Hello!
Sorry I haven't posted for so long. I've been so busy! I'll recap what I did, going backwards from today.
Today, We went to Wan Chai again to get our resident IDs! We got them. That means my family can now officially call ourselves residents of Hong Kong. After that we went to another place to buy my school uniform. There's a lot of stuff. Shirts, pants, jackets, jackets... blah blah blah. Yeah.
Yesterday, We went to an art museum and then my dad and I split off to go to Tai Po Market to get a home phone. Ours zonked out last week. Then, for dinner, we went to Tsim Sha Tsui to have dinner at a really fancy, really good steakhouse. I got a mini cheeseburger and a mini filet mingon sandwich . It was YUMMY!
The past week has been a lot of the same stuff- buying things to furnish our home with, relaxing, and then eating a delicious dinner at one place or another.
WORD OF THE DAY!!! Fliffis- a twisting double somersault, usually preformed by a gymnast.
Sneak peek- Professor Nimbus T-shirts are in the making. Check out my dad's blog for more...
Bye!
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Sunday, July 29, 2012
TYPHOON! (and aftermath)
Hello!
Gosh, it's been a while since I last posted. I'll start off by continuing on about the typhoon that I mentioned during my last post.
It was mostly just a big storm until I went to bed that night. Over the course of 12 hours, it escalated from a tropical storm to a typhoon to a severe typhoon. (A hurricane, basically.) By the time I woke up, it was all over the news. Apparently, it was the worst storm to hit Hong Kong in 19 years. Tens of flights had been cancelled and it had flooded in Beijing, up in north China. It looked as you might imagine it outside: a lot of trees down, some power lines out, pretty much chaos. Yeah. Look it up. It was pretty insane.
The next day, we had to get our visas validated. Long story short, we need resident visas, not tourist visas, so we have to do all kinds of stuff to get them. That day, we went to Shenzen, a Chinese city right across the border for literally two minutes before turning around and returning to Hong Kong. The only reason we had to do that is to get a stamp while we went through customs, and we got it. Yay! The next day, We went back to Wan Chai (Luckily, there was no book fair. Read post No. 3.) to finally apply for our visas. We will get them on August 8th. Then we can get our Chinese University of Hong Kong staff IDs, and then we can go swimming whenever we want! The day after wan chai, we went to the HK science museum. It's SO COOL! it has a ton of hands-on stuff, which I love!
Finally, yesterday, we woke up early to see the opening ceremonies for the olympics. We only got to see the end, but it was awesome. Paul McCartney was the best part that I saw. After that, my sister and I went out to Causeway Bay with my sister to do some Bhuddist meditation with our friend Minh, who is totally awesome. He's in his twenties, went to yale, and is a colleigate badminton player. And he's really good at squash. I learned that last night when I played against him.
You really should check out my dad's blog at www.drawger.com/msloan. It has lots of photos of us making our nimbus t-shirts! Let us know in the comments if YOU want a t-shirt! If we get enough support, we will consider it!
The first Hunger Games book edged out the second in our poll. If YOU have an idea for a good poll, post it in the comments!
Aloha!
Gosh, it's been a while since I last posted. I'll start off by continuing on about the typhoon that I mentioned during my last post.
It was mostly just a big storm until I went to bed that night. Over the course of 12 hours, it escalated from a tropical storm to a typhoon to a severe typhoon. (A hurricane, basically.) By the time I woke up, it was all over the news. Apparently, it was the worst storm to hit Hong Kong in 19 years. Tens of flights had been cancelled and it had flooded in Beijing, up in north China. It looked as you might imagine it outside: a lot of trees down, some power lines out, pretty much chaos. Yeah. Look it up. It was pretty insane.
The next day, we had to get our visas validated. Long story short, we need resident visas, not tourist visas, so we have to do all kinds of stuff to get them. That day, we went to Shenzen, a Chinese city right across the border for literally two minutes before turning around and returning to Hong Kong. The only reason we had to do that is to get a stamp while we went through customs, and we got it. Yay! The next day, We went back to Wan Chai (Luckily, there was no book fair. Read post No. 3.) to finally apply for our visas. We will get them on August 8th. Then we can get our Chinese University of Hong Kong staff IDs, and then we can go swimming whenever we want! The day after wan chai, we went to the HK science museum. It's SO COOL! it has a ton of hands-on stuff, which I love!
Finally, yesterday, we woke up early to see the opening ceremonies for the olympics. We only got to see the end, but it was awesome. Paul McCartney was the best part that I saw. After that, my sister and I went out to Causeway Bay with my sister to do some Bhuddist meditation with our friend Minh, who is totally awesome. He's in his twenties, went to yale, and is a colleigate badminton player. And he's really good at squash. I learned that last night when I played against him.
You really should check out my dad's blog at www.drawger.com/msloan. It has lots of photos of us making our nimbus t-shirts! Let us know in the comments if YOU want a t-shirt! If we get enough support, we will consider it!
The first Hunger Games book edged out the second in our poll. If YOU have an idea for a good poll, post it in the comments!
Aloha!
Monday, July 23, 2012
The Wicked Wacky Waterpark
Welcome back!
For today's exciting adventure, my family decided to go to Wan Chai to purchase... VISAS! Yaaay !his is the start of a long process that involves resident IDs, University IDs, Immigrant IDs, and will eventually result in the hallowed privilege of the swimming pool being open to my family.
Yeah. Visas. There was a RIDICULOUSLY long line to get in to Immigration Tower because there was some book fair happening and it looked like half the country had turned up to see it. Well, we go the visas. Woohoo! After, we went to the local art supply store to purchase some silkscreening supplies so that My dad and I can make Professor Nimbus T-shirts! (If you don't know who Professor Nimbus is, shame on you. Check him out at www.illoz.com/msloan. It is FAR OUT.) We all exited the store with new materials, but were faced with a dilemma: Should we face the throngs of people in the closest metro station waiting to get into the book fair, or should we walk to the next station in a force 3 out of 8 typhoon? (Sorry, forgot to mention the weather.) Naturally, we decided to brave the wind and water and walk to the next station.
About halfway through our stroll, we encountered an obstacle: a puddle. And when I say puddle, I mean PUDDLE. This guy was 15 ft across and 4" deep in the middle. We walked around it, jumping over a railing in the process, but encountered another difficulty: a 2" deep whitewater dam leak spewing all over the walkway. We ran through it. The third and final test was a puddle even bigger than the first. Looking back on it, my family's various strategies for getting across seemed to reflect our personalities: My mom and sister briskly tiptoed across, I grabbed all the art supplies, yelled out a good old "BANZAI!!!" and ran across, my dad, being patient and analytically minded, removed his socks and shoes and tiptoed across, and my little brother, being 5 and the maniac he is, sloshed across, taking a huge detour in order to cross it twice and splashing himself as much as possible.
Right now, we're all home, holed up in our apartment while Tropical Cyclone Vicente rages outside the window. It's an 8 out of 8 rating for strength, so it's not a very smart idea to take a tiptoe through the tulips outside anytime soon. I guess I'll get a lot of R&R.
Until next time!
For today's exciting adventure, my family decided to go to Wan Chai to purchase... VISAS! Yaaay !his is the start of a long process that involves resident IDs, University IDs, Immigrant IDs, and will eventually result in the hallowed privilege of the swimming pool being open to my family.
Yeah. Visas. There was a RIDICULOUSLY long line to get in to Immigration Tower because there was some book fair happening and it looked like half the country had turned up to see it. Well, we go the visas. Woohoo! After, we went to the local art supply store to purchase some silkscreening supplies so that My dad and I can make Professor Nimbus T-shirts! (If you don't know who Professor Nimbus is, shame on you. Check him out at www.illoz.com/msloan. It is FAR OUT.) We all exited the store with new materials, but were faced with a dilemma: Should we face the throngs of people in the closest metro station waiting to get into the book fair, or should we walk to the next station in a force 3 out of 8 typhoon? (Sorry, forgot to mention the weather.) Naturally, we decided to brave the wind and water and walk to the next station.
About halfway through our stroll, we encountered an obstacle: a puddle. And when I say puddle, I mean PUDDLE. This guy was 15 ft across and 4" deep in the middle. We walked around it, jumping over a railing in the process, but encountered another difficulty: a 2" deep whitewater dam leak spewing all over the walkway. We ran through it. The third and final test was a puddle even bigger than the first. Looking back on it, my family's various strategies for getting across seemed to reflect our personalities: My mom and sister briskly tiptoed across, I grabbed all the art supplies, yelled out a good old "BANZAI!!!" and ran across, my dad, being patient and analytically minded, removed his socks and shoes and tiptoed across, and my little brother, being 5 and the maniac he is, sloshed across, taking a huge detour in order to cross it twice and splashing himself as much as possible.
Right now, we're all home, holed up in our apartment while Tropical Cyclone Vicente rages outside the window. It's an 8 out of 8 rating for strength, so it's not a very smart idea to take a tiptoe through the tulips outside anytime soon. I guess I'll get a lot of R&R.
Until next time!
Sunday, July 22, 2012
What You Can Do With Plungers & Shampoo
Hello!
A lot has happened since I last posted. I have toyed with Tsimshatsui, played with the local Park n' Shop, and adventured into the deepest depths of none other then a toilet plunger. (I'll elaborate on that later.)
Mostly since I got here, my family has been shopping for basic needs and getting our bearings straight. We met some of my mom's colleagues and, as our one big trip, went to Tsimshatsui in Kowloon yesterday to visit the hotel we stayed at the first two times we came here. We saw some weird stuff there. By the ferry pier, there was a marketing campaign for LSP (Love Sexy Protection) shampoo. They had a bunch of people handing around free samples near a shower rig they had set up. They had a model wearing board shorts in the shower who was washing his hair over and over and smiling like the cheshire cat. A little cheesy, but hey. Free stuff.
Nothing else really exciting happened since we got here except for today, when we took a trip to the market in Tai Po to go have lunch. (I'll post a map of HK so you'll know what I'm talking about.) We went to a delicious noodle joint where we discovered a clone of my cat in the pet shop next door, and on the other side, a hardware store. My dad took an impulse and bought a good old-fashioned toilet plunger after we had some issues on the second day. We had a great time walking around the market, and after taking the subway back, we had to take the bus up the hill to get to our apartment. However, on Sunday only 1 bus runs so there was a line. A long one too. So me, being the fun-loving primate that I an, decided to take the tools I had a hand and craft with them a good time. I only really had two tools: a toilet plunger and a 15x20 foot chunk of open asphalt. They were all I needed.
I started out with some basic stuff- plunger lacrosse, balancing it on my finger. Then I started some more advanced stuff, like plunger flips and dancing, Frank Sinatra- style. By then, I had drawn a sizable crowd. I mean, a white kid playing with a toilet plunger? How can you resist?
By then it was time for the grand finale- a field goal. I placed it on the ground, handle up, lined it up with my target, (A plastic flowerpot with a hedge in it) and gave it a good hard kick.
It was beautiful. It flipped through the air all the way across the open space, pointed straight for the flowerpot. Unfortunately, I must have kicked it a little too hard, as it came to rest by sailing straight for the pot. The pointy handle stabbed through the flimsy plastic of the flowerpot, leaving a good-sized hole at the entry point. I was laughing so hard. It was hilarious. That was when my dad took the plunger away. Ah, well. Fun has its limits.
Thanks for taking the time to read this! I will try to update at least 3 times a week. Make sure to vote on the poll on the right-hand side and play with your own plunger at home! (Just ask for permission and make sure it's clean.)
To comment, click on the little button that says Comments next to the +1 button on the bottom of the post to read past comments or add your own!
Bye-Bye!
A lot has happened since I last posted. I have toyed with Tsimshatsui, played with the local Park n' Shop, and adventured into the deepest depths of none other then a toilet plunger. (I'll elaborate on that later.)
Mostly since I got here, my family has been shopping for basic needs and getting our bearings straight. We met some of my mom's colleagues and, as our one big trip, went to Tsimshatsui in Kowloon yesterday to visit the hotel we stayed at the first two times we came here. We saw some weird stuff there. By the ferry pier, there was a marketing campaign for LSP (Love Sexy Protection) shampoo. They had a bunch of people handing around free samples near a shower rig they had set up. They had a model wearing board shorts in the shower who was washing his hair over and over and smiling like the cheshire cat. A little cheesy, but hey. Free stuff.
Nothing else really exciting happened since we got here except for today, when we took a trip to the market in Tai Po to go have lunch. (I'll post a map of HK so you'll know what I'm talking about.) We went to a delicious noodle joint where we discovered a clone of my cat in the pet shop next door, and on the other side, a hardware store. My dad took an impulse and bought a good old-fashioned toilet plunger after we had some issues on the second day. We had a great time walking around the market, and after taking the subway back, we had to take the bus up the hill to get to our apartment. However, on Sunday only 1 bus runs so there was a line. A long one too. So me, being the fun-loving primate that I an, decided to take the tools I had a hand and craft with them a good time. I only really had two tools: a toilet plunger and a 15x20 foot chunk of open asphalt. They were all I needed.
I started out with some basic stuff- plunger lacrosse, balancing it on my finger. Then I started some more advanced stuff, like plunger flips and dancing, Frank Sinatra- style. By then, I had drawn a sizable crowd. I mean, a white kid playing with a toilet plunger? How can you resist?
By then it was time for the grand finale- a field goal. I placed it on the ground, handle up, lined it up with my target, (A plastic flowerpot with a hedge in it) and gave it a good hard kick.
It was beautiful. It flipped through the air all the way across the open space, pointed straight for the flowerpot. Unfortunately, I must have kicked it a little too hard, as it came to rest by sailing straight for the pot. The pointy handle stabbed through the flimsy plastic of the flowerpot, leaving a good-sized hole at the entry point. I was laughing so hard. It was hilarious. That was when my dad took the plunger away. Ah, well. Fun has its limits.
Thanks for taking the time to read this! I will try to update at least 3 times a week. Make sure to vote on the poll on the right-hand side and play with your own plunger at home! (Just ask for permission and make sure it's clean.)
To comment, click on the little button that says Comments next to the +1 button on the bottom of the post to read past comments or add your own!
Bye-Bye!
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
A Long Journey
Hi, folks!
For those who don’t know me, I’m Dylan Sloan. I am a 12-year-old of the male gender. Yeah. That’s pretty much it.
Just kidding! You can read my bio on the link at the top of the page. In fact, you WILL read my bio. Right? Okay. Let’s get this rolling.
If you didn’t read my bio (gasp) I will inform you of one important fact: I recently left my beloved home of New Haven, Connecticut, Home of Yale University and and the best pizza on the planet. (Oh, snap, NYC.) I left this place because my family was moving to Hong Kong (in China) for a year! Yahoo! We spent two months planning and two days packing, said goodbye to all of our friends, and, on the morning of July 17, we were off.
Things turned bad before we even hit the road to Newark.
We were just getting ready to leave the house for the final time when I heard the phone ringing. Conversation went as follows:
(Phone) Hello. This is United airlines calling to inform you of an important announcement. Press any button to continue. (Elevator music starts playing)
I tentatively pressed five.
(Phone) Good morning, Leslie! (My mom’s name) Due to unforseen circumstances, your flight to Hong Kong has been delayed from 3:15 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. We are very sorry. BEEEEEP.(All of that was in a monotone, by the way.)
(Me) #@#&*%!
Yeah. That wasn’t much fun. At least we got free food at the terminal while we were waiting.
Then, when we got to HK, (At 2:00 in the morning) the van service we had hired left us stranded at the airport because my mom's SIM card was defective, so she couldn't call them. We had to hire to taxis to take us to the separate terminal where we had to pick up our cats, which we brought along. (See attached photos of Ecco and Elvis. So cute.) Anyways, we apparently couldn't retrieve the from the station because our vet hadn't signed the proper paperwork. Guess what we did? We called her and asked her to sign the form and fax it to us. It was sort of tough since she was preforming a surgery at the moment but she managed to pull through and get the form to us 2 minutes before the deadline.
So we're all here! I'll try to post daily and give you guys family updates, ridiculous photos, and a lot of polls.
Au revoir!
Dylan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)