Third Day in Hong Kong

Before we left for Hong Kong, Spencer's brother - who has spent a lot of time in Japan and Korea - made the observation that he didn't know how much Christmas stuff we would see.

It was everywhere!

Every time we bought something, the bag was handed to us with a smile and a "Merry Christmas". Shop employees wore red or gold Santa hats. The Christmas spirit carried over into Ocean Park.

We started Thursday morning with a trip to the bakery and breakfast in the park. We took the MTR down to Causeway Bay, but I had a huge concern. The Family Fun Guide said we had to take a bus to Ocean Park. Those who know me well know that I can sometimes worry about, well, unimportant things. What if we couldn't find the bus? What if we got lost? Michenna's life would be ruined forever . . .

Did I mention I'm also good at melodrama? I didn't need to worry. The bus stop was clearly marked. We even had the opportunity to buy park tickets there. We rode on the upper level of the enclosed, double-decker bus and got to Ocean Park without incident.

Spencer's favorite ride was the Mine Train. It was built on the side of the mountain overlooking the South China Sea. The view alone made it worth riding. Michenna's favorite rides were the Mine Train and the Abyss (like the Superman Tower of Power at Six Flags Over Texas and the Maliboomer at Disney California Adventure). My favorite ride was the Sky Fair hot air balloon.

(Michenna note:This is not a picture of the real balloon, in case you couldn't tell.)

We all enjoyed the Cable Cars that connect the two halves of the park. (Ocean Park is built on 2 sides of a mountain.) The view from the Cable Car ride was incredible! We think the ride was over 1 km long - lots of time to enjoy the mountains and the water. (I know we're cute, but look at the view, too!)

Ocean Park had several Christmas themed attractions - employees dressed up as clown elves, a Christmas Around the World display, elf races, and the Ice Kingdom. Michenna wasn't so sure about the elves . . .

but she liked the nutcrackers in the Christmas Around the World house.

Spencer and I also tried the Bungee Trampoline (Michenna was too young).

Spencer and Michenna went on the Grand Prix racers. Spencer liked it because all the controls - pedals and steering wheel - were on the parent's side of the car. Michenna liked it because she thought her steering wheel was controlling the car. So everyone was happy.

We saw sharks and pandas, manta rays and parrots (not all in the same exhibit). Ocean Park was celebrating 30 years of operation, so the park and I are the same age.

At the end of the day, we were tired and happy. I got a picture with the volleyball wielding dolphin, Swift,

Spencer got to eat fried squid,

and Michenna got a picture with the Christmas shark, Mr. James Fin H2O.

We originally planned 2 days at Ocean Park, but we saw and rode everything in one day. So that left Friday's plans up in the air . . .

Second Day in Hong Kong

Wednesday is free admission day at 7 museums in Hong Kong, so we had planned to visit several museums. We grabbed breakfast at the bakery in the basement of our hotel and ate at a small park across the street. Then we took the MTR – we were old pros at it by now – to the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defense.


This is one cool museum! It is housed in a renovated fort on top of a hill. There were several rooms – old barracks and storage chambers – and each room showed a different period of Chinese military history. Spencer’s favorite room was about the Japanese occupation during World War II. Michenna’s favorite room was about the opium wars (which worries her mom just a bit). My favorite room was about the beginning of World War II, before the occupation. Upstairs there was a Children’s Corner where Michenna was able to draw a picture for the museum to display (we didn’t get a picture of the picture for some reason). We also posed as Chinese and British soldiers.

On the grounds of the museum there are cannons, forts, ruins of old barracks, and lots of stairs. In the barrack ruins you can still see the bullet holes from the Japanese invasion during World War II. We walked down a long series of stairs and saw the storage and launch house for the world’s first guided torpedo. It was interesting (Mommy’s word) and cool (Michenna’s word).

After we finished at the Coastal Defense Museum – which was about 2 hours later than we had planned – we rode the MTR to the Tsim Sha Tsui station. We ate lunch at a KFC, where they served awesome honey butter biscuits. Tsim Sha Tsui was what Spencer and I had always envisioned as a “typical” Chinese street – lots of people, Chinese signs everywhere, flashing lights, crazy traffic, unfamiliar smells, and lots of hustle and bustle. We walked to the Hong Kong Science Museum.

The Hong Kong Science Museum was by far one of the best museums I have ever visited. The entire basement was full of interactive, kid-friendly displays about dinosaurs, mirrors, the human body, and simple science (bubbles, motion, Bernoulli’s principle, etc.) We started in the Hall of Mirrors, where Michenna lost her head. :)

Next we went to the Life Sciences area. Michenna was able to try the Smart Ambience Therapy room, where she put on 3D glasses and danced with ribbons. We measured our heights and weights and then participated in 13 different activities to test our bodies – blood pressure, balance, center of gravity, standing/jumping reach, Memory, computer puzzles, hanging chin-up – I can’t remember them all. We created quite a scene at the standing/jumping reach. Spencer and I were a bit taller than the other museum patrons, and we were jumping and reaching with all our might, trying to outdo each other. We had attracted a large, cheering crowd by the time I conceded my defeat. Spencer reached 270 cm; I was only able to reach 265 cm.

We went to the motion area and walked on a human treadmill (similar to a hamster wheel).

Spencer and I got to lie on a bed of nails (Michenna was too young).

Michenna and I tried to run away from dinosaurs and were devoured.

And that was just the basement!

We went to the first floor and started exploring the Electricity and Magnetism exhibit. We connected circuits to power different things. We also discovered that our bodies conduct electricity as we joined hands, touched two ends of a circuit, and made a bulb light up.

The museum closed all the exhibits temporarily so that we could watch the 4-story tall Energy Machine, which I can’t possibly describe. The simple explanation is that the machine takes several balls through a series of loops, hills, musical instruments, etc. in a continuous round. It was amazing. (If you want all the details, follow the link to the Hong Kong Science Museum, and go to English, Exhibitions, 3/F, Energy Machine.)

After we watched the machine, we visited the Energy Conservation, Transportation, and Food Science areas. Then we went back to the basement for the Liquid Nitrogen demonstration – in Cantonese. We didn’t understand a word, but the demonstration was awesome. The scientist ended by soaking a cabbage leaf in the liquid nitrogen, and then dropping the leaf so it shattered all over the table. Michenna was drawn in and completely awed.

We left the museum and walked back toward the MTR station, looking for a place to eat. We ended up at the Charlie Brown Café. Spencer ordered spaghetti; Michenna ordered grilled cheese. I ate potato-pineapple salad, which tasted much better than it sounds. (In Spencer’s defense, he was trying the entire time to get us into a “real” Chinese restaurant. It is entirely my fault that we had only eaten Western food up to this point.) We finished with cheesecake and pictures.

We only made it to 2 out of the 5 museums we had planned to see. We hopped on the MTR and went back to our hotel to dream about the next day - at Ocean Park.

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.

Beginning a Blog

I guess it's best to begin a blog with a bang! While we were in Hong Kong, we realized that we had no easy way of sharing our experiences with everyone. So Spencer suggested a blog - and here it is! I will be posting the Hong Kong pictures over the next few days.