First days Horizon Suites Ma on Shan

One of the biggest adjustments that comes with moving across the ocean is the time difference.
In this case a 12 hour time difference.
 Our second day in the serviced apartment and it is obvious we are going to need some household items. The first part of this post could be called, 
what not to do the first week you move across the world.
 Don't take your two small children to IKEA where you shop for 4 hours when their body is telling them it it time to sleep.
Why should we have not done that?
1.We don't own a car
2.we don't know the bus route 
3. We had no idea how much a taxi would cost and were not comfortable hailing one down and asking. 

 So what did we do? We carried two very sleepy kids and three bags- the giant plastic blue bags and some smaller ones. We carried them from the train station to the 13 minute walk to our apartment. We must have been a sight. Elliot precariously perched on Nathan's shoulders, dozing in and out, drooling on his head. My hands were numb from the plastic bag cutting off my circulation, by the time we arrived. 

Other Jet lag fun. 
 Elliot woke up at 3 am and came into our room complaining that Jane wouldn't play "trouble"
(the board game) with him.

Getting in shape:
It isn't all genetics that the Hong Kong natives are usually thin. It has to do with walking. 
 We probably walk more in one day than I would an entire week at home. My legs are still adjusting to the walking and so are Elliot's.  It can wear you out at the end of the day. But I will be thankful for the regular exercise.

The view outside our 16th floor apartment, overlooking Tolo Harbour. 

Another adjustment is no dryer. It isn't uncommon for people in Hong Kong to not own a dryer. Although more modern apartments and housing are being built with the idea of installing them.
In this picture of our living room space you can see towels hanging up to dry. Our hotel does have a coin operated dryer, but it can get expensive using it too much. The problem with just hanging the clothes is that in the very humid, wet climate of Hong Kong they don't dry very fast. We were told that people use dehumidifiers in a small room and hang clothes. Of course most people hang their clothes out to dry, but we are not allowed to do that here. 

The vanity area located outside the bathroom. That white appliance is my washing machine, it has labels in french on it. I just guess.  We do have a bathtub which is also something not commonly found in a typical HK home. 









Located right off the living area is my kitchen. You can see  my silver pot and my kettle.  We begin using an electric kettle after our visit to the Sills in England and have found it as necessary as a toaster or to some as a microwave.  We have been eating a lot of ramen, and sandwiches.  Now days finding an oven in a Hong Kong home isn't that uncommon but in the past it would have been.  Not a lot of baking in their traditional cooking. More steaming and frying.  I have two burners on an electric stove. I finally bought a skillet so I now own two cooking vessels. 
Until our shipment with our items from the States come in, we will make do.  It has been quite the adventure so far.