Category: Hong Kong

Hong Kong, China

We had to get up at 4:30am today to get to Singapore airport by 6am…ugh….didn’t sleep too well because all I thought about was getting up early. Surprisingly the boys got up really fast and easily for a change! We only had time for a quick cup of coffee and breakfast in the airport lounge. Singapore airport is gorgeous, it’s huge and full of flowers and orchids and high end boutiques. Everything is new and clean, just like the city. Our first flight is about 4 hours to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific. We flew them over from LAX and they are amazing, now I know why they are the number one airline in the world. Once we get to Hong Kong we have an hour layover and then a 14 hour flight non stop to LAX. That’s where we will need to do some napping! We leave Asia at 8am and get into LAX at 11:15am the same day because we lose a day as we cross the International Date Line. The second leg was tougher than it was coming over! Coming over was during the day, we left at 1pm and arrived at 7pm, just in time to go to sleep and we had no jet lag. Going from Hong Kong to LAX we left early, lost a day and got back home at 11:15am so it was important to sleep a lot on the flight back because we missed a nights sleep. I did pretty good and took two long naps, Grant slept for a long time and Rowan a little, I don’t think Jeff slept much at all. We’ll have to see how we feel. It was a great trip and I am happy to be going home but sad that our trip is over. It feels like so long ago that we arrived in Asia, can’t believe the month we spent there is over. It was an amazing month and so many great experiences for us and some great time spent together as a family. I think we hit almost all the cities on our wish list (see pic). Now we have to figure out where our next adventure will be 🙂

We spent the day in Central, where the business district is. It was a gorgeous sunny day, so we took the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbor and walked all over. Yesterday it was overcast with a little bit of sun so the temperature wasn’t too bad, just humid. Today with the sun beating down it was very hot, and humid! I think I was expecting a lot worse, because everyone said how horrendous it was this time of year but it felt similar to Manhattan in the summer, no different. In fact, Hong Kong reminds me of an Asian New York City. Smells, sights, street construction, traffic, full of people, food, all just in a different language. Oh, one major difference, the subways are air-conditioned!! It doesn’t feel like you are walking down into a steam room like NYC and the smells are city-like but different. It is more crowded than NYC and harder to get through the streets and subways. The boys got very annoyed by it! Not sure if I could handle that all the time but it does have a great vibe and I love it. After all the shopping and sightseeing we stopped at Man Mo Temple and the boys we intrigued by it. They really respected the temple and were very interested in watching the people coming in and out to say prayers and give offerings. I think Grant had an even better appreciation since he studied China’s geography, dynasties and religions this year in school. We met up with a friend of Jeff’s last night at Victoria Peak. It is the highest point on Hong Kong island and has spectacular views of the whole area. It was gorgeous to see at night!

Hong Kong, China

Thankfully we took the high speed Airport Express train to our hotel to avoid the traffic. We were so tired! It was 4:30am pacific by then and with only a few naps we were pretty tired. But of course the boys were hungry so we grabbed a quick bite right near the hotel, squid ball soup and curry chicken. Our hotel is beautiful and our room has four beds!! We were so happy to sleep comfortably with no one bothering us! We also have a small kitchen with a sink, refrigerator, stovetop, microwave, rice cooker, French press, stocked nicely. The view is gorgeous too. Today was a lot of exploring, first to eat at a famous Michelin Star dim sum restaurant. It was AMAZING!! Then we rolled out of there and headed down to a Tailor for a custom made suit for Jeff in Tsim Sha Tsui. Down to the waterfront and the Hong Kong Walk of Fame, kind of like the Hollywood walk of fame along Victoria Harbor. Next up was the Ladies Market for some shopping and haggling. We made it back to the hotel and are ready for bed!! But we promised the boys we can go to the pool, it’s very humid but the temperature wasn’t too bad, nowhere near as hot as I thought it would be. The pool and spa is on the top floor of the hotel, what a great view. After a quick swim we all made our way to the steam room to relax our tired muscles….. Cocktails were on the 110th floor of the Ritz Carlton, what a view! Then of course we were hungry again….more noodles. Too bad the boys didn’t make it through all of dinner, I guess Jet Lag set in.

New Territories, Hong Kong

This whole morning from wake up until we took off I was a ball of nerves. We didn’t go to sleep until 1am then woke up at 6. So needless to say I was overtired and super stressed out to be ready to leave at 9am. Thankfully we have a great family who is taking care of Stanley and our house. So that was one less worry for us. We made it through security and into the KAL Lounge by 11:30! We left at 9am, traffic and security took so long. A stiff Bloody Mary, tea sandwiches and udon noodles helped a bit! It’s somewhat painful sitting next to the boys as they argue and fight over the shared armrest but I have a crisp glass of white to smooth it all over. I downloaded all these movies and TV shows but the entertainment system is amazing. I think I might start Breaking Bad since it is an offering?!? Only 13 more hours to go…, Lunch was decent considering its airline food, and the kids ate well. They are just super happy to drink sprite and eat ice cream! Now it’s time to take a nap, 3 hours into the flight, full bellies and I will finish my first episode of Breaking Bad then hopefully a nap. I managed to sleep for about two hours so that helped a lot. There’s nothing better than the Bose Quiet Comfort headphones, they have noise canceling and with that on and my music playing you don’t hear anything! I did watch the first episode of Breaking Bad before I napped. It was good but like any series, you need to watch a few to really get into it. Just had a cup of coffee even though it’s 7pm Pacific because I have 8 more hours of flight left and it will be around 6pm the next day when we arrive in Hong Kong. The boys are having fun but haven’t slept yet. They are having too much fun with the in flight entertainment choices. They had a good long game of video chess. They are also excited to cross the International Date Line. Only 7 1/2 more hours to go, made it half way and crossed the International Date Line! The second episode of Breaking Bad is over and still not hooked, but definitely interesting. I have been reading in between and eating and drinking. We had dinner at 10 pm pacific but 1:09pm Hong Kong time. I chose the Fish with black bean sauce and jasmine rice, it was surprisingly good! 5 more hours to go….2/3 of the way there. It’s not as miserable as I thought it would be. I am actually relaxing, reading, watching TV and enjoying myself. But there are five more hours, we’ll see what they bring…..nap time again zzzzz! Well I somehow slept again and for 2 hours until the boys woke me up kicking each other and fighting over space and who was encroaching into the others, etc. Just what I wanted to be woken to. Cranky now! But the monitor said only 2 more hours!! We all just freshened up and the boys ordered noodle soup-they are so happy now 🙂 I am going to do some reading and get ready for our arrival into Hong Kong soon! We are finally making our descent into Hong Kong, the flight is over!