Just Hanging Out

We have had a quiet few days. The weather has been a bit rainy so we did not venture too far from home. Shopped a bit at the mall that is a 10 minute walk (all under cover.) I bought Macy more of the great Dr. Kong shoes the kids wear here. Now she had 3 pair. Saturday morning we went to the movies to see Rio, and Saturday afternoon friends that Kathy and Ron know from London Ontario, (they now live here in Hong Kong) came over with their 12 yr old daughter. An enjoyable afternoon of conversation, swim and then dinner.
Today our plan is the Women's market.

Disneyland

On our Way Through the Disney Castle



Enjoying a Mickey Mouse Ice Cream as we wait for the Parade



On the Carousel



The Lion King Show





When we got up Wednesday morning and checked the weather, we found out Wednesday was to be a beautiful day but Thursday, our planned Disney day was calling for rain, so it was off to Disneyland Wednesday. We arrived when it opened, but Macy fell asleep at about that time, so Kathy and I just relaxed and wandered a bit while she slept, but once Macy was awake, it was GO,GO,GO. She loved everything. We started with the Lion King Show. Macy danced, clapped and was amazed by the colourful characters and the performance.
Macy loved the Carousel, the Spinning Tea Cups, It's a Small World, the Buss Lightyear Astro Blasters, the Jungle River ride, (OK she freaked a bit when the fire scared her), she loved the Winnie the Pooh ride, She got to drive a car, and she just loved the Parade.



Macy was eager to try everything, but even though we got there early and stayed until it closed we still did not have time for everything. I upgraded my ticket so we can go back one day while Kathy is at work. Disney is very close to Kathy's and easy to get to.

Later in the day two of the ladies Kathy works with joined us at Disney (they have season's passes) and we had supper together and watched the fireworks. We were exhausted, but it was a very fun day.

Out of the Mouth of a 2 Year Old

Flying with a toddler has it's own challenges, and long flights just more so. One of the things I do is to buy and wrap several small toys for Macy. I give them to her at intervals throughout the flight, it helps keep her occupied. One of the things I gave her for the flight over here was a set characters from Snow White (we recently watched the movie and she knows they are at Disneyland. (Thursday this week if the weather cooperates) Macy likes to tell you what all the names of her toys are, eg this is Buzz Lightyear, this is Woody, this is Belle, this is the Beast. So, now we are including the characters from Snow White. So, yesterday the conversation goes like this, she holds up each little doll in turn and says, "Mommy, is this Snow White?", "Yes Macy", "Mommy this is the Prince, and this is the Mean Queen", "Yes Macy that's right", Macy then picks up one of the Dwarfs and I ask, "Who is that?" to which she answers, "The Ho Mommy, it's the Ho." Kathy and I start laughing and I say "The Ho?" are you sure his name is Ho? and in her 2 year old logic says "Yes Mommy, Hi Ho Hi Ho it's off to work I go."

The Big Buddha

Today we ventured out, accompanied by a coworker of Kathy's and her family who are visiting from California. We went to see the Big Buddha. I am told it is the largest sitting Buddha in the world, and it is BIG. It sits on top of a mountain. We took the cable car up the mountain and wandered over to the Buddha. We decided to have lunch before attempting the climb up to the Buddha. The lunch offered is limited and all vegetarian. It is a set menu, you just decide how many you want to feed. It was served family style, the 6 or 7 different dishes set on the table and we help ourselves. It was very good, filled us up but not too heavy on our tummies for our climb ahead. Then we were off to see the Buddha. 350 steps to climb to get to the top. Macy was amazing. She climbed each and every one of them and chatted all along the way. We wandered around at the top and admired the view before heading back down the steps. As we made out way over to catch the cable car Macy kept us all entertained with her chatter. The view from the cable car on the way down seemed even more breathtaking than on the way up. We finished the afternoon back at Kathy's apartment with cold beer for all. After saying goodbye to Kate and her family, a light supper, a quick nap and a swim rounded out the day. Tomorrow?
Ocean Park here we come.

And just for fun, and for Cheryl, here is a picture of a squatter.

Macy Then and Now

Summer 2009


July 2009


July 2009


July 1st 2009



Enjoying the Day and the Beach with Friends
August 2010


Hong Kong, enjoying Dim Sum April 2011


Morning fun Hong Kong April 2011

Random Pics from Hong Kong

This is part Kathy's apartment complex

Buses, Subway, Trams and Ding Dongs

Yet another amazing day here in Hong Kong. After a night of vomiting, Macy woke up at 3:30 feeling fine. We ate, played, watched Beauty and the Beast and before we knew it, it was daylight (it seemed like the night that never ended.) As soon as we could, Macy and I were off to the park and to run off some steam.
When we arrived back at the apt Kathy was ready and we were off to explore more of the city. We walked over to the Mall and caught a double decked bus. We climbed the extremely narrow and curved stairs to sit at the front of the 2nd deck to catch the sites as we drove. On this one bus trip we were able to see mountains, valleys, beaches, ferries, the subway line, container ships being loaded in the harbour, a network of roads and housing and cemetery's built into the side of the mountain and more. The use of space here is beyond most I have seen before. We took the bus to Kowloon. (Kowloon is one of the areas of Hong Kong) We got off a block or so from Kathy's work, (so I know how to get there.) Macy loves all things buses so it was a great start to our adventure. We played in a park for a bit, then walked to a nearby mall, encountering many sites along the way.


After a tasty lunch, we put Macy in the sling(it was getting to be nap time as she had been up since 3:30) and we were off on the subway to the Central area of Hong Kong Island. Macy was able to get in her power nap so we were good for the rest of the day. Our destination was The Peak, the highest mountain on Hong Kong Island. One of the ways up the mountain is by The Peak Tram. The Tram rises from 28 m to 396 m above sea level in 1.4 km. As you can imagine, Macy loved being on the Tram.

Once at the top, the view of the City and Victoria Harbour is like a post card.


I have often heard of and saw pictures of the view, but being here is almost surreal. We wandered a bit, admired the view, I marveled at the fact that people actually live up there, and that there is a MALL up there. Wandering through the mall to get to "Old Macdonalds" for fries as Macy had caught a glimpse of the Golden Arches on our way to the outside viewing platform, we found a stage and Children's performers, so we stayed and watched part of their act. The kids loved singing and dancing with the 2 musicians. We then caught another double decked bus for the fun ride down the mountain to the Harbour. We were lucky to be able to again secure the seats up front on the 2nd deck, (of course for most of the way I was silently praying we did not crash over the edge of the cliff and be crushed at the bottom.) Once back down the mountain, we hopped on a "Ding Dong"
They are these old, open windowed, non air conditioned, double decked cable cars/trams that rattle, clang and jerk along the tracks. We traveled to the end of the line, got off, then back on one going the other way, back to the subway station to catch a subway train that would bring us back here to Lantau Island, which is the end of one of the subway lines. We were beat, so instead of walking the 10-15 minutes from the subway/city bus stop, we hopped on the shuttle that takes people back and forth from the apt complex here to the Mall. These are the biggest apartment complexes anyone at home can imagine. Tens of thousands of people live here in this one complex, which is just one of many in this small area and this is nothing compared to the density of the housing I saw today on our adventure. The density of high rise apartments here is hard to grasp. One of the things unique to Hong Kong is something called an "Octopus" card. It is a plastic card that is used for everything. You prepay money on it. It is used to get on and off all mass transit, you can use it to pay for groceries/goods at almost all stores. Kathy's have a specialty chip that allows us to open and enter the controlled buildings. The transit system here is out of this world, it actually works. It is all connected, the wait times are minimal, it is clean, (in fact this is the absolute cleanest place I have been) it is orderly and for the most part friendly. People get up and give us their seats when they see we have Macy with us. For me Hong Kong is a mix of the best of Western culture and Asian culture.
Our planned adventure for tomorrow?? The Big Buddha!

Easter Bunny and Tai O

After a very long night of jet lag/time difference issues we woke to find the Easter Bunny had arrived and left chocolate and gifts for Macy, she was thrilled to find the Easter Bunny had been here.



After a small feast of assorted Bunny offerings, we were off to the coastal village of Tai O. We boarded a bus to take us up, over and around one of the mountains here on Lantau Island. Tai O is a small village best known for salt production. Part of the community live in stilt houses, tin shacks standing on wooden piles in the water.



After a little wandering through the narrow alley's and checking out the local offerings, we stopped for a true Chinese style lunch at a local eatery.



Here is Macy taking a quick break from the day's activities.



We then hopped on one of the many boats offering trips out for dolphin watching.


Out we raced past the breakwater to the open ocean, cargo ships in the distance. Macy loved the spray in her face and the bounce of the boat on the waves. We slowed for a bit, watching, scanning the waves for any glimpse of the white dolphins we were there to see, then off to the side, we spotted them, white dolphins, gracefully surfacing along the waves, an amazing site. We were able to see them once more before we had to head back into shore. We all had a blast.

Macy loving the ride!

I am Going to Hong Kong

Here is Macy, exhausted after a full 1st day of exploring Hong Kong


For the past month or so, Macy would tell everyone she meets, friends, neighbours, strangers on the street, the garbage man, etc etc, that was going to Hong Kong, then she would go on to say, she was going to visit Buzz Lightyear at Disneyland. (Yes there is a Disneyland here in Hong Kong, and it's only one subway stop from Aunt Kathy's.) She would not say she was going to visit Aunt Kathy, but Buzz, her most talked about character, from her 2nd most favourite movie, Beauty and the Beast now beats Toy Story. But, now that we are here, she has barely mentioned Buzz, I guess it's just too wonderful to have all of Aunt Kathy's attention.

Here is a quick look at Macy's 1st driving lesson.

We Love Hong Kong

Here we are on our way for a swim.




Macy having her 1st driving lesson.


We have arrived and we Love it here. It is warm, clean and friendly. We had a great flight, Macy was a great travel partner, she napped a bit, chatted, ate a bit, watched a movie, and believe it or not before we knew it, it was time to get ready to land. Macy was wonderful, she pulled her little Tinkerbell backpack on wheels all through the airports. Kathy met us at the airport, we hopped on a bus (I had forgotten they drive on the opposite side of the road from home) and were soon here at Kathy's apt. The view of the mountain is wonderful, you cannot hear the traffic at all and the place is fancy fancy. Last night after we dropped off our luggage we went back downstairs to the grocery store and Kathy showed us a few things. We had a great sleep and I feel great today, no jet lag which is wonderful, but I did not sleep on the plane and Macy only had a few hours, and as it was night when we arrived here, we went to bed and slept all night. OK, I slept longer than Macy and Kathy took her to a few playground parks while I slept in till 9. But..... after I finally got up we got ready, we walked around and got the layout of the immediate area, checked out an indoor playground, and battery operated kiddie cars, we told them Macy was 3 so she could ride them, after she got the hang of it she loved them, we will have to take her back. Next, we went for a walk over to the mall. To get to the mall, you walk outside but the top is covered so you are not in the sun. We had lunch at the mall, did a bit of people watching and made our way back home. We then headed to the pool for an hour or so of swimming, (there are 4 pools here and we checked out 2 of them) then back here for quiet time before supper.
We expect to have a wonderful 3 weeks checking out the wonders of Hong Kong.

At Long Last a New Post

Well, at long last I am finally writing another post.......... It's vacation time. This year we are off to Hong Kong for 3 weeks to visit my sister. Macy is super excited to be going to Disneyland, and she have been telling everyone we meet that she is going to go to see Buzz Lightyear. (Disneyland Hong Kong is only one or two subway stops from my sister's place)
As for the past 9 months since my last post, it's been a wonderful time as Macy continues to grow and learn at an amazing rate. She keeps me busy, and on my toes. I will post a few pics before we leave on our jet plane Wednesday.