Elements is a large shopping and entertainment center located in Kowloon, which is approximately 20-30 minutes away from us. Elements houses a large multi-lingual cinema complex and an ice-skating rink, in addition to the stores and restaurants. To get there, we have to take a bus from Discovery Bay to a MTR station and then take the MTR (subway) directly there. I have been promising Evie an ice-skating trip, so one Sunday in February we ventured out, after much bribing of C. (C is very hesitant to try anything new in HK that does not involve some type of sporting event. He did not feel that ice skating qualified as a sport until he actually tried it).
We arrived during the intermission from the morning to afternoon skate, so the kids were able to watch the zamboni in action. This also allowed us to be first in line for the penguins. The penguins are these cute little weighted objects on skies that glide across the ice helping new skaters with balance. They also have polar bears and a dolphin for taller people. At the point of the picture above, the kids were all smiles and happy to be skating! Please take note, that I am in the picture by myself with the kids. Mark decided he needed to be the photographer for the day, capturing all of our happy memories from above the ice. He found it perfectly acceptable for me to take both children, whom have never skated, out onto the ice, in Asia, by myself. (People that have been here, may understand what I mean by that comment, ask my Mom about crowds/etiquette/DisneyLand). Anyways, turns out, Mark doesn't know how to skate and he was too wimpy to rent a dolphin for his own use, so I was on my own!
I manage to get the kids onto the ice, when Evelyn realizes that she actually has to move her legs to skate and it's slippery! She was under the impression that the penguin would do all the work and she could just stand there. She took a little coaxing and a lot of arm muscle at first to get the idea, but by the 3rd lap I could let go for 3-4 seconds. She skated for 20 minutes and then needed a break. Unfortunately, while she did not have her skates on and was on the outside of the rink, she feel off of a ledge, scraped and bruised her back pretty good, and now hates ice skating.
