Happy Halloween!

It's been one year since Belle and Sebastian played at Bands as Bands. Best Halloween ever! We are missing the TSF!

Halloween isn't the same in Hong Kong, but that's okay. The girls were invited to an adorable little costume party on October 20. It was after school in the gym of the clubhouse of Jocelyn's apartment complex. They got to dress up, play games, listen to a story, decorate a treat bag, open a pinata and then exchange treats or packaged snacks with the other children.

Our clubhouse had also planned a Halloween party, and you could sign up for Trick-Or-Treating between 6:00-7:00 pm on October 29, but it was cancelled from lack of participants. Today is actually Halloween and you wouldn't know it. Oh yeah, and you also wouldn't know it from the sunny, blue sky +28 weather, either! I think most celebrations happened over the weekend. So we get to eat the candy I bought, and that's our Halloween for this year!

Two beautiful ballerina/butterfly/fairies

Story time

Leila coloring her Thankful Turkey Treat Bag. Note which hand she is coloring with... I am almost certain she is left-handed.

Happy Halloween from Leila and Annika!

Lamma Island

We decided to spend the Saturday of our last day of fall break by checking out Lamma Island. Hong Kong has many small islands, but this one is the third biggest after the main HK Island and Lantau. There are 5000 people who live there- hippies and fishermen! There are no cars or roads and we found it delightful. I love hippies.

To get to Lamma, we took the Star Ferry from Tsim Sha Tsui to HK Island, and from there a half hour ferry to Lamma Island. Luckily we didn't need to use the Vomit Bag, but at one point I thought I may! The ferry bounced on the waves several times catching air and causing gasps and many a "whoa!" from passengers aboard. Annika said her tummy felt like it was on an airplane.

We liked the looks of Lamma Island immediately when we got off the boat and saw only bikes lined up. You just don't see that in Kowloon!

We also got Welcomed to Lamma in graffiti- a charming touch- haha. There were so many fresh seafood restaurants. If only I liked seafood!
I snuck a picture of this local hippy, but on our way back I ended up checking out the books and DVDs he was selling and chatting with him a bit. He was really nice, but I couldn't understand all that he was saying... something about that it's good I still read books because Kindles won't work if there is a nuclear fallout... and George Bush is the reason for all that is wrong with the world...

Also, there were dogs on the loose everywhere. Luckily they weren't scary... they mostly looked alright.

Above picture is a temple, and the streets full of restaurants, jewellery shops, little grocery stores, beach accessories.

A nice terrace outside someone's home. It was refreshing to see something different than high-rise apartments. There is actually a teacher at Mike's school who lives on Lamma Island with his wife- they have adult children who lives elsewhere. He's been at the school for 15 years or something, and he's always lived on Lamma. It takes him an hour and 40 minutes to get to school every day! Mike leaves the house at 7:10 and has a five minute walk. We thought the island was great and talked about how great it would be to move there, but I can't imagine having such a long commute every day!

Where are we? Hong Kong? Bali? Wolsely? Nelson, BC? Canmore Folk Festival? Salt Spring Island (I wouldn't know... still haven't been there... one day!)?
Definitely the biggest spider we've ever seen in natural habitat. I wouldn't have even noticed it if there hadn't been a little crowd gathered around it taking pictures.

(Another little offering to the gods.)

These motorized vehicles are the only kind on the island.

There's a pretty path that leads you from where we got off the ferry to the south point of the island where you can take another ferry back to Central. The walk is supposed to take 90 minutes. We just walked part of the way and then turned around and took the ferry from the way we came. If it was just the two of us, we would have gladly walked the trail, but compared to the last time we lived overseas, we have to do things a. lot. differently when there are two young children with you at all times.
The beach! It's located between the two ports and was pretty nice. There was a really nice restaurant overlooking it that looked like a wonderful place to have a meal and drink.
Once again, Hong Kong has surprised us in how varied it is! I wasn't sure what to expect at Lamma, but it was a great daytrip. It's so different than Kowloon where we live!

a lengthy post about our trip to Macau

I decided to post pictures of our little trip to Macau on FB, because it really is the easiest way to put up lots of pictures, but I thought I'd write about our trip so I won't forget. I wish I was in the habit of keeping a travel journal, but this works too.

For Mike's October break, we decided to go to Macau because we thought it would be an easy and relatively inexpensive (no airfare, at least!) destination for our first trip out of Hong Kong. I'm guessing that most people don't know much about Macau, because we didn't either! It's located off of mainland China, as you can see on the map, and is an hour long ferry ride from Hong Kong. Macau is similar to Hong Kong in that they are both Special Administrative Regions (SAR) of China. Where Hong Kong was under British rule until 1997, Macau was a Portugese settlement until 1999. They are both now SARs of China, but operate on a "one country, two systems" way of government. Sometimes people referred to our move as being to China, and I never knew if I should correct them or not, because in a way we did move to China, but living in Hong Kong is different than living in the China. Both HK and Macau have their own borders and currency. We need a visa if we want to enter China, and even visiting Macau we had to go through immigration and got our passports stamped. People here refer to people from China as "mainlanders" and we're starting to tell the difference.

Macau is a crazy little place. It's a lot smaller than Hong Kong, and is known as the "Vegas of the East". There is more money spent on gambling in Macau than Las Vegas, and it has many of the same huge hotels and casinos. From my understanding this has mostly happened since 1999, and it's the only place in Asia where gambling is legal.

Lots of people from HK like to go to Macau because it's close, and it has the same appeal as Vegas- good restaurants, shopping, shows, and if you like... gambling. We wanted to go just to see Macau for what it is, but ended up staying at the Venetian because so many people recommended it to us- staff, friends, Trip Advisor, Zuji... everything kept pointing us there. The Venetian is sooooo big. Apparently upon completion (four years ago) it was the second biggest building in the world! And it's three times the size of the one in Vegas. We kept getting lost; it was so confusing to navigate. We were told that you could stay for days and never leave, and I believe it... but after a day, we wanted to leave! Our room was great- I think is was bigger than our flat is, and relaxing in the pool was one of my favorite moments. But all the second-hand smoke and the materialism and FAKENESS of the whole scene got to be too much. Vegas all over again! Sheesh.

There are two Cirque du Soliel shows that play there that are supposed to be AMAZING (Zaia and House of the Dancing Water), but we were there during blackout dates, so we didn't have to make a decision to spend the money on that or not. There weren't any other shows of interest, either.

We took the 10:30 ferry, and arrived at the hotel by lunch time. It was great that there were free shuttles from the ferry to all the hotels. We found some lunch (we found that food was all expensive and we wished for a grocery store so we could get some actual fruit and veggies), and after we checked in, we went swimming. The pools were great- how come no one on Trip Advisor mentioned how awesome the pool area was? I was so pleasantly surprised. It was not busy at all, and Annika went nuts on that waterslide. Even though we forgot to pack the waterwings, it was safe for her to go on her own (adults weren't allowed anyway- but it looked like so much fun!), so we actually got to relax by the pool. Leila only ever went down once- she was too chicken (although Annika tried her best to drag her down the slide but she would have none of it), but she liked to climb to the top and bounce like she was in a Jumpy Thing. And then she'd climb back down. Leila and I also spent lots of time in the hot tub- the first one we've seen since we've come. They don't seem to make hot tubs in Hong Kong. We don't even swim anymore because without a hot tub or a heated pool, it's too chilly.

After we were done swimming, we had supper (Fatburger, if you can believe!), and walked around a bit. All the watersliding had caught up with Annie, and she fell asleep on us and stayed alseep as we put on her jammies and carried her to bed.

The next morning, the girls apparently thought we should get an early start to the day and woke up at 6:15. We very grudgingly agreed and eventually got ready, and by 8:00 we were headed to the McDonald's in the hotel for some breakfast. Turns out, it only opens at 9:00! And the only other places we saw that were open were things like traditional Taiwanese breakfast of rice and dim sum. So we had an hour to explore the canals of Venice and then our hungry kids really enjoyed their hotcakes and hashbrowns! Coffee never tasted so good...

After breakfast, we took a taxi to downtown Macau. As we were leaving the hotel, I heard a commotion and looked around to see what was going on- it sounded like there might be an altercation between people because I heard so much shouting. As it turns out, a lady had caught sight of our children and was beckoning all of her friends to quickly come take a look. Out came the cameras, and I just had to laugh that this is what the commotion was all about?! Our personal rule these days is that if people sneak pictures of us that's fine, but if they are trying to take pictures of themselves with our girls, we ask Annie and Leila if that's okay. Sometimes they'll say yes, but most of the time they say no. So that's their choice, and I think that should be respected. This doesn't really happen when we're out and about in Hong Kong. People are friendly, but they don't whip out their cameras or grab their hair. It's more in the touristy areas, and where people are visiting from "the mainland". The worst was when someone actually picked Leila up for a picture and a few times, people have pushed their children next to ours to try to get a picture of them together. I find it uncomfortable.

We really loved exploring Macau. The Portugese influence gives it a very different feel than Hong Kong. We went to Senado Square, and into St. Dominic's Church (yellow building above). Then we walked to the Ruins of St. Paul and Monte Fort. From there, we ventured away from the tourist crowd, and walked to Casa Garden and the Old Protestant Cemetery. It was very beautiful and so green. We got ourselves quite off the beaten path, which was fun, but at one moment unnerving when we walked through a sketchy narrow corridor where lots of young locals were gathered having a smoke. They were still pretty young and innocent, but at that moment, I recalled reading about increase in gang activity with the rise of casinos and felt nervous until we were a distance away. Eventually we made our way back to the square, and were starving. We hadn't encountered any legitimate looking restaurants on our long walk and still hadn't had lunch. Both girls had taken turns napping though (tired from their early morning wake-up... go figure) so they were both good little troupers. We found some traditional Portugese egg tarts and bought some bananas at a fruit stand and then found a taxi to return us to the hotel.

When we got back to the hotel, we were able to switch rooms. When I booked, I chose a non-smoking room. When Mike checked in, he was asked if we wanted smoking or non-smoking, and he said non-smoking. But our room smelled like stale smoke, and there was an ash tray on the desk. There were also ash trays by the elevators (that were always being used), and in the morning, it smelled like smoke may have been wafting into our bathroom from other suites. I had a headache and wondered if that was why (but Macau also seemed fairly polluted). So before we had left in the morning, I inquired about our room, and what do you know? It was a smoking suite. So they gave us a room upgrade, so we took it and it smelled a lot better. And my headache went away. One thing we loved about both rooms is that we could walk all around our bed, not like here where it's pushed against the window because our room is so small!

After we switched rooms we decided to take advantage of the pools again, only as soon as we got there, it started raining! At least it hadn't rained while we were sight-seeing- we didn't even have an umbrella with us! The pool almost completely cleared out, but we kept thinking it would eventually stop, so we stayed. Annika continued to have fun on the slide, and we spent more time in the hot tub until it seemed like the rain was going to stay. I'm sure the temperature was still in the low twenties though. It was cooler than the day before, but still perfectly warm by our standards to be outside.

By the time we were done, we were starving from not having much for lunch, so we had a very delicious pizza for supper and had a relaxing evening.

After we checked out of the hotel on Wednesday, we were able to leave our bag there and then took a taxi to the Giant Panda Pavilion that I had read about in one of the guidebooks. Pandas are a pretty big deal, aren't they? I hadn't seen one since Calgary Zoo '88, which (yikes) is a long time ago! It was very cheap- about $1.50 admission for me and Mike and the girls were free. There were school children everywhere, and not many tourists. But Kai Kia and Xin Xin were sleeping, so it actually wasn't that exciting. There were also some birds and monkeys in cages as well, and a little museum exhibit about Pandas, so I think the girls enjoyed it. But we realized when we went to leave that it wasn't a place where we could easily catch taxi back to the hotel. We waited and waited at the entrance, and none came. So we walked about a block up the busy highway to an Esso, and the guy working there was not going to be any help to us. So we bought some strawberry wafers and wondered what we should do. I looked at the map, and there was one more thing I wanted to see, but it looked like it would be quite a walk. Other than the Panda Pavilion, we were in a big industrial area. So we started walking and prayed that a taxi would soon come our way. We walked past a junkyard and a mangy mutt came towards us. If that doesn't get Mike moving fast, I don't know what does! We quickly sped past, and thankfully it left us alone. Soon after, a taxi drove by going the opposite direction, but amazingly he did a U-turn for us, and we hopped in. Prayers were answered! I guess I'll have to see Coloane Village next trip... who knows if it would have been worth it and how long of a walk that would have been.

After that, we got our bag, took the shuttle back to the ferry and had an uneventful trip home. Three out of four of us slept on the ferry, and we had two tired and slightly grouchy children for the rest of the day. I guess they didn't want their holiday to end... neither did I... all in all, it was a great little trip. Can't wait to take another!

The Big Buddha

On Sunday, we woke up, had breakfast and began to get ready for church. I was met with resistance all along the way- the girls didn't want to cooperate with eating, getting dressed, getting their hair done, etc. and I was getting very frustrated.

To get to church on time, we need to leave our flat at 8:45 at the latest, and hurry to the bus stop, where hopefully we can get on a bus quickly. Then... we have no control of how long it might take to get through all the traffic since there is an area before the bridge to HK Island that is a bottleneck, so we sit on the bus watching the time and hope that we make it on time. Once we get there, we wait in line for an elevator and take it to the 9th floor. It's a chaotic busy place, and we print out name tags for the girls from an automated machine and take them to a main classroom where there is half an hour of singing. So far, they won't let us leave them there, so either both of us or just I stay until they are dismissed to their classes. Annika goes to hers (but is very shy in the class), but it usually takes Leila a while until she's comfortable with me leaving, and two Sundays she hasn't gone to her class at all. Finally, I can take the elevator back down to the second floor, and by then the sermon has already started, so I have yet to actually be there for the worship singing.

So, on this particular Sunday when it was apparent that we were definitely going to be late no matter what, it just didn't seem worth it, especially since I would end up sitting in church feeling bad about how our morning had gone.

After we regrouped and were finally dressed and ready, we decided to get in touch with our inner Buddha (haha... JUST KIDDING!) and take a cable car ride to Ngong Ping village. It's located on Lantau Island (home of the airport, Pui O beach and Disneyland), and features a long cable car ride up a mountain to a "Chinese-style village that encapsulates the cultural integrity of the Ngong Ping area" (as says our brochure).

The girls had no idea what we were talking about when we told them what we would be doing, but once on the cable car, they both kept exclaiming "I love this ride!". Leila said "I want to ride this all day!"

The first glimpse of the big Buddha.

A cable car created just as a photo op.

And more places to have your picture taken. The girls are happy to oblige.

There was some kind of a bubble-mania show happening, so to advertise for it, there were bubble machines pumping out bubbles everywhere. It was great fun for all!

Annie was mesmerized by a lady doing yoga.

Leaving Ngong Ping village and heading towards the Buddha. Somewhere there is the very tree under which Siddhartha mediated and eventually attained enlightenment before becoming Buddha.
It was no biggie for Annie and Mike to climb the stairs up to the Buddha since Annie's classroom is on the third floor and Mike's is on the fourth. They spend their days going up and down flights of stairs.

This was the view one of the directions from the top of where the Buddha was. I love how so many areas in Hong Kong are along the coast. It's so pretty!

We convinced the girls to climb the stairs with the promise of ice cream.

This is at the beginning of "Wisdom Path" which is a 15 minute walk that we've heard is worth doing. We just weren't sure what 15 minutes would translate into for us, and we didn't have bug spray and I've discovered that sand flies LOVE me and their bites are much more unpleasant than mosquito bites. We decided to save it for next time (with company?) and bring the stroller along.
The sun was shining on the way down, and the view was spectacular! We shared our cable car with another international school teacher and her parents who were visiting from New Zealand. We struck up conversation with them when we noticed that her dad was wearing a t-shirt that said "Banff". It turns out they had just visited Canada last year. And the teacher had also moved to Hong Kong in August, but she was coming from three years of teaching in Dubai.

Well, Mike just finished assembling a shoe-storage unit we bought from Ikea. Time to fill it!