Hong Kong, Disney

For this past vacation we decided that we were going to try something a little bit different!  We wanted to just take a short get-away, skip the beach, and see something new.  So, instead of our usual haunts, we headed to Hong Kong.  It is just a couple of hours by plane, there seemed to be plenty to do, and there was a Disney!  Now if that is not a selling point... well, you must be just like me!  But Gary kept saying, "Let's do it for the kids!", and, "They won't always want to go to Disney with us!" and somehow he convinced me that going to Disney, and STAYING at Disney would be awesome! 

So Disney aside, there was still plenty of draws for HK, and so off we went. 
And I did love it from the moment we stepped off the plane and saw all these cute green taxis!  When you are queuing for a taxi, they are color coded.  Red is for the cities, Green is for the New Territories, and Blue is for Lantau Island.  BUT... the perks of staying at Disney start right away.  Even though we were supposed to take a blue taxi, there weren't any... and the line was long... but since we were guests of Walt,  we could take ANY taxi to Disney... and we got to take one of these cuties!  (As a small aside, the taxi driver had never been on the Disney "Property" and so we had to look for signs and kind of guide him, but still)!

This about sums up my feelings of Disney. 

Smarmy comments aside, the kids loved the hotel, and it was beautiful, clean, safe, and they tolerated our repeated requests for water, extra pillows, and more instant coffee packets (yes, 4 per day!) remarkably well. 

But we didn't actually go to Disney on our first day.  We arrived on Saturday night and decided that from past Disney experiences in the Orlando area that we would wait until a school day to actually visit the park, so on Sunday we did some sight seeing.

One subway stop away is the Ngong Ping village tour.  It is accessible by cable car, and for a $15 upgrade you can get the glass bottom cable car!  Well, if Gary can make me go to Disney, I can make him go in a glass bottom cable car! 

Just like you are flying! 

On the way up we had to share the cabin with another group, but that did not stop anyone from lying on the floor!

At the top of the cable car ride is the village of Ngong Ping, Po Lin Monastery, Ngong Piazza, and the Big Buddah!

It was absolutely gorgeous!

The Big Buddha is 34 meters high, and has 268 steps leading up to it.  Can you see the tiny people on the stairs? 

I thought it was hindus that revered cows, but there were some wandering around here, too.

Here were are heading back down, with Lantau Island in the back ground.

After the serenity of a monastery, a delicious vegetarian monk lunch, and a breathtaking cable car ride, what could be better than taking the subway to Kowloon?  Not much!  Walk upstairs from the subway and you are in the middle of a hustling city.  It is packed, loud, and really fun! 

There are buildings that look older, and then buildings that are so modern they make your head hurt, and that is part of the charm of Hong Kong. There are also restaurants serving all kinds of food: Indian, Thai, American,  Mexican, of course Chinese, so we were happy!

They also had soft- serve, so the kids were happy!  R-Man said this was the best ice cream he ever had.  And he has had a lot, so it must have been pretty good!

Cars drive on the wrong side here, thanks a lot England, but at least they are nice enough to warn you!

We have had a long day, but we are waiting for the HK harbor Laser Light Show, which begins each evening at 8PM, so we are killing 3 hours at the HK Children's Science Museum.  This place is awesome, and a bargain!  You get 3 floors of hands-on science stuff and the biggest Rube Goldberg ball dropping contraption we had ever seen for about 8 bucks each. 

Here we are getting ready for the show!  The harbor itself is amazing!  We were on the boardwalk and the skyline across the water wraps around so you see about 270 degrees of skyline.  The laser show was cute, the buildings across the way do some synchronized lighting and flashing... I guess I was expecting fireworks!  It was definitely worth it to see the skyline, but I wouldn't rush for the lasers...  Time for bed... big day tomorrow...

Uh... can you guess where we are?

Yup, the Magic Kingdom! I took a ton of pictures of the kids all day, but I am only going to share a couple here.  This is Small World, which was absolutely beautiful, and even better at perpetuating ethnic stereotypes than I remembered!  Wow, they nailed EVERY one!  One thing I loved about Small World here is that they did the safety instructions in about 8 languages, English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian, and a couple that I couldn't identify.  It was awesome!

Pooks and I went on Space Mountain, and then, while I recuperated on a bench outside (and took this picture) she went back on with Gary.  R-man was happy waiting. 

Alice in Wonderland tea cups.

Now THESE were some fireworks! 

Now, not to make sweeping generalizations, but as we were watching the fireworks, there was a grandma who was there, and she could not find her grandson.  She was calling his name louder and louder and starting to panic and it made me think.  In the US we are kind of lucky if a kid goes missing (don't act shocked yet, let me finish... ) because we can give much better descriptions of the kids than in HK, (or Korea, for that matter).  If R-man is missing I can say, "The boy with blond hair, blue eyes, thin...) you get it... but what would this grandma say???  OK, now you can be shocked...   I am merely making an observation. 

On the next day we take the subway to Hong Kong Island, and ride the Peak Tram to... yup you guessed it... The Peak!  The Peak is the highest point on HK Island, and at the top is a shopping mall, the peak tower, and a beautiful view of HK. 

What can you say about this... we are far from home. 

Funny thing.  Yesterday when we were at Disney we were in line for the Swiss Family Robinson Island Tour and we were behind about 100 head-scarf wearing ladies, all in matching scarfs and t-shirts.  We didn't think much of it, but then, as we were waiting for Small World there they were again... maybe the same ladies, maybe different, but wearing the same outfits.  And then I saw it... Tupperware.  And so I asked one of the ladies if she sold Tupperware, and yes, she did!  And so did all of the ladies!  This trip was the Grand Prize for being the Tupperware Saleswoman of the Year!  So there were hundreds of them!  Well, we followed them all day around Disney, on the rides, in the bathrooms, at the restaurant. 

And then, here they were again... at The Peak. 

We just fit right in, don't we!  :)

The view from the peak!

The ride up and down is so steep that you can stand at about a 45 degree angle, but still be standing straight up.

Both kids trying it!

More Tupperware Winners! 



Back on the subway.  One of my favorite pictures, even though it is blurry.  We have two world travelers who don't mind taking the subway, sitting next to strangers, they just get on, take a seat, and just keep talking as if they aren't halfway around the world, in a strange country, heading who knows where.  I am pretty proud.

And then 5 minutes later, they can act like TOTAL tourists...

Downtown Hong Kong Island. 

But it has Disney, Ikea, and Outback... so it is just like Orlando!