50 Reasons NOT to be a Good Cook

1. Your family will eat good, gourmet, fussy “foodie” food.

2. All of it.

3. Quickly, without even tasting it.

4. Yes, they will. And they probably won’t even say thank you.

5. Even though you just spent your pay check and 8 hours of your time making it.

6. You read it on Pinterest; the picture made you think of Venice:

7. That 28 step recipe for gourmet Fusilli Bucati with dry-roasted, organic Serrano peppers marinated in extra-virgin olive oil.

8. And all your girlfriends are making recipes they found on Pinterest.

9. And you really do want to want to cook.

10. So you went to 8 different shops to get the exact ingredients.

11. And you had to change clothes and dress to the nines before you left.

12. Because you wouldn’t be caught dead in THOSE shops wearing jeans and a sweatshirt.

13. And you came home and you followed the recipe exactly.

14. Except for the part about how long to cook the pasta, because you were on Pinterest again.

15. And the pasta turned to mush.

16. So you had to go back to that cute little specialty shop and buy more Fusilli Bucati.

17. And start over.

18. But you did it.

19. You made it again and it looked just like the picture!

20. And it tasted AMAZING.

21. So you found your linen table cloth and silver candlesticks.

22. You set the table with your best China and even cleaned the magazines off the buffet table.

23. You changed your clothes (again) because you smelled like garlic.

24. And you waited.

25. And your husband and kids came home.

26. They walked in and looked around for the candid camera guy.

27. And you came around the corner with your “What? I told you I knew how to cook a great meal” look on your face and asked them to wash up and take a seat.

28. They complied, with feigned whisperings.

29. And that’s when IT happened.

30. They sat down, those teen age boys and that husband of yours, and they started eating.

31. They didn’t stop; they barely breathed.

32. They practically licked the serving bowl.

33. They ate ALL the Fusilli Bucati AND the $20-loaf-of-bread AND the baby green (with homemade vinaigrette dressing) salad.

34. And you watched helplessly, passing the requested items.

35. And when they finished, with wadded linen napkins all in a jumble, they said,

36. “What’s for dessert?”

37. So, you got up quietly, folding your napkin beside your plate.

38. You walked to the kitchen and opened the cupboard.

39. A half-eaten bag of Oreos was staring you in the face.

40. You grabbed the Oreos and tossed them on the table.

41. Your kids didn’t even blink.

42. They opened the bag and devoured them all.

43. Then they took their dirty dishes to the dishwasher.

44. And you spent an hour cleaning up the dining room and kitchen.

45. The next day, you read magazines--all day.

46. And ten minutes before dinner, you threw generic pasta in the pot and opened a jar of Ragu.

47. And a bag-o-salad.

48. And the kids and the husband came home and ate from paper plates.

49. You served fresh Oreos.

50. And you quit pinning recipes on your Pinterest board.

3 Reasons Why You Should Never Start a Blog





There is one common reason that everyone starts a blog: an audience. Argue with that if you must, but you would be flat out wrong. Even if it's only an audience of two family members, or, my personal favorite "for myself"--as some bloggers humbly claim--it's still an audience. With that in mind, before you put too much effort into a blogging endeavor, consider the following:

1. Blogging must be done consistently in order to gain an audience, but blogging consistently is much more difficult than you would think. Before you put energy and effort into creating a blog, take a good, hard look at your time constraints and ask yourself honestly if you can commit. If you can't write on a regular basis, don't bother to start. You'll save yourself a great deal of frustration.

2. Readers will say the strangest (sometimes hurtful) things. You want to have interaction with your audience, and you dream of basking in the limelight of hundreds of adoring readers. Know this: you're not going to be everyone's cup of tea. If you have a hard time accepting criticism, if it makes you angry or if it causes you to collapse like a small, weeping child, blogging may not be your best choice.

3. Name a subject, any subject you can think of--from Chanterelle mushrooms to K-pop haters. Now Google that subject with "blog" in the search. There's a very high probability that there is at least one blog totally committed to your dream subject. Before you begin, know what's out there. Hit every search engine you can think of and then some. See what has been written on the subject and think about whether of not you have a fresh angle.

Depressed yet?  Don't be. If you can read that short list and still believe you have something valid to say, then by all means, go for it! This isn't meant to be a downer, just a quick reality check.

There are literally millions of blogs floating around in the blogosphere--hundreds for every conceivable subject. And every day, thousands more begin. There are as many reasons for beginning a blog as there are people who start them: to keep personal journals, to update loved ones, to "get noticed" as a writer, to make money, to share knowledge...and there's nothing wrong with any of those reasons.

On a personal note, I know my own blog is a combination of all of the above. I began blogging in late 2009, almost three years ago. At times, I have enjoyed it immensely and at other times I have been so frustrated that I've come close to deleting it completely. For nearly a year, I posted almost daily; but here it is October of 2012 and I've had only 12 posts since January.

When we were planning to move to Hong Kong earlier this year, many family and friends told me that I needed to "keep blogging" after I settled in. I made promises. After all, I was practically giddy with excitement and didn't think it would be hard to write with so many new experiences coming at me on a daily basis. But I was mistaken. It has been very difficult; here's why:

I have always written about my frugal life, in fact, that's my pen name on the blog. Of course, my perspective has always been that of an American, and my musings appealed to an American audience. Now I am here, a whole world away, and while I don't want to lose my old readers, I do want to appeal to new ones. I have been vascillating between starting a whole new blog (and losing ALL my subscribers), or revamping this one.  I have chosen the latter and have lost some subscribers and gained a few new ones, which can be expected. So I just wanted to tell all my faithful readers that this blog will continue to be what it always was, a combination of good deals, family adventures, thrifty tips and musings on gratitude. I will do my best to write to both my new HK followers and my loyal readers world wide. I will focus on what I know best: living a thankful and thrifty life! Happy reading!

Go to Tai Long Wan!! (HK's Best Beach)

About a month ago, our family hiked to Tai Long Wan Beach, arguably the most beautiful beach in Hong Kong located in the Sai Kung area:

We went with several other friends and it was an extraordinary day. The sky was even bluer than it is usually, which made for some pretty pictures on the way:

Getting to the beach can be a little tricky. First we took the MTR to Ma On Shan and grabbed a taxi to Sai Wan, where we started on the hiking trail. You can also take several buses if you don't want to pay the taxi fare. (or get off at the Wu Kai Sha MTR station and take a bus to the roundabout near Sai Kung, then another bus to Sai Wan.) It's about a two hour hike in from Sai Wan. On the way, about an hour in, we stopped at a waterfall where we had fun Cliff jumping (pun intended-watch this 15 second video):

We made it to the beach and had lunch at one of two local restarants (see them in the background, gotta love the bridges!):

All the dishes are local fare and will run you about HK $40-$100 (US $6-$12) each. After filling up, we spent the next few hours playing in the ocean and hiking on the rocks. It was picture perfect; I felt like I was in a movie scene from Bali. The water is the warmest I have ever been in. So exotic. The nicest thing is that the natives apparently don't get into the whole hiking/beach thing very much, so this huge, sand beach was pretty empty:

Rather than walk back, we hired a power boat (ask the restaurant owners to call for you):

Though a bit costly--HK $110 (US $15) per person, the ride was pehaps the best part of the adventure!  With a 20hp motor, this baby flew, eliciting lots of screams from the 20 or so people on board every time we hit a big wave, nearly setting us airborn. The driver was having a grand time. Fewer regulations here: no life jackets to be seen and when we landed in Sai Kung 30 minutes later, the driver just held the boat nose against a set of cement steps and waited rather impatiently while we tottered over the nose and onto shore. This was by far my best day here!

To find other hiking/beach adventures, be sure to check in at this site:
http://www.urban-outdoors.com/

If you are even thinking that living overseas might be a possibility for you...just do it and don't look back....
 

Lantau Island, Cable Cars and Big Buddha

We were blessed with another long holiday weekend, so Mike and I sent the boys to Ocean Park (think water/amusement park- small scale) and decided to go to Lantau Island. Lantau is one of Hong Kong's bigger outlying islands, home to both HK Disneyland and the airport. But the thing we've been wanting to see is the very kitschy "Big Buddha" statue, built specifically for tourists. They even added a 5.7 kilometre cable car ride to take you there in style. We were looking forward to it!

 

It's easy to get in a "I'm a tourist and I don't have to be careful with money" mindset when you first move overseas, at least it has been for me. I have to guard against this mentality...and I'm a bonafied tighwad!  Consequently, I have been trying to be more diligent when it comes to days off. On the one hand, I want to "live fully where I am," but I want to do that in a way that doesn't break the bank. Here's some ways we spent, yet saved:

 

First we detoured and went to Kowloon Park (a 10 minute walk from the Austin MTR station). If you want to spend an afternoon relaxing, this is a great place. There is a water garden, a sculpture garden, a huge pool, a museum, a playground and an aviary, just to name a few of the attractions. It has a very NYC Central Park feel to it with big buildings all around; we had a lovely time just relaxing:

 



 

After spending some time here, we took the MTR to Tung Chung station. Of course, we found an obligatory mall there, but this one does boast over 60 outlet stores. I was not tempted! We looked around a bit for some type of inexpensive eats, and decided to grab a turkey club sandwich at Taste, a grocery store. We added a big bag of chips and got some free glasses of water. Total: HK $71 (US $10) for both of us. Not the cheapest, but not bad either. The sandwich was quite large! Then we headed out to the cable cars. You can have a car to yourself for a price; you can also get a "crystal cabin," which has a glass bottom. I don't think it's worth the extra fee. Our view was spectacular without the glass. We opted for roundtrip tickets for two and didn't pay extra for "attractions." Total for both of us: HK $250 (US $33). I was pleasantly surprised as I had assumed it would be more for a 3.5 mile trip. It was so worth the money:

 

 

Notice the foot path in the first picture, it runs the entire way there. I cannot imagine walking over all those mountains! The second photo was when we were directly over the ocean. See the boat on the right?

 

You arrive in about 15 minutes at Ngong Ping Village, where the Buddha dominates the landscape. We're not just talking a Big Buddha, this statue is the world's largest Buddha, it is made of bronze and is 112 feet (34 meters) tall and weighs 250 tons:

We also went to the Po Ling Monastery, right near the statue; it is beautiful. Check out this 20 second video; you can hear the monks chanting:

 

There was a mini-festival going on and we saw these colorful dancers:

 

 

And then this was the view coming back into the harbor:

Here I am wearing my HK $68 (US $9) souvenir. I personally think that's it's better to buy things that I will actually use, rather than a trinket to catch dust:

You might think I'm contemplating Buddha; actually, I was just tired.

Dry Goods Review and Cheap Nail Polish

This summer, in process of moving from North Carolina to Maine and then to Hong Kong, I agreed to try some products from a company called efoods in exchange for a blog post giving my honest opinion. Needless to say, things got a bit hectic, but as promised, I am making good on my commitment, albiet a few months late. Efoods is a dry goods company that mainly sells in bulk to families or companies that like to have food on hand in case of emergencies such as power outages, job loss or some type of financial collapse or world  meltdown where those with a stockpile will be better off than those without. Whatever your beliefs, I personally think having enough food on hand to last your family for at least a month is a good idea. Efoods sells everything from a one week supply of food for one person to a year long supply for a family of four. They also have emergency gear like water filters and a selection of camping equipment.

Efoods sent me two family size pouches each of Creamy Potato Soup, Tortilla Soup and Cheesy Chicken Rice Casserole. Each pouch is made to serve 4 people and has a shelf life of 25 years. I must say that I was very impressed both with the generous portion sizes and the quality of the food. I have tried similar products from other companies and efoods has them beat, hands down. My kids really liked the Creamy Chicken Rice Casserole, which I served with a side of veggies. While good by itself, in the future, I would most likely add some chopped up chicken or serve it as a side. Our favorite was the Creamy Potato Soup:

I was very surprised by the delicious flavor of this soup mix; I did not expect something coming from a pouch to taste this good. Served with bread, it made for a very satisfying dinner--even my teens all liked it. I'm going to have to tell you about the Tortilla Soup at a later date--we ran out of time before our move to Hong Kong. I figure if it's good for 25 years, one year shouldn't be an problem at all.  So there's my honest opinion and here's a link to the company website: www.efoodsdirect.com.

Another program I recently tried is through Julep.com. Julep sells a wonderful, toxin free, creamy nail polish in all sorts of fashionable colors and other beauty products. If you sign up to be a Julep Maven, you will get a monthly box mailed to your door that contains at least $39.99 worth of product for $19.99 shipped. I admit that this isn't the best bargain around, but here is where the good deal comes in: Right now, go to this site: http://www.julep.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/73318/ After taking a "style" quiz, you will be directed be get your first Maven box for $19.99...BUT...if you use code COLOR2012 at check out, your price will drop to one cent! WOW! You will have to agree to monthly shipments, but you can skip months or cancel entirely during a 3-4 day window right before shipment each month. You will get an email from them during this time. What a nice little treat for one penny. I don't know how long this code will last, so if you want to try this program, do it now!!  For my HK readers, why not send this as a gift to a friend in the states?

(This post contains one affiliate link. Please click on the disclaimer button for more information. Photos are from the efoods and Julep websites, respectively.)







My cheap, DIY Hong Kong date night!

A few weeks ago, I won a pair of tickets to the Joy of Music Festival here on Hong Kong Island:



Worth HK $200 (US $26) each, I was a thrilled.  I won these through the website www.sassymamahk.com, a site I found since arriving that has links to wonderful deals, events and contests. I wanted to look nice for the event without breaking the bank, and while perusing the Salvation Army in Kowloon Tong one afternoon, I came up with a brilliant solution. I had read about a wrap skirt on a site written by Geneva Vanderzeil, also a fellow western Hong Konger and DIY fashionista. You can read her detailed description of how to make the skirt here: http://apair-andaspare.blogspot.hk/2012/09/diy-proenza-schouler-inspired-wrap-skirt.html. Needless to say, if I made mine by hand in about a hour, with only the fabric and needle and thread, I'm sure you will be able to make one quite easily.

At Sal Val, I found this dress for HK $50 (US $7); I liked the fabric, but not the design:

 

So, I cut off the skirt, ironed the material flat,  and hemmed up the rough edges. Since the dress already had a black satin lining, I left it in place:

 

Geneva held her skirt together with handy little snaps; since I did not have these here in HK, I used two strategically place safety pins and a gold belt (Sal Val HK $10, US $1.33) for effect. I added a black tank (free from a friend), a pair of wedges purchased for US $7 at Mardens in Maine this summer and a costume necklace from a mall store here for HK $25 (US $3.30). Here's the finished product:

We had a lovely evening in the city...proof that culture doesn't always have to be costly. And if Geneva wore her handsewn skirt to a fashion show in NYC, I figured I was safe in HK.

 







Hong Kong--my home: 26 days--26 observations

It's been 26 days since we arrived in Hong Kong on my 44th birthday (July 29th). So I have decided to give you 26 observations about my new home city in no particular order, with some pictures thrown in to make it more interesting (here are the Cliff men in downtown HK last week):

1. It's hot and humid here. Actually, temperature-wise, it's not so bad. In the 90s. But the humidity is also in the 90s, which means when you step outside, you drip. I really don't mind so much. I'd rather be hot than cold. I'm told this is the hottest time of year.

2. It's smoggy. (Well, OK, not always as bad as this photo from the peak...)The air quality is pretty horrid. Hong Kong gets all the down wind from mainland China and there are several cities with millions of people that aren't far away.



3. A week before we arrived, there was a level 10 typhoon (Vicente, by name), the worst one in 10 years, that uprooted a great many trees. Apparently this made the air even worse.



4. Hong Kong natives make fun of the mainland Chinese.

5. There are 40+ story buildings everywhere. We are the most vertical city in the world. Because HK is mountainous, land suited to build on is at a premium. 7.1 million people in about 426 sq miles, or about 16,500 per sq mile. As a comparison,  Maine has 41 people per sq mile. Then again, NYC has less land mass and more people, but the people are spread out more evenly. HK has much unused land.

6. Chicken feet are a delicacy.



7. If you ask for water in a "local" restaurant, it will be hot. If you ask for cold water, it will room temperature. If you ask for ice, you will pay...if you get it at all. To all my Southern friends, tea is served at room temp and with no sweetener. Not exactly refreshing.

8. Napkins are not typically provided when you go out to eat. I've learned to keep wet naps in my purse.

9. Cantonese and English are the official languages of HK, but Mandarin and English are required in the schools. Therefore, my sons are learning Mandarin, but most locals do not speak Mandarin.

10. If you do not stand in line (queue up) close enough to touch the person in front of you, someone will cut in front of you. If you need lots of personal space, you won't do well here.

11. There are people everywhere, always. But most everyone is in their own little world. It's like there are protective bubbles around them that keep them from observing what is 6 inches away. Maybe it's a survival mechanism.  Here's a typical MTR station:



12. The population centers in Hong Kong, (somewhat like NYC), are mostly on the mainland and two bigger islands...Hong Kong Island and Lantau (and like NY, the islands are for business and for the rich). We live on the mainland in a district called New Territories. HK also has many more islands, quite a few uninhabited. Flying in over the city at sunset was beautiful:



13. Milk is sold in 1 liter cartons at upwards of US $3. (One of my boys could drink one per meal, if I'd  let them) That's over $12 US a gallon. We have cut down on our milk consumption significantly.

14. People here like to shop. There are malls everywhere. Think your worst Black Friday shopping experience every day....in stores with 18" aisles. I do not like to shop--not fun for me.



15. Public transportation (MTR, trains, taxis, buses and ferries) is very fast, clean, cheap, safe and easy to navigate. Our kids were going off alone within three days of our arrival. There is an MTR station (pictured) right beside our apartment.



16. 95% of residents carry an Octopus card. We all have one. You put $ on and then scan it at all public transportation centers and many stores. It's a great concept. Here's a card and scanner:



17. At 5' 2", I am taller than almost all the women and many of the men. The Cliff men can always make eye contact in a crowd.

18. There are great wet markets. Think: cross between a farmer's market, the back of a butcher shop in summer with no AC and a flea market.  Yes, those are frogs...for consumption. This topic is worthy of an entire post at a later date.



19. When people wear masks, it means they are are sick. You will get a frown and more personal space if you are coughing excessively with no mask. (This practice came about as a result of the big SARS epidemic a few years back).



20. Lawyers can only charge by the hour and they don't get a percentage of the final haul. Clients have to pay up front. These two factors cut down considerably on lawsuits and healthcare costs. The US needs to do this.

21. Healthcare is paid up front, even if you have insurance. You pay, then get reimbursed. But costs are much less. An office visit with labs, x-rays and medicine included might cost $300 HKD...the equivalent of about $30-$40 USD.

22. McDonalds here is cheaper than in the US. A small cone is 37 cents US. A value meal about 3 bucks. It is cheaper for me to eat at Mickey D's than to buy burgers and buns...and esp. ice cream. You can get a green tea (pictured) or red bean sundae (or chocolate) for about 80 cents.



23. HK has many, many parks, copious beaches, and green space galore. It is truly a beautiful city.



24. Hong Kong was under British rule until 1997, when it was handed back to China as a Special Administrative Region (SAR). It will remain as such until 2047 (50 years): one country, different laws. Therefore, Hong Kong residents have much more freedom than the mainland Chinese. Many residents have been very upset that their new Bejing-backed leader , CY Leung, has communist ties...and rightly so. I don't like it either.



25. It is bad manners to take your shopping cart back or clean up your table at a fast food place. They really do hire people to do that and you are frowned upon for doing their job. This prompted one of our sons to exclaim loudly in McDonalds, "I LOVE THIS CITY!!" (This will have special meaning to all our GKGW cohorts.)

26. I have so much to learn. I wish it was easier to figure things out, but I guess that's part of the adventure! Here I am at Shui Wah Restaurant: along with chicken feet, pigeon brains are a delicacy also...I left mine as a token of appreciation for our waitress:)