One busy week

Well they came, they whizzed around Hong Kong, and they left. What a great week we all had. Ocean Park, Mong Kok markets, Cheung Chau, Star Ferry... they really explored all the touristy areas and got to see all my favourite things. The only downside was me having to go to work and miss out on some of the fun.

I had my birthday last week so it was really nice to go out for dinner to celebrate. Although by then I had caught some kind of bug and had lost my voice and wasn't feeling too much like celebrating. I'm only just starting to recover now, after 2 days in bed!

I love the photo of David trying to feed Matthew on the last day, and Matty wouldn't drink it because he was glued to the television! (I think a Johnny Depp movie was on, so I couldn't blame him).

Something I'll have to blog about next year is the Rugby Sevens. It was on this weekend, and it's all I've been hearing about for weeks. Everyone catches rugby fever at this time of year. Maybe next year I'll go and see what all the fuss is about.

But for now I'm headed for a quiet week catching up on work and sleep, as I'm off to Manila on the weekend!

(PS I know the photos are all wonky but I couldn't line them up nicely. Oh well.)

A quick post cause I'm all tuckered out

Day 3 of having all my visitors here, and we have done heaps!

It was so exciting going to meet my family at the airport on Friday night, and the best bit was Matthew laughing hysterically when he saw me. I think it's cause he loves me, others might say he was overtired from his first very long plane ride.

We are cramming in all the things I want them to experience - we did a whole day shoppping up in Shenzhen, we spent yesterday at Disneyland (hooray, I love Disneyland), and today while I was at work they went up to the Peak, and then shopped themselves silly down at Stanley markets.

(Mum, Elizabeth and Matty at Disneyland - It's A Small World)

I met them down there, and then we headed over to Kowloon for dinner and the light show.

Needless to say we are all going to be very tired by the weekend, but it's so completely worth it :-)

David is enjoying Hong Kong, as it's his first trip overseas. A little different to Cooma! Mum and Dad have been here before, but it's even better when we have the whole family here.

(What do you buy in China? A wig of course... doesn't everyone?)

Elizabeth and Mark are having a great time too of course (I think Elizabeth especially enjoyed stocking up on cute baby clothes at Stanley today).

And little Matty has been a star. He is such a good traveller and a good baby. He had a great trip on the plane, and has of course also had his first taxi ride, train rides, and ferry trip. He has been happy being dragged around in the pram, although quite often he has been dragged OUT of the pram for cuddles with Nanny, Poppy, David and I. He is just too darn cute!

3 days to go!

Mum, Dad, David, Elizabeth, Mark and Matthew are all coming to visit - yep, the whole family!

I'm so excited. I can't wait to have them here, show them around, cuddle Matty... can't wait.

The weather here on Sunday was so beautiful! It was the warmest day we've had in a long time, but still not too hot. So I walked up to Hong Kong Park with my book, thinking I was exploring somewhere I hadn't been yet.

Once I got there I realised I actually had been there - mum and I had walked around it when she was here in July. Great memory! It has this massive aviary in it, and enough trees and quiet places to pretend you aren't in the middle of the city.

So I found a nice quiet park bench to sit with my book... until a small lady with massive lungs started yelling into her phone right next to my ear. So much for peace and quiet! Oh well, that's Hong Kong for you.

Anyway this is a photo of inside the aviary with a big walkway running around the top of it, and waterfalls underneath. Nice!

Book Week

I've just had my first book week in Hong Kong. As usual I've breathed a sigh of relief once it's over, as book week is always busy. Lots of fun though, and I love seeing the kids being so enthusiastic about reading.

Two big differences I noticed this week... firstly it is the responsibility of the entire language committee, and not just me. It took a lot of pressure off, with so many people to help out.

The thing I missed was that I am used to having a national theme, and the national awards for Book of the Year. Over here, it is just a school book week. That is, each school decides if/when they will hold their own week to celebrate books.

Anyway something I couldn't get away from was book character dress up day. I always seem to have a last minute panic deciding who to go as.

This year I decided to go as Tashi - a fabulous series I've introduced to our year 2 & 3 kids. I was glad they recognised me, even if the rest of the school didn't!

Snow in Beijing

I'm tired.

It was quite a busy week at school last week, thinking about all the new stuff I learned at the IT conference, and lots to do for the new library, and organising book week...

But there was no rest on the weekend. Three of us newbies from school flew up to Beijing after school on Friday, ready for a 3 day workshop. And I was so surprised to get up early on Saturday and see the world covered in white! What a nice surprise.

It snowed all morning, and on Sunday morning as well.

The school where we had the workshop (with hundreds of people from all over Asia) was amazing! It was really nice to look around it.

We didn't get much time to do sightseeing, which was a shame, but at least Abi and Kris and I managed to go to Tiananmen Square late Sunday, to take a couple of photos to say we had been there! But we were so cold and tired that we didn't last long.

We didn't get back till after midnight last night, so I am REALLY looking forward to next weekend.