day-tripping in macau

My blogging record has been appalling these past few months... anyone who's still actually following this blog or checking from time to time for updates -- please accept my apologies. I've had plenty of blog-worthy material, but little time and even less motivation to get things up. Maybe this post will be the new leaf that is figuratively turned..


I went to Macau yesterday, with friends Mike and Ken. We joined a service project sponsored by Mike's church, and spent a couple hours at an English center holding a free English corner for local adults and teens interested in improving their conversational English. The experience reminded me of my time teaching in Xianyang, where we would hold weekly English corners for our college students. To be honest, English corner wasn't always my favorite part of teaching. If I wasn't prepared with some topics to discuss, I would get stuck answering questions that were all too familiar (i.e. "Do you know how to use chopsticks?" "Do you like Chinese food?" "Which is better, China or America?"). But anyway, I ended up really enjoying the English corner yesterday, and found myself actually feeling quite nostalgic for those days in China (I think the fact that I've started rereading River Town is also a contributing factor). I got to talk to two very nice Chinese ladies -- one was from near Shanghai, and the other was born and raised in Madagascar(!!). We talked about everything from family to work, history to travel. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos from the event, but might be able to add some soon, if friends are kind enough to share theirs. :)

After the English Corner, most of the service group took a ferry back to Hong Kong, but Mike, Ken and I headed to the Venetian -- the world's largest casino -- instead. I'd only ever seen the Venetian from afar, so was curious to go inside and see for myself what all the hype was about. We got there in time to get tickets for a matinee showing of the Cirque du Soleil show, Zaia. It was my first Cirque show, and wow, was it brilliant! But I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, because if I'd been paying attention to the signs, I would have known that it's "the most dazzling spectacle ever staged in Asia." (I suggested that Mike and Ken strike Zaia-esque poses, but apparently, this is the best they could come up with.)


After Zaia, we spent a bit of time checking out the Venetian. You could easily spend a couple days in this place and still not see everything. Thus the map that Mike is studying in the photo below. We made it to the actual casino section, and I had my heart set on playing one of the slot machines... but couldn't for the life of me figure it out! Maybe I should take that as a sign from above that I should never gamble.

After my poor luck with the slot machines, I decided that we couldn't leave until we'd at least found the canal that the Venetian is so famous for. Here are Mike and Ken standing on one of the many canal bridges. I've never been to Venice, but I'm sure it's just like this...
Look, it's a gondola!

And us on another bridge. Check out the amazing blue sky!

Then we headed out to my favorite restaurant -- Fernando's! We had quite a wait, but I think it was worth it. They have the best tomatoes... and garlic prawns... and sangria.

We left Fernando's with a decent amount of time to get back for our ferry. We had tickets for the last ferry to Kowloon, and thankfully didn't put ourselves through the stress of cutting it close. After an uneventful hour's ride (no sea-sickness either way -- hooray!), we were back in HK.

So that concludes this post about my very fun day in Macau. I have some catch-up posts in the works, but am not making any promises about how many of them will actually get written. But stay tuned! :)

same same, but different

Well, it happened again... at Back-to-school night, no less.
Here's an earlier post about another time this happened to us...

I have a lot to blog about, but haven't had the time or the internet access to do so. I've been at the new apartment for almost 2 weeks and have been busily aquiring furniture and appliances. Most of the stuff I've found has been from Asiaxpat, which, I have to say, is a great place to look for deals. It's a site that allows you to place free ads for almost anything that you want to buy or sell. So far I've bought a chest of drawers, a sofa, an arm chair, some sofa cushions, a TV, DVD player, and will get a wardrobe sometime this weekend. As I said, there are a lot of deals, but boy, all the address-hunting and picking up has been exhausting. I'll be glad when I'm done... but I think I'll definitely keep tabs on what's available for a while. I have some interesting stories about my pick-ups that I hope to share soon. Stay tuned.

vote for goodbye lenin

While in Scotland, I'll get to visit my friend Jon who, in addition to working on a theology degree, plays lead guitar in the band Goodbye Lenin. They're attempting to go to Lollapalooza this year, and to do that they need to make it through a few rounds of voting. Please go here to listen to their music and vote!

http://www.sonicbids.com/lollapalooza08/BandProfile.aspx?candidate_id=4981

The deadline for the first round of voting is fast approaching, so don't delay!

two-eight and one more cozy

I turned 28 today, which feels a lot younger than I thought it would. My birthday falls on Father's day this year, just like it did the year I was born. Happy Father's Day/Birthday to Dad/me!

I'm having a good day. It started with my brother arriving home from college early this morning -- the "ultimate birthday present," as he puts it. Then I joined some good friends on worship team at church this morning, had a joint Father's day/birthday lunch with the family, and finally came home for what else -- cozy-making. I hadn't planned to sew today, but then just felt compelled. I had a friend in mind to make a cozy for, and suddenly had the realization that she might not be crazy about appliqué. Yes. You read that correctly. I've accepted that appliqué might not be for everyone...

So here's the plain cozy that came about after that realization... and I've got to say that I really like it! Part of the draw for me is the pearly snaps. Sal and I bought them the other day at Sham Shui Po, and I realized while hammering them in yesterday that they pearly part shatters easily. But I've found a way to put them in with minimum breakage, and really like the way they look.

I'm about to meet friends for Indian food and [fingers crossed] karaoke (I haven't told anyone else about this, but that's where I'd like to see the evening end up...), so all in all, today is turning out to be the best birthday ever.

book character day

Last Friday was Book Character Day at school. What fun! Here are some photo highlights:

Salome as Olivia (great ears! ;) -- next year I'll crochet you a coffee-cozy snout!), with three of her girls. I really think she should have won a prize for this -- what a great costume!
One of two first-graders who claimed to be George Washington.

Me as Ella Sarah, with a fellow pajama-wearer. I happened to already own sheep pajamas (though, as quite a few kids pointed out to me, "they're not exactly the same as Ella's"), and my mom and I made the stuffed cat the night before.

Encyclopedia Brown solving a mystery. What a nerd!

Encyclopedia Brown, a musketeer (with wig and beard!), Olivia, The Paper Bag Princess, Ella Sarah, and Miss Frizzle (complete with orange hair and specially-made dress!)

Woohoo! I'm already thinking about what I want to be next year...

happy mother's day... to me

I was wished a happy mother's day at church today.

The older man who did the wishing then asked me if I was a mother. I said no (I didn't feel like explaining my adopted cat-child, Templeton...), and then he proceeded with, "Well, a soon-to-be mother, then?" I smiled and gave another, more vehement "no."

I know, I know. He might not have meant that I looked pregnant. He might have meant that one day eventually I would be a mother, which I do hope is true.

But this conversation came at a bad time. Just this week at school, I had a student ask me if I was "having a baby," and she wasn't the first who's asked me that. It's usually a cheeky kid trying to get a laugh out of his friends, or a child too young to understand either the biological requirements or the social implications of Miss Pardini being pregnant. And it usually happens on days when I'm wearing especially loose-fitting clothes. I'm a big fan of the empire waist, so quite a few of my shirts could easily double as maternity clothes.

Anyway, to celebrate looking pregnant, I decided to take some photos with two truly-expecting friends. This is me looking more pregnant than the two who are with child(ren). (I promise that I did not buy this shirt in the maternity section... though it does look like I could have!)
Ok, they probably would beat me out for the "looking pregnant" prize in the end. Congrats again Christy & Tom and Helen & Mike!

crossroads saturday

I had the opportunity to go back to Crossroads yesterday, and convinced Morganne to join in the fun. We spent the morning working in the kitchen with two amazing women -- Enala and Cecilia. The four of us prepared lunch for all the Crossroads volunteers.

Here's Mo "doing what she does best" -- dishes -- after the vegetable lasagna rush was over.
Cecilia, Enala and Morganne.

Minus Mo, plus me.

days like these

On days as beautiful as today, a HK$1.70 ride on the Star Ferry is a must. (This is my very tentative do-you-know-how-to-use-my-camera smile.) (In case you're wondering, yes, I got a hair-cut. It was originally supposed to be a trim, but the top layers kept getting shorter and shorter... and then, in the blink of an eye, they were practically bang length. Then came the horrifying realization that I had a bona fide mullet. Seriously. I'm not exaggerating. I insisted on a few more inches being taken off the back, and this is what I was left with. It wasn't really what I was wanting or expecting, but there was no fighting back tears, so that's good. I know from experience that it could've been much worse.)

Beautiful skyline and charming reclamation. Oh, and on a side note, you can barely make out the very enormous, very controversial Calvin Klein ad that has apparently been covered up in green mesh... for modesty's sake...? I can still see those tighty whities though...

We grabbed some cold Starbucks beverages and headed up to what I think must be one of the best-kept secrets in HK -- the sitting-out area off of the International Finance Center.
In case you were wondering...

crafting day part 2: appliqué rocks!

The results of an afternoon (and part of an evening) of sewing: a tote bag and a coffee cozy (the original, quilted variety). Looking at this, I'm wishing I'd made those straps just a tad shorter...

And now we get to the cool part. Appliqué. I'd never tried it until this evening. Salome and I wanted to make something special for a friend of ours, and decided that the mystery gift for unnamed friend needed an appliquéd electric guitar. Note the zig-zag stitching around the perimeter of the guitar, the strings (this is a 3-stringed guitar), and my favorite: the French-knot tuning pegs. I can't wait to appliqué something else... I think I've found my new addiction...

more weekend fun

I got a chance to visit the Steuernagels this weekend and had a lovely time.

Here's a photo of Owen, Robyn and Eliott (I think Jeff was busy flipping blueberry pancakes when I took this one). Eliott sure has grown since I saw him last!!
A couple funny things about this picture:

1. It's a little fuzzy because -- as I found out while taking it-- my camera is now permanently on the macro setting! I can't change it. Trust me on this one. Oh, and I'm talking about my old camera, not the new baby (which explains why I'm not in hysterics at this moment... oh wait, it would be under warranty anyway... excuse the inner monologue).

2. Owen is very interested in cameras at the moment (as you can see), and mine was no exception. I showed him how to view pictures on my camera, and after that he loved pressing the button and looking at this picture of himself holding his parents' camera. Too bad their camera doesn't show a picture of him holding another camera, and so on. That would be trippy.

april excursion

April's back in HK for a short time, and we had a chance to get together for dinner last night. What a great evening!

We started out with dinner at an old standby -- Taj Mahal in Chung King Mansion (a restaurant that was very popular with some of us in high school). April had never been to Chung King before, and timidly suggested it. I, of course, was thrilled to have an excuse to eat Indian food! And it wasn't even my idea!

I guess you're always your own worst critic, but I have to say, I'm not crazy about the way I look in the picture below. I thought about not posting it at all(the benefit of having your own blog -- you are free to post only flattering photos of yourself), but it was our only photo from the restaurant. Looking at this picture makes me think that I need to do one (or more) of the following:
1. get liposuction on parts of my face.
2. get a tan (real or fake).
3. get a hair cut.
4. comb my hair more frequently.
Hopefully you're looking at the lovely spread on the table (samosas, baigan bharta, seafood pulao, and rhoti), and not critiquing me or my outfit.
I love this one!! We just happened to walk by this sign that said April! How could we not take a photo?!

After we finished eating, I looked at my watch, and then on a whim we were off to the light show. Or more specifically, the Symphony of Lights, the world's largest, longest-running, daily light show... or something like that.

A blurry April with the light show in the background. I've been to the Symphony quite a few times, but always enjoy it. My favorite part is when the participating buildings get introduced individually, and then do a little small-group light-up dance together with the buildings around them. I guess you just have to see it for yourself to understand what that looks like...

After the Symphony, we wandered around near the Cultural Center and came across some Beijing 2008 promotional posters.

And some promoting the torch relay. I guess they're now calling it the "Journey of Harmony." Hehe.
And then, who did we happen to run into but my five favorite Olympic mascots, the Friendlies!!

And that was just the beginning! We soon stumbled upon a huge Friendlies exhibit on the TST promenade. I was in Friendlies heaven! That's Beibei (the whale with arms and legs) windsurfing in the foreground.
And then we noticed this interesting scene. Couldn't really figure out what Olympic sport Huanhuan and Jingjing were supposed to be demonstrating here... wrestling? Figure skating? I don't think that I have a particularly dirty mind, but even I couldn't help thinking it looked like they were up to something else... and I'm sure I'm not the first to have had this thought.

mike and helen meet ben and jerry

I'm trying to convince them to be my guest bloggers... I know you'd like to hear first-hand about their first Ben and Jerry's encounter.

birthday bowlout

We had the traditional bowling birthday bash for Sal yesterday -- and as always, it was great fun! Here are a few pics:

Female coworkers and friends! Let's go with bowling names here: Mrslo, Sallups, Jen (with one "n," not two...), M Strike, and Strikoline (though, in retrospect, I wish I'd spelled her name "Strike-o-line").
K jai, Grandpa, and Bubba waiting their turns.
Here I am pretending to help Alison with her child-sized velcro shoes. Yes, I'm kind of a jerk. I just have a hard time feeling sympathy for people with small feet, since I personally have the opposite "problem" -- which, funnily enough, was pointed out to me later in the evening by someone in our party. Let it be known that I have big feet.
After the bowling was over and we'd had a nice meal (which included one of my faves -- Peking duck!!), we headed back to the Tam-Lee household to enjoy some Wii and some boardgames.

Here's Helen experiencing Peeps for the first time. (Guess they haven't found their way to Australia yet).(The Peep is decapitated in that last picture -- in case you couldn't tell from the coloring and/or Helen's sad expression)

Wii entertainment.
Another shot of Helen. This time she's watching scary bunnies being pummeled by plungers.

scarves

Here are my most recent yarn-related projects, modeled by the lovely friends they were made for.

April enjoys a latte in a freezing cold Pacific Coffee (it may not be scarf weather outside anymore, but thanks to over-zealous air-conditioning in most shops and restaurants, these scarves might still come in handy...)

And Sal models her pencil scarf, next to the kid who was the original inspiration. I did a combination of knit and crochet on this one, which was a first for me. This scarf got me thinking about other long, linear objects that could be scarf inspiration. I have some ideas, but they're top secret right now... :)



I've been knitting and crocheting so much these past few weeks -- on the bus, train, and any available minute -- that now that I'm finished with these, I'm sort of at a loss. I took my first crochet-free train ride today, and really felt the absence of the hook and yarn. I'll probably start another project soon, but for now might try to get back into reading. I started reading The Kite Runner a couple weeks ago, and though I'm still near the beginning, am pretty sure I will soon reach that critical stage where I can't put the book down.

dragon's back

I haven't posted anything for a couple weeks -- time for some catch-up!

After seeing the beauty of Dragon's Back during the Green Power hike, I decided that I needed to go back, and under more relaxing circumstances. It was nice to go with friends, and to take our time enjoying the beauty around us.

Here's everybody with the view of Shek O in the background.

And Maria took this one. It was windy up there -- can you tell?

A slightly hazy view of Big Wave Bay -- our destination.

Simon and Anish tried carb gels for the first time. I tried to warn them about the apricot-banana flavored ones (I believe my exact words were something like "everything unappetizing about bananas distilled into slimy gel form"), but they didn't listen.


We made it to Big Wave Bay a little before noon, and enjoyed lunch at a quaint little cafe right on the beach. Afterwards April and Maria took naps on the sand. (Note all the surfers in the distance -- it's not called Big Wave Bay for nothing!)

Anish, Simon and I walked up to a pagoda with a great view of the bay.

It was a beautiful, very relaxing day. I'm glad not to have anything big to train for (for a while at least), and am looking forward to more fun hikes like this one!