In Case You've Been Wondering What I've Been Up To...

A little bit of this...



this...


and this...

I heart Virgin Atlantic

On a recent trip to London, D and I flew on Virgin Atlantic for the first time. It was really quite an experience! Since the flight from Hong Kong to London was an overnight one (12 hours!), each passenger (in Upper Class) was given a pajama set to change into. This set wasn't one of those stiff ones, made out of cheap material. It was a nice, soft, black top with matching bottoms that were actually quite comfy.

The flight was smooth and I actually slept 6 hours which is a record amount of sleep for me on an airplane. Is that why I like Virgin Atlantic so much? That's only half of the reason.

On our way back to Hong Kong, we flew from Copenhagen via London and had a 10 hour layover! I thought, "What were we going to do in the Heathrow Airport for 10 hours?" There is only so much shopping we can do! (I did manage to buy myself an extremely nice birthday present!)

Thankfully we were invited to spend the day at the Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Lounge. We had heard that this was one of the nicest airport lounges in the world. I must say, it lived up to our expectations.

When we entered the lounge, we were given a tour by the friendly concierge. The lounge was huge! It had several different sitting rooms and places to eat! We found a seat and visited the on site Delicatessen for some lunch.


As you know. I'm a very picky eater, but they had such a huge selection. They served everything from salads to sandwiches to fine cheeses and meats to sushi!


The well stocked bar provided delicious cocktails for D and mocktails for me!

After we finished lunch, it was time for some pampering. I headed straight over to the salon to book some complimentary beauty appointments.

While D had a relaxing head, neck, and shoulder massage.....



I got my hair cut!


After our 'spa' treatments, we decided to kick back and take our shoes off...literally. D had his shoes polished by the on site shoe shiner and they came back looking better than ever!

Time for High Tea! Scones with Strawberry jam and clotted cream! YUM!


I spent some time wandering through the game rooms, the multimedia rooms and libraries.


Before I knew it, it was time for dinner! There was an extensive menu but the burgers being brought out to other passengers really seemed to tickle our fancy.




Even though I beyond stuffed, I couldn't pass up a trip to the candy bar!

I must say, it was an eventful day! The next time I'm in London, I might just spend a day "hanging" out at the airport!

Happy Chinese Valentine's Day!

For the past two years, D and I have been apart on Valentine's Day. It's not a holiday that we really celebrate, but it made me sad to think of all the loved ones sharing a special night together while were in two different countries. When I woke up this morning, I learned that we didn't have to miss celebrating Valentine's Day this year after all! Today is the Qixi Festival, also known as Chinese Valentine's Day.

To summarize the meaning behind this holiday, there is a "lonely cowherd named Niulang who comes across seven immortal fairy sisters bathing in a lake. Niulang falls in love with the youngest fairy named Zhinu, a weaver girl. The two lovers get married, have two children and live happily on earth. Everything was going well until the Goddess of Heaven finds out about the forbidden relationship between a mortal and a fairy. She pulls Zhinu into the skies and even Niulang’s efforts to reach Zhinu is no use as the Goddess divided the sky with a river.

Zhinu lived on one side of the river crafting embroidery, while Niulang lived on the other side taking care of their two sons. Nevertheless, each year magpies will fly to the sky to form a bridge across the river so that Zhinu and Niulang can be together for a night.

This romantic story coincides with the night sky. Niulang is the star Altair and Zhinu is the star Vega. The river separating the lovers is the Milky Way and the magpies are the cluster of stars seen in the Cygnus constellation. On the seventh night of the seventh lunar month, the stars Altair and Vega appear to be moving closer to each other. Light drizzle is also common that night, which are the tears of the two lovers." ---Yi from My Several Worlds

The Qixi Festival falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the Chinese calendar. Traditionally, young girls would carve melons and wish for a good husband. Since the weather report says it feels like 101F today, I think I might just carve a watermelon to keep us refreshed. While I'm carving, however, I won't have to make that wish for a good husband, because that wish already came true 2 years ago this past week!

Today is one of the busiest wedding days in China since the holiday falls on a Saturday and it is said to be good luck to get married on this day. Since we are such international wedding attendees, I'm actually quite surprised we weren't invited to a wedding today!

On the night of the Qixi Festival young lovers sit outside and gaze at the stars. We have quite a nice view of the harbor from our flat so I'll be sure to glace up at the sky tonight. D and I may not be exchanging gifts and cards, but we plan on having our favorite Chinese dish, Peking Duck, tonight in honor of this special Chinese day of love.

Who's Reading?

When I signed into my blog the other day, I was delighted to see that I had over 10,000 page views! Although many of my readers don't like to post public comments, I love receiving all the feedback in my personal email. I'm not quite sure who all my other readers are but thanks for following me on my adventures. I'll keep on BLOGGING...you keep on READING!

Happy 30th D! XOXO

Courtesy of Carla Green

The 12 Hour Swedish Wedding

When you don't understand what is happening:
Japanese weddings are long.
Chinese weddings are longer.
But Swedish weddings, take the cake!

We were so excited to attend our first Swedish wedding (Yes, I now have Swedish cousins!) We were told to be ready to board the bus for the countryside at 2:00PM for a 3:00PM start so I knew this was going to be a long day. As most of you know, I like to be prepared for outings so I packed an extra sweater, jacket, food, and bottled water for the day.

We arrived at the beautiful wedding location and the ceremony took place. We were warned that basically all of the wedding ceremony/reception would be in Swedish but we were just happy to be spending time with family.

As soon as the ceremony ended, the drinking began.



1. Champagne
For 2 HOURS the guests drank champagne and listened to speeches outside in the fields.

2. Elderberry Schnapps
We were then escorted into the dining room where the guests were given elderberry schnapps and a few more toasts were delivered.

3. Vodka
The waiters came around with shot glasses of vodka for us to raise our glasses for the next few speeches.

4. Carslberg Beer
Large glasses of Carlsberg beer were poured for us to sip while listening to loved ones praise or roast the bride and groom.

5. White Wine
White wine was poured for us to eat with our herring. (No, I didn't eat it but D loved it!)

6. Red Wine
After a few more rounds of speeches the Red Wine was poured for us to eat with our fish.

7. Sweet Dessert Wine
Paired with the delicious Creme Brule.

8. Whiskey Shots.
Each guest was given a whiskey shot to take with the others at the table.

9. Open Bar
When the dinner was over at MIDNIGHT and the dancing began (the band only came on at 12:30 AM, Sea-breezes and Melon balls were aplenty.

So as lovely as dinner was, we sat and listened to speeches in SWEDISH for 6 HOURS STRAIGHT. At Swedish weddings you don't get to sit next to your significant other! Thankfully, I sat next to J, a very friendly guy from New Jersey, who married a Swedish girl last month and explained a lot of the Swedish customs to me.

Swedish Customs:
1. Every time there is a toast you have to raise your glass, make eye contact with everyone at your table, drink, and then make eye contact with everyone at your table again before placing your drink down.
2. Every time the bride goes to the bathroom, all the ladies have to get up and kiss the groom. (and vice versa) I was kissing my new cousin all night!
3. Ladies do not wear red or black to weddings. Red dresses signify that your slept with the groom!
I didn't get the memo beforehand...No I wasn't wearing red...I was wearing black though. (The groom's half-sister, however, was wearing red...)
4. Anyone can give a speech at a wedding. The only requirement is that you email the toastmaster to let them know beforehand. (I was told that the 6 hours worth of speeches at this wedding was nothing compared to other Swedish weddings!)

The wedding went on until after 3:00AM, when the bus dropped everyone off at the hotel for an after party! I must say, after a few dances and some candy from the bar, we were out the door at 1:15 AM. Next time we'll have to learn to pace ourselves, and also learn a little Swedish, Skoll!

365 Days

365 days

Wow! Can you believe I've been living in Hong Kong for a year already? I can't!

In the past 365 days I've:

Visited 10 new countries

Had 9 visitors stay with us (5 Americans and 4 Canadians) Two more visiting in August!

Reached elite status on two different airlines.

Prepared more meals at home in Hong Kong than I have in any other city.

Experienced level 1 and level 3 typhoons.

Walked through amber rain and black rain.

Attended weddings in Virginia, Montreal, New York, Japan, Hong kong, Bermuda, and Sweden.

Learned how to divide by 7.78(sort of)

Suffered through weeks of jet lag.

Met ladies from London, Australia, Canada, Korea, norway, Lithuania, Malaysia, India, Singapore, Bulgaria, New Zealand , China, Sweden, and Belgium.

Failed to learn a new language (I plan on learning Mandarin and French)

I'm now taking suggestions for the next 365 days!