MERRY CHRISTMAS from MAINE! (a 2021 recap)

 

Greetings from Lakeville, Maine, our now permanent home as of June 2021. It's been quite a year for everyone it seems, and we are no exception. One of my goals in 2022 is to post regularly on this blog, going back to my frugal roots, but I woke up this morning and thought, "Why wait?" So here I am!

As most of you know, we spent the last nine years living in Hong Kong. In the fall of 2020, our contracts were up, and we had to make a decision as to whether or not we would sign again. We loved our jobs and our life in Hong Kong, but there were several factors that led my husband and I to mutually decide it was time to "come home." Our children were all back in the US and grandchildren were/are coming, the situation between Hong Kong and Mainland China was/is changing and Covid changed so much about being able to travel--that is to say, it basically shut down travel for us. So, we shipped 7 boxes, packed up 6 suitcases and headed back to Maine!

Here's a visual of our last few months in Hong Kong, because pictures say so much.

The wet market where I shopped regularly.

My last pineapple bun (no pineapple used!)

Saying goodbye to our school.

Frangipani flowers--so fragrant!

Trail behind our apartment that led to the mountains.

Our farewell dinner with beloved colleagues. 

I do miss Asian cuisine. Spring rolls at Ruam. 

A hike to our favorite beach.

Ham Tin Beach

Tea at the Peninsula Hotel with my fellow school nurse. 

A view of Victoria Harbor from the 103 floor of the Ritz Carlton.

Afternoon tea at the Conrad Hilton.

Chinese New Year lanterns on Lee Tung Avenue.

While there are things we do miss about Hong Kong, we have not regretted our decision to move home. Mike is currently working part time (every other day) at East Grand School in Danforth, about a 45 minute drive. I am doing a little bit of "per diem" work as a nurse while I figure out when/where I want to go full time. We are looking forward to having the whole family together for a week at Christmas.

So until the new year, I leave with some more visuals that made coming home wonderfully easy:

One of the first snows.

Looking out the cabin window on Thanksgiving day. 

Impromptu trip to Myrtle Beach to visit a friend.

I'd never seen the loons with autumn colors.

My beloved camp, Living Waters, where I volunteer as a nurse each summer.

Home sweet home.

Our road.

Duck Lake

Foraging Comb's Tooth and Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms.

A drive along Some's Sound.

My husband and son at the Smash Up Derby/Springfield Fair.

Riding in my Father in Law's Model A on a visit to Michigan.

Family Reunions

I was able to work for the Maine Army National Guard youth camp this summer.

Sunset at the cabin.

This is what it's all about.

Tell me what you've been up to


I'll be back in 2022! 

Shelftember: Or How I shopped at Home and only Spent $104 (810 HKD) for Groceries Last Month.

I love a good challenge, and during this travel-less school year, I decided that I would make it a goal to save as much as possible, so when one of my favorite frugal bloggers (Jordan Page @ Fun, Cheap or Free) announced her Shelftember challenge for the month of September, I was all in. The basic premise is that you "shop" from your shelves first (pantry, freezer, fridge) to see what you have available before going to the grocery store. This ensures that items are not getting lost in the back/bottom and that you are actually using what you have on hand, before it expires or starts to mold. As a bonus challenge, you are only supposed to spend $25 USD a week on groceries, no matter the size of your family. Not gonna lie: it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be! Hong Kong groceries are quite a bit higher in general for items like meat, dairy and baking supplies. On the other hand, fresh fruits and vegetables can usually be found for less at the local markets. 

I began each week writing a menu (nothing new) based on what we had and then ONLY buying the few fresh things I needed. It was not a month to "stock up." I ended up baking more than normal-bread, bagels, muffins and cookies, to name a few. I'd never tried bagels before; it wasn't that difficult, but it was time consuming. I used sesame seeds and a Mideastern spice mix that I had on hand for toppings.

I also tried a couple of new recipes, including this Thai Pomelo Salad, which was delicious. Pomelos are like giant grapefruit. Check out the thickness of the skin!

I should also note that we did spend one night at the Conrad Hilton (on a free night voucher), and because of my Diamond status, a perk of my Amex credit card, we were upgraded to a large suite, which came with TWO fruit plates and a box of 12 handmade chocolates. NICE. That was 14 pieces of fruit that you can bet came home with me. 

During the month, the school provided breakfast, lunch and snacks for 2 Pro-D days. We also didn't give up our Friday night date night, but we still ate the majority of our meals at home. We had people over for 3 different meals and I provided food for another family for one meal. We also ate at friends' houses for 3 meals. 

Will I participate next year? If I remember, I probably will. It was a worthy challenge and one I would recommend. I didn't quite make the $25 a week, but $26 wasn't too far off. 

Masks, Germs and other Covid Thoughts from an American Nurse Living in Asia

Photo Op for the Ronald McDonald House of Hong Kong

This post is especially for my US friends who have messaged me with questions about masks, quarantines, and other Covid questions. I haven't been compelled to write a post about this because 1) who needs yet one more virus article? and 2) I am no more qualified to give an opinion than any other average Joe on the street. But here goes.

The main reason we are asked frequent questions is that we have been working from home since February 3, or "dealing with this virus mess" longer than most of the world, and we are in Hong Kong, which, as most of you know, has an amazing track record of dealing with the virus. Our first confirmed case was January 23, and as of today, there are just 1040 cases and only 4 deaths. This is a city of 7.5 million people that shares a border with mainland China.  To put this in perspective, New York City has 8.4 million people, 170,000 cases and 13,168 deaths. They are also 8000 miles away from China and didn't have their first confirmed case until March 1. (I realize it is likely both cities had unconfirmed cases before then.) In other words, NYC had a big "heads up" regarding this. So why the differences? Here are my observations.

Back around the end of December/ (beginning of January?), I was at work--I'm a school nurse at an International School--when I saw an article about a strange new virus in China. Back then, it was believed to only be connected to one market in Wuhan and wasn't thought to be spreading person to person. Didn't seem so serious to me, but guess what? Within a week, Hong Kongers were wearing masks even more than normal during flu season. My colleague in purchasing asked me about our mask supply. When my husband asked his students about it, mentioning that the new virus was not believed to spread person to person, the students all said, "Nobody trusts China."

We already had plans to fly home to Maine for Chinese New Year, and we left Hong Kong January 22, the day before Wuhan closed its borders. When we returned to Hong Kong a couple weeks later, the whole city was wearing masks and there was a major run on them, toilet paper, and cleaning supplies, even though at the time, the government here, trying to thwart panic buying, told us masks were not necessary unless we were symptomatic. Again, Hong Kongers said, "We don't trust the government," and they wore their masks anyway, lining up for hours to buy them.

You also need to realize that in 2002, SARS hit Hong Kong in a big way, and that is in the collective memory of most of the city. They don't mess around. As I mentioned, even during a normal year, you will see a good portion of the population wearing masks during flu season. They are diligent about using hand sanitizer (they have little bottles hooked to their bags) and they use a tissue or their keys to push the elevator buttons. (They don't, as a rule, wear disposable gloves though.) Public areas like escalators and bathrooms are sanitized every hour or two. Temperatures are checked upon entering buildings. When the city had only a handful of cases, the decision was made to close schools (they still haven't reopened). All non-essential government agencies closed, and private businesses were encouraged to allow employees to work from home. No one had to tell them twice. The streets were pretty much empty for a month or so. But here's an interesting bit: parks, beaches, restaurants, hair salons, grocers, retail shops and public transportation were never shut down. Granted, these places were pretty much empty, because even without a mandatory "shelter at home" order, hardly anyone went out. What I'm trying to get at is this: Hong Kongers did on their own what most governments had to force upon their people.

So what happened? Through mid March, our cases remained very, very low. People got out and about more, and perhaps became a little less careful. But then as city residents, especially students, who were living abroad started coming home because cases were getting worse around the world, they brought a lot of imported cases with them, and our numbers rose. This brought on stricter measures: restaurants are only allowed to operate at 50% capacity, nail salons and bars are closed and groups of 4 or more are not allowed in public. (This is a tricky one, because public places have way more than 4 people, but I guess they aren't technically "together?") Most shops remain open and only those coming from abroad are quarantined.

Finding someone without a mask it not easy. A street in Mong Kok last week.

So that leaves us where we are now. For the last two weeks or so, we've had many days of zero or single digit new cases. People once again are out and about more. There is talk of possibly allowing some students to return to school by the end of May. It's looking good.

So what's my biggest take away? Hands down, I believe the biggest difference here is that everyone wears masks. They wear them because they don't know if they are silent carriers and they don't want to infect you. They wear them because they don't know if you are a silent carrier and they don't want your germs. They wear them because it is now a cultural norm and it is considered rude if you don't--not to mention the risk you run of getting the major side-eye (or worse) from a Cantonese grannie half your size. Wearing a mask is not a moral issue, so even though I have mixed feelings on the efficacy of them, I wear one, because, well, it can't hurt. 

I know that you can find scientific studies that say that masks aren't 100% effective in viral spread, and that is absolutely true. Viruses are tiny, tiny, tiny, and they can get through all but the most industrial grade N95 respirator masks. Even these are ineffective unless they are worn properly. (We had to have special training on how to wear these at the hospital where I worked in the US before we could care for isolation patients.) But let's face it, masks at least help somewhat or doctors and nurses wouldn't wear them. And any type of material will minimize the spray of a cough or sneeze; this is what we are going for. Viruses can be airborne, but they also are in droplets when you cough. It's the reason we teach little kids to "cover your cough;" germs spread more easily if you don't. Looking at Hong Kong, I have to believe that the vast majority of the population wearing masks before the virus really took hold, along with early social distancing measures, played a major role in keeping the numbers down.

We are not mask Nazis. We wear them when around people, but not when walking in open spaces. 

So these are my thoughts at the moment. I reserve the right to change my opinion at any time (trust me, it happens often)...and if your opinion is different, I still like you!! 

Frugal Living During the Covid-19 Outbreak

This has been quite a month! If you are reading this post, I can say with certainty that you are aware of the current virus outbreak, which has turned our little world upside down. The school where we work has not physically been in session since January 22; currently, the plan is that students will return March 16, but that is subject to change. Teachers are trying their best to keep students busy. Lessons are posted online daily, with weekly (at least) face to face sessions via the internet. 

While the teachers are having to get creative and totally change the way they teach classes, support staff like myself, while having to keep up with certain aspects of our given jobs, have more down time, and I am embracing the change of pace and seeing it as a gift. (My crazy will start when those kiddos come back to school all stressed out about every sneeze and cough!) But for now, with almost all outside activities cancelled (including church, volunteer work and planned travel) and trying to avoid crowded areas, my life is revolving around books, movies, cooking and extra time to pray and reflect. Call us naive, but we really aren't very concerned personally about catching the virus. At this point, there still aren't very many cases in Hong Kong and the city seems to have it under control. Please don't see this as my being dismissive of all the hurt, death and chaos that this virus has dumped on the world...it's just that I need to deal with it in the best way I know how, for me, right now, and that means not worrying and daily rolling with what's right before me. 

Since we were here for Valentine's day, I made Shrimp Scampi (one of my 2020 goals is at least one new recipe a week) and had that with a side of baby green beans.

I also made these delicious Fully Loaded Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars, which I found on one of my favorite blogs. You can get the recipe here. Highly recommended. (I didn't add the raisins and they were still amazing). My husband gave them 2 thumbs up also. 

There are certain items that people seem to be "panic buying," among them, bread, toilet paper and rice. Thankfully, I had all the ingredients for yeast bread on hand and have been making my own. 

I also decided to use this time to finally schedule an appointment with a dermatologist to have a couple of questionable blemishes checked. She said neither were skin cancer (yeah!) and I used my time in the city to take advantage of a Starbucks gift card to get myself a croissant and a cappuccino.  The place was half empty, unheard of on a normal day in Hong Kong. It was nice to chill and people watch for awhile. 

 I remember when I was a kid, my mom collected S&H Green Stamps and redeemed them for various household goods. Always an exciting day when she had saved enough to get what she wanted!

Here in Hong Kong, the grocery store Wellcome (yes, it's spelled that way), has a similar program. I don't usually shop enough to get a "prize," but this time I succeeded. 

I turned in my 50 stickers for a nifty pair of new kitchen sheers and I'm pretty pumped about it! 

The same store also gave out coupon booklets over the Chinese New Year holiday, (coupons aren't much a of a thing here), and I was able to get 10 HKD ($1.30 US) off 50 HKD ($6.40 US) for fresh berries. It's the little wins. 

Today, I went for a walk and stopped at Park n Shop, another local grocer. They had this 6 pack of string cheese for 10 HKD ($1.30 USD). That's crazy super cheap here, so I bought the only 2 packs there. 

I'm also reading several books (I always have more than one going at a time) that were either from the free table at work or free on my kindle. And Mike and I are watching some episodes of Maine Cabin Masters. If you haven't watched it, you should. Well, if you like fixer-uppers, and Maine, and cabins...let's just say we like it!

Have a wonderful day, friends. Embrace whatever season you are in and find the gifts that are there, no matter how hard you have to look to find them.