ridiculous

merry christmas to all of our friends and family that read this!

anyway, i just noticed something that reminded me of how weird hong kong can be. it's currently 13 degrees celsius (or 55 fahrenheit) and our official HK weather site posted the following:

"COLD WEATHER WARNING
Cold Weather Warning

The Cold Weather Warning is now in force.

The Hong Kong Observatory is forecasting cold weather in
Hong Kong today.

As Hong Kong is being affected by a cold winter monsoon,
people are advised to put on warm clothes and to avoid
adverse health effects due to the cold weather. You must
also ensure adequate indoor ventilation.

If you must go out, please avoid prolonged exposure to
wintry winds.

If you know of elderly persons or persons with chronic
medical conditions staying alone, please call or visit them
occasionally to check if they need any assistance.

Make sure heaters are safe before use, and place them away
from any combustibles. Do not light fires indoors as a
means to keep warm.

Whatever the temperature, please ensure that there is
plenty of fresh air in your room when you are using an
old-type gas water heater.

DISPATCHED BY HONG KONG OBSERVATORY AT 06:02 HKT ON 23.12.2008"


can you believe it!?
it's well above freezing, and we're experiencing "wintery monsoons!"
i can only imagine what they might say if HK looked like illinois or indiana right now... "run for your lives! set anything combustible on fire! do whatever is necessary to stay warm from this apocalyptic nightmare!"

then again, i suppose that kristin and i are heading to vietnam to escape the cold and relax on a beach. wish us safe travels, and we'll post some pictures when we return!

:)

why i am picture-less

i realized that i regularly write "pictures to come," and i was planning to do that again. then, i realized it's all one big lie. i write my blog posts at work, and i don't have access to my photo library since it's on our laptop. someday that will change. either i will upload photos to my work computer, or i will stop blogging at work. (sorry charles, you've discovered my secret now).

last week was thanksgiving. the holiday itself was very anticlimactic. as in, we didn't do anything. kathy, scott and grant went to the light show - does that count as exciting? nope, probably not. saturday, i cooked my first thanksgiving turkey. whoohoo! the picture of that one is on stu's mobile phone. i'm not sure he'll ever email it to me. i felt like i needed proof of a cooked turkey - mostly because that's what mom and dad always did. anyways, the turkey was great, if a bit pink in the middle. oops, the microwave has since killed off all salmonella, e coli, and whatever else comes in raw turkey. we had an american thanksgiving - turkey, stuffing, potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, and veggies - at a british flat.
for those of you who missed the turkey saga... i bought the smallest (and only) turkey i found at our grocery store. weighing in at a massive 8.8 pounds (for nearly 20 USD), i thought i better snatch it up. once i arrived at home, i realized that mr. turkey was about one inch too tall for our oven. luckily, i'd already invited michele and stu to eat with us, so we ate at their flat and cooked there as well. yay for bigger ovens than mine!
we had apple crumble for dessert, courtesy of michele and stu - and grant was requesting whipped cream or vanilla ice cream prior to the meal. when i asked them about this, i was given a blank look. apparently british people don't put cold cream on their hot apple crumble. instead they make hot custard. it was a first for me, but tasty indeed.

that's all i've got for thanksgiving. now life is calmer, but christmas is starting soon. funny how that happens.

hasta luego amigos...