adventures in Sai Kung

Sunday, November 6: Mike is packing to go to his grade 6 camp in Sai Kung. He will be gone until Wednesday. I tell him that Jocelyn has suggested to me that we take our kids and go out to visit (since her husband is there the whole week running the camps) on Tuesday night. Mike doesn't think this is a very good idea. The camp is at least an hour away, and he thinks he will be busy chaperoning his students and won't even be able to spend time with us. Plus, it is an half hour hike into the camp and doesn't know how I would manage with both girls. Well... okay. Makes sense.

Monday, November 7: Mike calls me in the evening. Camp is going well, but it has been rainy. He thinks that maybe we could come. The path is paved and I could bring the stroller. We waffle back and forth and decide to watch the weather. Jocelyn has assured me that she and Rachel will be going regardless, so it's up to me.

Tuesday, November 8, 10:00 a.m.: Mike calls me while I'm at my mom's group. He says he thinking we should come. The atmosphere is pretty laid back, so he wouldn't ignore us after all, and the rain is mostly just that misty wet kind where you don't even need an umbrella. I tell him that Annika is excited about doing this and would probably be disappointed if we didn't go. He tells me that I should bring the girl's raincoats. I'm surprised he's encouraging us to come- I figure he must miss us. We decide that if it isn't pouring out, we will come.

3:00 pm: It's still the misty kind of rain. I am packed to go and somehow my bag is huge and full. I wonder how I'll manage with two girls and stroller and big bag.

3:15 pm: I return from picking Annika up from school. I am sweaty and damp having changed into jeans and walking shoes. I realize that this would not be a good option in the rain, and put on shorts and sandals and take the bulky fleece-lined raincoats out of the bag to make it lighter. Annika quickly changes out of her uniform, and we head down to the lobby to meet Jocelyn and Rachel.

3:30 pm: we head to the bus stop to take bus #1.

3:40 pm: get on bus #1, ride it to the end of the route.

4:05 pm: arrive at bus terminus and see that the next bus we want is there so we don't have to wait long.

4:10 pm: get on bus #2, which takes us to Sai Kung. It is a scenic drive, but now it is pouring rain. We wonder how our walk into camp will go? My two little bottomless pits polish off the buns and bananas I'd packed, leaving none for me. Oh well... there will be a BBQ at six at the camp, if we can arrive in time. Annika happily watches videos on Jocelyn's iphone, and the three girls are really cooperating.

5:10 pm: arrive in Sai Kung. Time to find our final bus that will take us to the base of the camp. We see that the bus we want is there, but it is empty- the driver must be on break. The girls are running off a bit of steam with Jocelyn supervising, and I decide to check if there is a bus schedule posted. I see that that the bus we want comes at 5:05 and 5:40, so we just missed it and will have to wait half an hour for the 5:40 bus. I call Jocelyn over and show her, and we decide we better take a taxi.

5:20 pm: We haul the girls and our stuff through the rain and pile into a taxi. We realize we have no idea what to tell the driver so that he will understand where to take us. He doesn't speak English either. I call Mike to see if he knows the name of the camp (he doesn't really know what to tell me), and Jocelyn has a brainwave to call another teacher's wife who is Chinese who should know the name of the camp AND be able to communicate it to the driver. The driver is impatient with us, but Jocelyn is able to get ahold of our friend, and passes the phone to the driver. He now knows where we want to go but tells us that we have to take a green taxi, not a red taxi. He tells us what the Chinese name is that we should say to the green taxi driver. We apologize profusely for taking up his precious time, and then pile back out of the red taxi, cross the street and watch a green taxi drive past us. Fortunately another green taxi arrives. I have already forgotten what the Chinese instructions are (my brain seems to not want me to learn other languages!), but luckily Jocelyn remembers and he understands. Mike calls and tells me that he has walked to the base of the path and is waiting to help us with the walk.

5:35 pm: We drive through the rain, and suddenly we see Mike standing near the edge of the road. Our taxi driver stops and lets us out.

5:40 pm: We trudge through the jungle. It is getting dark, and steadily raining. The first thing Mike asks me is why I don't have the girl's raincoats. I don't really have a good answer for that because it isn't that warm anymore, and we don't want the girls to get wet and cold and my reasons for not bringing them no longer makes sense. Sigh. The way we get there is Jocelyn carries Rachel and an umbrella, Annika walks on her own with her umbrella. She thinks this is great fun. I carry Leila with an umbrella, and Mike, who is wearing a rain jacket walks and pushes the stroller with the big bag in the stroller through the rain.

6:05 pm: We arrive! We're wet. The students are still in chapel.

6:10-7:30 pm: little Rachel is reunited with her daddy, and the girls (and me!) are glad to spend a bit of time with Mike. We find out how Hong Kongers do BBQ- hotdogs, corn, and fish balls roasted over coals. Mike's grade 6 girls all take out their cameras and Annika loves the attention and poses for pictures for them. They keep calling her a princess and she loves it. Jocelyn asks me continually in her sweet, earnest way if I am happy that we came. I keep answering "yup!" and laugh because what else can I say? I eat two undercooked hot dogs and decide to forego the fish balls. My two little bottomless pits each eat a hot dog and Annika also wolfs down a cob of corn. I take a few pictures, but have the 50mm lens on the camera which isn't great.

7:40 pm: We pack up to leave and hope we can catch the 8:05 bus. Thankfully, Mike walks back with us again, this time pushing Annika in the stroller so we can go faster. I carry Leila the whole way again, and somehow walk right into a pile of cow dung. It's pretty dark and there are street lamps every so often but there are dark places in the middle. Mike is nervous about encountering a wild boar on his solo walk back.

8:10 pm: we arrive at the road and realize that we missed the 8:05 bus. We walk to the bus terminal, and don't have to wait long until the bus we want comes.

8:30 pm: we get on bus #2, and get the girls into their jammies. I regret bringing summery jammies because it is airconditioned on the bus and they are damp and cold. It seems like nothing I packed was right for the trip.

9:15 pm:- we arrive at the last bus terminal, but decide to take a taxi because it is a short drive home. The girls are barely still awake, but I'm glad they are because I didn't know how i'd carry them both if they were asleep.

9:30 pm: HOME! the girls go straight into their beds and I scrub the cow dung off my feet, let Mike know that we made it and find out that he did NOT encounter wild boars. I head to bed and hope the girls sleep-in, even if that makes Annika late for school (they don't- they wake up bright and chipper at 6:30 am).

The End.