Little Carts.

These little metal carts are all over Hong Kong and used to transport everything. We were eating dinner at Le Souk in Soho, and I stopped between bites of lamb and hummus to take this picture of what is such a Hong Kong scene to me. I miss this beautiful city.

Sunday Brunch.

We joined our friends Zander and Andrianna for brunch in Kennedy Town at Catch on Catchick Street. After a lovely breakfast of eggs, toast, and fruit, we all made our way down to Sai Ying Pun for some coffee at Winston's Coffee.

Charlie Brown Cafe.

Auntie Andrianna took my daughter out for a little date in celebration of her seventh birthday, so while they were at the Moomin Cafe, I took my son down to the Charlie Brown Cafe in TST. My husband had introduced the kids to the original Charlie Brown cartoons from 1950 and they have been pouring over them. It was a lovely surprise for my son. We ordered themed desserts and some steamed vanilla milk while we watched some more Charlie Brown cartoons playing on the wall. 

Summer Watermelon.

The weather quickly turned sweltering and muggy in Hong Kong. We've started summer off eating my daughter's watermelon cake, and the leftovers that came with the cake making! Fruit salad on a hot day is always a welcome relief from the heat and humidity. 

A Date Weekend.

Both of the children were invited to spend the weekend with their Hong Kong besties and that meant that the husband and I got to spend some quality time together for an extended period of time instead of just a couple hours. It was lovely! We ate our way around Hong Kong, shopped, and watched movies. All in all, it was a perfect weekend. Here are some of our pictures of our time together. 

Eating At Maison Libanaise.

When life imitates art while you are waiting for your food to be ready! This girl sure is fun to live with! 

Some friends of ours told us about Maison Libanaise, and one Sunday after church, we walked over to check it out. It was beautiful redesigned from the previous Life restaurant and we loved the friendly service that took the time to learn our names and talk to us while we waited. We were there too early to sit down in the main dining area, so we ordered our food to go, but opted to stand at the open window to eat while we people watched the crowds going up the travelator escalator. 

Mido Cafe.

During our time here in Hong Kong, I learned that Mido Cafe is an institution among hipsters and tourists. I'm sure it' popular among the local crowd, but I didn't see anyone other than the young hipster type eating. The service was definitely gruff and to the point. There was no friendly welcome and you were made to feel more an inconvenience than a guest. I ordered a pineapple ice and Hong Kong style french toast. The drink was definitely refreshing after walking from the Star Ferry, but my toast was tuff and tasted like it had been reheated. 

Experiencing The Cat Cafe.

For the past two years, the apartment building we live in does not allow us to have pets (which I'm actually thankful for since I've heard of other people complaining about barking dogs on their floor). However, my animal loving daughter sure misses not having a pet in our home. 

For her birthday, we figured we'd surprise her with a trip to the Cat Cafe here in Hong Kong. I made sure that we ate before the restaurant, simply because I worry about cat hair and other germs in a place that allows the cats to climb everywhere in the restaurant. My daughter was indeed surprised and was able to enjoy a couple hours of petting cats, We did order a couple cat themed drinks for the kids and the husband. 

Gelato At The Star Ferry Pier.

In Tsim Sha Tsui there is a lovely gelato shop right next to the Star Ferry pier. With the muggy weather in Hong Kong we like to sometimes stop in and purchase a little treat to cool us off. As you can tell, my daughter is a huge fan of sprinkles, just like her mother! 

Breakfast At The Australian Dairy Company.

After talking to some friends who live in Jordan, and actually live on Parke Street, we decided to try out the infamous Australian Dairy Company for breakfast one Sunday morning. We arrived around 9:00 in the morning and there was already a line that had formed. The thirteen minute wait wasn't long and moved rapidly.  

Our family has eaten at these traditional Hong Kong breakfast places before, and while they all serve the basic scrambled eggs with a toast that has been generously buttered, they also serve a traditional elbow macaroni soup with sliced up ham for breakfast. My favorite breakfast item that we ordered, of which I had not tried before was the steamed milk with egg white dish. It was custard like in texture and pretty delicious.

A Mother's Day Visit To JUMBO The Floating Restaurant.

With a handful of weekends left of our time in Hong Kong, we have been trying to take full advantage of our Hong Kong bucket list and knock things off. Paying a visit to the floating restaurant in Aberdeen has been on our list back in the United States when we realized we would be moving to Hong Kong and I made a hidden Pinterest board about Hong Kong. Two years later, we finally got on the bus that took us directly to the ferry that would shuttle us across the water to the restaurant. 

The different floors of the floating restaurant offer different menus. We opted to eat on the top floor and were seated right next to the window, providing us with a lovely view of the yachts and the water. We ordered several dim sum dishes and a couple items off the set menu list. As you would expect, the set menu list was a little pricier than the dim sum, but the dim sum was very affordable. 

Brunch With The Girls.

I am thankful for unexpected friendships with other women in similar walks of life as I am at this moment. They always say friendships are for a season or a a reason, and I know most of the friendships I have made here in the past two years are for this season of my life. I'm thankful that God has placed special people in my life right now that encourage me as a homeschooling mother and as an expat mother. We are in the days where we are saying lots of goodbyes, it was lovely to have a farewell brunch one Saturday morning at Corner Kitchen Cafe in Sheung Wan. 

Rainbow Cheese At Kala.

My friend, Andrianna, told me about the rainbow bagel craze happening in New York City, and that it has also turned into the rainbow cheese craze. She discovered that the original maker of the rainbow cheese originated in Hong Kong, and we decided that we all needed to take a trip up to Tseun Wan and try out {Kala Toast} for a rainbow grilled cheese sandwich. 

The restaurant is a walk up shop with no standing tables. However people order and then find a spot to stand and eat their meal. My kids used the stoop of the adjacent shop to polish off their delicious rainbow cheese. 

Time With My Daughter.

I love spending one on one time with each of my children. I find that it's harder for me to accomplish since we've been homeschooling, since I am constantly with my children and when I get an opportunity to be alone, I would prefer to be alone. But I have remind myself that I am investing in the lives of my kids, and they greatly benefit from the time that they spend with one parent and the quality of the attention that they receive when they are out on a date with us.

85 South.

Our family found ourselves on the island one Saturday around lunch time and we figured we'd pay a visit to 85 South for some authentic North Carolina barbecue and sweet tea. With my husband being born and raised right over the border in South Carolina, he loves him a pulled pork sandwich every now and then. This restaurant has Filipino's that work the front and back of the restaurant, so it's a perfect mix for our little family!  

Breakfast With Jamie Oliver.

One of my many favorite things about homeschooling is the flexibility in our schedule. If I want to have breakfast at Jamie Oliver's restaurant and eat some steak and eggs, I can easily find myself in Harbour City sitting at one of his tables with a cocktail in hand. I've learned this year that homeschooling looks different for every person who does it. For our family, it works easier when we take a more relaxed approach to it. Being relaxed helps me as the parent and the teacher, which translates down to my two kids.  

Searching For Doughnuts.

Still on that search for a perfect doughnut in Hong Kong... anything tasty will do, but we have yet to find what we're looking for. We were eating brunch at Stone Houses Cafe and the server suggested we try A1 Bakery. There we found doughnuts, but they were still not exactly what we had in mind. They were pretty to look at though! 

Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream.

We walk past the Lab Made ice cream stand quite often when we are in Tsim Sha Tsui. I had the kids with me one hot afternoon, and I figured a sweet treat would be refreshing. It was fun for the kids to watch the ice cream being made with liquid nitrogen. A good science experiment for them and I didn't have to get the house messy!!! 

Sunday Brunch At The Tong Chung Street Market.

We were in search of bagels and Tim Horton's coffee, but the restaurant was closed on a Sunday, so we decided to make a stop into the Tong Chung Street Market and eat brunch from the food stalls. The staff at the Noodle And Dog stall convinced me to try their shrimp hotdog topped with uni. It was delicious! One of my favorite things about eating in a market setting, is the variety of food choices to eat from! 

Happy Birthday To My Son.

In our family birthday celebrations last all week long and into the weekend. We started my son's ninth birthday celebration in the Philippines and ended it in Hong Kong. In the Philippines we ate at the first TGIFridays that I ever ate at. Back in 1995 it when the restaurant chain made its way over to Manila, it was a big deal. Now there are so many western chains out in the Philippines that it's not a big deal anymore. The hotel we were staying at was right next to the Fridays, and we found ourselves at the restaurant on one of our final nights in Manila. 

Back in Hong Kong, my son got to have what he declares as his best birthday yet. He invited his best buddies and we took them all to see the movie Zootopia in 3D and then out to lunch. He ended his evening building his massive Lego set that he got as his birthday present.