Cats do the darndest things

Lexi loves exploring.
Sometimes disastrously! One day she ended up trapped. She fell down the crevice between the 7 foot high wardrobe and the wall. We were both panicking! But she is a good jumper and after many attempts managed to jump and claw her way to freedom.




Here she is back on top of the wardrobe. This time she snuggled in between the layers of the guest mattress. It's a good place for her when thunder storms strike!






















Lexi is an avid reader. Here she is selecting her next book to read.

Junk Trip with the Outback Boys

On Saturday we headed out on water for a junk boat trip with the Outback baseball boys.

Andrew, here in town training from Prince George was lucky enough to come along:)







Everyone ready to board the boat



Is this our boat? Nooooo....









Here's our boat!









See you later, big smelly city!











We left about 10:30 and it was already smokn' hot, about 30 degrees! We were loving the breeze once we got going!








Heading out of the harbour going East. Nothing but apartments and buildings as far as the eye can see!










Typical local boat








Down below is old Hong Kong homes and in the background new high rises.








Big cemetery built up a hill.
A good burial place is one with a view.
But it's not yours forever. I think you only get it for 20 years, then you have to move!








Our lagoon for the afternoon at Clearwater Bay.



















The Clearwater Bay golf course.








Suds was the first in the water :)











But everyone else, me included, soon followed!







There was a mini dive competition





























In all the pics I am holding a beer, but I promise you, they belong to whomever is taking the picture. They needed their hands free!

Makes me think how my friends and I joked how our parents were always drinking from stubbies and smoking in our baby pictures.
Will our baby think I was a boozer while preggy?







Heading back already. The day went too quick!









The city was sparkly clean when we came back. Rarely does it look so beautiful. Usually it is filtered thru "haze"

night at the races

Gill and Paul invited us out for a night at the Happy Valley races.
The night included dinner and drinks in a club house bar, so obviously we were going!








We had a great night. The views you get from a few floors up is much better!

The new BBQ!

Here's Suds grilling up a storm on the new BBQ!

What is he cooking you ask?

Click here. It was yummy and easy.

Cathay's new first and business class

Early this year Cathay changed their seat design for all classes on the 747.
I can personally attest to the huge improvements in business class and can only dream of experiencing the luxury of first class. And who cares about the suckers in economy:) Just kidding! That will be the only way I can fly in just weeks!

Business now has lay flat seats with massage options which are a dream! The personal 15" tv's pull out so they are directly in front of you and are fully controlled by the passenger; play, pause ect. Some complain that the diagonal layout limits what you can see out the windows, but with all the movies you can watch, why look outside? There is even a little seat for guests to come and chat with you.











First class seats are even wider than business and you get fresh flowers! Another perk of First is you get silk pajamas to sleep in (and keep!)







Your seat is more like a private room with a seat for guests as well.













So much room!!!







I have experienced the first class bathroom. They are huge and have a real porcelain sink and windows as you can see!

BBQ

Suds surprised me with a BBQ returning from his last trip to Vancouver.
I was so excited to cook up some steaks! Sadly, ever since then it has been raining, so no chance yet. But watch this site for photos of us grilling some South African meat and finally putting to use the gorgeous BBQ tool set Dad and Judy gave us!

We Will Rock You

We recently attended a rock musical called We Will Rock You. It is a live theater production set to the music of Queen, a similar idea to Momma Mia. Those who know me well will know that I like Queen as much as I like Ozzy and Black Sabath. But I dragged Suds to Elton, so I owed him one :)

The night started well with a free bus trip to Wan Chai because of a faulty Octopus reader. Then because it was a slow Wednesday night, the cheap seats we bought up in the rafters were upgraded to back row floor seats. Sweet!


I really enjoyed the show. The lead singer (the 3 place finalist in Rockstar INXS reality show) was excellent! The storyline was weak, but the energy was great!

The story takes place in a tongue-in-cheek dystopian future where originality and individualism are shunned, and a lone "Dreamer" appears who can fulfil a prophecy that will enable the return of rock 'n roll. (Thank you Wikipedia)

If it comes to a theater near you, I reccommend going to see it!

Black Rain Signal UPDATE

Here are some stats for you about the recent rainfall:

300mm of rain fell in 12 hours between midnight and midday. (that's a school rulers worth!)

There were 89 reported landslides

3657 lightning strikes from 7am-8am

145.5mm of rain fell from 8am-9am in TST. That is the most recorded rain since they began recording it in 1884.

539 cases of flooding

The black rain warning means that more the 70 mm of rain is expected per hour.

Black Rain Signal

Early this morning we woke to major thunder and lightning and an issued black rain warning from the weather dept.

This means there is so much rain, people don't even have to go to work! People are advised to stay home, schools may close and there is no traffic on the roads!

Suds thought it looked like a good time, so he put on his bathing suit and a rain coat and headed out for some fun!







Poor Lexi is so scared of thunder :(
She spent the morning slinking around and hiding under the covers in bed.





These pics don't do it justice! It must be seen to be believed!

Central wet market

Anyone who has visited us will recognize this place. We love to bring tourists here:)





It is the 140 year old Central wet market. The cheapest place in town to buy your fruit and veg. In the mornings it is packed with helpers picking up supplies for the days meals.





You can also buy fresh flowers, eggs, meat and fish.

This is one of the last remaining markets in Hong Kong. So of course the city wants to put a high rise in it's place. Hong Kong loves to destroy anything of historical or architectural value.

Hawaii

On the plane to Hawaii!!!!
Can you believe Air Canada doesn't serve complimentary food on a 6 hour flight?

The flight attendants took pity on me and gave me some free carrots and apple slices:)





Our first morning in Waikiki. We walked along the beach and had a pic taken with Duke.







We took a catamaran cruise out from the beach. It was windy and choppy going out but smooth on the return.

There was a lady who puked all over her husband. The smile never left his face, he just cleaned himself up. I couldn't believe it!














The lobby for our hotel was one floor up from the street.
This is us heading out to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner.









Love my new red purse. I think we are soul mates.














We rented a car for a day and drove up to the North Shore.

The first stop was the Dole Plantation. Suds LOVES the pineapple Dole Whip you can get here. It is always on his "must do" list when we visit Hawaii.








We took a 20 minute train ride around the fields. Pineapples are a tough crop! They must be planted and harvested by hand and it takes about 2 years to get 2 pineapples! Then the plants are ripped out and the process started again.








Waimea Bay, North Shore










During the winter, Waimea has some of the biggest waves for surfing in the world.

It would be awesome to see a competition here one day!

When we were here there weren't many waves, but a huge sea turtle swam right underneath us as we were laying on an inflatable!

On the way back to Waikiki we stopped and had some garlic shrimp at a roadside trailer shack. The first time we had this was with Shannon and her bro's. I think we are still burping garlic hahahahaha








Here is the car we rented. It only cost us about $35 so weren't expecting much, but this was really cute!









Breakfast buffet at Duke's looking out over Waikiki Beach.
Across from us was a guy who asked for 2 takeaway boxes after his meal. Then went up to the buffet with the boxes, filled them up and walked out! Ballsy!
















Waiting to board the bus to Germain's Luau.



















We have been to the Luau so many times now! Nothing has really changed, except we think the shell lei's are getter cheaper looking:)















The food hasn't changed at the Luau either:)

Hey! Where are my Blue Hawaiians??















The main drag in Waikiki











This is a newly renovated area of Waikiki. It is called the Beachwalk and has all sorts of new shops and restaurants as well as landscaping.
This is the area we normally stayed at on Lewers Street. It is much improved!










On our last day we rented some sun loungers and an umbrella. If only we knew days before how much more enjoyable it was this way!
Oh well. Next time we will head straight here!
















Bye bye Hawaii.

See you again in about 3 years:)