Our Visit from the Ericksons

One of the real blessings of our assignment is being able to share the experience with our family and friends.  So we were all looking forward to Katy's sister Julie, her brother in law Darin and their 3 children Elizabeth (7), Jack (12) and Owen (11) coming to spend the week of Lunar New Year with us. Maggie was very very very very very, you get the idea, very excited her cousins were coming.

So it was a disappointment for all that their flight had a one day delay. Snow in Chicago grounded them in Minneapolis and by the time their flight took off they had missed their Chicago flight.  So instead of getting in on Saturday January 21, they got in on Sunday night January 22 after a connecting flight in Narita Japan. I know who would have thought snow in January in Chicago!

We all felt robbed of a day together. However much like most Chinese, we are celebrating lunar new year with a part of our family.  What follows is a daily post of our time together in Hong Kong.



Sunday is New Year's Eve.

Katy, Maggie, Nicholas and I headed to Victoria Park on Sunday to spend the day as we waited. You may recall from last year there is a large Lunar New Year festival/flower market/lunar new year bazaar there. It is huge and usually packed with families. New Year's Eve is the last day of the festival in the Park and many families head there before their traditional family feast.

We bought 2 blowup dragons one for Maggie and one for Nicholas exactly the same, then made a rookie mistake.  Last year Maggie got a traditional fan and we bought one again for her........and not for Nicholas. After surviving that Nicky meltdown, we headed home to get ready to go to the airport.

The Ericksons arrived on time about 10 pm through immigration and we all headed home. We bought a single air mattress for Elizabeth and a double air mattress for the boys.  Elizabeth would sleep in Maggie's room and the boys in the family room.  Elizabeth and Maggie decided to switch off who slept in the air mattress and the bed.

What about Julie and Darin you ask?  Well Katy's good friend Kathrine let them sleep in her guest room in her apartment. So they would stop by the morning before we set off. Everyone got to bed as best they could.

The Weather.

Of course it had to be the coldest of the season from Sunday to about Thursday. And cloudy and rainy. and not always rain, but a cold mist. So that made our plans a little challenging. OK, by cold I mean between 45F and 50 degrees F. Yes I clearly am becoming a wimp.



Monday: Happy New Year! Kung Hei Fat Choy!

We started New Year’s Day by going down to the Bamboo Grove lobby for the traditional dragon and lion dances for good fortune and a children's party. It rained off and on all day and a cold rain to boot. After the party, we took them on a small walking tour of our neighborhood then back to the apartment.

Eva made dinner because we got seating tickets in the grandstands for the Hong Kong New Year's Night Parade which started at 8pm in Kowloon.  So we headed off to the Wan Chai ferry at 6:30 minus Nicholas.  Sorry Nicky, maybe next year.

We took the Star Ferry over to the parade site, got our seats and prepared for the show.  I have to admit, if you have the chance, get tickets for this.  You can of course stand on the parade route, but much like the Macy's Thanksgiving parade, each group does a short show in front of the grandstands.  We lucked out because our grandstand B was across from A.  A is where our HK SAR chief executive Donald Tsang and the CEO of Cathay Pacific that sponsored the event, sat. Why was this lucky, because I think each group did especially their best at the A and B sites.

The parade lasted till about 10pm. The Theme was World City/World Party.

Each seat actually also had a goodie bag from Cathay Pacific that included a rain poncho. Luckily it did not rain the entire evening. Afterward, tired out we headed back to Wan Chai on the Star Ferry and to bed.



Tuesday: Ocean Park and The Fireworks of course.

The weather Tuesday was still cold and cloudy but no rain, so we all headed to show the Ericksons Ocean Park, another must see if only for their pandas. We got there in the morning in 2 taxis, our usual mode of getting around with 8 people. We took the gondolas over to the far side of the park. I got a special treat.  Darin and the boys wanted to ride the loop de loop roller coaster called the "Hair Raiser." The really unusual thing about this roller coast is that it is built on the side of the park cliff. So some of the loops go over the bay! The best part is that we got to sit at the front of the coaster for the ride.

Another treat is the 2 Panda sections. You get up close to the pandas.  Unfortunately by the time we made our way over there, it was nap time and Pandas take their naps very seriously.

At some point Maggie got hungry and noticed a pork bun stand.  Like the good Hong Kong girl she is she asked if we could buy a snack.  The bag had 3 buns and she ate one.  Both Elizabeth and Nicholas were hungry and interested, so I gave them the last 2. When Maggie got back, boy did I get a look.  The girl likes her pork buns. So did Elizabeth and Nicholas.

Darin, Jack, Owen, Nicholas and I headed back home first.  After we got back, we headed down to Wan Chai market and the Wan Chai Computer Center to look around.  Then Katy, Julie, Elizabeth and Maggie followed after a stop in the gift shop at Ocean Park.

That evening, Katy had organized a junk boat trip with our neighbors and friends on the bay to watch the fireworks display in the bay. We had about 40 people including kids on the boat.  Katy organized a dinner pot luck that worked out really well.  To form, it rained pretty good and cold around 7pm, but by 8pm the sky and cleared and we all watched a great firework display. Hong Kong does not go on the cheap with its fireworks that is for sure. Elizabeth and Owen both crashed on the boat.

Afterward, the rain started again.  Our neighbor Sean convinced the boat driver to dock at the Wan Chai Pier so our dash in the rain to a car was not all that bad.

Wednesday: Maybe a little more relaxed today?

 

I think it was Darin who wisely suggested we go a little more relaxed today.  We all agreed.  We casually got ready and decided to take a city upper decker bus into downtown.  We got off at Pacific Place.  I wanted to get a quick coffee and mentioned it.  But with 5 kids, it ended up being a 30 minute stop with snacks all around.

After finally leaving Starbucks, we took a walking tour of Hong Kong Park.  Again off and on light rain.  Even I had had enough with getting wet with cold rain.  We walked over to the Peak Tram but by 10:30, the line was about 1 hour long. We decided to walk to the skywalk and take a tour of the downtown malls.  We ended up there for lunch.

Katy, Julie, Maggie and Elizabeth wanted to take the Star Ferry over to Kowloon to shop and the rest of us headed home.

In the evening we took everyone to our favorite dim sum restaurant, Din Tai Fiung. Maggie did the hard sell on her cousins about how really really great dumplings, pork buns and peanut noodles are. Afterward we headed to McDonalds for ice cream.

 But Darin and I headed to find a cigar store.  He told me that in Hong Kong you can buy Cuban cigars, a fact I just had no time to figure out.  We bought a couple for later and all headed home.

Thursday: South Side of Hong Kong Island

 Thursday was the first day it actually appeared that it would not rain.  Cloudy, and even glimmers of sun. So we decided to take an city upper decker bus south to Repulse Bay and Stanley. At Repulse Bay, there is a Chinese Budhist temple on the shore, the Tin Hau Temple. We walked on the beach and then toured the temple and its surroundings.  It is mostly an outdoor shrine temple with a couple of unique areas: a bridge that every time you cross it you gain 3 more days of life, and a match maker statue to ensure your marriage lasts.

 Afterward we got on the bus and headed to Stanley Market. We toured the market and had lunch there.

 As everyone shopped, Nicholas and I headed to the boardwalk and sat there.  He played with my iphone and I took pictures. We all met up at 2pm at which point, Darin, Jack, Owen, Nicholas and I took the bus back over the mountain to Wan Chai.

 We ended the day with some take out pizza.

Friday: Disneyland

Friday the weather kept improving and we set out early for Disneyland.  Darin had planned a separate hiking trip to Lamma island and was off on his own.

 We had to get to DisneyLand as soon as it opened since the tourists would hit the park as well.  The place is a big draw for vacationers. We got there about 9:30am.  Jack, Owen and I went our own way at the park while Katy, Julie, Maggie, Elizabeth and Nicholas headed to ToyLand. 

The problem I faced was how to make what is in essence a younger kid park fun for 2 savvy middle school boys. Two words: Space Mountain. Then we went on the Buzz Lightyear ride then a new racer ride at Toyland and then I ran out of ideas. We met up with the girls and convinced the boys to come along to It’s a Small World Ride.  While I doubt I convinced them of the fun of it, they were both good sports since Maggie, Elizabeth and Nicholas were really excited.

After Lunch at the Park, we enjoyed the parade and headed back.  But not until Maggie and Elizabeth wanted to buy some Minnie Mouse Ears. Maggie was not too specific, but Elizabeth had a very specific set of red and black sequence ears which we could not find.  Every time Julie or Katy asked somewhere, they were sold out. The situation went slowly from DEFCON 5 to 4 to 2 to 1. Right before Julie had the look of “great, we are going to have to go back across the whole park in search of this” I saw one last out of the way gift stand on the corner.  In the back, were the ears.  Recall all bombers and return to DEFCON 5.

Julie and Katy decided to head on the MTR to an outlet mall and I took all 5 kids across the MTR to a taxi and home.  Yes BHE.

Back home we met up with Darin met had a nice Vietnamese takeout dinner.

Saturday: The last day: the Peak

Weather on Saturday was finally great.  Warmer and blue skies. So we all decided to finally head out to the Peak Tram. Now the Peak Tram gets crowded.  So getting there early is a must.  We got all the kids out the door and at the Tram at 9:30 or so. There was thankfully no line. At the top we walked around and then headed back down the Tram to lunch at home.

After a small break, I took Jack and Owen back to Wan Chai Computer center, while Julie, Darin and Katy went into the Wan Chai market for shopping.  We all met up in the market.  Jack and Owen headed back by themselves to the apartment and were supposed to text us when they got back…they didn’t, and katy and I introduced  Julie and Darin to Bubble Tea.

We met up with the boys and headed up for a walk on Bowen Road.

In the evening, Julie, Darin, Katy and I headed downtown to a nice setchuan restaurant sans kids, walked around the hip part of downtown and headed back for a late night of packing.

The next morning we all headed to the airport and saw them off.  Sunday was about sadness and rest. WE hope to see them again soon. Maybe we will brave the reverse trip!  Stay tuned.

The Ericksons Lunar New Year Visit Part 1

One the of real blessings of our assignment is being able to share the experience with our family and friends.  So we were all looking forward to Katy's sister Julie, her brother in law Darin and their 3 children Elizabeth (7), Jack(12) and Owen (11) coming to spend the week of Lunar New Year with us. Maggie was very very very excited her cousins were coming.

So it was a disappointment for all that their flight had a one day delay. Snow in Chicago grounded them in Minneapolis and by the time their flight took off they had missed their Chicago flight.  So instead of getting in on Saturday January 21, they got in on Sunday night January 22 after a connecting flight in Narita Japan.

So we all felt robbed of a day together.

Sunday is New Year's Eve.

Katy, Maggie, Nicholas and I headed to Victoria Park on Sunday to spend the day as we waited. You may recall from last year there is a large lunar new year festival/flower market/lunar new year treas bazaar there. It is huge and usually packed with families. New Year's Eve is the last day of the festival and many families head there before their traditional family feast.

We bought 2 blowup dragons then made a rookie mistake.  Last year Maggie got a traditional fan and we bought one again for her........and not for Nicholas. After surviving that meltdown, we headed home to get ready to go to the airport.

The Ericksons arrived on time about 10 pm through immigration and we all headed home. We bought a single air mattress for Elizabeth and a double sir mattress for the boys.  Elizabeth would sleep in Maggie's room and the boys in the family room.  Elizabeth and Maggie decided to switch off who slept in the air mattress and the bed.

What about Julie and Darin you ask?  Well Katy's good friend Kathrine let them sleep in her gust room in her apartment. So they would stop by the morning before we set off.

The Weather.

Of course it had to be the coldest of the season from Sunday to about Thursday. And cloudy and rainy. and not always rain, but a cold mist. So that made our plans a little challenging. OK, by cold I mean 50 degrees F. Yes I clearly m becoming a wimp.

Monday: Happy New Year! Kung Hei Fat Choy!

We started the day by going down to the Bamboo Grove lobby for the traditional dragon and lion dances for good fortune and a children's party. It rained off and on all day.  That cold rain to boot. After the party, we took them on a small walking tour of our neighborhood then back to the apartment.

Eva made dinner because we got seating tickets in the grandstands for the Hong Kong New Year's Night Parade which started at 8pm in Kowloon.  So we headed off to the Wan Chai ferry at 6:30.  We took the Star Ferry over to the parade site, got our tickets and prepared for the show.  I have to admit, if you have the chance, get tickets for this.  You can of course stand on the parade route, but much like the Macy's Thanksgiving parade, each group does a short show in front of the grandstands.  We lucked out because our grandstand B was across from A.  This is where our HK SAR chief executive Donald  and the CEO of Cathay Pacific that sponsored the event, sat. Why was this lucky, because I think each group did especially good at the A and B sites.

Each seat actually also had a goodie bag from Cathay Pacific that included a rain poncho. Luckily it did not rain the entire evening. Afterward, tired out we headed back to Wan Chai on the Star Ferry and to bed.

Tuesday: The Fireworks of course.

The weather Tuesday was still cold and cloudy but no rain, so we all headed to show the Ericksons Ocean Park, another must see if only for their pandas. We got there in the morning in 2 taxis, our usual mode of getting around with 8 people. We took the gondolas over the to far side of the park. I got a special treat.  Darin and the boys wanted to ride the loop de loop roller coaster called the "Hair Raiser." The really unusual thing about this roller coast is that it is built on the side of the park cliff. So some of the loops go over the bay! The best part is that we got to sit at the front of the coaster for the ride.

Darin, Jack, Owen, Nicholas and I headed back home first.  Then Katy, Julie, Elizabeth and Maggie followed after a stop in the gift shop.

That evening, Katy had organized a junk boat trip with our nieghbors and friends on the bay to watch the

Bamboo Grove

I speak alot about our apartment complex in Wan Chai.  We live on the 17th floor.  Well here are a couple pictures from the running path up the side of the hill it faces.

From Jettas to Maseratis

You may know that in Charlotte, I owned a 10 year old black jetta.  Yes it had many dents and actually flooded when it rained due to a design flaw, thank you VW, but did the job.  So it was interesting to me what a 10 year old in our own apartment complex did when he wanted to go for their own joy ride last week. The South China Morning Post reported: ($1.6MMHKD is about $210,000 USD)

A ten year old American boy just could not resist the temptation….His dad’s white Maserati was parked downstairs and he knew where the keys were.

The boy grabbed them from an unlocked drawer in the family’s Kennedy Road, Wan Chai, apartment (Yes Bamboo Grove.  We are so proud..doubly so as residents and of course Americans) at 5pm on Monday January 9.

He sneaked out of the flat without the family’s helper noticing and headed downstairs to the estate's car park and the Gran Turismo. His 44 year old businessman father bought the car for HK$ 1.6MM in 2009.

The boy jumped in, revved the engine and drove off, but not before hitting a car in the car park.

The lad drove the 2 door coupe downhill Kennedy Road for about 300 metres before stopping in the outside lane at Wan Chai Polyclinic. Passersby alerted police who arrested the boy.  The police said it was likely he would escape prosecution because of his age…….

2 thoughts.  #1 for the Dad: The Chinese army has a military base in central.  Maybe they could teach him some discipline. I regularly remind Maggie that they take women.  #2. Sorry Nicholas, no Maserati’s in any of your future joyrides.  Oh, and by the way Nicholas, if you ever pull a stunt like this, please refer to thought #1. I will fly you back here and enlist you.

Christmas in Hong Kong

It is really remarkable how the city celebrates Christmas.  Everything is decorated.  The malls, the

Authentic Tappenaki

There is a restaurant in our neighborhood in Wan Chai right down the street from our apartment.  We pass quite a lot and thought we should try it. So when planning to take Maggie to the Nutcracker, we thought it would be nice to try this place. We fondly recalled the bennie hanna’s in the States and how much fun they are.

You see buried in the background noise of our life in Hong Kong, is the music that we should try  and expose our kids to as much of asian culture as we can.  It seemed like a great idea.  Nicholas would be staying at home with Eva and it would just be Maggie, Katy and I.

We were however done in by one small unnoticed “A” word.  Authentic.

We made a reservation form 6:00.  We came to the place on time and of course were the first customers, actually they were still setting up the place. You will recall in Hong Kong dinner starts around 7pm to 8pm.  So  they kinda looked at funny to begin with.

Then we noticed that it didn’t seem that they spoke english very well at all.  Since we don’t speak Cantonese, this should be interesting. No worries, the menu is bilingual. 

The menu has set meals and courses.  It also has ala carte.  But you would be surprised how hard it is to explain your ala carte choices on a menu with a serious language barrier, so it seems we would have to go with the pre set choices.

The thing is every pre set choice has several course with what I consider hard core Asian food: abalone and the like. OK we can be adventurous, they have lobster on the menu and beef.  At least Maggie will find something to eat.

The table as you may know has a large cooking grill in the center and 3 seats on each of the 3 sides.

The chef comes, has no understanding of English, but we point to the preset course selections .  Ok, he gesters, and we begin. I get the impression that if we spoke Cantonese, it would have been more enjoyable as I watch the 2 other groups at our table discuss each exotic course with the chef, who is more than happy to be friendly and informative….…in Cantonese.

We start with some vegetables and rice.  OK.  Then he brings out what are live, yes live, lobsters and abalone. Maggie seems a little confused by it, and I try to ignore it as he rips the live abalone from the shell and yes cooks it alive. Next come the lobsters which are unfortunately cooked alive in front of us on the grill.  Now to be fair, I am not sure if the movements the lobster is making are residual nervous system twiches or if in fact it is still alive.

Would we like another Saki, yes please. Make it the large one.

Katy and I try to contain and hide our horror, as Maggie notes, “the lobster is bleeding.” Cooking seafood fresh here has something to do with bringing it alive to the table.

Each course that the chef cooks is fine to us, but Maggie is losing interest and doesn’t find any she likes.

Did I mention each course is taking about 30 minutes? So 2 hours into this, Maggie is very hungry and Katy and I are getting stressed with the realization that Maggie is not going to eat here.  Even the beef is too “spicy” for her . At least Katy and I find the food OK. We still think there is time to bring Maggie around to this cuisine.

Just then the chef in dramatic fashion pours oil of the grill and ignites it in a fireball that engulfs the entire grill about 6 inches from our faces.  Did I mention the fire stick incident with Maggie?  Maggie is not at all fond of fire. So the minute the chef ignites the grill, Maggie gasps and darts under Katy’s chair. Now Maggie is hungry and hiding under the chair and it is about 8pm. Very calmly and to her credit, I hear from under Katy’s chair, “Can we go now?” To be fair, I doubt the benny hanna’s in the US would create such an inferno.

Gratiuously as we can we hurry along the last course and get the bill.  Yes live food served here does cost a lot of money.  We pay what has to be one of the most expensive dinner bills in Hong Kong for us and you guessed it head to McDonalds.

While sitting at McDonalds watching Maggie eat chicken nuggets, and Katy and I have a ice cream cone, we think, yes it did say “authentic” tappenaki. Oh well.