Crazy Weekend!

Adventuring in Asia makes the days pass quickly.  (Especially, when we keep secrets from the kids!)  Our latest began at noon on Friday...I told the kids to pack for 3 days of warm weather and do not forget bathings suits.  One catch, they had to share a rolling carryon with a sibling without fighting!  What?!!  So many questions that I added another rule--no guessing or talking with siblings about the guesses.  I'm not sure how well they followed this rule but at least it was more peaceful for me!

4:00 pm--Everyone out the door.  I asked the door man for a taxi and promptly asked the taxi driver to take us to Northpoint MTR station.  This really confused the kids even more--I was just bursting it was so funny!  It took a long time to get a taxi.  The doorman was really angry with our driver for some reason we never figured out some days it is ok that we do not understand Cantonese!  The driver took us to the MTR station and was making remarks about Guangzhou the whole time.  I'm not sure that Emma or Jason caught the reference but Devon, Alexis and I all caught it.  (At this point you need to appreciate that people from mainland China come to Hong Kong to shop.  They bring suitcases for their purchases and take the train.  Hong Kongers refer to them as Mainlanders and do not care for the crowded conditions or attitudes they bring.  So the taxi driver's remarks were not necessarily complimentary but once again--I could ignore them because he did not know I understood a bit!) Guangzhou is a big Chinese city on the mainland that is a rather long train ride away.

4:45 pm--We board the MTR train going the appropriate direction.  It is dragon boat weekend so when Jason keeps bugging me about where we are going I kindly inform him that we are going to ride a dragon!  He is quiet thinking about that for a while and then asks "but is that safe?"  We make it to Central in seats( a rare find on the crowded trains!)

5:15 pm--Then we pull our 3 rolling carryons up the mile long escalator in search of dinner.  Devon, Jp, Emma and Tim(via text) opt for the lamb diner kabobs.  Alexis and I prefer the Vegetarian wraps at MANA! (because they are sooo yummy!)  Then we head to some rare benches that I know exist close by to eat our yummy food!

6:00 pm  Time to meet Tim!  We head to our Starbucks meeting spot and let him eat his kabob. (Good toilets there as well so another great secret that is rare down town!)

6:30--Tim leads us back into the MTR but this time we do not board a train which really confuses the kids!! Then we go back into another train station and head for the Airport Express in the IFC mall.  So, now Alexis knows we are taking an airplane (the dragon!)

7:00 pm-- We head through immigration at the airport.  Tim had us checked in boarding passes ready to keep it away from nosy kids as long as possible!

7:45 pm-- We just happen to find a line to stand in at a boarding gate going to Singapore!  The secret is out!  Alexis squeals with delight and hugs her dad and Emma wonders where Singapore is!

12:30 am--We are standing in line with very tired kids in the Singapore airport waiting to get through customs and to the hotel BUT it was worth the wait!