Double the Suggs, double the fun

Part I of Mike & Tracey's visit

Mike was in HK for a couple of days, but Tracey was able to spend the week with us. We packed a lot into the week she was in town. We went all over Hong Kong by boat, MTR, tram, taxi, and lots of walking. We walked all over Central and Wan Chai to shop and explore. We also went to several markets across the water in Kowloon. The flower market was beautiful. So many gorgeous plants and flowers for great prices. We also went to the Ladies Market several times shopping for purses and other items. It was great weather - not too hot (finally!)



We enjoyed a Thai cooking class during the week as well. The 3 of us took whole chilies, lemon grass, whole garlic, shallots, etc and made a curry paste with a mortar and pistol. It was a lot of hard work, but well worth it.

When Mike joined us after his business trip, we went to a nice dinner at Sevva with a great view of the harbor and Central. We ventured out to Lantau Island to see the big Buddha and ride the cable car. We also took a ferry out to Lamma island for an evening boat ride and seafood dinner.

Sugg Visit Part II

Hong Kong Battlefields and Wartime Sites

We went on an all day Battlefields tour around Hong Kong with a local historian. It was a grueling 8 hours of hiking, crawling, squatting, and riding on a tiny bus. Don't get me wrong – it was a great day. We learned all about World War II from HK's perspective. It was very eye opening for me. Hong Kong was attacked 5 hours after the Japanese began their attack on Pearl Harbor in the US. We were able to see pill boxes, bunkers, tunnels, artillery firing positions, war cemeteries, etc. It was a great history lesson (Dan Lasco - you would have loved it!)

Trip to Disneyland HK

Chris and I went to Disneyland this past Friday evening. The park was decorated and themed for Halloween. It's a surprisinly big holiday here.

We had a really good time. The park is very similar to the one in California (same layout, Main St looks the same, so does the entrance, etc). It's smaller, so it doesn't have all of the same rides. There were some interesting food options - fish balls, stir-fried squid tentacles, pasta cone, and a whole chicken wing. They had some more traditional items as well.

This trip made us really miss the crew we went to Disneyland CA with last fall.

Dragon's Back Hike with Chris & Jeff

I took Chris and Jeff to hike the Dragon's Back on HK island. It's a pretty short hike, but has some nice size hills. Luckily we had a cool day.

Hiking in Hong Kong - Violet Hill & The Twins

I've been doing a hike with the AWA almost every week. This past one was pretty tough, we climbed over 1300 stairs!

View from Violet Hill (yes, still on HK island!)

Looking ahead to The Twins

Almost there!

We usually go for a yummy lunch after the hikes (the only reason I go!). I've met some great ladies. I feel guilty sometimes doing such amazing things during the week while Chris slaves away at the office. I'll enjoy it while I can!

National Day

It was National Day this past Wednesday. Chris got the day off so we went on a hike with Jeff (Tai Tam Reservoir pics below). We also watched the fireworks from the roof of our building.

More Kittens Pics

Baxter and Lily are as cute as ever. I can't help but take pictures of them almost everyday.They love napping on the couch and climbing the new little tree we got. So naughty.

Fun Pics

We love having Jeff here! We have done lots of eating and drinking together. I have also included pictures from our hike on Wednesday. We decided to double back and it was all up hill. Brutal!

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Chris and I spent the long holiday weekend in Sabah, Malaysia. We stayed at the Shangri-La's Tanjung Aru Resort in Kota Kinabalu. It was considered the off season because of the heat, but it was still cooler and less humid than Hong Kong! It got down to the 70's at night. It was so nice.

TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN PARK

About a 10 minute boat ride from our hotel were 5 small islands - Tunku Abdul Rahman Park. We started the day on Pulau Sapi for snorkeling, white sand beaches, and swimming. We spent the late afternoon on Pulau Manukan island for lunch, and more ocean and beach fun. I'm still afraid of the ocean, but Chris was a great snorkel coach. The underwater disposable camera hardly does the coral justice. The area also boasts top 10 diving places in the world.

Garama Wetlands Tour

We traveled 2 hours south to the village of Garama to tour the Garama River. Most famous for the Proboscis monkey - only found in this area. We also saw Silver Langourm and Macaque monkeys, a Purple Heron, a baby crocodile, a monitor lizard, and water buffalo. After the cruise we had a delicious Malaysian dinner and watch fireflies light up nearby mangrove trees. It was worth the two hour bus ride!

2 new additions to our family!

Kittens!!! Say hello to Baxter and Lily.

Chinese Cooking Class

Chris and I took a 3 hour cooking class this past week. It was much fun and we got to eat some great Chinese food.

High Island Hike with AWA

Maggie's 1st hike with the American Women's Association

80's Party!

We got invited to an 80's themed birthday party last weekend. Gotta love getting in costume!














Who knew they still make Dunkaroos? They were as delicious as I remembered...

Typhoon Warning T9

We survived our 2nd typhoon warning. This one went up to a 9 (1o is a hurricane). It was very windy and rainy. We felt safe and even ventured out for lunch. It's common for most Dim Sum restaurants to stay open during T8s.

View day of T9 warning

View on a clear day (you can see the green netting on the building on the left in both pics)

All the taxi's park on the street in a T8+. It looks like the abandon them!

Our First Visitor

We had our first visitor 2 weekends ago. Our friend Joel from Stryker stopped over for the weekend on his way to Korea. We had a great time!

We finally moved into our apartment!

Chris and I finally moved into our apartment on Friday. We've been busy getting settled. It turns out the building and area we moved to are "up and coming". We kind of fell backwards into that! Here are some pictures and links about our place. We'll send pictures of our apartment after I've had more time to clean and organize. :)

A few of the amenities...
Roof top pool - 43 stories high















Roof top "garden" also 43 stories high















We also have a nice gym - the only downfall is you have to pay per use for the pool and gym.

If you want to see more....

http://www.jresidence.com.hk/

http://www.kwre.com.hk/homespace_en/hong_kong_en.html#J_Residence

It's all about the Dim Sum...

Chris and I went to yum cha this past weekend. We found a really good place very close to our new apartment in Wan Chai. The shrimp dumplings are my favorite. We were told the shrimp dumpling is the quintessential dish of a Cantonese restaurant. Chris loves the pork buns (they are delicious too!)

Top 5 Favorite Things About Our Week

5) Our friend Mike told us about a great wine bar called - Tastings. We've been twice already. (picture below)









4) We found a fun comedy club and met some cool folks - Take Out Comedy - they are the first comedy club in China (http://www.takeoutcomedy.com/index2.html)

3) We bought our first item of furniture together! (our couch - still at the store)















2) We also purchased a wardrobe set and had it installed (built in closets aren't common here).
















1) We found out we get to move into our apartment on the 8th! We are pumped to start getting settled. It will be a busy week transitioning into the new place.

A random encounter

Chris ran into our friend Mike on Tuesday night who happened to be in town for a few days. Batman was just a bonus addition! There are over 7 million people in Hong Kong. Who would have thought?!

Chris and I took a very ride over to Lamma Island this past weekend. I've included some pictures in the slide show. It was a cool 40 minute ferry ride to one of Hong Kong's 236 Islands. They have a fresh seafood restaurant that we ate at. There were several hiking trails. We hiked out to a little beach area. It was a good time. The only bad part was the HUGE spiders we saw on our hike. You can watch this YouTube video if you want to see them http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00y1IzkHzlA.

Slide Show Lamma Island