hy's blog

Slap me on the wrist. Have not posted since June 14 but I guess my posting on that date was not sufficient since I was suffering from a nasty hangover from karaoke-ing with my Japanese colleagues and drank TOOOOOOOO many bottles of Japanese-sake.

Updates on my travels:

Tokyo: I LOVE it there. Everything is soooo clean, so orderly, people are polite and helpful. Very thorough. Ask someone for directions and they will practically take you there themselves. I cannot comment enough on the impeccable and neat attire of my colleagues either. EVERYONE wore great shoes. Neatly polished. The food was SUPERB, wonderfully fresh sushi from Tsuchiji Fish Market. "No, salmon is not in season. Therefore, we do not have this to offer". I had FRESH wasabi with my sushi at the sushiya by Tsuchiji market, none of that neon green stuff. Fresh wasabi tastes nothing like the powdered version. Mild, and almost sweet. Itadakimasu. I LOVE the food there and bought some obento-bakko to bring lunches and hooked on to onigiri.

Hong Kong: Great food. Dirty compared to Tokyo but seemed somehow more real. Humid like a sauna. My skin never felt dry, despite not having applied any body lotion. Aircon was set absurdly cold, wherever we were. Seems like the default aircon temp was 16 Celsius. Visiting my relatives was nice. They really enjoyed seeing Marlis. As a bonus too, the summer sales were on and I managed to buy a pair of gorgeous Ferragamo pumps for work at 35% less. Many many shops in Hong KOng.

Tokyo too. I love UNIQLO for their jeans.

Knitting update: almost completed the back of the cardi. Knitted not too long on the flight. Got upgraded to First Class on the outbound to Narita so was able to sleep very well. Will post pix of my knitting progress later.

Took many many many pix (well my husband did since he was on hols there while I worked).

I have a wicked hangover.

OK, this is the last posting before my trip. I seriously have to finish my presentations and pack.
The photo on the left is from "Debbie Bliss -Easy Knits" book. The photo on the right is what I have knitted so far using the Novita Isoveli yarn that my yarn buddy sent me. I am hoping to complete the back during the long flight to Tokyo (14 hrs), hence the plastic circs.

We are leaving for Tokyo tomorrow. Still not packed but managed to do most of the laundry yesterday. I seriously have to try on my suits to make sure that they still fit me. If they don't, it guess it is probably too late to go shopping anyway.

Will try to post while we are away but might be close to impossible. Anyhow, will be back from Tokyo and Hong Kong end of this month and promise to post lots of photos and stories of our trip.

Sayoonara!

Isn't Marlis the sweetest little girl???
I am biased :-) of course.
She will be 3 in September and when I look back on her photos from 1 year, I am amazed at how much she has changed. Last year, she still looked like a baby and did baby-babbling and this year, she is speaking in full sentences. For example: "No, Daddy! Do not make these sounds because I am scared. This is why I run away to my stove".

I arrived home last night after a rather annoying day to find a wonderful package waiting for me.
I feel thoroughly spoiled since all the gifts my Secret Pal got me were all items that I don't have and actually need.
My daughter is completely in love with the pink bag so it looks like I have to share that bag with her, and the chocolate too. :-(

THANK YOU Secret Pal!!!!

Here are some pix of our garden on the balcony. The snowpeas have been growing like crazy and Marlis has already eaten several "baby" strawberries!

Here is a pix of the sweater I completed in Feb for Simon. I have to admit that I have not completed anything since.
Is it possible to experience burn-out so soon? Hope not since I have a yarn stash bursting out of the closet.

I took this photo a few weeks ago when my chives were flowering and freshly picked arugula. Through the window, you can see the our balcony where garden is. I will take a pix of the garden and post it here. The tomato plants are outgrowing their stakes. Hope to get taller ones this weekend.