High Tea at the Mandarin

I was so so fortunate to be able to squeeze in high tea at the Mandarin with a bunch of girlfriends.  It was an intersection of my Pure and my DB Mummy friends.  

Afternoon tea at the Mandarin is a firm favourite of the Pure Mummy friends for celebrating imminent births and farewells.  I am a particular fan of their scones with rose petal jam and thick clotted cream!  Yum!

Debbie and Maxine stick out their pinkies.

Carmen and I both gave birth on the same day, so we tell Jonathan and Katy they are twins!

Zosha was our prenatal pilates instructor, and she actually got pregnant with her first child, Orlando, while she was teaching us, so she then joined our Mummy group, having her baby not long after Maxine.  Grace lives in DB and had Pia a week after I gave birth to Katy.

Tiffany and Louise of DB.

Natacha is a DB friend too, with her very patient young lady Keira.

Dr Thondup

We visited the Pediatrician who attended Katy's delivery at Matilda Hospital.  We haven't seen him since Katy was around 6 months old, after all of her neonatal check-ups.  It was great to catch up with him.  He's Nepalese and a great character - a favourite with the children!

At Katy's request, he signed her book and drew a self-portrait.

Guests of Kent

The Friends of Yves were Guests of Kent at Amuse Bouche for a final farewell.  Kent treated us to a fabulous menu of delicious and gorgeous food.  The best I've had at Amuse Bouche!  And indulgent wine too!  Naughty Kent treated us all and would not let us pay!  We are very blessed to have such generous friends - and who are also passionate about food and wine.

TY also came and was an angel.  He very much enjoyed the "chicken", which were really frogs legs.

Our ride home was fun!  The taxi man had the most number of phones of any taxi driver we'd ever met.  Four of them would ring at the same time!  Only in Hong Kong!

A Relaxing Afternoon at the Beach

Our farewell to DB families was a picnic on the beach of course!  The Holbourns, Mendenhalls and McAvoys came, and Jill Kennedy's family also popped in to say goodbye.  We met Tiff and Natacha's families when Ellie, Callum and Katy had swimming lessons at 8 months old in Siena Club!

Now Rick loves playing with Ellie's baby sister Chloe!  Babies love Rick!  He's famous for it amongst all the Mummies.

The kids hung out on the picnic blanket after hunger finally drove them in from the playground.  Katy, Ellie, Chloe, Alessio, Callum and Quinn.

BFFs Forever.

Callum and Katy don't get to have as many playdates these days with Katy over at Suzhe.  But they still love each other!

After the beach, we went over to the Holbourn's new place in Seahorse Lane, where the Dads enjoyed sampling the Chris' extensive Scotch collection with his special whiskey glasses from the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Natacha and I chased naked kids from bath to playroom.  We will miss these fun dates.

Flying with Uncle Rick

And safely back to earth!

Photo Shoot at Mosaic

The Princess insisted on doing her own makeup!

A Delightful Evening at The Drawing Room

Our farewell dinner with Scott and Tiffany Mendenhall was at The Drawing Room.  Chef Roland loves Rick!  I'd never been there before and was excited to go.  We had a lovely lovely evening of fabulous food and wine.  Kosta Browne of course!  Chef Roland treated us to gorgeous white truffles from Alba and gave us a goodie bag of his own tomato sauce and some bocconcini to take home.

A Fabulous Evening at Fa Zu Jie

Our farewell with the Hills and the Shaws was a Fa Zu Jie in Lan Kwai Fong, a private kitchen cooking Chinese food in a French way.  Debbie and I had previously been with the K2B Mummies, and we wanted to bring Maxine and our husbands.  It's a beautiful place with gorgeous decor, and very different and off the beaten path.

My favourite dish was the cold soba noodles with a citrus sauce.

It was a lovely relaxed and elegant evening with Mummy's closest Mummy friends in HK!

An Enchanted Evening on Dofsing

Our farewell with Rich and Yvonne Raymond was on board their liveaboard at DB Marina.  It's perfect weather to enjoy dinner al fresco, with a delicious spread.

It even got a little chilly so Yvonne and I snuggled under the furry blanket.

We met John and Louise McCann through Rich and Yvonne, and we now see them regularly at Mass.  We share a Sydney Catholic heritage in common - John went to Riverview although not John's and Louise went to Kirribilli although not Sancta.  But we have friends in common, including the Pauls and Hagleys.

By the end of the evening, we had all snuggled under the magic furry blanket!

Katy loves playing with John and Louise's nine year old daughter Jessie.  They scrapbooked and watched a movie together inside.

Recruited!

It was fitting to be recruited by Captain America as we prep for our trip to the USA!

Green Lantern wanted to have a photo too!

It was interesting trying to explain the concept of comic book superheros to Katy.

Daddies and Daughters

I'm not sure if Katy or I was more excited for Katy to attend her first ball!  Our friends Grace Chandler, Winnie Bridge and Sarah Lo organise an annual Daddy Daughter Ball, which raised money for the Home of Loving Faithfulness, a home and rehab centre for differently abled children.

Although we did try to emphasise the charitable elements, of course the girls (and Mommies) were swept away by the glamour and fantasy of the evening.

Katy insisted on having a super long ball gown.  Not a dress - a gown!!  We had to buy a gown a size too big because she insisted that the skirt touch the floor!  She looked a vision with her little pink satin gloves, gold clutch bag, crystal earrings, necklace, rings and bangles.

What a beautiful Daddy Daughter couple!

The girls and Daddies enjoyed a dance session with Island Dance.

It was a lovely evening with many close friends - including John and Olivia Hill.

The ladies did a beautiful job of putting together a special evening for the girls.

Elsa Bridge was also there.  She won three raffle prizes.  Katy was a little indignant that she did not win even one prize..."and it was my first raffle"!!

On the way home, Daddy was so exhausted, he almost fell asleep!

Many thanks to Tia and Naan for keeping Katy occupied and relatively mischief free during the whole long day waiting for the ball, and for getting her ready with beautiful hair and make-up!