Michelle has a wedding to shoot on Saturday so Kira’s health and well-being are in my hands for pretty much the whole day I expect. Poor kid.
Da-da has been getting schooled in the new feeding which is completely different than the old feeding. Now that Kira eats mostly the same food we do (with the exception of formula) her meals have become somewhat easier since she feeds herself most of the time but harder for Michelle because she has to pre-prepare foods in advance a lot of times. Of course the threat of allergies to soy and milk are making that interesting but Michelle is doing an excellent job at figuring it all out.
I’m always a little apprehensive when I get to take care of Kira on my own with no help because I spend so little time with her comparatively. But I don’t dread it at all because I get her all to myself during those times and I really do enjoy it. There’s no way I could have figured out all the things that need to be done and am thankful that Michelle is there to show me what needs to be done ahead of time.
Kira is closing in on eleven months of age and she’s doing great. She chatters like crazy and is close to mastering the ability to walk on her own. She’s up to about seven or eight unassisted steps at this point without holding on to anything. She also generally carrying a stuffed monkey half her size and stopping to squat down and pick up a pacifier along the way.
Usually when she sees one of the cats she starts saying “kih kih kih” over and over while she watches or reaches for them. Last night she saw the orange cat come around the corner and said out loud “kih tuh” which amazed me. We call all the cats ‘kitteh’ because we are like that and we can’t help it. So her saying “kih tuh” was not just close – it was spot-on. She’s a smart one.
I’m just beginning to see
Now I’m on my way
to another meeting. Only two today, not so bad really.
Left-over pasta for lunch from Cecil Whitakers All-You-Can-Eat Pasta special that they have every monday. The tortellini is actually better reheated than it was fresh. It turns out that I can’t eat as much all-you-can-eat pasta as I once could. And for that degredation in skills I am actually quite happy. Sometimes I am still shocked at the portions at restaurants. I’ve been back from Hong Kong for one year and sadly I have adjusted to the gigantic meals of the Midwest but its sad. No wonder overweight people outnumber the thin here. Trained. Blarf.
I have bought some clay. My wife printed off a 25% coupon for Hobby Lobby and we went there last night after I got home from work. I ended up getting some Sculpey Firm which from the descriptions online that I read seemed like a good fit. I also have a cheap package of what I can only guess is just plain old clay and not polymer. The package is in 438 different languages and none of them seem to be English. It was cheap so I thought I would try it out. I have no idea what I am doing so who knows what will actually work for me.
Kira is off with Grandma and Grandpa Stinky for a few nights. They get called Stinky because they both smoke and… well… they stink. I’m sure there’s a nicer way to put it but – no. Febreze is used so it helps but only so much. Maybe some day they will quit. Yeah.
I think we are planning on going to see a movie tonight.
Looking for something new to spice up your Valentine’s Day date? Perhaps an unexpectedly romantic dinner out with malodorous side-effects? Well then, you are in luck.
On Feburary 14th (Valentine’s Day), select White Castle locations will be providing a candlelit dining experience from 5:00pm to 9:00pm. You have to buy the food of course, but they will provide the ‘ambiance’. How romantical is that?
Sadly, it seems that none of the St. Louis, MO White Castle locations are offering this unforgettable experience. But if you are in a different city, check out the locations at the official site.
All this time that I’ve been living in Hong Kong, I thought the closest Papa John’s Pizza was in Shanghai, PRC. I just now discovered, with less than a month to live in Hong Kong, that there is actually one right here! It’s in Yuen Long. OMGWTFBBQPWND!
I must have it. Now where the hell is Yuen Long???
Holy Crap! It’s almost all the way to the China border in the middle of freaking nowhere. Ugh…. I may have to wait till I get back to St. Louis…..
Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone! Even though it seems like only Mexican restaurants perpetuate this holiday in the United States, it’s still a fun time if you’re into Mexican food and Mexican beers and tequila. Or even just hanging out with your friends. Which of course can have mixed results.
Unfortunately, today’s a work day and Mexican holidays are not as popular in China as one might think. Or perhaps they are if you think like a normal and rational person. I’m eating a smoked turkey and cheddar sandwich with lettuce, cucumbers and Mayo with a bag of Doritos to celebrate in my own special way. And it’s 2-for-1 dinners at the local Caramba mexican restaurant in Discovery Bay on Mondays so Muse and I will probably be having some of that tonight. We shall see.
Yesterday we went on a boat cruise and saw pink dolphins swimming around in the wild. I’ll post a couple of pictures from that later on.
Muse and I finally did something on the weekend! Yay for us! It’s a long story. Anyway…
On Saturday it rained and rained and the wind just kept on blowing like crazy. And then we had to clean up. You can read the details of that problem here. Muse already wrote it so why should I? So we went to Tung Chung in typhoon-like weather. We ate (soaking wet) at a local Italian chain restaraunt called The Spaghetti House which has a decidedly Hong Kong influenced menu for an Italian place. They have good baked spaghetti though and that’s all I ever get there. The place was dead because no one wanted to walk outside in the wind and rain.
On Sunday we travelled to Causeway Bay and wandered around a bit. We found a new shopping mall called Delay No Mall. It’s related to the same company that got me into trouble with my office mates before. It’s not a bad place, but the layout is kind of wonky and you could easily miss a few of the stores due to bad locations. All the stores kind of flow from one to the other like someone just started plunking down racks wherever they felt like it. Not the easiest place to navigate, but interesting and worth a look if you are in Hong Kong a lot. It’s not too far from the Sogo area.
Muse got a crepe from a Japanese chain that specializes in them called Marion Crepes. Which I found odd since crepes are French but whatever. After looking for that link it seems that crepes must be very popular in Japan. I had no idea. I had a couple of bites and it was really good. I wish I had one now.
We ate at an American restaraunt called Tony Roma’s at Times Square which always has pretty good food. It’s a bit pricey, but so are most places in the Causeway Bay area.
We looked around some clothes stores and I checked a game shop or two. It was good to get out.
We just got back from “the country” visiting Muse‘s family where Internet access is still pretty much an unknown service. No contact with the rest of the world for five days. Talk about feeling isolated. I like the woods but no Internet access is a horrible thing.
However, you can shoot things in the woods, so I did some target practice with Muse’s Dad’s .45 six shooter and his 9mm at some boxes that used to have Christmas gifts in them. I hit the targets more often than not. You have to keep up your zombie survival skills, you know.
We have eaten more since we’ve been back in the states than we can possibly process within normal human limits. Especially since our bodies are used to Hong Kong foods and meals now.
Well its almost bed time so that’s all the updates for now. Muse is feeling a little sick so she needs some rest.
Oh, kick ass!
Look what I just found in my backpack!
MMmmm…. pre-lunch snackity-snack.
I’m not exactly sure what I ate today, but it sure was good. Actually there are a lot of days when I can say that exact same phrase. I walked with a few people from work through the wet markets today to get to a little Vietnamese restaurant in Central. Central is the name of the district I work in.
Hmm… I suppose I should explain what a “wet market” is. Wet markets are like other outdoor markets in Hong Kong with open air stores and vendors setting up stalls along the street . The biggest difference is that in a wet market you find live or recently living things, generally to eat. You can find everything from groceries, fresh fruit & vegetables, live chickens and seafood, pork and chicken meat hanging from hooks, disembodied giant fish heads, flowers, live chickens and spices. They are pretty cool, but the ground is always wet from live wells at the fish vendors, people spraying off butcher blocks and watering flowers. Therefore, wet market.
OK, back to the story. So we get to the Vietnamese restaurant and two of us put in our orders for what we call “greasy noodles.” Then we all walked to the Corner Noodle (that’s what it translates to) and the others put in their order for local Chinese food. I wander around a little and look at a store selling commercial refrigerated displays and some cool plants at a flower shop. The Chinese food comes up and we head back the Vietnamese place to pick up our food. It still wasn’t ready. Slow….
Anyway, after one of our co-workers complains in Cantonese to them, they get the order out and we all walk back through the wet market to the office. They threw in some free desserts to make up for the wait. Local desserts are icky. More on that later. So what are greasy noodles? Well, I’m not exactly sure but I will try and explain.
Greasy noodles are kinda like spaghetti noodles in size, shape and color but maybe a bit smaller in diameter. They are cooked and then maybe lightly stir-fried in oil but that’s just a guess. There is meat which I believe was pork and/or chicken as well as large strips of brown-ish stuff which didn’t taste like much so I assumed it was tofu of some sort. Then there’s diced white and green onions, slivers of red pepper and carrots and something that looked a little like corn flakes but not quite. And maybe a bit of oil or grease.
I know that is a splendid description but it’s the best I can do. Seriously though it’s really good. It’s relatively dry so it can be eaten completely with chopsticks and no need for a spoon.
I have just put up my first post on the Hello! Network‘s web site dedicated to all things food: hello! Food. Go take a look and check out my post as well as all the cool recipes that are currently out there.
Especially the Peanut Butter Pie… a Yoshi specialty. Mmmm….
edit: I wish I had some peanut butter pie right now….
September 17, 2009 1:42 pm | 
