Disneyland: Welcome to the Magic

By the time Day 3 rolled around, we were pretty much into all things Hong Kong including learning the different ways to speak and learning the meaning of certain mispronounced words. Our tour guide, Tim, was a funny guy and often referred to himself as Andy Lau.

The one that got everyone cracking on the bus was when he joked, "When Hang Kang powlis want to catch thief, he will run vely fast beco he go thlu 18 monks physica twaining.. he run vely fast in the opposik dilection!" Now, if you didn't get that don't bother going to Hang Kang. :)

So thankfully the day arrived when we will get a full day at Disneyland. The girls were so wound up at this stage too, having waited a full 2 days on top of the month long wait to get to Hong Kong. We were also to join up with my brother's family (they are booked into Hollywood Hotel in Disneyland and had a headstart).

Sofia's typical breakfast- haiz...

almost there!!

hip hip hooray!! we finally made it..

a rare smile for the camera.

And the moment, we entered the gates (and sneaked in our foodstuff), I was lost in wonderland. In all my worldly travels with my parents, we have never been to Disneyland. I was as excited as the kiddies, hence proving it a place "where adults become children".

I handed Arissa the map and time guide and told her today is her day- that we will do everything she wants to do. Her little face immediately lit up "everything ker Mummy?" so I had to bring her back down a little "well, most things ok?" I don't want her to think she can eat lollipops for lunch and stand on her head while riding the Cinderella Carousel.

So the map pretty much stayed with her the whole day as she tried her darnest to decipher words on it, a really good spelling exercise mind you!


While waiting for the rest of the clan to arrive, we hopped on the tram that took us on a parameters tour and got off back at the main entrance to be met by a long snaking queue that was Mickey & Minnie- Meet & Greet. This was about as close as we got, the hub and I never could be bothered with queues..


One photo for posterity and then we're off to explore Fantasyland (Flower Earring aka Angel from Lilo & Stitch included)..


The Cinderella Carousel is a perfect ride for me and Sofia- its safe, it doesn't give me vertigo and it plays beautiful music. We took this maybe half a dozen times, every time we pass by here Sofia insists to get on it. Again. See how happy I look- haha? :)



Even Hafidz couldn't resist the lure of all things golden and made of kiddy dreams..


The following rides in Fantasyland included Winnie the Pooh:




..Dumbo the Flying Elephant:



Toy Story Land, the latest park to open, is chock-full of kids and waiting time was 60minutes to get on any ride. This is the inherent problem with travelling during school term break, we just could not be arsed to wait as the rest of Disneyland beckons.


We broke for lunch at Adventureland with vegetarian Indian fare and the usual cup noodles for the kids, and some mucking around session. Dad bought tasty grilled sotong from a street vendor and we ended up eating so much of them because everything else had pork.


I'm not sure if spinning in a little teacup is ideal right after lunch but since no one puked, its not my day to say anything.


The weather had gotten a lot warmer too and everyone ditched their jackets- thank goodness for my kiddy stroller which became a coat rack of sorts. It was warm enough to warrant an ice-cream treat, which we discovered even the sparrows loved and begged for more..



And then it was another ride that Sofia truly enjoyed, I know this because she stood up straight throughout the 10min boat ride- wide eyed and curious. Mum had the same expression actually.. hehe. I don't remember the name of this ride but it kept playing Its a Small World After All music sang in various languages and the props were awesome!





By this time, we were all pretty tired and Sofia fell asleep soon after allowing Hafidz and I to get on with our agendas. Mum and Dad volunteered to look after her while Hafidz and Danial got on some crazy indoor roller coaster ride with shooting laser lights that left him partially paralysed for the next hour, and I got on a car ride with the rest of the kids that took 40 minutes in queue and 4 minutes in action- waste time only..!

With Sofia awake, we squeezed in Adventureland minutes before the fireworks were due to go off at 9pm. We went up the treehouse that belonged to Tarzan, got on a thrilling (but wet) boatride that took us through spouting geysers and fiery volcanoes, past dangerous crocs and water hippos to safe ground.




We had a ball of a time! I have not felt like a kid in ages and it was wonderful to forget everything and live life for the moment. By the time we got to Sleeping Beauty's castle for the fireworks show, the camera was sucked dry of batteries. Oh well, there are loads on youtube that you can watch so it doesn't really matter. What did matter was it was the most fun-filled magical day of my adult life! :)

Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.
~ Dalai Lama

DiscoverHongKong.com

From the moment of our arrival, Arissa had one sole mission: she only wanted to know when we are going to Disneyland. On Day 2, I happily woke them up at an ungodly 8am singing "We're going to Disneyland today!!" although it was a half lie..

We would go to Aberdeen Fishing Village first, then TSL diamond factory, then a cheap clothing store, then Avenue of Stars, then Lantau Island.. and THEN to the most magical place on the planet- haha.

From our hotel, Aberdeen is about 20minutes away. Along the long and winding road that took us on the busy Cross-Harbour Tunnel and 1.9km Aberdeen Tunnel that went right under The Peak, we also caught a glimpse of the crib that belonged to the richest man in HK- Mr Li Ka Shing. Known for living an austere life including wearing a Seiko watch in spite of his tycoon status, his abode mirrors this no-frills lifestyle.

At the fishing village, we got on a shampan, as the locals refer to it, to go around the water body and take in the sights and smells of the beautiful floating Jumbo seafood restaurant which is designed like a Buddhist temple.




The private condominiums along the waterway were typically HK-style: sky scraping, unbelievably razor thin and built high and mighty on mountain/hill tops. I would be so damn nervous living in one of those! Especially because they retail at about HKD$6m (S$1m) for a tiny unit (3/4 the size of my 5-room flat).

The morning was quite chilly, perhaps 20 deg and the girls obediently put on their jackets. It was not an easy task in days to come, Sofia especially found it cumbersome and preferred to do without it, clinging to me instead for warmth (read: back ache).



The next 2 stops were typically tourist deathtraps- the diamond factory and the cheap clothing store- total waste of time. I did learn how diamonds are set though!

On the way to Lantau Island, we stopped briefly at the Avenue of Stars, which is pretty near our hotel, parts of which were under construction, for a photo taking opportunity. I believe there is an 8pm daily lights show on the opposite side (Causeway Bay side) but we missed it during our stay. As you can see, the wind was intense but it thankfully not too cold!


Off we zoomed to the scenic Lantau Island, I really enjoyed that place. The main reason being we FINALLY found a halal restaurant, a Mediterranean/Indian chain called Ebeneezer's. I bumped into my bestie's ex-neighbour while she was living in KL, Zarina, and laughed about the coincidence of it all! Didn't I say this was a bandwagon?

Mum was worried we had over-ordered but we totally cleaned out our plates. The kiddies had cup noodles brought from Singapore. When we did run out on Day 4, it was hell trying to get more because all the cup noodles sold in 7-Elevens had pork in them, even seafood or mushroom flavours!!

To get to Ngong Ping 360, the high point on Lantau Island, we had to get on a very large cable car, once again bypassing long queues. Hafidz has acrophobia but the capsule was large and stable that he didn't look nervous although we kept on climbing higher and higher with steep gorges on either sides. The girls, needless to say, were happy to be 'flying'!





It was pretty much a touristy place and modeled like an old Chinese village with the Big Buddha at the top end. Hafidz looked right at home here, his Guangdong lineage blending perfectly with the rest of the Chinese. :)





There was even foam snow which was oh-sho-pwetty with none of the wet puddles we get from fake snow at home. I want!!

And then finally at 4pm, we were ready for half-day Disneyland. We were already pooped by then and the weather was not accommodating either so I had to be the bearer of bad news to the 5 year old who protested vehemently with "So not fair!!"

Instead, we got back to our tiny room, had some packed curry from Ebeneezer's (they provide delivery service too by the way) washed up and jumped on the hotel shuttle to the City area where we discovered many many Indian/Pakistani cafes along Nathan Road, but the one craving we were aiming for- a place called Surya Restaurant on Mody Road in Kowloon City- was nowhere to be found.

No matter, there is still 3 days of Hong Kong left in search of authentic Chinese dim sum!

And for Disneyland.. because as Buddha says "It is better to travel well than to arrive". Try explaining that concept to a 5 year old and the sulky reply would be "Not Fair!"

It is better to travel well than to arrive
~ Buddha

Hong Kong 101

When I said I was jumping on the holiday bandwagon, I really mean a bandwagon. At least a dozen people we know have been/are heading to the same destination this end year season.


"Why is everyone going to HK this year," asks a cousin, "Cheap promo ker?"

I seriously have no clue. We paid about $1200 per adult for ours for a fullboard package that included return tickets on HK Airlines, 4N accommodation at a 4* hotel, all transfers, 1 x city tour, 2 days Disneyland tickets and 1 day Ocean Park tickets. I guess it's cheaper than going to Tokyo Disneyland..

But then our motivation was a lot simpler. It had been exactly 20 years since our family trip to London and my dad wanted to have another big family holiday with his kids/grand-kids. When he first suggested Turkey, I protested loudly as beautiful as Turkey was when we were last there in 1994, I have no desire to put up with my obnoxious two sans Helper on a 10 hour flight. And even though Sofia is named after the St Sophia in Istanbul, I doubt her 2 year old mind would be the least bit interested in its history. And then my brother went ahead and booked Hong Kong for a Disneyland holiday for his brood and we all got sucked into it.

We got on a very early 740am flight to HK so I had to wake and shower the kids at 430am, much to their chagrin. It was Arissa's 4th time on a plane so she was pretty much used to the whole process. Sofia was a little less brave, once the engines roared to life she hid her face under a pillow and eventually fell asleep before takeoff, only waking up minutes before our arrival in HK.



It took 3 hours to get to our hotel from the point of landing and the girls were excitedly singing Christmas songs in the 44 seater bus that took us from HK International Airport to Harbour Plaza Metropolis in Hung Hom (weirdly pronounced 'Hong Hum').


The rooms were tiny! So tiny that we kept bumping into furniture and in my opinion not worth the 4* rating as our rooms faced not the harbour and had not a bath tub, never mind the very posh lobby- pah.

After freshening up, we went on a night tour to The Peak. It was an additional S$50 per person but worth every penny when the Tour Guide took us on an express lane, past the snaking queue for the tram ride up.


We got our first taste of rude China tourists who elbowed their way to the front, uncaring that we had kids and there were no safety barriers on the platforms. The same person tried elbowing her way into the tram when it arrived and was given a sharp and deadly jab and stare in return from a local.

The steep, hair-raising climb was super exhilarating. At one point I got confused seeing the buildings almost perpendicular to us before realising Whoops, we must be angled some 30deg above ground!

Madame Tussauds was next, and Sofia was once again.. asleep.


But I got a taste of red-carpet living (so to speak)! GRRRAAAaaaaa..


And Arissa held hands with her Idol..


And Daddy and Mummy went gaga over Jack Sparrow, savvy?


Two floors up and we're outdoors for a moonlit walk down the mountain slope and some photo-taking from The Peak. It reminded me of Singapore CBD so I was not overly impressed. The beautiful evening weather, however, was lovely and fresh!


We got back to the hotel starving and Mum made us my favourite Asam Laksa Maggie Noodles in her little crockpot brought lovingly from home. The hubby who has always turned up his nose at Asam Laksa (he's from Maggie Mee Curry camp), gobbled up the food with relish- onions and all which proves one thing:

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.
~ Confucius (551BC - 479BC)