When you have several days off and no school and you are in a service apartment, you can A) Not plan anything and hope the kids (and you) wont go stir crazy or B) plan some trips. We decided to plan some trips and things to do. Trust us, Plan A never ends well. There is a lot of crying and losing of tickets.
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Thursday New Years Day.
We decided to spend the day at the Parkview (Our temp apartment complex). They had a great but long Lion Dance we decided to watch before having a Traditional Chinese Lunch Buffet at the Parkview Restaurant. I say "long" because the Lion dance is part performance and part very serious ceremony to bless or rid the complex of bad luck. It is seen much in the same way that Russian Orthodox view a Priest blessing a home with holy water. So that means that the lion had to go to every office, every floor, every part of the complex. It ended with an impressive performance at the front with the executive staff. The ceremony which was to only last to 12:30 did not end till 1:45. Lunch was late.
Maggie was quite concerned about a traditional Chinese lunch. Well it was very varied. There was a fried shrimp ball both she and Nicholas loved. It was more of a Asian lunch with offerings from all over Asia. Maggie learned that yes she can find something to like to eat in China.
By the time we got back to the apartment everyone was tired. So we decided to skip the parade at night. Again a great temptation is to go and see a lot and do a lot. Our recommendation is resist it. Nothing ends well with 2 tired kids.
Thursday Night: Damn you Mickey Mouse.
Friday we decided to take Maggie and Nicholas to Hong Kong Disneyland. Little did we know how exciting with would be for a 4 1/2 year old. I think Maggie came into our room at least 7 times that night, "Mamma I can;t sleep," "Dadda I need to go to the bathroom." I have heard about this illness that affects children. "The I am so excited to go to Disney in the morning I can't sleep" syndrome. Well needless to say Momma and Dadda got no sleep, so it's off to Disney!
Friday: A Great Day at Disneyland
We headed out an hour late because of the above. The subway MTR takes you directly to a special Disney train that drops you off at the entrance. This is truly a Disney we can get on board with. It is small yet has all the things our kids want to see: Princesses, Tomorrowland, Adventureland, rides, main street and the parade. The staff was extremely friendly and especially nice to the kids. It is a perfect day trip that doesn't wear you out.
We got there around 10am. The crowds were just forming so we were able to get around and ride some rides before the lines got too long. We ate lunch and stayed for the parade. Afterward about 4 hours later we left. Maggie was on Cloud 9 throughout the day. Every phrase was an exclamation. I think we won the "Best Parents of the Year" Award.
Saturday: Day at the apartment
Now considering what I said above, you may be thinking, "What? are they crazy?" Because we were interviewing a helper, we stayed home during the morning. We actually found a helper we liked and made her an offer. While she can't start till late March, she was great. Older, experienced. Afterward we went into the city to buy a dehumidifier. NOTE: Buy the western brands because you are assured instructions are in Chinese and English!
Now is about when the Plan A backlash kicked in. Maggie started to get stir crazy, so Katy decided that we should go on a hike down to a lake. The Parkview is located within a great park. Maggie spent the first part of the trip working out her stir craziness and lamenting how miserable she is in her lot in life. It took about 20 minutes, then she popped back, looked around at the 70 degree blue sky day and started acting normal again. We came back and had a nice evening.
Sunday: Do these people ever rest?
Ah....no. We met up with some new friends Anna and Allister (parents of Maggie's schoolmate Alexander). They were headed to Ocean Park on Sunday and invited us along. Now Ocean Park is half Sea World, half zoo and half amusement park. They have a great panda habitat and a really impression aquarium. They also have a kids amusement park area. We had a long but fun day.
Ocean Park has a cable car that goes over the top of the mountain it located near to an even bigger older kid/adult rides park. We did not get there today. It was very crowded.
It was interesting to Katy and I that while Maggie had fun, she had almost a knee jerk excitement at Disney that was lacking at Ocean Park.
And what of Nicholas. He was a his usual smile and make friends with whoever came by. My own "grip and grin" guy. I recall one point when Maggie was still melting down on our hike, Nicholas looked over at me and gave me this "it's a beautiful day and you are offering her a piggy back ride. I dont get it" look.
So that was our holiday. It may seem hectic, but the thing is Disney and Ocean Park are so close that while it is a day trip, it really doesn't wear on you like a day trip should.
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