Chinese New Year is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. In China, it is known as “Spring Festival, ” the literal translation of the Chinese name 春節 (ChÅ«njié). It marks the end of the winter season, analogous to the Western Carnival. The lunisolar Chinese calendar determines the date of Chinese New Year. I do need to add that the coldest part of winter is still ahead of us in Shanghai. I am really not clear on this “end of the winter season” celebration. As I type this today, the temperature is 1c/34f with the cold wind blowing.
Since the lunar calendar determines Chinese New Year (CNY), the celebration was early this year beginning January 20 for our school break. With only a couple weeks between Christmas break and CNY break, we had decided to stay home. Then, Jim had business in Hong Kong for a few days. This gave us a grand opportunity to see our friends.
We still have two very good friends living on Discovery Bay (DB) in Hong Kong, our old home. We all met when our oldest children were 3 years old at DMK school. Due to SARS, we could no longer allowed to pick up in the classroom. We were fire door B parents – to form a friendship for life at fire door B. As in life, you have many friends and acquaintances, but there is always a certain group you know are more. We did many weekend, school and life activities with these families. Tara and Graham have Grace (age 11) and Greg (age 9). Leah and Csoba have Csoban (age 11), Csende (age 9) and Csombor (age 4). Csoba is from Hungary as you can tell by the names – pronounced with a “ch” sound. These two families still live in Hong Kong. Vanessa and John have Angus (age 12), Jemima (age 10) and Charlotte (age 6). They live in Sydney, Australia. We enjoyed a week with them on our Christmas holiday in Australia.
Wednesday, January 18: Traveling to Hong Kong
We picked the girls up from school on the way to the airport. The girls would only miss one day of school on Thursday which was for celebrating. Eleri was missing her class party, again.
We had dinner at Burger King, but this time the airport was busy with Chinese New Year travelers. Our flight was delayed – typical for Shanghai. By the time we reached the hotel it was after 11pm. A late night to bed for this gang of travelers.
Thursday, January 19: Disneyland Fun
Today’s adventure is Disneyland. Before we could get to Disneyland, we had to sort out our octopus cards. The octopus card is the travel ticket in Hong Kong. Every person owns one – it is purchased for HK$50 ($6). We have several we keep for trips to HK. Money is put on the card to be used on the buses and ferries. The card can be used at various food stops such as 7-11 or McDonalds. It makes for an easy cash/coin free way to travel. Our hotel is located in Kowloon. We walked the 15 minutes to the Star Ferry to cross the harbor to Central.
The Star Ferry goes back and forth in the Harbor. The boat does not “turn around”. Eleri loved the design of the seats as the metal back bar flips back and forth depending on which way the boat is heading. She was fascinated by the design – simple, but effective. The Star Ferry only costs hk$2.5 ($0.30) to cross the Harbor.
At the main Central MTR station, we sorted our cards and said good-bye to Jim. His meetings start at 2:30pm so he has time to “dawdle” – he was off to the new Apple store in the IFC building.
I love Disneyland. It is a fun family day enjoying the “Magic Kingdom”. This would be a “girls day” since Jim does have work – the reason we are here. Disneyland opened in August 2005. We left Hong Kong in June 2006. During that year, I made many trips to Disneyland with the girls. I thought this would be a fun post of present and past photos of Disneyland – it reflects how much the girls have grown in the time we have lived in Shanghai. Emersyn was 5 to 6 years old and Eleri was 1 to 2 years old during this year. In 2007, we made a trip to Disneyland with Jim’s parents, Mimi and Papa. Hong Kong was a stop over on our trip to Vietnam. For Emersyn’s 9th birthday, we did a Hong Kong trip with the Humes. Amazing how few photos I have from this Disney adventure. I guess the kids were all having too much fun together.
At Sunny Bay, we changed trains to the Disney train. The girls were asking if we get to take THIS train with the Mickey Mouse windows – the only way to Disneyland unless you are driving by car.
Hard to believe Eleri had that much curl when she was little!
Emersyn was tall enough to hold on to the Mickey handles for the first time.
In 2006, Eleri was small enough to hang on with a little help from Dad.
When we arrived, the queue to buy tickets was a bit long. It is Chinese New Year and the children in China have about three weeks off from school. Once we were in, our first stop is always Tomorrow Land.
One of my favorite photos is “holding up the world”.
Our first ride of the day was the Space Mountain roller coaster. The wait was 20 minutes – perfect. It was noon. We left the hotel at 10am, but it takes time to work across three islands to get to Disneyland. This was Eleri’s first time on this ride and she loved it. Emersyn went on the ride when she was 5 years old and didn’t like it. This was the first time she was back on the ride and loved it. From Space Mountain, we hopped over to Buzz Light Year with a 10 minute wait – my kind of line. We all enjoy this ride. I don’t have good photos because it is too dark. Eleri did score higher than Emersyn on this round.
It was time to get lunch. We had a big breakfast at the hotel, but we were ready for some “space burgers”. The only burgers in Disneyland is at Tomorrow Land. We hit the Starliner Diner for burgers and chicken wings. The girls played in the mist while I ordered our food. It sure is a lot easier to be at Disneyland on my own with a 7 and 11 year old than a 5 and 1 year old – no stroller, no diapers, no tears!
After filling up our tummies, we took a few more photos in Tomorrow Land.
We walked over to Autopia, but the queue was 50 minutes – pass. This ride always has a long queue for not that great of a ride! The girls want to do the ride, so we will come back later.
On our way to Adventure Land, we stopped for cotton candy. Hum, for hk$40 ($5), the cotton candy was very small. We were looking forward to the cotton candy as it is hard to find in Shanghai.
We stopped at Sleeping Beauty’s Castle for a photo, always a must in the Magic Kingdom.
We arrived early for the Lion King Show, but not enough time to go to another ride. The Lion King Show is a musical version of a Broadway production. Since we were early, we were able to get a seat up front to see the show. The show is done in the round and all the seats are good. It is still the same show and still just as good. Eleri commented about how much she enjoyed the show. She was watching it as if it was the first time she had seen it – or the first time she remembers seeing it.
The benefit of having a seat in the front for the Lion King show was a quick exit. We were able to jump onto the raft across to Tarzan’s Tree House without waiting.
The fact Emmy is wet on the raft to Tarzan’s Tree House is not the water, but the sweat from the heat and humidity in Hong Kong in August.
We walked through the tree house seeing the various displays. At the end, the girls played with the instruments.
When we got to the ropes, Eleri shimmed up the rope all the way to the top. I was amazed along with all the other onlookers. It takes a bit of “know how” to climb a rope and I am not sure how she knows to use her feet and hands just right.
Emersyn tried to climb the rope like Eleri, but was not as successful. Hum, this might be the first time Eleri can do something Emersyn can not!
After riding the raft back from the Tree House, it was ice cream time. After all, it is the Magic Kingdom with a day of junk food! Both girls chose the mango ice lollies over the Mickey head ice cream. Of course, I had the Mickey head ice cream – vanilla ice cream covered in chocolate – not a hard decision for me.
The Mickey head ice cream photos. No photo of Mom eating her head…just photos of adorable girls enjoying the ice cream in days past.
This is what happens on a hot day in Hong Kong when you don’t eat fast enough!
The girls finished their mango pops in the queue for the Jungle Cruise. Again, Eleri doesn’t remember being on this ride. Both girls enjoyed the cruise.
Before we could leave Adventure Land, we had to stop to play on the drums and get a few photos.
Our next stop was the Mad Hatter Tea Cups to meet Leah and Csombar at 4pm. She has a season pass so she is joining us for a few hours of fun at the Magic Kingdom. On the way to the Tea Cups, we stopped for a photo in Pixie Hollow.
We met Leah on time – just the right time to catch the parade. The girls took Csmobor by the hand and squeezed to the front – the way only a kid can do. Csmobor is Leah’s youngest and he just turned 4 years old.
The Tea Cups are always a favorite. The girls wanted to spin fast, therefore, Leah, Csmobor and I took a cup away from the girls. Both Leah and I don’t do well with spinning rides.
After the Tea Cups, we ventured over to It’s A Small World. It’s A Small World was not a ride in 2006 when we lived in Hong Kong. The line was zero waiting time. It took longer to walk through the gate queues as a boat was waiting for us when we finished the walk.
Next, we venture over to Toy Story Land. This Land just opened up this year. This was Leah’s first time over to this Land. Toy Story Land is off the backside, therefore, Leah didn’t even realized it was open. There are three rides in Toy Story Land. The Toy Solider Parachute Drop ride looks like fun, but the wait was 60 minutes so we passed.
One more ride before Leah headed home to see her family. Everyone wanted to do Mickey’s PhilharMagic 3D adventure. Emersyn remembers the show. Eleri was watching it for the first time! She loved the mist of water and the smells that add to the 3D show.
We said good-bye to Leah and Csmobor after this ride. We dashed over to catch The Golden Mickey live show at 6pm. The theater was full at 5:50pm. Therefore, the girls and I went back to Tomorrow Land for another ride on Space Mountain. A wait of 25 minutes is still reasonable for this ride. This is the only “big” ride in the park. One more spin through Buzz Light Year to see if we could top our last scores. Dinner again at the diner for burgers and chicken wings!
We had to stop for a photo at the car. I had to laugh when I pulled these old photos. I tell the girls to get in the car for a photo, but they chose how they sit for the photo – the same each time!
We did stand in the 45 minute line for Autopia, still not worth the wait. Emersyn drove a car on her own, but Eleri was not tall enough. She was the driver, but her feet didn’t reach the pedals. After the ride, we found blue cotton candy – done right this time. Same cost of hk$40, but twice the size and on a glow stick! This cotton candy was delicious!
We enjoyed the fireworks and did a last minute shop on Main Street. And one last photo with Disney characters – paper ones!
I pulled up some old photos with the live characters.
Aunt Terri went to the Park with us twice in one visit. We picked a nice slow day to get many fun photos.
And a day at Disneyland in June 2006 with our friends before we left Hong Kong.
We left Disneyland at 10pm with very tired feet. When we lived in Hong Kong, Disney is on the same island as Discover Bay. We could be home in about 30 minutes. We had three islands to cross to get back to the hotel. We took the MTR all the way to Kowloon. The transfer station was a VERY long walk for our tired feet. But, tired feet was worth the fun as we all enjoyed another magical day in Disneyland!
Friday, January 20: A walk in Central
We slept in late as Jim had to be out the door at 8am this morning. We didn’t have any plans today, but I did promise the girls they could swim in the pool. The weather forecast before we left was rain all the days we were Hong Kong. Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day. The girls never put their sweatshirts on I made them take. Today was overcast and cooler, but no rain so no complaints.
We walked to the Star Ferry to go to Central. I wanted to hit a few shops and Emersyn and I wanted Mix for lunch. We always ate at the Mix in the IFC when we lived here, but it was no longer there. Jim gave us the address which is by building in Hong Kong. We worked our way to the Standard Charter building, but no Mix. Now, we were stuck as I don’t have a working iphone to search since I have a cheap China plan on my phone. We stopped at a few favorite shops to work our way back to the IFC. No one was up for much walking today after Disneyland yesterday. We grabbed lunch in the IFC and went back to the hotel for a swim.
We were staying at the Intercontinental Hotel. There was a very large hot tub and a large pool over looking the Hong Kong Harbor. We started in the warm hot tub, but when other people joined us, we moved to the pool since a couple of “fish” were making big splashes. No surprises, we were the only ones in the pool on this cool day in Hong Kong. The girls played with the pool toys provided by the hotel for about an hour in the pool to themselves. We went back to the hot tub to warm up before heading up for showers. We had a work dinner tonight – oh, joy! And that about summed it up! We did go back to the hotel for drinks in the lobby with some coworkers while the kids watched a movie in the room.
Saturday, January 21: Reunion
Business was first on the agenda. We needed to be to the bank, HSBC main branch in Central, by noon. Jim and I had new credit cards we needed to reset the pass codes. Then, we were meeting Imelda for lunch. Imelda returned to Hong Kong in November with a new job. She is WAY out in the New Territories. It took her longer than expected to get to Central. What does a modern family do to “waste” time…go to the Apple Store to play! We “hung out” at the Apple Store in the IFC until Imelda arrived. We did meet her at Mix, a different location. Both Emmy and I were disappointed as it wasn’t as good as before, but we still enjoyed our wraps and smoothies.
We were going to Discovery Bay for dinner with our friends. We asked Imelda if she wanted to come as it would be like old times. It was 3pm by the time we made it to DB. We first went to see Leah’s new flat. Prices in Hong Kong have gone up, therefore, she has downsized to a smaller place. She has made her 3-bedroom walk up to the 4th floor a very cozy home. It reminded me of our flat on the 4th floor with no lift. There was a reason I was in such good shape in Hong Kong. These past few days of walking everywhere helps to keep the waist line trim.
When we arrived at Leah’s, Csoban was waiting to take Emersyn to the football pitch (translates to soccer field). They stopped to get Grace and Greg on the way to the football pitch. They returned later…with Emersyn limping from hurting her ankle! Not a good sign as she wanted to play soccer in the spring.
It felt like old times sitting around with our friends. Imelda was in the kitchen cooking with Nellie – just like old times. We had a wonderful dinner at Tara and Graham’s home of all my favorites – steak, double stuffed potatoes, salad, ribs and more. We enjoyed wine and homemade apple pie for dessert. Nellie is a excellent cook!
In May 2009, we made a trip to Hong Kong for Emersyn’s Birthday. Vanessa came with Angus from Australia. It was the last time we were all together.
In November 2009, Tara and Leah came to Shanghai for a “Sisterchicks” weekend of shopping. We hit all my favorite places and more! A great weekend spend with friends!
The boys look the same!! It must be their wonderful wives and families that keep them young looking!!
The kids were having fun playing upstairs. Emersyn was having fun getting reacquainted with old buddies. For Eleri, it was like meeting new friends.
I had some fun finding old photos of the kids. Tara hosted a play date once a week at her house. The kids loved the time to run around her backyard. At this house, she had an amazing play set with a cubby house and all.
Grace and Emmy having fun in the Plaza on a hot summer day!
Csoban and Emmy did a dance class together at the Plaza. This was at one of the performances – they were so cute!
Csoban and Emersyn in the school uniform for Kindergarten. Leah called the shirt, “the toothpaste shirt”.
This is the gang when we stopped by in 2007 with Mimi and Papa.
Back to the present…we stayed at Tara and Graham’s until the 12:45am. We were on the LAST bus to Sunny Bay. At Sunny Bay, we took the LAST train to Kowloon. From Kowloon, we grabbed a taxi to get home at 1:45am. Needless to say, we had a great time with our friends and didn’t want to leave!
Sunday, January 22: Travel and more
Today, Jim was flying to California to spend time with his parents. Papa has had some health issues. This was a golden opportunity for Jim to get home since the office is closed all week. Jim was running late leaving for the airport as he was trying to find medical tape for Emersyn’s ankle. We generally travel with a medical kit that has everything we need, but this was Hong Kong so we didn’t bring it. After getting tape from the hotel, Jim left for the airport. The girls and I began getting ready to go back to Discovery Bay. Eleri was lying on the bathroom floor not feeling well from our big breakfast. She vomitted her breakfast of noodles and blueberry smoothing all over the floor. She felt better and I went to work cleaning it all up. The girls said they were fine and wanted to go to DB. We were going to the movie, the Muppets, with Tara and family in Tung Chung. Leah and family left today for Krabi, Thailand for Chinese New Year.
We left at 11:45am and we NEEDED to make the 12:30pm ferry to DB. Emersyn was limping along as we walked to the Star Ferry. Our timing was good to catch the Star Ferry to Central. We walked the overpass to the IFC building very quickly. Once we were through the IFC Building and on the walkway to the DB ferry, I knew we had to run. The walkway was filled with people which means the boat was already in. Poor Emersyn had to give a bit of a run for us to make the boat. We had 2 minutes to spare. It brought back memories of running for the boat. There is a clock just as you turn the last corner of the steps going down to the ferry pier. The clock as big bold numbers of the current time and the next boat. I also knew we were short on cash on our octopus cards and we had no cash. Not a good start to the morning!
We arrived in DB to get cash, put more money on our cards at the 7-11 and catch the next bus to Tara’s house. We were late as they were expecting us on the earlier boat. Graham had brought pizza back to the house for lunch. We ate quickly to race to the bus stop. Graham had suggested we drive the golf car back towards the plaza as the Saturday bus to Tung Chung is very full. Very good idea as we were the last ones on a full bus. The bus drove right pass their bus stop near their home.
The Muppet movie was funny. Graham was bored while Tara and I laughed having grown up with the Muppets. Emersyn and Grace didn’t get it. Greg and Eleri enjoyed it. There was an age thing to this movie.
We went back to Discovery Bay for a couple hours before taking the ferry to Central. Tara and family had dinner plans in Central. The girls and I went back to the hotel for room service – soup. It had been a cold day in Hong Kong. It still wasn’t as cold as Shanghai, but we didn’t have the right coats for the temperature.
Upon our return to Shanghai, Vanessa and John were to arrive Monday for a two week holiday in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Jemima hurt her ankle in gymnastics and they had to cancel their trip at the last minute.
Monday, January 23: Traveling back to Shanghai
Eleri wasn’t feel well when we woke up this morning. Emersyn and I grabbed a quick breakfast while Eleri stayed in the room. Jim’s company had arranged a car for airport transportation. On the way to the airport, Eleri said she needed a bag. Luckily, I had one in my bag as I don’t think the driver would have been to pleased. On the flight, Eleri vomitted two times and she was beginning to have a fever. Luckily, Mr. Nie insisted on picking us up. I had said “No” as it was one of the big family nights of the CNY holiday. But, he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Eleri vomitted two more times in the car on the way home.
We got home around 4pm. Mr. Nie had looked after Roxi from Wednesday until Sunday morning. Sean was looking after Roxi Sunday and Monday. It was to be easy money for Sean…but, Roxi got sick during the night. She had diarrhea on my two rugs in the living area. Rugs we had JUST rolled out before we left because Roxi is toilet trained and Vanessa and John were coming for a week. Jennifer spent Monday morning cleaning my rugs.
Eleri was having stomach cramps along with a fever and vomit. I googled appendicitis to see the symptoms…hum, lower middle stomach cramps, fever and vomit – not good. I put Eleri to bed in my bed so I could manage her in the night. I pulled our insurance cards, money, passport and the card with the hospital in Chinese to be prepared if we needed to go to the hospital in a taxi.
I had Roxi out several times, but no poops. As I am getting ready for bed, she had diarrhea on my rug. I know she can’t help she is sick, BUT she can pick the place to poop. She currently thinks this IS where she is suppose to take care of business. I rolled up all the rugs in my room so if she got sick in the night, it would be on the floor.
Just as I was finishing cleaning up Roxi’s mess, I hear Eleri vomiting in the bedroom. A walk into the bedroom to find she woke up and vomitted over the side of the bed – EVERYWHERE. I move her to her bed and begin stripping the bed. She managed to get the pillow, the sheets, the comforter on the bed. On the lean over the bed, she got the bed skirt, the plastic (good thing plastic with lids) boxes under the bed, the mattress and the wood slats. I had to take the mattress off the frame to get the vomit in between the wood slats. Needless to say, it was after 2am by the time I got everything cleaned.
Eleri came back to my bed at 3am with stomach cramps. However, I didn’t feel they were her appendicitis because I could push on the lower, right area without pain. I rubbed her tummy and we went back to bed. Emersyn came in at 9:30 am to get Roxi. Then, she reported Roxi had diarrhea all over the rug in the dinning area. Impossible was my first thought as I closed the door to my bedroom….but, Eleri had left it open when she came in at 3am. Roxi had got up in the night and walked out to the rug to do her business. Some days the Mom job is harder than other days…and this was one!
We had a very slow, quiet day at home watching tv – much needed. Roxi was still sick, but after getting in trouble for one more poop on MY rug, she got the hint that the rug wasn’t the place – she chose the floor the next time. I can’t roll this rug up because the table is too heavy to move on my own. I have to wait for Jim to return to move the table. Another long night cleaning up Roxi’s poop in the night. Good thing we are on break! Jim asked Mr. Nie what he fed her while she was in her care – chicken feet or something, yep that might be the problem!
The rest of the week
The rest of the week gets one title because the girls and I did a lot of nothing. We watched tv, played games, had popcorn movie nights, the girls played with Sean and Sophie and rested! We enjoyed the much needed downtime. Jim arrived home Sunday night from California to begin Monday morning back into the routine.
We enjoyed the time with friends and relaxing while we “hid” from the cold of Shanghai. My short post became a long post with my tour down memory lane. I guess that explains why I am always behind on my blogs!!
Welcome the Year of the Dragon – both Emersyn and Jim are dragons.