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
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