Yesterday when we woke up it was sunny and warm with blue skies and no wind. When I got to kindergarten to drop Annika off, the EA at the drop-off door said that there has been a Level 1 Typhoon warning issued, and if it got to level 3, I'd need to pick her up. This was the first I'd heard of such a thing- it didn't look like any storm was about to happen. I had plans to take Leila swimming with our friend Jocelyn and her daughter Rachel, and Jocelyn told me I shouldn't worry- level one is pretty meaningless, and she and her husband had been following the storm (actually they were hoping that a typhoon would hit so there'd be a day off work, and they think they're kind of exciting), and it looked like it would pass us. She said that in the last two years, there haven't been any, but the first couple years in Hong Kong there were lots- some even as high as level 11.
By the time we went to bed, wind had picked up, and I wondered if Annie would have school. And then this morning we found out that it had been upgraded to level 8, and schools across Hong Kong were cancelled! Annika and Mike were both pleasantly surprised to have a day off. The wind was howling, and it was raining on and off. We could see that the streets looked pretty dead- buses weren't running, and shops were closed. It looked like we should just stay put at home. After we had breakfast and were all dressed and ready for the day, I took the girls down to the clubhouse to run around in the playroom. Turns out the clubhouse was closed! So what do you do when you're stuck in a tiny apartment for the day?
Well, we popped some popcorn and I put on Aristocats, which they never want to watch because they say it's too long. Well... today we had all the time in the world! It was also very nice that Annika had lots of new toys from her birthday party that they could play with.
The only action we could see on the streets is that the window of a hair salon had broken, and I noticed police surveying the damage. Also, all the pool chairs had blown around and it looks like there are palm tree branches and one of the pool chairs floating in the pool.
My most wonderful husband let me nap in the afternoon and took the girls across the street to McDonald's (which evidently was still open) for some ice cream. Then they went to the arcade upstairs and played arcade games. Mike said the place was hopping. I guess our kids weren't the only ones with cabin fever! When they came back, we somehow ended up watching Sharon, Lois and Bram videos. The girls loved them, and it made Mike and I so nostalgic. We hadn't realized Eric Nagler is so talented... He's the Aaron Parker of the group!
By late afternoon, the typhoon had been moved back to a level 3 (does it just go level 1, 3, 8 or are there levels in between? That's what I've been wondering) so we went back across the street, and went to a Japanese fastfood place called Yoshinoya for some noodles. The clubhouse was then open again, so the girls could run off some steam, and went to bed nice and early.
All in all, it was a good "Typhoon Day" for us. But the wind is still howling and it is still at level 3, so now I am hoping that it will die down tonight and tomorrow will be back to normal. One home day was good... more than that would be a little much!
