Exploring Tai Po

On their first day in Hong Kong we took the Croakers to Tai Po. This is a cozy spot the children found to sit and wait for Andy who was getting his hair cut.

They were very impressed with the market, especially all the kinds of fresh fish, eels, turtles, frogs, and snails for sale. One fish flopped right out of the tank onto the floor in front of Bowen!

This butcher expressed his amazement at the number of children we had between our two families.

Pig snouts for tea, anyone?

So many nice things to choose from at the bakery...

Yum! Everyone enjoyed fresh buns for a picnic lunch in Tai Po.

Wordless Wednesday (thirteen)

Cousins

My sister Carla arrived in Hong Kong this afternoon with her husband Andy and their four children. The kids and I took the bus out to the airport to meet them.

Waiting at Arrival Gate B.

Here's the Croaker family! They will be with us for a week, so I'm sure you will see plenty more posts featuring our children and their cousins.

Daddy Daughter Ball 2010

Jemilla has been so excited about her special date with her Daddy. Here they are all dressed up and ready to go...

This week it was Jemilla's turn to travel first class on the MTR.

View from the Aberdeen Marina Club.

The Grand Ballroom

Jemilla liked the balloon animals.

This man made her a lovely balloon flower.

Next Jemilla chose a tattoo for her hand...

And a painting for the other hand...

And decorations for her nails too.

Then Jemilla made a pink and green bead necklace.

Time for tea.

I like the table decorations. Look at the sweet pineapple flowers!

The menu was pizza for the kids and steak for the Dads, with ice cream for dessert. Result? Everyone was happy.

Jemilla told me there was a magic show and dancers for entertainment. All the fathers and daughters had a chance to dance together. She liked doing "Let's Twist Again".

I asked Jemilla what she liked best about the night, but she had trouble narrowing it down to just one thing. She had such a nice time with her Daddy.

Friends

Jemilla and Keegan often ask if they can have friends come and play in the afternoon after school. Sometimes our lack of a car can pose a problem, but we do try to invite kids to our apartment when we can. A "play" at the Harveys generally involves Barbies or Legos or dress-ups or musical instruments or a combination of all of the above. Here are a few of our recent visitors.  

Jakob and Lucy (from the Norwegian school). They are watching Jemilla's favourite craft show on television called "Mr Maker".

Seth and Silas (visiting from China)

Man Hei (from Keegan's class)

More photos from Tirzah

Guess who lost their first tooth?

Since we discovered Keegan's shark tooth, we have been encouraging him to wobble his front adult tooth to loosen it. This week it finally came out! He was lying in bed and pulled it out himself.

Keegan recorded the event in his journal at school. (And there was no where near this much blood, I promise!)

For those who are curious, the Tooth Fairy paid $5 HKD for his first tooth. (This sounds like a lot of money, I know, but I have it on good authority that the HK Tooth Fairy has an excellent grasp of currency conversion rates.) This is what Keegan chose to spend his money on.

Know what it is?

Have you ever seen...? (ten)

...a car with two license plates? 

Craig told me they are very common here for drivers that travel regularly between China and Hong Kong.

Word for the day: YODALARM

Am I the only one who reads the word yodalarm and thinks of something like this...?

("Wake you, I will.")



Sorry to disappoint my Star Wars fans, but this is what an actual yodalarm looks like.

Apparently it's an electronic warbling device to warn people of imminent danger at places like train stations or level crossings. 

And I learned this after seeing this sign at an MTR station here in Hong Kong.

So now you know.