Zai Jien - For Good This Time, 5/2/09

Waiting for the Airport Express train.

I love this photo. This is in the Cathay Pacific business class lounge. I like to think that Dan is telling her we're about to start a new life and that everything is going to be okay. They are sitting at the bar where he's having a gin and tonic and she's eating up their celery stash.

In her pod watching the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Their first long haul flight together.

This is a tough post to write. I'm not sure if Stella knows that we won't be back in Hong Kong for quite a while. We've been in La Jolla for almost 2 months now and I've been delaying writing this. I loved every minute of being there and will miss it.

The flight was easy but it's usually tough to complain about business class on Cathay Pacific (other than I wish the pods were slightly wider). Dan struck up a conversation with a businessman that was from Carlsbad. At one point the man asked Dan, "Did you...actually...pay for her (Stella's) seat???" We thought that was funny.

Anyway, we made it home but we'll definitely be back to visit.

Last Lobby Lounge Breakfast, 5/2/09

The other thing, aside from the giant muffins, that Stella likes at the Lobby Lounge is the chicken sausage. She calls it "hot dog" and in the bottom photo she's in the process of asking me for "more hot dog!"

Last Sunset, 5/1/09

One last photo of the sunset over the Shun Tak building and Macau Ferry Terminal. That was the view from our living room window. You can see Stella's hand prints on the window.

Bye-Bye Hotel, 5/1/09

Today was a national holiday, May Day, and since it was our last full day in Hong Kong, I wanted to just spend it in the hotel. I took Stella to the playroom for one last time. She said "bye-bye" to all the toys in there she loved, including the pirate in the photo above. She still asks me to "play LEGOs with little boy" which means go to the hotel playroom.

When we got back up to the flat, Mandy and Nora were in there with Dan. They had brought us each a beautifully wrapped Four Seasons Hotel bathrobe as a goodbye gift. Totally unexpected. The kid's robe is to die for it's so cute. Stella and I followed them back to the lobby where we got the mail and chatted. Stella was asking to see Cyrus (or it might have been the other way around) so they paged him and he came. Stella even let him pick her up. She loves his glasses. They let her raid the sticker stash one more time.

"Mommy, Take Picture HERE", 4/30/09

This was an incredibly busy day! The movers came and took away all of our things which was quite sad. I'll never forget the look on Eddy the bellman's face when he saw them take out all of our stuff. It was a look of shock, like he couldn't believe we were leaving.

In the afternoon, we went to Gymboree with Summer. Max was there too! Then, we took a taxi to Moorea's house to visit. Summer and her mom, Lily, came too. It was very fun and Moorea has two big doggies! We shared a taxi home with Summer and the two of them laughed hysterically the entire time and stared out the back window pointing at stuff. I wish I knew what they were saying to each other. We had a tearful goodbye and then arrived at the IFC where we grabbed some food at Mix and went out to the ferry pier to meet Dan and his friend Peter at BBQ bar. When it was time to go home, Stella for the first time, started posing all around the area up there asking me to take her photo. She kept saying, "Take picture little girl!" Maybe she knew we were about to leave Hong Kong for good.

Last Trip To Ocean Park, 4/28/09

We made one last trip to Ocean Park. So sad. We saw the seal show again and there was one funny moment where Summer made a run for it up the ramp to try to join the show. We jumped in the jumper thing and at the end of the day, Holly, stayed in there until probably after closing time. Max, Holly and Stella would not get out of these cars. We kept trying to coax them up to the playground where everyone else was but it wasn't working. Stella kept saying "Mommy!!!! Little girl needs MONEY!!!" in order to keep her little car moving. They sort of switched cars and the bottom photo is her inviting Max into her car to sit on her lap. Ethan was there too.

We had a crazy taxi ride home with Max and Summer. They were all high strung and giggly.

Disneyland, 4/26/09

We had such a good time. We went a few months prior and she was still very shy around the characters, but not this time. This time she was more of a stalker and I kept having to tell her that there were other people waiting their turn to take photos. For a shy little girl, I was so surprised that she ran right up to all of them. We rode several rides including It's a Small World which was closed last time. She loved that and kept saying, "Whoa!" and "Wow!" so near the ride's exit we sat on a bench and shared an ice cream while watching the ticking clock. I was sad to think this would be the last time for a while that we'd be doing this.

She is always a mini celebrity at these places because of all the mainlanders who want to take her picture because of her blue eyes and light hair. She didn't seem to mind it too much this time. The staff there is also in the habit of passing out gazillions of stickers, which I don't remember anyone ever doing at the Anaheim Disneyland. It does help keep kids occupied while standing in line, except the longest line we stood in was for Dumbo and that was a whopping 5 minutes.

Also, I'm so used to grabbing pizza, hamburger or french fries for lunch at amusement parks. It's funny to me that all I could find in a hurry was stir fry and won tons. But that makes sense, doesn't it?

We took home a Mickey Mouse to go with the Minnie Mouse we bought last time. She sleeps with them both.

Breakfast At The Lobby Lounge, 6/21/09

We'd been trying not to buy much food in preparation for moving, so Stella and I took to eating breakfast in the Lobby Lounge. She loved it. They have enormous muffins with a separate giant muffin top that's basically like a crumb cake. I'd order her muffin without the top so they'd wind up bringing us 2 or 3 carrot raisin bran muffins instead. They would then package what she didn't eat in a very small Four Seasons Hotel bag, which she'd proudly carry back to our flat as if she'd been shopping in the gift shop. At breakfast they'd also give her a special Hong Kong Four Seasons Hotel coloring book. She'd color and label all the staff in the coloring book, "Mandy, Cyrus, Eddy, Daphne" and all the other people that have been so nice to her. She'd tell me to draw black glasses on one of the bellman in the book to make him look like Cyrus.

Issy's Birthday Party, 4/25/09

Summer and Stella holding hands.

Ethan's mom, Annie, playing ring around the rosy with Stella, Summer and Ethan.

Parachute time--Issy is in the blue dress.

Waiting for the bus to the ferry with Holly and Ethan.

Issy's party was so much fun. It had been an Amber rainstorm earlier in the morning so we were worried about the ferry not being able to take us to Discovery Bay, where Issy lives. The ride over was very smooth and everyone was very excited. We took the ferry with Holly, Ethan and Summer.

When we got to the party Issy's mom, Caroline, had made Indian headbands for us to put together and wear. There was a lot of food and plenty of toys to play with. They played "parachute time" and pass the parcel. All of the kids were so good on both the bus and the ferry!

Ocean Park 4/21/09

On the way home, everyone is hungry and sharing snacks.

Eating Sienna's popcorn by the carousel!

Ethan and I on the swing.

Natalie and I about to go down the slide.

We went to Ocean Park with Natalie, Sienna, Ethan, Clara, Summer, Parker and their moms. The weather was perfect and it was not at all crowded. We played on the playground and saw the seal show!

Summer's Birthday Party

Stella is really going to miss Summer when we leave. These are photos from Summer's birthday party. I'm glad we landed in time to go. Stella talks about Summer all the time and it was fun because most of Stella's friends (and mine) were there.

Back to Hong Kong!!!

Stella is sooooo happy to be here because we don't really have much else to do aside from socializing and playing with her. The hotel had an Easter party where they hired a children's play company to bring in crafts and equipment. She told me as we were leaving that, "Party Fun, Mama!!!" We have been so, so busy just trying to maximize our time here.

In the second photo, she is listening to a Dora the Explorer walkman that her friend Summer gave her for her birthday. She dances around the house listening to it. She is also wearing her panda headband from Ocean Park (Hong Kong's SeaWorld equivalent).

Busy Birthday

Stella's birthday and Easter was very fun but we'll blog about that later since most of the photos are on the La Jolla computer and we are in Hong Kong right now. The highlights were a joint birthday party between Stella, Jack and our friend Bryan. Bryan was celebrating his 34th birthday but it was fitting that he share his party with two 2-year-olds for a number of reasons that I won't get into on Stella's blog. :) Then, we had combo Easter/Stella's birthday at the Cebron's house where Stella ate cake, played piano and ripped open her presents.

Zai Jien

Goodbye Hong Kong, for now. We had an emotional trip home as neither of us wanted to leave. Stella flew extremely well, per usual. She enjoyed her pod on Cathay Pacific much more than I thought and had basically no jet lag. She told me the other day that she wanted to play LEGOs and jump with the Little Boy. That means go to the hotel playroom. Me too, I thought to myself.

I'll leave it at that for now as there is still so much up in the air.

"Lih-ul Boy-eeee"

Stella has a crush on an unruly 4-year-old boy that lives in the hotel. I'm hoping this is not going to be a pattern. He comes to the playroom after school in the afternoon. She met him once and he was just not that into her. There is something to be said about that book at all ages, apparently. The result is that his indifference makes her even more into him. So, the next time we went to the playroom she ran down the hall like a crazed loon screaming, "Little Boy!!!" which sounds like, "Lih-ul Boy-eeeee!!!" This is from someone who still grunts when she wants something instead of speaking. So, now every time she hears a kid in the hall she asks me if it's Little Boy. Today, she did not want to get out of her pajamas and was about to pitch a fit but then I told her we were going to get the mail and then go to the playroom. I said it's possible that Little Boy will be there. She got excited and let me put on her clothes. She looked down at them and said, "Mirror!" and ran over to the mirror to check herself out. She smiled at herself, puffed up her hair and I could tell she was thinking about Little Boy. I thought that was funny.

We got to the playroom and it was empty. She was disappointed, but then 20 minutes later Little Boy emerged with his sister and mom. Stella was beyond happy trying to copy everything he did and trying to get his attention. It makes his mom really nervous to have Stella around, I can tell. I would be nervous too since he is one of the worst behaved children I've ever seen.

Kung Hei Fat Choi!!!!

It's now officially year of the Ox. We spent New Year's Eve at home as Dan caught Stella's cold and needed to lay low. She and I got fidgety so we spent our New Year's Eve playing kickball in the hotel hallways. She loves that as our hallway is pretty long. Dan felt better today, New Years Day, but most everything is closed or has limited hours. In the end, he wasn't well enough to venture out so in the afternoon she and I took her green ball downstairs to roam the hotel. The hotel was totally overstaffed so the staff came out into the lobby to play ball too. I wish I had my camera on me because it was so funny.

Before we left for CA in Nov, she LOVED this one younger bellman, Cyrus. She would giggle and give him high fives whenever we left or entered the lobby. Now, she is totally shy with him. He told me today, as he was doing his best to get into her good graces by playing ball, that he felt like he'd been dumped. The rest of the staff roared with laughter and kept calling him Stella's ex-boyfriend. Two of the girls then took Stella to the bigger hotel lobby, to see the piano player. They walked each holding one of her hands and would periodically lift Stella as it she was flying. Hard to explain. But then one of the girls kept going to the afternoon tea in the Lobby Lounge to get berries and small treats for Stella. I really wanted a macaroon but felt awkward asking!!!

In the lower photo, Stella is holding a traditional Chinese New Year cake from Kee Wah bakery. I am drawing a total blank right now as to what it's called. It is not to Dan's or my taste but Stella had a few bites and seemed to like it. It was quite a challenge getting it out of the packaging and resembled cheese almost in texture, which is probably why she liked it so much!

Because Dan was sick and wanted pizza, on New Years Eve we ordered from California Pizza Kitchen. They have a Greek pizza that comes with tzasiki. In the first photo above, I wasn't paying attention to what Stella was doing but then looked up and saw this. She loved the stuff. Stella is actually very thin right now after being sick so it didn't bother me to see her gum a small tub of it, since it's basically yogurt. She has been SO PICKY lately with what she eats that it's a victory if she eats anything at all.

Bath Time

After Stella went to bed, it was time for Teddy and Duckie to get baths. We are on our 3rd Duckie right now (the 4th is in CA) so it was time for really yucky Duckie to get a bath. The other dirty backup Duckie got tossed in Stella's closet in an effort to hide him before she walked into her room and caught Dan in the act of switching them. The 3rd (clean) Duckie is sleeping right now with Stella in her crib. We are keeping up the charade that there is only one Duckie but I think by now she's figured it out. The bait and switch is always a drama involving quick hiding of the Duckie we need to wash while swapping for the clean one.

In CA I put them in our washing machine on the hand wash setting but we don't have that in HK so I hand wash them. This bowl of bath water is JUST from Duckie because he was so, so gross. This is the Duckie that came on the plane with us and I swear I washed him just a few days before we left and he's been out of rotation for a week. Teddy's bath water was pale (literally) in comparison. He just had some food on his arm.

I had to take a photo because it was just so funny. Dan was super grossed out. But, it's a sign that Duckie is well loved. He goes everywhere with her.