Busy Week Ahead

Amanda arrives tomorrow and I can't wait! I have our days packed and am taking her all over Hong Kong...I just hope she won't be too affected by jet-lag! I'm looking forward to our long walks, chats over tea, a bit of shopping and sight-seeing, and showing her my new favorite part of the world.

We're cooking Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday and I've invited some of my Hong Kong friends over too. Many of my friends are away right now, so it'll be a small group. I'm getting a little nervous about the cooking...usually for Thanksgiving, we run the Turkey Trot in Charlotte, and come home just in time to have Thanksgiving with the Phipps and then head to the Vater's for dinner. Basically, I run, then eat the remainder of the day...not cooking or helping prepare anything. It'll be a different story this year!

Sad story...I had to buy a cooked turkey. I know, I was so excited about making one, but honestly, I'm not sure a turkey would fit in my tiny oven. Not to mention the other 4 casseroles that have to be made. I promise to post pics of our first Thanksgiving in Asia. I probably won't be posting much this coming week, but will chronicle Amanda's whole trip later.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families. We have so much to be thankful for this year...our families, our health, new additions to family, the opportunity to be living abroad, our friends (who are like family), friends planning to make the trip to visit us in Hong Kong, Dudley dog who's coming. I could go and on. Thank you for keeping up with us while we're away. We love you all so much.

xx,
Lauren

Hong Kong Trail Part 4

Are you sick of the Hong Kong Trail yet?!?! We hiked stage 7 on Monday. It wasn't our favorite stage, but we had a great time nonetheless. We have one stage left and then we will have completed the trail! I won't be hiking on Monday because Amanda will be here, so we'll do the Dragon's Back (Stage 8) the following week. Actually, I'm taking Amanda to do it while she's here, so I'll be seeing alot of "the Dragon" over the next couple weeks.

Daria had some of her boyfriend's family in town, so Ed and Hazel joined in for the hike. It was nice to have a man on the trail, as our female sense of direction sometimes gets the best of us, and we end up walking the wrong direction. We love having visitors hike with us, so I'll be sure to take you along when you come :)





Happy Trails to You!

xx,
Lauren

FORE!

Yesterday was the first cold day we've had in Hong Kong...it got down to 62 degrees and i was FREEZING! Of course, on the coldest day yet, we decide to venture to a golf tournament. And of course, I was ill-prepared so had to wear Michael's clothes.

Marta got us tickets to the UBS Hong Kong Championship, so thanks to her, we were able to see some great golf. The Hong Kong Country Club was near the China border, about an hour away from us. The course was really pretty, see?


Michael ended up meeting with his co-worker, Nic for the afternoon. Nic took one look at me and handed me his pass to the UBS tent so I could go in and get a cup of tea to warm up...and get up close and personal with the golfers!




I was able to see some post-round interviews.



Here, Rory McIlroy was talking about what he's been doing with his golf winnings...he bought a Ferrari, but decided it wasn't fast enough, so just bought a Lamborghini. Wow. His parents did a great job of teaching him the value of saving a dollar. Actually, he probably makes so much money he can save and afford these cars. Oh, to be 18 and rich... I even rubbed arms with Rory Sabatini (one of Marta's golfers). I was secretly hoping that Marta was going to pop out from behind a tree on the course, but I wasn't so lucky :)


Thanks, Mart for the tickets, and Nic for letting us use your passes for the tent. We had a great day!

Hong Kong Trail Part 3

We are still hiking the Hong Kong Trail and did 2 more stages on Monday. Stage 5 was really tough and my buns were feeling it the next day! Enjoy the views as we hike towards Stanley.

xx,

Lauren

The Dud Man

Michael has been in Tokyo all week, so I have been holding down the fort here at 80 Robinson. I've been okay by myself and have been keeping busy, but it's times like these that I miss him so much...the deep sighs, growls, walks, snuggling, and wet kisses. Not Michael, DUDLEY! Dudley is not here, and when Michael travels, Duds is my buddy. It feels pretty lonely here without him. This picture was taken the week we left...I think he knew we were about to leave him :)

Dudley will be arriving December 3 and the date can't come quick enough! We've had some road blocks that we weren't expecting, but I think we've finally ironed out all the details. He'll be flying from Charlotte to New York. Staying a couple days in New York, and then flying to Hong Kong. My mom and dad have been saviors these past few months looking after him. I've never worried about Dudley and know he has been in heaven in Charlotte...running in the woods with Dad, rolling around in deer poop, kicking Dad out of bed due to his snoring, and having another doggie buddy, Winston, to pal around with. I'm not sure who will miss him more...Winston or Dad.

There won't be any snow for him here...good thing he likes the heat! RIGHT.

I know you've now seen enough pictures of Dudley to last a lifetime---thanks for bearing with me on this one. I miss him. Alot. He's my furry baby, my buddy, and a part of our family. Without him here, something's been missing. We can't wait to welcome him to Hong Kong!

xx,

Lauren

Balls to the Wall

I spent last night at Michael's Hedge Fund Dodgeball Tournament. This 12 team tourney is an annual event sponsered by Dragonback Capital. The teams are made up of hedge funds and banks. Michael works for neither, but because Morgan Creek is a fund-to-funds, they kindly let him in. It was quite amusing to see all these hedge fund guys getting competitive, dripping sweat, and hurling balls at each other. Michael played for Overlution and they ended up taking the title!
Monday starts another tournament for his weekly dodgeball league, The Teabags. Don't ask....

I'll upload pics and maybe even have a "surprise blogger" do an entry or two about his dodgeball experience. I've been trying to get another writer on here, but have yet to be successful :)

Enjoy some more pics from the tournament!

Night out for Service

Thursday night some friends and I went to support a local cause here in Hong Kong, Mother's Choice. The organization was founded 22 years ago by an expat couple living in Hong Kong. Mother's Choice provides temporary homes for young pregnant women facing pregnancy crisis's, and finds homes for their babies, through adoption and foster care. They do so much in the community and are trying to get more young professionals in HK involved. Please read more about this amazing organization here.

http://www.motherschoice.com/pages/index.asp?pg=about_us_our_history

I volunteered to help with a few service projects, so am looking forward to getting more involved in this cause here!

xx,

Lauren

Hong Kong Haircut

I hate getting my haircut. I hate moving cities and searching for the perfect colorist and stylist. It makes me sweat. In college, I always went home to Charlotte for a haircut. When I lived in Greensboro, I continued to go home. A year later, I finally bit the bullet and after a few bad haircuts, finally found a girl I loved in Greensboro. So, when I moved to Raleigh, I continued to drive the hour and a half to Greensboro for my haircut. After a year of driving back to Greensboro, and the increase in gas prices, I decided it was time to find someone in Raleigh. I found a girl (who actually went to Elon!), whom I loved. And then we moved....

I can't exactly go back to the US to get my haircut, so I decided I was going to have long hair for the first time in my life. Well, 2 months in, and I'm dying to get my haircut. It's so long, has no shape, and looks awful. I went on a recommendation and made an appointment.

He was the sweetest gay man and we had a lovely conversation. He told me he'd take an inch off---well, 4 inches later, he was telling me all about his newest love interest and the scissors kept snipping. I think he was enjoying our conversation so much he forgot about the 1 inch rule. UGH. There goes any hope for my long, luscious locks of hair. Now, it's short and can barely fit in a ponytail.

No need to leave comments saying how good it looks to make me feel better! I know it will grow. I'll give it six months, and then I'm on the hunt for a new stylist. You can never escape bad haircuts...even in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Trail Part 2

We set out to conquer stages 3 and 4 of the Hong Kong Trail on Monday. The hike was brutal and we were exhausted after the 14 km.

As we were trekking through the woods, every now and then we'd get a glimpse of the Hong Kong skyline, the tall buildings and the sea in the background. A moment later we were under a canopy of trees and dodging rocks on the path. I had to keep reminding myself we were in Hong Kong, as it seemed to feel more like the mountains of NC.

It was a great day and refreshing to be away from the machines in the gym. I think we all slept good last night!

Christmas 2009 in....

BANGKOK, THAILAND

Bali was too expensive at Christmas, so Bangkok it is! We'll fly out on December 25 and return late on the 29th. If you've ever been or have recommendations on places to go, please send suggestions my way.

It's going to be so hard to be away from home this year, but hopefully it won't feel so much like Christmas in Bangkok.

HO!HO!HO! from Thailand...