Today I was planning on meeting my friend Cathy for a killer hike (seriously difficult hike) but I spent most of the night coughing and getting up for a drink. I texted Cathy at 6:30 am to say I had to cancel the hike due to not feeling well and lack of sleep. It is a dreary day, light mist and humid which means a great day to lay around. I am doing some work while watching TV (Fox news, learning about how in debt our country is and what a mess with our government and AIG). I hope to venture out for some food, drugs, and groceries, nothing too exciting.

I booked a trip to Singapore for the third weekend in April with my friend Belinda (Australia) and meeting our other friend Lihui (home visiting family). It will be a short visit but couldn't beat the price of $300 for flight & two nights at the Ritz (oh la la). Should be fun.

Saturday, March 14th

I started out the day by meeting friends for brunch at Wagyu, we chatted over coffee and delicious food for 2.5 hours. I ordered Eggs Benedict with asparagus & ham, one of the best I've had. After brunch we did a little window shopping (walking off our meal) and tried to book our Phuket, Thailand Easter trip but no flights were available. I headed home to relax and get ready for my first Rugby match. My friend Leith's husband Nathan is the Hong Kong Rugby team trainer and they invited me to go with them to watch the season final play offs. This would be

my first time watching a live Rugby match (I starting watching it on TV once I moved here).

Nathan was very patient with me and explained the rules and reasoning behind the game. What I can remember is Rucking (A play in Rugby in which a mass of players gathers around a ball dropped by a tackled ball carrier, with each player attempting to gain possession of the ball by kicking it to a teammate), Scrum (A play in Rugby in which the two sets of forwards mass together around the ball and, with their heads down, struggle to gain possession of the ball.) and that is about it for terminology!!! We watched the finals and the crowd really gets into, singing their team song (the only word sung is "Valley" (team name) to the tune of "Amazing Grace") cheering for their team and drinking beer. It was fantastic, really rough play with no padding. I can't image how bad their knees and shoulders are after a game. After the game we wandering around the area Jordan and found an Indian restaurant and it was so good!!! Not too spicy, just perfect.

Sunday, March 15th

Happy Birthday Mary, wish I was there to go out for dinner or pedicures:)

I was up early to catch a taxi to the train station for a 35 minute ride to Tung Chung station on Lantua Island. I had made plans to meet my friends Cathy & Alex at Ngong Ping cable car for the ride up and the plan to hike down. Yes, we are hiking down that mountain... I was very thankful the weather was perfect, around 75 degrees with a nice breeze and low humidity.

Here we are before the hike drinking our Starbucks under Big Buddha, don't we look great? Too bad I don't have a photo of us after the hike. It took us two hours to get down, and we only stopped once to take a couple photos. The incline was pretty steep at some points and my knees were not very happy with the activity but we made it through. Afterwards we had lunch which was delicious as I was famished. The next couple days I was pretty sore but glad I did the hike. We made plans to hike again next weekend, I think it will be a lot harder!!!

Saturday March 6th - Rod Stewart Concert

I started off the day by meeting my friend Lihui for lunch, we found a small cafe and shared several different plates (I had carrot soup which was very good). I met up with my friend Cathy at her place for snacks and wine before the concert, she introduced me to her friend Alex. The three of us had a great time and Rod is still a fabulous entertainer. Afterwards Cathy & I went to a bar near her flat and played darts until 2 am...



Sunday, March 7th - brunch at Aqua
I crawled out of bed around 11 am to meet Cathy & friends at noon for brunch. It was a champagne, all you can eat/drink brunch. I was introduced to three new individuals who are new to Hong Kong, Ercu is from Singapore was in HK for a weekend, Tracy is from UK moved here two weeks ago, and Jason is from Wisconsin, moved from UK to HK last week. I had arrived a little early and had an opportunity to talk with Jason. He is from Milwaukee and we went to Moorhead State University at the same time (he was biology & I was business), what a SMALL world!!! Brunch was fantastic, fresh seafood (oysters, clams, prawns), sushi & sushi rolls, 4 different pastas, your main course (I selected salmon), and dessert. Again, we could order as many plates as we wanted... Dessert was something special (see photos), creme brulee, tirimusu, ice creams, lemon sorbet, orange sorbert (see photos of frozen orange & lemon), the presentation was fantastic!!! We finished up around 4:30 and ventured to an Irish pub for a couple beers and I arrived home around 7:30 pm. It was early to bed for me!!!

Photo L to R (Colleen, Cathy, Ercu, Tracy, & Jason)

Has it been 8 months already?

I can't believe I have been here 8 months, time sure has passed by quickly. There is so much I haven't seen but what can I say, it is a HUGE country!!!

The weather has been cooler this week, today there is a light mist which is nice but soon the dreaded HOT & HUMID weather will be back. I guess I should look on the positive side and be thankful I am not in the cold, snowy weather they are experiencing in Minnesota.

The month of February I did not venture outside of Hong Kong which is the only month I have not traveled. With no traveling I have been able to experience more of Hong Kong and hang out with friends.

Beginning of February we celebrated my friend Belinda's 30th birthday at the horse races. Every Wednesday night in Hong Kong is race night but the month of February they were running a special promotion called "Night at the Races" which was a spin off of Sex in the City. One of the bars located in the track offered free appetizers, one free cosmo, manicures, and palm reading. It was a perfect setting, 3rd floor all glass doors so you could walk out on the deck and watch the horse races. It was amazing, felt like you were right there on the track.

Friends in photos (Darcy & Jay, Belinda, Leith & I, this was around 1 am)

Valentine's Day was observed at my friend Rani's place, we opted for girls night of strawberry mojitos, fabulous food, and watched the movie Revelutionary Road. I gotta say, the movie selection was not the best for Valentine's Day!!! It was great to hang out with my friends Christine, Belinda, Leith, and Rani.

I had my first party at my apartment, the theme was "Sex in the City". It was more about serving Cosmopolitans and hanging out with girlfriends than a true theme pary even though I did have pink napkins. The food was very American, meat tray, cheese tray, dips, fruit, veggies, sushi (ok, that probably isn't so American but you gotta have sushi at a Sex in the City party), cupcakes (they were beautiful & yummy see photo), cream puffs, carmel brownies (from my lovely Mankato friend Nicole) and chex mix (homemade by my mother and shipped from the US, it was a BIG hit). I usally make a fabulous Cosmopolitan in the US but I was rather challenged here as the triple sec I purchased in Hong Kong contained 40% alcohol compared to US Triple Sec is 15% alcohol. I had to experiment with portions before the girls arrived and mixed a pitcher and did a "taste test" for each batch:) We ate, drank, played some Sex in the city trivia games, and watched the movie.

It was a great time my girlfriends which are quite lovely and Hong Kong would not been as enjoyable without knowing each and everyone of them.

Friends in photo Leith in her gorgous outfit

Mai, Leith, Lihui, & Kelly chatting & eating

Darcy, Christine, & Belinda relaxing and having Cosmos

Leith's fabulous shoes, I must have a pair!!!

Yummy cupcakes, I had 2