iPhone mom

I have an iPhone. And I'm not bragging about it. Really. Because if you saw my old "mobile" (as they're called here in Hong Kong), you will actually be glad, on a purely philanthropic level, that I got a model that is younger than most of my colleagues at work. For months, I've been trying to browse the Fortress and the Broadways (electronic stores in HK like Future Shop and Best Buy in North America) and figure out what I can buy under CDN$100. Yes, that was my budget CDN$100 or about HK$740.

"I just want a phone, not even a camera!" I pleaded with the sales associates. Totally having realised that I was an unrealistic customer, they humored me for a bit before completely ignoring me for other more lucrative and less ignorant mobile users. Anyways, after almost a year of going through this charade every weekend, I succumbed to getting an iPhone. It seemed like almost everyone had an iPhone and if I were to make that leap from 20th century to the 21st, then I would help Steve Jobs achieve his dream of being richer than Bill Gates.

Now that I have this thing, I can't believe how I did without it for so long! Not only does it allow me to keep on top of my work emails so that when I get to the office, I am already mentally prepared to face the slaughter that is my every day (well I'm taking poetic license here) but it is also allowing me to keep in touch with my friends in a more active way (I have Skype, MSN, and Whatsapp on the iPhone). It also helps that I can get wifi anywhere in Hong Kong. I love this town for that and being able to use your cell phone in the subway. Furthermore, I am learning Chinese through free applications (or "apps") that you can download from the phone.

But the best thing are the kids apps - they keep Bella quiet and engaged when we need her to be - when eating meals at restaurants, when shopping for groceries, when basically doing anything that we want to and she doesn't want to. There's the Chinese animal app, the Chinese counting app, the memory card game app, the drawing app, and Chinese writing app, and the flying pigs app. Each week I download a new one so that she never gets bored. Khaya is in on the act too when Bella is not using it. I feel like one of those over-the-top parents when I think that we should get another iPhone so that Khaya can use it, too. Trust me, when you've inhaled your food without tasting it at restaurants for the last 4 years, you think about ridiculous notions like that to get through the day.

All I can say is, hurray for the iPhone or any such smartphones that have the ability to entertain children (and adults) alike. It's better carrying a bag full of toys around town.