Sarah's prom - June 7, 2010

So it all began, on a sunny, blue sky Monday afternoon! Sarah's friends, Juliana and Devin came over to spend the afternoon getting 'ready' for the big night! I came home from work early, and we had a giggly afternoon. Forgot how much work goes into these affairs.... You can see Sarah's dress - blue - hanging at the back.

Devin, Sarah's friend from Mexico, who also graduated this year is going to NY to study esthetics, and brought her magic kit to transform the girls.

The weapons of mass destruction. And a hair raising view to the boats below in Aberdeen Harbour :)
\

Sarah's hair ended up in a simple braid across her forehead, and a silk flower over one ear. The original flower girl!

Poor Meg was still in major study mode for her LAST exam, science, and didn't have time to waste. She did come up to say goodbye, and then back to the study room until... midnight. The girls' dresses - both made by local tailors, both dresses found online, and copied by extremely competent seamstresses. Lots and lots of chiffon! Sarah's had a train, and as she says, her dress 'looks like water when I walk!"

Fun with chiffon in the wind! On our way first to the HK Yacht Club (posh!) to meet with friends for a quick visit and pictures, before going to the JW Marriott Hotel for the big party!

Last pose with Devin, and off we go!

At the Yacht Club - pictures with some of Sarah's closest friends - Sarah, Keisha, from the Philippines, Juliana from Austria, and Maren (born and raised in Hong Kong, parents from Vancouver). Lots of long dresses this year. A beautiful day, not too hot (about 30), and blue skies on the waterfront.

Our little girl is all grown up.....

Down the escalators to the ballroom of the JW Marriott. I think I sang "Here she is, Miss.. Hong Kong...." as they came down. I was there strictly as paparazzi that night!

One proud dad! Bob was the MC that night - his 23rd, he says. 84 grads in all for this class.

A quick parental shot, and then Sarah was whisked away by her friends. I stayed for a half hour, and then left them to their fun.

Sarah and some of her girlfriends.

The ballroom for dinner and entertainment. I snuck in to take some shots before they let everyone in! Gorgeous.

The theme that night was "Romeo and Juliet" and each table was named from a character. Lots of IB English going on:)

Sarah (back) and her friends ready to have some fun! Mom exits, stage left.

After the event, Sarah and Juls came back to the flat to quickly change, and then go to the 'after prom' party - a parent had booked a small club for all of the grads (unlimited drinks and snacks!), and they danced the night away! Sarah stayed overnight with Juls (Meg had an exam at 8am the next morning...), and I hear she got to bed at 7:00am! Great night for her, and her parents are still recuperating.

CNY 2010 - Last night and a BBQ

Our last night with Jan, Sheaby and Ro - a bbq and volleyball at Sham Wan Twrs. We celebrated Bob's upcoming birthday, and just celebrated being together. Great way to end a great visit!

CNY 2010 - Dinner at the Dai Pai Dong - Java Street

Last night we went out to dinner to the Java Road food market for dinner at the daipai dong. This is very "local" as everyone has told us. Jen and Bob have been a few times. We took a bus and the MTR (through very hot still wet air tunnels) to arrive at a very busy part of Hong Kong. The restaurant area is in northpoint area - north part of Hong Kong island.

The Daipai Dong is a long busy crowded and loud area on top of a food market. The huge space is divided into little individual restaurants, not separated at all except for different chairs or some shrubs. Each restaurant is owned by an individual and people sit at the tables of their favorite restaurant. Some areas were busy to overflowing, others had very few patrons.

According to Wikipedia Dai pai dong is a type of open-air food stall once very popular in Hong Kong. There aren't many left, only 28 in all of Hong Kong with the license. Sometimes dai pai dong is used to describe open air food stalls along the roadside with foldable tables, but to have the official name, there are licenses given out by the government.

We at salt and pepper squid, breaded spicy fish served on pieces of toast, banana wrapped chinese rice with pork, barbecued chicken, lemon grass vegetable dish, lettuce wraps with spicy pork, chinese fried rice, breaded garlic prawns and more!

Our restaurant is owned by two brothers. One brother is a well known chef who is internationally trained. He opened the restaurant which is constantly busy. The food is just fabulous. We tried everything. Shea loved the lettuce wraps! The lazy susan was overflowing with very interesting looking dishes which arrived in a constant flow from the kitchen. We had wine and chinese beer and the kiddies had cokes!

For dessert, the waiter brought out little individual cheesecakes, lemon, blueberry and some tiramisou (which nodded to the Italian version, but not quite there!).

All in all, a very loud crowded noisy and communal supper. We yelled at each other over the roar and laughed and really enjoyed each other's company. Dave McMaster and his family were there along with friends from Vancouver. And Mike Luciani , who teaches with Bob and is friends with my neighbour in QB, did the ordering for us. Wonderful!

CNY 2010 - Going to school!

We've had a wonderful day at CDNIS today. We were all dressed for school and out of the door by 6:40 :) The bus took us right to school and we went to the career centre to wait out the hour before classes. Meg and Sarah's friends descended and we had a really nice time meeting everyone. Then we dropped off Shea and Rowan to their classes and had a great tour of Jen's office and the LLAC, this time without people in it :)

Rowan had a double chinese class, and received homework! Shea attended a student council meeting. I saw them both at the cafeteria with their buddies having lunch. I had a great day in a Grade 7 classroom, lots of technology and a great teacher to shadow.

We gathered in Jen's area after school and took the bus home, buoyed by the wonderful welcome we received throughout the day :)