Friday-Saturday, May 30-31st
Chris and Nick arrived safely in Chicago Thursday evening. Chris called to tell me they had an uneventful flight, which is sometimes all you can ask for flying with a 3 1/2 yr old. I could hear Nick in the background running around like a crazy kid. He was so excited to see all of his toys and DVDs. Welcome home guys!Apparently they both took early evening naps that night. Nick woke up from his nap wired. Chris fell asleep at midnight and woke up to find Nick still going strong. He assumed Nick would climb into his own bed or in with him when he was ready to go to sleep. Nope – 4am found Nick standing up in his room ready to fall asleep. Not sure if he ever did sleep that night, but he did get some sleep from 4am on. He must have been fun at nap time during school on Friday!
So what’s a gal to do when she’s got the weekend alone in Hong Kong? Apparently lots of walking!
Chris and Nick called early Saturday morning (my time) to tell me how their first day of school/work went. After a chat with the boys, I hopped on the Star Ferry and headed to Kowloon. I walked and walked, shopped and shopped. At one point, I realized that I had no sense of direction whatsoever. So I sat down to find my way. I’d made it all the way to the Jade Market! Which was so far when we first came to Kowloon early in our trip that we had to taxi it there. Feeling proud I’d made it so far (and found myself on a map!) I then realized I was super hungry and would have to get back! After wandering for another hour or so, and not being enticed by any of the food shops, I went to McDonalds. I know. I can’t believe I’m in Hong Kong and eating at McD’s. I don’t even like McD’s. I only go for Nick. But there I was, and thinking I’d get a crispy chicken sandwich, as that had to be safe. I will not be eating at McD’s again. They should have called it deep fried mystery meat. Two bites and I was done. One of the fun things about McD’s here is the music! The one near our apartment always played Christmas music when we were there. Nick loved it! This location was having a children’s bday party and the kids were singing something to the tune of Auld Lang Syne.
For as much as I complain about the rudeness of the crowds, I’ve found one thing enjoyable. When at a lunch spot and searching for a table, it’s acceptable to take any empty seat. In the states, one person would take an entire table and no one would even try to share with them. It’s one example of “sharing personal space” here that I enjoy.
So you know my love of cosmetics. I wandered into a makeup store and was examining some lip gloss. It came with two tubes. One seemed to plump and the other to stain your lips. A woman came over to me and said “lippo”. Ah yes, lip balm. Nope, because then she starts rubbing a circle over her heart and saying “nippo”. Huh? For crying out loud. I’d picked up nipple tint! My face must have turned the color of the “nippo”.
Tailor. I’d read all about how you can buy custom-made clothes here so inexpensively. So I read up on my tailors and made an appt with a reputable one. I went in with a photograph of a cute dress I was hoping he could duplicate. He looked at the photo, said no problem, brought out several books of fabrics for me to choose from and then quoted me a price. 3x as much as the dress retailed for back home. I guess I was supposed to ask for a Chanel suit, and not a copy of a $300 dress. Live and learn.
Tired, hot and ready to go home, I made my way back to the ferry only to see a wonderful site. Mr. Softie! It’s an ice cream truck with a soft serve machine inside. For $7HK (under $1 US), you get a perfect portion cone of whipped goodness. One flavor. I love Mr. Softie!!!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Tuesday-Thursday, May 27-29
Tuesday-Thursday, May 27-29
Remember when we couldn't find the "mangos" the other day? The boys found them!
Nick really missed his school and his friends while he was in HK. Imaginary Lewis (Lewis is his best bud back home) was in our apartment quite a bit the first few weeks. One of the museums had a Chinese schoolroom set, which had audio of schoolchildren singing and reciting. Nick didn’t want to leave the room. He was swaying to the Chinese school songs and then got so excited when “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” came on, singing along. Nick spent a lot of time building forts at the apartment out of the couch/chair cushions. At one point, he called the cushions his “friends”, making Chris a little anxious to get Nick back home to his routine and friends. Luckily they’ve already got play dates/parties lined up for their return.
The boys spent a lot of time at the Zoological gardens. They also ventured out to the Museum of Coastal defense this week. Apparently the kid’s games at the museum are pretty intense. Gas masks, grenades, guns. Not your usual kiddy games. Ferry rides, subway rides, bus rides, tram rides…You name it and those boys were using their Octopus cards to ride it.
The boys left Hong Kong today L Of course we had rain all morning. The hardest rain I’ve seen since we’ve been here. Taxis/cars can’t get down our hill (thus our original drop off at the top of the hill 6 weeks ago), so it was a wet 5 minute dash up to the escalators. Dodging umbrellas and hanging meat while trying to get 2 suitcases, 2 bags, a purse, 2 adults and a kid up the hill. Finally made it, only to get it all up two flights of stairs (covered – thank God). But we made it and got them to the airport train station, which has airport check-in counters! So they were able to dump their luggage, secure boarding passes and head to the airport with just themselves and their snack bags. Lots of hugs/kisses. I didn’t cry until they were on the train waving goodbye. It was so much fun being able to share these adventures with them. I know they’ll miss parts of it. But I also know they’re looking forward to getting home to pizza, streets without crowds/meat markets/pushing, school, toys and the car! Safe travels guys – I love you! And I’ll see you in three short weeks!
Remember when we couldn't find the "mangos" the other day? The boys found them!Nick really missed his school and his friends while he was in HK. Imaginary Lewis (Lewis is his best bud back home) was in our apartment quite a bit the first few weeks. One of the museums had a Chinese schoolroom set, which had audio of schoolchildren singing and reciting. Nick didn’t want to leave the room. He was swaying to the Chinese school songs and then got so excited when “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” came on, singing along. Nick spent a lot of time building forts at the apartment out of the couch/chair cushions. At one point, he called the cushions his “friends”, making Chris a little anxious to get Nick back home to his routine and friends. Luckily they’ve already got play dates/parties lined up for their return.
The boys spent a lot of time at the Zoological gardens. They also ventured out to the Museum of Coastal defense this week. Apparently the kid’s games at the museum are pretty intense. Gas masks, grenades, guns. Not your usual kiddy games. Ferry rides, subway rides, bus rides, tram rides…You name it and those boys were using their Octopus cards to ride it. 
The boys left Hong Kong today L Of course we had rain all morning. The hardest rain I’ve seen since we’ve been here. Taxis/cars can’t get down our hill (thus our original drop off at the top of the hill 6 weeks ago), so it was a wet 5 minute dash up to the escalators. Dodging umbrellas and hanging meat while trying to get 2 suitcases, 2 bags, a purse, 2 adults and a kid up the hill. Finally made it, only to get it all up two flights of stairs (covered – thank God). But we made it and got them to the airport train station, which has airport check-in counters! So they were able to dump their luggage, secure boarding passes and head to the airport with just themselves and their snack bags. Lots of hugs/kisses. I didn’t cry until they were on the train waving goodbye. It was so much fun being able to share these adventures with them. I know they’ll miss parts of it. But I also know they’re looking forward to getting home to pizza, streets without crowds/meat markets/pushing, school, toys and the car! Safe travels guys – I love you! And I’ll see you in three short weeks!
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Thursday, May 22 - Sunday, May 25
Thursday, May 22 - Sunday, May 25
A Pookie reunion! Chris and Nick came home to find Pookie, an apology note from the management office and candy waiting for them. He'd gotten caught up in the sheets, but they sanitized him. Ewww-what does that mean? Oh happy day!
Friday I took the day off and we headed to Stanley. We caught the double decker bus and enjoyed our first sunny day in over a week! We went through the market to view the goods and buy Nick an airplane. Then onto lunch and the beach. The water felt so wonderful. I'd swear we were at a resort somewhere, it was so beautiful. Nick took right to the water, "Can i swim?!".
Saturday was Lantau Island for the Big Buddah. We took a ferry, then a bus, then a short walk of 260 steps up to see the Buddah. Nick made it 240 steps before asking to be carried. It was very foggy, so we only got glimpses of the Buddah every few minutes. And mosquitos. Did I mention the mosquitos? Then back down the 260 steps (carrying the 35 lb turkey the whole way this time) and ready for lunch. No nap for Nick, so a few fits were thrown in throughout the day for good measure. At one point, I left Nick and Chris on Wisdom Path to sort out their issues. Three minutes later they both emerged with scowls on their faces. Guess that wisdom didn't work right away. Apparently the thing to do is eat at the vegetarian, family style place that's part of the Monestary. Well, they brought us lots of food. But can't say any of us were excited about it. We started with tea and a soup/broth. It resembled muddy water with green pepper chunks in it. Chris still won't claim to know what that veggie was. Then a big rice pot with some other veggies to add in. Lots of tofu. I don't want to be a monk. Then we walked to the cable cars to take us down the other side of the mountain (as scary as a roller coaster at points) and to the subway to take us back to our neighborhood. Phew. What a day! Home with snacks and then naps. Well, at least 2 of us took naps. Nick figured out how to work the DVD player and watched the Scooby Doo movie. Again. Pizza for dinner - oh sweet heaven! My belly was so happy!
We ended the busy weekend with a day on Kowloon. We took the ferry over and then walked over to the Hong Kong Museum of History. Nick loved it and I actually learned some things about the culture we’ve been living in for the past month. Then we headed to the subway and made our way to the Ladies Market. “Copies, copies”. Chris didn’t think that sounded much better than saying “fake bags” or “counterfeit watches”. It’s amazing the crazy wares they sell at these markets. Everything from jewelry to underwear to fake bags to shoes to costumes. Back to the subway to Kowloon park, where we wandered forever looking for the Kung Fu exhibition. Never found it. But did find a great swimming pool for Chris and Nick to visit this week. Also found signs for parrots and flamingos. Nick got it in his head that we were looking for mangos. So we pretended to look all afternoon for mangos. It was on the ferry ride home that he said “we saw the parrots, but not the flamingos”. Mangos. Flamangos. Flamingos. Ahhhhhh. Chris researched and found a noodle shop for an early dinner. It was authentic. So much so that I had to make a McD’s run once we got home. McDs is insanely cheap here. Hey, 3 yr olds love McDs! They sell sundaes with green tea sauch and red beans, apple pies/red bean pies, Shogun burgers (which from what we can tell might be like McRibs) and exotic sauces for their McNuggets: Pineapple/Soy and Mustard/Chili.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Wednesday, May 21
Wednesday, May 21
Nick and Chris have been busy exploring the city. Nick has his Dad’s sense of direction and knows exactly which streets to turn down and which way to go to see the monkeys at the botanic garden! It’s funny to see him leading Chris around.
You guys thought I was exaggerating my first day when I had to sneak my trash out. There’s a woman who comes around once a day to empty our trash cans. She goes through each item and leaves in pieces of paper if I haven’t written/printed on both sides. No kidding. It took me several weeks to catch onto why she was leaving trash in my can.
Poor Nick. He has a stuffed dog “Pookie” that he is attached to. My mom bought him a duplicate at one point, in case we ever lost the first one. Nick spotted the dup immediately and insisted on carrying them both around. Days before we left for Hong Kong, both Pookies had an accident with some purple Silly Putty and came out with purple spots. But that didn't stop them from coming to Hong Kong. Then one went missing. It took us a good week or so to realize that he wasn’t hiding in the apartment. Nick didn’t seem to mind too much as long as he had the other one, so we got over it. Until the other Pookie went missing yesterday. Gulp. Coincidence that it’s the same day they come in to change the sheets? We contacted the building management. I can say from personal experience 32 years ago, that Pookies are not replaceable. Old photo of Pookie below (pre-purple spots).
Nick and Chris have been busy exploring the city. Nick has his Dad’s sense of direction and knows exactly which streets to turn down and which way to go to see the monkeys at the botanic garden! It’s funny to see him leading Chris around.
You guys thought I was exaggerating my first day when I had to sneak my trash out. There’s a woman who comes around once a day to empty our trash cans. She goes through each item and leaves in pieces of paper if I haven’t written/printed on both sides. No kidding. It took me several weeks to catch onto why she was leaving trash in my can.
Poor Nick. He has a stuffed dog “Pookie” that he is attached to. My mom bought him a duplicate at one point, in case we ever lost the first one. Nick spotted the dup immediately and insisted on carrying them both around. Days before we left for Hong Kong, both Pookies had an accident with some purple Silly Putty and came out with purple spots. But that didn't stop them from coming to Hong Kong. Then one went missing. It took us a good week or so to realize that he wasn’t hiding in the apartment. Nick didn’t seem to mind too much as long as he had the other one, so we got over it. Until the other Pookie went missing yesterday. Gulp. Coincidence that it’s the same day they come in to change the sheets? We contacted the building management. I can say from personal experience 32 years ago, that Pookies are not replaceable. Old photo of Pookie below (pre-purple spots).
Monday, May 19, 2008
Monday/Tuesday, May 19/20
Monday/Tuesday, May 19/20
Monday was the one week anniversary of the earthquake. At 2:28pm, all of the cars/buses/ferries blared their horns for three minutes. You could hear it 33 floors up in the office. Even though we’re close (well, closer than the States), I feel like Hong Kong is so far removed from the disaster. It’s constantly on the news and there are volunteers collecting money on the street corners, but we could be in the US for all I know.
Mary headed back to Chicago today. Living with your mother-in-law. On a 13 hour time difference. For 4 ½ weeks. In a 1500 sq foot apartment. In an unfamiliar area. Come on. You’re all waiting to hear the horror stories. Considering that I can’t stand to be with anyone other than Chris or Nick for more than 3 days in a row, there should be some stories! But you know, for two gals in a foreign country with a 3 ½ yr old, we didn’t do too badly. We had our little routine. I’d get up in the a.m. and get ready for work. She’d go out to get her coffee. She’d come back a few minutes before I had to leave for the day. We’d check in with each other once a day and then I’d come home with dinner or latch on to whatever they had eaten. We’d chat for a bit (while Nick yelled “too loud” because he couldn’t hear the TV over our talking) enjoy a glass of wine and then head to bed. On the weekends we’d all head out for some exploring one day and let Grammy have a sans-Nick day the next. Then meet up again for dinner that night. Now, Mary might have her own blog, where she’s saying something completely different… When I first brought up this trip to Mary, she immediately said “I’ll be there”. Even after the trip changed locations, dates and threatened to die all together. I love that Mary never hesitated on coming on this trip so that Nick could be with his mom. And without that, this trip probably never would have happened. Thank you Mary! Love you! And safe travels home. I’ll see you in Florida!
Monday was the one week anniversary of the earthquake. At 2:28pm, all of the cars/buses/ferries blared their horns for three minutes. You could hear it 33 floors up in the office. Even though we’re close (well, closer than the States), I feel like Hong Kong is so far removed from the disaster. It’s constantly on the news and there are volunteers collecting money on the street corners, but we could be in the US for all I know.
Mary headed back to Chicago today. Living with your mother-in-law. On a 13 hour time difference. For 4 ½ weeks. In a 1500 sq foot apartment. In an unfamiliar area. Come on. You’re all waiting to hear the horror stories. Considering that I can’t stand to be with anyone other than Chris or Nick for more than 3 days in a row, there should be some stories! But you know, for two gals in a foreign country with a 3 ½ yr old, we didn’t do too badly. We had our little routine. I’d get up in the a.m. and get ready for work. She’d go out to get her coffee. She’d come back a few minutes before I had to leave for the day. We’d check in with each other once a day and then I’d come home with dinner or latch on to whatever they had eaten. We’d chat for a bit (while Nick yelled “too loud” because he couldn’t hear the TV over our talking) enjoy a glass of wine and then head to bed. On the weekends we’d all head out for some exploring one day and let Grammy have a sans-Nick day the next. Then meet up again for dinner that night. Now, Mary might have her own blog, where she’s saying something completely different… When I first brought up this trip to Mary, she immediately said “I’ll be there”. Even after the trip changed locations, dates and threatened to die all together. I love that Mary never hesitated on coming on this trip so that Nick could be with his mom. And without that, this trip probably never would have happened. Thank you Mary! Love you! And safe travels home. I’ll see you in Florida!
Saturday/Sunday, May 17/18
Saturday/Sunday, May 17/18
We finally made it to Macau. We made our way to the ferry and purchased our tickets for the TurboJet. An hour trip across the Pearl River and we arrived! You have to go through customs upon entering and leaving Macau, which really bit into our time. We skipped the casinos and took a cab into the heart of the city. Crowds. Crowds. Oh, the crowds. The shopping wasn’t so great, but the architecture was beautiful. We went to a gorgeous temple and watched as the people lit incense and prayed. In Japan, I felt very comfortable and peaceful at the temples. We felt very much like outsiders at this one and didn’t feel right buying or lighting incense. Nick had to go to the bathroom, and luckily there were some right at the temple. Holes in the ground. Ohhhh-not this again!!!! So I used by left hand as a seat for his bum and my right hand to hold him up. That left him in charge of aiming, which didn’t go well. He hit his shoe, and kept moving that foot farther and farther away from the stream. Which meant we were both being pulled off balance. But we escaped unscathed. Except for my flip flopped foot. I just tried to remember my grandmother saying “it’s just a little sugar water”. We headed down the stairs for more exploring. The map was useless, as many of the streets weren’t labeled. We were filling up with water because it was so hot out. I went in to buy water and went for the coldest looking ones with clear bottles/blue tops. Well, it wasn’t water. It was ION water. Mary and I stopped drinking after a few sips. Nick chugged his. Then waited until we were lost to say he needed to use the bathroom. I couldn’t even find us on a map, how was I supposed to find a bathroom? (I know, there are a lot of pee stories when you travel with a 3 ½ yr old!) Luckily I still had my Ion bottle, so Nick could discretely do his business on a deserted street. All worked out well, except for Nick telling me he was finished and me moving the bottle only to get my arm soaked. We finally made it to a point where we got a cab to take us back to the boat. Nick waited until we were in the cab to start his dance. You gotta be kidding me. No kidding. Wet, tired, dirty. We were a mess. Some soda and Pringles on the boat helped a little. A shower when we got home helped even more. I have no desire to go back to Macau anytime soon.
Chris arrived in Hong Kong. It’s a Nordloh reunion! He strained his back last week (all the work around the house he’s been doing!) and we had a questionable few days where we didn’t think he would make it out of bed, let alone all the way to Hong Kong. But armed with Advil and muscle relaxers, he arrived. Tired and hungry. He’s told me that the blog photos don’t do our neighborhood justice, so more to come!
We finally made it to Macau. We made our way to the ferry and purchased our tickets for the TurboJet. An hour trip across the Pearl River and we arrived! You have to go through customs upon entering and leaving Macau, which really bit into our time. We skipped the casinos and took a cab into the heart of the city. Crowds. Crowds. Oh, the crowds. The shopping wasn’t so great, but the architecture was beautiful. We went to a gorgeous temple and watched as the people lit incense and prayed. In Japan, I felt very comfortable and peaceful at the temples. We felt very much like outsiders at this one and didn’t feel right buying or lighting incense. Nick had to go to the bathroom, and luckily there were some right at the temple. Holes in the ground. Ohhhh-not this again!!!! So I used by left hand as a seat for his bum and my right hand to hold him up. That left him in charge of aiming, which didn’t go well. He hit his shoe, and kept moving that foot farther and farther away from the stream. Which meant we were both being pulled off balance. But we escaped unscathed. Except for my flip flopped foot. I just tried to remember my grandmother saying “it’s just a little sugar water”. We headed down the stairs for more exploring. The map was useless, as many of the streets weren’t labeled. We were filling up with water because it was so hot out. I went in to buy water and went for the coldest looking ones with clear bottles/blue tops. Well, it wasn’t water. It was ION water. Mary and I stopped drinking after a few sips. Nick chugged his. Then waited until we were lost to say he needed to use the bathroom. I couldn’t even find us on a map, how was I supposed to find a bathroom? (I know, there are a lot of pee stories when you travel with a 3 ½ yr old!) Luckily I still had my Ion bottle, so Nick could discretely do his business on a deserted street. All worked out well, except for Nick telling me he was finished and me moving the bottle only to get my arm soaked. We finally made it to a point where we got a cab to take us back to the boat. Nick waited until we were in the cab to start his dance. You gotta be kidding me. No kidding. Wet, tired, dirty. We were a mess. Some soda and Pringles on the boat helped a little. A shower when we got home helped even more. I have no desire to go back to Macau anytime soon.
Chris arrived in Hong Kong. It’s a Nordloh reunion! He strained his back last week (all the work around the house he’s been doing!) and we had a questionable few days where we didn’t think he would make it out of bed, let alone all the way to Hong Kong. But armed with Advil and muscle relaxers, he arrived. Tired and hungry. He’s told me that the blog photos don’t do our neighborhood justice, so more to come!
Friday, May 16, 2008
Thursday/Friday, May 15/16
Thursday/Friday, May 15/16
Nail salon. My pedicure was chipping last weekend so I ventured for my first manicure/pedicure since I’ve been in HK. I pass a respectable looking place near our house each day and decided to call for an appointment. The phone call went well and I was scheduled to go in that afternoon. Well, when I walked in, they seemed surprised that I actually showed up to get my nails done. A girl checked me in, called out to someone in the back, shuffled around for about 10 minutes and eventually sat down to do my nails. It took her ages to gather all of her tools, as if she’d never done a pedicure before. Another girl came out of the back a while later. About 20 minutes into it, a guy walks in the front door and looks all nervous. He mumbles something about “5 minutes”. The girls say something else to him and then he hurriedly leaves. They giggle as he leaves. I assume it’s just a guy who’s a little embarrassed to be getting his nails done. But something isn’t sitting well with me. The girl helping me had tons of silver bangles on her wrist that are clanging with every movement. And had long, talon-like nails with gems all over them. My experience with nail technicians is that they don’t wear nail polish because it just gets removed when they go to remove the clients polish. And jewelry just gets in the way. Ok. So is this a front of sorts? Yes, that’s it! Drugs are my immediate thought. I leave the salon with presentable nails and don’t think much of it…Until the next day when I run into the nail gal at the 7-11. Wearing the same short shorts and tummy bearing shirt from the previous day. Wheels start clicking in my head. Nervous guy. Nail technician with talons. Skin-bearing outfit. Confusion over setting up the pedicure station. Wait a minute! They’re not dealing drugs. They’re ladies of the night! Or women of the 5 minute something. Gag.
Some of you know about my cosmetic obsession. One of my all-time favorite things to do when I visit a new city/country is to check out their drugstores. I could spend hours roaming the aisles to see the packaging and varieties of their toothpaste, cosmetics and medicines. Observations so far: hair color aisles offer dark brown to black, no blonde, light brown, red... Cosmetics – lots of skin whitening products, cosmetics with photos of babies on the packaging (“skin as soft as a baby”, “lips as pink as a baby”, etc.) and not much variety of colors. They like their lipstick pink. Tiny bottles of sunscreen. And the greatest/scariest tools – metal ear cleaning tool, metal pimple lancer/blackhead remover and tiny little razors. Have to admit that I bought a hair product that I can’t even tell what it does other than ‘for dry damage on hair tips’. One of the consultants kindly translated for me. And of course entire aisles of Chinese remedies in colorful little boxes which I’d love to be able to read. They remind me of old medicine boxes you see in antique stores or museums.
Elevator at work. It says it can hold 21 people. Our elevator bank services floors 19-34, with our office being on 33. I hopped on today to go downstairs and people piled in from every floor we stopped on. It amazes me how they just keep packing in. I counted 16 of us when the elevator stopped on 25. Panic. Someone started pushing buttons. Nothing. Doors opened 2 inches and shut. Deep breathe. I’m not claustrophobic, but my stomach was getting freaked. Doors opened 2 inches and shut again. Finally, they opened all the way and we all poured out. We were probably only stuck for less than a minute, but what a long minute that was.
Chris arrives on Sunday - yeah!!!!!!
Nail salon. My pedicure was chipping last weekend so I ventured for my first manicure/pedicure since I’ve been in HK. I pass a respectable looking place near our house each day and decided to call for an appointment. The phone call went well and I was scheduled to go in that afternoon. Well, when I walked in, they seemed surprised that I actually showed up to get my nails done. A girl checked me in, called out to someone in the back, shuffled around for about 10 minutes and eventually sat down to do my nails. It took her ages to gather all of her tools, as if she’d never done a pedicure before. Another girl came out of the back a while later. About 20 minutes into it, a guy walks in the front door and looks all nervous. He mumbles something about “5 minutes”. The girls say something else to him and then he hurriedly leaves. They giggle as he leaves. I assume it’s just a guy who’s a little embarrassed to be getting his nails done. But something isn’t sitting well with me. The girl helping me had tons of silver bangles on her wrist that are clanging with every movement. And had long, talon-like nails with gems all over them. My experience with nail technicians is that they don’t wear nail polish because it just gets removed when they go to remove the clients polish. And jewelry just gets in the way. Ok. So is this a front of sorts? Yes, that’s it! Drugs are my immediate thought. I leave the salon with presentable nails and don’t think much of it…Until the next day when I run into the nail gal at the 7-11. Wearing the same short shorts and tummy bearing shirt from the previous day. Wheels start clicking in my head. Nervous guy. Nail technician with talons. Skin-bearing outfit. Confusion over setting up the pedicure station. Wait a minute! They’re not dealing drugs. They’re ladies of the night! Or women of the 5 minute something. Gag.
Some of you know about my cosmetic obsession. One of my all-time favorite things to do when I visit a new city/country is to check out their drugstores. I could spend hours roaming the aisles to see the packaging and varieties of their toothpaste, cosmetics and medicines. Observations so far: hair color aisles offer dark brown to black, no blonde, light brown, red... Cosmetics – lots of skin whitening products, cosmetics with photos of babies on the packaging (“skin as soft as a baby”, “lips as pink as a baby”, etc.) and not much variety of colors. They like their lipstick pink. Tiny bottles of sunscreen. And the greatest/scariest tools – metal ear cleaning tool, metal pimple lancer/blackhead remover and tiny little razors. Have to admit that I bought a hair product that I can’t even tell what it does other than ‘for dry damage on hair tips’. One of the consultants kindly translated for me. And of course entire aisles of Chinese remedies in colorful little boxes which I’d love to be able to read. They remind me of old medicine boxes you see in antique stores or museums.
Elevator at work. It says it can hold 21 people. Our elevator bank services floors 19-34, with our office being on 33. I hopped on today to go downstairs and people piled in from every floor we stopped on. It amazes me how they just keep packing in. I counted 16 of us when the elevator stopped on 25. Panic. Someone started pushing buttons. Nothing. Doors opened 2 inches and shut. Deep breathe. I’m not claustrophobic, but my stomach was getting freaked. Doors opened 2 inches and shut again. Finally, they opened all the way and we all poured out. We were probably only stuck for less than a minute, but what a long minute that was.
Chris arrives on Sunday - yeah!!!!!!
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