Thursday was our last day in Guangzhou, and we had nothing planned for the day. Brian and my Dad took a scenic tour of Guangzhou to try and buy a stroller - Benjamin really liked riding in one, and we had borrowed one from the hotel at the beginning of the week. We figured as long as he liked it, it would be really nice to have one for Disney. Apparently Brian and Dad roamed about 3-4 miles around, and finally found one about 1/2 a block from the hotel. While they were doing that, Mom and I got the kids dressed up in their little silk Chinese outfits to get some pictures of them in the gardens. Christopher loved the outfit, and was so proud of himself for wearing "China clothes". Benjamin wasn't so sure about the whole process. We spent about an hour getting pictures of them, until the heat just got to be too much.
Once we finished with pictures, we headed back to our room to make sure we had actually packed all of our stuff. We figured we would need an extra suitcase once we had Benjamin, but we didn't have nearly as much stuff as we thought we would. Brian and I put stuff in suitcases, and Benjamin helped by pulling it out when we weren't watching. We had to check out of our room by 3:00, but weren't leaving until 4:30 for Hong Kong. We dragged everything downstairs, and checked out with plenty of time to spare. We spent the next 90 minutes just hanging out in the lobby with the other families we travelled with. This was one part of the trip we all felt might have been a bit more organized. It's tough to take some already overtired and cranky kids, as well as overtired and cranky parents, and ask them to sit quietly in a hotel lobby for 90 minutes.
At 4:30, our guide arrived with the travel visas for all our kids. They travel to the US on Chinese passports with US visas, and the last step for all of us is to wait for the travel visa. Once she got all of us and our paperwork straightened out, we got packed up in the vans to head for Hong Kong. We said goodbye to the other families we were travelling with, as they were both heading for the US on Friday. We had promised Christopher if he was good for the whole trip, we would take hom to Disneyland on the way home (OK, so really, I wanted to go, but it sounds better if we took the kids for a trip.....)
The van ride to Hong Kong takes about 3 hours, including having to clear customs between Hong Kong and China. While China may once again own Hong Kong, it's still very different. Foreigners as well as Chinese citizens need to clear customs to go there, the currency is different, and the feel of the city is different. While Hong Kong is more Western feeling, I really prefer the cities we visited in China. I can't put my finger on why, but I felt more comfortable there.
We arrived at Disney around 7:30, got checked in, and settled in the room. The Hollywood Hotel is decorated in an art deco style, and the themeing for the hotel is similar in the way it's part of everything in the room to WDW. When we woke in the morning, we discovered the real difference between Hong Kong Disney and the ones at home..... the fact you're on a tropical island :)
The part here is much smaller than either of the ones at home, and has much more of a feel of someplace to stroll around. There is tons of shade, and paths to wander. There are fewer rides, and it just has a more relaxed feel to it. I don't think I prefer one to the other, as they feel completely different. I do like the Toy Story land they've built - the giant Tinker Toys are really cool, and the 3 new rides are fun. Christopher was dissappointed he couldn't ride the RC car ride, as it has a 48 inch height limit. Brian took him for another ride on the Parachute Drop to take his mind off it, and my Mom and I went on the RC car ride. Very fun, but I'm glad Christopher didn't go. It would have scared the poop out of him :) Other than Toy Story, all the rides were similar to the ones at home. Small World is a bit different, as all of the lands have characters from Disney movies integrated into them. We all thought it was cool, and had fun looking for them.
So Benjamin enjoyed himself, and really liked the Carousel. From the second he sat on the horse until we put him in his stroller, he was smiling and laughing. He wasn't quite so sure about Dumbo, but wasn't scared of it either.
You'll notice that Benjamin loved Woody, but was terrified of Buzz. We decided to skip the rest of the characters after the Buzz meltdown. We were really hoping they had some of the characters in Chinese dress, but no such luck.
Everyone was pooped by late afternoon, so we decided to leave a bit early, as we had to switch hotels to one downtown, and we were planning on sightseeing in Hong Kong in the morning. We took 2 cabs downtown, and got to see the islands in daylight. It's amazingly beautiful. We got checked in to the hotel - the area was in Kowloon, and was very busy. There were just people everywhere. Instead of taking the kids out in all that mess, we sent Brian and Dad to go find food while Mom and I got the kids settled in a bit.
The next morning, we signed up for a bus tour of Hong Kong. Normally, I wouldn't really care for the bus tour thing, but with only one day, it seemed like the best idea to see a bunch of stuff. We ended up with a few couples from Australia, some college kids from Boston, and another family with kids the same ages as Christopher and Benjamin. The tour stopped at one of the temples right in Hong Kong, which was interesting to see. The tour guide did a great job of explaining the significance of everything we were looking at. We went from there to the cable car to the top of Victoria Peak. The cable car goes up so steeply that it's hard to sit up, and the buildings going by almost look like they're tipping over. The view of the city and the harbor from the top is absolutely amazing. We went from there to the harbor, and went out on a quick tour of the fishing villages - a lot of the older fishermen and their families live on the fishing boats in giant floating villages. It was interesting, almost like a Hong Kong variation on redneck :) We went from there to the floating dim sum restaurant for lunch. It was OK, but nowhere near as good as the Mom and Pop restaurants we were used to by now. The tour went from there along the beaches on the south side of Hong Kong, to the Stanley Market. It was fun to look around, but we only had 30 minutes there, so not much time to see much. Christopher was really tired by then, so we just waled around the beginning, and then stopped to get the kids drinks and ice cream. We went from there back to the hotel, and again sent Dad and Brian out for dinner. This time, they watched where the crowds were eating, and found a Middle Eastern pizza place, and came back with lamb and chicken pizza. When everyone agrees they liked it, you know a miracle has happened :) We got the suitcases packed for one last time, and tried to get the kids to bed early for the flight home in the morning.
Both kids did well on the flight, even though it's really long (14 hours from Chicago to Hong Kong, and then another 2 hours from Chicage to Boston). As soon as we landed in the US, Benjamin automatically became a US citizen. We expected the paperwork to take a while, but they just took the paperwork and waved us through. Easy peasy, as Christopher would tell you.
So here are some pictures from around Hong Kong. Once we're settled in, and not so stinking jetlagged, I'll try to let everyone know how everything is going with Mr. Benjamin.
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