Hong Kong: day 3 - shopping in unfamiliar territory

As usual, I woke up early - but unlike the Disneyland Hotel, there did not seem to be any place for me to explore, so I just relaxed myself by dipping in a hot tub - and boy, did I need this, since my leg muscles were acheing from all the walk we did thepast two days. I also boiled some drinking water then sat on a comfortable chair - with nothing but my bathrobe on, while sipping some tea as I watched the sun rise higher by our hotel window's view of the harbor. For a brief moment, I felt like a Taipan.

I also watched CNN to Scan the the news; there were snipets showing China's minutes of silence in remembrance of the quake... then I read a few chapters from the book I brought along with me, in case of such situations. I was just waiting for 8 A.M. before calling Barbie's room to wake them up, then I'd wake Bryce up to get him to do his usual morning rituals, as we prepared for breakfast.

Lucky for us, our accomodation included breakfast at the 40th floor's lounge, and we proceeded to enjoy a buffet made of cereals, poached eggs, bacon, toast and orange juice; while the kids had the same, with exception to hot chocolate instead of the juice - Barbie had the same, but with coffee.

With breakfast done by 9:30, we could plan for the day's shopping. Slight problem... most shops open around 11 A.M.; so no matter how early we wanted to go - there was nowhere to go to at that time. Anoehr slight problem, it was still raining. Still we took this opportunity to ask our friendly concierge where we could go to find great places to shop. Armed with a map, he marked a few locations and, once again, using the same card he used yesterday to mark Ocean Park, he marked the place we were going to... so we could show this to the cab's driver. We were also able to borrow a pair of umbrellas - courtesy of the hotel

As mentioned, we went to one place, but had to just walk around since the stores were still closed - or still busy openning. We looked for Toys R Us (and found it eventually - after trying to decipher where we were in the map), so the kids could buy something.

Me? What I wanted to get in Hong Kong was too expensive for my curent budget (a Digital SLR Canon camera - maybe, next time...), so I just went around without any expectations of what to search for... or what to buy. Apparently, this was not the place Barbie wanted to go to either - but since Hong Kong was not that familiar a place to her as well, she wsa at a loss to where we should go as well.

We went back to the hotel, checked-out but left our luggage while we were planning to explore H.K further. We, of course, inquired once again with our friendly concierge, and discovered that there was a shoping place just across the harbor - accessible either by a long cab ride, or better yet, by ferry ride. We opted to take the ferry - an added experience, waiting for us to try

Good thing too, since the ferry ride was very reasonable, and it did not take too long to cross the harbor from Wan Chai station to Tsim Sha Tsui (the place Barbie recognized as familar in sound regarding shopping), either. It was also the first ferry ride of the kids - at least, I think so.

So upon arriving at Tsim Sha Tsui (boy, these names are hard to spell), we entered one mall, which seemed interconnected to other malls. Again Barbie recognized the place - alas, she also has a 'not too keen' sense of direction (even here at home). So it felt like the blind leading the blind - far as looiing for the bargain places were concerned.

We went around, up down left and right - took lunch in a place we at least were familar with (Pizza Hut)- only after a long walk at that... which was ironic since we were near said place earlier, when they did not think to have lunch... All the while, we were wasting time. This was the irony, since we were not privy to the place, we did not know if we were near, far or way way far from wehre we wanted to go. All the while, Barbie was complaining that we were not going where we wanted to go - but could not tell us where we needed to go. All she said ws that we had entered from the back, and she had shopped here before - arriving at the front. So... back and front, not too hard to decipher right? Nope.

Finally, after almost two hours of walking, Barbie mentions soemthing crucial - that where she went was the opposite of the water (harbor), as opposed to our going parallel to it (which was most of the time). This made me realize that we needed to move one direction - away from the water. had I known this earlier, we would have found what Barbie meant to find a whole lot sooner. Apparently, she did not enter from the front (meaning opposite of where we came from), but rather from the side.


This discovery happened after we were basically frustrated and tired of walking. I personally wanted to just go back to the hotel and rest. Still, we just decided to buy at least one thing - so as not to make the trip a total waste. I got a 1 gig memory card for my camera - that's it. Bryce got a PSP game, Bernice just looked for something cute - and Barbie? Nada. She could find nothing to buy.

We finally went back to the ferry - just to make sure we were in the right side of the harbor as time came close to our pick-up schedule. We then rested in Starbucks (and may I say that the price of a frapuchino in H.K. was really much higher than compared to that in the Philippines - and we make our fraps smoother too).

By 5:30 P.M., we went back to the hotel, and just waited at the lower lobby. I just took a picture of the kids by the upper-lobby, as a reminder that we had been here. Our ride arrived - a bit late, due to traffic caused by the H.K. rush hour and the rains. This resulted in our rather later than hoped check-in, thus not being able to have selective seats on the plane ride back. Barbie and Bernice got to sit beside each other, Bryce was just behind them and I was about a few seats away from them (center seat, center isle). A small sacrifice to pay, I thought, as it was just an hour and a half trip - one that I could pass the time away with either a book or watching a T.V. program.

We then proceeded to the airport's waiting lobby, and on the way, checked out the Duty Free shops as we moved along. This is where Barbie bought something for herself, and I got some 'pasalubong' for my office-mates and my mom. We thought about geting more, but decided that we'd rather go Duty Free shopping when we got home.

While waiting, someone approached me with a note (definitely not written by her) explaining that she did not speak English and needed assistance in knowing her flight departure gate. As I tried helping, suddenly two more people apporached wiht the same problem. I was wondering why this was happening. Was I that apporachable?

I tried getting airport personnel to help them, as I was too tired to try helping... even if I could. Just to show you how tired I was, I could not get my dates straight. I forgot that looking at the flight schedule might help - but I also was not too familar with their ticket design to decipher certain data. I believe the ticket of the first woman that approached me, had to be either too late or too early for said flight. Her fligth was not on the screen, so I could not help in showing her where to go - what gate to proceed to. I wished I could help further, but the best I could do was let airport personnel assist them. It was frustrating to want to help, but not be able to.

We eventually boarded our plane; the flight was not eventful or memorable, we rached Philippine shores, disembarked, got an airport taxi and arrived home around 1:30 A.M.. and I had to work the next day. Man, there were times I wondered why we had too hectic a schedule - but as hectic as things were, as frustrating as it seemed at times, this trip was still memorable and enjoyable.

Sure, there would be things I would do differently next time. For one, we were not able to go the the Duty Free anymore - since work got in the way. But that's okay. We still got a lot of great memories... we enjoyed the Dsiney and Ocean park experience as a family... and this was the main point o fhte trip. Will we co this again? Not immediately, and not as hectic next time, and I would get into more research about what to do - oh yeah, and make sure we do our internet check-in in time for having a comfortable flight back home.

So there you have it... our Hong Kong experience. Lessons learned and all. Hope reading it gives anyone planning to go to H.K. a better idea of what to do and what not to do.

If I were to summarize:
a) confirm travel schedule early - ues the inernet for this, and make sure it happens both ways;
b) plan for 'Kairos' time, make things memorable and enjoyable;
c) if no one is familar with the place, it might be prudent to ask friends what to do, where to go - or maybe, a guide may be useful - being adventurous is fine, but not with kids along.

Hmmm... I should suggest a bullet-list option for blogs.

Hong Kong - day 2: Disneyland Hotel

I this habit that I've cultivated by way of a combination of sheer practice and repetition plus some outside stimulus - its to make my body clock wake me up early morning around 5:30 in the morning (Philippine time of course - and it so happens that Hong King time is just the same) - this is because I normally bring Barbie to work, before going to work myself... and since Manila traffic can be spectacular, we do need to leave the place we stay around 6:30 to 6:45.

Regarding my outside stimulus? Bubbles (our dog) wakes me up between 4:30 to 5:30, so I can bring her out. You could say that I've also gotten used to the fact that even as she approaches me, I know she's doing so - I can sense it, even in dream-state and need not have my face kissed (in her case, lots of licking) too much.

The reason I stated this is that regardless of how tiring yesterday was, I found myself awake around 5:30 A.M. and looked out our room's window to notice that it was raining. We'd left Manila behind experiencing a storm - and it seemed that said storm finally caught up with us. I felt slightly disappointed since this meant that we'd have little to no time to go around exploring the hotel's grounds. Hence I just stayed in our room - watching some television (but not too loud, since I was still sharing the room with barbie and the kids - all still blissfully asleep.

Eventually, I got bored - hit the shower, left a note that I'd be exploring the hotel, and brought with me my trusty camera - battery newly charged at that. I wanted to really see the garden up close, but only if the rain allowed it. Meanwhile I was roaming the hotel's corridors to get a lay of the land. Maybe find something I could show the kids later.


Call it an early bird catching the early worm thing, but in my roaming, I found a wing filled with conference rooms - which normally would be a 'so what?' moment for me. But this time, I spied Donald Duck (or if you don't want to suspend belief - someone wearing a Donald suit) at said conference room entrance. So I approached the hotel staff, and requested to have a picture with Donald. The result you can see right here.

I then looked around some more and realized that it stopped raining - or at least, it weakened to a bearable drizzle. This allowed me to go outside and explore said garden that I spied from our hotel room window.


I specifically, wanted to see the garden maze. Not to try it out though - at least, not yet, but to capture it in a picture too. Notice the shape of Mickey's head in the maze's center?

The garden was nice, and I noticed some crows (or were they ravens? - I couldn't tell too much since they were not making too much cawing sounds to make sure), and remembered seeing similar birds in Malaysia all those years back. So I wondered... there are crows, here in Hong Kong, as there were in Kuala Lumpur too - so how come I do not see them in Manila? I thought maybe because they're caught and are eaten? Possible. They don't like our pollution? Maybe, too.

I dismissed the thought and started clicking away some more. Explored a little more and discovered where the outdoor and indoor pool were - but then I decided to return to the room. I felt that I gave everyone enough time to rest, and wanted to wake them up, so this morning would not be wasted on sleep.

Barbie was awake by then, and we ordered breakfast delivered to the room, while the kids were getting up and taking their respective showers. We then explored the hotel, with my earlier exploration helping us navigate through its corridors. It was also at this time that I started noticng those hidden Mickey's in the hotel's designs, pointing them out to the kids or challenging them to find such hidden Mickey's - a game introduced, by the way, via the Disney Channel on cable TV.


I'd also found what I can just term as sweet spots for taking pictures to capture certain parts of the hotel in the background. Take these two large chandeliers, for example. I wanted to catch their size, but traditional pictures would not capture their grandeur - or size, but there was this little balcony that seemed perfect for a picture taking moment, while affording one to likewise capture these chandeliers.

Okay, so I still wasn't able to capture the size... but you get an idea.

We then went to the garden, so Barbie and the kids could enjoy the maze.

On second thought, why let them have all the fun?

That's Bryce with me in the Mickey head portion of the maze.


The maze wasn't so intimidating - but that was because I could see above the walls, thus able to navigate to the right direction by virtue of above-sight (as in, I can see above the maze and know which leads to a dead-end or an opening). I'm sure they could be more daunting had they been around six-feet high.


This here's the entrance to the romantic portion of the garden leading ot the Gazebo where garden weddings can be arranged - at least, that is what the hotel's website says.


And here's the rest of the pathway to the gazebo (which can be seen in the background), and where "I do's" can be exchanged. I'm sure that with proper lighting and romantic music played by a string quartet, this could be a really romantic and memorable evening for a 'Happy ever after' night.


I, then, showed Barbie and the kids where the indoor pool was, and I'm sure we were all kicking ourselves for not bringing our swim wear (at least, I know I was...). Ah well, we can still request for ourpicture to be taken, so it wasn't a total loss.

With the aid of the hotel's scheduled activities, I learned early this morning (during the time I was contemplating what to do) that there would be a 'learning how to draw' talk around 10:30 in the morning, so this would easily fit into our schedule. Though this was also offered in the theme park, we had no time to try it out - now, I was glad that it was being offered here, so Barbie and I decided to add Bryce and Bernice to the attendees.


Here they are getting instructions of how to draw...


... and here's Bernice, proudly showing her masterpiece. Hey... why does Mickey look scared? Not bad for a first try, though. In fact, I'd even say that she drew the best Mickey in the room amongst all the art-course students.

Since we still had more time to kill (about an hour before pick-up and transport to next destination), we decided to go visit the other Disney Hotel... the one with the Hollywood theme.

Magical Symphony! or Disney Magic comes alive! ... and just in time, too.

After the parade, we really had all the time on our hands, since the next show we were planning to watch was the High School Musical, at 5 P.M. - or about an hour's time, we decided to take thing easier, and for the first time enjoy the sights and sounds the park had to offer.

We finally ate a long delayed lunch, and even then Barbie was worried that we were sacrificing theme park exploration time; after all... when wuold we be back for this kind of experience? Still, we really did need to replenish our energies and rest our feet. I mean, between barnie and me, we could continue this demanding pace - but the kids were already burnt out with all the walking across the park and the quite hectic pace our trip demanded from us.

I could see Barbie's viewpoint, but I also could see how tired Bryce and Bernice were. This was ceasing to become enjoyable... and I was starting to feel that my feet were acheing (despite very comfortable shoes). So, we took our lunch, then walked around some more - with the intent of maximizing our one day stay in Disneyland.

Note to self - should such an experience afford itself in the future, it would be unwise - and unenjoyable to force-explore Disneyland, H.K. or otherwise, in half a day. It's just too hectic a pace... specially with kids. After all, Disneyland... as the Greeks would say, should be a Kairos moment. not a purely Chronos moment. For non-greeks, it means that the trip should be enjoyable (quality time focused) and not a purely linearly time-bound minute-maximizing event. That is why they refer to it as the Disney Magic... not marathon.

We were obviously doing something wrong - and spoiling the experience for the kids. Unfortunately, the cost of such a vacation does not lend itself to easily being enjoyed by others quite easily... specially non-H.K. residents who would need to plane in.

Going back to the Disney experience. After the much needed, albeit slightly rushed lunch. We then decided to try a few of the theme park's rides, specifically the Magic Mountain - a roller coaster, complete with health warnings that people with High Blood Pressure or a weak heart should skip... and using our quick entry pass, we were able to skip having to join the ride's queue and head string to the start of the line... see our package afforded us preferential treatment as far as the theme park's more popular rides were concerned - unfortunately, maybe because of the warning signs, Barnie decided not to join us, and just wait outside. So it was just the kids and me.

The roller coaster was in a pitch black environment to simulate space, and all we could see were starburst-pattered light shows (quite similar to the effects in Star Trek's warp speed or Star War's hyperdrive. As we careened sharply in a random manner - going left or right or up or down. I noticed (when I could) that Bernice closed her eyes for the most part, while Bryce; sitting behind us, had his head down most of the ride - how did I know? Well, he told me, and there were cameras taking pictures with the hope of convincing us to get a souvenir photo. Unfortunately, since the kids faces were hardly seen, I decided not to get said photo. Having survived that, we explored other theme-park activities.


Bernice with an 'I was here' moment.


Here she is again, ready to toss the Tommorowland globe like a large beach ball.


Lifting the Tommorowland globe while doing an Atlas pose, with a little help from Bryce. Notice I've got an admirer observing how strong I am?


What's so hard about this?

We were not too keen on other rides. For the most part, the kids (and I use the term kids here loosely - since it might be better to call them pre-teens... and in Bryce's case, he'd officially be a teen before the month ended) had outgrown them, so we simply took some pictures of certain rides - but declined taking the rides themselves.

After all, no one thought they'd miss out on the experience from the the Winnie the Pooh ride...others were not seemingly enticing enough on the outside (like the Buzz Lightyear experience), or we could not see their entrance - thus we just took a picture and decided to look elasewhere to maximize our remaining time the park.



Bryce and Benice posing separately in front of the Buzz Lightyear Space Command ride.



Simply put, the kids and I were exhausted - though the pictures may just hint at this - which shows that they (the kids) were real troopers. Barbie then insisted that we then tried, what was to admitedly be (at least, to me) the highlight of our Disney Theme Park visit - Mickey's Magical Symphony - a 3D movie.

Even while we were entering the theater to watch this, Barbie was bragging that we would enjoy this 200% guaranteed - though truth be told, I was rather skeptical, since I was really tired. We were given special 3D glasses to wear while the movie was playing (to be returned after, of course) so all we have is this picture to remind us of the experience.


The future is bright with 3D-technology and its special glasses. Arguably, the Disney attraction not to be missed - period!

The story was simple... Mickey asks Donald to help clean up while he's out - and under no circumstances must Donald play with the Sorcerer's hat (of Fantasia fame) - naturally, donald does the opposite, and everything goes awry. Never mind the story... the effects of this purely animated feature was really and utterly FANTASTIC!!! I had not exprienced any recent 3D movie lately - but this was obviously a more rewarding experience... in fact it was touted ot be a 4D experience.

This explanation was a bit of an exageration, of course, courtesy of what I'm sure is the marketing department's attempt to say that their 3D movie was unlike any other 3D experience - and though I will readily admit that it was an unforgettable experience, it was simply not a 4D experience; as the Sci Fi afficionado in me (U'm a Trek fan, as can be seen by the shirt I was wearing in the Disney experience) would reason out that the 4th Dimension - at least, for most SciFi fan, is Time. So unless ths show could trasnport us through time, it could nto bost of said 4D experience. But that's just me over-explaining what is supposed to be a rather innocent marketing tag line.

Like I said earlier - it was the highlight of our exprience. You could almost touch Donald (in fact I attempted to, as my senses were telling me he was just within reach), as he was trying to get away from a vortex (and you could feel the wind from said vortex) accidentally cast by his tampering with the hat. I also had the seeming instinct to duck as certain instruments seemed to fly to you - and judging form the noise in the theater, many reacted instinctively by not just ducking - but screaming... in an ejoyable way, of course, at the exprience.

Then there were the magically animated brooms (also from the Fantasia Sorcerer's apprentice portion) carrying water pails, and as their job of gathering water was likewise becoming messy... resulting in spashed water around; the audience felt sprinkling of water as well, reacting delightedly once again. Then Donald had to find the hat as it jumped from one well loved Disney scene to another... these from from different movies like the Little Mermaid and Alladin - with the the animation (and 3D) seamlessly flowing - both in our fronts... and later at our back (as when Donald was thrown from the screen - front, to his complaining while stuck in a hole at our back).

How much did I enjoy this? I can't recommend it enough. I laughed - and actually wept at the sheer magic I was experiecing before me. Yup - you read it right... I did weep with joy at the experience. Something I did earlier in the Little Mermaid portion of the Golden Mickey show. So I guess that's as good a barrometer as any to tell me that this movie like the previously mentioned Little Mermaid show, was something I was thoroughly enjoying. Both hit me, emotionally - but not because they were taer-jerkers... nope. Both visual extravaganzas actually reached my emotions, maybe pulling out my inner-child, making me stare at awe. For the Little Mermaid show, it was the visual spectacle on the stage... for this Magical Symphony, it was just that... the technical magic of 3D.

If I had any misgivings about our Disney experience, this one movie... this one attraction erased all such misgivings, we forgot about our fatigue, and this one attraction made our entire Disney trip worthwhile. THIS was the Disney magical experience I was looking for, and to me, it beat Lion King and the Golden Mickey shows hands down. this is what I would reccomend as a MUST SEE to anyone who had the plan and opportunity to visit Disneyland. Heck, had we not needed to serch the rest of the park for what else we could expereince, I would not have minded watching this again.

How would they top this? Think about it... this show was playing with the sense of sight (and depth), sound and touch as the water spray or the wind would make it an 'almost real' experience. So we have sight, sound and touch... I'd say add some way to integrate the sense of smell - with taste, I should emphasize... as I likewise remember Barbie telling us that the 3D Shrek movie she saw had him break wind, and they - the audience, felt - but thankfully, not smelled said 'break wind'.

Note: after our Disney experience for the day, we asked the kids what they enjoyed the most about it - and yup... it was unanimous - the 3D movie was this family's favorite experience. This was the day's saving grace and I can't thank it enough for reviving our interest and enthusiasm to move on and see the rest of the park.

Rejuvenated by the movie, we then looked for some souvenir items at the shop beside the theater - Bryce got a sun screen designed like Donald's eyes and upper beek, Benice got a Minnie doll, and me? I got a 6" statue of Mickey with the Sorcerer's hat and a small water globe on the ball - I can't call it a snow globe, because it isn't filled with snow... it was a bargain too, after mentally converting it's price into Philippine curency - and knowing that i would not see such a pice - at such a price back hOme - and since it was Mickey in Sorcerer's apprentice garb. it was a worthy souvenir for a table-top (or shelf-top) displayable conversation piece... not just of the movie - but of Hong Kong Disneyland.


Here's Bryce wearing the Donald sun shade.


Bernice wiht her Minnie doll.

We then thought to take the train ride around the park - and hit two berds with oen stone, rest while sitting down in the train, and see what else we could do from the train trip's vantage point. This was where we discovered that the train had two stations - one at the front and another at the back of the theme park.


Barbie and kids riding train - you can see the train's red 'steam' engine behind them. I can't decide who's more exhausted-looking in this picture... Bryce or his sun shade?


Same train ride, this time - its me with kids. Note the plastic bag I'm carrying? Within is the Mickey souvenir statue I got.

As I said in an earlier post, had we known about the train's path and stops, taking it would have saved us a lot of walk-time. Riding the train also made us discover where certain Disney characters were located - and we planned to go see them, with the intent of having our pictures taken with them.

Anyway, we were just killing time until the High School Musical attraction. The one that we said to ourselves, was a must see - simply because Bernice was a great fan of the two movies.

Entrance to H.K. Disneyland

Hong Kong Disneyland offers transport services from its hotels to the theme park, and these leave every ten-minute intervals. I counted at least 10 buses - and mind you, these are full-blown large buses that can easily seat at least 50 people comfortably (though I really did not bother to count, so consider this a rough estimation). These are buses worthy of tourist-use... and as elegant as the hotel was, the buses were. likewise, a reflection of the quality that Disneyland experience that I had read about in various articles.

Such was the bus that we boarded from the Honk Kong Disneyland Hotel, and it took us around 20 minutes to get to the theme park, since we also had to make a detour to the other Disney Hotel - Hollywood Disneyland Hotel. If our hotel had an old English feel, this looked to simulate a more contemporary Hollywood circa 50s feel. Retro - yet classical. We did not bother getting down to look around, as we were pressed for time - armed with our itinerary and with the hope of catching up to the first scheduled show in our plan.

We finally reached the theme park and alighted out of the bus from its terminal, to walk under the afternoon sun (we had been advised by a hotel staff that we might want to bring lots of water, since it would be warm).


Entrance to HK Disneyland

People had to then line up to buy entrance tickets to the theme park - but we already had our park pass (part of the package we got), given to us at the hotel - so we just proceeded to the entrance - showing our tickets. An intriguing feature in the entrance was the fact that aside from getting our tickets, we had to place our finger to a scanner - my guess, it took an image of our finger and stored it in the ticket... a simple but effective use of biometrics to prevent people from coming in by using other's tickets.

We then saw this impressive fountain designed with a lot of Disney cartoon characters - with Mickey, standing on a surfboard and floating by way of a whale shooting water out of its water hole.


Nice fountain with surfing Mickey


Notice how Mickey is being pushed up by the water coming out of the whale's water hole? (which explains why Mickey's head was cut off from the picture) Alright, alright, so I was unable to consider this small detail when taking the picture... but it proves the fact that Mickey does go up and down.

I found an online map of HK Disneyland - in case anyone is interested in seeing the lay of the land, it can be viewed at this address:
http://park.hongkongdisneyland.com/hkdl/en_US/general/popup?name=ExplorerParkMapPage

Or here's a smaller view to just give everyone an idea...


HK Disneyland map. The fountain on the above-shown pictures, can be seen at the bottom of the map.

Side note: This map came from the official HK Disneyland website - its a whole lot more interactive there than in my blog, and it shows a lot of pictures from their shows (which guests were advised not to take pictures of - and I complied). On a technical perspective, this may be the very first Photoshop edited image I have done and posted. Score one more lesson learned by way of my creating entries to this blog.

HK trip - Disneyland Hotel

From the airport's arrival area, we went to the booth to inquire about where our pick-up point was to HK Disneyland, and after waiting for about 30 more minutes, we were finally led to the bus that would take us to Disneyland. Apparently, incoming tourists were not that many at this time (around 8AM) for Disneyland - since we had the bus all to ourselves.


Barbie and Bernice on the bus ride to Disneyland


My smile courtesy of the Starbuck frap I had taken earlier.

We then arrived at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel - one of two hotels in the entire place, and it came across as a sort of Somewhere in Time (the movie) Old English (I'm reluctant to say Victorian, but it came to mind) design. This struck me as... well, a bit disappointing - after all, what had Disneyland to do with 'old English'?


Disneyland hotel (from the back) - Old English elegance meets Disney magic

What exactly was I expecting in a Disney hotel, you might say? I dunno... maybe a few more overt Disneyland-related designs... I mean, it need not be a castle - but I was hoping to see more visible Disney-related themes. Still, I brushed this initial reaction off - after all, we would not be staying in the hotel for long periods of time, it was a place to rest after the busy Disneyland exploration.

When we entered the hotel's lobby some of my expectations were met. Right after entering the double door, and at opposite sides of the lobby's entrance were the first overt manifestations that this was a Disney hotel... two bronze statues of Disney's first couple - Mickey and Minnie, placed on green marbled pillars (or pedestals). Both Disney - and stylishly matching the hotel's theme.


Bernice posing beside a bronzed statue of Minnie Mouse.

Checking-in took some time, as we were apparently coming in together with some convention delegates. And as we were on our way to our room, we bumped into a few recognizable characters, as seen in the pictures below.


Alice (of Wonderland fame) taking time to pose with us before continuing her chase for the White rabbit.


Snow White and Bernice - two of the fairest in the land?

After those pictures were taken and once we reached our room, we decided to let the kids have a power nap and freshen up before going to the Disneyland theme park proper... this while I studied the schedules of shows we would like to catch to maximize the day.

Had I been more rested, I would have probably taken more pictures - but I was also making sure my batteries would not run out while I was at Disneyland proper... yes I had a spare, but it was not cooperating too well with me, hence the sparse pictures of the hotel, since there was not much to take back then.

By the way, there were a lot of hidden Mickey's in the hotel - including the floor's designs. I apparently just wasn't looking hard enough... but they were there... at the main lobby's waiting area, the floor's marble design, the maze garden outside at the back... all Easter eggs ready to be found, as I eventually did the next day after a full bight's sleep. As for the hotel's wall paintings - I guess you can't get more overt than that.

I guess its safe to say that the slight disappointment I felt reagrding the hotel was just a first impression - one that was easily removed upon closer scrutiny of the hotel's surroundings. I must also say that the hotel staff were very accomodating and definitely helpful. Our room smelled great as we entered - and we had a nice view of the garden as well as the South China Sea. The rooms's television was large - and the kids naturally switched to the Disney Channel - yes, even in Disneyland they wanted to watch Disney shows. All in all - great service and facilities... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

HK trip - flight and arrival

A new day... and what a way to view it!

Our flight lasted approximately an hour and 30 minutes. We all spent it watching our different TV progrmas - as the inflight movies were uninspiring... after all, we've seen 27 dresses and were hardly interested in the latest Rambo - not to mention that the flight would definitely end prior to the movie, so why bother... as the kids watched Disney, and Barbie chose ET, I caught up a bit with Heroes - man... its been a long time, and I just realize that this is one of the many pending items I had lined up, shold the week-end where I'm not doing anything arise.

Anyway, back to the trip itself. The plane was okay - if you can call uneventful and not filled with excitement, okay (which is okay by me) - we had our in-flgiht meals, which for Barbie and me, was breakfast... and for the kids... well, their second breakfast - but definitely better than the rammen they had at the airport departure area.

Upon arrival, the first thing you will notice is the glaring contrast between the NAIA-1 departure area and general ground-crew work areas and that of its HK counterpart. Of course, to be fair... there is a NAIA-2 which is a whole lot newer and better than the facilities of its predecessor... and I understand that NAIA-3 will finally... let me repeat that... finally be operational by December this year.

Hopefully, the eye-sore that is NAIA-1 can finally rest - or be converted to purely cargo-related use (and I'm not even talking about out older domestic departure area with exception to this one line).

First things first... the size. How amny conveyors did we use to get form point A to point B? I lost count really. But yes... those conveyors made the otherwise long walk more enjoyable for first-time HK visitors (which included Bryce, Bernice and I).


We could actually take several pictures and still keep a conversation going while using those conveyors (a.k.a. walkways).


Man... my eye also caught many advertisments of service providers (more likely, Systems integrators) and the only reason I noticed this was that they were prominently placed, and in my line of work... I would notice these things.

But that's not all... consider for a moment that these conveyors had people coming our way and going the other way... which I assumed to be people departing HK (one that I would realisze to be a wrong assumption when we would be departing). So you've got a pair of these for both directions.

Once we got through customs and immigration, we had some money changed and the first thing I got in Hong Kong was a Starbucks mocha frap - the one sold in convenience stores. I was, after all, feeling the effects of nto having slept for... oh, just about 24 hours.

See... I normally wake up early, even on non-work days - if not because of body-clock reasons, Bubbles... our dog, wakes me to go out too. Such was the case that past Saturday, and had I been home sleeping - I'm sure it would have been the case this Sunday morning.

On a side note, we left Bubble with Barbie's yongest brother, Ben who would be minding the home while we were gone, so she (Bubbles) would have to bother him for a few days should she want out.


The Hong Kong airport was stylish without being too overbearing - its near-minimalist, yet stylized designes were nice to look at - and directions/signs were well placed. No awkward English used here... after all, this was, for a long time, a British colony - so people should be able to speak English (but not all, as I would find out later too).

Just to show you HK airport's salute to aviation history, they have a replica of the plane made by the Wright brothers - at least, that's what I think it is, hanging on the ceiling.


Here we are waiting for our lugages.


Bernice the global traveler


The countdown to Beijing's Olympics continues - whic can be a timestamp on my arrival at HK as well.

HK trip - departure

Due to time constraints (i.e. the limited time we would be in Hong Kong), we had to try and maximize our trip. Arriving in HK, traveling to the hotel, checking-in... and other details around that would eat up a lot of time - time better spent roaming around Disneyland.

With that in mind, we - at first, thought about an early flight out (naturally), but were thinking about waing up 6, and leaving at 9 - but our Cathay pacific flight coordinator politely mentioned that should we take such a flight, we might well end up in Disneyland around 2PM - half the day gone. Luckily for us, there was a 6AM flight out - unlucky for us, in this post-9/11 world, that would mean having to be in the airport by 3AM. So... we decided that despite the ungodly hour - it was worth leaving earlier.

Our ealier plan - in preparing for this early flight, was to do everything we had to, by Friday's end and leave Saturday free - possibly have a long afternoon nap and feel fresh enough for the early trip. Well, guess what... Saturday was spent in last-minute preperations. Afternoon nap? Nope... not done. What caused this? Thought Barbie and I could buy all the stuff we would need earlier - work got in the way, and the kids could hardly go out and buy stuff themselves. To be fair, I did get to but almost all the stuff I thought I'd need - btu ended up getting more while barbie and the kids had their last-minute shopping.

What exactly did I get? Two pairs of slacks (more for work, but ones I was thinking of wearing to HK), a black denim (as the blue ones could not fit me, and besides... this I could also use for Friday attire at work) and a slip on leather shoe... not too casual, not too formal (and yes, one I can use for work too).


Barbie preparing rammen for Bernice

Anyway... we do get to the airport - sleep-deprived, and all. Throught the help of modern-day technology, Barbie was able to confirm our flight - and choose seats via the internet. So we really had no worry about coming in late for choice of seats. I cannot over-emphasize this convenience, so people... please, if you want hassle free-flgiht confirmation, use the on-line option whenever possible. I think the only limitation right now is that you can only do this three day prior to departure - and I've no idea until what it can be done prior to the flight time.

From depositing our luggage, we went to the departure area and rested at the lounge - with the kids having some hot rammen (while looking like zombies, he he), until our flight was finally called for boarding... from then on, I could observe anticipation, excitement (and some worry? - nah... they were too sleepy to worry) on our kids eyes, as we boarded the plane for HK.

Barbie with a more awake Benice


Bryce and me - in plane

Hey...! I got to post several pictures in one article! Cool!