September / October 2017

September got away from us.... so you get September and October together :)

I started September in Hong Kong, but I was only here for a week.  A few highlights - We had our 1st Tesla Model S Uber.  Actually, it was the 1st Tesla I have ever been in in.  I don't know that I could drive one - that dash is too distracting.

Next highlight of the week - we found a dentist - no cavities :)

Said good-bye (for now) to an amazing colleague who was repatriating to the US.

And... most importantly ;0, I found the best Mexican restaurant in HK.

I learned a new trick, and I start playing with the time lapse feature on my iPhone.  My next goal is figuring out how to edit them - so here are the first raw files.

#1 - Watching the weather out our apartment window.

#2 - Looking out the window and watching the shadow of the clouds on the water.  Watching the ferry turn around was pretty cool.

More to come!

And then, the travel started.  Below is a screenshot of the work travel app.  What is missing is a trip to Shanghai between Taipei and MN (it was the same week as MN - so they considered it the same trip)

Some pictures of Vietnam.  I spent Tuesday night at the rooftop bar of the Carnivalle Hotel watching the sunset.

Here is a time lapse of the street.

In my continued quest for good beer (and a friend coming to visit) I found a local brewery.  It was only one block from the office.  I had some beer and dinner - of course, I bought some beer to take home with me.  I will be going back here in my next trip to HCMC.  

A shot of a local lunch before heading back to HK

Our friend Steph was waiting for me when I got home.  We had an awesome weekend in HK with her.  Looking forward to our Christmas adventure coming up in Sri Lanka.

The next week was in Taiwan.  Started and ended in Taipei with a high speed train trip south and back north to see textile mills.  Skipping the work pictures and only posting the fun pictures.

A few of Taipei from my hotel room, taxi ride in from the airport and the street.

Best sign of the year - at the train station on my way back to the airport.  Interesting translations.

I made it back to Hong Kong in time to celebrate our 17th Wedding Anniversary.  We did a staycation at the Peninsula Hotel.  It was our first time in this hotel and actually 1st time Patrick and I stayed together in a hotel in Hong Kong.  Experience was amazing - totally recommend to anyone (yes - they upgraded us).

Diner was at Qi Nine Dragon - I highly recommend this restaurant.  The food and service were amazing.  The picture in the upper right was a spicy snow crab - WOW!

For breakfast the next morning - my latte.

And a few photos of us.  The highlight of the night was when we were leaving the hotel.  I was carrying the bouquet of flowers Patrick got me (long story, but they found me at the hotel).  In elevator, an older gentleman asked us if we just got married - so sweet - we told him we did 17 years ago.  He told us the best is yet to come.

And got home long enough to pack a suitcase again for a few days in Shanghai.  Flight delayed - not too bad, but I was looking out the window and thought - this would be a cool time lapse.

Highlight in Shanghai was a vegetarian lunch at a restaurant called Gwen's

Back to HK for about 36 hours before heading to the US for "home leave" which included work.  If my suitcase on top looks empty - it was - but it came back full.

Highlight of my time in Minneapolis - a new 'do'.  It  took 5 hours, but it was totally worth it.

After a week of work it was family time.  First was a long weekend in California with my sister and her family.  Then to PA where Patrick joined me for a few days with the folks.  Then we had a 5+ hour drive to Rochester, NY for Patrick's cousin's wedding.  I realized I was lax in taking pictures, with the exception of the niece, nephew and California.

Then, we were back home to Hong Kong - these bags are full, but not over the weight limits.

I took this random picture out the apartment window, and it was not until I as working on the blog that I realized the cranes are gone.

So to finish off October, we spent the last Saturday with friends in Sai Kung and celebrated  Halloween.  I made Rattle Snake Eggs (sausage, jalapeños and cream cheese in a crescent roll) for the 1st time in Asia.  They were also the most expensive ones I have ever made, but they were very popular.

Here is the candy stash from our trick-or-treaters.

November is looking crazy for travel again, but I will be looking for cool things to share.

August 2017

August had lot of team events.

It started out with a social gathering of Patrick's team - so to be social we brought beer.  We found a very small craft beer store close to work.  We went in looking for 6 beers to take to the BBQ, but we ended up bringing more home for us.

I ventured over the island the slow, but fun way - on the Star Ferry.  I could not resist taking more pictures - some with Snapchat filters.

Next weekend we introduced a new expat to a local hangout - The Globe.  Here are my beers from that evening.

And another latte photo, with Patrick giving the bunny bunny ears to the cat.

Next week was a gathering with Gwen's team.  A lot of the team came in from other cities and countries.  It was filled with lots of work and fun.  Photos are only from the fun part.

Team Happy Hour at Brotzeit

Snapchat and other local snapchat like filter photos from dinners.

Had some more snapchat fun with Helen at the leaders' dinner

And the formal leader photo

We found a fun pop-up store in Mira Mall by Kirin Ichiban beer - for frozen beer.  It would have been better if we could have had the beer to go - It was super hot out.  The beer on the bottom of the glass was their normal beer and the top was a beer slushy.  I leaned toward the dark side with their stout.

I went a few times with different colleagues and Patrick.  You can see the multi-colored beers.  They were different flavors - pineapple, kiwi and blood orange.  No one was brave enough to try any of the odd ones.

They were ready for photo ops and provided cute little sticks to put in the frozen beer.

Next weekend, we went shopping in Ap Lei Chau.  We wound up buying a sideboard made from recycled Teak from Indonesia.  We bought a TV stand from the same store last time we lived here and they will complement each other nicely when they meet each other in MN.  Here are pictures of it in the store and finally in our place. 

The next team event was Family Day in the office.  Everyone is invited to bring their families to see where they work - the only exception was no pets.  It was fun to see the kids who have been born over my time in HK and how big they are now.

I forced him to take this photo.

Photos of the team I support.  All 3 in the bottom right photo were born during our first time living here.

I cannot take photo credits for this picture, but I do not know who to give them to either.  The team was sharing pictures this one came across of the team and their families.  You can see children, spouses, parents and in-laws.

Right before I left for another trip to Shanghai, Patrick and I ventured to the island for a dinner at Yardbirds.  I had eaten there before, but it was Patrick's first visit (and probably not last).  Here is a collage of more of our food.  They use every part of the yardbird (chicken).  Bottom right picture is the queue - they open at 6pm and do not take reservations - we got there at 5:50 and had no problems getting a table.

My next week took me to Shanghai.  It was a relatively uneventful week for me - so I will share a collage of my beverages - mostly local (yes there is a margarita snuck in there).

While I was gone that week a T10 typhoon hit HK.  Patrick was there to batten down the hatches and watch it pass through.  After some research we determined that this particular T10 typhoon was about equal to a category 1 hurricane in the US.

Saturday Patrick went 'computer' shopping with a colleague on the island.  I meet him there to try another new place, Roundhouse - Beer & Chicken.  Both the beer and chicken were very good.

Patrick was carrying a printer and keyboard for the new computer so we decided to Uber home instead of taking the train.  A Tesla model S took us home. Here is the dashboard.

We woke up Sunday morning and looked out the window to this

Wet road and not a car in sight - another typhoon had moved in.  This one only made it up to a T8 (Severe Tropical Storm).  At a T8, the city basically shuts down, so even though it's not a full-fledged hurricane / typhoon, it's still a heckuva storm.   When the T8 was dropped to a T3 (rains a whole lot and high wind) the city started to come back to life and I snapped a photo of the first Star Ferry to return from their safe haven.

On Tuesday, Patrick went to pick up the computer parts.  This was the photo he took when he got home.  He got me printer paper.... notice how it is front and center.

This has been his project ever since - building the computer.  It still amazes us how well locals know how to pack things.  Again, it took an Uber to get home but it was done neatly.

Last photo of the month was from a grocery shopping trip - some US Cherries.  They were not nearly as good as home, but they weren't too bad after a trip over the Pacific.

July 2017

July started off with a bang here in Hong Kong.  The 1st was Establishment Day.  It was the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Hong Kong as a "Special Administrative Region"   The day sovereignty was transferred from UK to China.

As with all big holidays here, there are fireworks over Victoria Harbour.  This was the first time we got to experience the show from our new residence.  Here are a few highlights.

Happy Hour highlights for the month (that I took pictures of).

1st is the team in the local German bar :

Next is a collage of pictures we sent to a friend in the US.   A German theme was happening this month.

Went to see the Minions - Awesome!

Then we ventured out to Sham Shui Po to find an umbrella store....  It is the monsoon season, so it prompted some research.  I found Leung So Kee umbrellas.  They are famous for their steel-frame umbrellas and lifelong guarantee.   It was a small shop that was crazy busy with every size and shape of umbrella.  The lifelong guarantee is on the frame - and they were fixing plenty there.  So we made an umbrella investment - not the HK$10 ones you get at 7-11.  Patrick got a smaller one in a tartan so he doesn't have to carry his golf umbrella everywhere, and I (of course) got the one with the kitties.

http://leungsokee.com.hk/

Patrick ventured off to Seoul for a week (it felt nice not being the one traveling).  So, I started playing in the kitchen and baked a few loaves of bread.

One night I got home before the sun went down and realized I could somewhat see the sun going down.  The weather has been challenging - cloudy, wet, hot.  So a clear night made me really happy - looking out my window down the harbour.

And what is summer in Hong Kong without the Beer Festival in LKF (Lan Kwai Fong).  This is the 3rd year I have attended.  Each time is with different friends, which makes it great (new people to sweat with).

Speaking of sweat (and heat).  I have the local weather (HK Observatory) send notifications to my phone.  This got a little out of control.  I could not resist taking pictures of the "landslip, red rain, amber rainstorm, strong monsoon" Monday evening through Tuesday morning.

Then I was back on the road (or in the air or both) again.  Off to Beijing for a work trip.  Some highlights:

Food:

Heat:

Local Beer:

On my way back to Beijing on the train I looked out the window and did a double take - skydivers.  Yes - skydiving.... specks in the sky - then zoomed in.  It had to be cooler at altitude.

And Beijing was Hot - feels like 112F.

The trip to Beijing was on a high speed train - that translates into 187mph.

After a delay leaving Beijing - landing in HK around 2am (and drinking a few beers while waiting). 

I spent the weekend in HK before heading off to Shanghai.

My week in Shanghai also started with my own latte and I knew it was going to be a good week:

And a hot week.  Here is a photo before 10am on my way to a factory:

And in my time at the factory here is a picture of my light purple shirt before and after (a little sweat in the top photo):

After the factory I found dinner at an old hang out:

And after dinner I checked the weather again - at almost 8pm it was not much better.

My other highlight of the week seeing this cutie at lunch during a factory visit:

As I was waiting for my flight to take to head back home, this was the screen in front of me - and I was happy to be leaving:

One last Saturday morning breakfast latte for July: