Bird Flu

Bird flu is back in Hong Kong for the first time in five years. Farms outside of Hong Kong are culling hundreds of thousands of chickens due to an outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza.

Our Little Garden Gnome

resting in the shade of Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, wearing one of the cute new outfits gifted to her by our friends Justine and Aaron. Thank you guys so much!

Malaysia

The business portion of my trip to Langkawi is over so now it's time to relax! Well, I was here for a conference that was actually a lot of fun and it was very inclusive to family, so it can't totally be considered work. There were lavish dinners with entertainment by fire eaters, native dancers and animal handlers.

Langkawi is absolutely beautiful, an island paradise. As with anytime we're able to escape Hong Kong, its nice to breathe fresh air, enjoy the tranquility away from the big city and let Ingrid run about without boundaries.

Langkawi is 100% muslim so there isn't much of a holiday vibe in the air. We are so looking forward to heading home over Christmas to be with family.

Club Paradise

Island Life on Langkawi

Dad and Daughter

Ingrid loves the beach so much she could eat it.

Off to Langkawi

It's a busy travel season, we're off to Malaysia for the coming week. Part work, part play.

Christmas Comes Early

Well before Thanksgiving Sydney had dressed up for Christmas. So we indulged in the holiday a bit early this year.

Bondi Beach

After taking in plenty of Sydney's urban city activities the family went to the beach. It happened to be a very stormy day so we were mostly alone on the beach save the surfing crowd but they kept there distance out in the "rough as guts" waves. It turned out to be one of those dramatic overcast days, cold and drizzly, so the bathing suits we packed along with our dreams of taking a dip in one of Sydney's seawater rock pools will have to wait until our next visit. Rock Pools or Sea Pools are chlorine-free saltwater pools that sit between the rocky cliffs and the ocean breakers, the walls of the pool fort a sort of rock jetty. And apparantly Sydney beaches are dotted with these pools that the locals use as a nice alternative to the gusty swells of the ocean. I read that the oldest of the pools was built using convict muscle from Oz's days as a penal colony, and that the pools were to be enjoyed by soldiers, sailors, hospital inmates and the convicts themselves who were compelled to take a salty "rock bath" on sanitary grounds.

We walked the beach and Ingrid pointed at every bird, a sport that has become a favorite pastime of hers and then just as it began to pour down rain we ducked into a restaurant called Icebergs. We had a terrific lunch and enjoyed the view from our cliff side retreat overlooking the mile long curve of Bondi's golden sand.

Though it was a far cry from the photos I have seen of Bondi Beach with Australians celebrating their sunny summer Christmas Day in Santa Claus caps and string bikinis or with small Christmas trees at the edge of their beach towel, maybe next year we will join them. In Hong Kong we also get the Australia Network on TV where "Bondi Rescue" is a favorite reality show. Its like Baywatch, but 'real.' But the poor weather kept the camera crews indoors and the beachgoers at home. Can't complain, a vacant beach is my kind of beach.