This weekend found Mike and I in lovely Singapore for our “mini-moon.” A three plus hour flight took us to this peaceful, well-thought out city (which stands in exact opposition to Hong Kong). Spacious boulevards, wide expanses of sky, and no one hassling you down the sidewalk made for a peaceful visit. We stayed at the amazing Fullerton Bay Hotel right on the marina, topped off with an infinity pool and all those modern design perks. Day 1 we hit the botanical gardens and explored the National Orchid Gardens (Asia
Ok, so the junk trip was a great boat ride around the islands of Hong Kong but hardly compares to this past weekend in Boracay. Mike and I were attending a beachside wedding in this little paradisical island in the Philippines. The number of steps in the trek to get there must beat some records - fly to Manila, shuttle to the chaotic Manila domestic airport, propeller plane to Caticlan, shuttle to ferry, ferry, TRICYCLE! That’s the cost of entry to get to secluded islands though. The island itself was quite tiny but very very busy. We were hearing the music boom boom booming in the wee hours of the morning. The wedding was lovely of course and it’s always sad to say goodbye to the beach but next up - Singapore this weekend!
So What’s New?
As I continue to break every rule about successful blogging, lapsing for a few too many days at a time, I figured I would give this week over to a Day In The The Life Of post. You might know I’ve been freelancing at an ad agency in a digital strategy role which is mostly the same ol’ same ol’ I was up to in NYC. Determined to break out of that box, I’ve started working with a small but successful organization here called Sassy Hong Kong. The website is basically a lifestyle and culture guide to Hong Kong specifically for girls - those who’ve just moved over here and locals alike. They hold some fantastic events around town and I’m really excited to be working in a business development role for them, to help them grow responsibly and successfully. So 3 days a week you’ll find me at the office, 2 days a week at a coffee shop with my laptop. You’ll also find me at the expat-ty gym Pure, which is more or less an Equinox, (expats LOVE personal trainers here) and out and about town at the many restaurants, finally experimenting with new ethnic cuisines I never touched with a ten foot pole in New York. Mostly Southeast Asian, rather than Chinese. I still haven’t been cooking as much as I would’ve hoped because you really do need to go to the market day-of and get your fresh ingredients. Brownie points for trying?. Mmmm, how I miss a real all-American brownie :P
Weekends are given over to the fun stuff you mostly see on my blog. I think summer officially kicked in today as it’s nearly 80 degrees and the famous HK humidity is creeping in. Tomorrow we’re off on two “junk boat” trips - which aren’t nearly as awful as they sound. Watch this space for the wrap-up and pics.
As always, thanks for tuning in!
Another weekend, another hike! Hong Kong saw it’s first sunshine this week in about three weeks. So we took advantage of the sunshine and headed East to Dragon’s back, a famous hilly hike which, from afar, you guessed it, looks like a dragon’s back. Amazing views paid off for a few tough inclines, and best of all, the end of the hike deposits you near the beach to soak up some sun!
Now that the wedding hurrah has passed (sort of, we’re still glowing a bit :) ), Mike and I finally enjoyed an average Saturday in Hong Kong. The weather was fairly cooperative for March so we headed to Lamma island for a loooong hike. Lamma has a very small local population and barely any vehicles are even allowed on the island. It’s all about pristine trails, the views from the top, and the fresh seafood meals which await at the bottom. It was actually the 2nd day of the Hong Kong Sevens, a MASSIVE annual global rugby tourney in Hong Kong where people go a little overboard with costumes. My personal favorite was captured here.
The happiest of happy days here in Hong Kong, Mike and I were married this weekend. We had a simple civil ceremony at City Hall with a few friends bearing witness. Then we threw a small bash for all our new HK friends at a local gallery/arts space. Overall everything went off without a hitch. We are indeed planning a more traditional wedding for all our friends an family next Spring, so stay tuned!
As I might’ve mentioned before, this part of the world champions the nuances of their local food. Last night I enjoyed a Sichuan meal (keyword: spicy) at a private dining room. There are a couple of these around HK, where they may have two seatings in a given night, a set menu, and no more than 30 people in the room. Our dinner included 3 appetizers and 6 main courses, each extra-spicy course paired with a mildly-spicy course. No such thing as a palette cleanser here. Then especially special, the chef came out and sang a bit of Cantonese opera for the room. Then we were promptly sent on our way packing so they could set up for the next seating.
In other fun news, our new couch arrived after nearly two months of waiting for it to be built in Mainland China. See the before/after shots here. Improvement, no?
Back to normality
After an exciting week toting Mike’s parents all around Hong Kong, a quick visit with Callie, and booking our civil marriage ceremony for here in HK (March 19th - three weeks!) things are finally calming down. The weather is warming up a bit which means hiking and island hopping (i.e. seafood eating) in the near future. It was strange to skip out on a snowy winter but it sounds like I escaped a bad one. Sending good vibes to everyone on the East coast that you’re almost out of it. Cheers for now - the Bride :)
I guess this is what I get for writing a post that nothing’s doing here. Last night Mike dropped to his knee at the Symphony of Lights and ignited the next step in our whole adventure here! I was completely surprised, a weepy mess and totally discombobulated while the skyscrapers lit up the Hong Kong skies (here’s a proper description of the spectacle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Symphony_of_Lights). Happy to share the good news with everyone :)
