HKG Day 4

We had breakfast at the usual 茶餐厅 near to the hotel. The food is really delicious and for a decent price. We took the MTR to Admiralty and then bus to Ocean Park. We took so much public transport this trip that I think we had become an expert. Lol.

Ocean Park was very crowded and it was full of PRCS. I regretted chosing to go to Ocean Park on a Saturday. Maybe it would have been better if we had visited the Park on a weekday. Ocean Park was  also less fun than what I remembered it should be. There aren't that many rides that are suitable for the kids.

When we arrived at the Park, a Photographer enthusiastically offered to take our pictures. I ended up buying very expensive pictures and felt very much like a tourist. Lol. But at least we had a decent family picture taken.

The photographer also kindly suggested a route to take to visit the park. We took a monorail to go up the mountain. Ocean Park is stretched over a mountain. The ride was nice, we had the visual effects that we were in a submarine, taking to break free from a giant octopus.

The view at the top was fantastic.

The Ocean Park Tower was one of the few friendly for all ride and with a short q when we were there. But Lil Isaac insisted that it was too scary for him and refused to board. I had to watch Daddy Lim and Lil Shauna take the ride. Bleh.

Then, we caught a seal and dolphin show that wasn't that fantastic. The one that we caught in Sea World, Gold Coast was much better. There were plenty of thrilling rides but Lil Shauna not tall enough plus there were long queues everywhere.

Lil Shauna was very upset after being told many times that she isn't tall enough. She commented that she doesn't want to ride baby rides but it too short for the adult rides. We did manage to ride on one of the friendlier roller coaster but the q was very long and she was in the q with Daddy Lim for almost 1 hour while Lil Isaac and I waited and visited smelly penguins. Lil Isaac actually made the height requirement for the roller coaster rides and had taken many other roller coaster rides. However, he insisted that it was too scary for him.

We visited the famous jellyfishes as well. That place always remain me of alien invasion. Lol.

We then took the cable car to where we started. The view was fantastic.

And we made silly faces.

We had lunch in Ocean Park and lunch was just as expensive as Disney land. Though the portion was decent, which I supposed they had to - a S$20 chicken rice. Then, we headed for the kiddy rides, which were crowded with many, many other kids. We only took the frog ride, which Lil Isaac really likes and he went on it like 5 times. Lil Shauna self entertained at the playground until she was so bored and we had to stop Lil Isaac from going for more.

Soon, it was time to go home and the kids were reluctant to go despite not having many rides to go on as they know that we would be heading back to Singapore the next day. Unfortunately, we didnt have a choice. Lil Isaac napped on the way back and we had a peaceful ride back to the hotel, where we met Popo and Ah yee, whom had returned from Macau, for dinner. Ah yee treated us to roasted meat dinner with the $$ that she made at the Macau casino.

We attempted more shopping after dinner but was tough with the weekend crowd at the night market. We did get some last minute shopping down and returned to the hotel room for packing and resting.

Mummy Lim

Survived in Daddy Lim's Absence

Daddy Lim was sent for an overseas inspection that took place at the port of Bing Bong, Darwin. What an appealing name for a port! He flew on Wednesday night and was home on Saturday morning. We survived very well in his absence. I think the 2 months of night shift had trained me well. Then again, I don't think I had done much in his absence.

On Wednesday, he sent us home before he headed for the airport.  The kids didn't seem to miss him much. They were more concerned about him remembering to buy presents back! I didn't do much with the kids on Wednesday night. Lil Isaac and I were nursing a flu and we knocked out early. I vaguely remembered Lil Shauna self entertained in my half awake state. 

On Thursday night,  I had a mega stomach cramp and was so thankful that the kids had fun playing with some toys that ah Yee gave.

On Friday, we played a little and the kids had iPad time (yes, bad mummy). Then we turned in. The next waking moment, Daddy Lim was back home! Muahahaha. 

And as expected, I didn't drive to work om Thursday nor Friday.  The thought to drive didn't even remotely cross my mind. Lol. my life is meant to be chauffeured around. Hohoho.  Hmm.. the new year resolution to be able to drive confidently seemed to just moved one step away.

Mummy Lim

HKG Day 3

We woke up at 8.30am on the 3rd day. We had Mac Donalds breakfast with popo and ah yee before we headed separate way. Popo and ah yee were going to Macau. We had considered going Macau for a day trip originally but Daddy Lim thought it was too much a hassle to travel to and fro. It would take us about 2 hours each way and there aren't much to entertain the kids in Macau.

While in Singapore, we Googled and found that there is a strawberry farm in HKG. We also googled a little on how to get there and thought that the hotel reception would be able to better advise. We asked hotel reception on the 2nd day night and they would totally not helpful. The guy whom was assisting me gave me puzzle look when I asked for directions. Apparently, the farm wasnt a popular choice with tourists and not even with the locals. The directions given to me werent any more helpful than what we found on the internet. In fact, Googling gave us more details. 

We took the MTR to Long Ping. I had thought that it would be super far but surprisingly not.

Then we asked for directions to the public bus stop to take a public bus, K66. The bus ride brought us to old HKG that we would normally not see on a HKG tour.

We were so happy when we finally alighted at the right stop.

Then we had to walk 15 mins on a narrow concrete path to Tai Tong Organic Ecopark. Along the way, there were many such banners asking us to walk straight.

We walked past old houses and ruined sport cars too. I was so proud of ourselves when we got there.

The farm visit wasnt cheap. We paid HKD 150 for each of the kid to pick strawberries and participate in 3 other activities. It was HKD100 for each adult to only strawberries. Kids fed Koi fish, fed goat and took the bull cart. Lil Isaac fell at the koi fish place. He bruised his knee and was bleeding on his lips. Nobody came forward to help. HKGers are so "friendly". By the way, we seemed to be the only tourists. Some kindergarten was having an excursion.

The kids also had fun at the playground. Lil Isaac had another fall and a minor rope burnt. That was when we had to stop the kids. Too many accidents in one day.

Lil Isaac rode the pony. Lil Shauna refused to ride bcos she didn't want to wear the silly helmet that all kids had to wear to ride the pony. Lol.

Then we went to pick organic strawberries. It was a decently sized strawberry farm with rows and rows of strawberries. We can pick and eat unlimited strawberries in the farm but would need to pay by weight if want to bring the strawberries home. It is not cheap and coat about HKD80 per 100g. 

We picked so many strawberries. Daddy Lim and kids were so happy and excited to do so. Lil Isaac doesn't take strawberry but he was so happy to pick them and thereafter to feed Daddy Lim after they were washed. The strawberries are not huge, unlike the ones that we picked in Melbourne when Lil Shauna was a small kid. Nevertheless, the red ones were really sweet and nice. I don't really fancy strawberries but I also took many of the red and sweet ones. 

It was so funny to see how Daddy Lim and the kids unable to stop themselves when they saw really big and red ones despite having a full basket and tummies.

We ate so much strawberries. Picking strawberries was probably the most enjoyable event of the trip. We headed home when we realised that we could no longer stomach anymore strawberries. Daddy Lim loved this picture of Lil Shauna eating strawberry. We had a similar one doing the excat same thing in Melbourne.

We took the same bus back to the MTR station and then the MTR back to hotel. Lil Isaac fell asleep on the way home and we had a quiet ride back.

We had dinner and went back to the hotel early to watch TV and ate snacks. 

Mummy Lim

HKG Day 2

The kids are our natural alarm clock and Lil Isaac woke us up at 8am asking for milk. Yawnz. We got ready and said hi to yummy breakfast at about 10am before making our way to Disney land again. The food was good.

We had purchased a 2-day pass, knowing that we will not have enough of Disneyland especially when we would be seriously lack of sleep on the 1st day. The price difference between the 1st and 2nd day isn't great. Popo and ah yee joined us on the 2nd day. The intention was to catch the fireworks at 8pm and thus to visit the park later so that we can survive until then.

The MTR ride was pretty much fine too and Ah yee helped a ton to entertain the kids. This is them playing who can pretend to sleep longer. Lol.

Maybe bcos it was our 2nd trip, ah yee commented that our kids looked so uninterested as compared to the other kids in Disneyland. She even said that she reacted more excited than our kids. Lol. Well, we visit the USS back home at least once a month and are no stranger to theme parks.

The park was more crowded on Thursday and it was crowded with more PRCs. Fortunately, the weather was much cooler today as Mr Sun took a little rest. We caught some same rides and also some that we missed on the 1st day. Ah yee also enthusiastically posed with Lil Shauna the unique Lil Shauna's way.

We also caught a nice show and watched the parade. The parade was shorter than I remembered it to be. There was only a few floats. I think the parade in USS is better. And Lil Isaac wasn't in time for the toilet and peed a little in his pants. Daddy Lim refused to let him sit on his shoulder to watch the parade and put him on mine instead. He messed up my hair and made me looked so unglam. Lol.

Lil Isaac napped too, had energy and wasn't cranky. Everything went great. Somehow, it also seemed to be more enjoyable with ah yee's companion. At least the kids had other people (than their parents whom they see everyday) to talk and play with.

Lil Shauna's favorite ride is a Grizzly Bear roller coaster ride that goes backwards at some point. She went on that 5 times over the 2 days. Lil ISaac wasn't tall enough for the ride and can only pretend and take picture with the fixture outside the ride. He isn't as adventurous as jiejie and gladly entertained himself with something else when told that the ride was too scary for him.

This picture was taken by Daddy Lim during the roller coaster ride. And why was he able to take a picture in the midst? Bcos the ride broke down and they were stuck right at this point. They were escot out of the ride and given a fast pass to skip the q when the technical error was resolved. We utilized the pass of course.

Lil Isaac loves the Buzz Light Year Astro Blaster ride where we get to shoot aliens. 

While the rest took the Mystic Point ride, Lil Isaac and I posed for silly pictures bcos he refused to take the ride, insisting that it was too scary for him.

Time passed very quickly. Soon it was nightfall and we were trying to decide if should catch the fireworks. If we did, we would need to squeeze with the crowd in the train after fireworks and it was no joke. The kids were fine missing it as they had seen fireworks so many times at USS though I remembered that Disneyland's fireworks was much more magnificent. Lil Shauna was again very tired. She even said that she didnt want to take MTR back to hotel but we had no choice. Thus eventually, we decided to give it a miss and rushed out of park 10 mins before fireworks starts at 8pm. We did take a picture of the new castle in the night.

While we were on the platform waiting for the train, we were willing for the train to beat the crowd. Otherwise, missing the fireworks would be wasted and we were so glad when the train made it.

Back at the hotel, I tucked Lil Shauna to bed, who fell asleep very quickly. Daddy Lim kindly looked after Lil Isaac and i went shopping with ah yee. Woohoo! We even have supper to end the night. Super happening.

Mummy Lim

HKG Day 1

We took some family pictures in the airport. It would be so hard to get everybody together when we are in HKG.

It is now so much easier on the plane than when the kids were younger. They could at least sit still while waiting for the plane to take off. The kids had wanted to watch movies on the plane. While waiting for the plane to take off and the entertainment system to work, Lil Isaac was bugging me so much about it. I was flipping the program booklet and saw that Frozen was on the list. Lil Shauna would have loved that. Unfortunately, the 1am flight was far too punishing and both kids felt asleep shortly after the plane took off. I slept too - we would need all the sleep that we can get to survive Disney land the next day. I didn't dare to switch on the entertainment system. I must stay away from all distractions. Lol. Unfortunately, I only managed to get at most 2 hours of sleep despite that I was very tired. 

The kids slept the entire flight. Lil Isaac even needed to be carried off the plane and continued sleeping until after we cleared immigration. Lil Shauna was tired too but the poor girl is too heavy to be carried around and had to walk. Lil Shauna did get to take another nap at the airport after we cleared the immigration. We were trying to figure out how to get from the airport to the hotel.

We decided to take the public bus eventually. The last time we were in HKG with the girls, we took a shuttle bus and I had assumed that it would be easy to find one to bring us to the hotel but unfortunately not. Luckily, it wasn't that difficult either and Ah Yee was great in finding her way around. The bus ride took about 50 mins and the adults except ah yee were all dozing off. Apparently, ah yee was still suffering from jet lag. She is taking an awful long time to recover from jet lag lor.

Our hotel is located conveniently next to Yau Ma Tei MTR station. It didnt take us long to find the hotel after we alighted from the bus, which was great as we were lugging luggage + 2 kids + stroller.

We left our luggage at the hotel, had breakfast and then took the MTR to Disney land while Popo and ah yee went sightseeing in HKG.

Going to Disneyland via MTR wasnt tough though we had to change 3 lines. It took us about 45 mins to reach Disney land.  The train that ran the last line was Mackey Mouse theme and the kids were excited.

The USA main street was opened when we arrived at 9.30am. The other attractions only opened at 10am. Mickey and Minnie were posing for pictures and there was a snaking queue. Our kids aren't crazy about mascot and thankfully nobody insisted that we join the q. 

It was crazily crowded when Disneyland opened at 10am. Majority of the crowd seemed to be PRC though. Lil Isaac tried many more rides that he didn't the last time we came.

He even went Space Mountain, which is a roller coaster that ran in the dark. Actually, we joined the q for Space Mountain without realising what it really was. I was super worried that he would be scare and would cry in the middle of the ride. I was trying my best to hug him while being restraint in the seat and assured him throughout the ride. In the end, he didn't cry but I didn't get to enjoy the ride either. Lol. It just felt like a bumpy ride in the dark.

And of course we must have the famous Mickey and Minnie Mouse ice cream.

We had an expensive lunch at Disney land. The kids and I had Chicken rice and Daddy Lim had nasi padang. These were Singapore food but they cost about S$20 each plate! Decent food was basically about that price in Disney land. Lil Isaac didn't had much and then he fell into a long nap. After lunch,  we left Daddy Lim to nap with Lil Isaac at a cafe while Lil Shauna and I took 2 more rides. I could tell that Lil Shauna wasn't any less tired and didn't enjoy herself very much. She didn't even want to watch the parade, which was taking place at 3.30pm. The sun didnt make the trip any more enjoyable. When the sun was working hard, it felt just the same as Singapore. We left Disney land at about 2.30pm and took the MTR back to the hotel.

Lil Shauna was so tired but train was crowded. It was strange that the train seemed to be crowded any time of the day and we always see many old people in the trains. There were plenty of notices reminding people to be polite and give up seats but i dont see people doing so. 

Lil Shauna ended up dozing off while sitting on the standing board and we struggled to bring 2 kids back to the hotel. Thankfully, no kid was lost in the process. We attempted to wake Lil Isaac up serveral times along the way but he continued sleeping and refused to wake up until 1 hour more in the hotel room! Lil Shauna woke up energise after her short nap. Mummy fainted with Lil Isaac while Daddy Lim took care of Lil Shauna.

We woke up at 5ish for dinner with Popo and ah yee and did some shopping too. Dinner was great for the price that we paid. There are plenty of 茶餐厅 in HKG that serve great food. Lil Shauna was bashed by then and we headed back to the hotel thereafter.

We attempted some shopping but couldn't get much done and Daddy Lim had to put Lil Isaac on his shoulder while we walked back bcos the big girl could walk no more.

Lil Shauna was down by 8pm. I then brought the active Lil Isaac down for supper with ah yee and popo but he was way too cranky. We turned in for the night at 9+pm despite his long afternoon nap. By nap, I was groggy due to the lack of sleep too. A tiring 1st day.

Mummy Lim

Back from HKG and Sick

We are back. We had a great time.
Posts wouldn't be up until later part of the week when I get the computer to slowly sort out the pictures and blog. The trip was just nice and we aren't overly tired after the trip. Yeah!

There were announcements on warning of bird flu at the HKG airport and we see posters everywhere. Lil Isaac was having a slight running nose while in HKG. Mucus ran when he sneezed. Yday, he complained of a sore throat. He seemed to be coming down with a fever now and I just gave him paracetamol. Bird flu?

I am nursing a sore throat too and was sneezing away in the office. Bird flu? I read that bird flu comes with high fever and flu symptoms. I think I am just overly paranoid. Praying for protection.

Mummy Lim