December 2009

Will started back at Sunshine House one week before their Christmas concert, but that was all it took for him to learn all 12 carols and be the loudest singer on performance day. Ama and Agong came for a quick weekend visit to celebrate Ama's birthday and to attend Uncle Roger and Auntie Sylvia's wedding. Then Nana arrived for her annual visit during Christmas! We took her to Lai Yue Mun with Alex and Nanette for live seafood, took a one day trip to Macau, enjoyed a long boozy brunch at Zuma with the Mons, and shared nice conversations over dinners out and at home. As usual, Nana made Christmas complete for us - thank you for coming out to visit! 2009 was a tough year for most, but for us, it will always be special because it was the year of Sasha's birth. Life with two boys is more wonderful than we had imagined - every moment is filled with so much laughter, surprise, and joy. Looking forward to 2010!!

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November 2009

Two big milestones for the boys this month: Sasha had his man3 yue4 (one month party) and big brother Will turned THREE. We were visited in Taiwan by Azo, all the great uncles and aunties, plus Will's best bud/cousin Keith. The two spent a day at Baby Boss, where they got to try on different professions, their favorites being pizza maker and firefighter. Our time in Taiwan with Ama and Agong came to a close and though we were wistful about leaving, it was also very exciting to get the boys back to HK and settled at home. In HK, we were welcomed by our family here with an outrageously delicious post-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving, complete with Grandma Bellafiore's cream corn casserole. Holiday season, here we come!

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Sasha Shi-Jie Betts

Dear Family and Friends, It is with great pleasure that we announce the arrival of Sasha Shi-Jie Betts. He was born October 14 at 6:47 a.m. in Taipei and weighed in at 3270 g. Both Mom and big brother Will are doing great. Love, Billy, brenda & Will 

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September 2009

We decided to have Baby #2 in Taiwan, as we did with Will's birth. Billy's work has been taking him to a different country every week so it made even more sense for brenda and Will to move to Ama and Agong's house for a few months for the extra help, especially after the arrival of #2. Will had no problems adapting to life at Ama and Agong's and starting at a brand new school. In just two short weeks, he started speaking Chinese 90% of the time! Billy flies in every weekend from whatever city he happens to be in (Bangkok, Tokyo, Singapore), and it is always such a special treat for the three of us to be together - we are savoring every last bit of being a threesome, while eagerly awaiting the impending arrival of Baby Brother!


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August 2009

We wrapped up the summer (and our first anniversary of moving to Hong Kong) enjoying the roster of our usual activities - going to the beach, Sundays with family, and dinners with good friends. Hong Kong's usual hectic frenzy was tempered by the relative quiet of August, as most expats make their way home at the end of the summer. It was nice to have a slower, more languid few weeks, especially since next month, brenda and Will move to Taiwan temporarily to prepare for the arrival of Baby #2!

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San Diego July 2009

We only spent a week in San Diego, but what a week it was! Trips to the beach, the zoo, the park, aquarium, BBQs by the pool and ice cream practically every single day...that is what summer vacation is all about! Will bonded with his cousins Calvin and Charlie and Eric and Steph's two boys, Tyler and Austin. Needless to say, there was a lot of rough-housing between all the boys and Will has returned to Hong Kong with perfectly scraped knees and elbows and a sun-kissed California tan. We had an incredible time with family and showing Will around San Diego (his first trip) and, as usual, gorging on Mexican food. Thank you Nana, Holly, and Keith for a wonderful time! We can't wait to see you all again...in Hong Kong!

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Los Angeles July 2009

Our annual US trip this year started wtih the 4th of July weekend in Los Angeles, where brenda's girlfriends gathered - with little ones! - for a reunion, hosted graciously by Yvonne, David, and Yaya. It was truly a dream come true to spend a weekend together, watching the kids interact and play together. Every night, we were spoiled by David's gourmet cooking and after all the kids were tucked into bed, the girls stayed up and chatted over drinks and snacks, just like the old days (well, almost!). Of note is the continued special bond between Will and Jackie's little girl, whom he nicknamed Sophie-Soph - the beginning of a beautiful friendship (...or MORE?!). What a great reunion, girls! Looking forward to Thailand, 2011!

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June 2009

Ama and Agong came to stay with us for a week, so we took the opportunity to host the first inter-generational Iron Cousin. This time, it was Battle Grill on our balcony. Everyone came to play and it was a fierce battle, with contestants grilling on the spot and judges eating as soon as entries came hot off the grill... Because HK wanted to take extra precaution with the outbreak of H1N1, all nursery schools were closed a month before school ended, so we all got very creative with our time with the kids! This meant lots of trips to the beach, ferry rides to Kowloon and back, exhausting all the parks in HK, and one day, even taking a boat ride around Lantau Island to look for pink dolphins (which we spotted!). It's been an action-packed summer so far, and it will only get better with our upcoming trip to California!

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May 2009

This month really feels like the beginning of summer. Though there was still a lot of rain, the weather warmed up considerably, allowing us to resume our outdoor activities and finally fire up our grill. Mid-month, Eric and Steph flew from San Diego and stayed with us for a week. We had so much fun hanging out and catching up with our old friends and exploring new parts of HK together, like visiting the Big Buddha and South Bay Beach. They were a big hit with Will - the day they left, Will came home from school, ran to the empty guest room and demanded, "Where's Uncle Eric and Auntie Steph?? i miss them!" Thanks for coming, guys, can't wait to see you again in July! We ended the month with the Dragon Boat Festival, a big holiday here that focuses on the dragon boat races. Billy rowed on the Latham team out at Stanley. The weather was miserable, but it was still an interesting Hong Kong experience!

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Osaka, Japan May 2009

Every year now, we take turns planning family trips around the time of Agong's birthday. This year it was Alex and Nanette's turn and they chose Osaka, Japan, an industrial city known for its good food (better than Tokyo, some might argue!). We went to Universal Studios, the Osaka Aquarium, and an interactive play town for kids, which Will and Adrian loved of course. When we weren't entertaining the kids, we stuffed ourselves with great Osaka food (okonomiyake, teppanyaki, kaiseki). We also took the opportunity to celebrate Agong's 64th birthday. Next year, it will be our turn to plan the trip, which will be a special trip celebrating Agong and Ama's 40th wedding anniversary!


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April 2009

April has been our busiest month of back to back and overlapping visitors to date. To start off, the entire Jong family stopped off in HK before their reunion in Bali. We took the opportunity to host a night of lumpia (Taiwanese burritos) and wii. Next, Bindy and her friend Nora tore through town, quickly discovering the wonders of HK nightlife, namely, LKF and Staunton's. In the midst of their visit, the Dains came from London and as soon as Will and Sophie reunited, it was all over - they became thick and thieves! Over the long Easter weekend, we took Bindy home to Taipei, where Nick!! flew in and met us. Needless to say, it was a raucous weekend, overindulging in good food, drink, and - what else? - singing! We all returned to HK absolutely exhausted, but so happy to have been able to reconnect with so many good friends and grateful that you are all willing to travel such distances to spend time together.

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March 2009

Billy had to work in Singapore for a week at the beginning of the month, so brenda and Will tagged along and returned for the first time since moving to HK. It was SO great going back to all our favorite places - Ya Kun, the zoo, Maxwell's, and doing all our favorite things - swimming, catching up with old friends, and running through sprinklers whenever possible. We really miss how kid-friendly Singapore is and the good friends we'd made while we were there. That said, we came back to HK in time to catch back to back visitors - brenda's cousins Jeremy visited from Berlin, Margie came from New York, and brenda's family came from Taiwan, and exciting events - Nate turned 6, Alex and Nanette hosted an awesome Iron Cousin (mushroom battle), a great Coldplay concert, Alex's second fight night (which he won), and the legendary Rugby Sevens in Hong Kong. It's hard to keep up sometimes, but it's a good, FULL life!

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January 2009

We rang in the new year nice and easy, preparing for our big trip to Costa Rica for Margie and Teddy's wedding (album to come). We went to Disneyland (is it bad that it's almost becoming our playground?), rooted for the Chargers (no luck this year), went to the beach, and enjoyed a nice visit from Carolyn and Nate, our friends from Singapore. Right after Costa Rica, we went to Taiwan for Chinese New Year where we made tang yuan2 (first time for us, so not too successful), played Mah-jong, Monopoly Taiwan-edition, poker, and just stayed in and stuffed our faces and cuddled with Azo, Ama, and Agong. Jen moved in with us mid-month, making her move to Hong Kong official and our life here even sweeter.

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Costa Rica January 2009

Planes, trains, and automobiles...that pretty sums up our journey to Costa Rica! After a few mishaps (tickets for San Jose, CA, rather than San Jose, Costa Rica; a detour through Houston; and getting to Costa Rica an entire day late) and many hours of travel (during which Will was an absolute super trooper), we finally made it to Reserva Conchal, Margie and Teddy's wedding site. As soon as we saw our family, tore off our shoes and dug our toes into the sand, it was all so very worth it. Margie made the most beautiful and gracious bride, and Teddy, a most dashing groom. We would have gone anywhere for you guys! Welcome to the Family, Teddy!

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