We're back after a sleepless 11 hour flight back. We're already missing so many of our friends there!!!! Also we went to a restaurant today and we were missing the toothpicks. Oh and we hate driving!!!!!

MARCO!!!!

I'll be traveling again to San Diego for a seminar and visiting a new addition to the family. Debrief on trip will happen shortly.

We made it safely back today after some delays and cancelled flights. We were not near any of the terrorist bombings in the Philippines. I will share more later when we get back.

Ok today was the lowest of lows for flaunting wealth. As I was returning to the ladies' locker room, I saw a woman dressed to work out talking to her maid to put all her street clothes into the locker and to wait outside of the gym until she was done with her workout. Oh my gosh! I've never seen anything like this before. I've seen maids go to restaurants and go shopping with the family they work for, but to actually accompany them to the gym and pick up after them in the locker room. Come on people...can't you even carry your own gym bag? So things like this really make me upset...I though Silicon Valley was bad...nope I think Hong Kong is worse in this category of the "I'm richer than thou syndrome."

I'm sitting here with my Total Greek Yogurt with Greek Honey, something of a sweet treat from back home(Trader Joe's) that I found at the local grocery store here. I'm not Greek, but it was something I bought quite often before we left CA. Each time I take a spoonful I start thinking of back home. You know the comforts of favorite places, our soft bed, lots of space at home to retreat to after a long day at work, and best of all the familiarity of everything around you.

Whenever I buy a US imported product I get all homesick. I know that it's expensive but somehow knowing that I can get my Tide or my box of Honey Nut Cheerios just makes me feel a little bit better about being here. It's not that I don't want to be here, but it gets a little frustrating to pick up items with Chinese written all over them and not knowing what exactly is in it. We have friends who have recommended more local products for basic needs which are inexpensive. I've tried them and they are pretty good quality stuff. However I can imagine expats here pretty much pay for the expensive stuff just to have something resembling a life back home. I can see that I'm in their camp once in a while.

Growing up in Cerritos(a suburb of LA County) I remember my family pretty much shopping 90% of the time at asian markets(which were pretty much everywhere in Cerritos), 5% Costco, and 5% the local market . The local chain of Albertson's or Safeway was just a block away from our house but mom would go at least 2 miles to an asian market. So being on the opposite side of the situation I can totally relate to looking for imported goods from my "motherland."

All I know is right now, I'm enjoying my yogurt and I'm really missing home. 3 weeks more until we're back!

Not so much as a whine as much as a thanks to everyone who has touched my life in some many ways. Just read PDL's Devotional for today and was inspired to just THANK each and every one of you who has changed my life in some way even if it was to smile or give me a hug in the past when you knew it was something that could help.

We started doing tourist stuff today since our time is starting to run out here. We went to the new Langham Place in Mongkok. The escalators went up/down to floors of unknown destinations. The many stairs were difficult to tell which floors they went to. So unlike the stairs of Winchester which really lead to no where, the Langham Place escalators really didn't go to every single floor. One would go up 3 floors while another went up 5 floors. Argh!! It's definitely a wonderful place if you like to browse aimlessly and definitely targeted towards the young 20-something chuppie(Chinese Yuppie).

It also sort of reminded me of the 1/2 floors at the UIUC main library stacks. Very frustrating signage as well. I'll post photos later. At least we managed to get some lunch and duck back into the MTR to get to TST.