Back Home...

This represents Tommy and me when we arrived home. I think Tommy had a harder time with jet lag.



This is the only item Tommy bought at Disneyland, Hong Kong. And he only bought it out of necessity, because he forgot to bring his cap that day.


And this is what I bought.....


















There was more stuff I wanted to buy but decided not to since my basket was already overflowing. Most of these items contain cookies and gummy candies. It seems chocolate is not popular in Hong Kong.

Overall the trip was fun and I wished I had a little more time to see some more sites. Since the main purpose was for my mom to visit family there wasn't too much roaming on our own. I got to see Martin Yan, of Yan Can Cook, while flying home. He was on the same flight we were and he was sitting in coach. Tommy said he was about 5 rows back but he had the whole window row to himself. It's definitely cheaper to buy three coach seats than it is to buy one business or first class seat.

Some notable points:
a. All vehicles have the right of way. Pedestrians have to let cars go first, which makes sense otherwise traffic would never move.
b. The people in Hong Kong are very polite and very service oriented. I was taken aback when everyone lined up to get onto the escalator, no cutting in. And when you're walking on the sidewalk, people make room for each other so foot traffic moves. Unlike California where most people have this "self entitlement" attitude, contrary to the laid back image.
c. The subway system is extremely efficient. You never have to wait more than 3 minutes for your next train. We have a "subway" system in the Bay Area but it's not very good. You miss a train and you'll have to wait 15-20 minutes for the next train.
d. The food was incredible. I ate more healthy than I have in years, but sadly I did not lose any weight (even with all the walking). When I got back home and went to a Chinese restaurant it just wasn't the same. It was good but not as tasty. :o( I would go back just to eat.

Hotel room

This is the front door of our hotel room. It's a very heavy door and it even has a door bell. The odd thing about it is the door knob only turns one way to open; it's the opposite of where the lock is. E.g. Here the door lock is on the right so you would have to turn the door knob to the left (counter clockwise) to open the door.

The next couple photos are the bathroom. The bathrooms have a window partition between it and the sleeping area. I think this way you could watch television or look out the window while taking a bath. Thank goodness there's a shade you could pull down for privacy. I love Tommy but I really don't want to see him "doing #2". ;o)


This is the bar area. There's a nice selection of items in the fridge below but it's pretty expensive, as usual.


Here are our traveling companions "braking in" the bed for us.

Hotel room (cont.)

This is the desk area with an IP phone (??) Whenever we call down to the lobby the person on the other end would always greet you by your proper name, e.g. Ms. XXX, and thank goodness everyone in the hotel could speak English.

Here's a view of the television in front of the bed.

A view from outside our hotel room.

A view looking down from our hotel room.


One day we ordered room service, continental breakfast. This was definitely enough for two people. I like the fact they give you a toaster so you could have freshly toasted bread.

Hotel room (part 3)

Every morning we would get the newspaper delivered in this cloth bag hanging on our door. Now that's plush.

We couldn't resist getting McDonald's one morning. It seems in Hong Kong they like to put almost everything in bags, even the drinks.

Here are the drinks in their respective bags. One is orange juice and one is coffee. Another point is the portions are smaller. I don't know if you can see the orange juice cup is only 6 oz. compared to our 12 oz.

If you ever go to Hong Kong remember to bring A LOT of tissues. Most of the restaurants do not provide napkins (only the very expensive ones), and if you go in the more rural areas they don't even have toilet tissue. We bought tissues there (and this seems to be the only brand available - it's 4 ply) and used at least 3 packets every day.


This statue was in the lobby of the hotel. We thought it was interesting since it looks like a traditional "People's Citizen" but with a cell phone. I wonder if this is supposed to represent "progress"?

Tommy birthday in Hong Kong

The hotel we stayed in is very service oriented. I think they retrieve information from your passport because I didn't tell them it was Tommy's birthday. We came back from our day trip to find this very delicious mango/chocolate mousse cake along with a Happy Birthday wish from the management.

Disneyland

This is the view from Main Street. Since there's limited space in Hong Kong (it was built on a man-made island) the park is more condensed. I like the fact there is a mountain in the background. Luckily it wasn't too busy the morning we went.


Tommy is in Princess Heaven. :o)


This is Cinderella's Castle. As you can see it's much smaller than the one in the U.S.

This is near the entrance of the park.


Here is a slightly closer view of Cinderella's Castle from Main Street.

Disneyland (cont.)

This is part of "It's a Small World". They incorporated some of the Disney characters in the ride.

Here is Hong Kong.

Of course "The Little Mermaid" to represent the Caribbean.

I think this is supposed to be Lilo since Stitch is in the background. Stitch seems to be very popular in Hong Kong.


I gave in and got a hamburger in Disneyland. My suggestion is to get the chicken or fish. I couldn't even eat half the burger because it didn't taste like meat. Luckily Tommy has an iron stomach and was willing to finish the rest of my burger. Blah... >:P

Disneyland (cont.)

This is mango pudding. It was yummy and my favorite dessert. I like it's packaged in a Mickey head. Needless to say I saved the container.


The following few are menus from around the park. As you can see it's in both Chinese and English but the type of food available is geared towards the Hong Kong taste. It's all yummy though...

Okay, maybe not the squid tentacles...



Here we are with Chip & Dale. Never could remember which is which.

Disneyland (cont. Pooh)

Here we are waiting for the Winnie the Pooh ride. I like the fact it's decorated with pages from the Pooh book. It helps with waiting.


Here I am with Winnie the Pooh. Now my day is complete. :o)


Me standing in front of the Pooh ride.

Disneyland (cont.)

More photos from the line area of the Pooh ride.


As we were walking towards the exit the "High School Musical" live show was going on. If I remember correctly it was sung in Cantonese.

This was on the ground near the exit. I thought it was very creative to use flowers to do this.


Alas, we had to leave. Disneyland, Hong Kong, as I mentioned, is much smaller than the ones in the U.S. You could see the whole park in about 3 hours.

Going to see the largest, sitting, outdoor Budda

This is the line to get onto the tram to take you to the mountain top where the Budda is.

Here is a view from our tram. It takes about 20 minutes to get to the top.


Alas, Starbuck is also available while you're trying to achieve nirvana. But seriously, this is a section below the Budda where it's mostly for tourist. There are a couple short movies and a tea house which is part of the "attraction".

Here is a closer view of the Budda as we're walking towards it.

These are the steps to get to the top. As you can see the statue is pretty big compared to the people.