You know you are in HK when...

You know you are in HK when...

Drunken Pig Knuckles are on the menu....

 And you know you have been there for 6 months, 

when your kids are NOT phased...

When Christmas Dinner includes the ENTIRE pig,

and that is a good thing... 

(Nope, haven't been here long enough for that one not to phase me.)

When the wind blows so hard while walking your dogs,

they become kites...

....  safety pins are not just used to hold on baby nappies.
Equal opportunity!

Male models pose like hot women...

Clipping your nails, or picking your nose or even your kids nose,

or your boyfriends zits is A-OK on the metro...

(No amount of time will probably convert me to that manner of thought.)

Groomed LONG toe nails are sexy (the longer the hotter, right?),

and who said you can't wear socks with sandles?

When the smell of cauldrons of eggs fills the air...

Smells really good, oddly.  Haven't braved trying one yet, though.

When, instead of a soda machine, there is an umbrella machine in the metro.

and ... 

When clouds and grey skies are the norm,

and you realize you have discovered your vampire self,

 as the sun hurts your eyes and head when it makes its rare appearance... 

Hong Kong People

While, Hong Kong might be one of the MOST population dense places on the planet,

and the people can be a bit pushy at times;

they are also a very affectionate people....

You don't see babies being carried in 'buckets'...

They are always held close in someone's arms.

Every time I go on the Metro, there are couples young and old smiling and cuddling!

This was a son, probably in his 20's with his Mom....

So sweet.  Children and parents are very affectionate to each other.

This Dad was sitting with his arm around his sweet little girl chatting away.

Rarely, do you hear angry words between families.

Although, I have been sure people were in a heated argument, only to turn and see them smiling.  Cantonese can sound a bit intense sometimes!

Most couples walk with fingers interwined, smiles on their faces, and love pouring out of their hearts toward one another and their children.

Why is this you might ask?

I have a theory....

Most families have a helper or two.  lol.

Ember Update!

Ember has been SO happy lately.

Her Mommy, Krystin, has been on winter break and has been taking great care of her.

Oh, did I mention, Ember is a 'her'.

We were rude, lifted her tail and looked.

She is a girl!

(Other random fact, all of our pets are girls.  

Ask Todd about that, not me.)

Anyhow, Ember has been doing great.

She is super cute and sweet.

Very outgoing.

Krystin is currently training her to sit on her shoulder.

She seems to love it.

She also, still seems to enjoy looking out the window.

Look how long that cuties tail is getting!

Nobody walks in LA, but what about HK?

So...  It is a total given that  - 

No body walks in LA...

We love our CARS!

We love driving.

Traffic, YES! Bring it...

Well, in Hong Kong it could be said,

Everybody WALKS in HK.

Sounds healthy right?

Better for the environment too?

True.  True...

But, how does shopping work in HK?

How do you get your stuff home?

Seriously, HOW DO YOU GET IT HOME???  

Well, let me show you how the locals do it.

They take luggage with them EVERYWhere.  

At first, I thought wow, people out here are always on vacation, cool...

It isn't true, the suitcase is their car trunk. 

Trolleys are useful too.

Not everything fits in a suitcase...

Everywhere you look, luggage.

It is kind of like living at the airport.

Don't MESS with the Hong Kong people either,

because they are pretty strong.  

Many of them carry these huge items up and down the bazillion stairs that are everywhere out here.

You rarely see handicapped people.

This country is not very handicap friendly.

Many stores are down or up 2-3 flights of stairs, no elevator option.

Even in the metro there are huge areas of just stairs.

How do people that are handicapped do it?

Well, the first time in 6 months I had a clue how.

This elderly gentleman was in a wheel chair.  

They some how hooked him to the railing and lowered him down.

It was pretty cool.  

Other issues for non-local folk's shopping in HK...

While we are fortunate that many things are in English,

it is usually really Chinglish (Chinese-English).

You have to kind of figure out what they are really trying to tell you.

Anti-INCH drops for your dog.  Ha!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Day!

We stayed up too late watching the creepy Christmas movie,

but the kids assured us that they still wanted to be up early for Christmas.

I love that the kids are still so excited about Christmas morning.

One of our traditions is that we don't have ANY Christmas presents under the tree until Christmas Morning.  You know, Santa brings them and all.

Kinda magical!

I, honestly, thought that by the time they were teens they would be so over Stockings and Presents appearing Christmas Morning, nope!  I love that they still see magic in the Holidays. So adorable.

Santa filled the stockings, but put them on the table so they wouldn't fall.

Presents under our flat sized tree! 

Logan was still wrapping presents first thing in the morning, so the girls went through their stockings while they were waiting.

Todd opened his too!

The squidlings helped too. 

Love Kid Presents!

They are always way better than ours!

Krystin sporting her Christmas (Thermals) Jammies

Hi, Honey!

 and Lily

Present time!

 While we were opening presents I had a Coffee Cake in the oven.

Yummy!

Tasted like home!

Usually, Todd makes us Pecan Rolls, but it wasn't possible this year...

All three kids in their 'jammies' ha ha! Love them

More presents 

Indy LOVES to unwrap gifts!

 Love having our little feathered and furry friends.

Check out how cute Indy is!

Seriously, here look more closely.

She scratches her own neck, so cute! 

being silly 

Even Ember hung out. 

Brunch, after the coffee cake.

Egg casserole, Logan's fave, hash browns and sourdough toast. 

We got this cheapy little angry bird game,  it was fun!

Ok, Lily made the game that much more challenging, ha!

We had fun times with santa hats.

Green bean loved it! 

Honey was ok....

Lily was cute! 

Rainbow, cute!

Todd and I had this grand vision of Indy in this Santa hat.

She was NOT having any of that!

Not one bit.

 We even bribed her with a treat.

 Look, Indy - NICE hat.

 She kept looking at it like, NO WAY!

 And that would be a No!

We decided to give Xia the chance to look AMAZING!

Todd tried to convince her how cool it was. 

Yah, I think Indy told her about it. 

 She threw it on the floor.

One more try...

Nope -  I BITE your Santa Hat! 

We hung out as a family all day, it was nice...

For dinner we had our traditional Mexican Fiesta, AKA Mexican Lasagna.

No.  We don't have any Mexican relatives, we just grew up in So. California and Love the food.

On Christmas we have a tradition of going to a movie.

This year we saw,

Les Miserable

It was a perfect way to celebrate Christmas.

Such a profound and great message. 

The kids loved it.  Todd even enjoyed it, despite the length and the singing, ha!

I highly recommend seeing it.

Merry Christmas!!