Cool weather!

I am sitting here in my hotel room in Shekou, China, and I must admit, "I'm cold". Ok, ok. I know. It isn't COLD, but it is cool. It's about 69 degrees. I know, I know. That is barely considered cool. Maybe I'm sick...
Sure does feel good though!

It never fails (especially in China)

I am (was) having a glorious morning. The temperature has cooled off to a wonderful 66 degrees and I am sitting on the "front porch" of Starbuck's in Shekou, China, sipping my grande Christmas blend, enjoying the people, the weather, and the coffee. (oh, and a blueberry muffin). Anyway, I am the only one out here until a business man comes along and lights up a cigarette just upwind from me. Smoking has got to be the most rude, most ego-centric, most selfish habit on the face of the earth.

There. I'm finished with my rant and will get back to enjoying the morning.

Christmas lights

Here are a couple of the buildings that are decorated for Christmas in Tsim Sha Tsui East, here in Hong Kong. Pretty huh?

Oklahoma comes up in the polls!

Oklahoma is ranked 8th in the AP, 10 in USA Today, 11 in Harris and 12 in the BCS polls! Not bad, not bad!

Boomer Sooner!

Oklahoma 27 - Oklahoma State 21

And Cowboys make 2!






Big 12 Championship HERE WE COME!

Boomer Sooner!

Nativities

Sally spent the afternoon arranging her Navity Scene collection. I need to go buy some more twinkle lights because it looked I left all mine in Thailand. (Yikes!) We need to put some around our windows.

One down - one to go

Texas 7 - Texas A&M 12!

Now, come on Oklahoma! Beat them Cowboys!

Boomer Sooner!

Bloglines Fix #2

Well, I wrote Bloglines again and they wrote back saying that they have "reset" my BoyneBlog feed. When I went to Bloglines to take a look, sure enough, there were 25 new posts recorded at BoyneBlog. Please let me know if this fixes your feed. If not, you might need to contact them yourself?!?

KCR

The Tree is Up and Lit

Well, this isn't the greatest picture in the world, but this is photographic proof that we have our Christmas tree up!

Only 32 days til Christmas!

Thanksgiving Dinner

Well, this picture doesn't really do it justice, but we had a great Thanksgiving dinner today at noon. We had turky, cornbread dressing, sweet potatoes, jellied cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, salads of all kinds, green bean casserole, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, banana pudding, brownies, cherry cobbler, and coffee! It was a great time.

From our family to yours, we wish you a very Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!

Beware of the Ramp

Why? What's it going to do?

Sooners rated 13, 14, 15

Well, the Sooners are rated 13th in the AP, 14th in USA and Harris polls, and 15th in BCS for week 13.

Boomer Sooner!

Old airport - New plans

For those of you who know the old HK Airport (Kai Tak), here is the future plans for the property.





A ferris wheel? Really?

Smart (aleck) kids

Tonight, over the dinner table, we were discussing the day's events at school. Emily was telling us about her science test. It was on herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. She was explaining what each one was and giving us examples. Finally, Sally asked her if she knew what people were. Emily replied, "Well of course. We are human beings!"

Christmas stores

All over Hong Kong, there are these little junk stores that have all begun to sell Christmas decorations. It's kind of exciting, but it is rather discouraging because we know that most folks here don't know the real meaning of Christmas; just that it is a commerical opportunity.

Christmas Wreath

It is emotionally hard for me to decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving. However, we went ahead and put up our Christmas wreath on the front door of our apartment.

My mom made this wreath for us to take back to Africa with us. However, it has served us well in Asia.

Bloglines problems

Well, I'm not sure this "fix" is really a "fix". I am personally having problems with my Bloglines registering my updates. Please let me know if you are having a problem.

Bloglines Fix

If you are having trouble with your BoyneBlog subscription on Bloglines, here's how to 'fix' it:

Go to your Bloglines "My Feeds". Select "edit", then send BoyneBlog to your trash. Then, re-subscribe to it. That should take care of it. Please le me know if it doesn't.

I am sorry for the inconvenience, but it appears that is the only way to correctly get BoyneBlog's updates. If you haven't subscribed to Bloglines, you might consider clicking the link above. It is a great way to make sure you are up-to-date on all the blogs you read.

Thanks for being a loyal reader!

OH NO!!!!!!!

I just realized that "Casino Royale" doesn't open in Hong Kong until December 21! Rats! I can't believe that I have to wait another month for the silly thing to open.

A whole lot going on!

As you can see from the lack of posts this week, we have had a lot going on. The biggest thing is that Sally had orthoscopic surgery on her left knee. While that doesn't sound like such a big deal, it was actually a "look see" to determine if a more extensive, long recuperating surgery would be necessary. Thankfully, it wasn't! The doctor was able to repair all the damage to the cartilage in one great swoop. She was admitted to the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital in Happy Valley around 11 am, had surgery by 2, was on crutches by 4:30 and was discharged by 6 pm. She will be on crutches for 3 days and has a followup appointment on Tuesday.



One of our biggest concerns was that since she was going to the Sanatorium in Happy Valley, they just might keep her! (Just kidding! ;-) )

Oklahoma 36 - Baylor 10

Yeah, baby!

Boomer Sooner!

McDonald's in China

I have been watching a little morning CNN. Thankfully, it is a low news day, so they are showing how McDonald's is attacking China. They are showing how a drive-through at a Chinese McDonald's is a novelty right now. They were interviewing one customer who had just recieved his food and he said "I think it is great they are they bringing modern Western innovations to China".

The "drive thru" as a modern Western innovation. Whodda thunk it?!?

(Be sure to turn up the sound to hear the McDonald's Rap in Chinese if you visit the website link above)

Memorial Stadium

Here is Google Earth's view of Memorial Stadium at the University of Oklahoma. It is a little better image than the blanket below.

Boomer Sooner!

Bloglines Troubles

I have noted, and a few faithful readers, that Bloglines doesn't seem to be updating my new posts. This is not good news. I have contacted them and am awaiting their reply.

Meanwhile, thanks for your continued support. If you any of you know what I need to do to fix this problem, please let me know.

Thanks!

BoyneBlog Beta

Well, BoyneBlog has made the "switch" to beta. Notice the labels on each post and the list to the right. I'll be able to change the template easily and perhaps often.

Oh, this is going to be fun!

Casino Royale - I can't wait!

Ooh, from the looks of the trailer, Casino Royale is looking to be a great fun time. I can hardly wait. You can watch the trailer here.

.

Oklahoma 34 - Texas Tech 24

Boomer Sooner!

Sorry Mike....

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Well, all over Hong Kong, it is starting to look a lot like Christmas! It is shaping up to be a fun time in Ole Hong Kong! I'll post more pics as things get decorated!

Central Pier, Star Ferry

Inside the Star Ferry

End of an Era

Today is the last day that the Star Ferry will use the Central Pier. Folks are up in arms about them tearing down the clock tower. Crowds had filled up the outer areas of the pier to ride the Star Ferry for the last time out of the old building.









Even the news thought it was worth putting this reporter on the boat to show the great crowds that were on the ferries today.

5 Stars?

Yeah, right!

Fun Food

Tonight, I am in China at a meeting. We had a Chinese banquet. Normally, when I hear those words, I am pretty excited. Mostly, that comes because I am used to Southern Chinese (Cantonese) cooking and I am a big fan. I am in a beautiful hotel, 5 star, in fact. I was expecting great things.

It was not to be.

First, the little waitress girl told a fib when she said it was Cantonese cuisine. Well, we are in that area, but the recipes didn't originate here, let me tell you! They served a sort of pita-bread thing that looked like a fat taco, except white and soft. You were supposed to put a piece of pork fat with spicy rice in this and eat it, evidently with your chop sticks. Everyone I know who knows Cantonese cuisine, said they had never seen this before; neither had I. We also had a nice bowl of beans. Well, it was nice until I found out that the fat-back in the beans wasn't fat-back; it was sea-slugs. Yummy. Then among many other dishes, they served us some shrimp on some fried rice. I was a little disappointed, but not surprised, to find that we had to "clean" our own shrimp. That is standard operating procedure with shrimp in China. However, I can honestly say I wasn't delighted to find that the rice wasn't rice, but fried worms. They looked kind of like maggots, but they kept saying they weren't. They said that they were some sort of grub, but BOY(!), they looked like fried maggots to me.

Well, the dinner is over and I am back in my room. I have a nice bag of Peanut M&M's over in my suitcase calling my name. Too bad it's too late and I need to be asleep!

Oklahoma 17 - Texas A&M 16

The "Twelth Man" helps Oklahoma win!






Boomer Sooner!

The Hungry Traveler goes "beta"

Yep, that's right! I've made the switch to beta.blogger. It will be especially helpful on The Hungry Traveler, as it will allow users to click on a label to see all the rated restaurants in Macau, for instance. It will also allow users to see all of the restaurants with a 3 Fry rating.

I will also convert BoyneBlog, but it is too late tonight to continue to work on it.

Friday Fun

We have some dear friends here from Chiang Mai and we have been "living it up" here in Hong Kong. Today, we took a quick trip to Krispy Kreme, then went to Stanley Market for a little shopping. Tomorrow, we are going to get some dim sum and see what else we can get in to.

Thanks J&T for coming to see us!

Cimaron update

Cimaron is currently taking a turn to the southwest. The picture just below here is a current picture, updated by the Tropical Storm Risk website. So, at this time, it looks like we might miss this one.

Typhoon Cimaron on the way!

Yep, it looks like we might be able to sqeeze off one more typhoon before the end of the "season". Typhoon Cimaron has stalled in the South China Sea and is forecast to give a direct hit to Hong Kong. Fortunately, it is also set to weaken before it actually hits us.

Here is the latest forecast track for 48 hours out: