Operation Rescue Lauren

It's been a traumatic 2 days for us.

I went to Shenzhen yesterday with Ripa. We were having lunch at the Shangri-La Hotel when my purse was stolen. I had it hanging on the back of my chair. When I went to get up, it was gone. Neither of us saw a thing.

The Manager at the hotel reviewed the security footage and confirmed that a woman in a black coat took it. Inside was my phone, wallet, credit cards, money, and PASSPORT.

Ripa and I went to the Shenzhen police station to file a report (it took over 3 hours). I was told there was no way I could get back to Hong Kong that night (by now, I'm a bit hysterical). Michael hopped on the train and arrived around 9pm to stay with me.

We were up early the next day to go to a second police station in Shenzhen to get a letter stating my passport was stolen...(I guess the police report wasn't enough). They proceeded to tell me this "letter" would take 2 business days. I'm SOBBING at this point. After an hour of pleading, I finally was able to persuade the woman to give us the letter so we could go to Guangzhou (where the US Embassy is).

We left at 10:00 for the Embassy in Guangzhou (an hour by train). After sobbing to the Embassy, and pleading my case, a temporary passport was granted. A nice Embassy official took to our side, and immediately started working for us. He seemed to be my Angel today...

We were off to a second location in Guangzhou to obtain an exit visa. After more sobbing, pleading, and a call to the Embassy, the exit visa was granted. We raced back to the train station to board a train back to Hong Kong.

We arrived home at 10:00pm tonight. It's by the grace of God that I'm back tonight. There were so many steps along the way that something could have not worked out. In all honesty, this process should have taken 5 business days.

I will NEVER again leave my purse on the back of my chair. I will keep my passport in my underwear from now on. I learned a valuable lesson. Don't let this happen to you. I can't describe how helpless, vulnerable, and afraid I was... Being in a foreign country with no way to prove your identity. I've never been so glad to be back in Hong Kong.

xx,
Lauren

Almost Time!

THE HENDRIX AND HENDRICK'S 

ARE COMING!!!!!!!!!

THEY'LL BE HERE THURSDAY....

Travel safe, take your sleeping pills, and....GET. READY. TO. PAR-TAY!!!

WE CAN'T WAIT!

Stay tuned for lots of blog posts starting May 10. 

Tea and Crumpets

Some of my dearest friends here are from London, so we laugh quite often at our language and food differences. 

Hayley had us over today for a "British" lunch. Here was the menu:

Cheese and Pickle Sandwiches

Cucumber Sandwiches

Crisps

Cheese and Onion 

Minced Beef Pie

Crumpets

Scones

It was so fun. Not sure about those cheese and pickle sandwiches though :)

Hayley and Rachel are both pregnant (YAY!!!!!) and are due in September and October. Bethany and I will be throwing them an American Baby Shower. They're not sure what to think, as baby shower's aren't held in Europe. I'm so excited, and can't wait to pamper them. 

Next up, is an "American" lunch. What would you serve? 

xx,

Lauren

Shanghai

We spent this past weekend touring a little bit of Shanghai. We planned to go with 2 other couples (Bethany & Sage, and Rebecca & Damien). I flew in Friday night and joined Michael, who had been working there since Wednesday.

I LOVED Shanghai and cannot wait to go back! The World Expo begins May 1, so we were definitely seeing the city with a fresh coat of paint, and it was impressive. The architecture and skyline are magnificent. There are trees, grass, hydrangea bushes, and gardens throughout the city. There are brick walkways, and cars that don't honk at every second.  

We arrived about 9:45 and went straight to dinner. Rebecca had a friend living here, so we joined him, and 30 of his other closest ex-patfriends. It was an interesting dinner to say the least. We had every type of  Uyghur food imaginable. Uyghur food has a bit of Muslim/Chinese influence. 

Not the first taste of Shanghai I was anticipating, but it was such a fun night.

The next day we spent some time walking around Xintiandi. We had the most perfect day. It was about 65 degrees with zero humidity. It was bliss. Pure bliss. Xindiandi is  just the cutest area...outdoor shopping and restaurants, tree lined streets. If I closed my eyes a little, I thought I was maybe in Phillips Place. (I think I'm starting to get a wee bit homesick, and need my NC fix). Michael kept reminding me we were NOT in Phillips Place, but CHINA. 

Rebecca was our party planner, and had scoped out every restaurant months in advance. We had an amazing lunch here, at Villa du Lac. 

After lunch, we toured the Shanghai Art Museum.

And did some more strolling through town.

Bethany was in search of dumplings, and we found the BEST Xiao Long Bau at Yang's Fry Dumpling. When you come and visit me, I'll introduce you to my love affair with Xiao Long Bau. 

After our dumplings, it was onto dinner here. We ended our night at a Burlesque show. So fun. 

Sage's 31st is this week, so we celebrated a bit early.

We had a great brunch on Sunday, and stopped to take some pics on the balcony.

How beautiful is this city? This picture is along "The Bund". 

We stopped by Mao's former residence on the way back to our hotel. 

And it was off to the airport after that. Michael heads back to Shanghai next month for work, so I'm hoping to tag-along and see the Expo. 

Can't wait to go back!!

xx,

Lauren

Surprise Visitor

I found out about a week ago that one of my great friends from college would be in Hong Kong for work this week. 

Of course we show up in matching shirts. Not planned. 

I haven't seen Bails since our wedding, so it has been wonderful to catch up, and talk about life, friends, and all things Elon. Ahh. 

Yesterday, after she toured the Buddha, we met up to walk around Stanley and grab a bite to eat. Today we hit up the Jade Market and had afternoon tea. Look at all her jewels! 

Tomorrow night I'm taking her to the races. We're trying to get in a little bit of fun amongst her crazy work days. 

Bails, you have made my week. It has been so great to see you!
xx,
Lauren

A Southern Farewell

We have a lot of friends leaving Hong Kong within the next month or so. We were warned this would happen, but it's going to be hard to say goodbye to people that have become such good friends. 

One of our friends, Emily, is leaving in 2 weeks for Harvard Business School. She's from Alabama, so we sent her off in true Southern fashion...maybe that was an exaggeration.

Hong Kong is a bit like college in that we always seem to have these crazy theme parties. We were supposed to bust out our best pair of jorts, or anything denim for that matter, and look ridiculous as we celebrated her last weekend in Hong Kong. 

Michael decided he didn't want to be white trash, and wore something a bit more fancy. The boys were not impressed. 

We had a great time, and got some interesting looks as we walked down the street. It's not often (or ever) that you see bow ties and seersucker. 

No, I did not wear jorts. 

xx,

Lauren

Weekend Recap

There are a few things/foods (as I've mentioned before) that I really miss about the States.

1). Orbitz Gum

2). Chick-Fil -A

3). Sweet Tea

4). Mexican

5). Southern food 

Well, let me tell you, number 5 was fixed this weekend. We've heard about this private kitchen called Magnolia's since we've arrived.

 A woman from New Orleans has set up shop here in Hong Kong and serves the most delicious southern cuisine. We had a friends bday party Friday night, and she chose Magnolia's for dinner. OH BABY.

Of course I forgot my camera this evening, so you'll have to just listen to me talk about it instead. 

This big, black, sweet woman comes in and says, "As you can see, there are no menus here. You'll eat what I cook". 

We started with a seafood gumbo, followed by a blackened chicken salad. Everything else was family style: fried catfish, ribs, sweet potatoes, smothered okra and tomatoes, cornbread, collard greens, and  shrimp etouffee with rice. Pecan Pie finished us off. It was delicious. 

In the middle of dinner, one of the British girls at our table was telling us during her gap year she spent time in the States, and somehow ended up at a Davidson College KA spring formal. They were in Charleston for the weekend and one of the guys came up to her and asked her to "shag". She was APPALLED, and said, absolutely not! Michael and I were one of the few who knew "shag" was a dance...of course we busted it out in the middle of dinner, singing "I love Beach Music". Oh, how we miss the South!

Sunday morning we joined some friends for brunch at the HK Football Club. 

We ended up at our apartment later that afternoon for some bowling.

Great weekend here in Hong Kong. We watched clips of the Masters on the internet, but I really missed being lulled asleep courtesy of the Master's music. I love that. 

xx,

Lauren

Sapa: Day 2 & 3

On our second day in Sapa, we went to a small village where the Red Dzao live. The landscape was very different from Bac Ha. In this village, there is only one harvest a year, so the rice paddies weren't as green as some others we saw. 

Don't you LOVE their hats? I may have bought one...

...for the child I don't have. It was so precious though. 

This woman's house is right behind her. 

One of the women welcomed us into her home and gave us a "tour".

Here is the kitchen. 

The bathroom.

And the living room.

We trekked through the rice paddies.

And tried not to get muddy. Unsuccessful.

Sho and Michael enjoyed seeing the reefer...

...and smelling it!

I made lots of new friends this day...as long as I bought their hand-made trinkets.

After the village, we made our way back to Sapa and walked around the weekend market. 

As you can tell, these women are wearing different outfits than the Red Dzao...they are part of the Black H'mong, and we visited their village the next day. They come into Sapa for the weekend market. 

In the market, and all around Sapa, was snake wine...there is a dead snake in this wine, and in its mouth is a scorpion. We did not partake in drinking any snake wine...it gave me the heeby-jeebies just looking at it.

This is the view from our hotel...isn't the town just beautiful?

At the hotel, this is how they kept the grass cut. I played with the goats everyday...it may have been my favorite part :)

Only the mama goat was tied up...the kids roamed the yard. How sweet!

We decided that having a goat is much easier than a lawn mower, and so much cuter. When we move back, we may just get a goat.

*****

The next morning we were off for another half-day tour before hitting the spa. 

We went to visit the Black H'mong village...can't you tell how different this landscape is from yesterday? Crazy, huh?

I learned alot about farming rice on this trip...It has to be one of the most time and labor intensive ways of life. Next time you eat your fried rice, think about the man with the water buffalo who farmed each grain. Literally.

We visited a school in the village.

The little girls did a dance performance.

And the little boys hung out.

I saw the biggest pig EVER.

And this adorable face. 

As much as I disliked Hanoi, and the people, I loved Sapa and the minority people. I loved the pride they have in their heritage, the sincerity in their voices, and their sweet, sweet nature. The warmed my heart and again, made me think about our many blessings. It was the perfect way to celebrate Easter this year. 

xx,

Lauren