The smog struck back…
I am sitting in the Cathay Pacific lounge about to fly back to Hong Kong. I was hoping to send and receive e-mails but for some odd reason I am unable to establish a successful VPN connection. However, I have had a very good visit and am quite optimistic about the team here in Tokyo: switched on and motivated! I arrived on Tuesday night and before heading out of the office stopped to observe the view I had just lost. I guess the southerly winds have stopped and the pollution is now drifting back down from Hong Kong. You guessed it, the above picture is taken from the exact same position as the picture on the clear beautiful day that I started. In case you have any doubts about the pollution in Hong Kong… now you know. As for Tokyo, well, the air quality is quite good but the streets? It is incredibly pristine and clean to a surreal point.
Yes, Sandi is wonderful…
I am so far behind in blogging it is ridiculous. I have a long list of blog topics, including a new idea for You Tube video that will have you laughing forever. Sorry for being so silent. As I write this Tess is on the sofa (recently re-covered in Shenzhen thanks to the lovely & talented Tess – and the sofas look GREAT) with Sebastian, reading him another chapter of The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe. I had all sorts of grand plans of what I’d write about tonight and then Tess wrote about our friend Sandi. The other stuff will just have to wait.
All that Tess wrote is true. I remember that night ten years ago when the three of us first met at the wine tasting dinner. Sandi (well actually the hosts, but Sandi provided all the details) introduced us to a red wine called Lemberger. This is a very heavy red wine ~ about the heaviest that they come and makes a Barolo taste like water. If you want heavier red, well, you have to switch to a port in most cases. We received a complimentary bottle of Lemberger that night that still sits on our shelf. I mentioned to Sandi some time ago that I still had the bottle and she replied with, "What? It will have gone bad!" Perhaps not but I better try it soon just in case. Sandi is the one who taught me how to make a martini. The first one she rated an 8.5 and the second one (a few weeks later – not the same day!) she rated an 8.6. I was pretty proud of myself. That kind of score from Sandi is huge. Sandi has some of the best lines and funniest stories, too. Maybe she deserves a category of her own on the blog?
In the last few weeks the Hong Kong air, thanks to southerly winds coming off the South China Sea, has been spectacular. The winds have kept the pollution in China, not let it drift down into Hong Kong. Looking out from any building in Hong Kong, one can see details never before seen on distant islands. I heard a story this week that someone from their office building window actually saw Macau! (Very unusual.) At left is a picture I took near Magazine Gap, a road that leads to The Peak. The tall building about 1/3 in from the left is IFC 2: once drawn by Sebastian. I work in IFC 1, part of the same complex but half the size and just out of site behind some other buildings. I started my new job on June 1, (the morning after my 11th anniversary of landing in HK) and a major perk is the view from my 32nd floor office. Believe it or not, I actually have a corner office that looks north and west across the harbour. No complaints, it is a beautiful view, and accompanying this post are some of the sunset pictures I took at the end of my first day. I also remember some of my first days in Hong Kong, eleven years ago, walking past a huge circular hole in the ground. Each day the huge circular column grew bigger and bigger while I marvelled at its size. The column now holds the elevator shafts of my building.
I am really tired for some reason, just like Jasper pictured above. Very unusual things happening to me… for example, my coffee consumption has dropped to almost nil. Yes, I know, that might be the cause of the fatigue… caffeine withdrawal. Anyway, after eight days in the job in Hong Kong, the travel starts this week: Singapore, Tokyo and Australia the following week. Wish me luck!
Blatant Disregard?
As I am sure everyone has gathered from MoZiLLa’s and Tess’ posts of the last few months, the triplets are coming off their naps. Most of the time they don’t nap unless very, very tired. During the no-naptimes there are some priceless moments, such as the one Sela and I had on Saturday. The scene: Either Tess or myself have been in the triplets’ bedroom several dozen times, instructing the kids with stern tones to lie down and go to sleep. The last time I went in caused the kids to finally go to sleep thanks to Sela. Once again I walked in to say sternly:
"Okay everyone, please lie down and go to sleep. Sela, that means you, too. Please lie down."
From Sela: silence and no response as she kneeled in her bed.
"Sela, I asked you to lie down. Are you going to lie down or are you going to disobey me?"
Sheepishly from Sela: "I am going to disobey you."
From Dad: silence as I contrasted her honesty and disobedience.
To make a long story short, turns out Sela didn’t want to lie down because she had just filled her knickers… and I am not talking about a wee wee here. I asked her to stand up, she obeyed and voila the mystery was revealed. Sela was disgraced and started to cry. (This is what would put her to sleep once back in bed… a good cry.) Into a cold shower for a cleaning, put the soiled knickers into the laundry ~ the usual routine. Eventually I calmed her down while explaining to her it’s okay to get out of bed to go to the bathroom. (Maybe that was the easy way out, too, for all I know she might think that’s too much work.) We cuddled and made-up, and the ringleader of no-naptime went to sleep as did Jasper and Carys. Tess and I managed to squeeze in another episode of Gray’s Anatomy.
The Red Ball
Reminder: there are more Phuket pictures in my last post in case people missed them.
I am currently flying from Toronto to Hong Kong. Yes, while Hong Kong endured torrential downpours, I’ve been in Toronto, Canada enjoying gorgeous, late spring, Southern Ontario, weather. I arrived Friday night and left Tuesday night. While in Toronto my sister Penny asked me, "what did you do on the flight here?"
"Well, I didn’t write. I just didn’t have the energy," was my reply. "The bug tried to take me but I fought it hard."
Penny knows, as may some readers, that being on a plane unleashes a tornado of creativity in me. Something about being cut off from all input (such as e-mails, phone calls etc.) uncaps my creative side. Lord, help me now, though… I am on the plane back to Hong Kong and the creative tornado has me by the throat courtesy of a fantastic introspective Toronto visit and some new music on CX.. so it’s time to finally write about The Red Ball.
Last summer after the Toronto Camp Comok visit, I left the island a day ahead of everyone else to return to Toronto and then Hong Kong. Keith (bro-in-law) and I drove down together and Keith dropped me off at my Dad’s house where Dad has lived for 44 years (and where I grew up.) My sister Carolyn has been helping Dad clear out the house in preparation for an eventual move. A whole bunch of my stuff had been placed in the basement to be either claimed or thrown out by yours truly. It was one of those Catch-22 situations… if nothing was claimed it would be thrown out. If too much was claimed it would be downsized. If only a few small boxes remained, I’d be home free. I ended up with a few small boxes and was in the clear.
But none of this is the point. The point of all this was what happened to me while alone in the house. This was the first time I’d been alone in the house for any length of time since my mother passed away four years earlier. That was a challenge, not for emotional reasons, but because I was very aware of my past and the passage of time in an eerie way. That afternoon two things happened.
First, while going through one of my boxes I found something that had been missing for 14 years: my piano sheet music. Prior to living in HK I lived in Vancouver for several years. When I made the move out there two things went missing… a large pot roast container and my music. The pot I couldn’t care less about but I searched high and low for the music. Gone. I reported back to Toronto about the missing music. My family searched everywhere to no avail. I filed a report with the moving company who came up empty handed. I failed to comprehend how this bag went missing and each time I visited Toronto used to sift through what few things I had in my parent’s home, again without success.
The missing music deflated my motivation to play the piano. I’d picked up a few pieces of music since then but it was still not the same. Access to a piano was easy through church when no one was listening, but I sort of gave-up. Then there I was last summer on the floor of our basement when I popped open a box, removed a few items only to find Nat King Cole, Pink Floyd and Elton John staring me in the face. I was gobsmacked. Part of my logical mind believed it physically impossible for the music to be in the house but at this point I wasn’t about to turn away this gift after thinking it missing for so long. I quickly extracted my favourite books, setting them aside to return to HK with me. (Unfortunately, I still haven’t spent much time in front of the TV, but that’s another story.)
I was under a time constraint that afternoon… I had to pack everything up, including items into boxes that Tess and I had bought prior to heading north to Comak with the family. All this had to be done in time to meet a very good lifelong friend of mine, Anne (Sebastian’s ‘darling’) and also a good friend of Tess. Anne and I were having dinner prior to my catching the midnight flight back to Hong Kong.
In the middle of the packing commotion, the awareness of being in the house alone, the creepy but welcomed discovery of my piano music, another old friend passed in front of my eye to say "hello." I remember this friend from the beginning of my time… it has been around the house since I was at least two or three years old and family members claim longer than that. The story was that this friend had lost his bounce and for a long time I thought that possible. Now of course, I know this just means add more air.
Yes, the old friend was The Red Ball. I held the ball in my hands, not only had the ball not found its bounce, but was even softer forty years on. "Wow, my friend," I said to it, "there is an organizational hurricane coming up behind me and you’re not going to survive that storm."
"Then blog about me," it replied, "and take a picture, too." Okay, I thought, I will do that for you. Into the garden I went to find a sunny spot for The Red Ball’s pose. A few minutes later The Red Ball was immortalised in digital form. I returned into the house, placing the ball somewhere inobtruse but prominent. I stood there for a moment remembering the years when, despite the lack of bounce, the ball could still be tossed back and forth between little hands or kicked by little feet.
Eventually the heaviness of the afternoon became too much for me… but not from an emotional perspective. I just get so melancholy and don’t know why… why do you suppose that is, lurkers? I quickly packed up the remaining items – including two dozen boxes of Kraft Dinner that is 3X more costly in HK and harder to find. Around about the time I was finishing up Anne arrived. We had a fabulous bottle of red wine with dinner at her place and then Anne dropped me off at the airport. My sheet music sat in my checked luggage destined for Asia while The Red Ball sat in the silent darkness of my parents’ home.
Final pics of Phuket…
As promised here are some final pictures of our vacation in Phuket. The last day of our holiday I finally convinced Jasper to swim with me in the deep water. Up until this point he had been too apprehensive to go in water any deeper than his waist. Finally he took the plunge… he loved it. In fact, he loved it so much that he finally figured out what he had been missing all along! When we pulled him out of the water at dinner time he was furious. Can you say "toddler meltdown?" What follows are some beach shots from the first morning in Phuket, and pool shots from our last late afternoon and beach side dinner. We had a great time and I am sure we’ll be back.
Another day in paradise!
Alas, the triplets crashed on Saturday night while Sebastian crashed on Sunday morning. Upon awaking, Seb had very sore arms and chest muscles – most likely from non-stop super-hero exertion the previous day – and announced he was going to throw-up. So he did, but made it to the toilet first. We had brought breakfast cereals and decided the kids would eat en suite. Seb, like Sela the night before, refused to eat. He was too tired and clearly suffering from something – probably sun stroke – that came complete with a fever. The kid enjoyed a mixture of Cheerios and CoCo Puffs (hey, they’re on holiday, who cares about the sugar!) while Seb lazed in bed in front of the TV where he remained until about 4 pm. (Left: breakfast in the hotel room.)
Tess stayed with Sebastian and I took the triplets down to the pool where they swam and swam and swam. The morning dragged late, and before I knew it lunch was on top of us. I quickly made peanut butter sandwiches in our hotel room then went back to the pool to inform the triplets of our impending "picnic on the beach." Little did I know that this would turn out to be one of the most inspired ideas of the day. (Left: typicalview looking up the beach.)
Maureen and I settled each triplet into a beach chair and cracked open lunch. we were in the shade but wow – it was hot, with the sand retaining the sun’s energy. A cool breeze wafted by, when it occured to me we could probably pull off naps on the beach, not just a picnic. Sure enough, after sandwiches, a tube of yoghurt each and Yakult yoghurt drink, the eyes were getting heavy. Not long after the kids were deep in sleep. Okay I’m sorry, but I was pretty impressed with myself. Maureen and I had our own refreshment, then I headed back to the room to give Tess a break from babysitting Seb. Fortunately, Seb was feeling much better, even managing to consume some crackers and a peanut butter sandwich. (Left: Crashed out under the tropical heat!)
At this point Maureen and Tess showed up in the hotel room. "Where are the kids?" I asked. "KIDS CLUB," they exclaimed in glee. On cue Maureen and I headed down to the beach for el cheapo, one hour massages after which we joined the kids back in the pool. Seb had made a remarkable recovery, but his volatile well being + sudden expenditure of energy in the pool + sudden temperature change = another crash. The triplets played a little longer then everyone was ushered up to the room to get changed for dinner. (Left: Grandad Blake tries to cheer-up Seb as he comes in for another crash landing.)
In the middle of all the changing I asked, "Why not room service, besides Seb doesn’t look to hungry?" Such a simple solution! The kids enjoyed hot dogs and french fries while Sebastian laid low on the bed watching TV. Post dinner everyone was ready to sleep pretty quickly. We plied Sebastian with his 3rd bottle of Gatorade then put the gang to bed. Maureen predicted Seb would be 100% by the next morning and true to her prediction, he was. (Left: dinner time and TV for the triplets. Don’t get used to this kids!)
Monday morning found us down by the pool with lots and lots of sun. The kids were playing with an array of toys and Carys was pretending to pour water on various items that she’d pretend to cook. As Jasper looked on Carys explained, "JJ, you need to pour water on it because it’s spicey." "Aha," I thought rather satisfied, "so you do listen to me." Elsewhere Maureen and Tess splashed the kids through a variety of up-in-the-air throws. At lunch Maureen and Tess headed into town to shop. (Left: one of the many shallow pools that we hijacked.)
Blake and I had a repeat picnic on the beach. Took a little longer to get the kids asleep and Seb played happily in the sand throughout. Naps were unfortunately short – maybe an hour long – due to a line squall and downpour that put us back into the hotel room. One of the highlights of our trip was the resort baby elephant. The kids were quite skeptical but curious of this small, two-year-old beast who appeared several times a day. The little guy had a whole variety of tricks up his trunk including a big smile and pose for pictures, kissing people on their necks or cheeks with his trunk and… ah… going after ladies breasts as he did with Tess! Hah! (Left: Sebastian plays in the sand while the kids nap behind the camera.)
More random pics of the kids having fun in Phuket, starting with Carys playing in the pool…
Below, Sela’s turn in the limelight…
Below, Sebastian relaxes then splashes…
Little nudies… Blake & Sebastian… Sela cuddles Carys while sporting her new goggles…
You are probably wondering where JJ is in all these pictures. Well, the poor little guy has been painfully shy of the water but we do have some amazing progress to report. So stay tuned for another update. Meanwhile, what do you think of the synchronized swimmers? (Left: a final splash from our brave little swimmer, Carys. Overall, the kids made huge water progress this week, including shy Jasper.)
