Day 218: Making the Little Guy Cry

October 4, 2015October 4, 2015 Pappa on Leave3 Comments

The little guy has been sick for a few weeks now, going from viral infection with a rash, to a cold, followed by another cold. This current cold leaves him really snotty in the nose and throat, and he is coughing a lot.

It breaks your heart to see a little one crying and uncomfortable. It breaks your heart even more if you are the one making him cry, even if you are doing something that is what is best for him.

In this case, I am referring to cleaning out his nose. We use a näsfrida, a Swedish invention (of course!) that you suck out the nose of the baby using your own sucking power. It basically replaces a “bulb,” and it can be used as a more wholistic approach to clearing a little one’s nose instead of using sprays or medicines.

The thing is, my wife can’t do it. She knows the little guy hates it when we “suck out his nose” (but then he’s happy immediately after it), so she makes me do it while she holds him steady.

By this point now that he is a little bit older, he is starting to really struggle whenever he sees the näsfrida. And that comes with crying. Loudly and a lot. And that means he is freaking out like this because of me, and because of something I am doing. Then it’s over and he’s safely in his mom’s arms.

Tonight I had enough of that. Why do I have to be the one who does this? Why is it ok that I have to make him so unhappy? I just hate causing that kind of terror for him and I don’t want him to build a negative view of me for any reason – but if I have to be the one, then at least he can be comforted by me too, not “released” after I am done to his mom. So if I’m doing this “suck out the nose” thing always then I will also pick him up and calm him down.

Alternatively my wife can also do the dirty work on this, or we can start using medicines or saline sprays to clear his nose. There are a lot of comforting and safe things that I do as his father – let’s let those things be what he experiences more than others.

Day 217: Typhoon Warning

October 3, 2015October 3, 2015 Pappa on LeaveLeave a comment

I’ve written in the past about how easy it is to get a little neurotic about things in Hong Kong – especially the weather.

Right now we are having a typhoon warning, which we have seen in the past quite often. It is usually little more than decreased temperatures and humidity, along with increased wind. But this evening there has been a lot of rain and wind, so much that we could barely see out our windows.

Of course this means that there is water leaking into our apartment through the poorly constructed and sealed window frames (apparently the saltwater eats away the grout over time).

We have visitors coming for 2 weeks, and we optimistic that the current weather situation will clear up and they can enjoy Hong Kong. But if not, it is no big deal, we will remember the expression, “there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes.” 😉

Day 216: Baby Photoshoot

October 2, 2015October 2, 2015 Pappa on LeaveLeave a comment

Today our little guy did a bit of modeling! There are a lot of brands who use Hong Kong as their headquarters for producing their items, and often along with that comes local photoshoots for anything from advertising to packaging.

So, about a month ago, a friend of ours with a baby told us about a toy company her baby modeled for, and passed along the contact details. Earlier this week we went to meet the people in the company and then late in the afternoon yesterday they asked if the little guy could come for a shoot today.

So, we went to the shoot and had a lot of fun! The products were bath toys, and the little guy loves to take baths, so this was right up his alley. He got paid a decent amount, which we will put in his savings account, and most importantly he had a lot of fun. On top of that, when the product is launched (I think they said in March), they will give us a cd with all the photos for our personal use. Cool!

There are probably some people that are against the whole thing of having your child model – mainly I think the argument is that it is exploiting your child. The thing I would say to that is this: we pay a lot of money to go to playgroups in different parts of Hong Kong. They are an opportunity to meet and interact with new and different people in a different place. With a modeling job like this, he gets to play for a few hours with new toys in a new place, interact with new people, but instead of us paying for it, he gets paid. Plus, as a former model myself working in the industry for about 10 years, I know how it works with photoshoots, and I can keep things in check if it’s going too long or the little guy needs a break, etc.

The little guy seemed to win everyone over, so we are excited to see if any other jobs will come up in the next weeks and months. If they don’t, no big deal, it was a fun experience, but of course we are hoping for a few more. 😉

Day 215: Kung Tak Lam Shanghai Vegetarian Cuisine; TST, Hong Kong

October 1, 2015October 1, 2015 Pappa on LeaveLeave a comment

Today we ate lunch at a super nice vegetarian restaurant in Tsim Tsa Tsui. It is a restaurant serving food in traditional Chinese style, but instead of meat, everything is vegetarian. So for example you can order fried rice with ham, but the ham is not ham. Hope that makes sense.

The location of the restaurant is on the 7th floor of 1 Peking Road, which is in the heart if TST. And you cannot beat the views in this building, overlooking the bay and looking out at Hong Kong island.

The food was really good, and our vegetarian guests seemed to be in their element there. They were also very baby friendly and the servers were all very nice. I would definitely suggest we go there to even our non-vegetarian guests. Worth a try if you are looking for a change of scenery from your normal routine and you are living in or visiting Hong Kong!

Day 214: Haircut!

September 30, 2015 Pappa on LeaveLeave a comment

Today we started the day just like any normal parents of a 10,5-month-old little one: we cut his hair.

We did a morning haircut because he was in a really good mood and was enjoying his time with us. We knew this was the time for a haircut, before he decided he wanted to go crawl all over the place, and before he had strong opinions against sitting still.

So, we sat him on the bathroom counter, and I gave him his toothbrush and he “brushed” while we cut a little. Then when he got bored, we found some toys, and turned on the water, etc. Key was to keep him still so you can cut him right, and without hurting him (babies turn their heads quickly!). But we managed to do it by using teamwork: I entertained him, my wife cut.

By the end of it, he had a nice haircut, and my wife and I had frayed nerves – and then off she went to work, and off we went to our day with our visitors. 🙂

Day 213: Black Sesame Buns at Din Tai Fung

September 29, 2015September 29, 2015 Pappa on LeaveLeave a comment

Easily one of my favorite restaurants is Din Tai Fung. It is a Dim Sum restaurant that has incredible standards for service, quality, baby friendliness, and cleanliness, and they even have a star in the Michelin Guide.

There are a lot of good dishes there; my favorite is “Tossed Wild Vegetable and Beancurd with Sesame Oil.” It’s not just my favorite there, it’s easily a top 5 dish anywhere for me.

As I mentioned above, they have a lot of options, from dumplings to buns, noodles to rice, and everything in-between. But what you want to do is save room for dessert. They have a few dessert options, but the “Steamed Mini Sesame Paste Bun” is awesome.

Basically this is a steamed bun, filled with black sesame paste. Black sesame tastes a bit like peanut butter with a little sesame oil and bitterness added to it. I love it. In fact I love the flavor so much that I will buy anything I see with that flavor – like for example the Hong Kong mcdonalds sometimes has it as a sundae topping, and I go nuts. 😉

Day 212: The Peak

September 28, 2015 Pappa on Leave2 Comments

I’ve written about this before, but it’s worth writing about it again! Today we went to The Peak, probably considered the #1 thing to do if visiting Hong Kong.

To get there, there are a few options, but I am glad we took the bus up. Bus number 15 leaves from the pier, and has a lot of stops on it’s way to the peak. Cost is something like 9,80 hkd. I have taken the Peak Tram up in the past, but the bus is cheaper and I think the views were better. The tram has a lot of branches blocking the views, but if you sit on the upper level in the bus, you have amazing views of various parts of Hong Kong. The bus also leaves every 7 minutes, so no stress on departure times.

Once we were up there I was concerned it would be packed because it was a holiday. But nope, it was just fine. Busy like you would expect, but not crazy. We found the Pacific Coffee and enjoyed the view – one worth a million in my opinion.

We enjoyed the mall, which is surprisingly good, and then did a little bit of a walk around before we decided to walk down Old Peak Road. This is one steep walk! It was nice and fresh and we enjoyed it, but by the time we made it to the Midlevel Escalators, which were going up instead of down (they go down for the commuters in the morning, and up for the commuters in the evening), we were pretty tired. All-in-all, it was a great day, even if my wife and I have been there many times before 🙂

the beginning of the long walk down from The Peak

Day 211: Mid Autumn Festival

September 27, 2015 Pappa on Leave1 Comment

Today is when the people in Hong Kong celebrate a thing called the Mid Autumn Festival. It’s a big deal here, with lots of gift giving, food eating, and days off work. Maybe like Midsummer for the Swedish readers, or 4th of July for Americans.

As with all holidays there’s a food element involved. People give gifts of “moon cakes” in beautiful tins for the Mid Autumn Festival. These cakes are made with lotus flower paste and at the center is an egg yolk. They are super rich and most would agree they are an acquired taste. The yolk is a little bit grainy and the whole thing is just a bit too much for me.

Fortunately my wife was given some Haagen Dazs ice cream moon cakes which only have the shape in common with a real moon cake, so we gladly ate those. Or, me and our guests did since my wife is on a sugar cleanse. 😉

The other thing people do is get a lot of glowing stuff (aka lanterns) and have a picnic in the dark. And if you live in Discovery Bay like we do, you can also enjoy the fireworks at Disneyland!

Day 210: Stanley

September 26, 2015 Pappa on Leave1 Comment

At the top of the lists of things to do when you visit Hong Kong is a visit to Stanley. It’s an interesting place located on the “other side” of Hong Kong island (opposite central, in other words). So today we made a journey there for our guests to check it out.

It’s easy enough to get there – just take the 6 or 6X bus from the Bus Terminal under IFC. Then you sit on the bus for an eternity. Seriously, it’s a long stop-and-go bus ride that will put anyone to sleep (especially a stay-at-home father who is also serving as a tour guide). Along the way you pass Ocean Park, Deepwater Bay, Repulse Bay, and you can marvel in the nice seaside apartments and great beaches. Finally when you end up in Stanley, it’s a bit of a relief. You made it after all!

There’s a plaza there that is interesting, with maybe 5 floors and stores and restaurants mixed in. There are also ground floor restaurants in the plaza, and when you exit the plaza to the street you have the typical “tourist-town” restaurants.

Guys with menus trying to get you to eat with them
Specials
Tourists drinking

Finally we made our way past it all and stopped for a quick meal at a little place overlooking the promenade and water. They were really nice, and I would go there again for sure because the prices, what you get, and the views all combined equal a good restaurant trip in a tourist place.

After our meal, we made our way to the famous Stanley market and enjoyed a walk thru. This is without question the best market if you want to buy sportswear clothing (down jacket, fleece, base layer, and other outdoor gear). There’s also a few good baby clothes shops, too. After that, a trip to the playground for the 4-year-old with us, and then another loooong bus ride home.

All-in-all I would recommend the restaurant (I think it was called Lucy’s), and I’d also recommend Stanley in general. Lots of tourists around, but what do you expect in Hong Kong? 😉

a typical “junk” departing from the pier

Day 209: Hong Kong Space Museum

September 25, 2015 Pappa on Leave1 Comment

Today I brought our visitors to the Hong Kong Space Museum. I was excited because I remembered it being ok a few years ago, with some things that could be interesting to the visitors’ four-year-old.

First, we went to what is easily my favorite Dim Sum place, Din Tai Fun, but I’ll talk about that another time. So there we were, full of good food, ready to take this museum by storm.

We were excited at the low price (10 hkd / 1,5 usd / 11 sek). But what we weren’t excited about was how run-down and relatively bare the museum was. It just felt a little dirty, a little old, and a little un-inspiring.

The last thing is to me the most important. For God’s sake, if you do one thing with a museum, it’s to make it inspiring. You have the power with a museum to unlock minds, to basically change the world of the attendees. You can plant seeds in the minds of the youngest visitors so that they will work towards those interests.

It seems to me that there is kind of a big responsibility handed to museums culturally. On this one, the museum world missed the mark. I learned some interesting things, and there are some cool interactive bits, but that is where it ended. We made the most of it and had a nice time, and then we were off again to the streets of the city to find what else it had to offer. 🙂