September

It's September already. I am now working in London but still living in Hong Kong. Some of my old commutes used to be bad but this one is just about the worst.

I will be posting some new pictures as soon as I get home but felt it had been just a bit too long since I last posted.

Our new apartment in Hong Kong is starting to feel more like a home. Fumie showed me a picture of the new tatami room and it looks quite nice. Yurie seems to love spending time in it so perhaps it was worth the effort.

Sunday Dinner at Michael's House

Preparing for a busy day.





Picking flowers with Uncle Mike.






Dinner!





Dessert from both cousin Sarah and auntie Wendy.

A day at the zoo

We had a very nice day at the zoo with Maurice and Brendan today.

The favourites were the elephant and lion, although monkeys were a very close third.

Robert and Sue's visit

Yurie really enjoyed Robert and Sue's visit. She had a bit of trouble saying 'uncle' and 'auntie'. It usually came out as 'hunkle' and 'grandma'!


Robert and Sue on their visit to Hong Kong


Fumie's comment


Yurie and 'hunkle'

Summer Uniform

Yurie's school has switched to their summer uniform.


New uniform


It seems Yurie likes the change!

Yukata - 浴衣

A yukata is a light summer type kimono. Yurie likes to wear these as they are a bit cooler on hot spring days.


Yukata1


Yukata2


Yukata3

First Day of School

Well, because both Fumie and I need to work we have been looking for a place to send Yurie during the day. We found a plce called William's International Kindergarden that seemed to be quite suitable.

For the next two weeks Yurie will be going for an hour, then and hour and a half per day. On March 26 she will be in for the full school day, 9am - 4:15pm.

So far she seems to really enjoy everything, but it is only for an hour. Hopefully she will keep up her enthusiasm.

Of course, in Hong Kong, everyone wears uniforms to school and it is no different for 2 year olds. Here are a few pictures of her eating breakfast on her first day.


School Day


School Day 2

Not a Morning Person

It seems Yurie is getting more from me than I hoped. She is definitely not a morning person.


Not a Morning Person

Of course it can be difficult to sleep when mama steals your bed!


Help!

Hina Matsuri

OK, I am a few days late on this one, but it's the thought that counts, right?

March 3 was "Hina Matsuri" in Japan. This roughly translates as "Girls' Festival" or "Dolls' Festival". It is also known as "Girls' Day", sort of like mothers' day, but for daughters. A decent description of this festival can be found at this site - Girl's Day

The main feature of this day are the dolls that are displayed. I have included a couple of pictures of Yurie's decorations, one from each of the grandmothers. As I understand it the idea is to add new ones each year.

We didn't really do anything special on this day but I suspect that things will change as she gets older and we start buying dolls with her.


Hina Matsuri


Hina Matsuri 2

Disney - Take 2

Fumie is on a business trip in the Phillipines this week so I am at home with Yurie. I decided to make the most of it so the two of us went to Disneyland today.

Considering it was a Wednesday it was a little bit busier than I would have expected, but nothing like when we went on Chinese New Year.

Yurie is becoming a pro at this and now she knows just exactly what she wants to do. The baby elephant was pushed down to second place with Minnie Mouse easily taking first place.

We didn't get a chance to take a photo with Minnie (the queue was horrendous and I thought we might just wait for Fumie to make it a family deal), but we did manage to get in line just as Pooh and Tigger came out.


Disney - Take 2