HK Life

This is our 6th or is it 7th time to visit HK and today marks our 3rd week here. It is a rainy and quite cold day as temperatures dropped to 13 degrees Celsius after a few days of being 23 degrees Celsius and humid., so I am thinking it is best to stay indoors as we have gone to most of the tourist attractions during our past visits.

Of course, we stay with my sister who on March 1st 'celebrated' her third month post-op and she also returned to work that day. I really admire her strength and her stamina to persevere despite still reeling from her incision and her wounds (which I believe has not fully healed yet given that three vital organs were removed!!!). She still drinks many meds and gets tired easily as the climate here fluctuates daily.

I love the cold climate as I have very active sweat glands and I've heard from the hubby that it is already quite hot, back home. Despite walking a lot here as we take public transport and the bus stops and the MTR stations can be quite far, I still gained weight as the all the walking makes me eat more.

Dimsum galore

I also tend to drink a lot more coffee and this doesn't really agree with me as I had some palpitations the other night and it caused my blood pressure to shoot up. Thank God for BP maintenance meds, I was able to calm down and relax. Perhaps a mixture of added caffeine, fatigue (from walking) and eating fatty food caused what I call my anxiety attack. I am fine now, so far I have managed to avoid caffeine and drink more water!

Public toilets here are sometimes either too dirty or hard to locate so we find a suitable mall to use its facilities. Another thing I really dislike here is the populace's inability to communicate in English. I mean ... come on, please make some effort to learn basic and common English terms. Hong Kong is visited by millions of tourists from all over the world who contribute to the booming economy of this tiny island state yet the service crew in restaurants, the sales staff of shops in malls will talk to you in Cantonese. They also tend to shout and can get quite rude when they cannot understand what you are trying to convey. 

For example in restaurants, you have to ask for their English menu which are quite limited in choices. When we saw the dishes on the other tables were more 'appetizing', we were asking what they were but the one taking our order just shouted at us and pointed at the English menu and seemed quite vexed with us that we couldn't decide what we wanted to eat. Such rude and dismissive attitudes of the local populace was the subject of a letters to the editor article I read in the local English paper. A recent visitor was lamenting the fact that she couldn't communicate properly and this was a big turn off for foreign guests and visitors. 

On that note, I end by saying that everything else is quite efficient here. People line up to ride buses, the MTR trains are quite wide and its short intervals between trains are excellent. Malls don't have security guards to check your bags, small shops usually don't give out plastic or paper bags (if you want, you have to pay) and people just leave holding the items with their bare hands or put them in their own tote bags but after paying for them, naturally. People also get up and offer their seats in public transport to elderly riders (like my aging parents) even if they look like senior citizens too! 

This is it for now ...  next time I will post pictures from our Macau trip!

Peek a boo!

Hi there ... it has been four months since I posted on my blog ... so much has happened ... too busy to compose posts and upload pictures (not done editing  cropping pix taken way back in November!) ... hopefully soon things will normalize and I will find time to blog again.

Now I need to get some sleep as we are due on an early morning flight tomorrow Feb. 20 to HK. By we, I refer to a post surgery patient, my elderly parents and a peri-menopausal 47 year old hag prone to mood swings, hot flashes and a long list of undesirable symptoms who goes by the name Daphne Laura. :D

I shall return ... promise ... hopefully some soul out there still reads this woefully neglected blog of mine!

Birthday the me!

Tropical storm "Lando" is currently wrecking havoc over Northern and Central Luzon. So when 19th of October ushered in, it was accompanied with howling winds and a very heavy downpour. Signal no. 2 was hoisted over Metro Manila, classes in all levels were suspended for the day and I turned 47 years old. 

Hopefully, this doesn't mean I will also hurdle a stormy year ahead but I like to maintain a positive state of mind and equate all the raindrops with countless blessings which will sustain my already blessed life.

D and I had a low key celebration as we didn't want to venture too far in this bleak weather. I picked a nearby Cantonese restaurant named Luk Foo and ordered the usual fare - some dimsum, soup, fried rice, steamed fish and noodles (for long life!)

October Fest

The 10th month of the year is special for our family.

For one, my sister and I are both October born babies. Secondly, the weather is more pleasant so I am in a 'fresh' state of mind. But it seems I am now in the early stages of pre-menopause as I have 'hot' flashes all the time and sweat profusely despite the cooler climate. Major discomfort, I tell you!

Lastly, we finalize our Christmas vacation plans. But this year, we are staying put as my sister has scheduled her surgery early week of December. This worries me immensely but an operation is the only option to her current health condition.

Luckily, my sister's birthday falls on a holiday in the place where she works so she can take some time off to come home and spend it with her family. This year, she managed 12 days leave. We celebrated her birthday with hearing the family tradition of First Friday mass, lunched at one of her favorite restaurants to dine in whenever she is in town.

Kare Kare, Bouillabaisse Soup and Pancit Canto (for long life)

Crispy Pata and Ginataang Kuhol (Snails)

All smiles before feasting @ Barrio Fiesta

We bonded over coffee and capped the night with Thai cuisine for dinner. D was able to join us as classes were suspended due to the aftermath of a torrential downpour.

Thom Yum Soup @ Soi Thai

Chicken Satay @ Soi Thai

Spring Rolls @ Soi Thai

Chicken Pandan @ Soi Thai

Phad Thai @ Soi Thai

With the waiter taking our picture in the background he he he

5th decade

The hubby turned 51 yesterday. So we had a valid reason to splurge and dine out. As usual, I'm the one who gets to choose where we will have lunch. D is not a picky eater, he can eat anything (well except ripe mangoes which triggers his allergies) but when I mentioned some restaurants he was quite vocal against some of my suggestions. He he he

I ended up picking a Taiwanese restaurant that D had not eaten in yet because he had work when we last dined there when my sister was in town. Lugang Cafe had this feast for 4 promo until the 30th of September so I thought we give it a try.

Citrus Iced Tea and Freshly Brewed Iced Tea

Steamed Angled Loofah with Shrimps Xiao Long Bao

Seafood Spinach Soup

Taiwanese Stir-fried Noodles with Pork

Salt & Pepper Squid

Black Pepper Beef Fried Rice

String Beans with Minced Pork

Kung Pao Tofu

Three Cup Chicken

Treat

Remember a few posts back when I was constantly complaining about the humidity and the sunny hot summer? Well nowadays the climate has changed drastically and it rains all the time. It is monsoon season after all and so isolated thunderstorms are a plenty!  I am still on the fence about what I hate more - the balmy summers or the rain soaked monsoon season.  But if I was forced to choose just one - I'd say the latter.

You see with sweaty summers, you have several options to get a relief. You can eat ice cream, drink plenty of water and stay in an air conditioned environment. But with the torrential rain + the deafening thunder and lightning show - you are basically stranded and feel helpless. You can just pray that 'session' is short and won't dragged on for hours. Because when it does - it ensures literally a flood of headaches. In this part of the metropolis, when it rains, the roads get flooded and terrible traffic jams ensues. 

For several hours, you can get stuck on the roads with blinding, zero visibility raindrops knocking on your windshield while you brace yourself for the flooded streets as waters can rise so quickly. If you are on the main highway known as Edsa it is a hopeless situation as the whole thoroughfare turns into a giant parking lot. I kid you, not! It is the grim reality in this place and quite a big inconvenience for the general populace.

It is for this very reason that when my father turned a year older this August 22, we had to postpone our celebration as the metropolis was covered with very dark clouds. Classes were suspended so thankfully hubby was home but we stayed put as we didn't want to venture out into the bleak surroundings.

Yesterday though, I insisted we set forth our plan to have lunch together at one of our favorite places to dine in for important milestones. It is the place where D & I had our first date, it is also where we announced to my parents that we were getting married and it is generally the place we all bond over good food and pleasant conversations.

California Roll

Chicken Teriyaki

Yakisoba

Cheesy Fish Tempura

Chasyu Ramen

Happy Birthday Dad!!! =)

Well well well ... hello there!

Look what I dug up from some long forgotten box under piles of other 'junk' items in my previous residence.  The above is my picture in my official passport way way back when I was just ten (10) years old!  Below it states the bearer is the daughter of commercial (trade) analyst assigned to Belgium. 

Gosh that was ages ago (36 years to be exact). I am wearing winter attire so perhaps it was taken during the colder European climates. The only entry in that passport is a Swiss visa which was issued so I could attend my "class de neige" (snow classes).  

I remember that class with fondness because for 2 weeks, the entire class was billeted in a big chalet in some small mountainous Swiss town. We were taught how to ski, communing with the natural mountainous and provincial environment, and also interacting with kids of the other schools. It was my first time to be away from my family and I remember feeling so cold even though I had thick sweaters and a warm parka to protect me.  I wasn't particularly keen on skiing as I had very poor balance and as an Asian I could not really identify with the ski sports. But nevertheless, I had so much fun and I cherish that "class de neige" as one of my most pleasant life experiences. 

So as I look at my 10 year old self, I can only smile and be thankful for all the blessings I have received and continue to accumulate.  And even if back then I had so many fears as well as aspirations, I can proudly say ,,, 36 years later ... I am doing just fine and in a good place in my life, right now.   

Amen!

Back in circulation

My sister was in town for almost two weeks, early part of July. Aside from the usual hospital visits for her post-op check-ups (where she discovered she needs to undergo another surgery, this time for her colon *sad face*), and dining out at her favorite restaurants - it was fun bonding with her. We would stay up late late at night just chatting, updating each other on our lives ... even though we chat on Skype every single day!  :D

It was also during her visit that 2 severe typhoons graced our country with their menacing presence. It rained a lot, streets were flooded, classes were suspended for the entire week. It was bleak, gloomy and very damp! But brave soul that my sister is, she didn't mind it one single bit and she enjoyed driving in the scary, zero visibility, torrential downpour! 

The best unexpected news though was an answered prayer to a situation which seemed totally hopeless. It is too murky to blog about but suffice it to say we are all ecstatic about it. And we can't help praising the Lord above for the blessings He continues to shower upon our family. And nope, I am not preggy. Just making that clear!

So I'm back in my comfy zone with reality shows blaring from the TV (yes, reality shows are my guilty pleasure he he he) amidst the usual hustle and bustle of this once quiet residential environment now turned into a noisy neighborhood courtesy of the 'jeepney' terminal that suddenly popped up across our apartment. 

At any given time, there are 4 - 5 jeeps parked on our street and they are ALWAYS revving up their engines. So imagine the ruckus, not to mention the pollution they are causing in this area! All the amount of complaining to the barangay hall center seem to fall on deaf ears. So Lord have mercy as I try to stay sane amidst all this noise barrage. 

This is all for now ... will try to blog more ... soon!