Day 1: Chinese New Year--Parade

 The Ocean Park float in the Chinese New Year's parade.  A lion dances and changes Color!

Crazy crowds of people press and push against you.  People literally will crawl beneath you to get to the front.  It is unreal and exhausting.  The girls ended up pressed to the front.  Tim was exhausted from keeping JP above the crowds--it was insane!

Cool Marrionette puppets tower high above the press of humanity.

JP on Alexis shoulders giving dad's arms a brief respite!

The Disney Float!

Tim on Nathan Road with masses of people!

Emma and Devon waiting for the begining of the parade.

Bands and dancers entertain us while we wait for floats!

Saturday morning Victoria Park Lunar Market

 Tim and I went back to the market on Saturday morning.  He did not get to see it when I took the kids during the week.  It was insanely crowded for a morning in Hong Kong!  Usually, things here get crowded later in the day.  There were all sorts of items to look at such as wonderful toys, balloons and pin wheels.

There must be some cultural aspect of things that I am totally missing. I need to do a little more research!  Here we found you could purchase blow up gold bars and coins of enormous size or you can just buy a banner with some on it.

 So, we were just walking around and all of a sudden a big TV camera gets pushed in my face and a lady starts asking me questions!  Are you a tourist? No, I live here.  (You would think we stick out or something!)  Why did you come to the market so early?  Crowds! (Are you kidding?  There were already more people in the area than we could count!)  What do you think of Chinese New Year? Incredibly interesting. (I do not understand but I am starting to now that I am part way through it!  I just found out that it is 15 days long!  Different things happen each day but I cannot find anything written--or at least in English!)  Anyway, I was smiling so wide as a fear reaction to a camera in my face that my teeth felt like they might fall out if not firmly attached.  I even felt myself turn red.  The major consolation in all of this is that it was a local station in Cantonese that no one I know would ever watch right?!  Sunday I get to church and guess what?  "I saw you on TV!"  How embarrassing!  Then someone here in the apartment elevator stops me. "I saw you on TV!"  Then the lady at the club house desk said, "I saw you on TV!"  Wow! I had my 15 seconds of fame and did not even get to see it!  Hope there was nothing in my teeth!

I do not know how much these people made at this market but check out the piles of empty boxes because the masses bought stuff for New Years.  It was like Christmas almost.  Don't tell marketers in the USA because I am sure they would want to jump on this and sell massive amounts of stuff like Black Friday!

Victoria Park Lunar Market with the kids!

'twas 2 days before Chinese New Year when the Hales leave the house to go to Victoria Park Market aboard the MTR!

Spirits were high and smiles were on to see all the wonders of the Lunar New Year!

On exiting the MTR what do we see but Coke can Art!

Drinking straw art kept our imaginations soaring!

Victoria Park while traffic was roaring!

Plants with flowers and fruit some we have never seen--wonders and whatsits the New Year to bring!

Orchids, bulbs and herbs were all blooming,

On twisty bamboo New Years wishes are looming!

Away from the park to the library run,

Our senses are reeling that was lots of fun.  Kids with balloon pets needing a break sit on the sidewalk where picture I take!

Fire Safety!

We officially can put out fires with extinguishers although it was much tougher than we thought! Now if we could use that thing for sibling fights that would be heaven!

Shanghai (Tim)

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My first entry into Mainland China was a business trip to Shanghai.  As a business trip, it was light on sightseeing and heavy on observations of the four walls of inside the office.  However, I saw enough of Shanghai to understand that the city has its own vibe, a feel very distinctive from Hong Kong.  My first impression was the haze in which the plane descended as it approached for landing.  Pollution is just a fact of life in Shanghai.  While not as bad as Beijing – in an infamous class of its own – the city’s pollution is chronically evident in the horizon that can’t be seen or the sun that can’t shine through.  

Shanghai is an eclectic mix of modern and old.  Times Square is surrounded by big shopping malls, high rise buildings, heavy traffic – even an Apple Store – all the trapping of a modern city.  But embedded within the city is a layer from a throw back era.  The streets are shared with Ferraris and old bicycles – circa 1952 – and outside 7-11s are street merchants selling trinkets and meals from their mobile kitchen/carts.  There are phone booths scattered throughout the city.  Not Wi-Fi booths, but phone booths with landlines that can be used for a fee – sort of a micromuseum.  I actually saw one in use, someone inside talking on his cell phone!  Maybe with 20m+ people in the city, it’s a great place to go for a bit of privacy.

Shanghai is not the international melting pot that Hong Kong is, but it’s heading in that direction.  One evening was able to get to the Bund, a site along the Huangpu River where the vestiges of Western influence can still be seen.  On one side of the river are stately buildings built by Western nations 100 years ago in what represented the epicenter of trade and commerce in Asia.  On the other side of the river is the modern financial district where the famous Oriental Pearl Tower can be can be seen (albeit through the haze that constantly hovers who’s presence is like a crazy uncle telling awkward jokes at Thanksgiving dinner – you feel like you should pretend it’s not there).  Shanghai has the vibe of a city fighting to regain its status as the Gateway to Asia it ceded to places like Hong Kong and Singapore.

All told, my trip to the Mainland was just long enough to be a teaser.  We are planning some family trips into China when we have time to explore it right (and maybe in optimal weather!).    

Bangkok, Thailand, Day 7

So sad to leave.  Thailand is a wonderful place.  Friendly people.  Tropical weather.  Great food.  English is not so prevalent there, but enough that we could get by.  And restaurants boasting of food that is “unresistible” and “confirmed in deliciousness” have a certain charm.  Our experiences this week painted a portrait of a culture that is alluring.

We made it to the airport and through immigration – passports stamped – and learned that our flight back home was delayed.   We were delayed a couple of hours before boarding, then spent a few hours on the plane before take off.  Good thing there were lots of movies to choose from to pass the time.  We ended up making it home in the wee hours of the morning and everyone crashed well into the next day.

Bangkok, Thailand Day 6

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Day 6

Bank Pa-In Palace--The Summer Palace of the King of Siam.  Wow, what a beautiful palace or several palaces!

We visited the ruins in Ayutthaya, the original capital of Thailand dating back to the 1300s.  When was destroyed in the war with the Burma (present day Myanmar) in 1767, the Thai abandoned the city headed south to rebuild the capital.  The kids found bats in the ruins.  We all rode elephants.  Lunch was fried chicken, sticky rice and fresh pineapple at a roadside restaurant.