Aunty Ros popped in for a quick visit this afternoon (en route to NZ from London), and after an initial bout of shyness from the Bunky, he warmed up considerably and even let her read his favourite Schnitzel Von Krumm story to him... .
.
.
Saturday: Tears and Beers
Saturday was a funny day - we went to gorgeous little Ava's first birthday party in Kennedy Town, where Bunky proceeded to burst into tears every 15-20 seconds. Someone nudged him - tears and wailing. Dropped a toy - tears and wailing. Someone looked at him in a funny way - tears and wailing. It was most uncharacteristic of the little munchkin, and we can only really put it down to it being a little bit loud for him. Or he's a bit of a wuss. Probably too early to definitively tell on that front. Anyway, a few photos of the beautiful little birthday girl (oh - that's George's curly hair on the left in the first photo...the only photo of him not crying):
.
.
.
In the evening we went to Sam and Mary's for pre-Christmas drinks. Had a lovely time and a great meal - and Sam and Mary had even organised a secret santa for everyone as well. They're about to take Christmas Holidays closely followed by a short sabbatical holiday, so we won't see them again until around April next year. We met some lovely people, including a Canadian vet whose cousin I worked with in Canada in 1997. It's a small, small world...
.
.
.
A few more weekend photos
This one from Central - I took it looking down the road where the wet markets begin: .
.
.
A friend of Shay (in Emma's baby group) was looking for someone to take a few photos of her children, so after a few back and forth emails, we met at Cyberport on Saturday afternoon to see if we could get a few photos done. After the boys had a quick rock-throwing session in the Cyberport fake-creek, we ended up having a great time and getting some lovely photos out of the session (they even managed to sit still long enough for me to get a few photos of them with their little sister, who at the tender age of 9 months old obviously couldn't keep up with her big brothers):
.
.
.
Singapore
On Sunday night we got back from a fantastic long weekend in Singapore - Bunky was pretty good on the flight over (although we had a few tense moments due to a delay in feeding him), but he was pretty sweet for the rest of the flight. Ditto on the way back - a bit scratchy to start with, but after dinner and a nice long nap (during which his Mummy watched a few trashy episodes of "Gossip Girl"), he was in great form at the end of the flight and during the landing. Bedtime was seriously late thanks to some slow baggage handling (he didn't get to bed until around 10pm) but that of course didn't stop his lordship from his usual wakeup shenanigans at 6:45am (a deep and meaningful discussion of world politics with his bedmate Flat Ted). I took a pile of photos and have posted few below - I would have liked to have taken a bit more time sorting and editing them, but I have already started receiving not-so-subtle messages regarding the absence of photos of George over the last four days.
The photos probably require no explanation - they are mostly of Paddy, Bella or George. I also took a few at the outdoor market where Kirstie occasionally sells clothes. We went there on Saturday morning, and naturally Rachel couldn't leave without buying his majesty a few little bits and pieces (including what she now calls his "Yoga Pants").
Thanks to the Challis clan for being such fantastic hosts, yet again.
Oh - and before I go... Happy Birthday to Uncle Sam in London! Hope you have a great birthday and we trust that Aunty Katy will spoil you rotten.
.
.
.
A few photos from Hugo and Sophia's party
George attended another birthday party yesterday. This one was at a lovely park that we had never been to before - a few minutes up the road from The Peak. It was a lovely afternoon, and George had great fun playing with his mates, eating random plastic toys, and munching on grass. A thoroughly relaxing and lovely afternoon - and certainly a park that we'll be visiting again now that the weather is coming right. .
.
.
My camera takes photos of other little people too
A few from Sarah and Keira's visit a fortnight ago. It was wonderful to meet Keira at last - although the first thing she did when she saw me was burst into tears. Weird. Some adults do that too. Maybe I need to try a different aftershave? .
.
.
Another few from Sunday, and...
Clockwise from left: Harry, Bunky bumping heads with Mikey, Bunky pursuing orange ball
.
.
And I simply couldn't resist... a photo of Sarah K and me. I took it when I was showing her how to take photos using the iMac. We're so damned hot.
.
.
A tiring weekend for the Bunkmeister
The weekend is almost over, and it was a busy one for Bunky. Yesterday he had a bit of a Saturday morning swing session, before an afternoon with Daddy (while Mummy went shopping and doing errands). Not really much photowise, but here is a shot from the swing time:
.
.
We had a quiet night - I watched the rugby with Cam while Rachel and George shot downstairs for the building's Halloween Party (George went as "a small child trying not to wear a shark-shaped hat").
Today we had brunch at Cam and Carolin's - had a great time, and George was in full "show off" mode when it came to his crawling. He also ate like a waste disposal unit, and managed to polish off a few baby-sized muffins after his lunch. Little piglet.
Finally, today we went down to the monthly Pokfulam Market with Alice, Harry and little Michael (the only child in Hong Kong with hair more awesome than George's). If the weather isn't too hot, then the Market presents a nice chance to lie on the grass and enjoy a bit of food and drink under the sun. There were loads of people there this afternoon (certainly more than usual - the slightly milder weather might have pushed the numbers up), and I managed to take quite a few photos of our little group:
.
Harry, Michael, and some delicious sunflare
.
Clockwise: Harry with the boys, George with "Sophie La Giraffe", Alice with Michael and Harry
.
George the Phrenologist examining his friend Mikey (a different Michael with far less hair)
.
Clockwise from top left: Alice, Harry and Michael, Rachel with George, Michael looking angry
.
That's all from the weekend. It certainly was nice to be taking photos outside for a change. Unfortunately the weather is still pretty warm despite it being November (it's usually perfect weather around now, but it's still rather hot under the sun at the moment), but still - it was nice to be outside all afternoon.
.
.
Modelling gifts from USA
A little present from George's Aunty Kat in Los Angeles (delivered by Angelo-post). Thanks Aunty Kat! As you can see, George grew into it... um, rather well.
.
.
And even more weekend photos
A couple of random photos:
What on earth could be keeping George transfixed during his ordinarily boisterous dinnertime?
.
A romantic long distance dinner date with his UK girlfriend Bella of course
.
Some good times with visiting Aunty Sarah...
.
...and some grumpy times
.
And finally some quiet time with Rachel (woah - check out Bunky's knee-fat)
.
.
A few random long weekend photos
We've had an up and down weekend - Raspy McCoughypants had a tough Saturday, but seems to have shaken off the worst of his chest gloop. He's in pretty awesome spirits, and as I type this he's fast asleep (touch wood - last night he screamed from 10pm to 11pm). He's had a full on weekend so far, with brunch at the Press Room on Saturday morning and then Sam B's birthday party today. Tomorrow's junk trip has been cancelled, but seeing as this weekend is "Grave Sweeping" weekend, we'll still try and get out somewhere (our street is next to the cemetery and looks like Disneyland on Grave Sweeping days. I've got some random photos - I've got a pile more (especially of Sarah K and Bunky yesterday), but here are the ones I've had a pick through so far:
A sight we need to get used to - Bunky wandering the lounge and dining floor area.
.
George and Rachel observing pass-the-parcel at Sam's party
.
The boys asleep in the spare room. Seriously, I don't know how Ben sleeps like that.
.
The little man just before his bath tonight
.
.
Bunky with his Aunty Kirstie this morning
Just before Aunty Kirstie took off back to Singapore after a whirlwind trip:
.
.
Pokfulam Market Day
We took the little man down to the monthly market, where he got to sit in the sun and hang with his mate Sam. Photos below are of Bunky and a few friends who were also there:
Sam with Cam and Carolin
.
Bunky with his favourite wooden mouse
..
Carolin (with blurry Cam in the foreground on the right)
.
Nick with little Gus in "rugby ball" position
..
Bunky and mummy (of course)
.
.
Baby group [Password = name of Keane family chocolate labrador]
Emma and Mark asked me to take a few photos for their baby group, which is shortly disbanding due to the repatriation of some of its members. They are a fantastic bunch of really friendly people, and it was great fun - although a little exhausting (fourteen adults and fourteen children!) I've popped a few of the photos from the afternoon below (with some rough edits - I need to sit down for a few hours and do proper edits on all of them):
.
Dim sum, birthdays, quiet time
A hectic weekend for the little man, not helped by us thinking that today's birthday party was yesterday. On Saturday we got as far as about 30m from the birthday boy's driveway before we realised that we were a day early. Ah well, at least George got a swim out of it. This morning started with dim sum with the McBride clan in Wan Chai. The always reliable and extremely child-friendly Renaissance Harbourview:
.
Which was followed by a nap and then a visit to little Riley's house for his first birthday celebration, just around the corner from where we live. That's the birthday boy Riley on the left and George's playmate Sam H on the right:
.
And finally a little bit of quiet time for Bunky with his Mummy. Clearly, Daddy is quite hilarious:
.
It's a short week this week - Thursday is China's Labour Day. We'll just enjoy the long weekend by chilling with the little man (although I'll probably need to head into work on Friday for at least some of the day).
The Challis Family are very good looking
Weekend playtime
George's buddy Hugo popped in yesterday for a playdate and a swim, good times for all. I don't think there was a great deal of interaction going on, but they stared at each other a bit, and appeared to be happy with a spot of toy sharing. Here's George earlier in the day as he was watching the Canterbury v Otago game:
.
And here's one of his little mate Hugo (who is a month or two older than George):
..
As the playdate toddled along, the All Blacks were busy showing us that it wasn't just the Black Caps who couldn't catch a ball. The lineouts - which I swear have sucked since 2000 - were abysmal, we dropped the ball in open play more times than I care to remember, and with almost 20 minutes to go and 10 points down, we chose to go for a try (instead of an easy penalty which would have put us within one score of the Boks).
.
The simple way to fix the lineout problem would be to tell the lineout chaps that their match fee is paid according to the following formula:
.
Match fee = (Number of own line outs won ÷ Number of own lineouts taken) x Normal Match fee
.
So, if they take five lineouts in a game and lose three of them, then they would get 40% of their usual match fee. I suspect the stats would get much better if this was the case.
Still, traitorous beggar that I am, my emotional hedge came through - the Boks were paying $2.65 for the win, so my TAB account balance is looking ok this week.
.
***
.
Finally, after coming to their collective senses and electing a President who can actually pronounce the word 'nuclear' (it's not "NOO-KEY-LURR", dude), a large section of sub-par-IQ Americans are panicking about the Nazi / Socialist / Muslim / Marxist / Baby killing / Grandma killing president in charge and have lost their collective minds. These from the "We're not really sure what we're protesting" Protests in Washington DC yesterday:
.
And my favourite one:
Saturday morning at the Stoep, Saturday evening at the bar
The Binnington Clan very kindly invited us along to join them for a day at Mui Wo - we had a bit of a play in the ocean and then had a great early lunch at the Stoep Restaurant (a South African barbeque place). Here are a few photos of the day - firstly, the locals call a spade a spade. And a sick bag a Vomit Bag:
.
And a few of big Sam and little Eva:
.
...as well as one of Rachel and Bunky:
.
And tonight I went out to watch the rugby at a pub in Wan Chai, and took this on of my fellow rugby watchers (they had to go outside for their nicotine fix, thanks to the new anti-smoking laws):
Monday morning photos
Not much from yesterday - here's one from this morning, George playing with very special favourite cardboard tube:
.
And one from last night - Angelo was in town, so we headed out with the cameras and took some photos in town:
Ash and Zoe picked a great morning to be in Hong Kong
I suspect they've just touched down at HKIA, so we'll probably see them in an hour or so. It's stunning outside:
.
Here's a bit of Bunky from last night:
