four years

we had a classic case of different expectations on mother's day this year. i kind of considered it a fail.

but yesterday, as i was folding laundry in a scrubby t-shirt, nate waltzed in with a huge bouquet of flowers and a pint of phish food (a real treat here...ice cream is expensive!). 

"happy anniversary! we have dinner reservations for steak frites at 7!"

i blew it. i completely forgot our anniversary.

i'm hoping we can call it even steven for this month's holidays

and try again next year...

four years have flown by, and been quite a ride at the same time.

happy anniversary to us!

hong kong: with nate

on the weekend, we took the #6 bus to stanley market on the winding road past scenic repulse bay...

you must eat at lucy's in stanley. it was divine.

my mom spent her middle school years living in hong kong with her family,

so we paid homage to her old flat in stanley village from our moving bus.

i still hope that she can give me a personal hk tour someday.

after naps all around, we decided to head up victoria peak. maybe, just maybe the fog would clear.
but nate's face at the top of the tram says it all...

in the time it took for us to waffle back and forth about going down or not, the fog cleared!

 sage performed her tricks for us: waving, clapping, swiping anything that resembles a bow near her hair... 

we walked to the ocean and rode the star ferry across to kowloon as the sun was setting. 

the light show was lame, but this view wasn't:

after church on sunday, we wanted to get a glimpse of the temple...

 in our last few hours, we explored nathan road and the surrounding markets, then jumped on a plane back home.

hong kong: disneyland

on a whim, i decided to take sage to disneyland hong kong for the day. 

and you know what? it's just as magical in asia. 

we never waited more than ten minutes for a ride, met minnie and princesses, and spent most of our time in fantasyland.
it's a small world placed more emphasis on the asian countries and it was so fun recognizing the beautiful different cultures we've been able to see while living here.
and hey, you can even have curry, dim sum, or sushi for lunch.

sage had just woken up and was not too happy about princess aurora...

or this raincover...

apparently it's even main street usa in asia



the princesses aren't asian, but mickey speaks mandarin, cantonese, AND english here

we took a picture with the N in toy story land for the guy who makes our fun possible (thanks, nate!)  

and then caught the disney express back to the city.

hong kong

i am incredibly grateful that travel is a big part of our lives right now. because the season never changes in sing, time seems to either streeetch by or be gone just like that. travel breaks things up. that said, i couldn't pass up the opportunity to go with nate on his business trip to asia's concrete jungle where dreams are made, oh: hong kong.

i loved the buzz and vibe in hk. hong kong island is so beautiful...lush, green, hilly. while the weather switched between a humid drizzle and a wet downpour, we got some sun breaks too. i'm still surprised at what a great little travel buddy sage is. at one point it was pouring rain, we were lost, and i was juggling a map, an umbrella, a backpack, a phone, and had sweaty sage strapped to me. i was so flustered and bent on finding this hole-in-the-wall bakery to try some coconut egg white tarts. i paused for a second and looked down at little sage who'd i'd been schlepping around the city all day, and she just grinned at me. this sweet girl definitely makes me stop and appreciate the small things.
sage and i had a few days to explore while nate had meetings in hk and guangzhou, china. so we trekked around central (and up and down the huge outdoor escalator)... 

and smelled the burning coils of incense at man mo temple...

and picked up some treasures at the jade market...

and finally found the coconut egg white tarts (worth it)...

and wandered through the flower market wishing i had a garden...

and stared at the toucan at the bird market...


  and joined the masses in the rain. 

p.s. my lens is still being fixed, and i am disappointed at the quality of some of these photos. nate says it's the memories that are more important, but i'd rather have quality memories. so, there's that. 
p.p.s. i love hong kong

sunset at marina bay

we said goodbye to great friends last week. 

it seems like the ebbs and flows of life are magnified in singapore.
people are constantly coming and going with travel, jobs, opportunities, babies.
but it's amazing how close you feel, even knowing someone for less than a year.

the perk of all this is that we got to go swim with b&j at the marina bay sands hotel, where they were staying before their trek back to the promised land (we miss america sometimes).

 

the sunset was pretty amazing from the rooftop infinity pool. 

we'll miss you b&j!