From Our Own Correspondent, 2013

[Salbertina]

If I may? Loads of us seem keen. Idea is to post a little about your daily life overseas or a particular trip, event etc of interest, modelled on the R4 programme.

Got the school run but shall think of something to post later.

I'm holidaying in the UK ATM but just had an email from a friend of a friend looking to move to LA so sent on my various bits of advice, it's nice having been there long enough now I can be of use to new expats!

Starting to miss my SoCal weather though

Its the Mid-autumn festival here and we'll be descending on the beach this evening.
Its like a giant neon lit summer picnic. Children running wild and decorating the whole beach & parents enjoying the wine.
here

Hopefully next year we'll do this.
DD still a bit young to last the evening, but it is quite spectacular. Fire and fury for the dragon dance. The dragon is more than 50m long!

And we exchange mooncakes

Voila! tomorrow is a bank holiday so all looking forward to a lazy morning.

this is coming our way.

Its hard to believe because the weather is just glorious today.

We had a signal 10 last summer (which is the highest warning level and means we actually are in they eye of the storm). It was pretty scary for a few hours. The main danger is from falling/flying debris and glass shattering. Since The city is pretty much all high tech glass (and oddly, traditional bamboo scaffolding around it if they need to do repairs/maintenance)
It does make for a dangerous mixture.

Am glad we live in a low rise! But its still all glass so we'll spend our sunday putting sticky tape on the windows.

Master, I'm getting a little concerned about the typhoon tomorrow. Am off shopping to stock up, have brought inside everything from our tiny balcony, what else should I be doing? Do I need to put tape on the windows? We are on second floor down in Tai Tam? And how do I do said tape?

Hi bubble. You need masking tape and make a big "X" with it from each corner of the window. Stock up on basic food. Have a torch and candles handy. Some towels/ bucket at hand in case of leaks through windows/ doors that you never knew you had!
Keep electronics away from windows in case of said leaks. Remember to bring in plant pots and balcony furniture. Keep safe!

All the best to you all in HK, Taiwan or around. I remember the typhoon 8s when i was there so am thinking of you this weekend.

Apparently the typhoon is now going further north so may not be a direct hit. Is it wrong to feel a little cheated?? It seems crazy that its going to be lashing with wind and rain tomorrow- today has been scorchio. I went hiking on Lantau. Too damn hot. Didn't make the Peak.

Lol Richman was thinking the same.
Hilarious scene at the supermarkets today. Everybody there to by masking tape but of course they ran out of supplies this morning. So appart from the obvious fresh milk/ bread/ eggs, most trolleys were randomly filled up with treats and lots and lots of booze.

bubble have asked our management and they kind of politely sneered and handed me some sticky tape and offered to come help tomorrow if the husband is not around!

Salbertina To be honest its a bit like christmas really, the kids are up on stools "decorating" the windows with giant crosses and we'll do a fair amount of drinking baking with neighbors tomorrow if we are all stuck indoors with little children to entertain.

Karaoke and mooncakes?

Yes! mooncake fest!
They're going quite cheap now its the tail end of the festival!

Wooohoooo the emmys are on tomorrow night

It is so hot and so still tonight. No wind. About 33 degrees at 11.30 pm. Makes you realise where the expression' the calm before the storm' comes from.

Yes. Also thought that its eerily dry for a day before the storm...

Thanks master. All ready to go here. Seems like the storm has set in, the wind is whistling through our balcony door but strangely the sea still looks calm. Kids are all hoping for a day off school tomorrow! Baking supplies at the ready!

Hope all the other HK folk are safe, sound and stockedup.
Up on the 41st floor it sounds like a hurricane straight through the living room (that will be the wonderful HK building standards!). Likewise our kids are praying for a day off school - as someone who works from home this doesn't quite hold the same appeal for me

Cross fingers for you guys.

Am hoping that today, World rhino Day is unusual in that 2 S African rhinos are NOT slaughtered by poachers They're set to be extinct in the wild within 7 years such is the escalation in killings, 620 just here this year alone.

This week we had our monthly visit from the pest control man. Unusually chatty, he grinned at me flashing his good tooth as he sprayed around each room talking about the bugs he encountered in his work. I told him about the pests we have in the UK. Later, he told me how the mongooses here were introduced to rid the island of snakes and how he and his friends liked to fight them with dogs: 'salmon top retrievers' or mongrels as we would call them. The mongooses always win apparently. Seeing my worried face he assured me it was not to the death, it it was just lots of fun and a good laugh. I'm not sure the dogs or mongooses would agree!

So we had some rain and gale force winds but overall it was not too bad.

Anyone following what's happening in Nairobi? pretty shocking

Today I am filling in school applications for places next September. It's utterly mad. I fear I may already be too late for one of them. My DD is 3.5 and we decided not to put her into a school for FS1 (pre-school) as we don't want her in a school environment yet - most of the schools here go until the age of 18, so they are huge, not a small village school where everyone knows everyone else, so she is still at a nursery. Most people however put their children into FS1, so now we are going to be very lucky to find her a place for next year.

I have completed online one application and as well as the application form, had to submit the following:

4 passport photos
Copy or DD's passport and visa
Copy of DD's ID card
Copy of nursery report from last year
Copy of vaccination record
A medical form
Copy of DD's medical insurance card
Copy of a bill with proof of our address
Copy of DD's birth certificate
Copy of DH's passport and visa
AND - the equivalent of about 100 pounds that is non-refundable!

And this is before they will even assess her!! She is 3.5 yrs old and we may find ourselves number 112 or something on the wait list.

It's not that we are being trying to apply for an exclusive private school, all the schools here operate like this.

Education really is a business here...

So today is heritage day, otherwise known as "braai (bbq) day", the sun is shining so ideal for people to enjoy the public holiday. Supermarkets in a selling frenzy of tongs, grids and all sorts of kit deemed essential for the SA male to be able to braai proficiently.

Reading with interest from the Essex riviera!

I look after expats for a living and loved my stints overseas traveling, studying and working... Thinking that we might give somewhere else ago after dc2 is a toddler (not even conceived yet mind) ignores the fact we've just bought dream forever home

Hi chicken, buying your forever home need be no deterrent! speaking from experience
Whats your job with expats, relocation agent?

International hr for a big blue chip.

I know re the house, but we have only been here for a few months and its been a long time coming.

Just back from a lovely holiday which is when my wanderlust is at its peak! I shall live vicariously through you lot for the time-being!

Oh, can I join in here? I am an expat. But in Britain. A South African living in North Yorkshire possibly moving to Northern Ireland.

Flight from Liverpool to Belfast today, surprised at how much warmer it was in Norn Iron compared to our corner of the North Yorkshire Moors, and how Belfast (provincial to most) seems like Cosmopolitan to us. Looking forward to exploring the countryside tomorrow.