What happened to September?!

I can't believe September is already coming to a close. What have the Hales been up to? LOTS! (Which is why I haven't had time to post.)

My life has been swept up with the beginnings of school and coaching soccer. Weekends have been filled with getaways, stay-ins and a quick trip to HK.

When we started school, we spent the first two weekends at our favorite hotel (one weekend because it was a deal and the other because it was a long weekend). It was fabulous as usual. The Intercontinental Shenzhen never fails to impress, and we enjoyed their pool, awesome breakfast buffet, happy hour, and of course luxurious rooms. One of the weekends we made had Amy come and watch Paul while we went out in the area.

We had heard about a new (and only) craft brewery in Shenzhen, so we decided to try it out. The place is called Bionic Brews. It's down a little alley with a door that looks like it goes to a wet market (which it used to be) and inside isn't much nicer. It has a few tables, and pretty ingenious rig for dispensing beer, and the art work on the walls is awesome. It was done by a local graffiti artist and it makes the place seem cool, but not over done. You feel lucky to have found it, and only people who really want to be there make the effort to get there, so the atmosphere is friendly and chatty. And the beer is fantastic. We ended up going back the next weekend with some friends and enjoyed it just as much. It's such a relief to know that a place like this is here, and I suspect we will be going their often. :) A few pics from the those weekends:

All were delish.

Their brewing area.

The door in...creepy, right?

The alley into Bionic.

Playing in the sand at the hotel.

This place has a sandy island in the middle of it's pool. 

LOVE IT!

More brew pics.

Some Mid-Autumn love.

The weeks have been busy, I am coaching soccer again this year, and our schedule is demanding. We practice three times a week, and often have at least one game each week also. We've also had a Saturday with three games in a row! My team is not so good, but in their defense, only 4 of them have ever played soccer before, so it's a steep learning curve. We lost our first four games, but have won the last two...hopefully we will win again today. In addition to coaching, I've started playing on a women's league once a week. It's basically 2 hours of running, kicking, falling and sweating, but I like it and I feel like I have a better sense of the game for coaching. It's fun to meet other women in the area, and most of them are not educators. They come from all over the world and are a lot of fun to play with. I want to keep it up, it's just rough the next day after playing until 10:30pm. Ugh.

Off to play!

The field I play on. We play five on five.

My MS Soccer team! (they designed their own uniforms)

Some practice in between games.

Our super cute team.

Trying to stay cool in the unbearable heat.

So Donnie had been itching to go shopping at Marks and Spencer (an English grocery chain) in Hong Kong. So one Sunday (after a long previous Saturday of soccer), we jumped on a morning ferry over to HK. We walked through the central district, which we hadn't really done before. It's really cool! International foods, steep hills, interesting shops and lots of people to watch, it actually reminded me a lot of Chinatown in SF. We were in heaven at the store too. There were so many good foods to choose from, including fresh pre-made food, hummus, baked goods and reasonable wine. We did our shopping, then headed back to the ferry via a covered path that would have taken us straight to the store. We found another awesome super market on the way back, but we just browsed before catching the 3:30 ferry home. It was a fun excursion, but a little too expensive to make a habit out of. :)

The water looked so blue!

It was a gorgeous day in HK.

This month has also brought some interesting weather. It's been hot, of course, but not so polluted. We've enjoyed clear days for a while now. Last week, a typhoon came in our area, so we got to spend the day at home. :) It was nice, but a little bit exhausting to spend the WHOLE day playing trains. Whew. It was a great way to break up the week, and actually we headed out to Luohu to meet Dad for dinner because he was back in town!!

Paul took this pic. I was being a '"mountain" for his trains.

Rain and trains.

Last weekend, Dad was in town still, so he met us at Donnie's campus for the International Brunch. This event was put together by Donnie and it included all teachers and students bringing food to share from their home countries. I think more than 20 countries were represented and I even cooked a recipe I found online over the summer. I didn't really want to share my peanut butter bars, but I did. :) Donnie got there early, and so did Dad and Paul and I arrived with the crowds by bus a little later. The food went fast! But we had a good time playing on the playground and got to sample a few goods, the ones from India were especially yummy. 

This picture makes me hungry.

On our way, reppin' the USA!

So good to spend time with these two. Makes my heart full.

Playing at the Brunch (Photo by Dad)

The next day, Dad and I went for a hike up the mountain, it was intense! But the weather has started to cool. Photo credit to Dad for the pics below. Actually, I think that was the first cool day we've had. It hasn't really stuck around, and the pollution is back though. After our hike, we cooled down and then headed out for some food at the Paulaner Brewery. It was the perfect way to end the weekend, but Paul and I weren't done yet! We headed to a super fun birthday party of one of his friends. We had fun, but I was pooped! 

So that's what we've been up to! This week has been rough, Paul has become sick as he usually does right before we travel, which has led to little sleep and missing school. But this Friday we are headed to HK to start our journey to Thailand! I'm so excited, I can't wait! This time next week, I'll be relaxing in Koh Phi Phi. :)

Hope everybody's month has been wonderful and a very happy birthday to V and Andie who celebrated earlier this month. :)

Love to all and I'll post soon I promise!

Andie in China! (#tbt)

First selfie in China together!

 So this post has been forming in my head now for two weeks, but due to the start of school and horrible Chinese internet problems (fighting with google), it is only now being realized. Andie says if I get it posted on Thursday, it’s ok, it can be a #tbt. I’m doing my best to get it done while it’s still Thursday in the States. ;) So here goes…

When our time in Germany was done,  we flew home via Moscow and actually arrived after Andie did. She was picked up by our lovely ayi, Amy, and taken home where she slept most of the time she was alone. J We got in on a Saturday, which was mostly spent unpacking and chatting about the end of summer, and I sat down with her to make a calendar.

SPOILER ALERT!

Donnie always makes fun of me for my teacher-y tendencies to plan out our adventures, but Andie welcomed it. Also, it helped me make a schedule for Amy who would be taking care of Paul while I showed Andie the gorgeous city I live in. Hehe.

Life is good.

On Sunday, we rolled ourselves out of bed fighting the jetlag to climb to the top of Nanshan mountain. It’s a hike that is not for the weak of heart, or knees. Andie showed me up by taking the steps two at a time, but it was so cool to have her with me after imagining her with me so many times. We made it to the top and all the way across, about a 3 hour hike. It was sweltering, but Andie was a trooper. We made it home, and although we looked like we had already been swimming, we gathered up Paul and headed over to the pool at another apartment complex. It was a relaxing afternoon, but we were thankful to be back in the A/C that evening.

Hmm pedis

Volfoni!

The next day, I took Andie for a day in China Light. We had an indoor workout session, then headed to Sea World to get our nails done. From there we met Donnie at one of our favorite happy hours spots called Volfoni. It was a fabulous day, and Andie even admitted that it was easy to forget you ever lived in China. The China Light days are good to have, to remind yourself that although you live so far away, it can still feel normal. But they are not cheap by any means.

A real Chinese meal.

From one end to the other.

A China Light day had to be followed with a full on China day. So the next day we geared up and headed out to Dafen. I've posted about Dafen several times, and not much changes each time I go, but I was excited to show Andie what it was about. We took the subway out there, then had some Chinese food for lunch, then wandered the art stalls. I bought a new painting for my bedroom, and Andie showed some masterful haggling skills and took home two really cool paintings of HK. You'll have to ask her for pics, because I didn't get to capture them. We grabbed some much needed ice cream and then took the subway home. We were exhausted from the heat, so we just chilled at home for the evening. Our whole day cost less than our bill at HH the previous day, TIC (This Is China).

I have to say the next day I tried to talk Andie out of. I wasn't ready to face another full day in China, and I wasn't sure I could successfully navigate us to where we were going. Andie said suck it up. So we went to Dapeng Fortress.

OMG. It was like Amazing Race.

Dapeng Fortress is the most historical site to see in Shenzhen, since Shenzhen is only 30ish years old. It's an old fortress that was built many times over, but most recently used to fight the Opium Wars. I've been meaning to visit it since we've arrived, and I know Dad has wanted to travel out there. All I knew about getting there was that it was very far and that we'd need to take a bus. Ugh. I did some research, and took screenshots of bus numbers and bus station names (written in Chinese) and we set off around 11am on our adventure. It was an epic journey. After some waiting and an additional cab ride, we made it to the Futian bus station, but the bus to Dapeng wasn't listed. And it was all written in Chinese. So we tried to match symbols and eventually picked a line to stand in. When that bus arrived, we showed the driver the bus stop name, and he said YES! So we jumped on and rode a couple of hours out of town. Not quite knowing where we were supposed to get off made the journey endless, luckily the ticket taker helped us out and we disembarked in Dapeng (a section of Shenzhen). We boarded another bus we thought would take us to the fortress, but when I showed the bus driver he shook his head, and wrote another bus number into my phone's calculator. We jumped on that bus, and just as we were deciding how long to ride before giving up and going back, we arrived at the fortress! It was the best feeling. :)

The fortress itself isn't so exciting. It's old and beautiful and fun to wander around. We arrived around 3pm and it had been raining, so there weren't very many people around. We took some photos and pondered about eating, and then boarded the bus back to Dapeng. (It took us 4 hours to get there and we spent 45 minutes wandering, sheesh). After a quick meal at KFC, we were back on the way home, confident in our path. We got home around 7, exhausted and sweaty and collapsed into bed. :) I will take Dad out there when he visits, but we'll have to get a driver. lol. I did take a lot of pics:

After much needed rest, we woke up the next day, worked out, then met some friends at the pool before catching a night flight to Clark, Philippines. It was a short layover, and after a short 4 hours of sleep we were off to...BORACAY!

Early flight!

Boracay was basically the same as the last time I was there, but even more like heaven because we had Andie there too. The White Beach was super windy, so after a windswept afternoon there, we opted for a day at Puka Beach. It was a glorious trip. The details aren't so important and I mostly just remember feeling so content, savoring the last days of summer.

Lots of sun, water, swimming, laughing and good food and drinks. I love Boracay, and I was so happy to share it with Andie. I think she liked it too. :)

A few shots in no particular order: (I put the really good ones on FB already.)

Our trip back home was longer than expected, so we were happy to be back in our beds late Sunday night. Monday was low key. Andie and I made our way out to Luohu to do some shopping. She got some new phone cases and some gifts for home. That place is always an adventure, and Andie handled herself well. We met up with Donnie for some Mexican food, then headed home.

The days were going by faster now, so on Tuesday, we set out for another hike. We took Honey with us this time with the intention of going to a temple afterwards, but we were too spent from the hike. We opted for sushi with H&Z in the mall instead. Then headed home for naps.

The next two days are sort of mashed together in my mind. We came up to school to do some work, and on the second day, we left to go to the Chiwan Temple. I took Dad there in April, and it was easy to get to. So Honey joined us again, and we made the short trip to the temple. Andie got into the spirit of the temple and hung a ribbon on a tree, attaching her wishes to the tree is supposed to bring good fortune. From there, we headed back to school, changed clothes and headed out to dinner and then drinks at The Village. The Village has a really cool house band who plays all of my favorite songs, but half of the band was missing. It was still fun, but we decided to call it an early night because we were headed to HK the next day.

Hanging on for dear life!

Friday, bright and early, Andie and I caught the ferry over to HK. We dropped our luggage at the ferry terminal and took the quick subway ride over to The Peak. The Peak is a famous view point on a mountain in Hong Kong. It's supposed to be exceptionally beautiful at night, but we were there at 9am, right when it opened. There was hardly a line (which later was not the case) and we hopped on the tram up to The Peak. The tram ride was funny. We didn't get seats, so we stood near the back, and literally had to hold on because it when pretty much vertically up the side of the mountain. It was good strength training, I guess. There's a whole mall up at the top of the mountain, but we made time to go do some picture taking and viewing before we shopped. The view was spectacular. It was a rare, clear day in HK and we could see all around. The sky was blue, the water was blue, there was a breeze, and it wasn't too crowded. As time wore on, more people arrived, so we wandered around the mall to shop and eat before making the long-ish journey back to our hotel (after picking up our luggage).  After a quick nap, Donnie arrived with Paul and we all had dinner up in the lounge of our hotel. It was the eve of Andie's last day.

Andie's last day started with a delicious breakfast buffet, then packing up our hotel and heading down to the subway for a long ride out to Disneyland. We got a late start, and the lines were much longer than when we were there last time. So around 11:30, we finally started our tour of the park. Paul was crabby, mostly because he didn't sleep well, it was hot and we had to wait in loooong lines. We made our way to Andy's Toybox (since Paul has become obsessed with Toy Story as of late) and rode a few rides there. We had some food, and then Andie went with Donnie on Space Mountain while I watched Paul play in the water fountains. By 4pm, we were all too hot and too tired of the crowds to do anything but head back. The HK airport is really close to Disneyland, so we rode with Andie over to the subway stop, got her ticket all set, then said our goodbyes. Paul sobbed until he fell asleep on the subway and he slept all the way back to our apartment in Shekou. 

More time on the subway.

Getting situated.

Cutest toys around.

The best part about Andie's trip was being able to share my life with her. She can now close her eyes and see my life, which for me, makes her feel so much closer. She knows the struggles of life here, she knows the perks, she can sense how I feel about things without speaking. I am so lucky to have her in my life, and I'm so grateful for such a long stretch of time with her and to be able to do so much with her. It's hard not seeing her everyday, but she's always nearby, and now she feels even closer. I love you, Andie. Thank you for the visit. :)

Love you. And I love being your sis.

That's all I can manage to write right now, and I've missed my deadline. So, love to all and know you're in my heart.