Haser Happenings: January 2014

Kayla College update

Not only is she cute, great with ALL the pets, and has a super sense of humor,

and lately an obsession with dinosaurs, story for another day, she is also an amazing student!

She completed her first 'official' semester as an international degree seeking student last semester.

Her teachers are from around the world, many are local, but all have accents and a different way of communicating. Add to that, she is probably one of the ONLY native English speakers in her classes and it gets more interesting. Studying at a University can be challenging without the above factors, but add them to the curriculum and it is truly a growth process and a challenge.

Kayla took on that challenge and has excelled!

She earned a 3.9 GPA last semester, amazing!

We are so proud of her!

She was also selected by one of her teachers to be on a committee to revue the way in which the courses are taught. Very awesome. Her voice has already been deemed valuable and is being heard.

This semester she has some really interesting classes. They are all required general education classes under the umbrella of the Liberal Arts College. I had to share, because they are so unique. They sound like they will be really fun.

- Psychology for young professionals (she wants to major in Psych)

-Vampires and Monsters in Literature and Culture

- Re-Imagining English

-Shakespeare: Intro to Genius

- Individuals and Society

She is very excited about her classes and, so far, her teachers seem to be excellent. Outside of class she is volunteering to help second language English learners with their English. She is signed up to be a mentor for minority youth studying in Hong Kong (which Krystin pointed out she technically is one), and is looking into some other leadership and job opportunities. I am not sure if we will see much of that cute girl this semester!

We are very proud of her hard work, desire to not only excel academically, but in leadership capacities as well! Here is to a great semester!

Don't worry, Kay, I will give your lap warmer love.

CNY (Chinese New Year) -2014

Chinese New Year (CNY) starts in a bout a week.

It is interesting to see all the Christmas decorations replaced with CNY decorations.

I love that there is a different animal every year (alternating every 12 years), because the decorations are always new and fresh and a surprise!

This year is the year of the 'Horse'!

I love Horses!

You are probably thinking, "Oh My, this is Tamara - she LOVES all animals."

Ok, that is true, but I extra specially love horses!

Me with my pony when I was 4 yo.

I am totally spacey today, forgive me, back to CNY.

Hong Kong does NOT take decorating lightly.

They go all out. It is really fun to see the elaborate displays.

Todd and I took Krystin on a Daddy, Momma, and baby date night last weekend.

(We saw Last Vegas, btw. Love Morgan Freeman, he is awesome!)

Anyhow, spacey again, check out some of the pics from the displays.

Krystin and a beautiful horse 'embracing' CNY!

I know practically the same, but they are both cute and I can't choose.

Then there is the framed version, by KC's request.

I couldn't get the entire display in my phone pic.

What little girl wouldn't love a life size horse display?

Krystin is such a good sport for her parents.

I have no clue what is on either side of the giant horse head.

If you look closely at the horse head, it is made up of tiny horses.

Random from the movie theater. Krystin posed with the monkey dude! love it.

We have placed a few decorations around our house too.

This time we made sure we couldn't accidentally hang them upside down, which we apparently did last year. Luckily, the kids' friend Queeniee helped us out. Embarrassing...

I am not sure what we are going to be doing this year for CNY, but if we do something exciting I will update!

Happy Year of the Horse!

More Random HK times.

That is one HAPPY Lizard.

I met Todd at his office downtown for lunch.

He suggested a (sort of, but not really) Mexican place by there.

The Lunch Specials....

Look at the Beef One, yummy.

Cow TONGUE!

That is just disgusting!

(Yes, My American is SHOWING, but really I can't even eat chicken on bones without feeling disturbed, and what is the deal with a PORK LEG, sick!)

Another vote for Vegetarian diet!

I saw this on Facebook, and I loved it!

This was good too!

Todd and I had to drop something off downtown, and I remembered again that downtown is crowded.

It is very crowded.

I am not exaggerating.

There were even some signs in English for the non-locals.

You never know what you will see downtown.

Did I say it was CROWDED?!

It made us crazy.

We also made a run to one of our favorite little stores downtown.

AKA, PSUEDO-Costco (It is really called Gateway).

It is funny though, because it is across from this building.

Look Closely at the name on the building.

If you can't read it, it says, "Cosco tower"...

It is a sign!

The little door leading down into the abyss where actual Costco products can be found.

I should note that there are two flights of steep, narrow stairs that lead down to the store and no elevator.

What ever you buy you have to carry up and out, and forget disabilities... NOT ALLOWED in Hong Kong.

I am a sucker for a full moon.

I love the night sky and find it extremely enchanting.

I miss all the stars that we could see in California.

Another random Facebook thing.

Ok, can I say this is a BAD idea....

Don't do it. Just don't. It might taste amazing, but why do that to yourself?

Logan sent me this pic.

Seriously, how cute is this little happy free lizard?

Lucky little Hawaiian dude.

This little princess is such a love....

Todd and I had a Disney date.

The air quality was only moderately bad and we jumped at the chance in the beautiful weather.

They do have Churros you know.

Todd has begun to embrace the local custom of eating with a glove.

Disney Train time.

Lately, our little Princess Indygo has been restless.

She doesn't want to just hang out with us or play with her toys.

NOPE.

She wants to explore.

So, we let her.

We told the dogs to sit on the sofa and let the birds free on the floor.

Xia wasn't too thrilled about it, but Indy really enjoyed exploring.

It was cute when she was done I looked down and saw this:

She climbed up the sheet I keep on the sofa.

Then she proceeded to throw everything on the floor and happily pulled at the sheets.

Ember gives hugs with her tail....

I love gargoyles.

Once upon a time, I didn't mind shopping.

That is NOT true now.

Our local grocery store check out usually looks like this:

Todd was getting lunch at work, and Kayla and I were a little jealous.

I had Kayla, "give me her best sad face" and I sent it to Todd.

Todd was so sweet and brought us home our favorite yogurt treats from the place after work!

Excellent work, Kayla!

To make ourselves feel better Kayla and I made these bran muffins.

Kayla found the recipe and asked if we could make the attempt.

They were SO good.

Just because I thought it was pretty.

OH! Ok, so I collect bunnies.

Special IROIRO Bunnies. I love them so...

Well, they always have bows on the bunnies at the store (for an additional price.). The bows are super expensive, more than a bunny itself. Ridiculous.

Kayla helped me find some little bows at the stationary store and I made little tie on bunny bows for less than a quarter a bow (versus the 21 plus dollars a bow the store wanted, seriously).

I think my homemade bows are much cuter anyhow!

I will have to post a pic of all my bunnies at some point.

I tried to get Honey to wear a bow.

She said, "NO!"....

Todd and Krystin LOVE this meal.

Who knew that Mexican-Italian Fusion could be such a hit!

Well, there you have it, some random happenings.

Feel like you were here?

Me too.

College Tour: City University of HK (Via Kayla)

Kayla studies at City University of Hong Kong,

which happens to be really close to Krystin's High School.

Krystin has been considering many different options for college, one of which was studying with her big sis at the same University. They spoke of rooming together and the fun times they could share, so Krystin decided she would apply and add it to her dart board for the decision making process.

Kayla offered to give her a personal tour of the University to help Krystin's aim as she throws that dart!

They obliged me with some cute pics from their day.