"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)
~ Confucius (551BC - 479BC)