Model

Across the road from Hannah's doctor in Yau Ma Tei is a plastic model shop called Continental Models.   For a former schoolboy (who never quite achieved his dream of building a large-size model of the Bismarck),  it is a great place to wait for Hannah and Rika.

On our last visit Hannah surprised me by wanting to visit the shop, and then by hunting for a model to build.    She ignored the Bismarck and eventially chose a model of an SUV car, and appropriate paints and brushes.    (All with zero encouragement from me by the way - I wanted to her to come hiking or play tennis).

She then decided that Hannah and Daddy would make-up the model over the weekend.   Which we duly did,  in two sessions.

The model was rated 'modeling skills helpful if under 14 years of age'.  But actually Hannah did a careful job of cutting-out and painting the pieces, and glueing them together.  

So I was actually quite impressed by the finished product.   And I have to admit Hannah was right - it was quite fun to build it together.

Kittens !

Hannah had been waiting impatiently for months but finally the big day arrived.   Time to choose her new kitten!

The kittens were now 2-3 months old, so we could now visit them at the cattery.  Glam-Rex (link), is actually not far from us, in Tai Po district in a village towards Plover Cove.   It was nice to see Chrissie and Ree again.

And lots of fun to play with a roomful of lovely cats and kittens.  

Over the last six months Hannah has earned enough credits ('smilies') to get one kitten.   And since we can only keep 'non allergy' cats, we had to get a Cornish Rex.

This is Jayden, who was offered to us at a very reduced price because his eyes had been slightly discolored by an eye infection, so he is unable to compete in cat competitions.   

I thought Jayden was a lovely kitten.  Even before he started to groom me.

And Jayden seemed to like us too.

Chrissie was concerned that Jayden might get lonely on his own, and we were soon looking for kitten #2.   She suggested Kura, who is apparently a show-quality pure-breed Cornish Rex.  (Although with that mustache I'd be cautious showing him in Germany or Israel).

Kura was another lovely kitten and we quickly warmed to him.    He needs another 6 weeks growing up with his mother before we can take him home.  So we arranged to pick up both cats in August after Rika and Hannah return from summer holidays

I hope Minimi will like his new nephews.

Ice Scating Camp

For the first week of summer holidays we booked Hannah into an ice-skating camp run by the YMCA

Hannah seemed to have a great time and enjoyed playing with the other kids.   

I dropped her off in the morning a couple of times on my way to work.

Reluctant Dragon

Hannah has been attending a Saturday morning drama class.   This weekend her group performed at the HK Arts Theatre as part of the drama school's festival.

Hannah's play was  'The Reluctant Dragons', and Hannah was a very reluctant dragon indeed.  She really didn't want to perform.

The play was about a small town that discovers dragons living nearby.   The adults want to exterminate the dragons but the children discover that the dragons are vegetarian and write poetry and eventually convince the adults to coexist with the dragons.

Hannah role was chief of police.  She did a good job with her acting and said her lines clearly.  But during the first performance when she wasn't speaking you could tell that she really wanted to be somewhere else!

The second performance on Sunday was much better and she stayed engaged through the performance.  I thought Hannah and the other kids dd a really good job.  And I was proud of Hannah for performing well even though she didn't really want to.

Cast photo at the end of the 2nd show.   Well done everyone!

Video : Saturday Performance

Video:  Sunday performance

Some kids really get a  buzz from performing.  And some don't.   Unfortunately Hannah didn't this time.   After the show she asked to stop going to the drama class next year.   She says she wants to spend more time playing and relaxing during the weekend.

Clear Air

In mid-June we had some exceptionally clear weather.  

We could clearly see some islands out beyond Lantau Island in the Pear River delta that Id never seen before.

Birthday Party

It was birthday party season, with another party at the YMCA climbing wall where Hannah had done climbing courses.

So it was her turn to show-off her skills.

The hosts were a nice and adventurous couple who often go rock climbing 

Sai Kung Craft Market

After the success of the Discovery Bay market Rika signed-up for a similar market in Sai Kung.

The market was held at the Hong Kong Academy, in the recently built building for a international school that recently re-located from Hong Kong Island.

The building had a nice atrium and Rika and Hannah set-out their stall hopefully, among about 50 other stalls.

But it was a slow day.  The market attracted a fairly small crowd and most of them didn't seem to be in a buying mood.

Rika guessed that most people were parents or friends of the school who had dropped in mainly for a social chat.  

Rika's products got some interest especially the hair-ties.  But she only sold one garment and the total revenue barely covered the rent on the stall and the taxis to Sai Kung.

I got took pretty bored and took a walk into Sai Kung town.   It was a lovely day but scorching hot.

There was another market on the waterfront, but it didn't seem to be doing much business either. 

And as I walked back I pondered the big difference with the event at Discovery Bay which benefited from a steady stream of people passing through the plaza on their way to shops or public transport.   Whereas the only pedestrians I could see braving the heat outside the school were a lethargic group of cows.

And they weren't buying either.