All We Want is Sleep

Sometimes it feels like we’ve only been away for a couple of weeks, and then at other times it feels like it’s been months and months. We are definitely ready to go home and get back into the swing of things. But before we head home, our last adventure finds us in Hong Kong—a city I’ve always wanted to visit.. After a 2 ½ hour plane ride from Bangkok to HK (me, squished between two people with a squirmy, fussy baby!)—one that could not have ended too soon—we had quite a new experience at the HK airport. As soon as we cleared Customs we were greeted by a uniformed women with a big smile on her face and an ear thermometer in hand, asking if she could check Dashel’s temperature. I think this is really odd, but I acquiese, given this is China and I expect weird things here. And while she is taking his temperature, I see a table that says “Temperature Check” and I just laugh. Only here have I ever experienced this! I’m guessing they want to make sure people don’t bring in illnesses to China. But I think, had Dash had a temperature, would they have quarantined him?

My first impressions of Hong Kong are that it looks a lot like a mix between Los Angeles’ San Gabriel Mountains and San Francisco bay area where the city lines the coast and the streets are steep and the city on the hillsides. Then you throw in the massive port that seems to never end, and then finish it off with a vibe a la New York City. So that’s my twist on the place. Oh, and did I forget to mention the ever present smog? A la Los Angeles. Oh, and then there is the fact that they squeeze like a quadrillion people into the small spaces of land between the mountains and the harbour. It's amazing how TALL the apartment buildings are, and how many of them there are! Really, it's quite mind boggling. I'll post more pictures of the landscape tomorrow, so you can see what I mean about the sheer scale and quantity of the buildings.


So we are starved by the time we get to the hotel. We do the tour of the hotel, and check out the rooftop pool—a VERY cool place to see the Victoria Harbour and the city. But we are still hungry, so we grab tea at the hotel. Actually, it’s included in the rate on the Club floor, so we go to stuff ourselves. But afterwards we’re still to tired to get out and about so decide to just hang out in the hotel—Dave and I taking turns going up to the fitness center and using the saunas and steam rooms. Our travels are catching up with us, and especially our 4:45AM morning. The saunas invigorate us and I’m ready for dinner—but at the hotel. Forbid that I should walk somewhere right now! Now I’m sounding way too much like a typical American tourist.

So we head down for a very early dinner at the Harbour Grill, with sweeping views over the harbour and the boats beyond. Now, let me just preface the next sentence with this disclaimer: Declan has had no nap today, and he woke up at an obscene hour. So, about 5 minutes into our sitting down to eat, Declan is chowing breadsticks with his head resting on the table, when I look over to find him chewing with his eyes closed. I try to wake him, but his body is in shut down mode. So, one child to sleep, one to go! Dashel is VERY awake, and a little fussy, so I introduce my 4 month old to breadsticks. Yes, I let him suck on the end of a breadstick till it's almost completely gone. This kid can suck! And he really liked it. Am I a bad mom?
Well, I do finally get Dashel to sleep, so Dave and I can have our second “romatic dinner” of the trip! What’s really great about this dinner is two fold: (1) We’re eating non-ethnic food (we’re ethnic-fooded out!); and (2) We’re eating in an empty restaurant, all to ourselves, with amazing views. We relished it. And with the kids asleep, it was “magical”.

We drag our sorry buts upstairs for an early bedtime and that’s where I’m leaving it for now. I’m off to bed, hoping I have enough energy tomorrow to get out and do so sight seeing…