HK Trip

We're back from our holiday to HK and had a fantastic time. I recall when I first mentioned HK as our holiday destination, many friends and colleagues gave me the frown or worried look. After all HK is not known to be a child friendly (and definitely not pram friendly) destination, it's crowded, air is polluted...; not to mention the many abduction/kidnapping stories especially at Disneyland. I guess I did not think too much about the safety part at the start since I've worked in HK before and thought or assumed I know the place well. But I did start to freak out a little when more & more people started warning me about the PRCs lingering around at Disneyland abducting little kids. Thankfully, we had a safe trip!

We took the 730am SQ flight to HK, which meant leaving our home at 530am. Isabelle seemed aware we were going on a holiday. When I changed her in her sleep at ~5am, she woke up and started smiling and was in a chirpy mood. She was all bright and alert, and even had breakfast at the airport without much hassle, had a wild time on board the plane climbing up and down the seat, playing with the remote control, watching Sesame Street and even finishing half an adult meal!!! She finally dozed off for an hour's nap before landing, and continued to be in a chirpy mood despite the long queue at immigrations at the HK airport. We did not do much on Day 1 except for some shopping at Mongkok, and ended the day early with a great dinner at Jade Kitchen where Isabelle displayed a hearty appetite.

Day 2 was a visit to Disneyland - supposedly the highlight of the trip. But I guess Isabelle was now feeling tired from the prior day's long travel and plus we woke her up from her nap for the parade, so we had a very grouchy toddler. Nevertheless, we managed to take a couple of rides; the Flying Dumbo, the Carousel, the Mad Hatter Cups, a River Cruise, LightBuzzer ride and watched the parade, a Mickey's musical and took photos with Mickey, Minnie & Goofie; all of these in a half day's visit. Isabelle freaked out at most of the rides when she had to be strapped tight (she hates safety belts) but enjoyed the thrill once the rides took off. As mentioned, Isabelle was grouchy, and I wasn't sure initially if the visit to Disneyland was even worthwhile and how much she even remembers of the trip. However, since we've been back, she has been asking for Minnie, flying elephants and galloping horses. So I guess she did enjoy the day out at Disneyland after all.

I'm sure everyone has the burning question if I felt unsafe at Disneyland. I have to say it was really really crowded, it would have been almost impossible to find a lost toddler amidst all that crowd. But if you take precaution to always hold or carry your child tight, it really isnt that bad. I did worry a bit when the husband took Isabelle for her diaper change. He took so so so so long, that I wondered if something had happened to them. I found myself literally staring at the gent's; checking out every single person who came out of there and then looking at my watch; it kind of felt like forever that the husband and little one was in there. But the husband was a superb dad during the trip, looking after Isabelle's toilet needs. I know i know...shouldn't the mummy be doing all that? For some reason, when Isabelle wanted to poo, the husband would just look at me for a few seconds, and then say, give me the bag, I'll take care of it.

Day 3 - we met up with my brother for yum cha, followed by shopping at Causeway Bay. We deliberately took the ferry over from TST and Isabelle was really thrilled to be sitting on a boat. And then a tram from Sheung Wan to Causeway Bay, another thrill for Isabelle. During our trip to HK, I think Isabelle loved all the different modes of transport best. She was shouting out...train, train, ferry, ferry repeatedly. And everytime we got off the MTR, she would say "bye bye train, see you later!" Really cute! Isabelle had an amazing appetite on this day, it really shocked us. She finished almost an entire bowl of macaroni soup for tea, and then almost an entire bowl of rice for dinner.

Day 4 - we did some shopping at TST. We chose a wrong place for lunch, food was bad however we had a good time cos of the little one. We had ordered macaroni in beef borsch soup for her. Mid way through her meal, Isabelle asked for meat (she usually does not eat meat outside). The husband gave her a piece of luncheon meat. Isabelle bit into it enthusiastically and then spat it out....frowned and said..."NOT MEAT". We just burst out laughing...what a smart girl, yes processed meat is not considered meat. It must have been MEAT DAY, cos she finished all the beef, and asked for meat again at dinner.

Day 5 - we say goodbye HK. Took the 320pm flight back cos the husband prefered the A380. SQ had the best service as always....earlier on our flight to HK, the flight stewardess had noticed that Isabelle preferred a proper meal when in fact she was not entitled to one since she was not paying a child's fare. Nevertheless, she tried her best and put in a request for a kids meal, and yes Isabelle was served with a proper kids meal complete with kids juice, chips, cookies and pasta bolognese. Unfortunately, she wasn't very hungry and started picking at everything. Isabelle was initially excited about the juice, but then started to frown and exclaimed "NOT NICE" when she realised it was not apple juice after all. Yes, that's the fussy eater... she is very specific about what she likes and dislikes, and that's why we were rather pleased that we always found something suitable and to her liking every dinner. We also had a mini accident on board the plane, the flight attendant accidentally knocked Isabelle's forehead with the meal tray, and felt so terribly guilty...he came by literally every 15 minutes to check on Isabelle and us, apologising profusely and gave Isabelle a bag full of toys! And so Isabelle now has a bag full of KungFu Panda & Shrek stuff like a blanket, colouring set, plush, etc.

Overall, we had a great holiday. Isabelle was very well behaved during the trip and showed us she was able to adapt very well though her routines were changed. It seems like she has grown up so much, where has our little girl gone? I wished time would come to a standstill sometimes, I miss my baby girl already. She's starting to respond so maturely; it makes me feel so proud of her, and yet so sad that she's growing up so fast.