Beth's tips for cruising!

Last night we went out for some drinks. During conversation I mentioned I was going on a cruise in October. One of the girls there used to work on a cruise ship and gave me tons of tips!!


1. Play bingo! Sounds geeky but apparently it can really pay off!
2. Play in the casino. They are not as serious as in Vegas, so it can be really fun.
3. Pay extra for the private dining, at least once. Seven courses of fab food, even better if you go for the wine pairings!
4. Go see the shows. They are really well put together and entertaining.
4. Do at least one excursion.
6. If you are seasick, don't screw around! Go right to the purser who will give you a pill better than gravol. Still sick? Shell out some bucks to see the doctor. He will give you a shot that will make everything better!
7. Participate in the activities! You can win prizes and have fun!
8. Get the cheesy formal photo's done.
9. Pack some booze in your luggage. When you leave, walk your own luggage off the ship so you can leave whenever you feel like it!
10. Tip up front! Tell your steward that you expect to be taken care of, and that in return there will be more tips at the end. Basically bribe yourself some excellent service!
11. The disco is fun.
12. Ask the staff what the best excursions are, they will know!

I am more excited than ever about this cruise!

American Idol look alike

Is it just me or does Clay Aiken look just like Paul Reubens AKA Pee Wee Herman???


What do you think??

Happy Valley races

Our picture was taken with the Jockey Girls and entered into a contest for the "brightest smile".
(remember you can always click on picture to enlarge)











Dustin, MJ and Ryan.

Dustin is from the US here to see about getting hired with Cathay.








Last night we went to the Happy Valley horse races. It was a blast!

The beer garden area is full of Expats with pitchers of Carlsberg, all there for the beverages, not the gambling.

It took us a while to figure out how to place our bets but with a group effort we managed to lose some money quite nicley! With MJ's help we won the first few races.
**Notice my Sugarlime earrings; the real reason I left the house!**


After the horses went round, these ladies came out and replaced the grass chunks.











After the races we headed to Lan Kwai Fong.











After a few too many brews, Dustin and Grant decided to purchase some sunglasses with flashing lights on the sides. I have a feeling they might be having some buyers remorse in the morning!

Unfortunetly for MJ the night ended poorly. She twisted her ankle coming out of the loo and ended up in emergency. She has some nice crutches as a souvineer of the night.

Curtain NEW POST

Do you remember this project I started months ago?


I franticaly bought everything and tried to get it ready for guests visiting. Then when I came home and tried to instal the curtain rod the walls were all cement! I was so upset after all it took to get to that point, I threw it all in the closet and gave up!





Well it is finally installed and up!!
















Now all that pesky sunlight that streams in and wakes us up early has been stopped in it's tracks!!!
We slept till 10am this morning!

















Now all I need is a curtain tie or hook to sweep it back during the day and it will be complete!

Special Request

Over the weekend I went to a BBQ at Gill and Paul's in Sai Kung. They provided a fabulous feast for about 20 of us!
I met someone there who already knew me...."I recognize you! I've seen your blog!" A special request was put in for some wedding photo's, since she had seen all the honeymoon ones.

























(I love how in this one we are all cheers-ing and Ryan is already drinking!!)

False Alarm

The typhoon never really happened. It was upgraded to a stage 3 for high winds. We got some rain, but that's about it. No gail force winds or flying patio furniture (not that we have a patio)
Hopefully next time we will see more action!

TYPHOON CHANCHU!!

Click on the 'weather' link on my blog. A cyclone is coming thru! How exciting! My first real storm! Too bad Suds is flying in from LA the day it's expected to hit! I hope he gets home and is not marooned somewhere! I will keep you updated with pics if anything happens.

In building lobbies there are signs warning "standby signal stage one". On the website it also warns,
"PEOPLE LIVING IN WOODEN HUTS AND IN LOW-LYING AREAS SHOULD TAKE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS AGAINST STRONG WINDS AND FLOODING."

...only in China do they warn the people living in wooden huts via the internet.....

Baby shower

Shannon threw a baby shower for Barbara and Otto while we were in Vancouver. I even got to wear my freshly purchased Sugarlime earrings!!

It was a mini high school reunion, which means we will not be attending the real one this year!!

Seeing these pics, and the ones on Shannon's blog have me thinking, "why the heck is my skin always so flushed?" It must be that chilly Spring air on the West Coast, cause we had not had that much to drink, regardless of all slander I have been reading about myself! lol


You can see the new dress I bought specially for the shower. I also wore it to the Sugarlime jewelry party I went to with Tiffany before the shower. It was at that party that a former co-worker (who I will not name but the name rhymes with Candy) actually asked me if I was "sporting a baby" under the dress! And I had a glass of wine in my hand at the time!! Obviously I am not over the comment:) It was extra bad because when I bought the dress and showed Suds he said it looked like a maternity dress. Whatever.

Safely home in Hong Kong

Suds arrived n Hong Kong a few days before me and had some great weather! The sky was blue with white clouds and the sun shining and clear!

Suds says it was the nicest few days since we've been in Hong Kong.

Lexi got to come home from the kennel too!
She wasn't doing as well as Suds. Lex lost about 5 pounds, which is saying a lot when you only weigh 12lbs to start with! Needless to say we will not be sending her away again!























Across the street from us they were drying some stuff in the sun















Me out for lunch when I got in on Thursday. I skipped Wednesday all together, which was fine by me! lol

Suds, Dane and I had a set Egyptian lunch at Habibi Cafe for $60HK. So good.

With the Canadian dollar doing so well, it means lunch was extra cheap...it also means Suds makes less money cause the Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the currently weak US dollar.

Matt and Kristi get married

Wowza! I should wear make-up more often!!
















In between the ceremony and reception a bunch of us headed to the "Rivers Reach" for a drink and a bite.



















The blushing bride and her "Maids"













This is the only pic we got of Matt and Kristi together! Suds the photographer had quite a lot of "Fireball" and lost interest in taking pictures.

Brendon and Taylor














Pat in his party suite #902













The mother of the groom is part of the party!

White Rock

We fully took advantage of the beautiful Spring weather and spent the day in White Rock.
We started with lunch at "Senses" deviating from out tried and true patio restaurant "charlie Don't Surf" and were pleasantly surprised. I had salmon sandwhich and Suds had fish n'chips and a beer. All yummy!



The pier at White Rock. One night myself and several friends were given the task of counting every single one of the planks along that pier...too bad I don't remember the number now.



The waterfront main drag.













After lunch we visited the Fireman's Lottery house. WOW! Obviously we bought a ticket after seeing this stunning kitchen.
Can you imagine the masterpieces I could whip up in here? If you play your cards right, after we win this beauty I might ask you over for dinner.

Abbey

Suds' niece sure knows how to smile!!!


She is a bundle of happy, playful energy! Always running around and eager to show off some toy to you. A real girly girl she loves her purses, phone calls and the colour pink.
I wonder is she knows she will not be the only twinkle in her parents eye soon? A little brother or sister is on the way!

After camping and four wheeling the truck definetly needed a wash. Suds loved the Oasis car wash. After years of driving by on the way to Gramma D's he finally stopped in.





This is Ryan McIsaac at a golf course in Pitt Meadows. Look at the beautiful background scenery!
Suds managed to go golfing twice, but his new clubs did not consistantly improve his score.





Shannon threw an improptu dinner party where we finally got to meet little Otto!










On Friday we headed downtown for a night at "The Royal". We were all very responsible and took the Skytrain into the city.







The night didn't end as well for Pat. He spent the night topless in a jail cell on East Hastings St for being drunk and unruly in public.

He tried to get released by telling the officers that he paid their wages with his taxes, and when that didn't work, asked for badge numbers and said they were all going to be fired for this!
He also mentioned he surfed in Tofino, in case that helped his situation.

returning home

I pretended to be a tourist today and went to the Capilano Suspension bridge with Pat. Apparently he built it a few months ago (lol)

I am catching the 3am flight back to Hong Kong tonight. Yah! It has been a good trip, but I am ready for some hot weather! It's been chilly here the past couple'a days.

Be on the lookout for some pics and blurbs about our time in Vancouver. Hopefully I will have something up in a day or two....

Movie Reviews

We have seen two movies while in Vancouver.
The first was Scary Movie 4, which was about as good as one would expect for that type of movie. They did some spoofs on "War of the Worlds", "Saw", and a bunch of others, but the best skit was at the end when the credits were rolling when they did a hilarious one on Tom Cruise and Oprah! It was a good ending to a so so movie.
Last night I saw "Friends with Money" with Shannon. It was TERRIBLE. One of those movies where the screen goes black at the end and you think, "what??" You are let into a little bit to the lives of 4 girlfriends and their husbands but at the end nothing is really resolved, it is still at loose ends. The last line in the movie was "I have problems" which kind of summed up the movie. Not reccommended
Next on the list is Mission Impossible 3, coming out on Friday. This series of movies has special meaning to Ryan and I....on one of our first dates he took me to see the opeing of the second one, after some not-too-subtle hinting from me! Will let you know how it turns out!!