Coming and going

It's done. Or at least the first part of our long trip from Tokyo to Hong Kong.

We took a grand total of about 16 days to pack our lives up in Japan. Funny how quickly one moves when one has to. After having lived like this for this many years, most of our friends in the cities we've lived in are much like us and no one really sheds any tears when the next person announces their time is up. We didn't get to say all our goodbyes – there really wasn't enough time. There was way too much to do, including a trip down to the tax office to demand a refund from the Japanese government for taking money from me when I didn't work this past year, and too many chunks of our life there that we had to get rid off (i.e. the car and other larger, lumpier items). All said and done, we were blessed that most of it went smoothly and we were able to neaten our outstanding business in Japan down to the very minimum of minimums.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending whether you are of the school that likes the city, we stopped in London on our way over to Chicago. Danny went into work. I just cruised the streets of a very freezing London with Sara. I didn't mind it that much, not that I like London, but I have dear, dear friends there that I hadn't seen in way too long and lucky for me, they were just as happy to see me as I was to see them. We spent a good deal of time together – mostly at lunch and whatever daytime hours they could sneak from the office, no thanks to a jetlagged Sara and the need to sleep early – and it was so much fun to catch up and hang out once again as we had done ages ago. Meeting up with them reminds me of a life that I once, long time ago, wanted but now no longer envy. Living alone in a foreign country isn't what it's all cracked up to be, but then, I can't really say we have it any better, although bouncing from one city to another as a family does have its benefits (as well as difficulties).

And so we have finally arrived at the halfway point – Chicago. It wasn't as cold as I had expected on arrival, but now, a few days in, the temperatures are starting to dip. We've met some new friends here and I've been warned that take-out menus are a must in these climes – you don't want to be stuck hunting for your dinner in the cold. Anyway, we're determined to make as best use of our time here as possible – it will, after all, be our first white Christmas proper and we'll get our first frolic in snow as a family.

So the clock starts ticking now. We will be off again in a few months, back across the world to Hong Kong. In the meantime, I'm taking this as my big extended holiday in the Arctic.

Diaper = Hat

Somewhere along the way, I forgot to tell Sara that that was a diaper she had on her head…

But then, she managed to convince Danny that she was right and Mummy was wrong

Dead or alive??

It'll be a wonder if anyone reads this now, considering it's been some two gazillion years ago since I last updated my blog. I just thought it prudent to say something given that silence is likely to prevail for sometime longer after this.

The news is out. We are moving. Yes, this is the stuff I was talking about. We're about to go through yet another bit of upheaval and true to our Hakka roots, the gypsy blood dictates that once again, we must move. This time, back to Hong Kong. To the friends who do happen to read this and didn't know, I must say in my defence that since this all became fact, we've been on holiday in Germany. In fact, we are STILL on holiday in Germany, but access to the internet has allowed me now to make the announcement.

Anyway, the silence that follows this post will be largely due to the fact that I have to wind up every bit of our life in Tokyo before moving to join Danny in the States for a few months. Sometime early next year, we will move once again, this time to Hong Kong, where we will set up nest for, hopefully, a good few years. While the move is good for Danny and overall probably better for our family life (excluding the terrible air which I hope doesn't give Sara any problems), I am apprenhensive. The upheaval in the next few months also includes the arrival of a new addition to our family, which makes things all nice and complicated.

Without further elaboration, not so much because I wish not to share, but simply because we do not know at all, I will wind up the post here. Perhaps I may post a little more in the coming weeks as the winding up of stuff in Tokyo drives me bananas, but I simply don't expect I will have much time or energy (or if I cut off our internet account, no access at all) to do much till we settle in Hong Kong.

In the meantime, to the friends who didn't know about all this before, I must apologize – a more personal email (mass email, more like it) is in the works once we get back to Tokyo.