Hong Kong - Part 2!

We had an amazing time in Hong Kong. The weather wasn't great during our time in HK (unusually cool & windy) but there wasn't much rain either which is good.

We took the famous trip in the tram up to The Peak, which is the highest point on Hong Kong island. It was sooo steep and very tropical, a mountain loaded with tropical brush & trees - loads of bamboo and palms. We had no idea that HK was a lush and tropical island, we always imagined the city and buildings, but the natural beauty of the island is stunning. There are many bays and several beaches all around The Peak, with condo's built on the mountain that are sold to the tune of 20-30 million US dollars! Once we reached The Peak, we were surprised to find a huge shopping centre where we bought many souvenirs and ate an "All American" lunch with the incredible view of all of Hong Kong island at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co. After taking in the view for a while, we decided to take a taxi down the other side of the mountain to Stanley Beach and Market area. This place was market shopping paradise & I'm pretty sure we will have to take out a loan from the bank to cover all the purchases we made! We bought everything from cushion covers and chop sticks, to Chinese embroidered pink slippers for Olivia. Everything was just so beautiful and cheap! The Chinese in all their infinite technological wisdom, decided that it would be both fun & exciting to arrange thousands of lasers and lights on hundreds of sky scrapers and structures in Hong Kong. They did this so that each night at precisely 8 pm the show will light up the night sky over the island and waters of the Hong Kong harbour. Not only is there lights and lasers of every colour and arrangement (some along the entire length of sky scrapers) traveling impressive distances across the city, but they are also coordinated to music which plays at countless viewing points throughout the city and on speakers along the harbour front. I never imagined anything like this would be even possible - honestly, I want to know which genius thought this up?!?! It was unlike anything we'd ever seen. After our delicious steak dinner at the restaurant overlooking the harbour and city, I sent Sammy out with the boys for some St. Patty's fun and I took the sleepy little princess home. Of course they managed to find an Irish pub and drank green beer all night, such great fun for the guys.

Today we went to Ocean Park here in HK. This was a huge and incredible amusement park and aquarium. We got to see pandas and animals, all sea creatures imaginable and take on the skies in the famous sky tram (gondola style) ride. This park is like nothing ever seen before as it is divided into 2 separate areas: 1 huge section at the bottom of the mountain with loads of smaller kids rides, shows and features and at the top of the mountain is the huge dolphin presentation shows and massive rides & roller coasters, some dangling off the mountain side. The only way between these 2 areas is via a 10 minute ride in the gondola - sky tram enclosed capsule thingy! it was frightening to say the least traveling so high above the jagged edges of cliffs and mountains but wow what a thrill! We had a fabulous day - one we won't soon forget! We will always remember our amazing time in Hong Kong. We had so many amazing experiences. This trip was the most authentic and cultural trip we have ever taken and I'm so glad we went. We will for sure go back to HK some day as there was still so much left to see and do. Hopefully next time we will have clear sunny days to enjoy! Thanks to our incredible friends and the company apartment for our stay. We look forward to traveling on to Australia to experience the beauty and excitement in the land of Oz! So the adventure continues...

The 3 Travelbugs take on Hong Kong!

We are about to embark on day 3 of our adventure! We arrived in the darkness the night before last to Hong Kong, and were escorted by our dear friend's son via train to our adorable little apartment here in the heart of the city in the fish market district. The sprawling city scape is incredible and reminded me very much of Manhattan NYC, as we too are on an island here in Hong Kong. I was stunned and amazed however, when the sun came up the next day to find that we are also surrounded by mountains beyond the buildings and that we are a block from the famous Hong Kong harbour. The view is breath-taking from our roof-top patio, the pictures posted above says it all!

On our 1st morning, we decided to explore the area to see if we could find a place to buy some groceries and drinks for our place. Within the very 1st 5 minutes on foot in HK, we stumbled upon a beautiful playground right on the harbour 1 block away, Olivia was thrilled. We were completely intrigued in finding countless Chinese doing tai-chi all over the place and in every direction! Some folks were even using the playground to stretch (hanging from the monkey bars) which gave us a little laugh. Only in Hong Kong do the children have to share the playground equipment with the grown-ups! It was completely inspiring to see the passion for good health and spirituality in this culture. Olivia tried a little tai-chi too! Adorable.

We spent the day yesterday i n different areas of the city and went shopping in Causeway Bay better known as "Time Square" as seen in the picture here. Now this area completely reminded me of NYC, except there were more people which I never imagined possible! The downtown is divided into several areas, each specializing in a different product. Thus, you could walk down a street that only sells dehydrated fruits or fish, a street that only sells fresh flowers, or a street that sells only bathroom fixtures! Ver y very cool. You can find all the typical big box stores as well - Ikea, Toys R Us and such. I loved buying all the beautiful fresh fruits and veggies. We were introduced to some very interesting Chinese traditional dishes including congee and tea-infused eggs - who would have thought!

Our friends have been taking wonderful care of us, and we are so grateful. We met the maid that takes care of our friends and their families (almost all families in HK have maids, it's tradition) and Olivia took an immediate liking to her. This allowed Sam & I to enjoy an amazing child-less night out with our dear friend in Soho, an area packed with expats and people from all around the world. The terrain in HK is very hilly, it almost looks like San Francisco in areas, with very steep hills and there are hidden stair cases on every block to take you up and down the hillsides. There were countless high-end restaurants and clubs, and the streets were completely packed, it was such an amazing site. A side to Hong Kong I never imagined to exist.

Sadly Olivia caught a terrible cold/cough and we are all rather jet-lagged, but we SO looking forward to another adventure-filled day. We have plans to take a gondola to "The Peak", check out some amazing shopping markets and hopefully take a harbour boat tour this evening and see a laser light show that is performed each night out over the water! Exciting stuff, I'll be sure to share it all with you! Please excuse the rather dodgy layout of my posts, I am on Sam's PC which seems impossible for blogging, but it will have to do!

Hong Kong!

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1 more SLEEP!!!

1 MORE SLEEP until we take off for the South Pacific and the land down under! I already checked-in online and got great seats for our 1st flight to HK! We are all getting very excited now. Suitcases are packed and last minute errands and planning are under way. Packing was very tricky since the crazy weather throughout our journey varies 20 C from place to place. As expected Olivia's was the easiest but now we have to choose some toys, and of course she wants to bring EVERYTHING and put it in her own little rolling carry-on (which she will be happy to pull for about 2 minutes before stacking in on top of the rest). Here are some fun things I have planned for her for the flight:

- Small crafts that I bought at the dollar store - there are now terrific little craft kits you can get for $2 at Dollarama and that will keep her busy for a bit on the airplane.

- 6 new DVD's I have collected over the past several months. Some little cheapies and then some great classics like Bambi and Annie which I'm certain she will love. Novelty is the HUGE key with kids in transit. Anything new is exciting.

- I bought all the Strawberry Shortcake figurines in a set (her favourite toys are figurines) with accessories at half price ($12.00) recently. I packed 2 girls and their items into separate ziploc bags. I will give her 2 at a time throughout the journey. She has to have 2 so they can talk to each other!! She will literally play with these toys for hours on end so although she gets a bit spoiled, we gain hours of sanity from this splurge on little toys.

- Colouring books and story books. The best books are the "search and find" books when traveling since children can spend many hours searching for stuff and somehow it never gets old. We also brought her phonics book from school so she can practice printing her letters and sounds as she's learning to read.

- New free downloads on our iPad for her to play. Disney and Barbie games that are simple and fun.

- Some yummy prepackaged little snacks and treats. Also some sugar and gluten free lollipops (she's on a GF diet) for moments of desperation standing in long customs/security line ups. Sugar-free gum for take-off and landing will thrill her to no end as well.

SO that is all the loot in the carry-on bag for Olivia. We also play lots of little games like "Eye Spy" and "Grandma's Trunk" and other fun travel games we played as kids. For Mommy there are new books and magazines (grown-ups like novel things too!) and some fun games on my iPhone. Speaking of the iPhone, I got a special travel pack of minutes for our international travel. I bought 15 phone minutes, 10 MG's of data and 50 texts. It wasn't cheap but I will want to post pics and updates on Facebook and also blog too! Also there will be many times during the 1st couple legs of our trip that Sam and I will be apart and this way we can communicate via texting.

Our friends in Hong Kong and Melbourne are all ready for the Dennis' and have our itinerary. They have some very fun plans in store for us including the biggest casino area in the WORLD near Hong Kong! Mama loves her 3 card poker! Our friends have nannies to take care of the tots so that's going to be fun for all! Can ya tell I'm getting just a wee bit excited? LOL. Now we all just have to stay healthy so no one is sick on our trip, so we aren't going to any play centers this weekend, just in case. 1 more sleep and then we will be OFF and OUTTA HERE!

Time to start PACKING!!

We are T - 5 days and counting until our incredible trip to the South Pacific! The greatest struggle I'm challenged with is this...wait for it.... PACKING! Not only is this the longest trip at 3 full weeks that we have ever been on, but the weather varies significantly between countries. Here is the weather trend for our dates of travel to each country as seen on weatherunderground.com:

Hong Kong - Hot - Highs of 25 C , Lows of 18 C - some rain
Melbourne/Sydney Australia - Warm days/cool nights - Highs of 21 C, Lows of 13 C
Nadi, Fiji - HOT HOT - Highs of 30 C, Lows of 22 C - some rain
Santa Monica, California - Warm days cool nights - Highs 21 C, Lows 11 C

Thus, we have 3 weeks of travel with quite cool temps., very hot temps. and rainy times too! Also a 5 night beach vacation smack in the middle! What in the world to pack? We are each allotted 1 big suitcase and 1 carry on (as per our personal rules of management, but technically we are permitted to check 2 bags each) but we will see how that turns out! I'm thinking "layers" is the best approach. Clothing that is great for warmer days with plenty of options to layer over and under. Any of you who know my daughter knows she ONLY wears skirts and dresses so this suits her just fine! She can wear tights/leggings underneath dresses with a jacket/sweater over top for cooler weather, and take off the layers for warmer days - she's an easy solve!

I, on the other hand tend to get a little carried away when packing. There is nothing that makes me crazier during travel than to NOT have the exact right outfit at the exact right moment (with all proper accessories) so I attempt to pack everything - just in case! Clearly that is not going to happen on this trip, and I will have to reduce the quantity of shoes and hand bags too - which will certainly pain me but I will survive (I secretly know Hong Kong is the shopping capital of the world AND the 1st stop on our trip - hehe!). I will have to do the "pre-pack" which is when I lay all the outfits and clothes out on the bed, then force myself to "delete" at least 10 items from that group. This usually works, but then when I discover extra room in someone else's suitcase, I hoard in on them and jam those 10 items in somehow! Okay, I'm starting to sound a little psychotic re: the packing...I think I may even be frightening myself.

Sam's clothes are always the most inconvenient travelers. He requires the super annoying "coat bag" for most trips, which adds a piece of very awkward luggage to the pile but is essential since most of his shirts/jackets/pants are dry cleaned items and need to be kept proper (I also sneak nice dresses into this little nook too). After a few trips of noticing him in the same shirt/shorts for 3 days in a row - upon questioning him regarding this, he then revealed that was all he brought! Most men somehow just aren't quite as certain as females are regarding the essentials when traveling, thus I have him choose the clothes he wants to bring, and then I work my magic.

Luckily we have laundry available courtesy of our dear friends abroad, so we will do a wash before leaving Melboune on our way to Fiji. This we be of a great help for sure. Also shopping is available at any turn so we sometimes buy new and give away the old to homeless or local folks in need. That always makes everybody happy.

Clothes are the easy part to the packing, it's all the "other stuff" that makes it tricky i.e.: pharmaceuticals, sunblock, bug spray, rain gear, hair tools and products, toys & books, toiletries, accessories, etc.etc. The list goes on and on. Well, it's a dirty job to do the packing, but someone has to do it! As a treat to myself, I bought a nice new suitcase with some Christmas gift money, and can't wait to crack her open today! She's a beauty with 4 wheels for rolling and is purple!

Planes, trains and automobiles. Transit on our trip!

Traveling with tots in tow is never an easy feat! They have many needs to keep them safe and many pieces of "gear" which all seem to be massive and cumbersome!
Read all about "Planes, trains, and automobiles. Transit on our Trip" under the Asia and the South Pacific travel page!

A fun change of plans!

As expected, we have made some changes to our vacation down under! Instead of going to New Zealand, we have decided on Fiji! We booked the most amazing hotel with a 1 bedroom suite on the lagoon with ocean views for a foolish $77 a night. We will have to fly ourselves out to Fiji via Sydney after our stay in Melbourne since the flight isn't included in our circle pacific tickets because none of the airlines that fly with the "One World" alliance (who are the carriers for the Circle Pacific tickets) don't fly to Fiji. We were able to afford it since the hotel there is 1/3 the price of anywhere else! NOW we're getting excited - our biggest adventure begins in 11 days! Now to keep Olivia healthy for the big trip! So many of her little friends are down with cold flus, so fingers crossed we escape germ free!

The resort pool at dusk.