Goodbye Hong Kong!

It’s time to say goodbye to Hong Kong. (We shall actually return in 7 weeks or so but only back to to airport where we will fly in then out a few hours later.)

I liked Hong Kong because of Superpark and air conditioning. I also got to see a friend from the Alaska cruise. And the parks. We got to see ma-ma and ye-ye (grandma and grandad) and met our cousin David.

Sam

It’s been an interesting 5 weeks or so! It didn’t quite go to plan with Martha being poorly (can’t really plan for that!) but all’s well that ends well and she’s fine now.

It was hot in Hong Kong. I loved Disneyland because we went on lots of rides. These were the rides we went on:
– Parachute drop
– Teacups
– Mine cart
– Carousel
– Flying Saucers
– Journey to Halloween Town
– Dumbo
– Slinky
– Hyperspace Mountain
– Iron Man Simulator
I also really liked the show “Let’s Get Wicked” and my favourite villain was Cruella De Ville. I bought a bubble machine in the shape of Mickey Mouse.

Martha

We only spent one afternoon in China instead of two weeks, but our visa does last for 2 years so in theory we could return! And despite the current political issues, they didn’t affect us too much in stopping us exploring and enjoying Hong Kong. We just had to adjust and plan and be flexible when needed.

We enjoyed being at our Causeway Bay flat on Hong Kong Island and would love to go back there, but hopefully when protest marches are not going past our block!

It was also good staying in Yau Ma Tei in Kowloon as we were close to all the shops and eateries that we needed, as well as having the MTR station on our doorstep so we could get pretty much anywhere.

However, towards the end of our stay it got a little bit frustrating as the protests were consistently occurring on the next street so we just had to make sure that we got back in the afternoon and before the MTR station got closed down. We just hope that the people and the government can listen to each other and see a way through the current troubles.

Seeing my parents from the UK and meeting my Hong Kong family were the highlights; and my cousin David wins the Hong Kong star for looking after us, taking us places, and going beyond the call of duty by giving the kids a piggyback down some steep steps in the park in China!

Tin Hau Temple, Yau Ma Tai

On our last full day in Hong Kong, we went to Tin Hau Temple which was very close to where we were staying.

It is a traditional Chinese temple and was built in around 1864 to honour the Chinese goddess of the sea, Tin Hau. Inside there were lots of incense coils burning which made the temple smell.

Sports in the morning, Star Ferry in the afternoon

In the morning we caught the bus to see our friend Amandus who we met on the ship to Alaska.

We played football and badminton near his house. Then we went to his sports club and played ping pong. After that I went to his house and held his turtles and they were really fidgety. He also had some big fish, little fish and tadpoles.

Then we went for lunch and we shared a big meaty plate with beef, steak, chicken, pork, chips and gravy.

In the afternoon we went on the Star Ferry to go back home. On the way back we played with giant tic tac shaped inflatables.

Peak Tram

Today we went on the Peak Tram. This is a railway that takes you up to Victoria Peak. It was very steep and at the top there were giant cogs.

We got some good views of Hong Kong while we were going up and at the top until it started raining! We loved the rain!

At the top there was a “Madness 3D Adventure” where we took lots of photos. My favourite one was of the pandas.

Shenzhen, China

After missing our chance to go to China a few weeks ago, my cousin suggested that we could go today for a few hours, so we did!

My cousin goes fairly regularly (his wife’s family live there) so I was grateful that he would be our guide for the day.

The first task was to get to West Kowloon Station and from there catch the High Speed Rail to Shenzhen.

We got our tickets for the next train, which fortunately are quite regular. Unfortunately, the station was much busier than normal due to much of the the MTR (Hong Kong subway) being closed so people could only get to China from here. Also because we were technically entering another country and not Hong Kong citizens, we had to go through all the immigration and security controls.

Because of all this we missed our booked train and had to buy new tickets for the next one as they wouldn’t exchange them. That was a bit annoying but eventually we managed to get on a train which was very comfortable and very fast once we set off. We arrived at Futian Station, Shenzhen, in mainland China in less than 20 minutes.

We had lunch in the station (Sam got his first taste of chicken feet) and then went outside for a walk around the area. We only had a few hours before our return train so we didn’t wander far.

We walked to Lianhuashan Park and walked up a hill to Peak Square where there is a large statue of Deng Xiaoping who was leader of the People’s Republic of China from 1978 to 1992.

It was hot and really humid walking up but we were rewarded with great views of Shenzhen.

It’s a shame that we didn’t have more time to explore the area but we had a nice day and enjoyed the walk in the park.

  • West Kowloon Station
  • On the High Speed Rail train
  • Lunch in China
  • 70th Anniversary
  • Looking back towards Shenzhen
  • Looking towards Lianhuashan Park
  • Kite Square, Lianhuashan Park
  • Made it to the top!
  • Statue of Deng Xiaoping, Peak Square
  • Peak Square
  • View from Peak Square
  • View from Peak Square

Disneyland and Rollercoasters!

Today we went to Disneyland! We got on a train and all the windows and hand rails were in the shape of Mickey Mouse! Also the seats were comfy.

Martha’s day

I went on these rides and I rated them out of ten:

  • Mine Cart Ride 7/10
  • Slinky Ride 5/10
  • Flying Saucers 8/10
  • HyperSpace Mountain 10/10
  • Iron Man Experience 9/10
  • Carousel 6/10
  • Parachute Drop 10/10
  • Tea Cups 4/10
  • Halloween Town 10/10

We saw a show called “Let’s Get Wicked” (10/10) in which my favourite character was Cruella De Ville. I also saw a “Moana” show (4/10) and I bought a Mickey Mouse bubble machine.

Sam’s day

First we went on the Flying Saucers because there was no queue. Then we went on HyperSpace Mountain which was a rollercoaster. Then we went on the Iron Man Experience. We wore 3D glasses.

After that we went to Toy Story Land and me and daddy went on the RC Racer ride. I went on it again with mummy and daddy in the evening.

I also went on a Carousel, a Slinky ride, a Parachute Drop, a water shooting game, Mystic Manor, the Runaway Mine Car and the Mad Hatters Tea Cups.

We saw a show called “Let’s Get Wicked” with singing and dancing.

Angela’s Day

We didn’t know if it was going to be busy or not as we knew international and mainland China visitor numbers were down due to reduced tourist numbers to Hong Kong, but we felt it was reasonably busy though possibly not as much as usual.

The queues were anything from 0 to 40 minutes which was manageable in the heat. It was so very hot!!

I loved the ‘Let’s get wicked’ show and we were singing the songs constantly for an hour after. My lovely children made me go on lots of scary rides and I was petrified by most of them!

Funnily enough I would rate the Tea Cups, Slinky and the Carousel much higher than Martha did, purely because they did not terrify me as much! I managed one go on the RC Racer ride which Sam loved, and I had my eyes closed throughout – never again! (Mike had to go on it twice, ha!).

Even though lunch was the ubiquitous burgers and chips the veggie burger was pretty decent and we played a good game of i-spy in the dining tent.

Altogether a very enjoyable day!

Mike’s day

Due to the time of year, the park had a Halloween Theme, with lots of pumpkins and other scary stuff which looked good when it got dark.

Despite it being brutally hot, we were there all day and managed to get back home safely before they closed our nearest MTR station.

(Note from the parents – Given that the Year 5 learning topic was “Scream Machine” we could not pass up the opportunity to go to Hong Kong Disneyland! It took a while for us to get there with the events earlier on in our stay, and then the frequent disruptions to MTR travel but we made it! And just in the nick of time as the Disneyland line was closed the last couple of days we were in Hong Kong. Sam and Martha have been learning about the forces used in rollercoasters, and were looking forward to experiencing what they had learnt about.)