31 January 2011
30 January 2011
Scavenger Hunt Sunday | Texture
Category: Chinese New Year, food, Hong Kong, photos, Seen in Hong KongAuthor: Buckeroomama



28 January 2011
"A bud is a flower-to-be. A flower-in-waiting.Waiting for just the right warmth and care to open up.It's a little fist of love waiting to unfold and be seen by the world…”~from the book Bud, Not Buddy
27 January 2011
{Edit: I am super excited today! You know why? The wonderfully “real” Becky from Life with Kaishon interviewed me and made me feel like a celebrity. You could find out a couple of tidbits about me that I’d never shared before… *giddy, giddy*}
You know what’s coming next, right?
Down come Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum.
Up goes Super Boy.
Landing smack on the chair.
~~—~~
This was one of the outdoor performances at Ocean Park.
Zoë was watching this mini acrobatic show with eyes round as saucers and mouth agape.
PSA: Kids, don’t try this at home.
26 January 2011
We spent a lazy afternoon with friends at a local playground.
En route to the playground was this huge marble ball that rotates and spins.
The kiddies spent quite a few minutes just playing with the ball –getting their hands wet
and following the ball as it spins.
I was going to say, “Who needs expensive toys?”
when it struck me that this marble ball probably costs a small fortune.
Plus, it would not fit inside our house.
For more Black and White Wednesday pictures, please head on over to The Long Road to China.
For more WW fun, please visit A Beautiful Mess, Seven Clown Circus, Parenting by Dummies, Live and Love Out Loud, and 5 Minutes for Mom.
25 January 2011

Zoë: Mommy, bad news!Me: What happened?Zoë: Somebody drank your bubble tea.Me: Really? Who did that?Zoë: I don’t know. It’s magic.Me: *Raises eyebrows*Zoë: For real, Mommy. I think it’s magic.Me: Did you drink some?Zoë: *All wide-eyed innocence* No, I didn’t.Me: Zoë, I need you to tell the truth.Zoë: Okay, Mommy. I drank some. Sorry.
23 January 2011
21 January 2011
Chinese New Year is almost upon us and pretty much everywhere we go, we’d see pots and pots of chrysanthemums and peonies and baby oranges around. (For a brief explanation of Chinese New Year symbols, please see HERE.) The photo above is of a peony bud from one of the many pots that were everywhere at Ocean Park when I took Zoë there today for a play date.
19 January 2011



18 January 2011
Hong Kong Sinfonietta | An Afternoon with Fantastic Creatures
Category: activities, communal global, Hong Kong, Josh, music, photosAuthor: Buckeroomama
On Sunday we were treated to an afternoon of magical music. My friend, G, invited both Josh and me to listen to the Hong Kong Sinfonietta do Alasdair Malloy’s Fantastic Creatures. I was a bit apprehensive as to how Josh would do sitting through an entire program of just orchestral music. He is not one to sit still. He fidgets. He squirms. He taps. He is… a boy. He didn’t disappoint.

What I didn’t expect was how much he thoroughly enjoyed the concert. Yes, he did all the things I knew he would do. He even got up and danced in the aisle (!) until an usher came by and asked him to sit down. He had a blast, as much a blast as a boy could have at an orchestral concert.
What made this concert special and unlike the many that I’d attended with my parents when I was a child is that this particular concert is filled with magic. Magic in the chosen pieces, which ranged from classical music by Strauss and Stravinsky to the more modern Under the Sea (from The Little Mermaid) by Alan Menken. Magic in the way the music is woven together, in how each number is presented. Throughout the concert, Alasdair Malloy, dressed as a wizard in purple robes with matching pointy wizard hat, engaged the audience –in turns introducing the pieces and the instruments, getting the children to stand up and wave, getting the grown-ups to do some silly bits as well, playing an instrument or two himself.
Some of the members of the orchestra got into character and wore glittery wigs and pointy wizard hats, adding to the fun and magic of the concert. Even the conductor, Lio Kuokman, got into the act by making his entrance in wizard robes and pointy hat. He also gave a quick mini-lesson on how to conduct and got the audience conducting along with him.
All in all , it was a truly magical, thoroughly enjoyable, and amazingly fun concert. Josh, –who, during bedtime prayers we sometimes have to wait a long time for him to just think of something for which to be thankful, –immediately said, “Why, the concert, of course!” when asked what he was thankful for that night.
Thank you, G!
16 January 2011
1. Looking Up – This was what I saw… workers up on this thingamajig sawing down a few branches off which were hanging over the road.
2. A Different View
3. Half
4. Hair – I’ve always loved the soft, fine wispiness of Zoë’s hair and I love how her hair has natural coppery highlights when it catches the sunlight.
5. Abstract – I kind of like how this shot of some holiday lights turned out. I was playing around with my camera settings and tried to shoot on manual. Slow shutter speed, deliberately moved my hand. Then on processing, I’d duplicated a couple of layers, “transformed” [Ctr+T] each to get random overlays, and played around with different blending modes.
Do head on over to Ramblings and Photos and check out other entries for Scavenger Hunt Sunday.