Trip to Hong Kong

Every 90 days, we are privileged to be required to take a trip out of our new country.
haha... at first I thought these trips might be a burden.
However, turns out this time we really needed the break that requirement provided.

Hard to believe it has been 90 days already.

We are given two travel days but we took a couple extra vacation days to relax (hard to travel just one night with kiddos AND we really needed a few days off from language).
So, off to Hong Kong we went.
Our journey started a bit rough (Ian and I had some sort of virus causing fever, tummy woes and terrible congestion).

That first day, while not feeling well I was amazed at God's faithfulness and care for us.

We spent so much time in bathrooms and sitting to rest it took us about 6 hours to get from the airport to the guest house where we stayed.
I wasn't feeling very adventurous with food, so McDonald's for lunch it was.
Only, there were no seats at McDonalds.
However, what seemed like another obstacle turned into a blessing.
A security guard at the mall we were in (which was on top of our stop for the train we took from the airport) told us to go to the roof of the mall to eat.
So, we took his advice and headed to the roof and this was our view while we ate lunch.

Beautiful blue skies (which is so very rare in our city).
Warm weather.
A place to sit.
And a clean bathroom a few steps away. haha (Seriously, this was particularly important on this day).
Comfort in the midst of chaos like only my Father could provide.

We finally thought we could make the journey on the ferry... wanna take a ride with us??
It was so lovely.

My poor sweet, sick boy..

He missed this lovely view.

Look - a little lighthouse!

 Ok...so apparently three of us missed part of the journey.  The waves rocked most of us to sleep.

We made it to the island we were staying (Cheung Chau).
We were pretty stoked about staying at this little fishing island that has NO cars or scooters.
The only transportation options allowed are feet and bicycles.
A far cry from the city of 12 million that we are living in now.

When we arrived, ...we rested.
Well, we rested after walking up the mountain about 15-20 minutes to get to the guest house we were staying.
Brian was superman here - pulling all the luggage knowing how poorly Ian and I felt.
It really was beautiful walking up into what seemed like a jungle with a paved walkway. :)

Thankful that dinner was provided at the house.
Food and sleep - exactly what we needed.
We had so many friends lifting us up, the next morning we woke feeling much better.
Thank you for interceding on our behalf.
He is faithful!

We tried to find a short cut to the market area where the food was, and we found this instead.... a nice detour (even if we were really hungry). :)

A true fishing village.

We rented a trike and a bike - $7 for an hour for both.
A great way to see more of the island with a sleepy little girl.
Brian drove the trike the longest - he is such a good daddy.
Peddling the trike with 3 kids was tougher than it looked.  :)

Of course, our little man really wanted to give it a shot. :)
Aili was excited to ride the bike, it has been many months since our last bike ride.

However, he decided pulling Meisi alone wasn't enough -
He needed both sisters on his carriage.
Our little Prince Charming. :)

Next stop, ... well a fish market of course - it is a fishing village.  :)

This is pretty cool - Brian's favorite fish - the Cuttle fish.
They are edible - who knew?
That being said, it seems as though anything is edible here.

This lady is separating crabs from clams.

 And this lady is cutting fish of some sort.

These folks are peeling shrimp and laying them in nice rows.
They will set these out in the sun to dry and sell them to other distributors who will take them who knows where.

My favorite thing here - sweet sibling love.
I wish I could say they are always this way,
but that wouldn't make these moments so special now would it? :)

 It was a hot day, can you tell?

Octopus anyone?
Can you see its eye (Brian is pointing towards it)??
They were alive in these jars.
This was a restaurant where you picked out the seafood to you wanted to eat.

They said these things are scampi.
We thought scampi was a way of cooking.
My grandpa said if you didn't learn something new everyday then you haven't lived.
Based on that I'm living well these days. ;)

Ahhh... one of my favorite parts of Asia are the street vendors on narrow streets and allies.
Fresh made potato chips anyone?
We heard they were a favorite here and I can totally see why.
Yummy!!

How about some cheese covered lobster?
Seriously more cheese than lobster.
No?

Well, No one can turn down shaved ice as big as your head, right?
Especially at about 1.50 USD per big cup.

Ended this wonderful day, taking in the beauty our Creator provided.

Then we got hungry...
We felt we must try the island delicacy of "fish balls" before going back to our room.
Kinda like a fish flavored bread shaped in a ball.
Meisi loved them.
Me?
Well, not a huge seafood fan, but I did try it. :)

We had one more full day left on our our little visa run...
Bet you can't guess where we spent it??
A place that has it's own dedicated subway line in HK.

This location deserves its own post though - so stay tuned. :)

More Comfy in the Kitchen

Yep, PTL!!!  I'm getting more comfortable in the kitchen and figuring out where to buy things needed to make food (which has always been the harder task here). :)
Thank you, thank you, thank you to those who have been interceding on my families behalf with this after my transformed post.

I even created a list of recipes we've been trying and rotating into our weekly routine.
Routine?
Yes - shocking right?
We have begun making routines. :)
For starters - a weekly menu...
Now, life happens and that means sometimes the menu doesn't always get fulfilled, but it certainly helps with shopping and planning. Meat only lasts about a day here, veggies maybe will last a couple, so, planning is imperative.

We even started a routine for the afternoon so that we can help our kiddos get to bed earlier (again, sometimes life happens...but it helps us somewhat stay the course).

Some pics of the food we are now eating. :)  I think all the recipes pictured can be found on our recipe page (at top of blog there is a tab or click here).

Every Friday is still pizza night, but since Papa John's won't deliver here and they are $$, homemade pizza it is. Granted - cheese nor pepperoni are cheap, but I think it is about $7 per pizza.

Someone even introduced us to these little "jalepeno like" items that we really love (we order them online from Taobao). :) 

Mini corn dogs with mac-n-cheese.  Occasionally we can find Kraft Mac-n-cheese on taobao for a decent price, kids love the taste of home. :)

Tacos - with homemade salsa and sour cream.  (Tabasco was brought from the states... Brian is REALLY missing his cholula). Taco night not as easy as it is back home (hours of cleaning veggies, cooking, prepping, etc, but still yummy.  :)

Pulled BBQ pork with homemade BBQ sauce and buns (I haven't seen buns of any type here so far, but these are pretty easy to make and actually taste like a bun - even though it looks like a biscuit).

French Toast with Homemade Cinnamon Syrup.

Chik Fil A nuggets and fries (almost) - Seriously the sauce sent from Aunt Rae and Uncle Wayne made them taste like the real thing. :)  

Pizza Hut Cheese Sticks (almost)

We do occasionally feed our kids veggies and fruits as well, they are great for an appetizer or dessert and snack in their lunches. :)

Of course, we also rotate the normal stuff like pot roast with potatoes, spaghetti, and breakfast foods like pancakes or bacon and eggs (when we can find bacon).

Krispy Kreme doughnuts, no explanation needed. :)

We do eat some frozen baozi (we called them dumplings in the states) occasionally too.  These are adorable little hedgehogs. :)  They are supposed to be breakfast food, but breakfast for dinner is fast and cheaper right?

During lunch Brian and I visit a noodle shop across the street nearly every day.  We sometimes eat in so we can try to talk with them, but when behind on our studies - we get it to go... Spicy, numbing yumminess.  We honestly don't eat out very often with the kids.  During the week we are just so busy trying to get it all done, there isn't enough time and we haven't found it to be terribly cheap either.  

We have found some tasty local treats that our kiddos really enjoy.

These are like popsicles, we call them 'pokey', no idea what they are really called.  There is even a cola flavored one. 

We just found these over the weekend.  I'm going to try to avoid that aisle in the future! Too too good!!  It is like nutella wrapped in a pretzel. Yummm!

We went from having no guests in our home to four meals with friends in one week. :)

He is faithful. :) 

Next task - to learn to cook Chinese food!  

I am actually ready for the challenge.... I think. :)

Although, all this cooking makes me really miss my Kitchen Aid mixer, my ninja, our knives, glass measuring cups and all my wonderful pampered chef products...  

Ahhh...but life goes on... I mean - Ma never had any of those on Little House and they did just fine right?? ;) 

Bridges

Before we came to our new land, we saw a picture of a bridge that was beautiful.

A couple weeks ago, we saw that bridge in real life.
It was So.Exciting. :)

A friend captured our first family pic here in what has become known as "my" bridge.  :)

You can't drive across this bridge, but you can walk across it.  We were thinking about eating in the restaurant on top, but it was a bit pricey.

I don't know why I'm so drawn to this bridge...
I mean, it is beautiful, but I'm usually not a fan of bridges..
haha - ok so, my roomies from college will remember this...
One night we were in Knoxville and we got to a bridge and, well, I had a serious fear of bridges.
That night - I wouldn't drive across it.
Stopped in the middle of the road and
Switched. drivers.
Yes, that was extreme and
Thankfully... I've come a LONG way since then, but
I do still struggle crossing bridges.
There is just something about this one.

Maybe the depth.
The beauty of "the old" standing so strong and bold amidst "the new."
That fascinates me here.
Symbolic of so much in life right?

Seeing it at night was a take my breath away moment...

Then seeing the man catch the fish in the less than clean water and hand it to the lady who ran inside a restaurant to cook it up, well, that took my breath away too - just in a different way. ;)

We do love it here.
All the studying and not being able to talk much with others, umm not our favorite part, but our love for this country and the people is so strong.
For this I am thankful.
He has given us a bit of His heart and eyes, as That is what drives us to learn the language.

As we walked away from the lovely bridge, we met an adorable elderly couple who patiently talked with us.  It was wonderful to have a conversation with them albeit ever so short and rudimentary.  :)  

Progress in baby steps, but progress nonetheless.

So, if you have a bridge to cross...even if it scares you so badly you want to switch drivers... 

Go ahead!  Give Him the wheel....

It likely will be beautiful....

Hard, messy, frightening, lonely at times...

but breathtakingly beautiful. :)