Goodbye July, Welcome to AUGUST!

Today is the 31st of July, so much has happened in the previous months and I know that this year still has SO much more to bring.

I'm still adjusting to class life, I definitely 'prefer' the other class, but the rest of the year doesn't look as bad as it did when the changeover actually happened.

I don't know if you know but my mum is overseas with my sister (who I just visited). My sister, Nicole, is pregnant with a baby with Skeletal Dysplasia, (a genetic deformity) she also has a blog (my initial inspiration to start my own) called Holding on to Hope.

Her and her husbands journey is a story of trials and tribulations that they have endured to hold out for the prize. I truly believe that their story and this little girl will bless SO many people. I too will Hold on to the Hope of your story.

Anyway, yeah, my mum is over there for the birth (which has NOT occurred yet) of this little girl. My dad and I are at home, by ourselves. 'Trying' to juggle everything that mum does. I have NO idea how on earth she does it. Mum you are my wonder woman!

But anyways, there's still about a week left until mum comes home and me and dad are already anxiously waiting for the day when she arrives!

At youth last night one of the guys gave a talk and again and just this one statement that he made struck me.

"Our walks with God are like a road, when you turn a corner you don't know what's coming, you don't know if there's a car there, or a pothole. It's always the unexpected. But we need to be like little children, because if a young child is afraid they with cling to their mum or dad. We need to cling to God".

Lately my life has been a turn in the road. For some people this would have been as easy as anything but for me? Well that's another story. All I know is that this stretch of road doesn't last forever and if I cling to my father and seek his face he will NEVER let me go.

It is getting better, and hey? The best is yet to come! Hello August 2010!

Home Safe and Sound

Sorry this post is few days late, but life has been hitting me hard. The flight was smooth and safe, and now I think I have almost fully recovered from the lack of sleep on the plane.

Basically as my mum and I were in the car on the way home she hit me with news that wasn't about to make my day. I was changing classes. From the normal-your-at-the-right-level-with-your-learning class to the 'smart' class.

To most people this would be an honor, something new, something to look forward to. To me well it's almost like changing schools. Maybe I just gawk at the idea of 'new'...'change'.

There is a whole new way of school life. The idea to me which would have been kind of freaky either way but it crushed my world at that moment. I broke down. I was tired and emotional after an overnight nine hour plane trip.

I spent the rest of the car trip home in tears trying to comprehend the idea of changing classes. To me it just seemed insanely scary in a sense. I didn't want to have to leave my friends in classes, I wanted to be WITH them.

We talked about it for a little while and I shared this with my parents. I think it helped that they knew how I felt about the entire thing but in the end the decision was made. I was going to change classes.

This wasn't what I wanted, this wasn't what I had planned. Even still I think it will take a little bit of getting used to. But seriously if you look at the first sentence in this paragraph. It just doesn't seem right.

In a way I think that this situation will help me grow in my walk with God, but I also think that this situation lines up with our daily Christian walks. Sometimes things are going to pop up that we don't like and we're going to say

"This isn't what I want, this isn't what I have planned!"

And God is going to be like,

"Ashleigh (or whatever your name is) this is good for you"

My parents didn't make this decision to hurt me, they did it because this is what they think is best for me! And that's what God does. He does what is best for you personally.

Even though I don't like this class at the moment, I know in my heart that it IS what is best for me and I will try my hardest to accept whatever happens in this situation.

Please pray for me in these classes, as I have ALOT of catching up to do. I hope I have encouraged you and given you some sort of new perspective in whatever situation you are in.

But above all, God loves you with ALL his heart and whatever you a going through is for the perfection of your soul.

H.K. - Day 12 & 13

DAY 12
My 2nd last day, last night as you know we went to go see Toy Story 3 and Lana didn't end up going to bed until about 12pm at night. She slept in this morning and we all knew that she would nap for a long time.

We were supposed to go to church this morning but Nicole and Bernard decided that it probably would be best for all of us if we stayed at home. Mainly because we were going out to dinner and we knew that it would be another late night for all of us, particularly Lana.

The morning and most afternoon was spent at home in comfort and relation. Truly, I kinda felt bad for not going to church but in other ways it felt good to know that people won't hold anything against us or have their own 'personal' opinions about the things you do that somehow EVERYONE knows.

I think sometimes you can get so caught up in everyone else's life that you forget to look at you own. But anyway that's not what I did today is it?

So the afternoon we didn't do anything although I did go to Park 'n' shop which is pretty much a regular grocery shop except this one was an international one so I went there to grab some snacks for the plane trip. Necessities such as a Kit Kat, Picnic, Extra gum and a packet of chips.

I came home after that and sat around some more until it was time to get ready to go out to dinner at the Disneyland Resort. It was beautiful. It looked exactly like a plantation house...minus the slave quarters at the back.

We walked around for a while admiring the gardens...which were BEAUTIFUL at this time of year. We explored through the maze and chatted with our friends. As I walked around taking pictures of the flowers I made an interesting discovery!

These 'beautiful' white flowers looked exactly like one of Australia's biggest plant pests. I felt the leaves and confirmed that this bush was...LANTANA! It took a bit of convincing to get Nic to believe me but in the end, I was right.

This started a new conversation about pests, I left the conversation when it started to get boring saying to myself,

"At least I got a good picture of it"

Around this time another of Lana's friends arrived and we headed inside to the restaurant still waiting on two of Lana's friends. In the end they didn't arrive until half and hour later and by that time we had already started on our buffet dinner.

The was TONNES of food, and even more laughter and conversation. The night was lots of fun and when we took the kids to the playroom I'm sure all our stomachs were sagging on the ground.

We played with the children for about two hours then headed off to the Disney shop where Lana bought a Tigger, Pooh Bear, Eeyore and some clips. I got a matching Eeyore. With that we happily trotted out to our cab.

The trip home was slow and we were all eager for our beds, when we found them we all fell fast asleep.

Day 13
I leave today...WOW. It has all gone so quickly. Today we don't really have a plan other than unpack, re-pack kinda thing. Although I do plan to go to the markets today.

My flight doesn't leave till late so I have the whole day to do stuff. The morning was spent as usual except today we all slept in till about 9am. When we woke up Lana had missed Banana's in Pajamas we woke up so late. But that's ok because she was still able to watch Playschool.

When Lana went down for her nap, I headed out to the markets. There was a vast array of items, clothes, fabrics, toys etc. I walked up and down the streets admiring all the items on display. I didn't stay for long but the time I did I enjoyed thoroughly hoping that one day I'll be able to do the same sort of thing with my friends.

When I came home Lana was asleep and Nicole was able to go out. We decided we wouldn't go shopping or anything like that but we would go out for lunch. Jaspers was the lucky restaurant that got to have us for lunch.

Our meals we large and satisfying and the service was not bad either. When we had finished our lunch we headed out to brace the hot summer humidity. While we hailed a cab Nic noticed someone she knew they chatted for a while, when the cab arrived we said our good-bye and headed home.

The rest of the day went by quickly and before I knew it we were getting ready to walk out the door. Many thanks to Nicole, Bernard, Lana and bub-to-be who have been so hospitable during my stay.

I have to go now so farewell Hong Kong, I'm once more heading to the sky's.

H.K - Day 11

Saturday, our day of rest. Thank-goodness it's finally here! In way it's bad as I'm leaving in 2 days! Time here has FLOWN, and now with 2 days to spare I feel as if all that's happened had been in a blink of an eye.

Today was our lazy day. While Lana was napping we watched Toy Story 2, in concession with what we watched last night. Again in preparation for what the future will hold.

We stayed in our P.J's till about quarter past 4 in afternoon, and when Lana got up from her nap. We pretty much decided that we had been in our P.J's for long enough.
So we all had showers and got ourselves dressed and ready. By this time we were ready to head out for dinner.

We decided to go to T.K.S and have Ruby Tuesdays, which is an American restaurant. We all ordered burgers. And Lana? Well, she got a hot dog. While we ate away enjoying our REALLY yummy food Lana ran out of cut up sausage. Her hands flew to her face, and she pleadingly asked...

"MORE SAUSAGE"?????

It was just SO cute and innocent, it was HILARIOUS! By the way we did get her more sausage in the end.

After our very filling meal, we left T.K.S and came home to put Lana to bed. Turns out she wasn't tired. We had somewhere to go so in desperation we put her down and left without a sound leaving her in the safe hands of Julie.

With that we left the house and went off to the movies...to see...TOY STORY 3! In 3D! The movie itself was GREAT, TOTALLY recommend it, but the 3D, the people who make the movie really need to make it with 3D in mind. Still I guess the 3D gave it a bit more depth. Truly it was a cool experience.

When we got home it was already around 12pm ant night. All of us were ready to crash and we sure got a surprise when we walked through the door to see Lana still awake and happily playing on the floor with Julie.

Apparently she kept on knocking on her door and playing with her toys so Julie just didn't see the point in making her stay in bed. Anyway, we put her in bed and she went to sleep, soundly, just like the rest of us.

H.K. - Day 11

Morning per usual, relaxation continued, sleep halted by a small little girl. All this and more is what happens everyday...

When it came time for Lana's nap, today we planned to go to the Japanese 10 dollar shop, (which is really is a regular 2 dollar shop except a whole lot better than in Australia) called Jusco. I bought some stuff and so did Nic.

By the time we left it was rush hour and the heat and humidity were at peak. We walked as fast as we could and by the time we got to the mall beneath our building we were ready for a cold drink.

So we stopped at Pacific Coffee, and got a 'version' of an iced chocolate, Hong Kong doesn't seem to be able to get them right, they tend to do chocolate milk with ice cubes. If you know what I mean. It's just not the same.

Anyway we sipped our ice chocolates (lucky for us Pacific Coffee crushed the ice) and watched the world go by. As we sat staring out the window we were startled when we got a call from the repairman, telling us that he would be at our house to fix the gas in 10 minutes. To which we sculled our drinks and rushed home, just in time to hear the doorbell ring.

We lazed around for the most part of the afternoon but when the clock struck 5:30pm we headed out. We were meeting Bernard's dad again for dinner today at 6:45pm, but we left early as Nicole wanted to Lana to the park in T.K.S (which is where we were going for dinner).

We played in the park for a while but I was starting to feel the first raindrops. Just to let you know, Hong Kong is in Typhoon season and the rating is T1 which is far from bad but if it rains it pours, because of this we played for only a little while longer than headed off.

As we were walking away, the rain became distinguished and increased. We didn't have time to make it to the elevators so we went up the stairs as fast as we could without it becoming dangerous. Within seconds, and this is literal, of being under the cover it began to pour and pour.

We still had a about 45 minutes or something to spare before we had to meet up for dinner. So we stopped for and iced chocolate, our second of the day. Chatted for a while then headed off to go check out a bookshop.

In the book shop we bought 2 books, but by the time we had finished looking, it was time to meet Bernard and his dad for dinner.

It was raining slightly as we walked across the road to the restaurant so we were sprinkled with the beginnings of typhoon season. Dinner was D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S! But before I close my blog there is one thing I want to share...maybe two.

1. While we eating/finishing off dinner the cutest thing happened. The gentlemen at the table next to ours offered Lana a lemon, which she took, gratefully and immediately stated licking. The scrunched up look on her face was priceless, but undeterred she continued licking. It was only when she began to eat the skin did she stop...priceless

2. And secondly well not really just in closing, we came home and chilled for a little while then decided that we should watch Toy story 1 in preparation for the future...

H.K. - Day 10

Wow, come to think of it my time here is almost up, and it really should only be beginning... it's sad to think that the world spins to fast for us to notice, but when we look behind us you think, wow that felt like I did it yesterday but in fact it's already a month afterward.

So live life to the full just like it says in John 10:10

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Anyways, what did I do today? Well, the morning as usual we did what we do... and in the arvo/lunchtime...we...

When Lana went to sleep for her nap, Nicole and I went to T.K.S again, this time to buy. I went to T.K.S without my mind made up, there were pros and cons to both of the MP3 players I was looking at.

In the end I was leaning towards the newer model, but there was one thing that annoyed me, in the end after I played around with the display one for a while I worked out how to delete it. I was SO happy because if you know me, I am a blonde inside and out, and I worked it out. MAJOR milestone here people!

Anyway, since I worked out how to get rid of what I didn't like I was quite happy to buy that one. Later on in the evening I showed it to Bernard and he was very impressed with all it gadgets and little knick knack things. All in all I think I made the right decision here.

When we came home form T.K.S, we rushed to the grocery store as we needed to get some fruit for the bible study that was being held at Nic's house this afternoon (the same group that took us to the peak for afternoon tea).

We had several plates of fruit in the fridge by the time our visitors arrived, when the fruit had cooled down to be below room-temperature we put them on the table by that time everyone and arrived.

The bible study went well, and the conversation was inspiring. I was a little bit lost mainly because I hadn't been there for the previous bible studies but that's ok, I got the general gist of things.

When everyone had gone we were left with the pile of toys to sort and pack away...the joy =D. But in reality it didn't take THAT, that long.

We spent the evening reading and talking, I showed off my MP3 player, which as I said before impressed Bernard. I'm glad though I feel as if I made the right decision after all the thinking and looking we did.

H.K. - Day 9

This morning was per usual. Except for that in Lana's bed there was a piece missing from the frame. So before Lana went down for her nap, a man came and fixed it and when he left Lana soon fell asleep.

I went shopping yesterday in Lana's nap, but I kind of wanted Nicole's opinion and input if I wanted to get anything. So when Lana fell asleep it was down to the mall.

We looked in a couple of the same shops as yesterday and laughed about the dorky items that some shops seemed to have in abundance. Before long we had looked in all the 'ok' shops and thoroughly searched all the 'good' shops.

We were now tired and ready to go home but we de-toured through Starbucks, although it wasn't really a de-tour. We had a lively conversation while we sipped our chocolate frappuccinoes and ate our blueberry scones and lamingtons, it twas quite nice.

We soon headed home, and found Lana still asleep but we knew that either she had to wake up REAL soon or we'll have to wake her up, to back the story up, we are going to Play Town, which is exactly like Play-maze except there is some more 'high tech' stuff there. It's pretty cool.

Anyway she did wake up and we were home for about 10 minutes before we left for...PLAY TOWN! We were at Play town for about 2 hours and I can certainly say I got my weeks workout! But even though it wasn't really aimed at my age group I still had fun chasing Lana around.

Once we had spent all our energy, we were ready for some food and DEFIANTLY some sort of sugar intake. So we headed downstairs to a medium sized bakery (called Panash) that had very reasonable prices and some really good stuff! I had a cornet (which I thoroughly enjoyed) it was this crumbly kind of pastry that was filled with custard and was coated with chocolate on the top. Mmmm, I can taste it now...

We stayed at Panash for a while but we got a shock when we looked at the time, it was WAY past when we should have been home, so we left pretty early compared to the other mums and their kids who had come along with us.

We picked up Bernie from work on the way home and when we arrived home we pretty much ate dinner straight away. Which was good...just like it always is, thanks to Julie!

Tonight after Lana was bathed and in bed we sat around for a little while while we waited for Lana to 'actually' go to sleep. When she did we ended up watching the sequel of 'Tomb Raider', called 'The Cradle of Life'.

By the time it finished it was around 12pm and we were all ready to go to sleep...well I was anyway, thankfully I slept straight through the night.

H.K. - Day 8

Today we again spent the morning in peace, not necessarily quiet, but it was nice, as usual. We had a couple of things to do today so it was very nice to not need to worry about doing anything in the morning.

After breakfast, Banana's in Pajamas and Play School, it was time for Lana's nap, today while she was sleeping I planned to go downstairs to the mall. So that's what I did!

When I arrived which was about 11am, half of the shops were only just opening! Some were STILL closed. In Hong Kong the shops open at about 11am and close REALLY late at night. So Hong Kong is very much more night centered. And because it's dark at night Hong Kong is very well lit.

Anyway back to my story, most of the shops were closed so I spent a lot of my time just walking around waiting for some of the shops to open! When they did there still wasn't much and when there was it was kind of hard to gage sizing if you know what I mean, because all the sizing is different over here.

In the end I didn't get anything but that was ok, I enjoyed just simply walking around and taking it all in.

After my shopping expedition, and Lana's nap it was off to see some missionary friends from the states, as we were going to their apartment for lunch. Lunch was good, and the chatting and laughter was even better.

We stayed for a little while longer at our friends house but headed out pretty quickly as we were meeting up at the toy library with Lana's friend's again today. Last time we came I played with Lana in the toy library but instead today I actually looked for books.

When I came over to Hong Kong I packed four different books, which I finished within the first week, so when Nic or Bernie was on the computer and Lana was in bed I was left with practically nothing to do.

So this time while we were at the library I borrowed 3 books, which I hoped would last me a little while...but we'll see.

After the kids finished playing in the toy library we went downstairs to the little cafe for a snack (well a drink anyway). Lana and her friends spent the afternoon running around, and the mums and me? Well we chased them around in circles.

By the time we were ready to go we were ALL hot and sweaty, and looking forward to going home.

The evening was spent in bliss, and thanks to Bernie Tomb Raider was finally working so we watched that, all in all the day was good, but now it's gone and we are looking forward...

To TOMORROW!

H.K. - Day 7

Monday, I've been here for one week now, during the week I kept on thinking this isn't going to fast...now I look back and think, wow, I've done all that?

But anyway back on track, today we went to T.K.S again, (if you forgot what T.K.S was look at Day 3) to check out some more shops that sell MP3 players and the like.

The shops we went to in T.K.S are nothing like the shops in Wan Chai, tightly packed together, but they are more like Dick smith in Australia.

We found that there were better prices in T.K.S than in Wan Chai which is surprising. We also found another MP3 player that can be considered. So mow I am left with a couple of options and not quite sure what I want anymore.

After T.K.S we came straight home because we went out in Lana's nap time and we didn't want to be away for too long. We had already had lunch out so there was no need to have lunch at home with Lana.

We spent the afternoon relaxing... well for the most part Lana watched 3 episodes of 'Elmo's World' leaving me Elmo-ed out...

After our Elmo episodes we decided, NO Television, NO computer... pretty much NO electronics, we had to get out and do something. So we came to the conclusion that it should be Lana's choice! When we told her this, there was no hesitation in her decision...

"SWIMMING!"

So that's what we did we went down to he pool and spent the afternoon splashing our happy little selves around the pool!

When we come home after an hour an a half of swimming we looked like drowned rats not to say how we FELT! We were all tired, especially Lana, but since she had already had her nap she had to wait until after dinner, and THEN it was time for bed.

Dinner was very nice, but Lana still tired after swimming in the afternoon was slightly distraught. She was not very happy AT all. So she was in bed as soon as possible.

And as for us oldies we spent the evening enjoying each others company and simply sitting in silence, it was quite pleasant. =D

H.K. - Day 6

Sunday, I've written about this before, the rush of the morning. But where I am right now (in Hong Kong...duh) church doesn't start until 11am and band practice is at 10am. so there is no need to rush like we do at home.

Today we all got ready reasonably quickly, so we had time to catch the M.T.R today. We arrived halfway through the band practice, and they asked Nicole to play in band as she plays the piano.

The service was good but since Nicole and Bernard go to a Chinese speaking church it's a bit hard to grasp and understand unless you have an interpreter, thankfully Bernie was preaching today so he spoke in English and was interpreted.

Once church was finished we left practically straight away as our day was busy, Bernie and I were going to Wan Chai to look for an MP3 player, then were off to a friends birthday party!

First stop, Wan Chai. Wan Chai is known for, what Aussies might call a computer fair except this thing is not one Sunday a month but constant everyday mall for people who want brand and cheap.

Just to clarify that last statement, when brand and cheap go together usually it means 'fake', but this stuff is the real deal although I don't recommend going unless your with someone who knows what they are doing. It is busy, tight and crowded.

As we weaved our way through the crowds and stands stopping occasionally to look at a window. It was hard to find what we were looking for, in terms of a NON-ipod, just an MP3 player with a screen capable of downloading from itunes.

In the end we found 2 options and I'm now deciding which one I want. After our long walking expedition we made our way to the birthday party. It wasn't that far away so we hopped on the M.T.R once again, but not for long, the we were off again, half walking, half running our way to the entry of one of the most gorgeous 5-star hotels I have ever seen (not that I've seen many), The Conrad Hotel - Hong Kong.

As we made our way to one of the deluxe couches, I tried to take in everything, the chandelier, valets with their cute little hats, it just wasn't something you (or well me anyway) saw everyday.

We hadn't been sitting down for that long before Nicole and Lana's cab arrived and we hurried out to meet them. The party was really nice, we had a buffet lunch/afternoon tea. There was soo much food, even if you finished a plate of food that was on the buffet they would just replace it!

So all in all we were so full that we didn't even eat dinner. We sat around in the evening we were going to watch Tomb Raider except it didn't work so we watched an episode of Numb3rs.

For the rest of the evening we pretty much just sat around, because we didn't feel like doing anything else after our busy day.

Tomorrow, Monday what will it hold for me?

H.K. - Day 5

Today was more relaxed than usual, as IT'S SATURDAY! Oh the joys if weekends, except today we actually did something in the morning as oppose to waiting until the afternoon to do something.

We went SWIMMING! The pool was a really comfortable temperature, although I think anything above bathwater temperature is comfortable!

While we were enjoying our morning swim in the 'almost' empty pool (it was actually half full...or was it half empty?) we felt a drop of rain, then another and another! Before long it was pouring and we ran/swum for the overhanging fountain (aren't we smart)!

It died down and went back to our awesome swimming techniques, which included Lana gives direction ("over there"), daddy's turn, play on the stairs etc. It began to rain again and and the idea of going back to the apartment was considered but was settled with the comment,

"Well, we're wet anyway"!

So that was the end of that.

About an hour later tired and dripping we left the pool and slowly made our way back home an it wasn't long before one was in the shower, one was in bed and one was on the computer.

When the clock ticked it's way past the morning hours into the lunchtime sector we went into the mall downstairs to have Ramen. Oh my goodness it was SO, SO good! As Bernard explained it to me, Ramen is the non-packet 'Two Minute Noodles', except much, much better!

When lunch was done we carted our full tummies home where we spent the afternoon, busy... doing absolutely...NOTHING! Personally I think that that is the best way to spend a weekend afternoon...that's what you did right? =D

But we didn't spend the night doing nothing...NO! That's when you hit the city! We had another delicious dinner out at a gorgeous restaurant. Called 'Din Tai Fung', chandelier and all! Awesome, good looks, good food, good service...the perfect restaurant.

H.K. - Day 4

The morning began as usual, the routine followed the regular pattern, all went per normal.

Except today, after Lana's playtime, when she would usually have a nap, when Nicole put her down, sleep was FAR from her mind.

She kept on sitting up in bed, and Nicole was getting agitated. Eventually she said "Lana I am shutting the door now" (She had previously been threatening this) to which a cry sounded but Nicole unmoved shut the door.

About half an hour later we began to not only hear her knocking on her door but opening the cupboard doors. Nicole not wanting to have to re-hang and re-fold all of Lana's clothes arose and went to investigate!

When she arrived she found Lana putting her toys and dummies inside the drawers then retrieving them. Nicole realized that Lana was NOT going to go to sleep. She got her up and let her stay up for another hour, after which she slept soundly.

The plan had always been, even before I arrived that we would go to the peak this afternoon ... so that's what we did. When Lana woke up we headed down to the M.T.R station (a train in other words, except MUCH cleaner and MUCH quicker).

Before we arrived at the entry of the North Point station we de-toured past the bank to get some cash out, and while I was watching Lana, I also looked out onto the street and as my eyes roamed the dirty streets I noticed that the line to something I enjoy profusely was very short...Little Eggs (or Gai dan tzai).

So while Nic got money I went and got me some Little eggs. It took longer than we thought, but it was ok because, we weren't actually catching the M.T.R we were only meeting somebody there.

Maybe I should fill y'all in on who we are meeting and why? Well, Nicole has a bible study group, that was the who and they all wanted to meet up again before the baby was born. Hence we are meeting at the Peak.

So now that you know that I'll continue with my story... we were meeting one of the ladies at the M.T.R station, and so once we found her we hopped into a taxi and off we sped up the mountain.

I had a flashback of the many times we had slowly made our way up Mt. Ousley, except I think the roads up to the peak dare I say seemed almost stepper and curvier, it was that or the taxi drivers driving.

We soon arrived and bounded out of the car grateful to stretch our legs again after the long drive.

We were a bit late, so might I say with some sort of exuberance we arrived at the restaurant, to see that one of the ladies and her two children were already there.

We had already eaten lunch so we ordered some pavlova. Although I think the pavlovas in Australia are MUCH nicer...especially when they are homemade. Still these were nice.

We sat and talked, and watched the children play until it was time to go home. We then hopped in a taxi and drove home. When we arrived home we took Lana to the park that was already filled withed children. We stayed for a while, but it was still pretty hot so we came back to the apartment pretty soon.

Dinner was nice, and we watched Johnny English, because we all needed something light and before long the apartment was filled with giggles and laughter.

H.K. - Day 3

Hmmm, what did we do today? It seems everyday starts off the same way. We wake up sit around for a little while, Bernie goes to work, Nic changes Lana, I put Lana in her high-chair, Nic gives Lana brekky while I get our breakfast ready. Then while we (Nic and I) eat our brekky Lana watches Bananas in Pajama's, we then join her as playschool starts....

Not that that isn't interesting, it's a routine and if you didn't have a routine or a schedule their home would be a literal MADHOUSE! And it's also good because every morning I know exactly what we have to do and how to do it!

So there isn't really much to tell about what happened this morning it was more what we did in the afternoon...

Well Nicole had to go to T.K.S (Tai Koo Shing - A place in H.K.) to exchange a game that she and Bernie had bought that had a broken piece inside it. We decided that we would also do a little bit of shopping together and spend a little bit of time with each other.

So Nic put Lana down for her nap, and when we 'thought' she was asleep we left. the. house.

We hopped in the taxi and told the man where to go, chatting all the way about different things...this and that.

We arrived quickly and efficiently, our first stop Mango! Not the Mango brand we know in Australia it was its own little shop. There were some...lets just call them interesting things but all in all it was a REALLY cute...I mean, 'adorable' shop.

Next stop...Toys 'R' us! We went in and found another of the same game, we took it to the 'exchange' counter and waited, and waited to be served. It wasn't that there was no people to help us it was more the fact the there were people literally standing in front of us at the desk not even ASKING if we needed anything!

Eventually a man came along and before our eyes he opened the new packet that we had just gotten off the shelf, OPENED it and retrieved a NON-broken piece for us. And with that we left the shop and went to H&M.

Thankfully for us there was a good sale on, but even with that we didn't buy much. I bought a headband and Nic bought two!

After our expedition throughout the entire H&M shop we made our way to Uni Ql0 (which is the Aussie equivalent to JayJays), really, the only good things are interesting tees and various belts, but still it was cool...just to clarify I'm not a huge fan of JayJays.

By now it was time for lunch, and I was given three options, which were really three DELICIOUS shops that stood side, by, side. I could have, Pacific Coffee, or, Haagen Dazs, or, Ruby Tuesdays.

I picked Haagen Dazs, because if you know what it was I'm pretty much POSITIVE that if you had the choice you'd pick that too. Haagen Dazs is a gourmet ice cream parlor, it is SO good!

After lunch we headed straight home as Nic was pretty sure that Lana would already be awake by this time. When we walked through the apartment door we found out that Lana was more than awake, she never went to sleep at all, after we left she got herself up, and Julie seeing that she just was not tired or going to go to sleep let her stay up till we came home.

So she was put safely in bed and now being very tired, she fell fast asleep. We thankfully had enough time to get ourselves ready for our play/pool date with one of Lana's cute little friends.

When she woke up we left almost straight away and we spent the afternoon splashing around, having a great time! As the girls tired it came time to go. We traded our we swimmers for dry clothes and undies!

As we arrived at the door of our apartment the wafting smells of dinner were already arousing our hungry tummies, dinner was delicious and, we spent the evening singing and reading the bible, it was a beautiful time of fellowship, that all should experience.

H.K. - Day 2

Well it's my second day in Hong Kong and it already feels like I've been here for a while...

Today we had a lazy day we sat, and talked, and read, and blogged. So when it ca,e to breakfast time we were totally ready for it.

Lana played for a bit then headed down for a nap, Nic went out and so did Julie leaving me home...A-L-O-N-E...WITH the sleeping 'beauty'.

When they came back it was time for lunch, there wasn't much to eat at home so we decided to go sown to Pacific Coffee for some lunch. Nicole and Lana shared two quiches while I had some yummy beef lasagne.

Once we had eaten our lunch we didn't really have time to go back to the apartment as we were going to meet up with Lana's friends again today.

We lounged around on the velvet couches for a little while longer, but soon we were leaving the coziness of Pacific coffee to the craziness of the Hong Kong streets, where we made our way to the middle of the road to wait for the cab that we were sharing with Lana's friend and her mum.

As it drove up we hopped in quickly and shut the doors just in time for the cab driver to swerve his way expertly back into the traffic.

Soon we were at the building where the kids were having the play-date...at Aunty V's house! The children were more than happy to get out all of their toys and make the most impossible mess! I think I can almost say that there were more toys here than at the toy library!

But yet again the kids had a ball, while the adults sat and watched them, smiling with glee. The hours and minutes passed by quickly, and as each minute drew closer to when we would leave a little bit more agitated the children became.

When they reached their limit the parents decided that it was time to go. In a frenzy of hugs and kisses, we made our way to the door, said good -bye and off we went bound for home once more.

The afternoon was just as lazy as the morning, we sat, and talked, and read, and blogged. After dinner instead of a nap into the bath she went (Lana that is). While she played with her toys and splashed all around Nicole and Bernie, got ready her for bed.

As she silently slept, we watched a movie (The Princess and the Frog) while stuffing our face with all kinds of yummy things. It was ok, but personally I didn't really like the voo-doo and crazy magic stuff it freaked me out a bit.

When it finished we sat for a little while longer then we 'hit the sack' hopefully all sleeping soundly and dreaming happy dreams.

H.K. - Day 1 CONTINUED

Anyway after I blogged my last post Lana went down for her nap, when she woke up we had lunch and I had the honor of eating Julies DELICIOUS dinner.

We then prepared ourselves to go out to the toy library which was something that I totally recommend Australia to look into.

What it was really was, was a library with all the different sections for the books, with computers and chairs for reading all around...a Chinese and an English section, a kids and an adults...

In the children's section, you had the long aisles filled with books and a place for the computers, and search tools, just like in Australia. Except for...

In the far corner there is a room that is made mostly of glass with fake trees and toys, a cubby-house, multiple miniature kitchens and several train tracks.

As we waited outside the entrance more and more children began to mill around anxiously waiting for their turn to play with the extravagant amount of 'borrowed toys'.

Before we knew it, it was our turn, people, children and adults alike pushed and shoved for their turn to enter. The library playground.

All in all, the day was lots of fun, and you could see that all the kids enjoyed themselves, and as I was talking to Nic later on about it all, she said

"It's really good because it gets the kids out of the house and it is an opportunity to meet other children their age, which you don't see much of in H.K."

When we came home Nic and I were both craving some chocolate but we couldn't eat any unless Lana was asleep...otherwise we'd have to share...

It was a painful process waiting, then eating dinner, some playtime, some shedding of tears (she didn't really 'want' to go to bed) then...

BED! Finally when she went to sleep we cracked open the Butterfingers (my fave new food...SO yummy!) and Violet Crumbles, it was a FEAST.

We stayed up for a while longer, reading and some conversation, until my eyes were about to close of their own accord and I declared,

"It's time for bed"

H.K - Day 1

It's still morning over here so I haven't really done that much yet. But I think later on today I will edit this post and add on the rest of the day!

It was so sweet this morning though because I was just about to go into the shower but I came out to ask Nicole something and as I was preparing to shut the hallway door (as their hallway has a door that secludes the bedrooms and bathrooms and storage room from the rest o the house) Lana (my niece) just started crying it was so sweet...I felt so loved! <3

We then just kind of sat around which is really nice after you've been traveling for the entire day before. And I started to read this book my friend gave me for my birthday (called dark blue...so far so good).

Jacinta the only reason I didn't start it on the plane was because I was reading another series my mum gave me. (Not that that's an excuse or anything =D)

But I really haven't been doing much else...other than reading and blogging, but I thought I would yet again give you an update of 'what's going on' (probably to give me something to do more so than you guys...)

Anyway, when the day is finished I'll be back with all my comings and goings in Hong Kong.

------TO BE CONTINUED------

The Flight

Hey just a quick update to everyone out there 'anxious' to hear how I'm going...and whether I arrived safely or not...well I think that much is now obvious as I'm writing to you.

The flight was smooth and without much turbulence and the only downers that I had was that when we actually going to begin boarding the plane hadn't shown up at the dock...so the changed our gate to another Qantas gate WITH a plane so that made us a little bit late though (about an hour).

My seat was good mainly because I had a window seat and it was so beautiful and clear as we flew over several different countries I was just in awe of God's beautiful creation! Seriously it was AMAZING! I guess that might just be one of those thing that you have to see for yourself, right?

But anyway I am now safe in Hong Kong, and just thought I would give, y'all an update. See you i two weeks!

Happy Birthday to ME! (2 days till H.K.)

Today is a special day, a milestone, a memory... Today is the first of many hopefully happy days as a teenager.

So happy birthday to me, I'm not 103 but thirteen today!

Just to let you know before I go eat my VERY delicious dinner, the party was awesome! And thanks to my wonderful father we were able to have a home theatre for a night!

And also to warn you NEVER under any circumstance watch 'Bran Nue Day' it is NOT worth watching not bad just lame, not stereotyping Aussie movies or anything but this is just HORRIBLE!

In comparison or not even comparison Alice in Wonderland was GREAT, it was really, really good. It's a great family movie and I totally recommend it to everyone!

And to end on another happy note, my birthday was also AWESOME fun, I spent the day shopping in Wollongong with some friends from church.

Also to send a BIG thank-you to everyone out there today for the calls and pressies I appreciate you and your thoughts.