It's not a public holiday or long weekend in Hong Kong, but we are enjoying the incessant rain (third typhoon in two weeks) and marveling at how it's already September. Time just seems to march on more and more quickly each year.
With Harvey wreaking havoc in Houston, Hong Kong awash in typhoons, and massive floods displacing millions of people in Southeast Asia, it's hard not to face the grim reality of global warming and the effects that it has had on our planet.
Since my trip to Sydney, I took the opportunity last week to relax a little bit (so grateful for the down time) and enjoy being in Hong Kong - just doing the really boring, ordinary stuff like shopping for fruits and vegetables (my appetite for blueberries, cherries, peaches, and oranges lately has been insatiable), going to yoga and spinning classes (I am surprised at how much I've really started to enjoy the bike, although I am also not pushing myself as hard on the workouts now), and shopping for baby stuff.
We've been doing a few home improvements/projects lately, namely, the home office, the nursery, the helper's room, and the dining room chairs.
Home Office:
Michael is putting together a home office, and between the old 42" TV monitor (which had just been gathering dust and is now providing a very, how shall we say, immersive work experience) and the 24" Dell computer monitor, as well as the desk that he has built, the whole project is really taking shape. We are waiting for a carpet and a chair (which was a whole ordeal to source) to arrive, at which point it may be time for a blog reveal.
Michael fell in love with this chair, but unfortunately, while it's made in China, it does not easily ship to Hong Kong. We looked at a bunch of sites in the U.S., including Target, Wayfair, and Birch Lane, and tried to figure out how to get it over here. It's very discouraging when the shipping cost exceeds the cost of the chair. The chair retails for $266-$387 depending on where you source it. Shipping alone would have been $220-477. Just laughable! Through some miraculous google sleuthing, he managed to find the manufacturer and the telephone number of the factory that makes the chair. So among my other tasks this week, I was also randomly calling up a factory in Huzhou and cheerily inquiring about buying a sample chair at wholesale prices. Just so you know, the whole sale price was 300-600 RMB, or about US$50-90. (That's a nice mark up that the furniture manufacturer is getting!) Given the logistical headaches, we have still decided to obtain the chair by retail means, but it's a perfect example of how frustrating it can be to buy things here.
Nursery:
Possibly inspired by his re-haul of the home office, I am definitely also feeling the urge to set up a cute nursery, and find myself browsing interior decorating websites and blogs.
The cribs on my short list are all part of the MDB family: the Baby Mod Marley, the Babyletto Scoot, and the Babyletto Hudson are so far my favorites. I've heard very good things about the Ikea cribs as well. Of these, I like the look of the Sniglar and the Gulliver the best. For a baby mattress, I have been eyeing the Colgate Eco Classica. And as for crib sheets and such, oh the adorable choices seem endless! For more inspiration, here are my favorites of the adorable nurseries that I've been checking out (and envying their space)! I think I will probably try to DIY the baby mobile.
1 // 2 // 3
Helper's Room:
We are also in the throes of interviewing and meeting with helpers, so that we can hire one to work with us full time. That also means that we have to get our helper's room ready, including equipping it with a bed, shelves, light, etc. It's totally aggravating because the bed in our current guest bedroom (which we would like to take out in our conversion to the nursery) baaaarely doesn't fit into the helper's room (gah!) missing the mark by about 5 inches. Michael will have to put some shelves up and maybe build a custom-sized bed frame in there as well.
Dining Room Chairs:
Our apartment came mostly furnished, and that includes our dining room chairs. However, these things are absolute **** and are falling apart. We have five chairs, one of which has completely broken, and all of which are peeling. I contacted our landlord's management company to ask how they wanted to handle the situation. I got back the very helpful response, "In principle we agree to replace the chairs at your own cost." What does that mean?! I think we will likely end up tossing all of these and buying our own chairs.
We still love our apartment, but it hasn't been without its challenges to accommodate a newborn. For example, when we first moved in, we didn't really give much thought to the fact that the building didn't have a car spot (or any parking). But now that feels like something nice to have (although parking and gas in this city are, understandably, astronomical). Michael has been eyeing lots of car sites and will likely go on a car scouting trip with a friend soon. We also have to consider if there is a nearby building with a spot that we could rent. Thus far, he seems partial to the Mercedes and the Range Rovers. I honestly don't really care what kind of car we get, though I would prefer it not to be a gas guzzler...
With Harvey wreaking havoc in Houston, Hong Kong awash in typhoons, and massive floods displacing millions of people in Southeast Asia, it's hard not to face the grim reality of global warming and the effects that it has had on our planet.
Since my trip to Sydney, I took the opportunity last week to relax a little bit (so grateful for the down time) and enjoy being in Hong Kong - just doing the really boring, ordinary stuff like shopping for fruits and vegetables (my appetite for blueberries, cherries, peaches, and oranges lately has been insatiable), going to yoga and spinning classes (I am surprised at how much I've really started to enjoy the bike, although I am also not pushing myself as hard on the workouts now), and shopping for baby stuff.
We've been doing a few home improvements/projects lately, namely, the home office, the nursery, the helper's room, and the dining room chairs.
Home Office:
Michael is putting together a home office, and between the old 42" TV monitor (which had just been gathering dust and is now providing a very, how shall we say, immersive work experience) and the 24" Dell computer monitor, as well as the desk that he has built, the whole project is really taking shape. We are waiting for a carpet and a chair (which was a whole ordeal to source) to arrive, at which point it may be time for a blog reveal.
Michael fell in love with this chair, but unfortunately, while it's made in China, it does not easily ship to Hong Kong. We looked at a bunch of sites in the U.S., including Target, Wayfair, and Birch Lane, and tried to figure out how to get it over here. It's very discouraging when the shipping cost exceeds the cost of the chair. The chair retails for $266-$387 depending on where you source it. Shipping alone would have been $220-477. Just laughable! Through some miraculous google sleuthing, he managed to find the manufacturer and the telephone number of the factory that makes the chair. So among my other tasks this week, I was also randomly calling up a factory in Huzhou and cheerily inquiring about buying a sample chair at wholesale prices. Just so you know, the whole sale price was 300-600 RMB, or about US$50-90. (That's a nice mark up that the furniture manufacturer is getting!) Given the logistical headaches, we have still decided to obtain the chair by retail means, but it's a perfect example of how frustrating it can be to buy things here.
Nursery:
Possibly inspired by his re-haul of the home office, I am definitely also feeling the urge to set up a cute nursery, and find myself browsing interior decorating websites and blogs.
The cribs on my short list are all part of the MDB family: the Baby Mod Marley, the Babyletto Scoot, and the Babyletto Hudson are so far my favorites. I've heard very good things about the Ikea cribs as well. Of these, I like the look of the Sniglar and the Gulliver the best. For a baby mattress, I have been eyeing the Colgate Eco Classica. And as for crib sheets and such, oh the adorable choices seem endless! For more inspiration, here are my favorites of the adorable nurseries that I've been checking out (and envying their space)! I think I will probably try to DIY the baby mobile.
1 // 2 // 3
Helper's Room:
We are also in the throes of interviewing and meeting with helpers, so that we can hire one to work with us full time. That also means that we have to get our helper's room ready, including equipping it with a bed, shelves, light, etc. It's totally aggravating because the bed in our current guest bedroom (which we would like to take out in our conversion to the nursery) baaaarely doesn't fit into the helper's room (gah!) missing the mark by about 5 inches. Michael will have to put some shelves up and maybe build a custom-sized bed frame in there as well.
Dining Room Chairs:
Our apartment came mostly furnished, and that includes our dining room chairs. However, these things are absolute **** and are falling apart. We have five chairs, one of which has completely broken, and all of which are peeling. I contacted our landlord's management company to ask how they wanted to handle the situation. I got back the very helpful response, "In principle we agree to replace the chairs at your own cost." What does that mean?! I think we will likely end up tossing all of these and buying our own chairs.
We still love our apartment, but it hasn't been without its challenges to accommodate a newborn. For example, when we first moved in, we didn't really give much thought to the fact that the building didn't have a car spot (or any parking). But now that feels like something nice to have (although parking and gas in this city are, understandably, astronomical). Michael has been eyeing lots of car sites and will likely go on a car scouting trip with a friend soon. We also have to consider if there is a nearby building with a spot that we could rent. Thus far, he seems partial to the Mercedes and the Range Rovers. I honestly don't really care what kind of car we get, though I would prefer it not to be a gas guzzler...
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