Hong Kong without Daddy Lim: Afterthoughts

Well, I survived my 1st trip with the kids and without Daddy Lim. Technically, I wasn't alone bcos ah yee and CY were with us and given us so much help, starting with receiving us at the HKG airport. Nevertheless, I am proud to have gone on the trip and live to tell the tales. Hehe.

Overall, it was a very kid-centric trip. I do feel bad towards CY but heard that he enjoyed the Science Museum and Disneyland as much as the kids. Phew. We would have done more exploring and "adult" stuff if Daddy Lim had come along, at least it would be so much easier for one parent to manage one kid.

The kids were reminded again and again that they had to behave bcos there were 2 of them and only one of me. Did they? Lil Shauna was definitely an angel. She gave in most of the time to Zaky's demand, starting from the flight to HKG and allowing him to take the window seat when she usually takes that on our trips. She was accommodating and responsible the whole trip and I didn't have to worry about her. She was even helping with the luggage at times. Awwww.. Most of the trip, bcos my hands were so full with the boy, she willingly and voluntarily tagged with Ah yee and CY. She didn't once complain that I neglected her when I clearly did and was feeling so bad towards her by the 3rd day. Thank God for the little angel.

Zaky is the same Zaky. Daddy Lim said that the kids were easier during the Penang trip probably bcos I wasn't around. Now that it was ME to the 2 kids, the magic dissolved. He was as excited and active as any other trips. In fact, he was overly excited, which made him very fidgety, very difficult to manage. Throughout the trip, he was jumping and climbing and bouncing and running and very talkative. Even in the hotel rooms, he was climbing the chair, sitting on table, jumping from bed to bed while watching TV. Arrrggghh. Meal times were challenging bcos the restaurants in HKG were so small with tight seating and our friend there was rolling around or touching this, spilling that. Zzzz.. many a times, I found myself entertaining the boy to prevent him from disturbing jiejie, so that jiejie could have a conversation with Ah yee and CY. She is such a big girl now and holds good conversations.

I have to say that it was a tiring trip but good trip overall. At least I didn't have to yell at the kids (only on the last day at Zaky bcos my patience ran out) and there wasnt really any tantrums from the kids either. It was a short trip and I was sad that the trip ended so quickly but yet secretly thrilled to be home. Lol. It is definitely easier to be back in the office.

Now that I think back, my favourite phases during the trip were "Zaky follow Mummy" and "Zaky wait for Mummy". Lol. Would I go for a trip with 2 kids again? I need to rest and forget the pain 1st. Lol.

I told Lil Shauna that I would love to take a solo trip with her in the future, but we have to wait until Zaky is much older and doesn't stick to mummy anymore. She looked at me with wide open eyes and was surprised that that would be possible. Of course, but a long time from now, maybe when the boy is 12. Lil Shauna then bluntly replied that she wouldn't want mummy anymore when she is 14. Then, she realised what she had said and added in a quick sorry. Zzzzzzz. Win already. Lol. I love the girl and am sure that she would still want me when she is 14. MUAKS.

The kids definitely enjoyed themselves; I heard them excitedly relating to Daddy Lim the many adventures and fun that they had on Wednesday night. To the many more family trips in the future and the many more memories we would create. I love holidays.

Mummy Lim

Hong Kong without Daddy Lim Day 5: Home Sweet Home

It was no agenda day bcos we had to hit the airport right after we checked out.

The kids slept in but they never sleep too late on holidays anyway. Zaky was the last one to wake up.

The kids love pick and choose bfast and that is always one of the look forward things during our holidays. So far, the bfast were taobaoed bcos delicious and cheaper food is everywhere in HKG and I didn't want to pay extras for the hotel buffet bfast. Finally, in Disneyland, the kids got their treat. It was not any buffet bfast but very expensive Disneyland buffet bfast! My pocket complained a little but it was holidays!

The kids were thrilled.

While we were filling out tummy, chef Mickey was a distraction.

We had time to kill and the kids run around collecting souvenirs.

Asking for stickers! One of the must do things for kids in Disneyland.

They received so many stickers that Lil Shauna had to take time to sort them and split as equally as possible.

We even had time for a swim. Seriously, I had never ventured outside of their rooms in previous stays. There was a mini slide. I am so glad that the kids are competent swimmers now and I could sit by the poolside and exercise eye power solely. It was safe; there were also unfriendly lifeguards on duty who appeared to be chatting on their walkie-talkies.

After returning to the room, it was soon time to check out.

We got a cab that took all of us to the airport and we arrived in about 15 mins for HKD150. We parted ways after we checked in ours and one of ah yee's luggage. Ah yee and CY were boarding from a different terminal.

The airport was crowded. I managed to buy some famous HKG biscuits and got the kids some Mac lunch before we headed to the departure gate. Lucky I got the biscuits bcos Popo loves them and asked me why we didn't buy more to gift to my brother's family. Bcos it was freaking heavy and there was only me to 2 kids. Lol.

Soon, we were on the way home. The flight was easy and I managed to get them their kids meal this time. Hehe. There were chocolate biscuits and chips on top of the main meal that kept the kids occupied for a good while.

We arrived home at about 6.00pm. The plan was to wait for ah yee and CY, who would be arriving 20 mins after us. Then, their flight got delayed and they were touching down only 2 hours later. The kids wanted to wait and we roamed the airport for 2 hours. We took our sweet time to collect the luggage and found a free slide.

The last hour, I surrendered and gave the phones to the kids. Thank God for free Wi-Fi.

The kids fell asleep in the cab on the way home. So tired. The end of our holiday without Daddy Lim and we survived!

Mummy Lim

Hong Kong without Daddy Lim Day 4: Disneyland

This was the day that we were all looking forward to. The kids knew that they had to wake up earlier for the 2 hours commute and volunteered to go to bed early. We were up at 7.30am and had the bread that we taobao last night from the bread shop downstairs. Did I tell you how much I loved the bread in HKG? They were all so yummylicious. Lil Shauna loved the bread too particularly the honey cake.

We checked out of the hotel room at 8.30am and took a 10 mins walk to the less popular Austin station in hope of avoiding the morning peak crowd. It was the right choice. It wasn't that far away but a lot less crowded than Jordan. The train ride was comfortable and we took so many selfie to burn time.

The Mickey Mouse train! Happy! Happy! Happy!

At the Disneyland station, we had to take the shuttle bus to the hotel. We were staying in the Hollywood hotel! The last time we did that, Lil Shauna was barely 3 and she didn't remember a thing now. Zaky never got a chance to stay in the Disneyland hotel. It was off peak and the price was reasonable. We had a slight hiccup though and took the bus to the wrong hotel bcos I didn't look at my reservation form properly. We had decided to walk 15 mins to the right hotel with the luggage in tow when the staff immediately offered to arrange a mini van to ferry us. Service so good! It was Disneyland afterall!

The check-in was quick and we got the Disneyland tickets.

Bcos we got the tickets through the hotel, we were also given a priority pass for 5 to one of the more popular rides. The room was ready too and we got to admire the beautiful room before heading to the park. While walking to our room, we saw Goofy!

We will all be squeezing in the room for the night. It was comfortable with 2 double beds.

We arrived at Disneyland at 10.30am, right when it opened. Hello Happy land.

There wasnt much crowd and the rides were mostly less than 5 to 10 mins wait time. The 1st ride that we hit was the new Iron Man ride. We saw it last December when we were in Disneyland but it wasn't operational yet.

It was a 4D show. We were brought into somewhat like a mini theatre. The show wowed me; it was similar to our Transformer despite being confined to that little theatre. It was really good and exceeded my expectations.

We took many rides after that. The space mountain, the flying space ships... for some of the easy rides, I asked to ride with jiejie; to give her the much needed attention.  Otherwise, I would be in between try 2 kids.

We caught my favourite Mickey Mouse show too. I still loved it even though I just caught it in December. Hehe. The princesses were so real.

We also took.our favourite toy car ride and also the grizzly bear - 2 times each.

There was a parade at 3pm. It was nice just that it was freaking hot! Before the parade ended, we decided to leave bcos we started pouring sweat.

With that, we conquered almost all the rides in Disneyland. Ah yee and CY surrendered and decided to find some aircon while the kids were still raving to go. I brought the kids for another 3 rides on my own.

We didn't stay for the fireworks bcos we were all too tired, except Zaky, who was still bursting with energy. We headed back to the hotel and had a very expensive dinner at one of the restaurants. 杀人放火 kind of expensive for very normal food.

Back in the room, the kids had another dip in the bath tub before the adults q up to take their shower. Bed time was easy but before that was crazy-noisy-running-around kids. The room was a squeeze with all of us but it wasn't too bad. It was probably a little challenging for ah yee and CY though, it would be easier to tolerate the kids if we had stayed together in the beginning of the trip and not at the end. Haha.

Mummy Lim

Hong Kong without Daddy Lim Day 3: Cheung Chau

When I woke up in the morning, I thought that the sky outside looked gloomier than the day before. I saw people with the brollys and the trees dancing in the wind from the hotel window. The rain wasn't heavy but the wind looked fierce.

Ah yee said that signal no. 3 typhoon warning was raised last night at 11pm. We slept through the typhoon apparently. She sent me this long and detailed weather forecast.

In short, it was still at signal no. 3 in the morning but the typhoon would be moving away from Hong Kong and dying down in the late morning after hitting China. We decided then that we would still proceed to Cheung Chau but to do so after the signal was removed.

Ah yee and I then bought Mac bfast back to the kids. The rain was somewhat like a heavy drizzle and the wind didn't feel that bad too. If this was signal no. 3, then the thunderstorms that we have in Singapore would easily qualify for a signal no. 5 or 6. Anyway, life goes on with a signal no. 3 and people were still rushing for work and school.

The Mac was still crowded. I am always very amazed with their tiny seats and had to snap these pictures. So small; not enough for Daddy Lim. Haha.

It was a lazy morning bcos we had to wait for the typhoon to pass. We lazed around and finally got out of the hotel at 11am, when the signal was lowered to no. 1. Yeah! There was a light drizzle when we left the hotel.

We took the MTR to the Central station and walked to the connecting Hong Kong station to get to the Central Pier. It was the same place that we last took the ferry to Lamma island, just a different pier.

Ah yee caught the timing down to the last minute; we were the last few to catch the ferry. We caught the fast ferry that took only 30 mins as compared to the usual hour.

With the wifi egg that ah yee rented, the kids self entertained with YouTube for a while. I had to stop them bcos the vessel was slightly rocky but nothing as bad as I imagined it would be. It wouldn't be nice with vomiting kids though. Fortunately we were in the fast speed one.

The plan upon arrival was simple - buy raincoat in case the rain gets really heavy and find a light lunch. Cheung Chau is surprising populated and modern as compared to Lamma island. Shops lined the street. There is even Mac when we exited the pier.

We had a nice and light lunch before starting the walk. There was a light drizzle still but it wasn't chilly, which made wearing our waterproof/ resistant jackets difficult.

Then, the rain and the sun were playing a prank on us, taking turns to come out. We were constantly playing this wearing jacket, taking out jacket game. It was too warm to don the jackets most of the time.

After a short walk, we came to this big slope but the silver lining was the playground midway. Despite the drizzle, the kids were quick to make a dash for it.

We also found a roller skating rink. That is like so 80s!

Soon, we continued with our long upward climb. It was up and up and up.

Interestingly, houses lined the way. I cannot imagine doing this kind of climb everyday from the pier. I think I would not go home or stay home forever. Lol.

Actually, we didn't quite figure out where we were walking to. We just went along the way, which a particular part was mosquitos infested and those mosquitoes were like having their buffet. Zzzz.. Mosquitoes repellent was not at all effective. The only solution was to quicken our steps and leave the mosquitoes behind.

We then saw the sign to the famous Cheung Po Tsai Cave and wanted to explore; I read in blog that we could go into the cave to explore. We were on a narrow concrete pathway that suddenly stops. At the end, it was the "cave". It wasn't the typical cave (where the bear in the story book lives) but something that looks like big stones overlapping creating some super narrow and steep openings. The kids were super keen to explore but with the rain, it looks mega slippery and dangerous. One wrong step and it could be fatal.

No kids were allowed near the "cave". At that, Zaky loudly lamented that he wished Daddy Lim was here with us. I wished the same too. He said that if Daddy Lim was with us, he would help us and allow us to explore the cave. Lil Shauna was eagerly nodding in agreement. Too bad kids. We ended up having to be contented with just taking pictures on the narrow walkway.

On the way back to the main path, we saw another narrow and steep stairways. There were some railings and it looked safe enough for the kids to explore. I had to hold on to Zaky with my dear life though. I saw ambulance on the island but wouldn't want to activate any. The stairways led to again some big rocks that were near to the shoreline. The only access way was covered by litter that was probably washed up by the recent typhoon.

It looked too dangerous to explore further and we headed back up. I had to constantly yell at the kids to hold on to the handrail even if bugs were crawling on it.

Once back on the main path, we took a slow walk back to the pier.

We were bored and the kids and CY agreed to pose for me.

Cheung Chau is a lot bigger and we probably just explored one tiny part of it. Maybe it was the rain plus summer heat and the itchy mosquito bites, nobody complained when we suggested to call it a day.

We were right on time again and were again the last few to board the ferry. No need to wait. This time, the sea was a lot calmer and the kids got to watch YouTube for the entire journey. It was such a peaceful ride for me. Haha.

There was no other itinerary for the day and the kids spent the late afternoon and evening lazing in the room, watching TV and soaking in the tub. We had dinner at one of the restaurants nearby before turning in for the night in anticipate of Disneyland the next day. Hooray!

By the 3rd day, I was feeling so bad towards Lil Shauna. She had been so sensible throughout the trip and fortunately she was totally at ease with Ah yee and CY. I had to pass her to them so many times bcos the boy was such a handful and he took all my attention. There were even times that I purposely entertained the boy so that he wouldn't disturb jiejie. Haiz. Thank God for Lil Shauna. I heard that the kids were angels during the Penang trip. Apparently the magic disappeared when mummy is around. Ok, half the magic bcos Lil Shauna is still one angel.

Mummy Lim