Gerbers Gone Ga-Ga!

My favorite thing is to go where I've never been.
--Diane Arbus


Even after living in Hong Kong for 6 months, in the last 2 weeks, I think I've gone to a hundred places I've never been. And even going back to some of the same places, they couldn't have felt any different than on this crazy and wild adventure with the Gerber Girls...

In a jam packed 7 day adventure, we were able to see Hong Kong from top to bottom and even managed to squeeze in Macau and Shenzhen! It was non-stop laughs, non-stop memories, and non-stop fun! I could never include all of the things that we did, but I can certainly post the pictures which are worth a thousand words... =)

The night of arrival, touring the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui.

The girls first day and first adventure, the BIG BUS tour! The only way to sightsee in HK!

Then an evening at the peak including dinner and gelato! (We love Amy's floating head in this picture!) =)
Day 2 included lunch at the Shangri-La buffet! Chocolate fountain included! =)


Day 2 also included shopping at the famous Stanley Market! We haggled the day away for good deals!


Day 2 evening included the beautiful HK laser light show from a junk boat!!

Day 3 began with some VIP treatment on our ferry to Macau! (What a way to travel!!!)

Day 4 was DISNEY DAY! This included a parade down main street where the 5 white girls became the main attraction... =)

Day 5 took us to Ngong Ping for a nice, relaxing 20 minute cable car ride to see....

The largest bronze buddha in the world!!!

Day 5 was finished off with a 5 hour karaoke session with our favorite German friend!!

Day 6 was all about the Pandas on our Ocean Park adventure! Roller coasters included!


The end of day 6 was completed with a delicious crab dinner and mango dessert with some of my most wonderful friends!


Then we had to end with a bang on Day 7 and hit the road up to Shenzhen, China where we lived like queens in the Futian, Shangri-La Hotel! And enjoyed the free shower caps!

And then what else could we do except to top it off with a 3 hour spa/massage experience in pajamas? =)


This barely skims the surface of what happened in those 7 days of craziness, but you can talk to the girls if you want to hear more! =) It was a great experience for everyone though and I'm happy to say the Shangri-La is still standing after the attack! =)

Whew, so after all of that madness, it was time to put on my big girl pants, man up, and face one of my greatest fears in the world...

Needles... hospitals... blood... IVs... scalpels... you get the idea.

So if you read the last post, you saw where I tore my left knee ACL at the end of September and was advised to take surgery to repair it if I ever wanted to play volleyball again. The thought of not being able to play volleyball or tennis again was more painful to me than the idea of needles in my knee so I buckled and agreed to the surgery for October 15.

I'm happy to report that the surgery went well and there were no complications! My sister was "lucky" and got to stay in the hospital with me for the hours before and after. She also got to see me super hyped on anesthesia and pain medication. Wheeee! I can't recollect all of it, but I do remember hassling every nurse near me for water.... which they all sternly refused. Mean nurses... Actually, they were all super cute and I couldn't be mad at them because they kept asking me if I needed to to "wee-wee". How can you possibly be angry with someone that keeps a straight face when they ask you that? =)

Anyway, after a long 2 days in the hospital, the doctor released me and Karyn and I made our way back to the hotel. We got to spend one more night together before she hopped back on the plane on Saturday afternoon. =( It's sad to be alone again after more than 2 weeks of non-stop family time, but my HK friends have been really sweet and have come to visit, brought me flowers, and kept me company! Yay for friends!

So now it's just me and my computer for a week or more, so I'm looking forward to catching up on emails, facebook updates, TV shows, and movies I've missed! It will be a super awesome recovery time... =)

Hope you have a wonderful week and I love you all!!

Hugs and love,
Sonya Rae

Goodbye Summer... Hello More Summer!

Forget injuries, never forget kindness.
-Confucius


I forgot that in Hong Kong there is no such thing as the end of summer... Today is September 24 and it is a scorching 91 degrees outside. The humidity is finally letting up, but there is still enough sun to get a tan! =) Amazing...

The last month has been very busy and full of fun and I've been really enjoying life as much as possible! I've made some really great friends through my volleyball group and they've really helped complete my transition into HK life! It all started with the Junk Boat Trip we had about a month ago....

This pretty much sums up the day!! It was a lot of fun and the boat was amazing! We even had waiters on the boat who brought us food on silver platters!! =) We drove all the way out to a beautiful secluded beach in Sai Kung and spent a few hours playing volleyball, jumping off the top of the boat, and just swimming around! Great time with great people!



After the junk boat trip, my life became a mess of social events!! I had my salsa classes, hiking trips, bowling nights, beach volleyball on Saturdays, movie/dinner nights throughout the week, theater outings, and our normal Sunday night volleyball! Not to mention, I was still working 6 days a week!! One of the highlights from the rest of the month was a karaoke night that I organized with my friends at a Karaoke club in Wan Chai! It was an evening to remember and we sang songs for nearly 8 hours!!!! It was incredible! I basically didn't have a voice the next day after all the screaming/singing we had done!

Again, great times with great people!

And that brings me to... now... As some of my family members have heard I had a very unfortunate accident this past weekend and I... duh duh duh... tore the ACL in my left knee. *sigh* We were playing our Sunday night vball and I was passing in the back row. I was sure the hit was going to come to my left so I planted my foot and started to turn, however the ball actually came to my right. My whole body twisted, but my foot did not. Next thing I knew, there was a very loud "POP" and I fell over in pain (AFTER I successfully dug the ball by the way). Then I crawled off the court and I started to feel a little better and thought I'd just twisted it. I even walked home (slowly). But when I woke up the next morning, I couldn't bend my knee at all and everything was painful. So this whole week I've been in and out of the doctors office and had an MRI to show that I have indeed, tore my ACL. Apparently, this means surgery if I want to continue my life playing competitive sports and being active without too much difficulty. It is a HUGE bummer, especially with my amazing sister/cousins/aunt coming in exactly 1 week!!! Grrrr! I have another doctors appointment tomorrow where we will nail down exactly what needs to be done and when. He seems to think that I can delay the surgery for a few weeks until my family is home so that I could do more things when they're here. Again, slowly, but better than if I went in for the surgery now. We'll see.

For those of you that know me, I'm deathly afraid of needles, blood, IVs, etc... and have never had a surgery before. The thought of it really rolls my stomach around. Luckily for me, I have wonderful friends here who have been extremely supportive and awesome in visiting me, writing me emails/notes to make me feel better, and taking me to my doctors appointments. But I'll still appreciate all of the happy thoughts/prayers/love that you guys have for me from across the ocean! Every little bit helps! But at least you can rest easy that I am in good hands with the people and doctors here.

So, that pretty much sums up my life for the past month!! The hotel is SUPER busy right now with all of the conventions and trade fairs which come in October/November. Of course, I choose now to get injured so that I can't help out. Whoops. I'll probably try to find a job working in the back office so I can at least contribute doing SOMETHING!

So I hope all is well for everyone back home and I miss you all like crazy! Especially with all this time on my hands! Write emails! =) I love them!!

Hugs and love,
Sonya Rae

Miss me?

You know you're getting old when you stoop to tie your shoelaces and wonder what else you could do while you're down there."
-- George Burns


Hello all your blog lovers out there...

So in my nearly 4 month absence from the blog scene, I have received many complaints about my lack of blogging... I truly apologize for abandoning you!! But, I will have to say that this 1 every 4 month blogging thing might be the more normal pattern here. Life in HK is so much different mostly because I am working... ALL THE TIME. I didn't realize how hard 6 days a week of work would really affect my life, but it most certainly has. PLUS working in housekeeping is just such a physical job that by the end of my 6 day work week, all I want to do is flop on my bed, order room service, and sleep my entire day off. At least, I have been feeling that way. I get a little more adjusted every week (kind of like running a marathon!) and now I'm getting to the point where I can still drag myself up out of bed and walk around in the beautiful city for awhile! =) Hong Kong really is beautiful...

SO ANYWAY, to catch you up on life in the past 4 months, SO much has happened! 1) My parents came to visit me in May!! SO much fun and I got to take some days off and play with them in the city! We went to our old hangouts, saw our old apartment, saw some new sites, and did lots of walking! Good times and it was certainly hard to say goodbye...



June rolled on in and brought a new boss into the Housekeeping department with it! It was a lovely (yet strict!) lady from Germany who would only be there for 3 months to "shape up" the department. And shape she did... She had me hopping from day one with project after project and it was an amazing learning experience. We worked really well together and in a sad turn of events she had to leave suddenly last week due to a tumor on her spine... Very sad and she's now back in Germany in the hospital getting good treatment I hope.

However, BEFORE we skip ahead to August, there was the amazing trip home I got to make at the end of June and stayed over for the 4th of July!! Got to go to one of my best friend's wedding, did LOTS of boating, saw LOTS of family, and had LOTS of fun! I had an amazing couple weeks enjoying the Indiana/Illinois/Michigan weather!



In other sad news to report, the end of this trip also ended my relationship with Ricky. There were a lot of things that contributed to this break-up but in the end, it mostly came down to culture/life issues and choices. Relationships are hard enough as it is and then to add in the cultural mish-mash was just too much for us to handle. It created a lot of jealousy, problems, arguments, and finally a break-up. I certainly don't regret a day of it though and he was and is a wonderful person. I'm so glad he had a chance to meet so many of you and I thank you all for your friendship and kindness to him. It really meant so much to me.

Coming back to HK, I decided to get myself a little more involved in the city... so I joined a salsa dancing class! =) Whoooo! I've done 3 lessons so far and I'm loving it! Learning a lot and I think I'll continue to take the classes for awhile! Hopefully get to some more advanced steps soon! I also have gotten SUPER involved with a volleyball group here which plays every Sunday night! Different people play every week based on a sign-up sheet, but it can get REALLY competitive. I'm on of the only girls that plays but they're happy to have me! It took me awhile to get back into the swing of it, but now my skills are definitely back at a competitive level! Ah, I love volleyball.

Finally, the months slowly moved into August and even more slowly moved towards... MY BIRTHDAY!!! =) I received so many wonderful cards from my family (THANK YOU!!!) and I even got flowers and a cake from the hotel!! =) Everyone was very sweet and I even got to celebrate with one of my oldest friends Wes Jacks and his girlfriend Stephanie who came in from Beijing!! They are both studying/working up there and just happened to need visas right at this time!! =) It was such a treat! So with a bunch of my new friends, we had a lovely dinner at the Shangri-La Hotel Cafe Kool! And I definitely spoiled myself with a manicure, pedicure, massage, and a new outfit! =) You only turn 24 once...

So now, it's just a week past my birthday and the hotel is as busy as ever! Getting up to 90% full! Crazy times and housekeeping is uber busy! But tomorrow is the day off and I'm heading out on a junk boat trip with the volleyball group to play out on the beach! =) Should be a good time and I'll be sure to take my camera!

Then, in only 1 short month, the Gerbers will be invading Hong Kong... =0

Seriously, the 8th floor of the hotel will never be the same once sister Karyn, cousin Bev and Amy, and aunt Madi all show up!!! Oy vey! It's going to be SO much fun! I have no idea what mischief we'll get into, but it will be gooooood. =)


Well, I believe that officially catches you up on the life of Sonya Rae Gerber! It's been busy and I'm still trying to live life as fully as possible! Just not as much time to do it... =) So I appreciate all the emails and love over the past 4 months and please continue to send them when you can! Miss you all!!

Hugs and love,
Sonya Rae

Sonya "Queen of Hospital Corners" Gerber

Housekeeping ain't no joke.
~Louisa May Alcott


Now, I have no idea if Louisa May Alcott was ever a housekeeper, but this woman hit the nail right on the head. It is just at the end of my first week with the room attendants (butlers) and can I just say that I want to die a little bit?? I have learned many things from this week and I will display them now for you...

1) I never want to be a housekeeper... ever ever ever.
You know, I'm not REALLY a messy person and I actually find great thrill out of organizing things, but I am SO not cut out for this job. I've been on my hands and knees all week scrubbing and sweeping and dusting and cleaning carpets... I mean, it's just not my style! It's honestly not about the fact that it's "hard work" it's just that, I am NOT a picky person. Especially when it comes to cleaning. I get an urge to clean once a month, but certainly not everyday! And I don't care about that little corner speck of dust that I missed or that I didn't sweep under the bed. Please. I'm just not that into details! I would much rather be hosting cocktail parties, smiling until my face cracks, and having mindless small talk with everyone in the room, which to OTHER types of people might be considered "hard work". I just think the Type A personalities shouldn't have to dust.

2) Housekeeping is like spinning around in a revolving door.
Seriously, you do the same thing... over and over and over. Did I mention I've been making up 14 rooms per day with my butler buddy?? Make the bed, clean the bathroom, clean the glasses, dust the wood furniture, sweep the floor, etc. etc... There might be a few differences here and there... One guy likes to throw his clothes ALL over the floor and one guy likes to munch on candies and grind them into the carpet... but we're really comparing apples to oranges eh? I mean, it's still fruit that I have to clean up.

3) Tips should be mandatory
Maybe in some hotels they don't go above and beyond, but I'm telling you, at Kowloon Shangri-la, you'd better clean every INCH of that place or your supervisor is coming down on you... hard. We are required to fold and neatly stack every piece of clothing (clean or otherwise) and arrange every bottle, knick-knack, paper, purse, shoe, magazine with the label facing FORWARD, and... just... EVERYTHING... we do not miss a beat. I even have to arrange the hangers in proper alignment... clips facing downward at the exact same length from the end of the hanger. Seriously? Everytime I walk into a room, I expect someone to give me $10 extra dollars just for using my time to arrange your hangers evenly.

4) Nobody wants to save the environment
You know those cards in your room that say, "Hey you can save the environment by reusing your bed sheets." It should really read, "Hey, you should not make Sonya change your entire bed just because you slept on it for 6 hours." Out of 14 rooms per day, there is MAYBE 1 that will use that lovely card. The rest just let me suffer. I can change a bed, oh yes... but it takes me a good 20 minutes. (The normal butler takes 5-7.) I am awesome at the pillows and the sheet, but I get SO stuck at the duvet and duvet cover. But seriously, my hospital corners rock the house. They are so tight and neat... I should enter a sheet making competition.

5) Karate Chop Pillows
This is the only thing that gives me great satisfaction during the clean up time. The pillows at Shangri-la are awesome and big and fluffy... but ridiculous to get into a pillow case. Well, after 6 days of stuffing, I've finally got it down. All you have to do is give it one big karate chop to the center and the thing just folds nicely. Usually my butler buddy is cleaning the bathroom at this point so I get to have a lot of fun with the karate chops... =)

Whew! So anyway, I hope you've all learned your lesson and will treat your housekeepers nicely!! Especially at Kowloon Shangri-la! I've had a lot of fun though and I still have 4 more days to go. Ugh. Then I'm following the evening butlers for a few days and then... who knows. The only thing that really matters is that May 14 my PARENTS ARE COMING!!! =) SO excited! They've already booked their tickets and I've already requested my time off and we're going to have so much fun!! I haven't toured ANYTHING in HK yet and so it will be wonderful to have someone to do it with!! Can't wait!!!

So, I think that's it for this week of "fun"! I'm exhausted but happy and enjoying life. Heading up to Shenzhen in just a few hours to see the Rickster!!!! Yay!

Hope you all have a WONDERFUL weekend and don't have to do any cleaning... ever.

Love and hugs,
Sonya Rae

Welcome back!!

"Hong Kong represents the kind of Asia with which both West and East are comfortable... It offers, in that sense, a vision for the future of Asia."
-Chris Patten


Hellooooo all you blog lovers out there! Greetings from the big and beautiful city of Hong Kong! I am SO happy to say that I have successfully made it here safe and sound and without too much hassle! (Other than for the 3 months hassle prior to actually getting here...) :)

I have already been working 5 days, but it feels like weeks... let me tell you, no matter what people say, this place is NOT China!!! Maybe politically it is, but the mindset and the culture of the people is 100% different. Let me tell you why...

First of all, as many of you know, my family lived in HK for 1.5 years from 1995-1996. I can't say that I remember a huge amount of what it was like to live here. Sure I remember my school and our apartment and the American Club across from where we lived (best Nachos EVER), but I don't remember a whole lot about LIFE. The shopping, the eating, the transportation, or the uncomfort of living in a foreign country. I was more focused on how to not look like a dweeb in front of my classmates. Yep, dweeb, I said it.

Anyway, I'm not sure how much has changed since then, but I will say, that this place is LIGHT years ahead of China. In my first 2 days at work I was able to 1) get my staff ID, 2) get my uniform, 3) get a physical check-up, 4) do an entire hotel orientation, and 5) get a Hong Kong ID, 6) do Shangri-la Care training (which is 2 years overdue), 7) get a bank account, and 8) sit with the GM from the new Paris property chatting for over 8 hours about my program. Not a joke, this all took MONTHS in my China properties. These people know how to get things DONE!! And they all walk really fast too...

All of my colleagues have been EXTREMELY interested in the fact that I've been working in mainland for 2 years. In fact, most of them were appalled. I have gotten the question of, "How did you survive there?" from around 10 of my Hong Kong colleagues! Plus, most of them have never heard of Wuhan and barely know Qingdao. It's quite funny considering it's technically their country too... yet, I know more about it!! =) The first day I went to the staff cafeteria with them, out of habit, I grabbed chopsticks and ignored the nice cutlery they had. I was a tad bit embarrassed to see that I was the only one slurping and shoveling my food the way I have been for the last 2 years. EVERY other person was using a fork and knife with perfect cutting technique... ridiculous.

As for the language, the Mandarin hasn't come in TOO handy yet. The Hong Kong people all speak Cantonese which is a COMPLETELY different language I've learned. There are words here and there that sound similar, but for the most part, I'm lost all the time. However, when I do speak Mandarin, they can all understand me, but can't really say anything back. Luckily, almost everyone (minus a few housekeepers) can speak nearly PERFECT English. But they choose not to... Grrrr!! Looks like I'll have to keep building my language resume!

The rest of the week I've been whisked into my new position in... HOUSEKEEPING! Didn't see that one coming eh? I think they want to groom me for some sort of Director of Rooms position someday in the future which will definitely mean getting a handle on this housekeeping stuff. I've been following the Director of Housekeeping and the Service Manager to get a feel for the hotel, the rooms, the standards, the quality etc. It's SO different than when I followed HSKP in China. The biggest problem they have here is labor costs (sound familiar?) and so they have to maximize their employees, which means giving them RIDICULOUS work loads and overtime. The China staff were able to take their time, be meticulous, and even write hand-written cards to the guest because... well... labor is cheap! Here, they run around like mad men and barely clean the rooms to standard... well, the standard I'm used to in Qingdao anyway. It will certainly be a different environment here.

So the plan is to keep me in HSKP for 6 months and get me nice and involved. After a few weeks with the butlers, I'll most likely become a supervisor and take a few floors for myself. It should be interesting to say the least. I've never seen myself in a HSKP role, but I'll certainly make the best of it!

The rest of the week I've been walking around, learning my surroundings, and eating room service... wow, I love room service. My room is, of course, one of the oldest ones and, unfortunately, does not have a harbour view, but I certainly can't complain about how they've been treating me. I think living in the hotel won't be so bad here... =) The area around the hotel is FANTASTIC and full of good restaurants and shopping and lots of tailors trying to get to you to make a suit. Seriously, every 5 steps there's another one... Also, the hotel is right along the harbour, so it's a really nice place to walk too. And the MTR (subway) is also a 10 second walk out of the lobby... Basically, I love it here. =)

You know what else is great?? The train that goes all the way to Shenzhen is RIGHT outside my hotel as well!! =) I'm going to test it out this weekend and take the train to see Ricky!! He has already done really well there and gotten a job AND an apartment... all within 2 days of arriving! He likes it so far but doesn't like getting all sweaty from the humidity! =)

The only bad thing that I've found so far is that I still cannot seem to find MY SIZE shoes! Grrrr to Asians and their little feet...

Well, I think that's enough of my peppy blog for this week!! I hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend and a happy Good Friday!!!

I'm already excited for visitors.... =)

Hugs and love,
Sonya Rae