Busi-ness

The past couple weeks as well as the next couple weeks are filled with meetings, appointments and overall busy work.  I've not sat down to this blog in quite a while due to all stuff...busy.

Last weekend was spent in HK with the family.  Tai-Tai had hooked us all up with the yearly doctor appointments and the like.  It all went pretty well this time around...just a load of money plunked down in one sitting. 

During the off times from appointments, we ate and we shopped.  Hmmm...what else is there to do in HK?  Tai-Tai refilled her Body Shop cabinet and I picked up a load of DVD's for myself and for Tai-Tai.  Here is a quick rundown of what is needed to survive lousy TV in Chiner...

• Spiderwick - this was Expat Son's request
• Mary Tyler Moore Show - Season One.  Old TV shows are always good for plugging in and playing away.
• F Troop - Season One.  Love this show...Larry Storch was always a favorite.
• The Living Daylights - The only Bond flick I will have made by Dalton.
• Live and Let Die - One of only two Bond flicks I will have from Moore (the other is Octopussy).
• Bewitched - Season Five.  Tai-Tai request...I pretty much hate this show.

Then, it was over to the CD rack.  I don't buy CD's like I used to, because most of the bands that put out CD's in big box stores all sound the same.  But, I grabbed a handful...

• Coldplay - Viva La Vida.  Another Expat Son request...I'm not a big Coldplay fan.
• Stereophonics - Pull The Pin.  They are in HK this Thursday...damn.
• The Kooks - Konk.  This band is an acquired taste...fun to listen to.
• Jason Mraz - We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things.  Jazzy and calm...

And, of course, no trip is complete without a quick visit to the bookstore.  I was able to get Vince Flynn's latest and we also popped over to the 'modern classics' rack to grab a handful of Ian Fleming's James Bond books...never have read them.

HK's appeal for us has lost a bit of luster, except when it comes to restaurants.  You can always find some pretty good stuff around many a corner...especially good stuff with good service.  Those two things are hard to find here. Sometimes you can even find the craziest of names and genre's.  Modern Canadian Cuisine...for most that would be premium steak and donuts.  According to the menu...they didn't have donuts on it (that was down the street at Krispy Kreme).  And don't forget...that's with two 'C's' (or is it three?).

One thing that is driving me crazy lately are the touts on the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui.  It just gets worse and worse with every visit.  In one city block, Expat Son and I were asked 7 times if we wanted a tailor, copy watch, copy handbag and massage.  It gets so irritating.  I finally couldn't take it any longer and I asked one of the guys...'Why don't you ask the Chinese guy?'  Because...the don't.  They only target 'gweilo's'.  He answered...'because the Chinese do this kind of business and they aren't interested.' 

We did pass by one woman with the perfect t-shirt for walking the streets...LEAVE ME ALONE...in big white letters on a black t-shirt.  Indeed.

Dinner at Jimmy's...Breakfast at Dan Ryan's complete with balloon for the kid.  It was all pretty much set and done by the time we passed through the x-ray machines on the way to the train.