Merry Christmas

I have already had the pleasure of consuming two turkey dinners since my arrival home and I relished in the turkey comas that ensued after the delicious meals, but most of all, I enjoyed spending time with my family and friends this holiday. I hope that everyone was also able to celebrate warmly and happily with their loved ones. Merry Christmas!

--Ivy

{A good hair day for Christmas lunch with my fiancé and his family. Thank goodness for the dry, Canadian winter!}

{Beautiful, snow-covered trees during the drive to lunch}

{A very-well decorated, and colourful tree}

{Ended Christmas Day with a nice mug of hot chocolate and phone conversation with my older sister who lives in Toronto, all the while sitting comfortably in my pyjamas}

Home, Sweet Home

{Sitting on the express train to the airport in Hong Kong for our trip home}

{View of the sun rising from my window on the plane}

{Seeing all of the bright lights in Toronto, welcoming us home to Canada}

{Home safely at the Ottawa airport}

{Finally in my driveway!}

{The Christmas tree that my mother put up without me this year, but was glad to see when I got home} 

{Christmas lights}

{Home, sweet home}

Home for the Holidays

{Christmas lights at my parents' house, last year}

I am hopping on a plane to head home for Christmas today. I can't begin to tell you how much I'm looking forward to spending some time with my family and friends. The truth is, my feeling of homesickness has not really gone away, and a little dose of home in Ottawa will hopefully tide me over until I am home again at the end of March, 2013. Until I have officially landed in lovely Ottawa, I will "prepare" myself for the cold (and about 30cm of snow, apparently) by looking at my photos from last winter! 

{Christmas lights at my future mother-in-law's home}

{At the Winterlude festival which happens every February}

{Skaters enjoying the length (it's the world's longest skating rink!) and beauty of Ottawa's frozen Rideau Canal}

{Mackenzie King Bridge, the frozen Rideau Canal, Parliament buildings, the Government Conference Centre, the Convention Centre, and the Château Laurier in the distance}

Christmas in Hong Kong

{Many buildings in Hong Kong have large displays of lights that can be seen from across the harbour}

I have heard from and read a number of sources that claim Hong Kong to be the best place to be during Christmas (other than Disney World in Orlando, Florida, of course!). From what I have seen, the city definitely goes all out when it comes to dressing up their buildings to the nines with Christmas lights and decorations. I am sure that once I am trudging through knee-deep snow in Ottawa over the holidays, I will be more appreciative of the mid-teens to twenty degree weather that is now gracing Hong Kong, however, no Christmas could ever be as good as one where I am celebrating with those that I love and care about most in the world: my family and friends. The countdown is on -- only two more days until I am throwing on a parka, tuque, mittens and boots, and hugging the loved ones in my life.

{I suppose that since there is no snow here, a Santa Claus riding a dolphin is completely appropriate... (?)}

{A lovely white ballerina display at Pacific Place}

{There are children riding in those gondolas at the Landmark}

{A large-scale chalet display at the Landmark}

{Christmas Tree}

Daniel Wellington: Sheffield Wristbands

My Daniel Wellington Sheffield wrist bands came in the mail! I couldn't wait to see how the black leather would look with the rose gold detail from the watch face so I had to switch out the Classic Canterbury nato straps to see for myself. The whole look is perfect and I can't wait to get more wear out of my new wrist bands!

Phone-less No More

{Obligatory photo of me and my new iPhone 5}

My phone finally came in the mail, all the way from Shenzhen, China (it's actually not that far away from Hong Kong), today, after having ordered it on Friday! Needless to say, I am still playing with all the features on the phone that I didn't have on my ancient iPhone 3GS, and yes, I have already put up an Instagram photo (sorry!).

{Playing around with the front-facing camera (run through Instagram, of course - is this a surprise anymore?) that I did not previously have on my old iPhone 3GS}

The End of an Era (er, phone)

{A picture of me and my brand new iPhone 3GS (at the time) after having purchased it at the Rogers location on Bank St. during the Great Glebe Garage Sale on May 29, 2010}

It is the end of an era - I am officially saying goodbye to my trusty iPhone 3GS which I thought I would have with me at least until I move home to Canada in July 2013. Alas, this is not be, and I will never take another Instagram photo on this phone again (I am imagining sighs of relief from many of my friends right now). However, one must always look at the glass half full... I've just ordered the new iPhone 5 which, according to the Apple website, will be delivered to my flat this upcoming week. Although I was hoping that my phone would survive the year here in Hong Kong with me, I suppose that I will have a new phone with which I can use to document my adventures in Hong Kong (through Instagram, of course... and here come the groans from my friends!).

BBQ in Hong Kong

{The BBQ fare provided to the teachers, students and their parents at the school picnic}

I believe that school picnics are a standard that we can all be used to - at least, when I was in primary school in Ottawa, we had an annual school-wide picnic at Vincent Massey park. When my fellow Canadian colleagues and I were told about our own school picnic with our students and their parents, we were imagining burgers and hot dogs cooked on a grill, just like at home in Canada. Little did we expect that our "BBQ" would not include the usual grill that we are used to firing up during those wonderful Canadian summer months, but what we did have was a metal trash bin, cut in half, with metal mesh wire overtop and hot wood chips placed on top of the contraption for cooking. Another surprise was the food; we did not have the burgers and hot dogs that we were looking forward to. Instead, we had two kinds of fish balls, meat (of which variety, I am not sure) balls, mini cheese sausages, and chicken wings that we had to cook ourselves on forked skewers. Needless to say, I burned the first few batches but I eventually got the hang of it with the help of my students' parents and some practice. Although I kind of liked my first BBQ experience in Hong Kong, nothing beats a nice, juicy burger cooked on the grill (by someone else - preferably my fiancé) back home in Ottawa during the summer.

{My colleague and I did not expect the kind of BBQ that we got}

{Posing for a picture while being careful not to burn this batch}

Triple O's

When my fiancé heard that there was a Triple O's by White Spot in Hong Kong and I knew that it was a childhood must-have for him whenever he visited his grandparents in Vancouver, we had to try it out. Both Ottawa natives, we have our favourite burger joints (e.g., Hintonburger, Chez Lucien, The Works) and we love burgers in general, especially homemade ones cooked on the grill. Although our burgers at Triple O's could not compare to our beloved Ottawa spots, it was still nice for my fiancé to reminisce about his childhood days in Vancouver filled with Pirate Paks, and it was great for me to try a new burger!

Daniel Wellington - It's Here!

{I immediately opened up the box to find my beautiful watch}

After a whole week of waiting for my Daniel Wellington Classic Canterbury watch, it finally arrived in the mail, all the way from Sweden. My Sheffield leather bands have yet to be delivered, but in the meantime, I must get used to wearing a watch again especially since the last time I wore one was over 6 years ago! I have always worn my watch on my right wrist, even though I am right-handed, and I am now giving it a try on the left side so as to avoid quickly destroying my new time-piece... So far, so weird. Perhaps I will get used to it soon. Until then, I will be content admiring the beautiful nato straps on my DW watch!

{I recognised "Uppsala" on my package, especially after having already read the entire Milennium trilogy}

{Close-up} 

{Sitting nice and comfortably on my wrist (on my nails: Essie's Fifth Avenue)}

Currently Obsessed About...

{Daniel Wellington, Classic Canterbury Lady watch}

I just ordered this watch in rose gold (which I first saw on fash-n-chips.com) plus the Sheffield wristband in order for some change once in a while, and was recently notified that it is now in Hong Kong after its journey from Sweden. This beautiful specimen will hopefully be sitting nicely on my wrist very soon! It will be the first watch that I have worn since high school. Can't wait!

{According to the tracking number given to me, my watch is in Hong Kong and should hopefully be arriving at my door soon!}

Clockenflap

{The many signs leading me from the MTR station to the location of Clockenflap}

Being an Ottawa girl, born and raised, I am no stranger to music festivals (e.g., Bluesfest!) so when I heard about Clockenflap, Hong Kong's Music and Art Festival, I knew that I had to go. I didn't really recognise any of the names in the line-up for the weekend-long festival, other than one band, Noughts and Exes, that I was introduced to by a friend a couple of months back during a live show of theirs at the Full Cup Café. The big headliner the night that we attended was Azealia Banks whose music I had never heard before and there were many U.K. artists as well as local bands. It was a fine, cool and misty night that was only complemented by the good music, the beautiful view of the harbour, and the company that we had which made for great time at Clockenflap!

{Fog over Hong Kong} 

{A photo of the view from the festival}

{Noughts and Exes on stage}

{"Clockendollars" -- the only type of money that was accepted when buying merchandise and food/drinks} 

{Enjoying satay marinated pork from the Koh Thai stand}

{A boat going across the harbour} 

{The lit-up Bank of China Tower hidden under fog}

Shopping in Shenzhen

{At the border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China}

Before moving to Hong Kong, I knew that shopping was something that I would be doing a lot of in my new home. A destination that my fiancé and I have been visiting since our move is just across the border of Hong Kong, to a city called Shenzhen, located in China proper. Although Hong Kong has been part of China since the hand-over in 1997, it is still a Special Administrative Region with its own immigration rules ("One Country, Two Systems"). Going into Shenzhen, my fiancé and I needed visas which were easy enough to acquire at the border since we are Canadian citizens (everyone loves Canadians!) and also, Shenzhen is a special economic region.

Immediately past the border into China, there is a large commercial building called the Luohu Commercial City that is known to sell lots of fake designer goods, and for very cheap prices. In that same building are a plethora of tailors that are able to recreate which ever design you like, or so they claim, but the main reason that my fiancé and I have seen a tailor at the Luohu Commercial City was to have a suit (for him) and a winter, wool coat (for me), custom made. On our most recent trip, I got measured for my coat, picked the colour fabric and lining, and will be picking up it up in a week's time... Fingers crossed for a nice fit, and good quality-made coat!

{A very Asian-inspired KFC in a crowded Shenzhen}

{The spa where we went for some massages} 

{My neutral-coloured (OPI, of course), manicured nails from the spa - a treat for myself in Shenzhen}