First Day in Hong Kong

We arrived in Hong Kong very early on Tuesday, December 18th. A taxi took us to the Panda Hotel, our home for the next 8 days. We tried to collapse into bed - a huge mistake because the two twin beds (a slight mix-up) and the fold-out couch were rock hard!

After sleeping for a few hours we were ready to begin our adventure. So we ate breakfast at McDonalds. :) (Michenna Note: I loved the food!) We had to point at what we wanted on a picture menu. It was awesome.

Next, we walked to the Tai Wo Hau MTR (subway) station and bought Octopus cards. The Octopus card works like a credit card "Speedpass" - you simply put money on the card then scan it at, it seemed, a million locations around Hong Kong. You can use the Octopus card on buses, trams, trains, ferries, in restaurants and shops - even at museums!

We took the MTR down into Hong Kong proper and then walked to the Victoria's Peak tram. The tram ascends the side of the Peak at a steep angle - when we looked out the window (what did we see?) it looked like the skyscrapers were leaning. At the top we alighted into the ground floor of a latte stone shaped building - The Sky Plaza. Since we had purchased the "Sky Plaza Terrace" package we went up several escalators to the roof of the building. We sat on Santa's sleigh (a very nice Englishman took our picture) and gazed out over the fog-covered city below. I now know what "pea-soup" fog looks like. Ew. (Michenna note: The view was beautiful.)

We ate lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. (We were trying to ease into the new food thing with Michenna - I promise we ate real Chinese food, just not on the first day.) Then we walked into my younger brother's dream wonderland - an EA Games "world" where we were able to play several video games for free. (Michenna note: There was a projector that projected different sports onto the floor. You moved your feet to block the ball and puck in soccer and hockey. You also had to push basketballs toward the hoop with your foot.)

We decided to see what else was on the peak, so we wandered across the way to the Peak Galleria - the first of MANY shopping malls that we explored. At the Galleria, Michenna also found the first of many playgrounds that she explored.

After a quick scoop of gelato (Michenna wanted to see why Mommy was so excited about Italian ice cream) we headed back down on the tram. (Michenna note: The tram ride down was a lot cooler than the tram ride up because we were backwards.)

Our next destination was the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens. As a quick side note: if you are ever in Hong Kong and you think you are lost, just look for the blue and pink signs. The pink signs point to attractions and the blue signs point to MTR stations. We followed the pink signs up every hill in Hong Kong and eventually reached the Gardens. (A friend summed it up best - walking in Hong Kong is like walking in an Escher painting. Logically, it can't all be uphill. But it certainly felt like it was.) The gardens were beautiful. After trudging up a few more inclined pathways, we found another playground. Michenna proceeded to make friends with the other kids there - none of whom spoke English. A lot can be accomplished with pantomime. Michenna ended up sharing a snack with two of her new friends. She also taught a little 2-year-old girl, "One, two, three, GOOOOO!" as they "raced" down the side-by-side slides. We dragged Michenna away from the playground to a chorus of "bye-byes".

At the Gardens, we saw a jaguar, monkeys, a crocodile, and a snake. My favorite exhibit was the ringed-tailed lemur habitat. One of the lemurs was very hyper; he was biting his friends' tails and trying to get them to play. We stood there and laughed until all the lemurs went to pout in separate corners. (Michenna note: The lemurs were my favorite as well. In one of the lemur exhibits there was a porcupine. The lemurs were leaving him alone because they didn't want to get pricked.)

We meandered a bit more and found a fountain in the middle of a gorgeous garden.

As we left the Gardens, we decided our next stop would be the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Wares. We got lost along the way and found Hong Kong Park instead - and the 3rd playground of the trip. This playground had a long "roller-coaster" slide. The other kids there were from England. So Michenna made more friends as she played. (Michenna note: A roller-coaster slide means it was really long and it sent you down fast.)

We had been told that the aviary at Hong Kong Park was worth seeing. So we walked up another hill and about a billion steps and entered one of the coolest aviaries I have ever visited. Unlike other aviaries where the birds are in mesh enclosures, viewed through little gaps in the wire, this aviary put us inside the enclosure. The birds were free to fly around us (or dive bomb us, as one did to Spencer - luckily he ducked in time). Michenna really liked seeing the birds up close.

Part of Hong Kong Park is the Cotton Tree Drive Marriage Registry. We saw all sorts of people waiting for weddings. We also saw 2 newlywed couples getting pictures taken by the waterfall. Michenna waved at the brides and was thrilled when they waved back. We saw the Clock Tower and Fountain Plaza (both of which are exactly what their names imply). We found the Tea Wares Museum - closed (as it is every Tuesday).

By this time, it was getting dark and we were tired, so we followed a blue sign toward the MTR station, and blundered into a very upscale mall, Pacific Place. We thought, what the heck, we'll look around. Then we found Santa's mansion.

Santa's mansion was a huge house set up in the middle of the mall. For 60 Hong Kong dollars (HKD) - roughly $8-9 US dollars - up to four people could tour the mansion, get a picture with Santa, and receive a gift. That's 60 HKD total, not each. The mansion wasn't all that exciting to a 6-year-old (or her parents, quite frankly), but Santa was wonderful. Santa had a beautiful white beard, twinkling blue eyes, rosy cheeks, a fur-trimmed red hat and coat, a sweet smile - this guy was good! He also spoke English with an American accent (much to the chagrin of the British father in front of us). Santa asked Michenna a series of questions to determine if she had been naughty or nice. The verdict (as if anyone doubted it) was that she had been nice. She received a sampler box of Lindt truffles, a professionally decorated sugar cookie, and a picture with Santa. Now Michenna knows that at Christmas sometimes people help Santa by dressing up as Santa so that Santa can stay in the North Pole and work on toys. However, she believes that he made a special trip to Hong Kong that day because a mere helper would not have been such a great Santa. And who's to say she's not right? :) I'll post the picture as soon as I scan it.

We ate dinner at the mall, tried to find the Admiralty MTR station (but ended up walking to the Central MTR station), and rode the MTR back to Tsuen Wan - the end of the Tsuen Wan line. We walked back to our hotel using pedestrian bridges (one of my favorite things about Hong Kong). We discovered that the basement of our hotel was yet another shopping mall - Panda Place. We bought a backpack (carrying around all our things in a plastic bag was NOT working), water, and crackers and went back to our room. Our first day in Hong Kong ended with all of us gingerly climbing into our own rocks - I mean beds - and dreaming of the next day's adventures.