blogging midday - something i rarely do on weekends, but the kids are so enchanted with their new presents that i can.
fallout from parties.
d'you know that charles and i haven't even bought the triplets any birthday presents aside from three aprons? i [...]
cloud on over, skies...i don't care. the triplets beach birthday party is over and the skies stayed true and blue for it.
for the past week the hong kong weather conservatory was predicting showers and force 4 & 5 winds for saturday due to the monsoon coming down from guandong.
thursday night i let sebastian sleep in the playroom. in spite of his weakened state, he was pleased. the playroom? sleeping there? how thrilling!
"can we pull out the couch bit, mummy? like i am a guest?"
it was quite nice to have him in the playroom, because when he sleeps in [...]
saturday was valentines day. i don't think any of you will be particuarly surprised to know that i don't really buy into the whole valentines day spiel, but, my husband is a rather romantic fellow. every year he makes me a collage of pictures of the year that has just [...]
this is a fairly ironic title for a blog about vomit.
today, as i was talking to ursula on my mobile about a cancelling a lunch so she can come on a hike with me and mandy, the phone rang. i pushed jasper toward it and he answered lovingly, "hiiiiiii". a [...]
today jasper came home with an odd look on his face.
"mummy today i asked miss rupa what her mummy's name is."
i thought, foolishly i thought, what a nice sensitive boy i have. he really is a thinker and a lover. and my self congratulatory thoughts were interrupted by reality.
jasper continued..."she [...]
there are a couple of reasons for the new springs in my running step:
1) obviously, i am running again. after several months of annoying itbs, which stopped me running and bootcamping back in november, i am back in the game. the running game that is. i have been hiking for [...]
hearing the words, "mummy i vomitted" are not pleasant words.
but they are not the worst, i learned the other day.
the worseness is compounded when:
- the child is talking to you
- it is 3.30 in the morning
- they repeat the sentence and tag on, "i vomitted in bed".
sweet heaven.
i swung out [...]
so, i guess it is time to talk a bit about octuplets.
when i first heard the story, i was amazed. another mum of multiples, upon hearing that the mum had carried the eight kids to 34 weeks, was stunned.
"she must have a uterus of steel!"
i agreed.
and suddenly the focus of [...]
today hong kong put editha to rest in a short, moving ceremony. katie and gus both spoke, as did editha's dear friends abi and rose, and her daughter lyn. (at left, editha holds carys in june 2005. we never had a feb 2005 birthday party [...]
now that it's over, it doesn't seem like it was that bad.
for the past four days, i have been quite ill, with swollen tonsils, a high fever and several other annoying symptoms. oh right, stuffy nose. i would wake up choking in the middle of the night, my teeth coated [...]
we had the greatest day.
the morning got off to a slightly slow start which was fine with us. carys actually didn't wake up until 8.30. it was a breakfast of bran flakes or pop tarts, and the boys chose pop tarts while the girls went for the fda approved meal, [...]
i read the other day that prince william and kate middleton have been dating for six years now. that's quite some time in royal circles, practically equalling how long andrew and fergie were married, isn't it?
because she doesn't have a job and because she basically seems to be sitting around and hoping [...]
when we first moved into 122, a whole new concept of hong kong living opened up to me...community.
there was lisa, mel, paula, andrea, alice, caroline.
soon, there was lucy. then alice moved down the road, and lisa moved back to the uk. jules moved into 1b with her boys. tinja moved [...]
everyone is okay in our household but there has been a very sad development with a neighbour. please hop on over to Charles' blog for details.
[...]the death of john travolta's son, jett, has been particularly unpleasant for me. dying of a seizure while getting into the bathtub.
i heard about the death first on msn, and then my mother sent me a link (because she's my mum and this is the equivalent of sending newspaper clippings) [...]
today andrea and i went for a hike. we did the parkview-jardine's lookout-mount butler-tai tam upper reservoir-parkview walk that janne and i did on thursday.
one of the reasons i was eager to return to [...]
well, the parent of triplet support group seemingly annual debate on should parents of triplets get handicapped parking stickers resumed today.
the original poster, who was asking how people got the dashboard stickers, got some feedback, and then posters began stating their opinion that parents of multiples don't need the handicapped [...]
today was sebastian's sports day.
each student represents one of the school's four teams: unicorn, pheonix, lion or dragon. sebastian is a lion, and has a dark blue uniform. this is not by coincidence. the dark blue uniform is the easiest to clean and therefore, i requested that my son be [...]
my great friend charmaine is full of wisdom. when she is racing around the home while working on her excellent business www.adoptionprofiles.ca and organising a swimming pool or extension of her home being built, and someone asks her to take on another task, she is wont to say with [...]
it all started again today. the routine.
schools, lunches, out the door with sebastian to drop him off at andrea's at 7.30am. jasper, sela and carys leaving at 8.10am. me sitting down with a cup of tea, planning the day.
this first day back was a bit different than normal days.
i went [...]
because our kids are in and out of each other's places pretty much on a daily basis, andrea and i made a pinky promise that we would take down our trees on the same day. this weekend. typically we would have wanted to wait until twelfth night, but that's on [...]
i did a bit of solo wandering today: i had a meeting in wanchai, one of my most beloved areas of hong kong and meandered around the wet markets beforehand and afterwards. i took the mini bus in and the mtr and 55 home.
i tried to buy gloves for the [...]
our next door neighbour had these words written on a slip of paper that stayed stuck on her refrigerator for many many years. a frequent visitor to this home, these words had an impact on my life.
the three steps to success:
start strong
keep going
finish well
a couple of months ago i wrote about "routine or rut" - my despair about the unexplored areas of hong kong i am afraid my family will never venture into.
in that blog, i mentioned that our routine included the boatclub every weekend. and i wanted a little bit more of [...]
while i am sure there are several hundred millimetre sized doll hands, battery enclosure covers and other items missing, i have lost something else.
it has been missing for a while now, but i am only able to write about it now.
i have lost my "cuddly boy".
jasper is no longer content [...]
