Stanley Market, The Peak, and more.

Our last day together in Hong Kong turned out to be a surprise.  We were supposed to have more time together, however our time was cut short, so we managed to squeeze everything we could into those 24 hours. 

We started the day on the beloved Big Bus and headed out to Stanley Market.  The craziest part of this trip was the bus ride.  We were on the second story of the double decker bus which was open.  It was crazy windy and we were going up and down these massive hills at pretty high speeds.  No lie, Sarah and I were both hit in the face with tree branches - that is how close we were to the side of the road.  It was insane, but also super fun!  Stanley Market is an open air market full of little shops on the beach on the other side of Hong Kong Island.  It is such a drastic difference from the city of Hong Kong – I felt like I was in another city altogether.  It is a picturesque town with amazing views of the water.  I would love to go back again and spend more time in this area.

From Stanley Market we went on a boat tour to see the Jumbo Floating Restaurant.  We didn't go inside the restaurant, but it was neat to see the outside.  After that, Matt and I got the most questionable foot massages of our lives (note to self: avoid basement massage parlors) and then headed to dinner.  We picked an authentic Chinese restaurant recommended by the hotel.  It was such a unique experience.  I swear we had at least five waiters for our table.  Literally every time I took a sip of water, my glass would be refilled.  Also, when Matt ordered the famous crispy chicken, he got the ENTIRE chicken (head, claws, all of it).  It was awesome seeing his reaction.  We ended the night at the light show at Victoria Harbor and a trip up to Victoria’s Peak by tram. 

Even though Matt had to leave early, we had the best time together.  It has been so much fun discovering new parts of the world together and we have the Navy to thank for these opportunities :)  I need to make sure to remember that the next time I’m frustrated with life in the military (which will probably be soon!)

I spent the day after Matt left with friends that were also visiting Hong Kong.  We went back up to the Peak (unfortunately it was so foggy that we couldn’t see a thing) and had tea at the Peninsula.    

All in all, I loved Hong Kong.  I would absolutely go back and would recommend it for the next time you are in Asia (after you visit us, of course).

Here are pictures from our last days in Hong Kong (some of these pictures are from Sarah).

Not exactly beach weather.

This should give you an idea of the wind.

I love this picture b/c it shows the older boats with the new buildings.

Overlooking Hong Kong.

More crazy wind.

Not exactly the same view as the night before.

Tea at the Peninsula.

Discovering Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong we really played tourists.  By that I mean that we caved and bought a two-day pass to the Big Bus.  This was at the recommendation of my dad who had been to Hong Kong years ago and still remembered the bus tours.  And funnily enough when we told Matt’s parents that we did the tour, his mom remembered doing a bus tour when she was in Hong Kong.  Clearly it is a popular way to see the area.  We bought our tickets with Sarah and Justin and all of us agreed that this was money very well spent.  For two days we traveled around the entire island while listening to the history of certain places.  We could jump on and off whenever we wanted and pick up another bus.  They have the Big Bus company in other cities around the world and I would definitely recommend trying it out.

On our second day we learned more about the history of HK Island and drove around the various parts.  The thing that stuck out to me most was the sheer amount of people (most of them women).  I have never seen so many people in my entire life and this is coming from someone who has been on a train in Tokyo during rush hour.  There were people everywhere – under bridges, lining the hallways of the train walkways, parks – it seemed that everywhere that a person could fit, three were there.  When I was telling someone about this who had traveled to Hong Kong before, they told me that Sunday was the only day off for domestic workers.  The workers don’t have anywhere else to meet so they meet on the streets to socialize.  I learned that most of the women were from Indonesia and the Philippines and although in some cases these women are treated fairly, in others they are not and it is a form of indentured servitude.  Obviously, I need to do more research, but this made a lasting impression on me and is what I remember most about Hong Kong.

Here are pictures from our second day (some are from the bus, so please excuse the blurriness).

A long overdue phone call.

I have been a bad blogger.  I’m not even sure how it got to be this long.  The blog became like a friend that I hadn’t talked to in a month.  I wanted to text and share something funny, but that wouldn’t be right because we hadn’t caught up yet.  This kind of catching up required a 2-hour phone call, not just a short text filled with emoticons.  So this is my two-hour conversation with you. - I’m sorry that it took me so long to call!

So what have I been up to since I last blogged.  Let’s see – Halloween.  My Halloween included singing the ABC song to Japanese children outside a bar, a costumed salsa club, a Russian belly dancer, a terrifying cab ride, and a little karaoke.  I promise there is a great story that goes along with those details, but that is going to require a lot more time and should probably only be told while sharing a drink. 

Next up was Hong Kong.  I was able to meet up with Matt in Hong Kong for a few days.  I’ll be honest, I didn’t have high expectations for Hong Kong, but I loved it.  It was such a fun city with so much to discover and I’m so happy that I could do that with Matt.  More details on our trip later.

Then there was Thanksgiving.  Since Matt was still deployed, I had my Thanksgiving with other spouses in our squadron.  This was my first Thanksgiving without Matt or family, so I was worried that it would be hard, but being around such a great group of people definitely made it easier. This same group has been the group that has helped me with the whole deployment, so I was happy to be able to spend such a special holiday with them.

Next up was my Japanese Thanksgiving.  Oh, you didn’t think they celebrated Thanksgiving here in Japan?!  Well, some people do and I enjoyed turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie with them.  Plus, my students gave an incredible performance for all of their families and friends.

Finally (and the best of all), Matt came home!  Since he has been home, we have been using the time to decorate for the holidays (wait, I did most of that before he came home b/c I just couldn’t wait).  We have also been using the time to start watching Game of Thrones.  Don’t ask me why it took so long to get on that train!  It has been so awesome to have him home and to know that he will be here for a while this time!

So for pictures, I think that I will start with Hong Kong.  Our first full day of Hong Kong was mostly spent walking around Kowloon and Hong Kong Island.  We went to Ladies' Market, walked through the famous Peninsula Hotel, took the Star Ferry from Kowloon to HK Island, ate at a restaurant where I’m still not sure what I ordered or ate, got foot massages, and finished the night with friends over dinner and drinks.

Here are some pictures from our first day in Hong Kong.

Ladies' Market - I bought three pairs of socks here.  I only wanted one, but was talked into three.  I'm sure that I got the better end of that bargain;) 

I know pho isn't Chinese food, but I still liked the picture.

That's right - I do heart Hong Kong!

Aboard the Star Ferry.

I hope that this picture gives you an idea of how incredibly busy Kowloon is - definitely have to be paying attention at all times when crossing the streets!

October-ness

We love fall and Halloween, and everything that comes with it.  As you know from following this blog, we always get pumpkins, dress up, and generally just love the month of October.  This year was no different!

We went pumpkin picking a little earlier this year and the weather was hot! It's now much colder outside, but I honestly couldn't adjust to how warm October was.  For pumpkin picking I put Waverly in overalls and in the pictures she looks like a little tomato with her cheeks all rosy from being so hot!  I was dying of heat by the time we got done.  The heat aside, we had a great time!  We went with some close friends and ventured about 30 mins from our house into the country to Ashland Berry Farm. I went there with my family growing up and have fond memories of strawberry picking at this farm.  It's a really nice farm and had a ton of pumpkins. We rode the hayride out the pumpkins and Waverly loved it.  She threw her hands up in the air and clapped while yelling and basically having a blast.  We let her toddle her way through the patch and look at the pumpkins.  Then we picked out 4 (one for Cole!) great pumpkins…Nick got stylish and picked out a green one, which turned completely orange by Halloween. Ha.  All of our friends got pumpkins and we had a fun morning at the farm!  

Our pumpkins sat on our steps all October and almost everyday, Waverly and I would "check on the pumpkins".  She loved them. When it came time for carving, we got fancy this year with a kit!  It was intimidating at first, but actually turned out to be pretty easy with the sawing tools in the kit. I still carved a classic jack-o-lantern for Waverly's first pumpkin.

Ashland Berry Farm

"what the heck is this thing?"

Hayride fun.

the kids:  Sophie, Lawson, and Waverly

ahhh…the perfect pumpkin!

there's a peanut in the pumpkin patch!

girlfriends!

$20 for all you can carry!

and there they sat for a couple weeks...

Waverly's 1st pumpkin!

Onto Halloween. If you remember this time last year, Hurricane Sandy had just slammed the East Coast and devastated the state of New Jersey.  We were out of power for a week with a 8 week old baby. On Halloween night we were freezing our asses off around a fire, huddled in the living room watching Ghostbusters on our laptop with some neighbors.  There were no trick or treaters…in fact Halloween in New Jersey was officially cancelled.  This year couldn't have been more different!  To make up for last year all 3 of us dressed up…not just Waverly!

Nick and I love to dress up and we've decided that we'll always be those adults/parents who dress up for Halloween!  Kids love it when you answer the door dressed up and it just makes it more fun!  We had a family theme going on this year...Waverly was a bumblebee for Halloween, so Nick and I were a beekeeper and a Queen bee.  Very easy, cheap and fun.  I have Casey and Matt to thank for my cheap costume inspiration.  Of course I loved being the Queen bee for the night…even though I am every night! ;)  

Waverly was the cutest bumblebee. Ever.  I got her costume off Amazon and my mom made a few adjustments to the feet and legs.  I made her a hat with some antennas that ended up being too small on the day of Halloween!  Lesson #1: try it on way ahead of time.  I basically just took a hat that already fit her head and covered it black felt, but when I did that it tightened the hat and gave it zero room to stretch.  Even after loosening the stitches, it wouldn't budge over her noggin.  So with 1 hour till costume time, I tore off the felt and made the hat black with some permanent marker. Then I glued the antennas I made directly onto the hat.  It fit!  Even if she kept taking it off over and over.  She was just so darn cute with the costume and hat on…toddling around as a little bee. My parents came over to see her dressed up and we were dying.  It's nice to have Nana and Granddaddy nearby for these occasions!

We went to a neighborhood get together and met up with some neighbors and their kids.  Then we all trick or treated at a few houses on our street.  She loved following around the big kids and even had her first kit kat and lollipop.  The girl loves to eat and candy is no exception.  

After some successful trick or treating, it was dinner and bathtime which almost became meltdown time…Halloween is a lot for kids!  We got our little bee to bed as the doorbell kept ringing with trick or treaters.  This was the first time Nick and I lived somewhere with kids!  We were so psyched to open the door and hand out candy.  It was pretty fun and the kids were so cute.  I don't think Cole enjoyed Halloween though.  He got excited at every doorbell ring and never got to greet anyone. Hah.

a little fall decor

bee hat in the making...

"get this thing off my head!"

my sweet bee!

and she's off!

It was a really fun night and a great way to end October. Now onto November, my birthday month! Booyah.

Love from Richmond!