Back to Reality

Drew and I made it back to Hong Kong on Sunday night safe and sound and were quickly reunited with a stinky Trig the following day. I actually think I was more excited to see him than he was to see me.

Being home was incredible and hard at the same time. It was great to spend so much time with everyone. Skype convos do a lot to alleviate homesickness, but there is something un-replicateable about the joy from face-to-face interaction. However, it also made me realize how much Drew and I are missing while we are over here. Do we regret our decision to come to Hong Kong? No. Do we still wish we could have our cake and eat it to? Yes.

The trip was filled with lots of fun. We flew from Hong Kong to Chicago to Detroit, then spent a week in MI seeing both Drew's family and my Mom's extended family. This included several family BBQs, a trip to Frankenmuth, a trip to the Greenfield Village, and a Costco shopping trip where we nearly bought the entire store then were surprised when it wouldn't fit in our suitcases back home. 

Don't forget an amazing wedding in Traverse City, a fun night on the lake in Irons MI, and lots of home cooked food. Also, (I'm sure this will surprise no one) my goal of losing 10 pounds has been adjusted to losing 15. :)

The second week, Drew went to Philly to work, and I went to CO to work and see family. It was weird being in an office again, I must say. What? I have to wear professional clothes? What? I can't just let my hair air dry? (I did anyways, because it dries straight in CO!) But it was actually really great to see my coworkers face to face.

We also went to the Rocky Mountain Wild Animal Animal Sanctuary, where large carnivores are kept when idiots who try to keep these animals as pets can no longer handle them. Some situations were really sad. For instance, some of the lions had been declawed in an attempt to "domesticate" them, and they end up limping for life. It also makes them more aggressive because their paws are constantly aggregated. Go figure.

I also ate my weight in Mexican food, including a few rounds of margaritas at The Rio, a family favorite in Fort Collins.

Went to a park in the foothills to remember Colorado's nature. Went on a bike ride to Big City Burrito
to remember the active lifestyle as well as the CSU staple.

Now that we are back in Hong Kong, jet-lag has set in. Mostly we just can't sleep soundly through the night. I got up at 4:00am two nights ago, then 5:30am last night. Hopefully tonight the pattern will continue til 7am...

But, the hardest part of it all is not knowing when we will be going back to the US. We get one free trip home a year, so essentially we have to wait an entire year before we get to go back. Unless, something big like a wedding comes up. But, the not knowing is weird. Of course, lots of family will be visiting us out here in the meantime, such as Drew's parents this Christmas. But it's still weird. 

FIVB

Tonight I surprised Drew and took him to see the World Grand Prix FIVB tournament at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Basically it was the women's national volleyball teams from Argentina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, and China duking it out. It was really fun to watch. They were impressively tall and very good. China dominated the night. They had everything: killer defense, amazing setting, and a slide hitting scheme that was smoking the Czechs. But it was still fun to watch.

We had really great seats, on one of the ends right in the middle. Made it very easy to see all of the plays as they unfolded. And to see how high the blockers got over the net. It's not fair. Their hands are taller than the net standing on the ground. Plus they can jump, unlike myself. 

A couple quirky things abut the games, one of them being the sweat moppers. They would come out after every play, cleaning up any sweat that got on the floor after a player dived. What an exhausting job, worse than being a tennis ball runner-downer I think. 

Look at the form! Turkey beat Argentina by the way. Drew was like "I don't know which team to root for. Both countries have such good food...." 0.o

Another funny thing about the game were these deliberate cheering sections. Not sure if they were adolescent volleyball leagues or what, but each corner of the stadium had a section that was packed with young girls in matching outfits and pompoms. 2 of the 4 sections would root for one team, the other 2 would root for the opposing team. Even though all of the girls were Chinese; they clearly had no ties to Argentina, or whatever, but they pretended really well, and it make the atmosphere much more exciting. They had cheers and signs and giant Chinese drums they would beat on. Very funny. 

Overall, it was a very fun evening. Good to see some high quality volleyball again. Although I have a sneaking suspicion this has awaken the volleyball addicted beast inside of my husband, and he will be trying to get back on the court somehow sooner rather than later. Since we are leaving for the US tomorrow morning, this will be my last post until we get there. Catch you on the flip side!

"I'm Coming Home"

"Country roads, take me home to the place I belong!!!!...."

I think it's finally sinking in today that Drew and I will be heading home. Drew mentioned that we should start packing, and I was like "huh, I suppose we should..." About half of our luggage will be clothes etc., the other half will be presents and extra space to fill with stuff we plan to bring back. Below is my shopping list of things we need to get while back home.

1. Bed sheets. Linens are very expensive in Hong Kong. Not only that, the mattresses here are smaller than a Western mattress. So even if we coughed up the cash, they wouldn't fit our mattress.
2. Rawhide bones. You can't find a bulk package of large bones here. You can find small ones individually wrapped, but Trig says that's not enough.
3. Dog toy. Dog anything is very expensive here. Trig has pretty much destroyed all of his toys, even ones that were supposed to be "indestructible." Drew's mom found one that her dog Will hasn't killed yet, so it must be good.
4. Shoes. Both Drew and I have large feet. He is a 12-12.5, while I am a 9.5-10. Neither of us can find shoes in the stores here that fit. DSW here we come.

5. Cosmetics. Mascara, concealer, etc is all very expensive.
6. Lemon juice. A big bottle from Costco. Haven't found it at all here. And no, i"m too lazy to just squeeze fresh lemons every time I want lemon juice.
7. Coffee. We are already almost through the supply Drew's dad brought us in May. It's too expensive here! (no, I haven't eaten all 10 bags of chocolate that he brought too).
8. Zone bars. These are Drew's favorite protein bars. Surprisingly, you can find them in one store here, but they are crazy expensive.

I'm sure I'll think of more on the plane. All 15 hours of it.

Next are the things I am looking forward to most while in the states. Seeing family and friends are, of course, number one, but I'm talking about the small things you can't find here.

1. Cloudless blue Colorado skies. I took this photo several years ago outside our front door in Fort Collins.

2. No humidity (although I think this will also be a Denver and not MI thing)

3. Being able to go for a run without hills.
4. Parks with dogs.
5. Grass
6. Bacon
7. An American breakfast in general. Coney Islands here I come. Doesn't that look good?

8. Desserts that are sweet. No red bean paste or sesame for me.
9. Moosetracks ice cream

10. Listening to the radio. There are no Western radio stations out here.
11. Mexican food. Chips and salsa especially.
12. I fit into size Med. clothes instead of Large or XL.
13. Playing Settlers of Catan. Still looking for fellow players out here.
14. Temperatures below 80 degrees. Even if only during the nighttime.

See you soon America!

Trig's Staycation

While Drew and I are in the US for the next two weeks, Trig will be staying at a kennel in the New Territories called Pet World. It's the same kennel he stayed at a few trips ago; the one where they send us photos of him everyday to assure us he's still alive. He's getting a nice big room with a grass run, he gets play time with other dogs every day, and he gets a private walk every day. He should be very pleased with his accommodations there.

We had to pay extra because it's a peak season (Xmas, Easter, and Summer are all peak seasons) but don't worry, we got 5% back off of our total bill because the stay is over 14 days.

Also, his room included a "roast chicken dinner." I emailed the kennel and told them we don't feed Trig any human food and would prefer that he is not fed roast chicken, but instead the dry dog food we provide for him. Could you imagine if he got to eat that for two weeks straight? He'd be so spoiled when he came home. Dry dog food wouldn't be enough for him anymore. Anyways, they said they'd give him wet dog food instead. That still might do the trick.

I do think Trig knows something is up. He's been impressively mopey lately. Every time he sees a piece of luggage comes out he goes and lies disheartened on his bed.

Drew and I have been trying to learn how to whistle using our fingers, as it is louder and easier to call Trig with. Drew got it pretty fast using two fingers on each hand. I am trying the pinky method, as my mom has shrilly called us back to the house for years using that technique. Still struggling though. I guess I'll need lessons from the master when I go back home. :)

Regardless, Drew and I will undoubtably miss our pupper dupper during our two week stint. It's amazing how attached you can become to these pets of yours. Almost like having a child. Except you can lock them up in a cage for a few hours while you're away.

Junk Boating

Our friends AJ and Rakhee are visiting us from Aug 29-Sept. 2. AJ was actually Drew's first roommate when Drew first moved to Denver. Did I ever tell you that story?

Drew was still living in CT, but he had made up his mind to move out to Denver, because he'd "always wanted to live in CO," not because the love of his life was out there. Anyways, Drew was trying to locate roommates from Craigslist. He would find a listing he thought promising online and send them to me. I would call them up and visit the places myself to see if they would be suitable for Drew. In hindsight, I'm lucky I didn't get stuck in a bad situation. I looked at a college house with like 8 people; that wasn't going to work. I looked at an old guy's basement which smelled like cat pee. That was a no go. Finally, I found AJ. He was just back from the gym, so I knew he and Drew would have sports in common. The sink was filled with dirty dishes, but considering I was going to be around some, I knew I would wash them. A perfect fit.

Anyways, AJ and Rakhee are a fun-loving, adventurous couple, so Drew and I have decided to throw a junk boat party trip while they are here. It's something we've wanted to do all summer, and this was the perfect excuse. Don't be fooled by the "junk" in junk boat. The original junk boats were used by the Chinese during the Han Dynasty in 206BC to 220 AD. Some original looking boats still go around the harbor, but they are fairly rare.

Nowadays, you just book a normal small yacht that can hold 30 people. We just booked our boat! It costs about $6500HKD split between 26 people is around $250 HKD or about $32 Usd. Not too shabby. 

The next step is to find a caterer. Nobody wants to be stuck on a boat for 8 hours with 26 people and a can of Pringles.  That should be about $175 HDK/person, or $20 usd. 

After that, we show up with our own drinks and have a blast. They will take us to a few beaches where we can get out and go swimming, we can lay out, hang out etc. 

Drew and I even came up with a risk sharing scheme in case we can't find enough people to fill the boat.  We roped 4 other friends to splitting in the cost in case it all goes south. 3 out of the 6 people are actuaries, so the scheme was expected. The only other bad thing that could happen would be if a Typhoon Level 3 shows up while we are out on the water. In that scenario, we end the trip, and we get no refund. Ouch. But, if the warning is up ahead of time, we can reschedule. If it's just raining, too bad, suck it up. 

 Hopefully it will be a fun time. Will fill you in on the details when it actually happens on Sept. 1. In the meantime, my workout goal is going really well....

Jobs for the Young at Heart

Stu, this post is just for you, as I know what a fan of heights you are! Yesterday, I was sitting in our office which faces away from the main city and looks out over the hill in the middle of the island. I was busy coding away when suddenly some movement in the background caught my eye. These guys were putting up bamboo scaffolding on the top of the building next to ours. I tried desperately to see if they were wearing harnesses, but without my Harriet the Spy binoculars (which nobody has gotten for me yet, making me assume no one supports my spy habits) I just couldn't tell. I guess the fact that I couldn't tell is telling enough. 

Just so Stu can get a sense of how high up they were......

The guys were so nimble, it was amazing. They would constantly reposition themselves by straddling the bamboo poles in different ways. I used to do that when I was a kid, when I had reached my destination at the top of the tree, but wanted to reach out and grab something. If you could assure it was safe, it would really be a fun job to have. Despite having to be outside 24/7 and braving weather elements, they get to climb around for a living! Talk about being a kid at heart. How many of us get to act like a kid at work (without fear of getting fired for it?)

These guys had long ties hanging from their belts, which they would use to secure every intersection, and that's how it all staying in place. By a few ties. Amazing. I guess that adds a lot of pressure to their jobs. If they don't tie a tie right and it breaks later while someone is on it, things could fall quickly into disarray. Get it? Fall quickly? Ha!

The Goal

As many of you know, Drew works for a health insurance company. One thing the company strives for is for the employees to have good personal health, including fitness. So, every year they have a fitness competition called the Shape-up Challenge. Teams of about 10 people are formed, and whichever team logs the most activity minutes in the 10 weeks gets a prize of some sort. As family members are included, Drew and I are both on a team. Not that we expect to be the winning team, but it's good motivation as it makes us feel bad to let our teammates down.

This is also the first time Drew has really worked out since his back pain started a few months ago. Somehow, he still has abs after 3 months of doing nothing. I've been working out my entire life, and I've never had abs.

Anyways, the competition started July 30th, so we are officially in the thick of things. My goal during the next 10 weeks is to lose 10 pounds. I know this is possible, as I have an identical twin sister who weighs 20 pounds less than I do. So, it's possible.

The main trouble I see in this plan is that in one week we will be going home to the US for two weeks. Talk about faltering resolve when my Mom's freshly backed chocolate chips cookies or Drew's parent's bacon breakfast sandwiches are placed in front of me. So, I've decided to still eat everything (as who knows when I'll have real American food again) but I try to utilize some amount of portion control, and I'll work out like a fiend while I'm there. Hopefully that will at least keep me level instead of losing ground on my goal.

I was sitting in a bar yesterday with Drew watching a rugby game (yes, we like rugby now) when I realized something slightly disheartening. There was a super pretty and very skinny girl sitting in front of me. But she was the so skinny she didn't have an ounce of muscle on her and probably couldn't lift the cast iron skillet weak. Then, another group of girls walks in that look like they are professional athletes. I've never seen women with so much toned muscle. I couldn't figure out what sport they played. Does women's rugby exist? Or maybe they are pro dragon boat racers? I dunno. They have massive upper bodies so they weren't soccer players. They weren't particularly tall, so they weren't basketballers. I dunno. Below is an example of too skinny. No chick is lifting a dumbbell with toothpick arms.

But, apparently Drew doesn't find this very attractive either. Or maybe he's just saying that to make me feel better. 

Anyways, I decided the best thing for me would be between these two types of women. I don't want to be the female hulk, but I don't want to be skinny to the point of uselessness either. But I also don't want to be the shapeless form I am now. Hence the goal of lose 10 pounds, and let's see where that gets me.

50 Shades of Grey

As many of you know, Drew and I will be coming back to the states in one week! Yay! The main reason for coming back in August is that Ben Anderson, one of Drew's best friends who stood up in our wedding is getting married in Traverse City. Drew is in this wedding as well, so we decided to make the trip. As you can see, they have been friends for a long time. The guy with the Fu Manchu to the right of Drew is Ben. This was for Mo-vember a few years ago.

All of the groomsmen for this wedding are wearing sharkskin grey suits, found at your local Macy's. Drew, on the other hand, is getting very spoiled by getting stuff tailored made in Shenzhen for cheap prices, so he decided to order his suit from the tailor instead of buying it from Macy's. He also placed an order for another groomsmen, Joe Anderson. Joe and Ben are not related, they just happen to be best friends with the same last name. Anyways, Joe is a broad guy, so suits off the rack don't exactly fit his stature. The guy on the left is Joe.

In fact, Drew had worked out a deal with his tailor for suit prices. Drew sent the tailor Joe's measurements, and for some reason, the tailor quoted Drew a price a third higher than what he was used to paying. Drew goes back to the tailor, asking what the deal was. The tailor's answer was, "He big guy! Need more material!"

Anyways, Drew ordered the suits two weeks ago, then went to Shenzhen last weekend to pick them up. He brings them home and compares the color of his suits to the color of the Macy's picture that everyone else was buying. Not the same. Drew's suits were much darker. Oops. Apparently the tailor used the wrong color material. This was what they got.

Drew called the groom, who asked the bride if this slip-up was ok, and, of course, it wasn't. Not surprisingly. What bride wants two groomsmen in her photos that don't match the rest of the men? I wouldn't have been ok with it. The pic below is what they should have looked like.

Luckily, Drew had to go back to Shenzhen on Monday for work, so he stopped by the tailor's on his way home and ordered two more suits, this time of a lighter shade. The ironic thing is, there is like a 10% chance these new suits will actually match the Macy's ones. Ask most females, and they can tell you that dyes come out differently lot to lot. Even if Drew ordered the same Macy's suits at a later time, it is unlikely they'd all look the same.

In the end, I guess we'll have to see how close is close enough. Drew's wardrobe is expanding nicely, and Joe, who is also getting married in Sept., will be getting an extra suit from us as a wedding present.

The Bourne Identity

A few weeks ago, Drew mentioned that he was running out of pages in his passport. Between a post-college Europe trip, hunting trips to Argentina with his Dad, Chinese Visas (of which he now has two and which take up an entire page) plus all of our Asia travels, it's getting pretty filled up.

So, I decided to be the nice, loving wife and go to the US Consulate here in Hong Kong to get more pages added to his passport. This was last week. So, I made my appointment, showed up on time, and turned in my cell phone and Ipad at the door as they don't allow any recording devices inside. I turn in the fully completed paperwork, the lady nods and hands me a bill for $82 which I must pay at the Cashiers Desk.

The Cashier Lady was hoot in and of herself. They must have a problem with people paying with counterfeit bills because this was the process of her accepting my $82. She took the bills, and counted them once. Then she counted them again. Then she looked at each bill individually for the watermarks etc. (Good thing I was paying in 20's and not in 5's or something!) Then she put each bill individually under another light thing to see more stuff. Once she was satisfied they were all real bills, she counted it all one more time. Holy Moly. I'd have paid with a credit card if I knew it was this serious.

Happy that that ordeal was over, I look my receipt back to the original lady. When I showed up she was cringing. Uh oh. Not a good sign. "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but the Social Security number you have written down for your husband does not match the number we have in our system. Do you have his Social Security Card available so that we might verify which number is correct?" So now I'm like, "Is this a joke? My number is correct. How do they have the wrong number? Did someone steal his identity? Did they do this on purpose so we can't travel any more? Is there someone watching me at this very moment, judging my reaction to this news? Hiya! Kung Fu moves at the ready. At this point I was scanning the room, sure that some government agent was going to jump out from behind the counter and arrest me for false pretenses. I've always wanted to be in a Bourne movie, except it seems exhausting being on the run all the time, and I need my sleep.

Anyways, I don't have my cell phone on me, as they took it at the door, so I can't call Drew and ask him if we even have his SS card in Hong Kong. I certainly had never seen it. So, the lady said "Until you can prove his Social Security number, you will have to reschedule your appointment. Oh, and you'll need to get reimbursed for the $82 dollars you just paid." At this my eyes get wide. Oh no, not the cashier lady again...

I go back to the cashiers office, and of course there is a line this time. I wait in line. I get to the desk. She starts typing on the computer, then looks at a "Steps for Reimbursement" sheet, and I know I'm in trouble. She has to call a manager over to sign off on the reimbursement. She goes to get the manager. The manager has momentarily left the office and will be back shortly. Please wait in the original room you just came from. I will come get you when he's back. I sit and wait. I get back up after 15 min and stand in front of her again so she doesn't forget about me. 

She goes to get the manager again. He's there. He signs off. She counts the bills to hand back to me. She counts them again. She counts them a third time. I get my bills back. 

I can finally leave the building and begin to solve the original problem, Drew's identity crisis. I get my phone back and can call him to ask where his SS card is. He has no idea. I go back to the apartment to search, hoping that if I can find it fast enough, I can go back to the consulate and they will honor my original appointment. But, no sign of the SS card. We end up giving Drew's parents a call, and luckily they have the card in MI. His Dad scans me a copy a few days later. Crisis averted. 

So today concluded the episode. I went back to the consulate, and they accepted the scanned copy of his SS card. Whew, identity confirmed. This time the whole process only took 15 min. And there was a different cashiers lady, who only counted the money twice. I go back at 3pm to pick up the spruced up passport. Done and done. 

Snow in Hong Kong

First of all, I want to give a big shout out to Leah's boyfriend Stu. He just had back surgery where they replaced a disk in his lower back with a metal one, in an effort to stem the back pain he's had for a long time. Seems like all of the McDaniel family guys have back pain at one point or another. Dad, Drew, Kane, and Stu. Yikes. Anyways, the surgery went "picture perfect," which was a big relief for everyone, especially Leah.

But, seeing as Stu is an avid reader of the blog, and since he will be down for the count for a few weeks, with no bending, lifting, or twisting allowed, I figured he will need some sort of entertainment aside for catching up on Game of Thrones. So, I vow starting today for the next two week, I will write every day in honor of Stu.

For the last few days, we have had rain every day. Sometimes it literally rains all day, and you never see a spot of sunshine. Very different from Denver I must say. Sometimes, we are literally inside of the cloud that's producing the rain. As you remember, we will on the 50th floor of our building, plus we are on a hill, so we are really quite high up there. This was our sunset the other night.

The funny thing is there have been a few times where I swear, I look outside, and it looks like it's snowing. The first few times I chalked it up to my vision being fuzzy, or I was "just seeing things." But it happened again today. I stood at our window, looked outside, and it was literally snowing. Of course, this makes no sense. It has never snowed in Hong Kong. Ever. It's too warm here!

But, then I thought about it, and realized what was going on. All rain starts off as snow. Fact. "All precipitation starts out as ice or snow crystals at cloud level. When this frozen precipitation falls into a layer of sufficiently warmer air (with temperatures above freezing) it melts into rain." Source: The Weather Channel. Ha! So it must be true. My theory is that sometimes the clouds form really low around the hill in the center of the island, upon which our building stands. And, since we are so high up and basically in the cloud, when it starts to rain I see it as snow for the briefest of seconds until it hits the wall of warm air and immediately melts.

This is my theory, and I'm sticking with it. As this is the only way I will be seeing snow in Hong Kong for the next 2 years, I am going to believe my theory wholeheartedly. Maybe Drew's friend Kevin Reed, Ph.D in meteorology from UofM, is reading this and shaking his head. But, like I said, I believe.