Marcus' Blog

Happy Father’s Day

Marcus — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 09:07:24 +0000

And here we celebrated with a great lunch. It’s one of the hottest days so far this year. Time to open up the BBQ and throw on some nice salmon. Add some champers to wash it down and we have ourselves lunch.

Maya eats some fruit

Marcus — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 14:43:04 +0000

She’s totally into fruits at the moment. Melon, apples, pears, she just loves it. It’s hard to grab the fork back after she clinches those tiny fists around it!

Breakfast with a view

Marcus — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 11:22:40 +0000

I had the most beautiful view at the breakfast table this morning. Look at Maya enjoying brekkie in her seat on the table.

USS Bin Laden

Marcus — Wed, 25 May 2011 00:20:16 +0000

On my daily commute there’s a new attraction currently; the USS Carl Vinson is currently moored here in the Hong Kong harbour.

US carriers often visit these waters - although a little less lately due to US/Chinese relationships cooling somewhat - but the current visit makes this more important.

The USS Carl Vinson of course being the ship that was involved in sinking the body of Osama Bin Laden after his killing in an action by US Navy Seals in Pakistan earlier in May. The rear admiral of the ship has been asked many questions about it by the local press, but he didn’t go into answering any of them. Except then to say that they routinely have remains of sailors lowered into the sea by request.

The fact that this ship is now sitting here at close distance to my daily commute brings this world event closer than I’d ever expect.

Unfortunately I only have my phone with me to shoot a picture - and given the distance still to the ship it’s not the best one. Nevertheless - is this the ship that put the world’s biggest terrorist to rest? Or is there more to do still?

iPad 2 craze

Marcus — Mon, 23 May 2011 13:51:32 +0000

The craziness around getting an iPad 2 has been much bigger than when the iPad 1 came out a year ago. Interesting to see how this develops - while the first iPad was also a big success - it was more focused within a smaller group of early adopters and Apple lovers. This time it seems everyone is lining up to get an iPad 2.

That gives rise to seeing these silly notices - even displayed outside a store such that you don’t even need to walk in and ask - see picture below…

One tip from me - check out the Mac refurbished page where you can score an iPad first generation for a mere 2588 HKD - or 240 Euro. It is essentially the same thing except you don’t get the built-in camera…

http://store.apple.com/hk/browse/home/specialdeals/ipad

In Shanghai with Nadine and without the kids

Marcus — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:36:13 +0000

We’re in SHanghai for a nice weekend just together. It’s great to escape from it all for a weekend - especially for Nadine!

The hotel we’re in is fantastic and gives a great view of Pudong and the neon show happening there. We went to XinTianDi today and walked around the old French concession area.

Last time I was here is 3 years ago already - in just 3 years the city again has developed in terms of becoming even more cosmopolitan - and easy to get around in. Another thing is that we seem to find more people speaking English around town.

It’s right on its way to become that booming center town of Asia it’s been in the 20s and 30s - it’s going to be a trend setting town for China and the region.

Off to have some Shanghainese diner now in Jing’An.

Maya lacht!

Marcus — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 13:05:13 +0000

Maya is now just over six weeks old and has grown tremendously past few weeks.

She is smiling a lot and likes to chat with mum, dad, en matthijs. Opa en Oma are also in town and she has been spending time with them too!

This morning she was in a good mood so Nadine shot this great moment on ‘film’.

Family complete!

Marcus — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 14:49:59 +0000

Sunday 6 February and we finally can bring Maya home to us. She’s only spend one night extra in the incubator and has been discharged by the hospital. Nadine and I went to Queen Mary Hospital this afternoon and brought her back to DB and our house this afternoon.

It was also the first time Matthijs could finally see his sister and he is ecstatic with having her finally in the house - he told me he already loves her when he went to bed. Cute or not?

Mummy is home - but Maya stays another night(s)

Marcus — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 12:02:20 +0000

Today we planned to pick-up both Nadine and Maya from the hospital. But unfortunately things went a bit different; Maya is a bit jaundiced (geelzucht) which is quite common among newborns, and especially newborn mixed Asian/Western babies. The cause is that the liver takes a little while to get up to speed, which causes a buildup of toxins in the blood that makes the skin turn yellowish. The standard procedure is to keep baby behind for a few more days, while she is being treated with “UV therapy”. Maya is in an incubator and under a UV light, which helps break down the toxins while the liver gets up to speed.

We’re happy with such good medical care here in the Queen Mary Hospital. Maya is completely comfortable in her incubator and in the arms of the many experienced doctors and nurses.

First day pictures

Marcus — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 15:44:18 +0000

It’s been a long day and for Maya it was filled with sleeping, eating, medical routine tests, and visiting hours!

She spends the day with mummy in the hospital - where Nadine and Maya will stay another 2 nights as standard pre-caution.

Unfortunately the hospital does not allow children below 12 years old on the ward, so Maya’s big brother Matthijs will have to wait a few days untill he can see Maya.