Shanghai Easter

Some cute, artistic Easter displays around town. The message of this holiday in China seems to be pretty clear: go shopping!!

New Beginnings

April 8, 2014

Just over 27 years ago, I entered the world and was followed up by my twin brother, Ryan. Now, 27 years later, this day marks some pivotal new beginnings. At 9:48pm, Rocky Mountain Time, Ryan and his lovely wife, Jill, welcomed into the world their own little girl, Rylee.

That very same day (Beijing time zone) marked my own beginning in that I received the official, approved documents and starter kit for my new business, freshly registered in Hong Kong. The starter kit came with an official company stamp, seal, and several copies of the paper work, packed away in a very legal looking box. 

Just look at the size of this kit compared to some of my heavy reading materials!

My package was delivered by a mail man on a scooter bike; my brother’s and his wife’s package came by way of stork delivery, and while the deliveries weigh about the same 6 pounds, 9 ounces), the Rylee package is entirely more adorable!!

Congrats to Ryan and Jill, and welcome baby Rylee!

Disney Land Hong Kong

My family and I were lucky enough to visit Disney Land and Disney World in the US, so I decided to try and relive some of the magic at Disney Land Hong Kong. There was certainly no shortage of magic, and all of my favorite Disney movie memories came back to me, like Tarzan swinging through the jungle of my mind. 

Still the experience was not quite the same. Beyond the obvious differences—my age, being without family on this trip, the Disney characters speaking in Cantonese—I noted a few other interesting differences for the destination being localized to China. The snack selection at the food carts can perhaps give readers a taste of this point:

Thinking back to my childhood trips, I remember the family coverage scheme that mom and dad had to run at Disney: since my folks had to manage three of us who were tall enough for the more adventurous rides, dad took us off to those, while mom had lil’ sis duty for the more gentle rides. (sorry you both missed out on the roller coasters!) This was not as significant a factor in Hong Kong, because I noticed most families (at least the large amount of those visiting from mainland China) have only one child, so the younger children’s rides had long lines, but the rides I sought out did not have a large presence of the older sibling demographic. These lines had young couples or young professionals on holidays, mostly. So I made it through most of the rides I was interested in without too much of a wait time, and the rides were definitely worth it!