Early Reader

Yet Another Rainy Day

Sunday in Hong Kong. For some people, Sunday is their only full day off for the entire week. And it's raining...again. Maddy doesn't seem to mind so much, though. Giving her a bath is a sure way to get her smiling. In fact, as long as someone will play with her or she has something to chew on she's pretty happy. The tea ladies at the office use this trolley to collect coffee mugs and glasses for washing. I was thinking that it is about the perfect height for giving baby a bath, and it is also strong (able to support up to 200 lbs, and I confirmed this by using my own body weight on it). So, I bought one and we put the bath tub on top of it and roll her out to the bedroom like har gau or cha siu bau to give her a bath . This saves us from having to have to scooch down to give her a bath in the bathtub. The only problem now is that she is starting to kick up a lot of water when she's having a bath and making our bedroom all wet.

Rainy Day, Sunny Day

Today was another rainy week-end in Hong Kong. I am also under the weather. However, it was also a sunny day because our good friends Peggy and Paul had a daughter, Maya, yesterday and we went to see them today. Maya is little sister to Lucas, our godson. She is very cute and very peaceful. We can't wait till she goes home so that we can go over to their place for a visit!

Mid-Autumn (Moon Cake) Festival

We went to a Mid-Autumn Festival dinner at the American Club last night with our good friends Peggy and Paul and their son (our godson) Lucas. This festival is marked by lanterns and moon cake. It was supposed to be a poolside bbq, but we never did get the lobster that Charmaine was talking about all day and it was pretty hot under the tent that was set up as a Plan B because of the heavy rain earlier in the day. Charmaine is threatening to write a letter to the president of the American Club demanding her lobster.

Stick 'em Up!

Please don't shoot!

Applesauce!

More pics of the little monster eating her apples.

At the suggestion of my mom we tried to feed Maddy applesauce last night. she scrunched up her face and wasn't having any of it. I minced up steamed apples in a little hand mixer that Frankie gave to me (you get click on tin the fatty in my links to get to his blog) until it was super smooth but still no go. When I got home from work tonight, lo and behold, Maddy was eating a raw apple by herself! I shouldn't say eat, because she doesn't have any teeth yet, but, as you can see from the pics, she is holding on to a chunk of apple and going to town on it. Charmaine said that baby was staring at it when she was eating it, and gave her a taste. Baby then nearly snatched it out of her hands! I guess baby likes it raw... 

Another wedding

As a follow-on to my post below, another homeboy, Joey Cansino, also tied the knot earlier this year. Here is a picture Joey and the lovely Vicky. Hope they don't mind me posting. With all my friends getting married Maddy should have a lot more friends to play with soon...

More from Orillia

These are my nephews Noah (background) and Jacob. Noah is older but Jake has apparently caught up with him in size and should be eclipsing him if he hasn't done so already. These are the sons of my older bro Stan and his wife Jen, who are happily settled in O-town.

Home Sweet Home

These were taken back home in Orillia back in 2003. These are my younger brother and dad, John Jr. and John Sr. John Jr. ran halfway down the river in the water to bag this salmon. Dad just laughed from the sidelines.

Weddings Weddings

Seems like my friends are dropping like flies now. My friend Juris got hitched this summer and another one of my good friends from back home in Orillia, Dan Swinimer, is finally making an honest woman out of his long time girlfriend Elaina. Hard to believe that Charmaine and I are closing in on our 3rd year anniversary. Time sure flies. I left Canada over 11 years ago now but it seems to have gone by in a blink. Anyway, here are some pictures from our nuptials. These were in the bus home after the dinner and dancing. We had to bring the champagne that we didn't finish at the dinner on the shuttle bus home with us. It did not go to waste...

Made it through the night

Well, we made it through the night without mishap. Maddy slept all the way though (10pm - 7am) and didn't give me any trouble at all. Mom is back safe and sound now and life is good. Here is Maddy in a pair of dancing pants that unfortunately no longer fit her (belly). The top button and zipper are undone like mine are after KFC...

...so don't tell Charmaine ;-)

Check these out! They not headphones but ear protection. Maddy is extremely sensitive to loud sounds. When I use the blender she jumps out of her skin. With these things on though, she doesn't hear a thing. Charmaine is away on business today so i'm looking after baby by myself tonight. Maybe I'll let her sleep with me in the big bed tonight. I know it's a bad precedent to set 

My pal Juris

Be sure to check out the blog of my longtime friend Juris. He is just getting started too and he's got some hilarious pics of his nephews Nate-dogg and Sammy.

Went swimming on Sunday at a friends place. They have a very nice pool at their apartment. Here are a couple of pics. Baby seemed very happy. It started out sunny but then became overcast. Our friends Sharon and Chris are expecting their baby this week. Very exciting and more friends for Maddy to play with.

here we are at the Atoll reef. 

Went to Ocean Park yesterday. This is us on the cable car. Maddy seemed to enjoy it. Citigroup reserved the whole place from 5:00pm. I tried desparately to win a DingDong for Maddy but it was just not in the cards. 

hi from hk. 

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