Thailand Vacation - Bangkok

Hello again!

Ryan and I, along with a few friends, were lucky enough to travel to Thailand for 10 days over the Chinese New Year holiday. Ryan's company was shut down for the week, as many of the companies here are, so we took full advantage and headed south.

Our first stop was to meet up in Bangkok for a day with one of Ryan's co-workers. We spent the day touring temples, seeing Buddha statues and eating local street food before heading back to the airport for our next destination.

We took a boat ride from the main part of Bangkok to various sites along the river 

Our first temple

The whole temple was decorated with mosaic tile throughout the stone

The stairs to climb up to the top were steep! 

Next stop: The Grand Palace, former home to the monarch of Thailand

The Grand Palace has a very strict dress code. If you do not have the appropriate clothing, there are garments for rent
 outside of the palace. I had to wear a long dress throughout the day and carry a cardigan to put on. 

Everything was covered in gold and ornate tile

The Jipps in Thailand! 

After the palace we got some lunch from various street vendors. They have more things on a stick than the Wisconsin State Fair! 

After lunch we visited another temple, this one having a very large golden Buddha

Before we left Bangkok we stumble upon a Chinese New Year festival in China Town, celebrating the official start of the holiday

After the street festival we hopped in a cab back to the airport. Nothing like seeing a whole city in 6 hours!

Next stop (and blog post)...Patong Beach!

P.S.- The whole time we were gone, Ahri stayed with a boarding facility who took very nice care of her. She enjoyed time playing with chihuahas and growing so much we have to pick her up with 2 hands now!

Our Neighborhood

Hello everyone and happy February!

I've talked to some people about our neighborhood and what it is like but I got more inspiration today to give you all a glimpse into our area. We live in the district of Sai Ying Pun. It is an older district that is becoming the new place to live because of the new subway stations currently being built. There are old buildings right along side brand new and many interesting things to be found each time I leave the apartment.

So I thought I knew our neighborhood pretty well. The grocery store is here, bakery there, 7-11 everywhere (literally, they are everywhere) until today that is. We live at the bottom of a massive hill, one that is blocked off from cars at certain points. We walk one block up to our building and that is usually enough to get a bead of sweat down your back and your heart rate going. I don't normally go past our building up the hill because I have everything I need here and honestly, it looks like a lot of work to go up there. Today though, while the weather was beautiful and partly sunny, I decided to make that steep hill my workout while also checking out the neighborhood.

To start off with, let me tell you about the area I do know. We live near what is known as the dried seafood market and it is exactly what you think. Stores upon stores selling tiny shrimp, clams, squid, scallops, whole fish and much more, all in dried form. The stores are also known for selling shark fins, making these stores somewhat controversial with animal rights activist groups. The dried seafood was brought about when people were unable to store all of the seafood due to the lack of refrigerators  The seafood is laid out on baskets to dry in the sun so that they will keep in pantries for long periods of time. You can also find nuts, mushrooms, garlic and various seeds in most of these stores. My least favorite part of this market...the smell.

So now onto walking UP the hill. My curiosity started when we recently talked to another expat at a local restaurant who informed us of a new escalator in the area. Let me fill you in on something, Hong Kong loves escalators. Pretty much anywhere there are stairs up or a hill, there is an escalator. They also have the world's longest outdoor escalator that goes up the entire hill. So now our neighborhood is beginning to build it's own escalator to compete with the higher class districts. The escalator here only goes up a few blocks, but that will still save you many beads of sweat.

A section of the world's longest outdoor escalator

That's only half of one block,

On my journey up the hill, I found markets and restaurants nearby that I was unaware of. There were flower markets, seafood markets (still not brave enough to buy from there) and western restaurants moving in to the 'up and coming area.'

Flower market

Seafood market...from the outside

As I kept going up the hill the stores and markets thinned out and all that remained were high rise apartment buildings. I kept trying to look up to see the impressive heights but kept losing my balance from looking up so high or bumping into someone (the sidewalks here are narrow).

See, I mean narrow! (ok, a little excessive but you get the point) 

As I made my way back to our building, I realized I was very happy with our choice in neighborhood. We get to see the traditional way of living with street markets everywhere, having the convenience of everything right outside our building, while not having to fight the crowds that the more popular districts deal with. I can't wait to see how our neighborhood changes while we are here and develops over time.

And of course, Ahri says hi! 

Macau Day Trip

Hello again!

Thank you all for the birthday wishes over the past few days. It was very different to celebrate my birthday here a day earlier than it was currently in the states but it spread out the celebrating that much more! We celebrated over the weekend as Ryan had to return to China for work on Monday. One thing we did was travel to Macau on Saturday with some of Ryan's co-workers for some site seeing and fun.

Macau is another special administrative region of China, just like Hong Kong. Macau is a former Portugese colony, which is still apparent through the architecture, food and signs everywhere. It was very strange to be able to read not only the English signs, but some of the Portugese signs (see Mom, those 3 years of Spanish weren't for nothing!) Macau is also known for being the Las Vegas of the area, with some of the largest and most expensive casinos in the world there.

We took a ferry over to Macau as it is only connected via China mainland. In about an hour we landed and started our day of being tourists. We started off by visiting Sao Paulo Cathedral before heading through the streets of stores and markets to the old casino area.

Looking down from the cathedral to the street 

'Don't cross the yellow line' 

Canon aimed at the Lisboa Casino 

Sao Paulo Cathedral 

I think this is a big enough bottle for my parents 

Streets of Macau

Slabs of beef jerky

Once we made it to the casinos we walked in and out of the various buildings while some of the guys occasionally stopped to gamble. No big winners here unfortunately. We took a cab off the peninsula and in another district where the Venetian Casino & Hotel was. We stopped for a few drinks before heading off to dinner.

Casino Lisboa

Wynn Casino & Hotel

Inside of the Venetian Hotel & Casino 

Before heading back to Hong Kong, we stopped at a little beach village for some authentic Portugese food. After a pot of crab, fish and pitchers of sangria we returned to Hong Kong to continue the birthday weekend. It was a great day trip to another country which will be repeated many more times!

Finishing our pitchers in the outdoor bar 

Dining culture and customs

Hello all!

I realized today it's been awhile since my last post! The days here have been filled with potty training, chew toys and lots of snuggles. Ahri has been such a wonderful addition to the family (even when she does pee on the carpet).

I was reading through one of the city guide books that we received as a wedding gift when I came upon a section devoted to customs and cultural tips related to dining. Some of them I was aware of but others I had never heard of. Here are some of the most important ones I have learned and will be relevant for those who will possibly be traveling in Asia someday (in order to not embarass yourself, like I have!)

1) As far as I can tell, there is no 'proper' way to use chopsticks. Everyone has their own method and way. Whatever helps you to use those two sticks to get the food in your mouth is acceptable. There are normally soup spoons available at restaurants as well, so those can be helpful to pick up larger or slippery items like dumplings or wontons. Bringing the bowl to your face and shoveling with your chopsticks is also perfectly okay. And if all else fails, just stab it with the your stick (my normal method :-) 

2) When somebody pours you tea, the proper way to thank them is a double tap on the table with your index and middle finger. It looks like you are telling the dealer to hit you while playing blackjack but I promise you are just being polite.

3) Restaurants cook and chop everything in an animal, including the bones. When eating any type of meat, bite carefully as there will be fragments of bones in there. With this, it is very acceptable to spit out any bones that you have in your mouth onto your plate. If you can, simply pull the bones out with your chopsticks, otherwise feel free to nonchalantly spit them onto your plate. Don't worry, you won't be the only one!

4) Many dinners are served family style on a lazy susan in the middle of the table. Do not worry about trying to grab anywhere around the table for something you want. There are no 'pass to the left or right' rules here, just spin the table or reach over for what you want.

5) At the end of every meal, toothpicks will be placed on the table by your server. When using a toothpick, cover your mouth with one hand while picking at your teeth with the other. It is considered disrespectful to pick at your teeth with an openly as well as walk around with a toothpick in your mouth.

These are just a few of the things I have learned so far and can't wait to take our guests out to dinner here for them to learn as well. It is constantly a learning process and I am always asking Ryan if I am possibly offending somebody and their family with my chopstick skills! To end, here are a few pictures I have snapped of local dining around town, and of course Ahri to make your morning!

Soup pork dumplings

Vegetables at Disneyland, Mickey Mouse carrots included

Dim sum

Chicken feet...not necessary to repeat

Spicy noodles, mushrooms and beef

Ahri

Meet Ahri!

Well, we have a new addition to our family and much to our family's guessing over the holidays it is not human. My Christmas gift from Ryan this year was a small dog to be my companion to keep me company during the week!

We had previously gone to the pet market in Hong Kong before and just window shopped at dogs (who doesn't love doing that!) so we knew we wanted to get a miniature pinscher before we went shopping. We loaded up on dog supplies in the states before we returned as many items are expensive here that we could easily bring back with us. Once we returned, we headed back to the pet market after new years to find our new addition!


There were only a couple of stores that had miniature pinschers to choose from. One had 3 brothers that were all brown which wasn't the type of coloring we preferred. Another store had one small female that was black and tan. After debating between the two types, we chose to go with the small female. She is around 3 months old, small enough to hold in the palm of your hand. Her name is Ahri, a name I picked off a list Ryan showed me from characters from a video game he plays so that we would both be happy.

Photo courtesy of Ryan Smaglik 

The past few days have been filled with cuddles, playing and potty training. She has been doing well so far though she is fighting a cold she caught from being in with other puppies for awhile.

Photo courtesy of Ryan Smaglik

Photo courtesy of Ryan Smaglik

Cuddling