Small World Indeed!

Let me put things in perspective for you...there are about 7 billion people in the world and about 7 million of those people live in Hong Kong. There are 1.3 billion people in China and .3 billion in the US. That's a lot of people. The other day there was an ad for a free table near the place we live so I jumped on it since we didn't have one. If it wasn't too great it could at least go on our roof to start my ultimate BBQ pad! I woke up Saturday morning and climbed to the top of the mountain behind our house, (awesome experience, different story). I came home and headed to get the table. I was a bit worn out and really surprised at how heavy the glass top table was that we were getting. While I talked with Simon, the owner of the table who was giving it away, he asked me what I did and how long I had been in Hong Kong. Typical small talk...I told him that for two years I was a missionary for the Church, and he said, "Oh, so you probably know Scott and Doris!" Being new the the ward we are still in the remembering names and faces mode, but I finally realized that I did know them and that he knew that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are better known as Mormons. I thought, wow what a small world...then he said, "I've been to Utah." He had gone there on vacation. I told him I was from there and of course asked him if he had ever been to Cedar City. He thought for a moment and then said, "The Shakespeare Festival, right"...you have got to be kidding me. Then he asked me if I went to BYU, I proudly said that I went to SUU. "My wife went to SUU!" was his reply. I could not believe it. This is a kid who grew up in England, his parents are from Hong Kong, as well as his wife, and he knows other Mormons in our area and his wife is a Thunderbird. Unbelievable... The table weighed a ton, and two hours later I finally got it to a taxi stand where a nice couple with three dogs informed me that they have never seen taxis come to that taxi stand, but they said they could give me a ride. There are good people in this world! After I got the table all put back together at our house I realized I needed some chairs. Just as I'm putting on my shoes to go buy some cheap fold up chairs I hear the neighbor ask someone if they knew anyone who needed some chairs. I was so blessed today! I ran down and talked him and got 6 chairs that used to be at his restaurant and they look pretty sweet! (Its all about the law of attraction. Again, another story.) It was awesome to sit down with my family and have dinner at a table instead of the floor we have been enjoying for the last month. Life is great.

Night at the Opera!

Friday's are great days and today was no exception! The sun came out, the wind was blowing, and our afternoon in Causeway Bay was fabulous! We had dinner with my friend Tyler and his wife at our favorite, Fat Angelo's. It's a great Italian restaurant that Cassie and I love to go to. We had some coupons so we thought why not...People are so funny, the waiters and waitresses were a little much for me. One kid kept getting right up in Maleah's face trying to play with her, and every time tears would swell up in her eyes because the guy was creeping her out. The first time it was funny, but after the fifth I was ready for the kid to end his shift. Then there was the waitress who thought it was her job to sit and tell Maleah she was naughty every time she touched the fake grapes that were behind us for decoration. She obviously has never been to Grandma Kate's house where touching the plastic fruit is not a crime... anyway...It really was a great dinner and on our way home we decided to stop by and enjoy a little bit of the Chinese Opera. The enjoyment of Chinese Opera is something that comes with age, the same as prune juice, reruns of "I Love Lucy", and playing Bridge with friends, it just grows on you over time.

Day Three

The final day of Chinese New Year. We did today what most would do before the New Year begins and that is clean up the house. Of course its now after dinner and Maleah has been on a roll so the clean house is but a sweet memory. It was another cold day so we were limited to our activities. I heard my girls cry for warmth so we went heater shopping and found a winner. We will probably use it for another week and a half if we are lucky and then it will be time to pack it away until next January/February when we will pull it out for another 3 weeks. To have my girls warm, however, is worth it. Thanks for spending the holidays with us and stay tuned for our next adventure. You just never know when it will happen.

Day Two!

Day two of Chinese New Year: We were up and at 'em skyping the family back home looking forward to the day early in the morning. At about 11:00 am is when I heard the drums and cymbals sounding and I knew there was a Lion Dance going on somewhere. I was not going to have two days in a row of let down so I was on a mission. Following the sound I kept walking and walking. As the sound of the drums got louder I still couldn't see where it was coming from but there was a road leading up the side of a small mountain that seemed promising so I followed. Halfway up the mountain I knew it was only a little further. That's when I came around the corner to find a tall archway supporting two large and rusty gaits wide open daring me to go in. I'm sure the Chinese writing on the two pillars were not "Please, Come in" signs but I did anyway. There, lined nicely in a row, where small buildings holding the shrines of ancestors. The single red light above each shrine and the candles burning slowly below added an eerie touch to the whole atmosphere as the Lion and drums worked to scare away the evil spirits. Quite the cultural experience indeed...Success!...We then decided to spend the afternoon at the Festival Walk Mall in Kowloon Tong. Of course we made our two favorite stops, the bookstore PageOne and number one on the list, The temple. Today we just walked around but the temple is always beautiful...As for the rest of the day, I regret to inform you that we didn't stay to the fireworks show. We made a responsible, adult decision, and got out while we still could. It was hard, but with rain and a tired baby it would have been rough shuffling through thousands of spectators trying to make it back to our quiet village, but as Maleah's friend Strawberry Shortcake says, "It's the journey that makes the trip worth while."

Maleah in her Rickshaw on Day Two of CNY!

Maleah deciding if she wanted to watch the Fireworks in the rain.

New Year Happiness! Dragon Horse Energy!

Happy New Year from the Star Ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui!

A tradition of Chinese New Year is the seasonal four character greetings, such as Kung Hei Fat Choi, Lung Ma Jing San, or San Tai Gin Hong! The blessings of prosperity, energy of the horse and dragon or healthy bodies is readily accepted from passing friends. The best is when you hear two people trying to see who knows more sayings than the other. It is great Chinese wisdom if you have at least ten sayings you could shout out in a moments notice. I am but a young grasshopper with the four I know. Even though it is the First day of the New Year it still is Sunday so church was where we were. Maleah got a little sick in the night and we wanted to make sure it wasn't the flu so the girls stayed home in the morning while I flew solo. Maleah was feeling fine and we figured it was something else so they came down in the afternoon and we visited the sisters of Island I. This was the branch that we attended when we were here last time, and they hadn't seen Maleah so you can only imagine 100 women all dying to see our little Angel. It was fun...to say the least...We kept it pretty calm today but we did take the ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui in hopes of catching a Lion or Dragon Dance on our way home. We found a Dragon, but there was no dancing and other than that it was just lots and lots of people. Once we got on the train we weren't sure if we were going to get out. The best part of the day though had to be at around 12:04 in the morning when someone set off a firecracker right by our house. Now these aren't the firecrackers you get from the cardboard boxes sitting in the grocery store parking lot during the 4th of July, this is a Machine gun of noise so loud the guy lighting it had to have peed a little it was so loud! Now almost having a heart attack wasn't the best part it was Cassie rolling over saying, "Who in the world does something like that in the middle of the night?" my only response was, "I don't know," As I thought of us banging pots and pans and blowing horns at the strike of 12 January 1st...Happy Chinese New Year!

We could only find this sleeping dragon...sorry no dancing...maybe tomorrow

Chinese New Year's Eve

The best part of moving to Hong Kong in January is now that we are somewhat settled we are just in time for Chinese New Year. This celebration is the greatest in Hong Kong! Three days...that's right my friends, three full national holidays right in a row. No open banks, no mail, and to our demise, no laundry lady. (Never fear, all I need is a tub, some laundry soap and a great upper body workout....yes they have Washing Machines in Hong Kong its just that the Julian's don't, so hence, back to the basic style) Anyways...Since much of our family has never experienced Chinese New Year we will do our best to give you our version. It isn't the traditional holiday that most Chinese people have with their red pockets, family dinners and gifts, but we sure have a fun time. This year the New Year falls on Sunday so they couldn't break tradition of the three day holiday and had a holiday on the day before. (I know what you are thinking, "It's Saturday, why do you need the day off?" Well a lot of people work on Saturday's, including yours truly.) The girls and I got ready for the day and we were off for fun adventures. We plan to update every day to keep you on top of all the festivities here so please check back regularly for the next few days as we celebrate the Year of the Tiger!

Maleah Welcomes the New Year with a little traditional drumming!

We went to the Nunnery and got our Fungsui flowing for the year!

Maleah walked all over the place and had to rest for a bit.

It was a park day. We visited the Chi Lin Nunnery that has a beautiful garden with Chinese plants and trees that are amazing. Then we headed to Kowloon Park to see the birds and all the people. Then we made it home to have a great Curry dinner and watch The Blind Side. What a great day!

Move over Julia! Bon Appetite!

One of the biggest decisions we seem to have to make every single day is what to eat. It's easier to decide to move halfway around the world, or what sofa to get for the house. You only have to make those kinds of decisions once or twice in your life, but a meal is something you try to have 3 times a day 365 days a year! I hate having to make that decision! Partially because I don't care what I eat, I'll eat anything. However, at the same time, that meal could determine a lot in the near future. It could make or break the way the next day could go! You could be on top of your game or on top of the...well we know the downside... So Cassie and I were contemplating that question that haunts me daily, "What are we going to have for dinner?"....It's usually after Cassie has watched Ratatouille or I have walked by the herbs and spices section in the grocery store that we get this urge to try to be culinary chefs, but this time we were just minding our business walking down by the ocean when we saw the boats selling fresh seafood from the pier. We've seen them tons of times and never had the desire to buy from them, but tonight was different. We starved for something so fresh from the ocean. So with a little impulsiveness we leaned over the rail and pointed to the crabs and asked how much. $100 HKD for one. We would have to wait another night (I still had to buy pull-ups for my potty-training baby) so we opted for the cheaper clams! For not having much of a supply when it comes to kitchen staples like pepper or sweet basil we did okay. We made a mean Curry Clams that made our Saturday night dinner in our furniture-less apartment feel like a night on the town! Needless to say we survived another one of those nasty decisions. (which made me more thankful for Fast Sunday. That's 24 less meals we have to worry about a year!)