Tommy's list

A few days ago, Tommy matter of factly mentioned St. Louis was #7 on his list of places he wanted to live when he grew up.  After some prodding, I got him to write his list down.  Apparently, after some consideration, St. Louis moved up to #5.

Here is his list:
1. Hong Kong
2. California
3. Greenland (???)
4. Brazil
5. St. Louis

571. Antartica
670. North Pole

I am not sure what is from #572-669, but I don't think they would be on my list of places to visit.

Tommy and Charlotte like to tell us all the time how they want to live with us well into adulthood and when I tell them they need to move out after college, they are pretty sure they are going to want to live down the street and visit every day.  This morning they were talking about how they could go to the same college when they got older so they could hang out together on the weekends they didn't come home to visit us.  :)

Peak Tram, try 2

On Saturday we decided to try the Peak Tram again.  This time we decided to head their first thing in the morning.  We also decided that instead of taking the Tram to the top, we would take a double decker bus to the top and ride the tram back down.  Again, we took the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbour.  The bus stop was right by the ferry terminal.  We were the first ones on the bus and go to sit on top in the very front.  That gave us a great view going up the mountain.

There is a huge mall at the top of the peak, we ate lunch at a good Vietnamese restaurant and the kids played for a while at the playground while Kara and I shopped for souvenirs.  After some ice cream, we rode the tram back down.  There was a line to ride it back down, but the line moved quickly and we had a short wait.  Overall, it was a successful day.

Wishing tree festival

The Wishing Tree is in the Lam Tsuen village near our house.  People from all over Hong Kong visit the Wishing Tree, especially during Chinese New Year.  The village puts on a festival for a couple weeks over the holiday.  The kids wore their chinese outfits and looked pretty cute.  (In my unbiased opinion).

The wishing tree is a local tree that people started hanging wishes on for good luck.  The original tree got strained from the the weight of the wishes and they had to move to a new tree.  Officials build a stand with peg boards to hang the wishes on instead with signs telling people to use it instead of the tree, but people clearly prefer the tree.

The pegboard to hang wishes on (we went last weekend to check out the walk before CNY)

The old wishing tree, currently trying to be saved with supports

The new wishing tree with all the wishes

When we got to the festival, we bought wish placards for all the kids to fill out.  You put your name and date and there were a list of wishes you could select from on one side, both Lilia and Charlotte chose peace and prosperity of their family in the coming year.  Since Katherine had spent the night in the hospital right before their visit, Patrick thought they should select a year of good health.  Tommy decided he wanted to write his own wish and decided to ask to find his truck he had been using for a bank for the his "China money".  (He found a few Chinese coins on the street and was storing them separately from his HK money and had apparently misplaced them.)  Tommy tends to be very practical.  :)  

Making their wishes

Tommy's wish

The wishes are tied to fake oranges.  Then you have to throw the wishes into the tree.  Some of them took several attempts before they stayed.

 

Tommy throwing his wish on the tree

 There were lots of vendor set up selling food and souvenirs.  They also had several lion dances during the festival.  The lion dance is supposed to chase away evil spirits and bring good luck.  People buy packets of "greens" usually packs of lettuce tied with a string.  They attach red envelopes with money inside.  The people put the offerings in the lion's mouth.  The dancer inside, keeps the envelope and then tears apart the lettuce and has the lion spit out some of the lettuce.  This act is supposed to symbolize an abundance of food in the coming year.  It is hard work being a lion dancer.  The troupes spend many hours practicing and the dancers have to be in pretty good shape.  The troupe splits the money from the envelopes.

lion dance

They had a lot of yummy food at the festival.

Peak Tram, try 1

We wanted to do the Peak Tram.  With it being the Chinese New Year holiday, we ran into issues with places being closed and crowded.  The plan was to get dim sum for lunch, take the Star Ferry across the harbour, then ride the Peak Tram.  We had to eat at our third choice for lunch since the first 2 were closed for the holiday.  Kara's family, Charlotte and I ate at a Chinese restaurant at Sha Tin mall.  We got several dishes we ate family style and it was delicious.  Tom and Tommy decided they would rather have hamburgers, so they ate at a nearby burger restaurant.

 

After lunch we took the train to the Star Ferry.  It took us a little longer to get there than normal, because several streets and walkways were closed for the parade later that evening.  The kids enjoyed the Star Ferry.

Kara, Katherine, Lilia and Patrick on the train

We took a train from the Star Ferry terminal to the entrance to the Peak Tram.  When we got there, the line was longer than I have ever seen it.  We were pretty tired by that point, and it looked like it would be at least a 2 hour wait in line.  We decided to scrap the idea and go to the nearby Hong Kong Park instead.  They have a great children's playground and the kids had a lot of fun.  

It wasn't the day we had planned, but we still ended up having a good day.

Kadoorie Farms

After day 1 at Disneyland, we decided we wanted a low key day at home to rest and recharge before we went back for day 2.  After a morning at home, Kara and I decided to take the older kids to Kadoorie Farms and leave Patrick and Katherine home to nap.  Tommy and Charlotte were excited to take Lilia on a double decker bus.  The kids had a great time looking at all the animals and exploring the gardens and various hiking trails.

Checking out the pigs

 

Charlotte posing in front of the statue

Birthday parties

Charlotte went to her friend Allyson's birthday party this weekend.  She was SO excited.  We bought a gift at Disneyland last weekend and she has asked me about wrapping it everyday.  The party started at 2, but she was very concerned about being late and asked me many times when we would leave and told me she was ready.  She got the present and told me she would just hold it and wait about 2 hours before we needed to leave.  (she quickly gave up that idea).  Allyson's invitations had my little ponies on them and when Charlotte was picking out her outfit, she saw this outfit with a rainbow ribbon and decided she would look just like Rainbow Dash.  I don't think anyone at the party saw the resemblance.

Charlotte's outfit

Rainbow Dash

Charlotte had a great time at the party.  They had tons of food and she had a great time running around and playing with her friends.  

A few weeks ago she had gone to a different friend's Frozen party and had a great time as well.  Most of the little girls wore Elsa dresses.  Charlotte wore her Anna shirt.  She has a really great group of kids in her class and they play really well together.

Charlotte with her Dolphin glitter tattoo

Disneyland-Day 2

Kara wanted to spend 2 days at Disneyland.  The second day, we got there right at park opening (it opened 30 minutes earlier than Monday, presumably because of the holiday) and went straight to the back of the park which we didn't get to on Monday.  We rode 4 rides without having to wait in line at all.  We spent most of the morning riding rides, then when the park started to get busy, we ate lunch and went to a few shows.  We watched the afternoon parade and shopped for some souvenirs and were ready to leave.

The girls in front of Small World (Tommy and Uncle Patrick went to ride Space Mountain instead)

Katherine loved Small World

We were excited to ride the Disneyland train.  It had been closed for construction of the new Iron Man ride they are building.  This was the first time it was open.

The kids loved trying on the different hats while Kara shopped for souvenirs

This Olaf hat is adorable, but not very practical.  How are you possibly supposed to keep it on.  

Overall, Disneyland was a hit.  I think it was the highlight of the trip for Lilia.  She was looking at Tommy's atlas and confused why she couldn't find Disneyland on the Hong Kong section.