The Kindness of Strangers

One nice thing about living here is that Chinese people just love children (as long as they're not putting dirty things in their mouths). Everywhere we go, Evangeline is always greeted warmly and kindly. And the locals just love her curly hair! It's very common for people to give her little treats--our doormen, elderly ladies in the shopping center, even the bathroom attendant at the mall. One time we were out and about and sat on a bench to have a snack. An older couple was sitting nearby with a big bag of wafer cookies. The lady kept jumping up and running over with handfuls of cookies for Evangeline. Finally I just put the snack I had brought away, since it was obvious that it was going to have no chance against the cookies!

A few weeks ago, all three of us were in Mong Kok over the weekend and stopped somewhere for a bite. We were waiting for our food when a man came in, carrying a motorcycle helmet. Evangeline likes motorcycles a lot, so she was quite interested in him, and they smiled and waved at each other. And a few minutes later, he came over to our table with this:

It's a Toy Story 3 sticker/activity book, which is so much more awesome than the usual candy! She had a great time looking at it while we were eating, and later when she was back in the stroller, too. But the motorcycle man wasn't done. On his way out of the restaurant, he stopped at our table again to drop off this little gem:

Yes, it's a (used) two-disc set of mostly 90s love songs. Needless to say, we were really surprised. But of course, we accepted it and thanked him, because who couldn't use more Jamiroquai in their life? And Evangeline enjoyed jamming to it when we got back home.

So I challenge all the child-loving Hong Kongers out there--top THAT, I dare you!