Hong Kong Halloween, roller coaster terror, hold the squid and homeward bound

Livvy and I flew to Hong Kong, and aboard the aircraft we were offered curry and rice, only fancier because we were in First Class. After a minor snafu at the airport due to the car service forgetting to pick us up and it taking me a good 12 minutes to figure out how to dial a local number on my cel in Hong Kong, we checked into the Peninsula Hotel with the help of our guest services greeter, “Wingo” (unfortunate misspelling of Ringo). Shortly thereafter we were reunited with Sabrina who flew in from Shanghai to join us for the weekend. We treated ourselves to tea in the Palm Court where after jumping the long queue, with the help of the Concierge who insisted that hotel guests get priority seating thank you very much, we all did our favorite Gossip Girl impersonations. I did Lily Van der Woodsen with her high cheekboned disapproving scowl, see pic. We then went shopping for Halloween costumes before enjoying dinner at Nobu, where the Rock Shrimp taste every bit as delicious as it does in NYC, Vegas, and Mykonos.

The next morning we were very politely denied access to breakfast at the hotel due to the No Rubber Shoes dress code, and so Livvy changed out of her Crocs and into her Converse in order for us to raid the buffet table. The shoe change was well worth it. Marvellous Belgian Waffles and excellent shrimp Hagow, I know it sounds like ti doesn't go together but after 19 days in China it actually does.

We then had a quick Halloween manicure and drove out to Disneyland in costume (a little devil-Livvy, a big witch-Sabrina, and a big cowgirl wannabe witch-moi) where we met “Candy”, our VIP hostess for the day. With Candy’s uniform and bright red hat we were whisked in through the exit of every ride and ushered foreign dignitary-style onto the rides while the common folk waited 45-60 minutes in the 92 degree heat. All was well until I decided to take a ride on Space Mountain with my cousin Sabrina, while Livvy waited with Candy by the Dumbo ride. What ensued can best be described as a near-puking bonding experience. Mid-way through the darkness as the surging roller coaster speed increased to near Mark 3 velocity, my fingers digging deeply into the pleather handlebar protectors, I conceded this was a bad idea. I contemplated whether to gracefully lean over and be ill or try to hold on just a little bit longer in the hopes the ride would come to a merciful end. No amount of yoga breathing was helping and so I quickly calculated how many people would also feel sick on the ride, how long we'd been on it, and assuming I was no more of a wimp than the average parent taking the ride, reasoned it must be over soon. My gamble paid off and three severe turns later we emerged into the smoky blue light of the exit ramp. I had to take a moment to steady myself but was ultimately able to stand and leave the ride unassisted with head held high, well somewhat high anyway. Fortunately, Sabrina was a slightly lighter shade of green than myself and so I avoided being ridiculed. The ride operators at Disney kindly take your photo as you scream wildly through the darkness and when I saw the photo of myself and Sabrina, eyes shut, jaws clenched, nearly sick and utterly terrified, I had to have it for I knew this would be my last venture on Space Mountain. I’ll find a suitable spot in my home office for the photo just as a reminder of the last hurrah.

Some 4 hours later, having regained some of my appetite we stopped for dinner at the Western Food restaurant, for I could not stomach anymore dumplings, fried rice or obscure meat sautéed in oyster sauce. Sadly, every single item on the menu at the Western Food establishment was embellished with some form of squid; squid ink pasta bolognaise, squid burger, squid pizza, squid minestrone (who thinks this stuff up?), and so we escaped to the fast food counter area and had a burger-hold the squid. We spied a Bakery along main street earlier and returned for dessert in anticipation of the brownies and cream puffs awaiting us. Once again we were disappointed to find masses of green jello cubes and bright yellow egg custard tarts but ne’er a brownie in sight. After the Halloween Parade in our amply cordoned off VIP section, we thanked Candy for her hospitality and drove home.

The next day, we had a rubber shoe-less breakfast and then made for the Bird market, Flower Market, Fish Market (no photos allowed for some odd reason) and lunch at the Outback Steakhouse for by now we were in need of alternative cuisine. The Bird Market was amazing as much for the variety of beautifully plumed birds as for the abundance of grasshoppers and crickets sold in bulk as bird food. Having had a teary farewell with Sabrina who had to return to Shanghai, we spent the afternoon alone visiting the sub-par Ocean Park for a peek at the Pandas and aquarium, followed by more queue-cutting for tea at the hotel and finally a movie marathon and room service rounding out our stay. In the morning we hopped in the hotel Rolls Royce grateful to be heading to the airport, missing Justin and David and Chloe, who just turned 15 over the weekend. It was an amazing trip, three weeks with Livvy in China will be a memory I’ll cherish forever.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more adventures as my Gap Year travels continue……

Temple of Heaven, Howard the unlikely names Tai Chi Master, Egg Custard Tart run and farewell to the boys

This morning Livvy, Justin and I visited the Temple of Heaven, which is a huge park in Beijing, where we met up with “Howard” a Tai Chi Master who looks nothing like a Howard, for a tai chi lesson. The grounds were filled with tens of thousands of older Chinese men and women, all participating in their favorite morning exercises which ranged from Kung Fu to Rhythmic Dance to Ballroom Dancing. I managed to snap a few photos of what Chloe would call “authentic guys” around the park as well as some Mao appreciators, see pics.

After learning just how challenging Tai Chi coordination is, well at least for me, we headed to the Pearl Market, as well as the Jade Market and followed the shopping up with lunch at a Manchurian restaurant where the kids entertained the traditionally dressed waitresses with some elevator tricks. We were served fried rice in a bucket which the kids seemed to find extremely novel but I managed to convince Justin that schlepping home a rice bucket wasn’t feasible. Justin was hankering for some Egg Custard Tarts but unlike at Dim Sum state side, these are rarely found in restaurants in mainland China. Our guide Ally told us the best tarts are actually at KFC, which gives you a good sense for just how these sweets rank in authentic Chinese culinary hierarchy, so to KFC we went. I must say the tarts were quite delicious to my Western taste and Justin had 2.

After dinner we played a competitive game of bowling, boys vs girls, and although David and Justin’s smack talking had the boys spotting Livvy and me a 100 points for the first two games; by game 3 the boys were begging us to lower handicap to 50. Seems we didn’t suck quite as much as they thought. We acquiesced and let them win the last game by 10 points. Girl power!

We hugged and kissed David and Justin good bye at bedtime, for they were heading to Tokyo at 6am while Livvy and I are going to Hong Kong. So I got my 9 year old roommate back, and true to form she snored like a little lumberjack all night long while hugging her stuffed moose. Tomorrow, Hong Kong…