Royal Asiatic Society

Lizzie and I are not members of the American Club, the China Club, the Hong Kong Club, Club Lusitano, The Foreign Correspondents Club or any of the hoity toity social clubs here in Hong Kong. However, we are card carrying members and also likely the youngest members of the HK branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. To quote a line from Swingers, "Guys like you and me, we got to kick it here, old school.....yes, this is old school..." Well, the organization dates back to 1823 and its charter aims to 'provide a forum for those who are interested in the history, languages, cultures and religions of Asia. There are frequent meetings and lectures from local and visiting scholars, most of which are pointed toward local topics of interest relating to HK's colorful history. Our attendance is spotty, but when we do go we are always very happy we did.

So on Saturday we went on a walking tour of Sai Ying Pun, a historic area that is slated for government 're-urbanization,' read: Goodbye charming neighborhood, hello Starbucks. Our guide was a visiting professor at HKU and he did a great job describing how government, greed and government greed can shape the real estate development in a small slice of HK. Why some buildings are left to rot in the shade of its neighboring high-end glass tower.

We thoroughly enjoyed it, but with an 8-month pregnant Lizzie, the walking aspect of the tour forced us to bow out at the 2 hour mark. But less was more in this case.

Early Xmas

Xmas comes early in Hong Kong. With no Thanksgiving to compete with, retailers in HK have put away the pumpkins and spooky decorations and rolled out the XMas tidings. Here is a photo from Starbucks today (November 7th) where I'm drinking from a red holiday cup and pre-ordering my Christmas tree, shipped fresh from the US. Nat King Cole might have been playing over the sound system.....Lizzie called the 'tree lot' to confirm our order and was met with a friendly but choppy "You want 6-foot or 8-foot?! Noble fir or Douglas fir?! You tell me!?"

Star Wars

Apperantly the force was with us all on Halloween. While Lizzie dressed as Princess Leia here in Cloud City, her little nephew Wyatt and his pal Wesley were dressed as Yoda and Chewie back in the desert of Tatoonie.

Hong Kong Halloween

Halloween Dance Party

Our building held a Halloween costume party last evening which culminated into a big dance party for Ingrid and all her pals.

Thanks for the Care Package

Thanks for the care package Grandma, Ingrid loved it. She broke a major rule of superstition by opening the umbrella indoors, but she had a lot of fun doing it.

Pollution Record

Why does the United Nations hold its Climate Change conferences in clear-aired cities like Kyoto and Copenhagen? To show the world how wonderful clean and cool air can be? They should have held the conference in Hong Kong yesterday when the city set a new record for air pollution, to show how disgusting unchecked industry and consumption can be on a city's breathable air. It was nasty, we just stayed inside and stared at it through our windows, though it did make for a pretty sunset.

Halloween Prep

Something we miss greatly about home is being able to go to a proper patch to pick out our Halloween pumpkins. Pumpkin patches in Hong Kong are found only in the supermarkets that cater to the expat crowd, so today we headed to Oliver's market and picked out a nice 20 pounder. We brought it back to the apartment building and all Ingrid's friends marveled at its size. If only they could see the 1200 pounder that won this year's HMB festival!

Ing & the Wy Guy

Ingrid and Wyatt had a professional photo shoot last time they were together in Phoenix....we're quite happy with the results.

Back in HK - Some Things Never Change

We had a great trip to Japan but now we're back in HK and must celebrate all the things that make it such a unique city. With that comes news of an apartment that sold yesterday to a Mainland buyer for $57 million. It is actually in a building that looms above ours on Conduit Road, if you look at this photo our building is the white one to the left and behind of it.

The developer's advert touts the building saying the buyer "will enjoy an exclusive address in the hills of Hong Kong's main island - a majestic realm for the city who's who".....that must be us! Not making the news was a $51 million apartment sold in the same development. This is a crazy city.