Happy Birthday Buddha

Once again, last week was another holiday in Hong Kong. These public holidays are starting to spoil me because I'm getting used to having D around during the week. It seems like he's been working more 4 day weeks the past few months than 5 day weeks. You won't hear me complaining about this one!

What were were celebrating this time? Buddha's birthday! Buddha has become part of my every day life in Hong Kong. I see him in the store windows, at the tourist sites, in the markets, and in a few of my favorite restaurants.

Since D had the day off from work, we decided to go for a long leisurly walk along our favorite walking path (despite the weather being 87 degrees feeling like 93 with the humidity). As we strolled along the walking path we managed to spot:

Buddha #1



Buddha #2



Buddha #3

The week before, P and I planned our entire day around visiting the Buddha at his home on Lantau Island. To see him we traveled...



through the air...

over mountains...

over water...


and up hundreds of stairs!

I may not follow the teachings of Buddha, pray to the statues, or know much about the Buddhist religion, but since he seems to be everywhere, I might as well celebrate his birthday...especially if that means I get to spend more time with my hubby and friends!

Belly Laughs

When I was five, my mom enrolled me in dance school. I was never the most coordinated when it came to gracefully moving my body but that didn't seem to bother me. I went on to become a cheerleader and even preformed in show choir (where they made me the narrator due to my poor singing and dancing skills).

Throughout the years I attended schools dances, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, and even took some dancing lessons for our wedding (my husband is an amazing dancer so I had to have some training to keep up with him!)

So, when I read that they were offering a Belly Dancing class at my yoga studio (another thing, I'm not so good at) I said, "Why not give it a try!"

I showed up at class in my gym shorts and tank top. There were only two other woman there, both instructors at the studio. They were wearing what looked like sports bra/bikini top and harem pants. The instructor had a jeweled belt around her hips and sparkly blue eye shadow.

Both women looked at me and one woman said, "Is this your first time?" I wonder what gave it away! Probably the fact that I left my hip scarf at home. "Yes," I replied. "Good," she said. "We are starting a new routine today." Routine? I just wanted to tighten up my stomach muscles.

All of a sudden Indian music came on over the speaker and the instructor said "Let's begin."Thankfully two other woman entered the room so I wasn't all alone in the class. One of the women was a belly dancing professional (belly button ring and all) while the other, made my dancing skills look quite good. :)

Although I had a lot of fun, I don't see myself Belly Dancing again in the near future.
I may not be sore tomorrow morning from the actual belly dancing that took place but my stomach muscles sure got a work out... from me laughing the entire hour.