Time Well Spent

I have always felt very blessed with the children God has entrusted us with...and I find it a little unique that we have quite an age gap (age 1 to age 12).  I often feel like I am comparing the joys and challenges of babyhood to pre-teenhood because they are so similar:) But, I am also reminded of how fast our children grow up and how I need to soak in every moment, because it will soon be gone. 

My oldest just left on a school trip to Malaysia yesterday.  If I'm honest, I don't think I knew where Malaysia was located until we moved to HK last year. She was thrilled to go, and I was happy for her.  I tried not to think of what it meant for me...to have my little girl in another country without me or her father. If you were to have told me two years ago that we would have let her do this, I would have laughed.  But after surviving last year, when my three oldest children moved with my husband without me, a month before I moved...this was a no brainer.  I do miss her terribly, but I know she is having an amazing time doing some awesome activities in a spectacular place. Its also hard for me to realize she is old enough to be doing this, but that's when I remember she is not even in elementary school anymore with her long braided pigtails and her bangs that are growing out since I cut them too short.

Its because of these feelings that today I changed my plans.  I was supposed to go out this morning, but instead I decided to just stay home and play with Sarah.  Of course, there were other things I needed to get done...phone calls, mailing packages, email.  But, all that could be done, and was done, during her nap.  No, I just spent most of my morning playing with and watching Sarah.  Trying to soak it all in.  And that child is hysterical.  Her faces and the way she can get into trouble is so funny.  I don't take the time to do this often enough, I'm sorry to say. I have never been great at just playing with them at this stage.  But because I am a little bit older and maybe wiser than I was with my oldest, I have and will continue to enjoy this little blessing while she lets me:)

 

loves her apples

favorite spot to "read"

nap time!

a pic without her knowing

she caught me

playing with her Noah's Ark

My sweet and silly Sarah Jane

 

 

 

 

 

To Drive or Not to Drive?

It's been a busy last few weeks...I think I say that every time I write.  But all of a sudden I find myself writing November on the calendar and wonder where the time has gone. I think it has been a little bit easier to lose track of time here because of the lack of seasonal change.  It's still in the 80's, I'm still wearing shorts, and I still have my air conditioning on. Thus, to me it still feels like early September, not November.

So after getting back from Beijing, we hit the ground running to catch up on what we had missed. The kids had some make-up work and we all had some work in getting back in the groove.  I'd say it took about a week.  A week after we got back, a friend of mine invited a group of us to go down to Stanley for the day to do some shopping and have some lunch.  Everyone talks about Stanley, but I had never gone before and was excited to go...especially if she was driving.  It's also not the easiest place to get to by public transportation, which has been a deterrent for going in the past.  This was a great opportunity! So the four of us left around 10am from the kids school and got down there in about 30 minutes.  This was definitely faster than I anticipated.  Hong Kong is not that big, but Stanley is on the south side of the island.  When you factor in traffic and windy roads, locations that generally "appear" closer, can take a long time to get to.

We had a GORGEOUS day! It was a beautiful, sunny day, upper 70's, and the skies were so blue.  It was amazing to sit at lunch with my new friends, remembering what I was doing just a year ago, and thinking how far I have come.  Last year, I wasn't able to be out for the day, certainly not by myself without baby in tow. I even remembered thinking how I was looking forward to a time when I could be out with friends and not worry about my three hour nursing window.  It was refreshing to finally be in that place.  It was freeing..

Being in Stanley also brought up another question that my husband and I continue to get often. "When are you going to get a car?" People cannot believe that we don't have a car when they hear where we live...which is a bit out of the way and a little bit of a distance from the kid's school, and far from our church. And of course, when they hear our family size, that's when the jaw drops. Last year I couldn't even fathom getting a car.  I was on information overload and the thought of learning something else new...like driving on the left, wheel on the right, was overwhelming for me.  It was also amazing to me that I could get anywhere I needed to be by trains, taxis and buses.  Navigating the public transportation was empowering to me and helped build my confidence and get more comfortable in my new surroundings.  BUT, that doesn't mean it isn't exhausting or easy, or even useful when we want to go to some more remote locations.  So, a year removed and we are back to that question..."To drive, or not to drive?"

There are so many factors on both sides of the argument that make this a challenging decision.  We have made it a year without one, the cost (of gas, insurance, tolls, maintenance), lack of parking, not to mention a little bit of fear (see previous post about my car accident in taxi). These are valid...but now the other side of the coin.  Easier to get to places like Stanley and Sai Kung, less exhaustion (quality of life) and more options...all ring true to me as well.  So...we will keep discussing, revisiting, and I will keep you posted.  For now, we will continue our adventures on the trains, buses and taxis. They do make for great stories.

Beautiful Stanley

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, the kids were able to go trick or treating again this year.  We may live in one of the few areas in all of Hong Kong where this takes place.  The kids had a great time going around the neighborhood with Andy and some friends.  This was the first year Grace did not go...which was timely since I needed to be at a parent's meeting for her upcoming trip. But our Indian princess, cowboy, fairy and cow all had a good time.

Abby, Sarah, Emma and Josh

 

Our cute little cow making her new "fishy face"

 

Getting ready to go!

 

My Thoughts on Beijing- by Grace

Beijing was a wonderful experience that I know I will never forget. Its one of those "once in a lifetime" opportunities. Hong Kong is, too,  but I have 3 years to enjoy it :) When we were on the airplane to Beijing, I tried to remember the times when my dad would tell me about his trips there. I asked him if it was similar to Hong Kong, and he said it was fairly different. I tried to imagine: something not too similar to Hong Kong, but definitely not the same as U.S. I guess I would have to wait and see :)

On the mini bus to the hotel, I tried to look out the window without falling asleep. It was almost midnight and my eyelids were heavy and closing. Lights and buildings were surrounding me, and I knew that this was the city part. Also, it was definitely fall temperature! The last time I got to experience fall in the U.S was in 2011. That blew my head: Has it really been that long? I went back to sleep. In the morning, I got up early, but not that early compared to my school day (6:00am). We were going to the Forbidden City :) I got ready, and we headed for breakfast. Like my mom said in her post, It was such a privilege to have western food. After breakfast, all 13 of the Savvy's and Puff's, plus our tour guide and driver, climbed into the 13 seat passenger van. I have to say, that is one of the most squishiest cars I have been in. But at least I was next to my best friend in HK, Karhie Savonoff. When she stands next to me in the pictures (if there are any) you would think she is 2 years OLDER. But no, she is 2 months YOUNGER. She is a hilarious person, and is going through the same thing as me, having at least 3 younger siblings, so we know how each other feel. Hard to get that good of a friend with 3 younger siblings just like me in HK! We finally got to the Forbidden City (after traffic :P ), and walked out. People around us just kinda looked at us, shocked. But people in HK do that, too, so it should be the same right? I found that out easy. Instantly when we tried to get our first shot of the 13 of us, about 5-6 more people came up to take a picture of us. Then after, they would come up, and smile at us, thinking we cant speak Chinese. Well, in China, they speak Mandarin which is what I'm learning, so I can give off a good basic summary of me and my family which is all they need to know. So, they are usually looking at Sarah, since she is a pretty cute western baby with bright blue eyes. I first tell them she's one, then they ask me if I can speak Chinese. I tell them yes, and then we start to chat in Chinese. Personally, I think its fun :) Its funny what the people ask you though. I think I got asked 3 times if I was French. I then have to tell them that I'm American, and we are just visiting Beijing, but live in Hong Kong. Sometimes, I need Karhie to help me with the words. She is SUPER good at Chinese, even if she has been only studying for 5 years. Its fun to be able to do go to Beijing, speak Chinese with them, and get your picture taken all at once. I told Karhie: "I could live with this." She agreed.

I would share SO much more, but the other 3 older puff kids need to write, so I wanna give them room to write ;) I was glad when my mom told me I could write a little bit of what my experience was, especially since this was one of the major 5 places I will be going before Christmas (HK, Beijing, Malaysia, Phillipines, and Thailand.). Besides, that's the last family trip before I go by myself to Malaysia in 3 weeks! Beijing was such an experience that I will be remembering for as long as I can. I never thought at my young age I would be doing this at all. God really does work in mysterious ways, doesn't he:)

Beijing - A Trip of a Lifetime

Wow...what an adventure!!!!  It was a lot of work to prepare a trip for four adults and nine children, but we managed to see what we wanted to see and  I think the word "Amazing" keeps coming into my head to describe these last several days. So here is the "blow by blow" description of our packed trip to Beijing...bear with me, lots of details ahead for my own recording purposes:)

                                                              Day One - Travel Day

I picked up the kids after a half day of school.  All the teachers were so encouraging and excited for our adventure, which made it easier for me that they were missing a couple days of school.  We got to the airport in really good time...about three hours before our 5:30 flight...and we were through check-in and security in record timing. The flight was about three hours, and I'll never forget the many , many RED iridescent lights I saw as we were descending into Beijing. It reminded me that we were in CHINA...and just how crazy that was.  The kids did great on the flight...I actually sat with Andy (with Sarah) next to the window and the other four were across the aisle next to us.  Apparently, Wednesday night is a good time to fly into Beijing because we got through all the checkpoints pretty quickly and found our driver, who brought a 13 passenger van.  We arrived to our hotel around 11, met up with our friend who had arrived with his family earlier that day, and then started the process of getting settled.  Not as much sleep happened that first night, but we were all excited to get going the next day.

                                    

                                                Day Two - Tian'anmen Square, Forbidden City, Silk House,                                                        Acrobat Show and Peking Duck

We started breakfast early at the hotel...all 13 of us in a relatively small dining area.  In fact, the staff looked a little overwhelmed, but by our last day, they didn't run out of bacon!  And actually, the food was pretty good, and our kids (and adults) loaded up on a great western breakfast. After meeting up with our driver in the same van, and our tour guide, we headed to Tian'anmen Square and Forbidden City.  The traffic maybe the worst I have seen in quite awhile, and it took us about an hour to get there.  The day was sunny and the weather was a perfect fall day, with temperatures in the 60's...but yes, there was smog. That didn't bother me...I was LOVING the weather!!! We walked across the Square, trying to take it all in while keeping an eye on the kiddos among the masses.  The Square was enormous, and while we didn't take a lot of time focused on it, I couldn't help remember what had happened there and why it was famous in my mind...a very sobering thought. 

 

 

Walking towards the Forbidden City, we took pictures here and there...trying to get the "perfect" shot, while keeping a good pace.  Our tour guide was very patient with us, but as he learned early, our group had two speeds...slow and slower. As we neared the first gate, the crowds started to increase, and we started to get more and more attention.  I don't remember when the first person asked to take our picture, but apparently our groups' photo had already been taken in the hotel lobby as we waited (as we found out from a friend...his guide showed him a picture of us) By the time we were through the first gate and well into the Forbidden City, our children were celebrities.  The older girls loved it...even posing, while the little girls were not so excited about all the attention.  At one point I looked at Andy, who had Sarah in the front carrier, and he had a group of older "fans" just oogling over a sleeping Sarah.  It reminded me of throwing bread crumbs to birds.  Finally, our friend's son explained to them in Mandarin that the baby was sleeping, and they were very respectful, backing off and even telling the newcomers to back off as well so the baby could sleep.  For the most part, the paparazzi were kind, and even though we had heard about this and tried to prepare the kids, it was very overwhelming for all of us.  We found that if we set up for our own picture, or even stopped for just a couple minutes to get our bearings, we were "fair game".

We stopped for a break....

 

 

which turned into a photo op:)

The City itself was unbelievable.  We had gotten through three gates and were still in the outer court.  I think we were there for about two and a half hours, and I felt like we hadn't even scratched the surface.  But our kids were troopers and how many palaces, halls and gates does one need to see?

 

 

The number of animals on the roof indicates the importance of the building

 

 

 

 

After the Forbidden City, and a great Chinese noodle restaurant for lunch, we headed to a Silk House that gave us a great tour of how silk is made...starting with the worm.  It really was fascinating and the kids enjoyed it, too.  We perused the many items of silk they had for sale, and then we were off to the acrobat show.

Stretching the silk is very difficult



The acrobat show was CRAZY!!! There were so many times I looked at Andy and said "you have got to be kidding!!!" This was a definite favorite with the kids and the adults.  Some of the things that were done should not even be attempted, and we all walked away with..."did you see that?" So fun!!!

This woman was doing a toe point on the man's head!

Well, with all that we had accomplished, we decided to pack in a bit more and go eat Peking Duck.  It was on our list of things to do, and since we knew what we had the next couple days, it was a good time to do it.  Our guide took us to his favorite Peking Duck restaurant and we got a room with huge round tables...so we all sat at one table.  Peking Duck is not only popular and delicious, but it is an experience that I highly recommend.  It brings together Chinese culture with a little Mexican (taco). Everyone enjoyed it and walked away quite full...even the little ones.  We got back around 9 or 10...tired!!! Oh, and we slept much better!!!

Peking Duck with our tour guide, David

 

 



     
                                                    Day Three - Beijing Zoo, Hutongs

Our day started early again...just not quite as early :) We left for the zoo and it was noticeably more "foggy." The kids were SO excited about this day because we were off to the zoo.  The first thing we headed for were the pandas...and while they were shy, we got some great pics of elephants, tigers and monkeys.  We spent a lot more time than allotted, but we could have been there all day.  There were also parts of the zoo that were very scenic...with beautiful willow trees and lakes. From there we left for lunch, eating at a dumpling place that wasn't as good as the noodle restaurant from the day before.  Then, we went to the Hutongs...an area of narrow streets that show traditional Beijing culture.  We all started with a rickshaw ride through the streets, then walked to the Drum Tower and Bell Tower, where we had a drum exhibition and tea demonstration.  I found these towers fascinating...first built in the 1200's, then rebuilt in 1420...like so much we had already seen, these structures held so much history.  The Drum Tower had over 6o steps almost straight up...and these towers were integral in keeping time.  Finally we raced back, stopped at some fun stores that we ran pass on our way the towers, to our waiting rickshaws.  We got an even faster ride back to meet the van.  And we finally got back to our hotel in time to go get some Papa John's pizza...yummm!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rickshaw Rides



 

 

Drum Tower

 

Bell Tower and Tea House

 

 

 

 

Day Four - The Great Wall, the Birds Nest

Ahhh...the day we all were waiting for. Well, maybe not all of us.  The kids were definitely tired.  But one of the funniest comments came from Josh, who said sleepily from his bed, "I'd rather stay in bed than go to the Great Wall." I told him that I would write that down...and now I did:)  We were shooting to leave around 7:30, but I think it was closer to 8am.  We met up with an associate and friend of Andy's in the lobby.  James and Andy have worked together for years, and they had talked about our family coming to Beijing for a long time...it was neat that it came to fruition.  The other huge blessing was that we got a small bus for our travels.  The van was great for the first couple days, but we were a little crunched, and with four plus hours of road time for the day, we were grateful for more room!!! The other HUGE blessing was the weather.  We could already tell when we left the hotel that we weren't going to have the same degree of smog we had before.  But by the time we got to the wall, the skies were BLUE!!! We could not have asked for better weather.  We did our time in the bus, got out and walked a bit because of heavy traffic, and got our tickets for the lift.  We went to a part of the wall that wasn't as crowded - Mitianyu.  We had our share of "fans", but definitely sensed there were more world-wide tourists.  We all went up the chair lift, and just going up takes your breath away.  I couldn't believe how beautiful this place was...the weather was gorgeous, and the leaves were changing...something I have mentioned before that I miss. When we got to the top, we took our time to take some pics, and then we walked on the wall...so exciting!!! It was definitely crowded, but we were still able to take pics without other people in the shot. And we did have space...something that is relative speaking in Asia. We definitely took our time, finding pictures to take wherever we turned.  And since we were taking so many pics, our pace was slower than normal.  We finally realized that we needed to turn around because we were planning to go down the toboggan, which was located where we came up at the chair lift.  So after some more pictures, we got in line at the toboggan and figured out who would ride with who.  When we finally got to the head of the line, I was told that Sarah was too small to go down at all, and that I would have to ride the lift.  While I was pretty disappointed, I wasn't surprised, and I enjoyed my peaceful and quiet (Sarah was asleep) ride down.  When we all got to the bottom, we got subs (from Subway) to go, and left that amazing place.  One thing we all kept saying was that pics wouldn't do it justice...but at least you will get the idea:) Finally, on our way home we stopped pretty quick by the Birds Nest, the Olympic Center. Even though it was a quick "run out of the bus and take a picture" stop, it was nonetheless, really fun to see...and it was HUGE! 

 

 

Toboggan and lift

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grace on the toboggan...the kids favorite part!

 

Sarah gives our friend, James, a high five for a great day

 

Birds Nest ..Olympic Park

 

We got back to the hotel in time for the kids to have a quick swim and then went out for some Yoshinoya (Japanese fast food) and Dairy Queen.  The next morning we would be on our way back "home".  I also realized it was still funny to go on these trips and then go home to Hong Kong.  But we are happy to be home.  We are SO thankful for an amazing trip with some wonderful friends.  I know there is so much more to see in Beijing, but with 9 children, you can only do so much. There is also so much more about our trip...but enough is enough:) We made some awesome memories that will not be forgotton!!!