Dim Sum Mum - Tess' Little Pieces

the drive for independence

our society exists on the assumption that you own a car.

everything - from baby products to groceries are created with the assumption that the farthest you have to carry the product is from car door to front door. people who drive are your only consideration.

what about us? i want to scream sometimes. except no one cares.

life can be extremely challenging for those without cars.

when i just started college and moved to a big city, i learned what not having a driver's license meant. what a loss of independence it is. i gave up great student digs for medicore ones, having to base my choices on where the transport was located. i choose courses around bus times, because in those days, mount royal had one bus that came every 35 minutes. it was called the circle route.

getting groceries? very difficult. you can either spend a fortune at the mom and pop shops and pick up your necessities there, or do a massive shop once every month or so, and try not to drink any milk. doing laundry? oh yes, how to get to a laundromat with two bulging bags of laundry, plus soap and softener? the list goes on, really it does.

i can't carry objects for a long time any more. gone are the days when i could haul bags of books, or groceries up a hill. from a bus stop to my student housing.

but i can promise that i am going to do what i can to make sure that my kids have the independence of a car. transport - being able to go to a party when you want or leave it when you want, to go see someone who is on the other side of town - that freedom - is an amazing gift that i believe many people take for granted. stop at a bookstore and browse if you're early. being able to get into a vehicle and move, wherever they want. stop where they choose. amazing.

my kids will have cars.

im not saying i will pay for them entirely myself, but i am saying i think it is very important.

before i blog today, may i go on the record first and say that i have been having dizzy spells all today. this isn't epilepsy related, just possibly noteworthy. so, noted.

it might have something to do with the fricking cold. can you believe that it is going to go down to 10 above tomorrow? this is in a town that doesn't have central heating. sela and jasper's class trip to the farm tomorrow will be cancelled unless the weather drastically improves.

i am living the life of a single mother. oh wait, except i am still married.

but yesterday i made pork chops in the slow cooker and we started the week off right by JASPER finishing his meal first. granted, he still needed me to pile the food on this fork, but he still was the first to finish. this is HUGE in his life. kept me going in the wake of the fact i was the one having to do all the reminding and whinging and tough parenting arsing aspect of things.

today, a good day but a sad one - does that make sense? denby left town. i am sad for my kids, i am sad for me.

i didn't spend much time with denby, but we were friends. her husband gave me very good advice, and encouraged me. and she had stuck with me through some very scary times in my life and i had prayed myself into a coma during some very difficult times in hers. and i had watched her children thrive. she mine. and now she is leaving. she has had her heart's desire granted. she is going back to adelaide. i will miss her. we did share some amazing times. i will see her again.

hong kong is a transient city, those are the facts, and that brings sadness. that is the emotion.

chicken adobo fantastico

here you are - chicken adobo for the slow cooker.

lita approved and that says something.

CHICKEN ADOBO for the slow cooker

1-1/2 small sweet onion, sliced

1 cup and two Tablespoons of soy sauce (i prefer light for this recipe)

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

8 cloves garlic, crushed (the vampire fearing types among you may prefer more)

3/4 cup vinegar (I prefer white, many people like red wine)

1-1/2 (3lb) whole chicken cut into pieces (or you can use chicken wings/thighs, breasts..whatever you've got).

1 cup water

2 bay leaves

1. Place chicken in a slow cooker.
2. In a small bowl mix the onion, garlic, soy sauce, and vinegar, and pour over the chicken.
3. Cook on Low for 6 to 7 hours.
4. Eat over white rice

i am gearing up for another stint as a single parent - magnificent leaves saturday evening for a long business trip. i see him for one night on 7 february and then not until just past valentines day.

some gal pals and i had a fun night tuesday - we went to the movies. all the girls attending live in our building and one of them hosted a pre-cinema drinks party in the form of lai chi margaritas. very delicious. she even made me a virgin one....now that's a thoughtful neighbour!

27 dresses was an okay movie, but just getting out was even better.

jasper is busy telling everyone that he is a big boy now that he eats vegetables. and for the record, he did eat vegetables again tonight, carrots and broccoli. but seriously, how much do these kids like rice? it is amazing. sebastian doesn't like pasta anymore (except kraft dinner, which can be used in lieu of a canadian passport if he ever loses his), he just wants rice. they don't want anything on it, they just like plain rice.

when i put the broccoli on the fork, jasper insists on piling the rice on top of it. this is painstaking and let's face it, we're talking about rice here....this is sticky. so jasper has started carrying around a hankerchief so he can wipe his mouth and fingers when they get too sticky because of the rice.

if he asks for a finger bowl, he is out of here.

a day of firsts

(jennie - i am happy to give you a green curry recipe, but do you want a slow cooker or regular recipe?)

the slow cooker made its appearance today thank you very much in the form of....drum roll please....

chicken adobo.

this philipino dish is not a traditional slow cooker meal, but after a quick call to lita i felt confident enough to give it a go.

threw it together in five minutes (the longest part was waiting for the chicken to defrost) and then set it to low for five hours and 30 minutes. it felt good not to be rushed around dinner time, it gave me some extra time on the playground, where i played hide n seek with the kids. they love that game right now although they always hide in the same spot and call me over to it.

around the allotted time, i set out the plates, put on them french loaf brushed with a bit of olive oil, some broccoli, and with some trepidation, took off the cover of the slow cooker.

it looked marvellous in there and smelt even better. i popped a portion on each plate.

my audience of four was thrilled to see the bread but wasn't so impressed with the other two items on their plate. only sebastian ate solidly. surprisingly, jasper did as well. sela whinged quite a bit and ignored her chicken, insisting, "i will make a broccoli sandwich", and she did, popping her broccoli on top of her french bread and popping it down the hatch. carys was quite good.

after five minutes or so, i gave them all a glass of milk. jasper was ignoring his broccoli and for some reason, as i put his glass of milk infront of him, i decided that this should be the day he had his broccoli.

"jasper," i said, "tonight you are going to eat your vegetables". immediately, jasper began to whimper. "i doan like vegetables!" he exclaimed, real tears fillng his eyes.

i picked up a fork and put a floret of broccoli on it. jasper's eyes widened and then narrowed as he saw this redwood approaching him. "hide it!" he beseeched. "please hide the broccoli!"

suddenly i said, "jasper, cover your eyes and count to 10. and when you're done, i want you to say, 'ready or not, here i come broccoli'!"

and he covered, counted and consumed.

living taxes

charles sent me a one word email the other day:

DONE!

he had bought me the slow cooker!

it is divine.

tomorrow it gets it's inaugural performance.

wednesday it also will be used - i have to make a green chicken curry for 16 women. it will be another crock pot attempt.

i went shopping for the supplies today. shopping carts in hong kong are much smaller than they are in north america, and eight double chicken breasts and condensed milk comprised most of the carts entirety. i chose to shop at chi fu, not because the park n shop there also has a wet market which sells flowers and i needed lillies, but because this park n shop is cheaper than other park n shops.

this is a very odd thing about hong kong. although park n shop and wellcome are chain grocery shops, each shop individually prices its items. the most expensive shops tend to be in the most expat centred locations. the price difference between baguio villa and chi fu is substantial, although the distance between the locations is less than 10 minutes.

same product, different deomographic of shoppers, so different prices.

welcome to hong kong.

constant craving

these past few weeks as the cold weather has really descended upon hong kong, i have been shivering away, and of course i am screaming for warming comfort food.

hearty stews.

thick soups.

casseroles.

i'm craving a crockpot.

or a slow cooker, if you're not into using trademark expressions.

it's been a bit of an obsession. i even went to causeway bay (and those of you who know me know it is my least favourite area of hong kong) and sussed out two department stores in search of a slow cooker. no dice.

i sent charles masses of text messages, instructing him on the slow cooker i hoped he could get me while he is in aus, while i trolled the internet, finding the crockpot recipes that i would make first. spicy beef curry stew won, while charles wants chicken in wine (typical!).

i made a steak in wine stew for the kiddies the other night...the first night the kids turned up their nose at it. undeterred, i told the young 'uns that they would be eating the casserole the next night and instructed marianne and gary to NOT let the kids snack after 2.30pm. they raced around the playground and by dinner, they were very hungry. they were surprised to learn that they actually liked stew and dumplings. imagine that!

it was a very good stew. i was worried about the dumplings, but they were very nice too.

and the manipulation was a nice touch.

moving stomachs and people

sela threw up today at school. her timing was impeccable. she waited until she was out of the car, looked up and said, "my tummy feels like it is going to vomit". and then as everyone scurried around looking for a rubbish bin, sela opened her mouth and vomitted everything she has eaten since last week onto the sidewalk.

she quickly changed into her change of clothes and assured everyone that she didn't want to go home, "i want to stay here". and then, still pale she trotted into small world and had a very good morning.

some sad news for two of the men in my world -

for jasper - asha and shae - his two best friends (remember the gorgeous little girl he is dancing with in charles' blog, where jasper is wearing the white captains' hat and the curly haired girl is wearing the princess dress?) are moving to australia. i haven't told him because quite frankly, i don't want to see him cry.

for sebastian - rufus is moving. at this stage of the game all the boys in his class have friends...and now sebastian's best friend is leaving. i am a little bit devastated for my little blonde boy.

thank goodness carys is relatively normal.

come home soon, charles, we need you.

quirky hong kong

as sebastian and i were walking up water street today with intentions to head over to pokfulam road, we stopped and i bought him a banana.

as i was paying for bananas, my eyes rested on the pokfulam post office, and it reminded me of a 2004 post office incident.

i had received a packet from a friend and took a break from the nicu to trot down to the post office (if you take the #55 bus it drops you one block from the post shop and picks you up across the street from it) and pick up the post office. i felt so proud of myself because i had actually gotten off my tookus and down to the post office.

postal offices are very efficient in hong kong, and there was maybe one person in the line infront of me. after they had collected their parcel, i stepped up to the counter.

"good afternoon, how can i help you?" the fellow greeted me.

"parcel pickup!" i smiled back.

"where's your form?" he asked me, quite properly.

and then i realised i had forgotten it. oh bloody hell.

"i forgot it" i confessed. then i realised that language was going to be a barrier, so i lifted up my handbag and indicated that the paper was not going to be found on my person or my accessories.

the fellow asked for my name and address, which i happily supplied. he came back with the packet, and asked me, "who is it from?"

and then i realised that although i was very good friends with this person, i could only remember her screen name. it was a brain blurp. honestly. i thought, thought, thought, and then, i was SO PROUD, i blurted out...

CLEO!

and then i realised, no, no, that was the screen name i first knew her by. oh crap.

this fellow was very sweet. he saw me wracking my brains, and he made seven dashes on the paper

- - - - - - -

and then nine dashes underneath that

- - - - - - - - -

and then, like a miniature wheel of fortune, he started filling in the letters:

"S"

S - - - - - -

S - - - - - S - -

and then he started N, R and L

S _ _ L L  _ _

S _ N _ _ R S_N

and i remembered her name - SHELLEY SANDERSON!

there is no way that in canada i would have gotten at this sort of treatment. i would have been politely asked to go home and get my "pick up your packet" (written in french and english) form. this is another great thing about hong kong.

like you needed to hear another great thing about this city. the thing is, there are plenty more to come.

no wonder we fly

don't you hate flying with all those kids? magnificent and i get asked on a regular basis.

not nearly as much as the people around us, is our usual answer, and honestly, after the weekend we have just had, it seems that contained spaces, and planes are the safest modes of transport for our family.

thursday jasper broke free from charles' grip in the car park and raced for the door. charles roared for jasper to stop, but since when does jasper listen to anything but the sound of his own voice, his guitar and his long lashes dusting the top of his cheeks? and when a car turned (at a reasonable speed) and jasper was running toward it, if the car hadn't veered into a thankfully empty parking spot, well it could have gotten pretty unfortunate. just the other day i was praying for physical protection for the kids!

saturday charles and i took the kids to ifc mall. we needed to do some speciality shopping and thought that it would be fun to take the kids and let them run on the higher floors of the mall that are virtually unoccupied. the girls were wearing pink tutu's, pink tights, and over top of that, green fuzzy jumpers.

at one point, carys asked if she could do a wee. we located a toilet and i beckoned to sela, "come on, sela, let's go," and she looked at me and defiantly said, "i dont want to do a wee" and she ran in the general direction of her dad. what a girl. when carys and i exited, i saw charles, who was leading jasper and sebastian into the lavatories, "just to wash hands" he told me.

"well you have sela" i said to him.

"no, you do."

and then we realised, neither of us did.

we looked at each other and for a flash second i was so grateful we weren't, well, basically anywhere else in the world where a missing child would call for doors to be locked down and real hysteria. yes i was upset, but i knew this wasn't life or death.

some people walking towards us saw our obviously stricken faces and carys' tutu. they said, "hey, are you looking for the other one of those?" and we said, "YES!" "she's over there, a long way." charles took off and i asked them how she seemed. "she's crying, calling for her mum."

the kids and i took after charles, and more and more people began telling me (as soon as they saw carys) that sela was ahead, crying and upset. the kids were all running and so was i.

then i saw sela, with a lady i know vaguely from church. we go to different services. sela saw her dad and raced to him. she said something, a proclamation of love, i was sure. and then they hugged. charles walked back to me, his lips white.'

"do you know what she said, tess? she said, 'i don't want to do a wee.'"

huh. little cow. we cancelled the restaurant lunch we had planned and headed home. ate moussaka instead, which wasn't such a punishment.

later that day, i took the triplets with me to a department store, wing on. we took the bus. the first bus didn't stop for us. there was space all right , but the driver looked at the kids, then at me, and shook his head and drove on. SUCH DISCRIMINATION!

we grabbed another bus and got dropped off fairly close to our destination. we had to walk two blocks, go up one escalator, and then through a shop, across a street and that was about it. however, at the escalator, jasper dropped the rock he had found and liked, and didn't get on the escalator and then started crying when he saw that i was five steps up. so i told the girls to keep riding the escalator and i walked down the escalator and grabbed jasper. upon hearing a scream from fellow escalator rider, i looked up just to see sela fall down the escalator: she had been trying to follow me. WHY NOW? carys fell because she forgot to get off the escalator, so all three were crying. it took me making a very interesting story about the man who lives underneath the bridge to make them stop bawling.

SUNDAY - and incase you have ever made the error of subscribing to the 1980's tagline "take it easy, take the train" - sunday carys vomitted all over herself (BUT NO ONE ELSE, but yes, on the floor), while on the mtr.

what will happen if we go on the star ferry?