Aunt Nellie Visits!!!

Welcome to Hong Kong, Aunt Nellie!!!

We haven't seen Aunt Nellie since we were home at Christmas, so we were very excited for her visit over spring break. It just so happened that the stars aligned and the kids spring break (2 weeks long) coordinated with her spring break. She booked a ticket (sorry, no upgrade to business class available) and flew the 16 hours over the North Pole to spend 8 days with us. 

Up first was a visit to C's school to be a spectator for Sports Day. Sports day is basically the equivalent of our "field day" at Marion Local. However, the entire school year leads up to game day. Every Friday, the entire student population (84 children) are divided into 4 groups of various ages. The groups stay the same for each quarter as they accumulate and earn points while competing in various logic, humanity, citizenship, and various other types of academic games. The final competition was the Sports Day games, which families were invited to attend. It was located in the big grassy area at our Community Hall, which is a 5 minute walk from our house. C's team is called "Dragons", which happens to be his football team name, so he wore that uniform. (The teams had to dress in their team color, in this case, blue. This is a big deal to the kids because they normally wear uniforms). For the record, his team won!!!

Preparing for the games. FYI, that is his girlfriend standing behind him!

Up next, a night out for the adults. After school, we helped the kids settle in for the evening with Margie, and then we hoped a ferry and taxi into the city. Hong Kong is a large city, so it is best described by the districts and streets. The trendy restaurant area is known as SOHO. We decided on an Italian place and filled ourselves with some nice carbohydrates before hitting the bar district, Lan Kwai Fong (LKF). There are around 100 plus dining and drinking establishments in these areas, so there is something for everyone! 

On of Mark and I's favorite hang-outs is Al's diner in LKF. (Don't get the wrong idea, we go out very seldom in LKF, but when we do, we always stop here). It's a great place with indoor/outdoor seating, video screens that play music video's from the 80's-90's, and people dancing on the tables...makes you feel like you are back in Ohio! We also toured another favorite location, Insomnia. This place has live music that absolutely rocks. The are open until like 4 a.m. but we always leave at a respectable 1:45 to catch the last ferry back to our island :) 

Anyways, LFK is always an eye-opening event. People are dressed up in formals, super hero costumes, in just underwear, the possibilities are endless. BUT Nellie was in for a special treat, because Hong Kong was celebrating the Hong Kong Rugby 7's. The Rugby 7's are a rugby tournament featuring teams from all over the globe. Rugby players are nuts, but Rugby fans are more nuts!!! Basically, if you have ever attended HineyGate, think that on serious steroids for the party atmosphere. We met so many people, I can't think of another place that you can talk to people from so many different countries in one night, but anything is possible in Hong Kong. 

Over the weekend, we went to visit Big Buddah, just the girls. Unfortunately, after we rode the cable car, it started to rain. We had to walk and climb the stairs in the rain. However, E had a great time jumping in any puddle she could find. Of course, I forgot to bring an umbrella, which is a staple in the subtropics. 

Bamboo growing in the gardens around the village in Big Buddah. E loves bamboo, as it feeds the panda bears!

 We also went to Disneyland, just the girls. The little man can be quite a hermit when he chooses. He was in football camp this week from 9-12 daily, plus he was running a fever off and on with a cold. He didn't really have the energy to devote to sight-seeing, football, and the NCAA March Madness, so guess which activity lost!

Riding the tea-cups with Aunt Nellie! 

Main Street U.S.A with Sleeping Beauty's castle way in the background.

Once again, just the girls headed to Ocean Park, which is a large amusement park and aquarium on Hong Kong Island. Of course, it had to rain off and on, but it didn't stop our fun. We were able to see the panda bear cubs, lots of fish, a few sharks, and ride the carousel. Overall, a success for E!

 

She loves the goldfish!

Finally, we spent lots of time eating and enjoying time together just doing nothing. Unfortunately, our weather was not fantastic, but we still had fun :)Thanks for visiting Nellie, we will see you in June!!!!

Bali, Indonesia

We've had a busy month here in Hong Kong! We've had Aunt Nellie visit for 9 days and then spent Easter in Bali, Indonesia. Aunt Nellie's blog post will be coming later as I'm still gathering pictures, so Bali first. 

The brief geological and cultural lesson first...Bali is a providence located in the country of Indonesia. It is approximately a 4 hour flight south from Hong Kong, located in the Southern Hemisphere. Bali has remained mostly Hindu, however, much of Indonesia is Islamic. There are influences from India and China; however, I would say that the Hindu culture is most prominent. There are many temples and offerings of incense and flowers to the Hindu Gods. Bali has a booming tourist economy, gorgeous beaches, the Indian Ocean, and a hot, tropical climate.

We stayed at the Grand Hyatt resort, which was highly recommended by some Canadians that we know from Hong Kong, and we were not disappointed! The above picture is just 1 of the 5 pools at our resort. 

We had a cave, water slides, loungers built-into the pool, and so much more! We had a hard time convincing the kids to leave the pools to do anything else, ever. In fact, we didn't do much else, which is why Mark and I want to go back and explore Bali without the kids. There is so much culture and the area is simply gorgeous, but it's hard to convince the little ones the importance of cultural enrichment :)

The other nice thing about the resort was its' size. Living in Hong Kong, you can get a little claustrophobic. Although our area is very nice and not congested, it's nothing like Ohio. We had to reference a map to reach the medical clinic, tennis courts, and various restaurants. There was a huge Prudential insurance conference for Eastern Europe being held here, and not once did we feel that it was crowded. There were plenty of lounge chairs, plenty of staff, and plenty of beach space. We could see the stars at night, which is not very common in Hong Kong. It was just a really great place to visit and re-group from our daily life here. 

 

Evie went to the Kids Club for face painting one day while the rest of us played tennis. She is a (sweating) butterfly.

Like I said, our resort was huge, but once we walked off the property, there was this nice clearing on a cliff featuring a temple, these Hindu statues, and an "ocean boom" viewing point. We could not find much about these statues in English, partly because we didn't have time to read the 6 foot by 4 foot book that was located in the base of the building, and partly because the kids were getting hungry. But, I will research them later.

                                                      

Here we are visiting the "ocean boom" look-out. We walked up onto the deck that you can see in the background because you could see the waves better. Then a nice little wave came up so we could get some cool pictures and "BOOM" the after effects....as you may guess, E was less than impressed, C said "that wave was wicked-cool!"  (Of course, E looks less than impressed in the "before" picture as well, but that's her natural persona)

Right across from our resort, about a five minute walk from our room, was a large market area. There were many restaurants, spas, and shops, which was very convenient and more cost effective than resort food all the time. Asia has a great customer service sector and the salon business is no exception. So, I was all about the salons at the market. All of them offered "fish therapy" which is basically a treatment to remove dead skin cells from whatever body part you stick in the tank. I had just had a pedicure before we left for our trip, so I thought it would be a good idea for the boys to try out this little treatment. (Not that I would have done it anyways, but it sounded good). Anyways, C was all about it, Mark took some convincing. However, we paid our money, they dipped there feet in and went for it very bravely. Turns out, C loved it!This salon had 4 tanks in it, so when the fish grew tired of him in 1 tank, he would run to the next one. He ended up dipping his hands in as well. They described it as tickling, especially when the fish went for the skin between the toes. Mark ended up with smoother skin, but more interesting than that, the fish loved his leg hair. He now looks as though he wears bad socks that rubbed off all the hair from right above the ankle. There session lasted 20 minutes and they both stuck it out for the duration.

A close-up view of C having his feet nibbled. He eventually relaxed his toes, but he said it tickled!

Apart from the pools, eating, and the beach, we attended a traditional Balinese dance production. I still need to upload those pictures, but the costumes were beautiful and we were all able to take pictures with the actors. Evie enjoyed the princesses in it. C found a boy that resembled A.J. (his cousin). He decided that was his favorite person in the show, so they had a picture taken together too.

We ate a a Japanese steak house, located at our resort, which is where this family picture was taken. The kids enjoyed the food and the adults had our first experience with "seaweed casserole" for dessert. (No going back for seconds on the dessert).

We had a fantastic time and can't wait to explore more!!! Happy Easter everyone.

Our Elements Excursion

   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.

 Carson used his penguin for the first 30-45 minutes and then decided he had enough of the idea that he could skate by holding  my hand. By the end of our skating session, he was skating to the wall, unassisted for about 5 meters or so. He does like skating and wants to play ice hockey, but I think he's in enough activities for now :)  Mark did capture some nice video of the skating, but I don't know how to download that yet. Carson has a couple of good spills from trying to wave to the camera!

As a side note, we only have indoor rinks here. We are dressed warm for the skating, but in reality it was about 70 outside...just sayin' in case you want to visit!!!!
 

Out & About in October 2012

Sienna Park Pond

 October in Hong Kong remains incredibly hot and still very humid, no fall-like weather here! It was typically in the upper 80's to 90's everyday with humidity to match. Dehumidifiers are a must in this climate, and we run 3 of them around the clock in our 2100 sq. foot place. Despite the humidity, we were outside most of October enjoying the parks and beaches. This post is going to include several "events".

Although we live in a sub-tropical island, the usable green space is lacking a little. Discovery Bay offers much more grass and trees than Hong Kong Proper, but parks are still the best place to go and play out in the open. Lucky for us, we have a fantastic park 5 minutes away. Sienna Park is located right next to our recreational club, Club Sienna. This park hosts several ponds, open spaces for running, a jungle gym, playground, and "wildlife". If you look close, you can see gigantic fish that the kids love to feed. These fish are very well trained and will swim right on up to any person that stands remotely close to the edge of the pond waiting for their bread. There are also turtles that love bread as well. The kids get a kick out of "tricking the fish" by laying the bread on the stone-edge so the turtles can crawl up and eat it without the fish attacking. (Obviously, when bread is tossed into the water, the fish can out swim the turtles).

Also on our list to wear the kids out is beach time. We have a couple of beaches in Discovery Bay, however, the really nice ones are located about 15-30 minutes away, which involves ferry/taxi/or bus rides. Our beaches are quite fine for playing in the sand though. Typically, E and I play in the sand, while Mark and C have to play some type of sport. C is not happy unless a ball is being thrown or kicked and he can be covered in sweat and sand!

 Remember, it's 90 plus degrees here. That doesn't stop him from needing to dress in a full-on American football uniform! This is the beach that is by our ferry pier, which makes it not great for swimming because of all of the fuel that I assume is in the water. The kids don't care to swim though because the pools here are so nice, and they don't have to worry about sharks!  It is the larger of the beaches here, something like 400 meters long, so it's large enough to give us some space. It also hosts a playground, volleyball nets, and is alongside the bars/restaurants :)

It's not a snake, just a piece of seaweed.

Finally, October is the Mid-Autumn festival in China. This means the kids get 1 week off of school plus and additional 3 days for some other festival that no one seems to celebrate, so I don't know what it is. Mid-Autumn festival celebrates the new moon and is also known as The Paper Lantern Festival. The kids make red lanterns in school and eat "moon pies". (Unless, you are a Bills' kid, which then you are automatically allergic to the things because it's an egg in some type of pastry. I don't really think they are missing out).

Anyways, Discovery Bay celebrates by gathering on the beach in the evening for complete chaos. We had dinner first, by the beach, and bought our supplies for the night. (Glow sticks for the kids, beer for the adults). We then staked our claim on the beach, covered the kids with glow sticks, hung a paper lantern around their neck, and watched them run around like little lunatics with the other thousand kids here. The glow sticks were multi-purpose. You could keep track of your kids better in the dark, plus 30 came in 1 box, so you could make all sorts of designs to keep the kids busy. 

We were a little naive at this event. We thought the lanterns were going to be released into the sky in honor of the moon. Well, apparently that only happens in like one spot of China, and Discovery Bay was not it. So the kids were a little bummed. Luckily Kai Lan, the Nickelodeon show, does an excellent job of explaining this festival and they actually release lanterns, so the kids could watch that and be satisfied. In fact, I would refer you to that episode should you desire any more information on the Mid-Autumn Festival as she does a much better job than me at explaining :)

Start of the celebration

End of the celebration! She was done :)

He was drenched from the water, as he and his friends had to "check some stuff out down there".

Finally, we did celebrate Halloween here. It's actually a very big holiday and people love to trick-or-treat. I took the kids to a house party with some other Americans for the night because Carson still had soccer practice during our buildings trick-or-treating. We decorated with pumpkins and bought loads of candy since  we have tons of kids in our building. Sadly, no one came to our door because apparently you had to register on a list that I did not know about stating you would have candy. At least I'm in the know for next year...

C's First day of School

Inside the classroom, at his cubby, on Open House Day.

C began school on August 15, 2012. He entered into Year 2 at Discovery Minds Primary School in Discovery Bay, which is located in our community. We were very fortunate that he was accepted into this school because it is so close to our house. Schooling in Hong Kong for ex-patriots is EXTREMELY competitive, expensive, and overall a nightmare for every parent. There are limited spaces available and loads of students who need to attend English speaking schools. When we toured in February 2012 to decide if we wanted to relocate to Hong Kong, we were told by all of the schools that we had already missed the deadline for enrollment into the following year! (Apparently, even if you have no idea that you may relocate to Hong Kong, you may want to put your children on the school waiting lists now. This way, in 4 years, they will have a spot, should you so choose :))

Anyways, C & E were  numbers like 178 and 220 in most of the schools. Oh, and I forgot, to apply to the school it costs thousands of dollars$$$$. If you would like your child moved to the top of the list, some schools are willing to take an additional $100,000-$500,000 (Hong Kong dollars) from you. But be warned, this does not guarantee a spot, you just move up the list. We were fortunate the hubby's company does have an excellent reputation with the American school in Hong Kong, so we were offered spots for our children there. We reluctantly had to decline because the kids would have an hour commute, since we could not live on that island due to my motion sickness :( Luckily, our lovely new primary school opened in DB, and we actually were able to apply on time for that one, so places were given for the kiddos!!!! I am very serious about the school situation, there are some people here who have children in 3 different schools or have to home school because there are just not enough places.

Back to C. Discovery Minds Primary School is a British-based, English speaking school. C is in Year 2, which is similar to 1st grade in America. He has 22 children in his class, and he is the only American. He has lots of kids from Europe, several from Australia, and several from Asia in the class. All of the children speak English plus their native language(s). He takes Mandarin classes several times a week, in addition to citizenship, music, numeracy, literacy, handwriting, art, physical education, sciences.

All of the children wear these lovely little uniforms, as C is modeling on his first day.

Outside his school, without the hat!!

That's his teacher, Miss Simpson, in the line speaking to the children. He is acting pretty brave for the picture, but it was pretty tough for him (and Mom & NaNa!) NaNa was actually here for the kids first days of school. Mark was traveling back in the USA and I couldn't handle all of the stress of the first days of school, moving into the duplex, finding my way around Db and Hong Kong by myself! So thanks Mom!

His school day runs from 8:30-3pm. He was very excited to see us at the end of the day, but he did a great job and was very brave for us!

A quick hug for support from E! She started 2 days later.

Big Buddah Trip

In September, we took a ten minute bus ride to the nearby community of Tung Chung, for a visit to Big Buddah. This was really our first adventure to a tourist attraction with the kids, aside from the ferries. To reach the village, Ngong Pong, which is on top of a mountain, you must first ride a 20 minute cable car. These cars, at various points of the trip, can range from 20 feet above ground to 200 feet above water! I was nervous as all ****, but the kids and Mark were walking around our car taking pictures, which of course made it sway, and me more nervous!

We were greeted by free-roaming cattle in the village upon arrival. We then walked around and eventually made our way over to Buddah. The kids thought the statue was pretty cool, but their interest in a giant statue only lasts so long! We then walked around the village and visited some of the shops and had a beverage, at where else, Subway. Nothing quite completes an Asian cultural visit like visiting an American food chain restaurant :) Enjoy our pictures!

 The kids in our cable car, riding up to the village. It's higher than it looks!!!

This is the view of Buddah from the cable car ride.

Mark and the kiddos about 2/3's of the way up the 100 step climb to the Buddah. I have no idea why I can not rotate the picture, but if anyone knows how, let me know!

We made it all the way up!

Evie needed to be carried, just because that is how she rolls. The weather was typical for September, 90 degrees with 90% humidity. She was busy yelling at Mark about being hot and sweaty, while she demanded he carry her up all the steps!

C posing up at the Buddah. Those are mountains in the background.

Victoria Harbour

One of Hong Kong's famous destinations is Victoria Harbour, which is actually the waterway that separates Hong Kong Island from Kowloon. Boats and ships of all sizes pass through here daily, from one-man rowing boats to cruise ships and cargo ships. The area across the water is actually quite small and can be crossed via a 7-minute ride on The Star Ferry or underground via the MTR system. A tourist must-do is to take The Star Ferry, as these boats are very old and have served residents in Hong Kong since 1888 (not a typo!)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Ferry

The second major attraction to Victoria Harbour is the skyline view. Many skyscrapers line the Harbour and it is simply fascinating to view both day and night. Every night, at 8pm, Hong Kong puts on a laser-light show. Many of the buildings participate in this show with lasers of various colors flashing through the sky. Many buildings also have either large lights cast onto their building or change the lighting in the windows to make various shapes and sayings to go along with the season. There were Santas at Christmas, Snakes for Chinese New Year, etc, etc. 

We took my parents down to the Harbour for a waterfront dinner and view of the show, which you see in the pictures. 

This is the International Finance Center, or IFC building. It's the second tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong. It was opened in 2003 and has 88 stories plus 6 basement levels. It is supposedly similar in size to The World Trade Centers. The IFC is 418 meters tall! This building houses a MTR station (subway), 55-story hotel, a shopping mall, offices, and restaurants. The picture of Mom and Dad was taken across the Harbour opposite the IFC. The one of the IFC was taken on the same night, just about 100-200 yards from the base.

That's all for my cultural lesson today! I am hoping my computer will be fixed soon, so I can catch up on the blog. I've been doing it on the iPad, but its a little difficult, hence no postings for 3 weeks!