Halloween

Halloween is not a holiday most of Hong Kong celebrates, but it is big with many expats and there are celebrations in concentrated areas.  Although native Hong Kongers don't celebrate the holiday, you will still see Halloween decorations/promotions at businesses and Halloween decor/costumes for sale (although on a MUCH smaller scale than the US).  Business still want to capitalize on those that do celebrate Halloween.

Charlotte wanted to be a princess for Halloween so I ordered an Anna dress for Tom to bring back on one of his trips to the US.  Tommy could care less what he dressed up as so he decided to wear his firefighter costume from the previous year.  Unlike the US where children wear their costumes to school as well as to several parties/trunk or treats/events, I knew he would only wear it on Halloween evening so I didn't care.  We are lucky to live in a neighborhood that participates in trick or treating.  Less than 1/4 of the houses participate, but there is still plenty of candy for the kids.

We had 4 families over for dinner before heading out to trick or treat.  We had a great time with some festive treats.  Charlotte was so excited her friend Olivia came dressed as Elsa.  They stuck together like glue all night.  The kids got lots of candy and we all had a great time.

Mummy pizzas

banana ghosts with bananas from our tree

Anna and Elsa

All the kids

 

Ocean Park

Tommy has been very excited to go to Ocean Park.  We decided we would get Disneyland annual passes our first year here while the kids were younger and shorter.  The second year we wanted to get Ocean Park passes.  Now that Tommy is 48" he is able to ride a lot more of the rides than he would of in the past.  Unfortunately, Charlotte still isn't tall enough for many but there were still some she could ride.  Ocean Park is an amusement park/aquarium.  It has a lot of roller coasters, many fast ones neither kids are tall enough to ride, plus several marine animal habitats and a dolphin show.

Ocean Park is built around a mountain and is separated into 2 areas, the lower section and upper section.  You enter in the lower section and had read most people start there so if you go straight to the upper section you can enjoy short lines for several hours.  There are two ways to get between the sections, an underground train and cable cars.  Again, I had read most people take the cable cars up, so it is much faster to take the train.  Both of these things turned out to be true.  We headed to the top and rode a couple roller coasters.  Then, we headed inside to see a penguin habitat.  The penguins were really cute, Charlotte really enjoyed watching them.  It was very cold inside!

Tommy and I did an obstacle course Charlotte wasn't tall enough for.  We rode a few more rides and had lunch.  Then we headed up the giant escalators to the mine train and log flume.  Charlotte wasn't tall enough for the mine train so Tommy and Tom went to ride that while Charlotte and I did the log flume.  Then we all rode the log flume together.  Then it was time for the dolphin show.  I know dolphin shows are very controversial, but we found it to be very entertaining.

In front of the mine train

We rode a few more rides.  By that time, the upper section had gotten crowded and the lines were long.  We decided to head down to the lower section and ride a ride or two before leaving.  I hadn't thought about the fact it was the weekend before Halloween and since Ocean Park has several special attractions for Halloween it was extra crowded.  We rode the cable cars down and when we saw all the people at the bottom, we decided to just ride the carousel before we left.  

view from above

On the cable car

A rare picture of Tom and I (this is the one Tommy cut off Tom's head the least)

Charlotte loves carousels

We are looking forward to going back to Ocean Park and exploring the rides in the lower section.  Tom and I are also hoping to go back without the kids so we can ride some of the bigger rides.

Bali Safari Park

I was really excited to go to the Bali Safari and Marine Park.  They had many different attractions.  Instead of a normal zoo, where you walk from enclosure to enclosure to look at the different animals, you rode in an enclosed, air-conditioned jeep to see the animals in their somewhat natural habitat.  There were electric fences to keep certain animals apart for obvious reasons, but it seemed more authentic than a US zoo.  One thing I really like about the safari park (which some people may not like) is they pretty much make a schedule for you.  They have a variety of shows and events.  Most of the shows had 1 showing or maybe 1 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon.  We got there around 10.  They had events at 10:30, 11:00, 11:20, and 11:45, and 12:30.  Then there was a couple hour break which gave us time to eat lunch and do the safari ride before a 2:30 show.

The first thing we saw was the piranha feeding.  They have a small "aquarium" which consisted of several tanks of fish.  I don't know if I had ever seen piranhas in person before, but they don't look very intimidating.  To feed them, a worker put a whole, raw chicken onto a string.  They lower it into the tank and instantly all the fish attack it.  In less than a minute, the whole chicken is gone, you can only see a few fish swimming around with chicken bones hanging out of their mouths.  It was unreal.

Charlotte and Tommy in front of the piranha tank

The worker putting the chicken on the string

On our way to the next show, we saw some animals to take pictures with and there was a mama and baby elephant to feed.  Charlotte and Tommy were both excited to feed the elephants.

Next we went to an Animal Education show.  It was well done.  This day was hotter than any of the previous days we had been in Bali.  We were sweating just sitting waiting for the show in the shade.  I bought some homemade popsicles for us to eat while we waited, the kids had pineapple and Tom and I had strawberry.  While we were waiting for the show, an orangutan came out and pulled down a sign that said, "The show will start in 5 minutes".  It was pretty cute.  They brought out a variety of animals while the presenter told us all about them in English.  The orangutan came back out at the end with a friend and performed tricks.  They were the stars of the show.

Orangutan lowers the sign

Guide walking around with a huge snake we could touch

Then we watched some elephants being bathed and headed to the elephant show.  We weren't sure what to expect and were afraid we might see the elephants being mistreated to perform tricks, but the show was very good.  The elephants, along with a group of performers, told the story of how in different parts of the world the elephants and people are trying to live on the same land.  It was a good message.  The elephants were really good actors.

The elephant carrying an actor

Then we had lunch and did the Safari Ride.  We ate lunch at the Tsavo Lion Restaurant.  The food was good, and the restaurant was full of windows overlooking the lion's den so you could see the animals playing.  We even got to see them being fed.  When you went to the bathroom, there was another enclosure where you could get a really close up view of a lion.
We had a lot of fun on our Safari Ride.  It was on an oversized, enclosed jeep with probably 4 or 5 rows of benches.  Our guide did a good job of telling us about the different animals and answering questions.  We got a good view of the animals.  All the animals were from Asia or Africa, there were some new ones we hadn't seen before and many we had never seen up close.  

Tommy was excited to see a white rhino.  He had written a report about one at school.  He brought his picture in to share with his class.  Fun fact: the difference between a white and black rhino has nothing to do with their color, it is the shape of their mouth.  

After the Safari ride, we attended the Bali Agung Show.  I had read it was worth seeing and it did not disappoint.  They took our cell phones during the performance, so I don't have any pictures, but the costumes, dancing and acting were very well done.  We all enjoyed it.

After the show we were all tired, but our passes had also included a few amusement park rides so we told the kids we could ride some on our way out.  The rides were pretty lame, but the kids had fun.  They rode 2 rides.  The first had cars in a train.  Then we all rode a boat ride.  Finally, it was time to head home.  It was a fun, but tiring, day.

Waterbom

We were very excited to visit Waterbom while we were in Bali.  It is rated the #1 water park in Asia and the #3 water park in the world (#1 and #2 being in Spain and Brazil) by TripAdvisor.  It did not disappoint.  We got there when it opened and reserved a cabana right by the kids' play area.  This gave us a place to leave our towels and shoes as well as a shaded place to rest/eat throughout the day.  Also, when Tom and I were worn out, the kids could play in the play area and we could keep an eye on them.

Charlotte relaxing in our cabana

kids' play area

Waterbom has 11 different water slides, one was under construction, and one Tommy was not tall enough to ride.  Tommy made sure he rode all 9 of the slides he could.  Tommy also made sure Tom and I rode all the rides too.  Charlotte was tall enough to ride 3 of the slides.  We had a blast!  Charlotte took advantage of the of the slides she could ride and rode them over and over again.  The workers at first were concerned she might be scared, but thought she was pretty cute doing it over and over.  One of their favorites was the twin racers, where they could race each other.  They tried racing Tom and me, but since we are so much heavier, we would easily beat them, even after giving them a head start.  They would stop at the beginning of the straightaway, where we would travel closer to the end.  Tom and I felt bad when we would get to the bottom and turn around to see how they did and they are turned around waiting for us to come down because they are sure they beat us this time.  It was much more fair if they raced each other.

Tommy and Charlotte on the Twin Racers

The weather was absolutely perfect.  It was in the mid 80s.  It was warm enough the water felt good, but not so hot that you were sweating the whole time.  The only bad thing about the park was there were a ton of stairs.  At the top of the rides, they had signs telling you how many calories you burned on your trip to the top.  We got ice cream at the end of the day and we had earned it!

Tommy is exactly 122 cm (about 48 inches) in bare feet, so he was just tall enough to ride many of the rides.  Therefore, he was one of the youngest kids riding these slides.  There were several slides where there were much bigger kids, and even adults, who were scared to go on the rides.  They were impressed with how brave Tommy was.  There were two rides that were especially intimidating.  They started with a straight drop.  Therefore, you had to stand inside an upright tube and the worker closes the door.  Then you hear a countdown and the floor drops out from under you.  I was a little intimidated the first time, but they were a lot of fun.  Tommy didn't even hesitate.  I am sure Charlotte would have gone on all the rides, fearlessly, if she had been tall enough.

View of the slides from above

The kids also had a great time playing in the play area and we took several trips on the lazy river.  Overall, it was a great day.  Tommy keeps asking when we can go back...

Bali-beach and relax

Today was our first full day in Bali.  We decided to spend the day at our hotel and surrounding areas relaxing.  The breakfast buffet was delicious.  They had a good variety.  We have enjoyed trying all the fresh fruit.  This morning we had yellow watermelon.  It tasted just the same.  We also like the fresh squeezed juices.  We all tried some of the watermelon strawberry juice this morning. 

Breakfast

Our view from breakfast: the pool, with the ocean in the background

After breakfast, we changed into our swimsuits and headed to the beach.  Tommy was pretty excited to swim in the Indian Ocean.  Our hotel is close to the airport and we had a really good view of the planes landing and taking off from the beach.  Tommy loved watching the planes and seeing all the different airlines he didn't recognize.  We splashed in the water and had a great time.  Tommy and Tom walked further down the beach to get an even better look at the airplanes while Charlotte and I played in the sand.  We all had a wonderful time.  We headed back to the hotel to clean up and eat a late lunch.  We spent most of the afternoon indoors.  Tom, unfortunately, had to do some work.  Charlotte wanted to go to the kids' club.  They had toys to play with and had a new activity planned every hour.  I kept going back to get her, but she didn't want to leave.  She ended up staying a couple hours and came home with a few art projects.  Tommy played some video games and walked into town with me to try to get money out of the ATM. 

Tommy's drawing of a Lion airplane, one of the new airlines we saw

At the beach.  The strip of land in the rear left is the airport runway.

playing in the sand

The view of our resort from the beach

coral washed up on the beach

We had been unsuccessful at the ATM, so after we picked up Charlotte we all walked further into town to try again.  It took us 4 ATMs before we found one that would take my card.  Our card uses a 6 digit pin instead of a 4 digit, so I don't know if that was part of the problem.  The places we were visiting will take credit cards, but we needed cash for taxis to get there and if we wanted to buy anything from the local markets.  I couldn't resist buying a tote bag on our way back to the hotel.  I have been looking for bag I can take to the beach/pool and found one that should work well.  It will be nice to remember our trip every time I use it.  It was so inexpensive, I didn't try to bargain with the woman selling it.  We ate dinner as the sun set and went to bed.  It was a good day.

View from our room's balcony.  Charlotte is playing with bubbles on the grass with the kids' club

Bali bound

The kids have a week off in October for midterm break.  We wanted to take a fun, but relaxing vacation so we decided to go to Bali, Indonesia.  Tom ended up having to take a business trip to the States right before we left and arrived home Thursday evening.  Saturday morning we were up bright and early to go back to the airport for our trip to Bali. 
It was a little rough getting there.  On the first flight, we had very little leg room.  I sat down and had such little room, I could not get my book bag under the seat in front of me without standing back up.  You can imagine how comfortable it was for Tom.  I traded seats with him so he was sitting between the kids and could impose on their space.  The good thing about this flight was it had TV's to watch.  I watched Jurassic World, which I had wanted to see.  The kids decided to play on their devices instead.  We had a layover in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  As we were landing, the tv's played an informational video about the KL Airport as well as things to do in Malaysia.   Then they played a video with different exercises you could do on the flight and tips to keep you healthy on your next flight.   I didn't see anyone doing the exercises, well except for Charlotte.  Tommy was very disappointed our layover was not long enough to leave the airport and see the Petronas Towers.  Maybe next time. 
Tom took Tommy to the lounge while Charlotte and I explored the airport.  We visited the “rainforest” they mentioned on the video.  The area had a waterfall with a path lined with trees.  Some of the trees had signs with letters on them.  There was a display that told you about the different trees.  The exhibit wasn't too exciting.  We didn't see any birds or animals.  It was very hot and humid though.  It felt like a rainforest. 

Charlotte in the "rainforest"

To get on our second flight, we had to go through security again at our gate.  Instead of having many gates together where the seats are all mixed together each gate was roped off.  An hour before the flight took off they opened the gate and you had to walk through the metal detector and put all your bags through the scanner.  It was a good thing we didn't buy any liquids at the airport.  Then you walked down a flight of stairs to get to the secure waiting area for our flight.  Our second flight was much more comfortable.  Tom had a bulkhead seat so he could stretch out his legs at least a little.  The kids and I sat together in the back of the plane.  Unfortunately, this flight didn't have TV's.  Also, their devices were almost out of batteries.  Tommy was able to use the iPad a little, but not much.  We did get a meal on both flights.  I requested a child's meal for the kids.  It is always interesting to me to see what people consider good choices for kids.  I expect to see familiar, healthy foods that aren't too spicy.  The kid’s breakfast had pancakes with maple syrup and blueberry sauce, a chocolate muffin, mango jello/pudding, and potato chips.  Everything was artificial and full of sugar.  Lunch was slightly better.  They had a cheese sandwich (on white bread with no crusts), a big candy bar, and apple jello.  After lunch, Tommy and I played some card games and Charlotte colored.  They did really well without their devices.  It reminded me of flying when I was a kid.  We cleared immigration quickly and found the transportation for our hotel.  

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Resort.  Our room was really nice.  It had a king sized bed, a pull out couch and a separate room with bunk beds and an XBox.  The kids were so excited about the bunk beds.  They quickly planned out who would get the top bunk each night (Charlotte the first 2, Tommy the last 2).  The bathroom was also huge.  The tub/shower area was really big and had a huge window that looked into the bedroom.  It did have a shade you could pull down for privacy, although the shade was located on the bedroom side instead of the bathroom side.  I’m sure the location is because of mold and mildew, but it seemed like there could be some potential problems.  Overall, we had plenty of room. 

bunk beds

huge bathroom

strange window from the bedroom into the bathroom

Bali by Tommy

We just got back from a trip to Bali.  Tommy wanted to write a post about our trip.  I will add more entries with a few more details later.

We rode Malaysia Airlines we had a layover in Kuala Lumpur   next we went  to Bali .When we got to Bali it was time to sleep and me and Charlotte found out we had bunk beds .The next morning we had breakfast .After breakfast we went to the beach . At the beach we played in the Indian Ocean and me and daddy wached the airplanes. After that Charlotte did the kids club and I went out with Mommy to go to the ATM to get some money. We were surprised that no money came out so we went back to the hotel. When we got to the hotel Mommy and Daddy had a rest and I played the XBOX360.After that Mommy brought Charlotte back from the kids club and we had dinner. Next we went to sleep. The next morning we went to Waterbom. My favourite rides were the smashdown2.0,doubletwist and fastnfierce. smashdown2.0 and doubletwist were ones were the floor dropped open and fastnfierce shot you straight down.

Tommy's drawing of Malaysia Airlines.  This is not our plane, we rode a single decker.  He drew a double decker so everyone would know what they looked like.

Splash Night/Party in the Park

We had a couple of fun events this past weekend.  Unfortunately, Tom had to take a trip to the States at the last minute so he was gone.  I am always thankful to have things planned over the weekend when Tom is out of town as it makes the weekend go by faster and gives the kids less time to think about missing Daddy.
Friday, the kids had an early dismissal from school.  Charlotte and I spent the afternoon baking and decorating cupcakes for Party in the Park.  That evening, we attended the last Splash Night of the season.  A cyclone on its way to China had brought torrential rain earlier in the week.  We had finally had some sunshine at the end of the week and it felt good to go to the pool.  To celebrate the last Splash Night, after a couple hours of playing, they showed Finding Nemo on a big screen.  The kids were very excited to get to stay late and watch.

Watching Finding Nemo.  They are sharing a raft on the far right.

Their raft deflated about halfway through the movie and they got pretty cold after the sun went down, so they ended up watching the rest of the movie cuddled up with a towel on a lounge chair with me.  We had a great time.

Saturday was Party in the Park at school.  It was a spin off of the fair from last year.  They had games, activities, food, and drinks.  The kids had a great time.  I bought them each some tokens and they had a great time spending them on games and treats.  The first thing Charlotte did was get beautified.  She got her nails and face painted.  I tried to convince her to wait on the face painting because I was afraid she would sweat it off, but she didn't want to wait.  Luckily, the sun stayed behind the clouds and her design stayed intact.  

Beautiful butterfly

Tommy headed straight to the Human Foosball.  I think he ended up playing it 7 times different times throughout the day.  He kept finding different groups of friends he wanted to play with.

They also played carnival type games.  Charlotte won a small coconut.  They put a hole in it and a straw so you could drink the water inside.  They also both took a turn in the bounce house.  

Charlotte also did Drum Jam.  Two leaders led the kids through a drum routine where they had to imitate the beat they heard.  They did a good job of making it interactive.  They let different kids get up and lead the beat and participate in dances.  

Charlotte had to leave early to attend a birthday party.  Luckily, I found a friend she could ride with so I could stay at school with Tommy.  Tommy had such a good time.  After he and his friends ran out of tokens, they just started running around and playing tag on the field.  The event was supposed to end at 4, the band played until 4:15, and I had to drag him out of there at 4:20.  There were quite a few people still there.  Charlotte came home about an hour later.  She had a great time at her party, but she was exhausted.  We all had a great day.  I got the kids to bed at a pretty regular time, with only a few meltdowns.  Charlotte slept until 8:45 AM the next morning and Tommy slept until right after 9.  I think that was a record for them, especially on a non jet-lag/travelling morning.