Hong Kong

I love Hong Kong, I have loved Hong Kong since my first trip 8 years ago.  I love the bustle of the crowds, the tall and skinny buses, the travelator (I love that name travel + escalator = travelator!), the restaurants, and the people.  I think it's one of the coolest cities on earth.  BUT, like NY, I always have trouble when I go there thinking of things to do.  Maybe I've just lived with DH too long... I used to just go and be content to wander around and soak up the atmosphere, but now I feel like I'm somehow wasting the day if I don't DO something.  But I think HK and NY are places that just lend themselves to hanging out (if you don't live there, if you live there you're too busy working to hang out).
The coolness of HK is even more apparent having lived for so long on the mainland.  In HK the subways are clean, efficient and quiet.  (I did not once see a fight in HK, while I see one at least once a week on the mainland) The city also seemed to be trying to make itself more eco-friendly in ways US cities are not.  There are recycling containers everywhere, public transportation seems to be the way most people get around (although no bicycles, too many hills, not enough street space), and you can use your subway card to swipe your way through just about anything (Disneyland, taxis, the skytram, ferries, 7-11, etc) reducing the need for ticketing in those places.
I also saw so many different types of people there, living, touring, working, running/owning businesses.  It was especially apparent after Wuhan where the sight of another foreigner was rare, much less so many different types of people.  Yes, the majority of the people are Asian, but not necessarily Han-Chinese.  Which made the food so good.  2nd tier mainland Chinese cities are NOT cosmopolitan.  Wuhan is better than Chengdu because at least you can get Sichuan and Cantonese food here, as well as Hubei food (in Chengdu, people felt that it wasn't worth it to eat anything other than Sichuan food).  But generally speaking, it's still going to serve the main parts of whatever region you're in, because there aren't enough people here willing to brave eating something that's not familiar to them (I'm not saying that this is unique to China, if you go into the heartland in America good luck trying to find something that's not Italian, Mexican, or American).  I know we looked like those tourists who come to China and only eat Hamburgers, but gosh darnit I haven't had a good hamburger in months!  We ate Asian food, but the only Chinese food we ate was Dim Sum (YUM!!!!!!!!).  People can think what they like about us, but I don't regret eating pizza twice, in fact I wish we had eaten it more, and I definitely should have had another hamburger. 

Gratuitous Disney shots

Hi, here are some more pics from our time in Disney.  (Sorry there are so many, but we had so much fun)

Thanksgiving in the "Happiest Place on Earth"

We are now trapped on the school schedule since Babes has officially started school (I know it's only kindergarten, but she started really late so I'm trying to keep her in school as much as possible) so when I looked at Babes' school calendar and discovered that she had 6 days off for Thanksgiving I told DH "we've got to get out of here!" And away we went to Hong Kong.
 Hong Kong is always nice, but this is the first time that I've gone to Hong Kong with a kid.  A 5yr old might put up with walking until your feet fall off the first day, but on the second she's gonna complain (actually on the first she'll complain, on the second she'll cry). Don't get me wrong Babes is a pretty good traveler (actually she's a great traveler-so easy going), she loves to sight-see, and try new foods, and go to exotic locations, but she's not up for just wandering about, which is what we usually do in HK.  BUT!  We had a surprise for her-HK Disneyland.

As you all know, I am not a Disney hater.  As a child I loved Disney, and as an adult I like it even more.  Is Disney a huge soulless corporation built to suck money out of your pocket? Yes!  Am I willing to put up with it? YES!  Because lets face the facts, folks, they are good at what they do.  Are their movies perfect? No, I wish their girls had a bit more backbone, their boys a little more personality,  and who gets married after three dates anyway?  BUT, as with anything Babes watches we make sure to talk about what we're watching and try to balance out Disney's message with our own.

But I appreciate Disney on a whole new level as an adult.  When I was a teenager I used to live near Disneyland CA.  I loved it because it was a place safe enough that my parents would let me go there by myself without asking a million and two questions.  However, taking Babes there for the first time was amazing.  She was all smiles and starry eyes.  Because we went during the week there were virtually no lines, I don't think we waited longer than half an hour for anything.  She was always front and center for every parade, and we have pictures of her dancing in the parades with the cast members. We walked into every show and got seats whenever we wanted.  The food was good, and kid centric, as well as a selection wide enough that the adults were able to enjoy it as well (it was expensive, but not ridiculously so).

From the moment we stepped onto the Disneyland express train the experience was a positive one.  There were tons of  D-employees walking around making sure you weren't lost.  They were happy to answer questions in English or Chinese.  They made an effort to keep the lines running smoothly without line cutters.  The park was sparkling spotless clean.  And as simple as it was, all the D-employees had stickers in their pockets to hand out to little kids (and adults) whenever they felt like it. 

And anyplace that gives Babes big smiles and shiny eyes, AND causes her to say "this is the best day of my life" is ok in my book.