You’re 5!

I can’t believe Bethany is now a full fledged school going 5 year old.

She came home from school today excited, not because the class had sung happy birthday, but because today the teacher started giving out readers as homework. “what a cool birthday present mummy!” – uh – ok… I wonder in a years time if Bethany will still be this excited by the prospect of homework.

She got on the phone and read her first reader to anyone who would listen. It was cute.

We went out to Bethany’s favorite chinese restaurant for dinner where we surprised her with her birthday present.

She flipped out when she saw she had been given a PINK IPod Nano.

She flipped out even more when she realised she could watch videos, and especially when she saw what I had put on the nano for her… 10 points if you can name the TV show, 50 bonus points if you can pick the season and 100 bonus points if you correctly identify the episode!

Mitchell was enjoying himself too, although he wasn’t interested in the pink thing Bethany was playing with.

I think this picture about sums it up…

Bethany enjoyed a bowl of sharks fin soup and some birthday buns… what a way to end off a birthday weekend!

When I asked her how she felt after her birthday dinner she said simply “I had the best time!”

My little girl is growing up far too quickly.

 

Birthday in Disneyland… A year later…

This time last year, we were in Disneyland for Bethany’s 4th birthday.

We needed to renew our annual passes, so we decided it was worth re-visiting for Bethany’s 5th birthday. The kids never grow tired of the place, and it is a nice day out.

We went out early to have breakfast at the cafe on main street before the actual ‘park’ opened. Bethany had waffles.

She ate the whole thing! I had a taste of Mitchell’s – and it was yummy. I had the pancakes myself, which were also yummy.

Halloween is upon us, and there were pumpkins everywhere much to the delight of the kids.

Bethany thought this guy was real and was really apprehensive about him until I went up and knocked on his head (‘Trust British Paints? Sure Can!’ – I know the kiwi’s out there will get that one.)

Bethany really wanted to see Donald, and her wish was granted… I was a little disappointed all the characters were in the same Halloween outfits as last year. I was kind of hoping they would mix them up from park to park and rotate them around, but obviously not. Bethany still thought it was cool Daisy was dressed up as Spiderman. I don’t think that is the actual intention of the costume… but we couldn’t help but laugh.

Minnie loved Bethany’s dress. Of course she would – it came from Pumpkin Patch – one of Bethany’s favorite kids clothing line stores.

Bethany also loves the dress and wanted to do a ‘top model’ photoshoot in the Fantasy Gardens…

I am starting to wonder more and more if I should let her have a go at a real photoshoot. I’m reluctant… but all this posing!!!

Bethany had a great day, so did Mitchell. We left just as it started to rain – good timing, and the joy of having an annual pass…

 

Party, Party, Party

Bethany is turning 5 – so we decided to have a small party at our small apartment.

I wanted to give her a taste of home, so fairy bread, chocolate crackles and New Zealand candies were all on the menu.

We played ‘Pin the tail on the giraffe’ – a variation on the traditional theme – after all, you all know what Bethany’s favorite animal is.

There was also a ‘pass the parcel’, where the kids ended up (at least) with a pack of genuine US imported M&M’s each.

And then there was the cake. Bethany loved blowing out the candles.

What she loved the most though was playing with her friends. She had a wonderful time.

 

Swimming off the deep end…

Bethany’s birthday party… and it is about time I made a cake!

Bethany’s request was Ariel, Disney’s little mermaid.

I decided to try and use a good old Edmonds Cookbook recipe to make a basic chocolate cake. It worked well in so far as baking into a character shaped cake tin. I found the actual cake a bit too dry for my liking though, but I am wondering if that is because all my supplies were US or UK based products and not the Australian and New Zealand ones the recipe is designed for…

Mitchell enjoyed the uncooked version and licked as much as he could off the beaters.

I started icing the cake with the sides… you can see how well the cake kept the definition from the cake tin.

Trying to create the face with icing was the hardest part for me. I diverged from the recommended decorating guide for the eyes as I didn’t think they looked right with the icing tip suggested. I used a tip 2, instead of tip 3. I think it worked better.

I was impressed with how well the hair turned out. I wasn’t sure the red would be red enough as it often comes out a salmon colour, but it seemed to work well on the cake, and took on a deeper red hue once it had been in the fridge. All the icing is made with real butter with the exception of the black. I couldn’t get the butter to turn black no matter what I tried, so I had to resort to using shortening (a vegetable form of lard for want of a better description) which made the icing the right shade of black for the outlining.

I added coral and seaweed to the side of the cake, a bit of icing on the board, some writing.. and voila – finished product.

What do you think?

 

Grocery Shopping

Since getting a helper, I have discovered yet another place to add to my grocery shopping list (along with the 5 or 6 supermarkets I have to frequent to get all the bits and pieces I want) – the local markets.

Let me show you where we get our fish…

It is fresh (often still alive).. although we’re a bit picky on which fish we buy. It is reasonably priced too. Obviously we use a bit of common sense – but the fish we buy from here is generally used for soups. Just to gross you out a bit more… there is a cage on the ground below Mitchell’s foot… it contains LIVE frogs. When I asked my helper what they do with them she told me ‘you choose the ones you want and they skin and gut them (like they would a fish) for you to take home and prepare’. Frog is popular here for frogs legs, to use in soups and to use in frog congee (rice porridge). I won’t be buying or trying those any time soon. To me they looked like cane toads… BLECH.

The local markets are where we tend to go for our veges, fruit, fish, tofu and a variety of dried stuff (like mushrooms or scallops) to use in the more traditional chinese cooking. However, they hold so much more than that. You can also find clothes, toys, towels, hardware…

Believe it or not, many of the vege stalls in the markets source their vegetables and fruit from the same place the big supermarket chains here do, only they sell them considerably cheaper. In the markets I can still buy my New Zealand mushrooms, Washington state apples or bananas from the Philippines. It is just a matter of asking where the produce has come from if it isn’t labelled.

I don’t buy my beef or pork or chicken from the markets. The butcher shops gross me out. When you see all parts of a cow (and bull) anatomy hanging there (both the inside and out), it can be a bit much. And chickens… well… I just can’t bring myself to choose a live one to come back 1/2 an hour later and pick it up sliced and diced…

However, I am enjoying the new found options of the market for food… oh – and the newfound ability of having such a great cook to prepare and cook for us. Our helper is amazing – she can cook traditional chinese, all the way through to Jamie Oliver! Am I spoilt or what!!!

 

Sleeping while Standing

We went to yum cha over the weekend.

Mitchell was playing cars on his chair, then went very quiet. When we leaned over to look, this is what we found.

He was snoring, so we knew he was asleep… but incase you need more proof:

In other Mitchell news:

He’s growing up. He no longer wants to take the stroller much when we go places. This is good in a way because it means we can take him in and on stuff we couldn’t before because the stroller is so cumbersome. His favorite thing is to ride the Hong Kong trams. Normally we have to stay down the bottom because of the folded up stroller.

This weekend, he got to ride on the top deck of a tram for the first time. He loved it. Bethany didn’t complain either.

He is starting to talk more. I thought he would never talk. His vocabulary is so far behind where Bethany was. I know boys and girls are different, and I know boys have a different development and I KNOW that every child develops in their own way, but when your child is approaching 2 and a half, you can’t help but wonder. Mitchell is surprising me every day. He is stringing words now into 3 word sentences. He is counting. He is telling me animals, colours, and talks to himself about what he is doing – ‘I pway cars’, ‘I kick ball’, ‘I’m fine’, ‘That’s mine’ (wonder where he learnt that last one from )…

He loves watching Dora – he will run up to you, jump on the spot, put his hand out and go “NO THWIPING!!” It is the funniest thing.

It is a joy to see him discovering the power of words and their meanings… now – if only we could overcome toilet training…

 

Mid-Autumn Festival Lanterns

Hong Kong always host displays of lanterns for mid-autumn festival. The displays get crowded, so it isn’t always a fun thing, but we decided to risk going early in an attempt to avoid at least some of the crowds so the kids could actually see the lanterns.

We decided to go to the easiest location for lantern viewing – Causeway Bay.

The kids adorned themselves in glowstick bracelets and necklaces and brought their lanterns with them. This year Bethany was sporting Hawaiian Stitch while Mitchell had an Airplane covered in Mickey and Friends. Both light up, both have annoying music. We spent a few extra bucks on lanterns this year though (purposely) because these lanterns have a 3rd option of lights with no music. This option meant Lisamaree and Titus maintained some semblance of sanity for the duration of the night.

While we were walking through the lanterns, a couple of photographers from one of the chinese newspapers here came up and asked to take photos of the kids. We were like ’sure – why not’… at which point ‘Little miss photogenic must pose like a top model’ became insufferably shy and dug her face into Titus’s ribs. Mitchell meanwhile, thought it was a blast!

He ran, jumped and laughed in front of the lanterns, even taking direction from the photographers. Talk about a showman! We’re not sure if he ever made it into the newspaper as it could have gone in several different editions, but Mitchell had fun and that’s all that mattered.

It didn’t take Bethany long to re-find her form for my camera when she and Mitchell got up close and personal with a dragon lantern.

These are lanterns for the South East Asia Games being held in Hong Kong in December 2009. I’m still not quite sure what these games are about because a lot of the listed ’sports’ don’t seem like sports to me… but the mascots are kinda cute.

Bethany was pretty excited to find a lantern with Australia on it. The giant rocket next to Earth she didn’t really notice though. I think these lanterns represented the chinese space exploration program.

It wouldn’t be a lantern carnival without flower lanterns. They seem to be quite symbolic of this time of year. These ones though commemorate specifically the 60th Anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China. They were very pretty and unfortunately my photos don’t quite do them the justice the deserve.

We were lucky, there were now crowds when we went through the lanterns, so the kids got to see everything they wanted. They had a great time and crashed when we got home. Always a good thing.

 

Miss Junior Hong Kong Top Model

You take your kids to the playground. You take your camera. You THINK you’ll get some nice cute pictures of your kids with nice smiles having fun… You’d be wrong.

Bethany – “oh – mummy – I think it would be really good to take a picture next to this pole”

Me: ok.

Bethany – “Now let me just show you how they pose on ‘Top Model’”

Me: uh – ok…. [took photo] [slapped head]… I’m doomed… aren’t I?!

Bethany  - “Now come over here because I think this spot would be good”

I walk over, I take more photos of poses…

I sigh.

Me: Bethany – couldn’t we just take one normal photo?

Bethany – [hands on hips, breaths out indignantly] Ok. But only with Mitchell.

By this point I wasn’t holding out much hope…

Bethany didn’t let me down. Pleasant surprise. Don’t they both look like their daddy in this picture?

p.s – Sick of the new playground pictures yet?

 

Mid-Autumn Lanterns – the shops

Mid-Autumn festival is upon us. Here in Hong Kong is it signified by lots of colourful lanterns and the eating of Moon cakes.

I wanted to share with you what some of the shops look like at this time of year.

Check out all those lanterns.. fish, sheep, cartoon characters… the choice can be overwhelming.

Don’t worry though…

You have a whole street of lantern shops to choose from.

While out, we also decided to head over to Pokfulam. It is kind of trendy these days with some of the ex-pat community because you can be self sufficient over there without having to leave your apartment complex – literally! However, it does have an amazing view to outlying islands and the ships that moor waiting to come into the freight terminals.

I don’t know about you – but I think it is kind of pretty in an industrial kind of way…

Later that evening, the kids wanted to go to the playground. It is lit up at night time.

Do not try that on the REAL school bus Bethany!!!

Even daddy likes the new playground and seems to spend an awful lot of time on the slides for an adult. Maybe I should teach him to read the playground is only for kids under 13. Mind you, Mitchell LOVES racing daddy down these slides and then racing back up in fits of laughter.

 

New Place, New Playground…

We’ve moved into our new apartment. It comes with a larger playground.

The kids are enjoying it to its fullest. Just wait… you’ll see…. you’ll be sick of the sight of it in a few posts…

The kids went for a ride on the bus…

Then Mitchell got the idea that he should be driving…

Then Mitchell decided to swap his legs over while he was on one of the slides… Uh – yeah…