Just a picture of Sihuai on her side
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Tuesday, September 22, 2009
The HK Bubble
Thanks to easy credit becos of the HK dollar peg, and money from China pouring out, HK is seeing the kind of asset bubble better associated with pre-Lehman Brothers. Rents are back to peak levels when employment is still weak, and property prices have rocketed. $3 million for a 500 square feet apartment, anybody?
What it means for us though is that the apartment above us got bought and the owner went for a 3-month renovation. Yup, you read right. 3 months of noise and dust. U can build a house in three months in Australia, or renovate 3 apartments in Singapore. HK with its smaller apartments seem to suffer from a lack of skilled workers able to get work done quickly and effectively.
In the first week, the workers burnt so much incense and paper money, we had ash drifting into our kitchen. In the second week, they destroyed a pipe, and led to massive flooding. Our ceiling dripped. In the third week, they left windows opened during a typhoon so all of us could hear the windows slam every 5 minutes and wonder when they will break and shatter.
All this while they create a lot of noise. We asked that they try to have lunch and do quieter work between 1-3 pm so the kids could sleep, and do the noisy stuff in the morning when Siyuan is at school. They said yes, and proceeded to do no work in the morning and start work when the kids are sleeping.
Three months. Amazing.
What it means for us though is that the apartment above us got bought and the owner went for a 3-month renovation. Yup, you read right. 3 months of noise and dust. U can build a house in three months in Australia, or renovate 3 apartments in Singapore. HK with its smaller apartments seem to suffer from a lack of skilled workers able to get work done quickly and effectively.
In the first week, the workers burnt so much incense and paper money, we had ash drifting into our kitchen. In the second week, they destroyed a pipe, and led to massive flooding. Our ceiling dripped. In the third week, they left windows opened during a typhoon so all of us could hear the windows slam every 5 minutes and wonder when they will break and shatter.
All this while they create a lot of noise. We asked that they try to have lunch and do quieter work between 1-3 pm so the kids could sleep, and do the noisy stuff in the morning when Siyuan is at school. They said yes, and proceeded to do no work in the morning and start work when the kids are sleeping.
Three months. Amazing.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Attention Needed
As the second child, Sihuai fights for attention with her elder brother. She loves it when we smile at her or play with her, some thing we probably do less of with her than with Siyuan becos there is another child. On the other hand, with our helper, there's somebody else to lavish human love and attention.
We chat about it on and off, it's just one of those things which we try to be conscious about.
Given attention, she has a lovely smile :)
One difference we note with her is that she likes to talk. She can babble happily away for a long time making all sorts of noises. Her brother was more active physically, rolling around a lot more. Maybe a gender thing, or maybe just the personality. Who knows :) But i guess it's part of the fun of raising two different kids.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Toy for Mei Mei
Siyuan likes his sister quite a lot. He found an old toy which he used to play with, dragged it out from underneath the bed and set it, with help, for her.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Belly time
Sihuai can now lift her head for a short while when we put her on her belly :) She's also starting to roll to one side, as a prelude to rolling all the way onto her belly :)
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Tuesday, September 1, 2009
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