Wordless Wednesday (seven)

Follow-up from last Tuesday's vent

Last Tuesday I had a series of unfortunate incidents that combined to make an awful day.

I left my bag on a bus in the morning on the way to school. I joked in my post about retrieving my bag on the same bus which is exactly what happened. That afternoon I "coincidentally" caught the exact same #26 bus and found my bag next to the driver and completely intact. Yay!

I also managed to find a replacement bolt (of sorts) for Tirzah's stroller at this market shop.

I couldn't do anything about the "Peter and the Wolf" tickets that sold out, but guess who is coming to Hong Kong? I learned my lesson and got Wiggles tickets early, so Tirzah is in for a real treat.

We are also doing much better health-wise, so thank you for your prayers and well wishes.

Bubble wrap fun

Here's a cheap way to have fun. 

Find a huge strip of bubblewrap and lay it on the floor. Then you can jump, walk, dance or roll on it to your heart's content enjoying all the popping sounds and the different bumpy texture. (Cricket gear is optional; one of these children thought the bubblewrap made a perfect cricket pitch.)

New playground equipment

The kindergartners at NIS were very happy when the parent committee recently raised enough funds for new playground equipment. We have been observing workers laying the soft tiles and installing the new equipment.

Today at last it was ready to try out!

Bon Appetit

Pizza anyone? This was our shared meal at Bible study one week.

The children and I made a batch of "oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies" on Friday. All gone now!

Craig took this photo of the items on clearance at our local supermarket. I guess Vegemite and Marmite aren't very popular in Hong Kong. C'mon, Sweeneys and Krohns, you just need to develop more sophisticated taste buds!

Probably the best $6 AUD "steak and wedges" meal Craig has ever had.

This meal was a lot more than $6 but very nice. It was in a flash 'touristy' restaurant on the beach at Stanley. They even served it on a (fake) newspaper.

One of the children's favourite cheap meals when we eat out... BBQ pork and rice.

Can you spot three red-haired children standing close by who are keen to taste the Lightning McQueen birthday cake?

Two kinds of eggs for tea: hard boiled and Kinder Surprise.(The latter was a party favour from Elliot's birthday party.)

The children were thrilled to see this display at the end of one of the supermarket aisles this week. I'm sorry to say we weren't tempted by any of these Australian products.

 
Remember McDonald's red bean pie here in Hong Kong? Now customers have another choice...taro pie.

Elliot's party (by Keegan)

My best friends in Hong Kong are Jakob and Elliot, and today was Elliot’s birthday. This is a picture of Elliot laughing at my joke.

He is five now (the same as me!) He had a cool party because it had Lego things everywhere, plus Ben10, plus Star Wars, plus Transformers.

 I liked the food at the party. I ate one sandwich, one biscuit, some chips, yakult and orange juice.

 The pretzels were yummy!

We did LOTS of activities at Elliot’s party. We decorated our party bags with stickers and textas.

I won a game like Hot Potato, passing around a Duplo block.

We did a scavenger hunt and threw bean bags onto a target. We did some colouring in.

We played a board game at the table.

We played with Lego and Playmobil in Elliot’s bedroom. I liked his American football. I played with Isaiah too (he’s Elliot’s friend). 

Elliot had cupcakes with Lego blocks on them.

I gave Elliot a “Sword in the Stone” DVD and a folder for his birthday present.

In my party bag was a lollipop, a $2 coin, a Kinder Surprise egg and some other things. I got a cool balloon sword and balloon helmet that Elliot’s Dad made. He’s clever. I liked Elliot’s party because we got to stay all afternoon until tea time and I could play with Elliot and Isaiah. I wish it was my birthday soon, and that’s all I have to say.

In you go

Some of you have asked about the special painting Craig received for his 40th birthday in Perth last year. We recently had the canvas stretched on a frame and mounted on our wall, so I took a photo to show you how nice it looks. The print is called "In you go" by Australian artist Donald James Waters. It is now hanging in pride-of-place in the lounge room of our Hong Kong apartment.

The reason Craig likes the print so much is that it reminds him of our frequent visits to Hillary's Boat Harbour in Perth. Geoff, do you remember jumping off this exact jetty and swimming back to shore?

Many of D. J. Waters' paintings seem to be ocean-themed, as you can see from the examples below.


"Traffic"

"Caught"

"Bring it on"

Thank you again to the many friends, family members and colleagues who contributed money towards the painting. Our family treasures this reminder of Australia when we are far away from you.

Have you ever seen...? (four)

...mould as a form of art?

Tuesday vent

It's been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

There was a traffic jam this morning on the way to school so Jemilla nearly missed her bus and we were rushing so fast to get there in time that I left my bag on a #26 mini bus that looks just like this. Please tell me if you see it driving past.

A bolt holding Tirzah's stroller together snapped in half, collapsing with her inside it, so now I need to either find an identical bolt replacement here in Hong Kong or buy an entirely new stroller. Or an entirely new child who can walk long distances on her own without grizzling.

 

I went to a local ticket office to pay for and pick up tickets to "Peter and the Wolf" which we were planning to attend with Manou in April, only to be told that our tickets had been sold to someone else because I did not pick them up within three days of ordering them, and now the show has sold out.

Tirzah has a boil on her leg and Jemilla has a persistent cough and I have an infection for which I need antibiotics but I am feeling too chicken to find a doctor here in Hong Kong.

I'd like to climb back into bed and hope that tomorrow will be better, but it's nearly time to catch the bus to school to pick up the kids. Well, maybe it will be the same #26 bus as this morning and my bag will still be under the seat...

New friends

International Christian School has a number of apartments above the classrooms to rent out to new teachers. We spent an enjoyable day on Saturday with a family that lives and teaches there. They have been living in Perth (of all places!) for the last six years or so, so we had plenty to chat about. They have two young children and lots of toys for our kids to enjoy.

Stirling is nearly two years old.

Miriam is nearly four years old.

Keegan found a great big space to play cricket in the undercover area at the school.

Jemilla practised for a while with hula hoops before diving into the school library.

Tirzah played quite happily all day, despite not having her usual afternoon rest time.