A New Blog

Hi all,
I've switched over to wordpress because of the issues I keep having with connectivity and Google. It appears to be getting worse, so you can find my next blog at this address:

https://lifewithjpd.wordpress.com/

Thanks for reading and I hope you continue to!

Much love to all.

Christmas in China

Here's an update with what we did over winter break here in China:

We decided to stay in Shenzhen this winter break for two main reasons, Donnie's parents and the Bates Family. They both arrived within a day of each other in HK a few days before Christmas and it was so fun to explore our area of China with them.

The Bates family arrived a day earlier so we decided to meet them in HK and explore for a day while we waited for Ron and Angie to arrive. We met at a hotel across town, and spent the evening catching up and then catching up on sleep. The next day, we took the subway back to Central and took in the impressive skyline. We also took the Star Ferry across the bay, which we hadn't done since our first time in Hong Kong. It was fun, and when we got to the Kowloon side, we took our time in the cold, grey day to explore the stars on the Avenue of Stars. We saw a couple of big names and then wandered back to the Star Ferry. Marcela picked up some snacks from the bakery and we took the ferry back across to go to the BBQ place again. They remembered us, and we all enjoyed the good TX BBQ. From there we broke into two groups to go back to Shenzhen.

Two cute kids and one refusing to pose for pics.

Any one in there?

Alex was not a fan of the egg tarts.

Shopping the streets of Central HK

Christmas was just around the corner, so the next few days were filled with last minute shopping (at empty malls!) and doing Christmasy things like watching movies and making gingerbread houses. Before we knew it, it was Christmas eve night, and I was wrapping presents, drinking wine and missing my family. I finished up wrapping pretty early, and actually went to bed early-ish after depositing presents under the tree. The next day was a blur of opening presents, eating, laughing and sleeping. The Bates' came over from across the street (they were staying in a friend's apartment) and we all enjoyed the day. The day finished with our traditional Christmas Curry. (I think it's a 4 year tradition going strong.) We tried to do some Skyping, but the internet was spotty. It's hard not seeing my family at Christmas. They have been present since Paul was born, and I've grown spoiled having them to celebrate with. It was a great day nonetheless, and I was thankful for all the love and generosity surrounding me.

Gingerbread houses in the making!

Miss you Andie and Mom!

Christmas in China

The first gift!

Tasty Christmas Curry!

The next day we took the subway out to Dafen, and did some shopping for art. It was another grey day, so we didn't really stay that long, but it was our first trip back since August, and we always like shopping for new art. :) We got Amy a Christmas present, and the kids got some art for themselves and we went home satisfied.

The next day was Paul's 4th birthday! I was going to plan a party for the kids that were still in town, but I realized that it's so crazy trying to do Christmas and a birthday party. I'm going to have to plan ahead next year. We had a quiet day at home, Paul played and we baked a cake together. He wanted a duck cake, so I had Alex and Ariana help me decorate it.  Amy came over for a pizza dinner (Paul got a pancake because that is what he requested) with all of us, and we sang and ate cake! I think he had a good birthday, and I can't believe he's 4. It's baffling how fast time can go.

Our "duck cake"

Amy and Paul!

Finally 4!

The next day we were off for Macau! Donnie and I have traveled through Macau on the way home from the Philippines, but we've never stayed. We all got ourselves ready and out the door for a midday ferry over to the "Vegas of Asia." The ferry was crowded and we ended up in 1st class because that's all that was left. It was still a bumpy ride over, but when we arrived we breezed through customs and right onto our hotel shuttle. We stayed at the Holiday Inn in Cotai, which was really nice and was right across the street from the Venetian! It looked just like the one in Las Vegas, only I think a little bigger. We checked in, tried our luck at the food court in the mall attached to our hotel, then had a quick rest and change before we headed over to see a show that is famous in Macau.

Checking in.

All dressed up!

The Venetian 

The show is called House of Dancing Water and it's amazing! It is similar to a Cirque du Soleil with lots of aerial acrobatics and intense music. It is better because the floor of the show is actually a big swimming pool where the floor can move up and down to make it shallow or deep. So there's diving and splashing and all kinds of fun, scary events. It even has a scene with motorcycles doing ramps and flips! It's intense and we sat in the splash zone, but Paul loved it, actually we all did. After the show, the Hales headed home, but the Bates family and the Strothmans headed over to check out the Venetian.

Some good lookin' kids.

Before the show.

Two of his fav people in the WORLD!

Venetian at night, there was a cool light show.

The next day, we gathered and headed out to the old part of Macau. It was once a Portuguese colony and has a similar agreement to HK with China to be relatively autonomous until 2049. So this means that walking the streets of old Macau feels like walking around in an old town of Europe. It has Asian flourishes and of course it's crowded, but the architecture was fun to look at. We spent the morning wandering the streets and taking silly pictures with Marcela's selfie-stick. We walked up to St. Paul's ruins, which is kinda cool. The only thing left is the facade, albeit a pretty impressive one, but it's strange that there's nothing behind it. Paul slept the whole morning we were walking, which was good and bad. We were pooped and he was recharged by the time we decided to head back towards our hotel.

One Hale, 4 Bates'

A series of jumping shots facilitated by Donnie:

Old town Macau

We wandered into a park that had really cool graffitti.

St. Paul's facade

On our walk back, we found ourselves in need of some refreshments (none of us were relishing the idea of going to the food court again). So Kell pointed out a sign for a coffee shop, but actually we ended up at a tiny Portuguese restaurant down an obscure alley. It was perfect. We all filled up on delicious food at a table in the middle of the place. With full bellies, we hopped on the bus and headed back to the hotel.

Yummy!

I was super tired, so I decided to take the rest of the day off from touring, but everyone else rallied and went to the Venetian. There is a children's playground there with amazing slides (so I hear), so everyone spent the evening playing and came home exhausted. We needed our sleep because the next day was....Disneyland.

So bright and early, we headed down to the ferry and ran to catch an early boat for Hong Kong. We opted for a taxi instead of the subway to get out to Disneyland and we arrived just after it opened. We were hoping it would not be too crowded because this time in China isn't a Chinese holiday. It was less crowded than the last time we were there (with Andie in August), but it was still quite packed. We dropped our bags at the baggage hold, and headed in! It was an epic day of adventure. We met Minnie and Pluto, we rode rides we'd never been on. The lines were long, but with everyone in line together, it was more like hanging out than waiting. Paul crashed for a few hours and we ended up staying well past sundown. I had fun, but I don't want to go back for at least five years. I'm not a theme park person I don't think, and only two of the HK Disneyland rides have fast passes. But everybody else had a blast, and it was day two of serious exhaustion. I've selected a few pics:

He loves this gal.

Buddies

About to enter the fray!

In line. 

Paul and Daddy did the teacups, me, not so much.

All set up for the parade, but we left.

It's a Small World, Hong Kong.

The next day we woke up and headed back to Shenzhen. It was New Year's Eve, so we relaxed for a while at home before Donnie, Kell, Marcela and I headed out for the evening. We went to the Village, a bar with an excellent cover band and it was fun. We ran into some girls from work and hung out with them for a while. As the time grew closer to midnight, we wanted to be around a more festive atmosphere, so we headed to Seaworld and rung in the New Year at Coyote's the Mexican cantina. It was packed and everybody was dancing and laughing. A great way to start 2015. Through the haze of the new year's glow, I felt nostalgic. We were with the Bates' to ring in the new year in San Antonio for 2013. So much has changed for us and for them, but it's so comforting to know that wherever we all are in the world, we keep the friendship alive and strong. For Donnie and Kell it's been 30+ years. Or is it 40+? ;) 

BFF 4 LIFE!

Love these two.

The next few days were lazy days for me. The rest of our company enjoyed the sunny weather and played soccer with the locals and went to Luohu and old Shekou for shopping. I did manage to take the Bates family, Angie and Paul to Window of the World. It was way more expensive than I remember, but we paid and got in. We wandered through Asia, and Europe and even went tubing in the frigid Alps, but after a few hours we were ready to go. It was fun, but I don't think I'd go back.

Japanese Tea Garden

Angie in front of the Taj Mahal

A mini version of Venice!

Our days with the Bates family were growing short, so for their last days, we headed back to HK to see some more sites. We only managed to eat more TX BBQ and take the view in at the Peak before the sun set. We were all pretty tired, and some of us were starting to feel flu-ish. The view of HK was beautiful, just like when I went with Andie, but instead of being hot and sweaty, we were freezing from the wind! But I was reminded that Hong Kong is an amazing city and I really like being so close to such a cool place.

The Bates family was leaving from HK, so they stayed when we headed back to Shenzhen the next day. We had so much fun with them! I look forward to the next time we see their smiling faces. We headed home and brewed another batch of beer and prepped for going back to work.

It was a really busy holiday season, and I was ready to get back to work. Unfortunately, my break lasted another week because I caught the worst flu I've ever had. It was terrible! More on that in another post...

This winter break was so different from last years, but still so much fun. We loved having the Bates' and Ron and Angie (who are still here) and I cherished our time together. :)It's really amazing having so many people come see us. 2014 was the year of visitors and I hope to have more in 2015! 

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! and love to all.

(Sorry this post is so long and boring, it took me a long time to put together with all of the google issues we've been having. I think I will switch to a different, non-blocked blog space for my next blog...coming soon.)