New Chinese mum thread 3

[trying2bgood]

Thought I would start it!

mumontherun, i forgot to say the first time i went to HK i also went to Dong Guan when i was a teenager. My uncle (suk suk) took me and 3 sisters by taxi, but when we were leaving there weren't any taxies so we went to a bus stop on a dirt road (a shop was blaring out Alan Tam!) The little bus came and it was filled with dusty looking men, spitting etc. We refused to get on .. so the next bus, my uncle spoke to the driver and then the driver ordered everybody off so we had the whole bus to ourselves and nobody was allowed on uncle had paid him $15 or something for the privilege.
I also took dd1 (when she was 6m) there .. it has changed loads

that is so cool breadgirl. I just want to go back to HK with my DS & DH to show them where i used to live and etc. It's been far too long since I went back.

We used to live in Happy Valley, tai hang road and then Discovery Bay. Did anybody live round there at all? Which school did you go to when you were in HK?

Wyls, sounds like you are so excited about going back .. and having a trip down memory lane! I don't know Happy Valley .. is that where the racecourse is .. or am i totally wrong?
I was born here, in the UK, and have lived here all my life .. so didn't go to school in HK.

Yeah that's where it is. I lived over there for about 15 years and then move to the UK. It was a total culture shock as the town we moved to was so small and there is an Asda and a few shops there and that's about it.

(Champagne will tell you as she drove through there the other day to take her DS swimming)

Champagne and I met up yesterday for lunch as we live so close to each other. It's a shame that we dont all live close to each other. We must try to sort out a big get together with everyone on here.

I was born in the UK too, but went to live and HK when i was nine. I went to Yuen Long Lutheran Secondary School. I came back when I was 15 to finish my GCSE's. It's so funny becasue at the time i really didn't like HK, but now i love the place! I tokk dp back last year, he was pretty surprise how compact Yuen Long was.

Yes, Where wyls grew up it is pretty remote. i thought i missed part of the town, but wyls confirmed Asda was the town centre!

Hurrah! We have broadband back! Feel civilised again!

Thanks for the HMV in Causeway Bay and Sogo suggestions Breadgirl. Wyls and T2bg, happy to get dvds for you both. I'm planning to do a big shop and then post the dvds straight to you to save me carrying them. We can sort money out later when I get back home. Happy to purchase upto 5 if you like. Would prefer to you specify which dvds you want - a list of options would be ideal. Autumn you still want me to get you a Teletubbies dvd in chinese plus a non-violent cartoon? (if they exist!)

Can't believe so many of you are from or have family in the Yuen Long area. I thought I would be the only village girl (heung ha) and everyone else would be sophisticated HK urbanites!

Champagne, I have a similar background to yours. I was born in Belfast and went back to HK when I was 11. I hated it to begin with cos everybody called me "gwai mui". I came back after doing O levels in HK. Came to UK thinking I had a better chance of doing a degree.

Didn't go to Uni in the end cos I was classified as an overseas student. (Still annoyed with the money grabbing gov't) Got a job, settled down and now have 3 kids. I love going back to HK as well. I feel more at home there, although I still get treated differently cos I've been told that I carry a foreign accent.

Momontherun, you are funny, i am sure you are no heung ha girl.

Snowmum, I dont many cartoon for kids. Something quite basic for my DS, maybe a typical chinese one like Ding Dong, do you know that one, I used to watch that a lot. And then maybe just anything in cantonese. I trust your choice. Thank you again.

btw, how do you want me to send you my address? do u have an email address?

Wyls, I've CAT'd you.

MomOnTheRun, I can't believe it! You were born in Belfast, spent sometime abroad and they classified you an an overseas student??!! That's outrageous!

Hi everyone

hands up - wasnt born in HK but vietnam and came to uk in 1980 (via china and HK refugee camp). havent been back to vietnam, china or HK yet but hoping to take the kids & DH once number 3 is over 5yrs old. we'll probably go on a tour rather than do it alone. so fingers crossed another 5-6 yrs.

Snowmum - would definitely still like the teletubbies in cantonese then the following DVD's would be great: anything barbie (eg nutcracker, fairytopia, swan lake, rapunzel, 12 dancing princesses), any disney princess film (Mulan if possible or cinders, sleeping beauty etc). dd1 is still a real girly-girl and dd2 will probably start her 'pink' phase soon. Many thanks for getting these.

Well done snowmum on getting your broadband back.

I started work on Thursday hence I haven't had much time to come onto MN.

I'm Malaysian Chinese and was born in Malaysia though I lived in HK for 5 years.

I would be up for another meeting.

Well done snowmum on getting your broadband back.

I started work on Thursday hence I haven't had much time to come onto MN.

I'm Malaysian Chinese and was born in Malaysia though I lived in HK for 5 years.

I would be up for another meeting.

Hello everyone !
try: www.yesasia.com - they have some good DVDs/VCDs in chinese, and have some kids films/cartoons. Ive ordered from them before and its good service.
My dad recently went to HK and brought back Teletubbies VCD and Noddy in Cantonese - Brill ! My little boy loves it and can watch in english too.
I speak Hakka and cantonese, and trying to get him to speak it too.

Talking about speaking cantonese, ds2 started state nursery on Wednesday. I took 3 days off to see how he'd cope cos had to spend a week with dd1 previously. He has settled down very well, but he tries to speak cantonese with the kids. At first I thought it was cute and funny. Spoke to him today but he told us he didn't like it cos they didn't speak his language. .
I've told hubby that we need to have the English channels back. For the past 6 weeks he's been watching cantonese cartoons only.

Wyls, I like you. I've never been called funny before and I look very "heung ha". Once I went to HK and had lunch with a friend. He took one look at me and said I looked "leung". Didn't knew at the time what that meant and he just rolled his eyes. Since then everytime I go back to HK, I make an effort to look like the ladies in HK, but it doesn't last as soon as I get back to the UK. I blame it on the water! It's been worse for the last 4 years. Since having ds2 and dd3, can't lose the extra fat and refuse to spend money on oversized clothes, so have been walking around in baggy t-shirts and joggers. Not making this a new year resolution, cos I have done so in the past and it made no difference.

Huh! I've given up on looking like the ladies in HK. I like eating food too much! No way am I ever gonna be a petite size 8. For one thing I'm 5 feet 5 inches tall so feel like the (not so) jolly green giant by virtue of my height and let's not talk about my width! I hate clothes shopping in HK as everything has to be in a large size and my HK girlfriends are all 5 foot nothing and have 24 inch waists. Ok ok..rant over. Sorry its one of my pet hates about HK. I always get obsessive about my size prior to going and I don't think I'm huge - bit chubbier than I'd like but that's normal (I'm a size 12/14).

Autumn, that list sounds fine. I've decided to send everyone their dvds straight from HK and receive a cheque for everything. It means everyone pays for their own postage and get their package asap. I'll CAT you my address details.

Wyls, sorry just realised that Autumn's list of dvds is probably too girly for your DS!! Guess you might prefer something like Cars or Chicken Little?

MomOnTheRun - wow, you've done really well to have your kids understand cantonese. I would love to have my DD do so well. Its unlikely as DH doesn't speak it and my cantonese is only so-so. I'm sure your DS2 will soon acclimatise to his nursery and hopefully remain biingual.

Mellow - do you still have time to meet now you've started work? I'm up for another get together. Are we still trying for a Blue Kangaroo meet up or something local?

mumontherun, don't worry about ds, he is so young he will pick up english with no problem.
We used to only speak cantonese to dd1 and i was a bit worried when she started nursery as she only knew how to say 'yes' and 'no' in english and she was painfully shy and the youngest. I had to stay for weeks she wouldn't let me go. Luckily some other mums would tell their kid to look after my dd .. and in no time she had lots of friends and picked up english quickly. Her cantonese is not so good now!

snowmum, oh it's funny as most of my friends, here and HK are quite tall .. i'm 5'5 and medium height. I think i'm 'heung ha' looking (dh says so!) but when i used to go china they tended to think i was 'but mui' .. maybe because they're very short and i'm also quite pale.
I find the HK girls, esp around central are very polished and groomed .. have no idea how they do it!

Well I could probably have lunch in central London but I don't think I could stay very long, about an hour or so.

Mellow, happy to trek into cental London for a quick lunch altho I will have to bring DD with me. Can only do Mondays and Tuesday at the moment. How about next week or the week after? Where abouts in central London are you based?

I can maybe meet up with you in central London. I can take an hour or so out for lunch provided no meetings are booked at that time.

I'm based around London Bridge but can easily make my way to Chinatown. I'm not too fussed as I am on flexi time and can make up my time if I take more than an hour for lunch.

I am also up for meeting and I ususally go up to London on Tuesday. It's probably best if we can meet at 1pm ish as i dont usually get into the office until 1030am and then meeting at 11am until about 1230 - 1pm. I am happy to meet in central london, china town is just 10 mins walk.

Talking about size, I'm not happy with my current weight either. I havent done any exercise since i had my DS and i have put on a stone since i gone back to work last april. I found that all i can think of when i am working from home is what to eat next. It's terrible. I am 5"4 and a half so i am not tiny and i have swimmer's arms, massive, my waist line/belly is just so flabby and the list goes on ... sorry if this is a bit depressing.

Anyway, we are going to Canada in mar to attend my cousin's wedding and it's also a family reunion, I will be seeing relatives that i havent seen for 15 years. I do want to look my best at her wedding I think it's too late now ... the damage is done.

Should we try for Tue 30 Jan? I think I'm going to be really busy next week. Anyone has suggestions of where to go?

That date suits me too. Assume we are thinking of Chinatown and therefore dim sum as its the easiest food for a speedy lunch. Had a quick look at squaremeal.co.uk and they rated this place quite highly. Any others fancy joining us?

Further note on the Chinese Experience restaurant I found, they are having a 50% promotion on dim sum lunches. So we could eat twice as much!!

Sounds good to me. Just realized that I think I know this chef. He is really good. I think he acts as a consultant to the restaurant cos I'm sure he retired a few years ago.

I'm 5'4" and a size 16-18. I was always quite plump as a girl but a size 12 before children. I went back to work last year hoping to lose 1lb a week. I must have lost a total of 5lbs in 12 months. I really do need to lose weight for health reasons. Just don't have the will power.