US Travels

This was a pretty hectic and long trip to the US, spanning LA, Chicago, NYC, and Dallas over 13 days.

I saw our firm's beautiful offices in LA, took a walk to get some tacos, saw the downtown area and generally marveled at the urban sprawl.  For dinner I headed to Birdie G's in Santa Monica with two law school friends living in the area that I hadn't seen in so long, Katie and Marie.

I then took a red eye flight out of LAX to Chicago, where I had a nice hotel room at the Langham and was busy with meetings and social events for the rest of the week.  While it was cold, I was blessed with some amazing sunny days and genuinely got to enjoy some great dinners and views at Gibson's and Prime and Provisions.  I also caught up with three law school classmates and college friends while in town, one of whom I probably haven't seen since 2008.

I flew out of Chicago on Friday night, and enjoyed spending the weekend with my family.  I hung out with my parents and grandma at home in Long Island, went for a nice walk where we admired the cherry blossoms, and chilled. Then on Sunday morning we headed into the city, to have a nice lunch at abc kitchen, to celebrate my mom's 72nd birthday.  We enjoyed a really nice stroll through Madison Square Park and Eataly, before hopping on the LIRR to eat dinner in Flushing.  My sister and I then headed back into the city, and my parents home.

I stayed at the Times EDITION this time, which I didn’t really mind given how little time I was spending in the room, but it was too small and too close to Times Square.  I did enjoy their breakfast spread.

Check out the essay that I found (which my dad has saved after all these years) which I wrote when I was 15!   I am still hoping to unearth copies of my other essays, in particular the one that I wrote when I was around 11 or 12, after my trip to Morocco with my mom.  That was such a formative experience for me.  

Then, during the week in New York, aside from a quick trip mid-week to Dallas, I was in New York to meet with clients, associates in the office, and managed to squeeze in a presentation as well.  Work aside, I managed to see not just two former colleagues of mine, Amy and Jenny, at breakfast at the Refinery, but also my friend Jodie who has just moved to NY from HK (we enjoyed a delicious meal at Marea), a former college acquaintance for a quick lunch at Rockefeller Center (whom I haven't seen in nearly 2 decades) and two of my college friends and roomates, Ali and Adrienne,

over a lovely Italian dinner in the East Village at Via Della Pace. 

I wrapped up the trip with a catch up breakfast with my sister in the West Village, at Jack's Wife Freda, then a long walk back to my hotel.  Then it was to the airport (harrowing traffic to JFK) where I determined I really, really really need to get TSA precheck, and then...outward bound to my babies!

So long, USA, it has been nice.  See you in July!

Back in HK, Reunited with the Fam!

So here I am! Back in Hong Kong after a 2 week whirlwind trip to the US, and wide awake at 5 am on a Sunday morning (have already been wide awake for an hour now).  I missed everyone so much I moved my flight up to depart on Friday afternoon instead of late Friday night/Saturday morning.  

It led to a nice surprise, because Michael packed the kids in the car after dinner and without any further ado they started heading to the airport.  He kept trying to distract Lola.  Al noticed right away that they were headed the wrong direction from home, and when they got into the Western Tunnel Teo asked, "Is it that we are going to the airport to pick up mommy?" So that was pretty fun!

To pick up where we last ended on this blog, I had just returned to Hong Kong after a very packed schedule of meetings in Tokyo.  I had just the weekend with the kids before flying out again late on Sunday night. It was so bittersweet leaving them, especially because I knew Lola was struggling a lot with the separation.  But we also managed to get a ton crammed in that weekend, starting with aerial yoga on Saturday morning, followed by a birthday party at Aberdeen Marina Club (for all three kids), followed by a sleepover (Lola's first, at her friend's house for her friend's birthday).  On Sunday, Lola went to Disney with her friend, the boys played and learned Chinese and math at home, then hung out at Aberdeen Boat Club.  Michael went with the driver to pick up Lola, then we all reconvened at Aberdeen Marina Club with another friend for a swimming playdate.  The kids loved the water slide at the pool there.  I loved that the club allowed helpers so we could have an extra person on hand to help!  For dinner we then took a boat out to Middle Island, just Michael, me, Lola, Al and Teo, to enjoy a little quiet time together and a sweet hangout before I had to head to the airport.

Business Trip to Tokyo

After a whirlwind weekend of the 7s, I packed my bags and headed out on a red eye flight Sunday night, bound for Tokyo.  I was there for the week, touching down at 6:30 am Monday morning and flying out at 4:30pm Friday afternoon.

My red eye flight was harrowing, actually, because I forgot about the one hour time difference between Japan and Hong Kong, and how far away Narita airport is from the city center.  I basically needed every single thing to go right in order to make the meeting on time (and in Japan, that really means being there with a 10 minute cushion to ensure you really arrive on time) so it was nerve-wracking to say the least.

Thank goodness for the efficiency of the Hong Kong airport, Cathay's promptness, my APEC card, the efficiency of the Narita airport, the early hour, and the good traffic situation that morning.

We had a great bunch of meetings and every day was busy, tiring but productive and fun.  Some of the greatest joys I have in this profession at this point in my career is finding and connecting with kind, interesting, fun and nice colleagues and clients.

I had also forgotten how much I love Japan.  How lucky am I that I got to be there during sakura season.

In my spare moments between meetings and emails I managed to make it out to Otemesando to check out some stellar vintage stores (the Chanel bags on offer at Amore Vintage, omg) and the huge Toy Park store in Ginza near Shimbashi train stop.  I also went to a sushi restaurant at Tsukiji fish market at night.  I hadn't realized that they had moved the fish market out of the city center.  Contrasting the empty, somewhat desolate and depressed version of the fish market today with the heaving, bustling and frenetic pace of the market from 2007 when I first (and last) visited, I was moved by a bittersweet sense of the passage of time and how fleeting things can be. It makes our memories and part experiences so valuable, and sometimes all that we have!

I flew home Friday afternoon and was so eager to reconnect with Michael and the kids.  It has been a hard slog with how much travel I have been doing lately, and I am so appreciative of how the kids have been resilient and Michael and our staff have been able to keep our household going.

Rugby Fever - Attending the Hong Kong Rugby 7s

After our awesome time in Beijing, we returned home to an amazing weekend of HK Rugby 7s. It was so much fun and I was so glad to have the chance to take the kids to enjoy in person, for the last time that the event will be held in one of the most intimate and beautiful stadiums of all time, Hong Kong Stadium, nestled in the heart of Causeway Bay/Caroline Hill.  Next year the event is slated to move to Kai Tak Sports Park, which is just.... bleh in comparison.

I wasn't sure if the kids would like or understand the game, but turns out there really is something invigorating and arresting about the relentlessly fast 15 minutes tournaments (7 minutes for each half, and every time I find myself marveling that the clock did not stop and play was continuing!) that makes it irresistible to all.  Before we knew it, the kids were cheering, adding up the scores, and shouting "Try!" and waving the flag.  They all loved the festive spirit and music breaks.  It was quite hot at some points, but sitting in the upper east stands brought some more open air and quiet and relief.  The juice, sparkling water, outdoor arena, and beautiful backdrop of Hong Kong's mountains didn’t hurt either!

On the first night a group of us got together for a traditional Chiu Chow dinner at Pak Loh.  The food was salty and greasy and nothing to wrote home about, but the company (6 adults and 6 kids) was everything!

Happy Easter - Beijing Trip Part 3 (Test Drive, Forbidden City, Peking Duck)

And now for the final part of our trip! For our last full day in Beijing, we went to Li Auto to test drive their newest MPV.  It is a scarily "advanced" car with AI and all the features, many of which we were barely scratching the surface with our understanding. Motion activated commands, personalized voice recognition, an HUD personalized driver 3D experience that I didn't (and still don't) really understand, and Michael's explanations to me didn’t really help (he couldn't seem to get past, "WHOA!  This is crazy! This is so cool!  Are you seeing this? You sure you can't see this?" Etc.)  

The salespersons were sure we could drive the car into Hong Kong, but I am not sure of the practicalities of that.  We don't have a Chinese license or ID which would make purchasing difficult, not to mention the car probably charges with Chinese style adapters and the driver sits on the left side of the car.  Alas, sad, because the car was very reasonably priced for all the features it contains - a far cry from what is on offer in Hong Kong.  (Backstory: After a fruitless search to upgrade or trade in our current vehicle, we decided to keep our current beloved Mercedes people mover.  It is not electric, but it is the only 8 seater model that still allows bench seats to face each other - a beloved feature for us.)  What was really amazing about cars in China was the sheer variety - we couldn't get over how many different types of cars there were, and some very strange models we had never seen or heard of, which must have been developed for the China market.

We ate a casual lunch in a food hall of a shopping mall, drawing lots of eyes as we were definitely the only foreigners there.  I struggled a little bit to find shops that would take Alipay, as I never really succeeded in setting up my WeChat pay.  That helped me make the determination on where to order, though - all the spicy hotpots I wanted to try were off limits!  This cashless society of China's can be a real pain.

After lunch we rushed to the Forbidden City, or 故宮.  Along the way we were asked by a local family if their kids could take pictures with our kids.  That was slightly odd but flattering, and we acquiesced.  That was at least slightly better than another grandma that we met while inside, who stealthily told her daughter to take pictures while she was chatting us up.

Michael also got approached by a group of giggling teenagers from a local school, who asked if they could practice their English with him by giving him a tour / reading off of a script.  That was also fascinating - both by virtue of how bad the English was but also how sweet and awed the kids were, leading me to think that this was like a close ecounter with the third kind.

After our long day at the Forbidden City, we went home to shower, change, and headed to dinner with our friends.  There, the kids were fascinated by the robot that delivered dishes and took away dirty plates. We stuffed ourselves silly, then went to a nearby 7-Eleven, before heading home. 

The next morning, we were packed and headed back to the airport for our flight home. Unsurprisingly, our flight was delayed nearly 2 hours.  Lola was adorably aghast that she had enough time to finish an entire movie, Wish, before we took off.  Par for the course, Beijing, par for the course.  I think we would have been more surprised if our flight had departed on time!

Happy Easter - Beijing Trip Part 2 (Alleys and Great Wall)

We had an action packed third and fourth day in Beijing!

On day 3, we started off the day by heading to the alleys, known as Nanluogu hutong.  There we met with some of Lola's friends and classmates who were also visiting Beijing over spring break. I was shocked at how you could easily share your location with all the people in your WeChat group - makes finding each other in a crowd eerily easy.

This area is known for having beautiful, well preserved old shikumen, but the interiors have been upgraded to shops and otherwise equipped with electricity, heat, insulation, etc.

We checked out the Drum Tower which was one of my favorite parts of the trip.  Michael and Lola climbed the tower, but Al, Teo and I just enjoyed the quintessential Beijing park scene. With traditional toys, people milling about, and Chinese songs blaring from a boom box, it felt very different. 

After that very dusty and hot trek, we returned to our hotel for a swim. 

For dinner we went to a somewhat touristy but nonetheless enlightening dinner in a private room in a restaurant set within the walls of a former siheyuan, a very traditional type of courtyard.  The restaurant kept the interior courtyard and built around it, which was very cool.

We enjoyed various traditional Beijing dishes like Peking duck, zhajiang mian and scallion pancake dishes, and a really nice show.

On Easter Monday, our fourth day in Beijing, we headed to the Great Wall.  I was super excited about this aspect of our trip, and really this was the must-do for me.  We went to Mutianyu, the most beautiful and well-preserved of all the sections that have been restored and are open for public visitors.  There is also a really nice cable car that takes you up to the wall (key, especially with young kids) as well as some slides (but we didn't have time for that).

We were so lucky with the weather and the crowds.  The mountain was beautiful, cool and not too hot or packed.

Al was the epitome of brave and cheerful, trudging up the steps all the way to the top (and then back down again)!  Apparently when he made it every body on the steps, including the guard, cheered and clasped for him.  He was definitely the youngest one up there.  For his immense enthusiasm, effort and cheer, we bought him a personalized gold meal hung with rainbow ribbon. His expression when he got it and realized it was for him was priceless.  It brought tears to my eyes. In retrospect, I really wish we had bought medals for Lola and Teo too as nice souvenirs - I had been eyeing two others but we didn't end up getting it for them, because they didn't go all the way to the top. 

That stone Al is posing next to is called "Hero's Platform".

We finished off the day with some hilarious and endearing magic shows performed for me and Michael by the kids (..."close your eyes!" ...five seconds later.... "now open your eyes!") As well as turning off the lights so Lola could make her brothers disappear (by sitting in a suitcase).  The final shot is of the CCTV tower, which the kids had been taking excitedly about because of its unusual shape. 

Happy Easter - Our Beijing Trip Part 1

I am very behind on blog posts, but writing to you from Tokyo!

We decided to go to Beijing this year for Easter break!  I knew it wasn't going to be an easy trip.  Traveling in and around China is highly, highly stressful - and it is even if you can read and speak.  

As I so presciently told a college hallmate upon my return to the U.S. back in the day, "China was the usual morass of love and hate." Little did I know how much the sentiment would still ring true exactly the same 22 years later - though probably a little more love now than hate, despite the frustrations. 

But it was really important to me for the kids to see and partake actively in the local culture, to encourage and inspire them to be proud of their heritage, to appreciate their ethnic and cultural background, and, let's face it, to embrace learning thousands of Chinese words through simple rote memory....  I can't say we succeeded on every front, especially the last point, however, undeniably the trip was a success.

On this trip in 2024, the growing divide between China and the West seemed more palpable to me than ever.  I think Michael felt the same.  But that's not necessarily a bad thing, and I honestly walked away from Beijing loving it. I was and continue to be enthralled by the sprawl and immensity of the city - the sheer weight of its culture, history and presence seems to infuse every activity.  I found the people to be positive and optimistic, kind and curious to children, and very family orientated.  Most importantly, throughout all of our encounters, whether it was in ordering food, dealing with service people, or being out-bargained and out-manuevered left, right, and center at the local markets, I felt a steady, persistent thrum of conviction from the local populace, of the inevitability of the future of the Chinese people.  

Airport! Pickup from the airport by our friend's company's drivers. Quick dinner, shower and bedtime. The boys were so cute playing around before sleeping. After the kids were in bed, Michael and I went for a walk near the hotel.  

The next morning, we woke up to a phenomenal, beautiful day - bright blue skies, sunshine, no humidity, just perfect.  How beautiful are the parks?  We stumbled upon a group of couples dancing in the park, and a big flower festival celebrating spring.  The cherry and peach blossoms were in bloom, and we bought some pinwheels and ran around the park capturing the breeze.  One of my favorite moments was when I went to buy roasting seeet potatoes from an old man pulling a very traditional, old cart, and he had a brand new, snazzy WeChat QR code for mobile payment.  Even the most humble street vendor does not take cash.

On the second day in Beijing: the view from our fancy executive suite and adjoining room at the St. Regis (in the Chaoyang District near all the foreign embassies), the boys weighing themselves at the fitness center, and Michael and Lola swimming in the pool.  We then went to our friend's apartment for a playdate.  They used to be our neighbors in Hong Kong but have relocated to China for a period for work.  It was so lovely to see how the kids picked up seamlessly and played together as if they had never been separated.

For dinner that night, we went to a delicious lamb hotpot restaurant that also had hand pulled noodles and live opera singer performance.  We got our own private room.

How cute are these guys? We really enjoyed having the suite to run around.