China Day 15/16- Hong Kong

I said farewell to the Garden breakfast buffet with moistness in my eyes. We packed up and were ready to leave an hour and a half early, so we sat around in the hotel room and waited for 10:30 to come. 

Farewell buffet

Finally, the time came and we met Connie in the lobby.  We were a little concerned about having to get all of our luggage on and off the train and to our next hotel, along with the boys and Miss Run-in-the-opposite-direction-or-drop-to-the-floor-when-you-go-the-way-I-don't-want-you-to-go-Autumn, especially since we didn't have a stroller.

Connie took us to the waiting area for the train, then we said good-bye. We had decided that we would give Autumn some Benadryl as a test on the train to see if we should give her some when we fly on Sunday to get her good and tired.  It was recommended that we try it out to make sure it doesn't have the adverse effect.  Let's just say, she won't be getting any Benadryl on Sunday.  She was her typical, active self.  No real adverse effects, but didn't tire her at all either.   It takes all of one parent's attention, entertainment skills, and muscle strength to keep her either seated, or in close proximity to her seat, and not throwing water bottles over the seat, nor screaming (just because it's fun and gets a reaction out of mama and baba).

There weren't any major issues with the train.  Nobody stole our luggage.  We piled into one of the smart car cabs with our thousand pieces of luggage and drove to our hotel.  Our hotel is located on the south side of Hong Kong island.  The north side of HK island and Kowloon face each other on the harbor, which is where all the action is.  But, when we tried to get a hotel in the happenin' part of town, everything affordable was booked because of some huge rugby tournament.  So we're on the backside.  I would say its beautiful, if not for the construction.  I think the entire south side of the island, every street, is under construction.  

When we arrived at our hotel (L'Hotel South) there were throngs of teenage Hong Kong girls standing behind barricades with their cameras, apparently waiting for someone famous.  We assumed maybe it was a rugby player...or us. 

This hotel is über posh and chic (their subtitle is "Chic South").  Our room looks like an Ikea catalogue.  There are a lot of perfect-looking, tan Europeans walking around in their ultra-cool fashions, that I would never be caught dead in because they're not functional enough.  No fanny packs anywhere, except on me.  Unfortunately, once you get past the chic, it's pretty standard Holiday Inn-ish.  Plus, the breakfast buffet was overpriced and about a quarter of the size of The Garden (cue the whining).  They did, however, have cocoa crispies on the buffet, I think to appeal to the 20-something crowd they serve.

After check-in, we took the free shuttle to the harbor.  We rode the Star Ferry across to Kowloon (where we stayed in 2008).  The boys enjoyed the ferry.  We didn't have a stroller for Autumn (we borrowed one from The Garden), so that was kind of a pain - actually a lot of pain, because she has a propensity for running away from us.  The building lights were just starting to light up, which is cool to see because they're all different colors and they dance and then perform to music.  

We walked the promenade along the harbor for a short time then set off to find dinner.  We ended up at Shakey's Pizza.  I can't believe I ate at Shakey's in Hong Kong, or that they even had one for that matter.  I used to celebrate my birthdays at Shakey's as a wee lass, and used to skip school as a teenager to go to Shakey's.  But now almost all of them are closed, except maybe in California.  So I was totally psyched, for nostalgia sake.  

By the time we were done eating, the kids were tired, so we couldn't go to Kowloon Park, which was our original destination.  We rode the ferry back and found the shuttle for our hotel.  

Autumn shared the bed with Steve and me. That was awful.  In the last two hotels, Sheehan either slept on the sofa or on the floor, in his sleeping bag, while I shared with Autumn, and Steve shared with Josiah, but this hotel is smaller, and the floors are parquet, not carpet.  We got a crib, but Autumn wouldn't stay in it.  Autumn kicked all night long.  The room was freezing, but apparently Autumn was hot because she kept kicking off the blankets and pushing the blankets down so her legs were out.  We got a little sleep in there at some point.

We woke up and realized that there is no place around to get food except the hotel, so we ate the buffet.  I already wrote about that, so I'll spare you of my complaints.

After breakfast, we went to Ocean Park, which is similar, I guess, to Sea World.  We watched a dolphin and sea lion show and rode a few kiddie rides.  The highlight was when we first arrived, we took a gondola ride up to the summit of the park where the rest of the park is located.  The ride was beautiful!  It was right along the ocean, overlooking a lagoon.  The ocean was dotted with small mountain islands.  We all loved that.  

The rest of the day was about the same as our entire trip.  The kids whined about being tired and hungry and hot.  We thought it was supposed to be a high of 63 today and it turned out to be 70 and sunny.  We were all dressed for 63.  Sheehan came back with a little sun burn.  Overall, it was fun.  We were glad the park wasn't terribly expensive.  We got back to the hotel around 8 pm.  

The boys are watching Toy Story 3 as I type.  Our flight is around 11 am tomorrow.  Thirteen to 14 hours later and we'll be home - noon-ish on Sunday.  Thanks for following our trip!  I'm exhausted.  Off to bed.

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