Easter in Hong Kong

This week's post is going to be very short on words. It's been a long week so I'll let the photos do the talking! Easter is usually very quiet in Hong Kong with people going on holiday for the long weekend. So we decided to take advantage of this exodus of people leaving Hong Kong and spent most of Easter at our favourite beaches. For once, we didn't have to fight for a good spot on the beach and were able to enjoy some peace and tranquility, hearing only the sounds of the gentle rolling waves instead of loud chatter of the locals (ok, maybe I am exaggerating just a little :).

A view of Big Wave Bay from the Lifeguard's lookout

How did I get myself into this mess??

OK it was funny for a while but I'm losing feeling in my legs now!

The Big Wave Bay beach cafe - great for American breakfasts, burgers and pizzas

Examining an injured (three legged) crab

Ryan looking for treasure at low tide - slim pickings unfortunately

Can I take these home?

Surfies bobbing around at Big Wave Bay trying to catch a few seconds of surf in the modest swell


Mmmm, anyone for some fresh mussels on the beach?


Another day another beach - this time at Shek O beach


Ryan's little excavation project - "I've struck water!!"


Searching for more sea treasures in a quiet cove at low tide


Looks like great beach weather - but the water is deceptively cold

I decided to try my hand at making Sarawak laksa for the first time, using my mother's recipe. While it didn't taste quite as good as the master chef's (ie. Mum), nonetheless, my three 'guinea pigs' were still very generous with their compliments!

Sun, Sand and Sea

We're finally starting to see sunny skies and warm weather. So last weekend, armed with our beach towels and toys, we eagerly headed out to our favourite beach for a day of sandy play. I'm going to be lazy this week and "borrow" a paragraph out of an article that Shad recently wrote for the NAB monthly newsletter which very aptly describes our typical summer weekends.

"On the world scene Hong Kong is mostly known for its shopping, food and nightlife and not particularly for its outdoor activities - however, Hong Kong is made up of a number of islands and it turns out that there are actually some very nice beaches away from the main business and cramped residential districts. In the southeast corner of Hong Kong Island, at a place called Shek O is one of these fantastic beaches. Our favourite activity in the summer is to head down to Shek O before the crowds get there (which in Hong Kong means before noon). There is a plethora of vendors who will set you up with a huge beach umbrella and deck chairs. There are also numerous Thai food stalls set up around the beach (Shek O beach has become a hotspot for small Thai Cafe owners for some bizarre reason). So more likely than not, you will find us down at Shek O Beach on the weekends, lazing around, snacking on Thai food while our 2.5 year old wonders around and creates mischief of one kind or another."

The walk down to Big Wave Bay Beach at Shek O - a bit of a surfie culture with some leathery looking local surfies hanging around

Spring has arrived so we are hitting the beach for the first time this year - Wanna play with me?

Happy as a pig in mud

Caught out by a rogue wave of chilly early Spring ocean water

Sand construction with Mama - she's not a bad worker but might need some work on attention to detail and following instructions :)

A young plumber in the making with the pre-requisite 1/2 inch of bum crack!

Pizza on the beach - ah this is the life...

Anyone know what this is? It was some kind of Indian festival at the beach involving lots of florescent coloured powder.

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Our day ended with a quick play at the outdoor playground, a haircut for Daddy and baby, then dinner at the AMC before heading home for bed. Ah, we love spring in Hong Kong!

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OK concentrate, just don't throw up (The merry-go-round at the AMC playground)

Not one, but two stylists - but Ryan's still not looking happy with the results!

The famous Hong Kong monstrosity, the Jumbo floating restaurant (view from behind the Aberdeen Marina)

Cheeky Munchkin

Home Again

Holiday's over so it was back to reality for us this week. After 10 days of late sleep-ins and unstructured days, it was quite a struggle getting Ryan up early in the mornings for school. This week we took on another new challenge, one which I've been putting off for quite some time now - toilet trainning. And so surrounded by our Wiggles (courtesy of my sis, Karen) and Thomas the Tank undies, Ryan and I had our serious "big boy" talk which pretty much consisted of "remember you are wearing big boy's underwear, so if you need to wee wee, you must wee wee in the toilet. REMEMBER ah?" It has been a rather slow process, not to mention the few "accidents", but Ryan seems to be taking on this big boy role quite well. He's really growing up so quickly, everything is now "I can do it myself" or "no Mama/Daddy, let me do it". I miss my baby...

I can do it myself mama

An artist at work - one day these might be worth something!

Busy at play parking his cars


Father and Son walking down the escalator at SOHO


A weekend walk in Central HK

Going for a ride with Mama at Disneyland (how bad could this be...?)

Whoa ... are you sure you know what you are doing...

Waiting for the HK Disneyland parade

Like mother like son - stuffing popcorn down like there's no tomorrow

On the ferry to Discovery Bay with Jaden and Nick (on our weekly Monday outings)

Busy boys at the Discovery Bay beach

The new beach front promenade - a good place for a nice lunch after the beach

Ryan land-surfing

Does this thing actually do anything?

Our apartment building (the tall ones in the background) from the ferry

Shad practising his photography in our apartment grounds

A friend from my high school days whom I'd lost contact with for many years dropped by for a visit. So I took some "Mama" time-out and we spent a couple of days catching up on the good ol' times. It's always a comfort to know that with some friends, no matter how long we may not see each other, the moment we sit down together we seem to just pick up from where we left off. And so Meera and I reminisced over long lunches, afternoon tea and dinner all over Hong Kong.

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Triple decker platter at the Peninsula Hotel (we were so busy working our mouths that we forgot to take any pics of ourselves!)

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My first "star-spotting" experience since we moved here. Guess who?

* If you would like to see more of our photos, we've uploaded them on http://minimunchkin.fotki.com/

"My Cow"

Even with my last few updates, I am still a week behind in my regular posts :( The Saturday after we got back from Japan, Shad, Ryan and I traipsed (quite literally) all over Macau after our trusty Hong Kong tour guides, Deanna and Alex. Our journey started bright and early as we caught the 9am turbojet from the Shun Tak Ferry Terminal. You'd think that after living in Hong Kong for two years, we would have made the short trip there by now. But no, this was our first time visiting Macau and we were very excited about it because we knew that with Dee and Alex, we would be guaranteed lots of amazing food!

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On the ferry with Uncle Alex to "My Cow" (as Ryan calls it)


After two full days of unending Disney rides, poor Uncle Alex was elected to be Ryan's amusement ride chaperone for the day by Mama and Daddy.

Watch for the women drivers

"Eerr Aunty Dee, are you gonna eat that??" (first food stop of the day - a sugar fix at our favourite ice-creamery, New Zealand Ice-cream)

A walk down the Fisherman's Wharf promenade - which turned into an upper-body work out for Alex and Dee

Our food expedition began at Fernando's in Coloane Island, a small beachfront shack serving up fantastic Macanese fare. This little place is so popular that there is always a queue of people outside waiting for a table. We got to the restaurant half an hour before it opened, but even then we were 20th in line. We ate our way through a big portion of a suckling pig, a clam stew, prawns cooked in two different ways, a grilled fish, a huge fresh garden salad and lots of freshly baked bread. Delicious! From there we made our way to Lord Stow's Bakery for some of the island's best portugese egg tarts.

These little piggies went into the oven....


These little piggies came out...yummm...


Macanese clam stew


Macanese style prawns, tasty!

A wild, streaking 2.5 year old (he decided that pouring sand all over his head was a great idea so we had to stick his head under a shower)

St Francis Xavier Chapel on Coloane Island

Moped city

With our big bulging tummies, we then slowly moved in the direction of Macau's second (the first was closed, much to our disappointment) most famous "chi pa pau" (pork chop bun) hole-in-the-wall cafe. Next stop was afternoon tea at Lady Margaret's (who so happens to be Lord Stow's wife!) for still more egg tarts. And finally, dinner at Restorante Litoral, "arguably the best Macanese restaurant on the peninsula" (quoting the Lonely Planet). Well, you'll definitely have no arguments from us on this! Unfortunately, by this time, all of us were so tired from a full day of walking and eating that none of us remembered to take any photos of our delicious dinner. Good food, great company, what better way to spend the weekend. Of course in between we did some sightseeing too!

Romantic newly-weds (remember when you used to feed me deep fried pork rolls dear?)

A close up of the famous "chi pa pau"

Walking down "souvenier lane" (this street was lined with shops selling their famous Macau almond cookies and dried roasted meats)

In front of the water fountain at the Wynn Casino (a Belaggio rip off)

Lady Margaret's creamy Portugese egg tart

An alley way near The Fascade (what is it? See below)

The Fascade - ruins of the St Johns church, now a major tourist attraction

Going for 10 hours straight and still in good cheer

Happy trio with the lavish and garish Lisboa Hotel in the background

Inside the Venetian Hotel - just like Vegas. Notice that the clear aqua blue water bears no resemblance to the actual water in Venice!

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* Just a note to those of you who might have been trying to leave a comment but have not been able to do so because of the password verification. I have changed the security setting so now those of you without a google account can also leave comments (just click on "post a comment", go to "choose an identity" and select Name/URL and type in your name). I would love to hear from all of you.