Hanging out in Hong Kong

We have just arrived back from a fabulous week in Hong Kong. For most of our holiday we stayed at a little guesthouse in Kowloon which was cheap, convenient, clean and well "cosy". On the first day we went to market - five to be exact - antiques, flowers, birds, the Ladies Market (but no ladies for sales just lots of handbags and scarves) and the Goldfish Market. Apparently fish are lucky (for people obviously, I don't think the hundreds of fish in the little plastic bags pinned to noticeboards felt particularly lucky). The second day we explored Ocean Park where we enjoyed close encounters with Pandas and, of course, lots of sea animals. The rides were also a big hit. Matt and I loved the skychair around the mountain while the girls liked the rattly old rollercoaster best so we went on it four times. The next morning we visited Kowloon Park and its sculpture garden where we added a few finishing touches to the artwork. We then headed to Disneyland..

We stayed the next three nights at the Disneyland Hotel and were immersed in all things Mickey Mouse. The windows on the train to the resort are mickey-shaped as are the pikelets for breakfast and the pizzas for dinner. The hotel was glorious fun with Disney characters dropping by for breakfast and dinner. Disneyland lived up to expectations of being the happiest place on earth - the rides, the characters, the shows, the parades, the kids and their parents. The streets were clean and neat and decorated with colourful flowers, shops everywhere and everyone behaved themselves - reminded us of Singapore. Our girls especially liked the fact that two families from Avondale Grammar were there at the same time as us and we managed to bump into them quite frequently and sit with them for shows. The girls and their fair hair proved popular once again and they were dragged into random tourist photos - at one point there was even a queue forming. Matt had to go to work in Hong Kong so the girls and I did the second day at Disneyland by ourselves with Matt joining us for the fireworks at the end of the day. On our last morning the girls and I spent a relaxed few hours by the pool where Alice made a friend with a boy called Hunter who she kept calling Danger or Killer by mistake - which just shows what she really thinks about hunters!

It was then back to reality at the Lee Gardens Guest House in Kowloon. The girls and I took an historic tram up to the top of The Peak for a great view of Hong Kong. We met Matt after he finished work and then went to the Symphony of Lights which is where skyscrapers participate in a lights and laser show to music for 20 minutes. Held our attention for about 5 minutes and we opted to look for a cache instead.

Hong Kong is known for its skyscrapers, shopping and neons lights but much of Hong Kong is mountains and islands and it even has some good beaches. On our last day we took a ferry to the countryside to visit Lamma Island and walked from a seasisde village to a fishing village, stopping along the way for a herbal tea in a little garden. We were once again grateful to our habit of geocaching which took us exploring a little off the beaten track to find two caches.

And now we are back in Singapore - our own Disneyland - where News Asia recently reported that there was a crackdown on crime....
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1043386/1/.html

After reading this story I was relieved to have those criminals off the streets, who knows what they may start doing next - j-walking? selling gum?

Some happy snaps...