Hell ya!

Angela and I got to change our class calendar to JUNE today!  It feels so damn good to be in June (well, it starts tomorrow). 
It's been a good day.  Tomorrow is Friday and the beginning of June, today was pay day and I just bought my ticket home to Seattle from Osaka, Japan!  I'll be home around noon on Sunday July 8th!!!!! I wish I wasn't missing 4th of July, but I'm pretty excited about my trip!

Being boys

Hours of entertainment trying to light stuff on fire.  And yes, I had to make a rule not to burn any insects.  These boys can't get enough of the magnifying glasses.
Another thing I'm going to miss about Hong Kong is our lunches at work.  We are so so so spoiled with amazing Indian and Japanese food every day.  And it's all organic/non-processed/home made and fresh food.  With lots of vegetables.  And every day after lunch fresh fruit is set out as dessert along with coffee.  Today I stuffed myself on Indian flat bread, thinly sliced fried beef, corn and home-made paneer cheese.  The boys have NO idea how lucky they are.  It is so foreign to me to have domestic helpers living in your house, preparing all your food, serving you and cleaning up afterwards.  The whole thing bothers me to no end, but all I can do is be thankful and openly appreciative and model being respectful and appreciate for the kids.  Domestic helpers is part of the culture of the affluent of Hong Kong and while I am here, I can only respect and observe the culture of this place.  And they sure can cook!

Already missing sushi

When Danielle was here, we walked by this mural being started, so last weekend I walked back by to see how it looked finished.  Pretty neat. Hong Kong doesn't have that much street art (especially compared to Olympia) but I try to take pictures when I see it.

I've been thinking a lot about what I'm going to miss when I leave Hong Kong.  I'm going to miss sushi a lot.  I pick up a tray of salmon sashimi at least once a week for dinner.  I'm addicted to raw salmon.  I ate some tonight.  I don't know if I can eat cooked salmon ever again.  It is meant to be raw with soy sauce and wasabi (which I also never liked before this year).  I love how easy, cheap and good sushi is here.  I can't wait to try it in Japan!

Macaroons

Are these super popular in the Seattle yet?  They are like delicious cookie/brownie/sandwiches and they are all over the malls of Hong Kong.  Delicious!

Tadpoles

This foamy stuff was all over the pond so we think it had to do with the frog eggs, but I'm not entirely sure

our stolen tadpoles

About a month ago when we went to Kadorie Farms, we took 2 water bottles back home with us containing a bunch of tadpoles.  They have begun to turn into frogs and are ready to be released into the wild!  The family was supposed to let them free over the weekend (I sure hope they found the time to do so). It was a great lesson in life cycles for the boys!

Flooding

Had a relaxing Saturday.  Went for a walk and ran into this flooding situation, which made for some fun pictures.  We had thunderstorms today and more are called for tomorrow, which makes it hard to get out and do much... but relaxing at home is nice too!

A night at the theatre

Angela and Flora (the helper, who was not invited to see the play, but had to wait outside)

a beautiful skyline tonight

We got to go see the youngest preform in a play this evening.  It was SUPER cute. A cast full of 7-year olds (who had to have their lines shouted out several times by the director)!  Our little guy did awesome- did not hesitate on his lines at all! 

Dad: I wish you could be here

I took this picture yesterday after work- on my way to the bus stop.  How great is it that I get to pass a beach everyday on my way home?  The weather here has been cooler (in a good way) and windy.  I know my dad would enjoy the wind surfing and kite boarding here!

Don't Wrory Be Happy

I'm ready to come home.  It's really hard to stay focused at work.  5 weeks and 2 days left.  Gotta hang in here a little longer!

tuesday

I need to spend more time swimming in the ocean while I'm here.  This beach was the best beach I've been to yet, on Lantau Island- near where we camped. The water is so warm here!  It's only Tuesday but I can't wait for the weekend. 

Wild Cows and Water Buffalo

right next to the "cow crossing" sign

As I've mentioned before, there are wild-free-roaming cows and water buffalo all over Lantau Island.  We saw a bunch where we camped.  The boys were a bit scared of them.

Garden and Bird Market

I went to the Garden and Bird Markets today until it started pouring (and it still hasn't stopped!)  We're getting a lot of rain this weekend.  I brought home a Venus fly-trap for the boys.  It was a super relaxing weekend and I'm ready to seize the week tomorrow!

A day of guns...

waiting for noon

Since I am getting so close to being done here (6 more weeks!) my bucket list is down to some weird left over things.  Like seeing the "noon day gun" which is a gun that someone shoots everyday at noon.  And going to the Museum of Coastal Defense.  I did both this morning. The museum was actually pretty cool because it's up on a hill and has a beautiful view and you can explore these underground tunnels.  The noon day gun was louder than I was expecting.
In other news, I bought my plane ticket to Seoul today!  My friend Susan is excited to have a visitor and I'm going to be there for her birthday!  I'm still trying to figure out the rest of my trip for the end of the year, but my plan is to go to Kyoto, Japan for a few days.