Is M going to live with us? This is actually a very good question. And oddly it doesn't have a very straightforward answer.

Technically according to her contract, we have to sign that we are providing her with accommodations including a bed, a chest of drawers and (I am not making this up) access to fresh water for drinking and bathing and (my favorite) sunlight.

Our flat has a "helper's room" adjacent to the kitchen. It is a room that's about 6 feet wide by almost 7 feet deep. It has it's own little bathroom complete with a shower. The bathroom has a window and the room itself has a nice big window. Gotta provide that sunlight, right?

Here in Discovery Bay where we live, most of the apartments do have a helper's room. I would say that of the apartments we saw while we house hunted 4 out of 5 had them. So 80%. Some floor plans have them right off the kitchen and some have them back by the bedrooms.

Currently our helper's room is known as "the garage". It has bikes, the beer fridge, our empty suitcases/luggage, the vacuum and broom, the mop and bucket. Sometimes we hang laundry in there to dry. It's a much needed walk in closet in a house that doesn't have much storage.

I do know a few people who have their helper's room actually occupied by their helper. But more people I know have verbal agreements with their helper allowing them to "live out" regardless of what the contract says.

M's contract says she's living in that room off of our kitchen...

B and I went to tour a school today. We were sort of underwhelmed by it. Which is easier. G could actually start there in August and I was fearing that I'd love it and want to enroll her right away to ensure she gets a spot there for primary. But keeping her where she's at is going to be SO much easier. It's so much closer to our house and D will be starting there in August so they'll ride the bus together and both be closer to home. So that is settled. And I am relieved about it. I think B and I are both relived about it. I'm telling you: the schooling for the kids is the most stressful thing about this whole move.

After we finished the school tour we hopped in a taxi and headed back toward the city and went into a mall by the MTR station to eat lunch. The food court was unlike anything I'd seen. It was about 15 different restaurants. All nameless. Except for the signage that simply said what country's cuisine they served. All Asian countries. And Portuguese thanks to Magellan. (History that I don't know enough to tell you about.) We picked Japanese. I don't know why. I think it was the first one we both agreed on.

After lunch we were ambling through the mall and I saw an Optical store. I have needed new glasses SO badly. Getting new glasses has been on my list since before we even got here. My current glasses could crumble to pieces any minute. They are crooked, the lenses are scratched and they are on their last leg. Have I mentioned I am not a candidate for LASIK and I haven't been able to wear contacts since I was pregnant with D? It sucks!

I've done enough research to pretty much know how it works here. You go in to buy glasses and they give you a free eye exam. They don't have vision insurance like we do in the USA so it's a simpler and cheaper process from what I understood.

I timidly walked in and started perusing frames. A guy came over to help me and thankfully he spoke really good English and was very friendly. So I asked him about the process and if I needed an appointment. He confirmed what I already knew and said I didn't need an appointment. They could give me an exam and have my glasses ready this weekend. Sign me up!

Then I really started looking at frames in earnest. I found two frames I liked and then looked at the prices. This girl right here, the one who unintentionally always picks out the most expensive model of whatever I'm looking at, was so excited to see that both frames I chose were from the cheap rack. $144 per frame. HKD. That's $18usd. For frames to eyeglasses. That's insanely cheap! So I decided to get 2 pairs of glasses today which also scored me a discount on the second pair.

I got an eye exam and two pairs of glasses with upgraded lens coatings for $150usd total out the door. No insurance discussed or taken. Isn't that nuts?

The doctor was quiet and efficient and spoke good English as well. It dawned on me while I was reading eye charts that I wondered what Chinese eye charts are like. Like what characters do they use? I mean if an Asian person who doesn't know our alphabet goes to get an eye exam, what is on the chart they have to read? I almost asked this doctor 5 different times and I just couldn't figure out how to phrase my question so that A) it would be simple enough English and B) he wouldn't think I was the biggest idiot ever. I was more afraid of the latter. I never did ask him.