excited

O my goodness… I would like to express my excitement with the below picture!

Leaving tomorrow morning.
Girlie holiday time and I cannot wait!!!!

rugby 7's

I think I am now officially a proper gweilo in HK.
I have finally attended the Rugby 7's.
The Saturday was a great day and is to be honest a little bit of a blurr. Not too bad though. It was a long day, 8 o'clock start, everyone was dressed up as something - we went as Hooters Girls and the boys as Astro Boys, alcohol was consumed, we sang, we cheered and we laughed and finished the day with some dancing at a night club.





The Sunday was great as well - and while some people continued in the same style as the day before - we were drinking diet cokes and water and had a very chilled day in the sun watching some great games of rugby.

And I have to say - even though, as a Swedish babe, I really don't know anything about rugby, it is a sport that is growing on me. I'll be there next year again!

it was good

Yep they were hot!
And yep we had fun!

ladies event

Tonight is the night for the Ladies event that I have been waiting for...

The Italian National 7's squad will be strutting their stuff on the catwalk...
Topless waiters will be serving me cocktails and shots...
There will be a Bachelor Auction, and I can't wait to see how much we get for my handsome trainer Vusi....
There will be a Bliss Spa treatment area...
And there will be chocolates and a k i s s i n g booth...

Bring it on!

hong kong pollution hits ‘record’ levels

HONG KONG — Air pollution in Hong Kong, reached record levels on Monday (22/3/2010), setting off an official government warning to avoid outdoor activities and physical exertion.

Pollution levels have been elevated in the city for days, casting a gray pall over the harbor and obscuring views of Hong Kong’s famed skyline. But by Monday afternoon, Hong Kong’s official air pollution index rose further still, to the worst levels since records started being kept in 1995.

Pollution levels are now 14 times the amount recommended by the World Health Organization.

The air pollution index levels exceeded the maximum measurement of 500 points at several stations last night. Where 100 or above is classified as “very high” and comes with the advice that people who are sensitive to pollution should reduce outdoor activities. Anything above 200 is considered “severe,” and can lead to coughing, phlegm and sore throats, the authorities warned. And right now on March 23 the levels are still very high. The forecast for the day is levels up to 490 = Very High to Severe.

“Apart from cities in greater China, I don’t know of anywhere with a comparable level of social and economic development which remotely compares with Hong Kong” in terms of air pollution, said Anthony Hedley, a professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong.

Yesterday’s record levels were partly caused by a sandstorm in northern China, which has been moving south. The sandstorm, the nation’s worst in more than a year, has affected 270 million people across 16 provinces and offers a sign of the worsening problem of desertification in the north, according to scientists and meteorologists. On Monday, Beijing was blanketed in a yellow haze of sand and grit. However, pollution in the city’s Central business district reached “dangerous” levels one out of every eight days last year, so even though HK reached record levels yesterday - it is a very polluted city in general.

The previous high for Hong Kong was set on July 28, 2008, when the API hit a level of 202... Compare that to yesterday's 500 and more...

Again, worth repeating: And this is what I call home... :(

Luften i Hongkong sämre än någonsin

Luftföroreningarna i Hongkong steg i dag till rekordnivåer, rapporter stadens miljöskyddsbyrå. Den giftiga soppa som svepte in staden och dess invånare beskrivs som klart hälsovådlig.

Luftföroreningarna i Hongkong steg i dag till rekordnivåer, rapporter stadens miljöskyddsbyrå. Den giftiga soppa som svepte in staden och dess invånare beskrivs som klart hälsovådlig. Enligt byrån har det index som mäter föroreningarna, API (Air Pollution Index), på åtskilliga platser stigit mer än dubbelt så högt som det gränsvärde där allmänheten tillråds att hålla sig inomhus.

- Det här är skrämmande, kommenterade Edwin Lau som är chef för Hongkongavdelningen av Jordens vänner.

Enligt Lau är det den ovanliga kombinationen av sandstormar i Kina och starka sydliga vindar som har blåst in så mycket partiklar över Hongkong.

And this is what I call home... :(

yes

Outlook : Warm with sunny periods over the weekend.
FINALLY.
Beautiful beach here I come!!

what women want

In one weeks time I am going to kiss some fit Italian studs!
That is what I want.
That is what many women want.

mould

In apartment no 1 here in HK I had a water pipe leaking and I could literally stand under the ceiling of my hallway and have a shower.
In apartment no 2 I had a river that went through my apartment when it rained.
In apartment no 3 I've been lucky enough to live without any water incidents (well except my washing machine that used to flood my kitchen floor now and then, but that counts as a minor water issue in my book...).
But in apartment no 3 I have a mould issue instead.
I have had a wall full of aggressively growing white "fluffy" mould. Clothes and shoes that made me scream out loud of disgust when I saw how much mould they had managed to "acquire". I say boo for mould and hope that it will stop being so bloody damp and cold very soon...

cold

The winter has been long, grey and cold here in HK.
It's the middle of March and the weather still hasn't picked up. (Where is my beloved sun?!)
Two days ago the temperature dropped down to 3 degrees Celsius (really cold for HK) and the authorities issued a warning.
A warning that said that if you were elderly you should stay inside and not go out in the cold weather unless you really really had to.
The Chinese do make me laugh...
But ok I'll give them that 3 degrees here with the humidity (plus no heating inside) makes everything go really cold and damp (and mouldy - but that's a different story in it self...). So 3 degrees feels really cold.
But still - a warning?!

looking good

2010 is looking good...

*Easter - a girlie holiday in paradise (Boracay)!
*Directly after Easter - a business trip to Sthlm - beautiful Sweden here I come!
*Then - a visit from little sister!!
*Then - visit from one of my very best friends: Kristina!
*July - wedding and travels in India!
*August - wedding of Kristina (mentioned above) and her Richard in Sweden!
*September - wedding in Croatia (and we might squeese in a little trip to Tuscany as well while we're over there - Ant wants to take me to his beautiful house there and I really have no objections to that...)!
*October - visit from two of my very best friends Sofia and Teresa!!

2010 could go down as the best year ever!!

wedding menu

My colleague got married last Sunday, so I got to go to an other traditional Hong Kong Chinese wedding. Just like last time it was held in a big ball room in one of HK's many hotels.

The bride cried, the groom cried, the grooms sister cried - out of happiness of course. And everyone was really happy that the couple finally could get married, especially themselves, because they had been waiting 2 years for this special day. Reason - The fortune teller had advised them not to get married earlier...

Anyway, according to traditions the bride got changed at least 4 times during the night and we were served a 11 course dinner. Not always (to be totally honest) really to my liking, but since I was the only gweilo there, my opinion doesn't count. :)

Ps. Menu attached, what do you think?