August 6 - Trying to be more Thai

We're flying back to Bangkok tonight so we need to finish check out of the hotel before we have a full Disneyland day. Check out wasn't too bad. We beat the rush (and I mean RUSH!). Of course there were folks who ignored the roped queuing areas. Many had no issue interrupting your conversation with the front desk staff member with whom you're OBVIOUSLY speaking.

We shuttle it over to the park where we enjoy the character breakfast buffet. I load up on the dim sum... yum yum dim sum! (that's the name of a board book in the children's section btw)




OK... so now G is getting the full park flavor today and it's SOOOOO not pretty. Today would've been a good day to be more "Thai" and maybe not made so much of a scene or a big deal during the "trying" times... oh well. There's yelling at people trying to cut/push their way at different ride lines. There's elbowing of folks. The degree of pushing and line jumping is so overwhelming that G and I have lengthy conversations about how the 'line' culture might have evolved into what it is today. I don't think they could pay me enough to be a "cast member" at this park. It's continuous. Cast members denying entry to people who are trying to jump the line by catching up with another member of their party who "got in". Cast members repeatedly announcing the line etiquette rules. Please don't misunderstand. Every OTHER aspect of the experience was wonderful. But MAN! The cultural difference in this ONE aspect was overwhelming. And, when you've got irritated people yelling at each other about it in the line it just kills the magic.








But anyhoo, it was fun. We made it back to the shuttle in a series of swift walks between a series of serious downpours.







At the hotel we get our bags and take two taxis to the airport. Luckily, ONE of the two drivers knew which terminal held Emirates Airlines. The driver of the taxi I was in almost dropped us off at the wrong terminal... at Hong Kong Airport - the largest passenger terminal in the world.

We're almost home... We weather a flight with a REALLY grumpy flight attendant who would snatch the tray of food while you were still holding a forkful to your mouth. HELLOO-OOO!

OK, so we're now at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok and we're going to save time by taking a TAXI. ...where do I even begin? I'll start by saying that there is a designated taxi stand downstairs where you're supposed to pay a fee and get a taxi. You're not supposed to catch a taxi upstairs. If you've already got all your belongings and 4 kids in the taxi you'll have to get out to the sound of irritating, irritated "discussion" with 3 security guards, a taxi driver and a husband who hasn't slept in a few days. You'll have to haul all your bags and kids downstairs through a maze of moving walkways and hallways. Once you get downstairs you can't just catch a taxi; you must pay the fee. If you try to bypass the fee it gets very irritating for the mother and nerve racking to the taxi-van driver. Then to top it off, your oldest child will lose the precious "squishy coin" from the park because she fell asleep while holding it in her hand.

But hey... WE DID IT! We did a Disney thing...

Now we're home... bring on the magic of Baileys!

August 5 - The magic must be on sebatical

OK... G & T-Boy are still at the Hospital so we're going to have a day without them at the park. I'd already prepaid(you get a discount) the buffet breakfast at the hotel restaurant, Chef Mickey, so I take the other 3 kids and they're thrilled to have *waffles*. Extra bonus: They're shaped like Mickey Mouse heads :o)

I'm thinking that G's absence from the park experience is a good thing. G and theme parks don't go together very well. Once we get to the park I realize that I am SOOOOOO glad that G's not with us. I'm not sure if you've all heard, but in preparation for the 2008 Olympics in China they're practicing -standing in lines- on designated queuing days. Apparently pushing, shoving and line jumping is commonplace. Well... today was NOT a practice day at Disneyland. It didn't take too long to realize that I ought to just "let it go"... but not TOTALLY. I had the benefit of a double stroller (good for the diagonal positioning block) and a 6 year old who had NO issue with shoving back at whoever was pushing up on her. Just like any other Disney resort they're quick with the stickers when kids cry and of course there's not too much crying because... they're in Disneyland!


We head back to the hotel to take a break and meet up with G and T-boy. After a buffet dinner at Chef Mickey in the hotel (where I chowed on sashimi BIG TIME) we head back over to the park to ride a couple rides and see the fireworks. T-Boy is MUCH better now. But my poor husband G, he's another story.
As far as Disney parks go... this one was cheaper on the ticket prices but the park is smaller. It was a good fit for us and our 4 small kids. With 2 days we still couldn't finish the park. But if you have the option of choosing ANY international Disney experience I would NOT choose Hong Kong... just because of the line issue alone. You've REALLY got to show up with your own magic to deal with all the shoving.

August 4 - Maybe not so magical of a day

Today's plans for an uneventful day sure ended with a bang, or a wheeze.

Today we just go out to eat for lunch and catch our reserved van to get from Kowloon to Lantau Island where we'll spend 2 nights at Disney's Hollywood Hotel and do 2 days in the park. (They were having a stay 2 nights get a 2nd day in the park for free promotion)

I'd made the reservation on the phone a few weeks ago after several failed online attempts. Well... it turns out that the "park view" rooms I reserved and requested as "connecting" can't be HAD as "connecting" because NONE OF THEM ARE CONNECTED. A SMALL detail that would've been helpful during the reservation process. Oh! and of course, there are no connecting rooms available. So blah, blah, blah.... we'll just cope. We're glad to be in a room where the kids can veg in front of more innocent cartoons in the English language(so that they'll actually stay parked in front of the TV long enough for me & G to take a break/nap).

Now here we go...

T-boy is having a bronchiospasm episode that's not responding to his inhaler. We all go downstairs to try and eat but T-boy's just getting worse. Geoff goes to the front desk to see if there's a doctor. The front desk manager calls him a taxi to go to the Adventist Hospital. I'm at the cafe with 2 trays of food and drink and 3 kids... we need to go to the room. I can't keep them corralled. Wonderfully there's a "cast member" who sees me trying to manipulate 2 trays of food and drink and 3 kids and helps us up to our room. In the elevator I vent some of my stress about Turner... He responds "Oh, you're in room -insert our room # here-." He was one of the staff members helping G get the hospital trip together.

Once I get the kids fed and settled I get a call... I'm hoping its' G but it's the front desk manager. She tells me that if there's anything they can do to help to let her know. She's also asking me if I have any new news. I suppose that when you've got a Disney resort management position you need to know if there's a case of bird-flu at your hotel.

I finally hear from G. They're spending the night and T-boy will have IV medication. I respond, "Wha!? What about a nebulizer?" We're in Hong Kong(China)... they don't do nebulizers because of SARS. G and T-boy have also gotten the quarantine treatment once the staff discovered we'd come from Thailand... bird-flu-fear.

Well... at the least the other kids got to watch the fireworks from the hotel room. The TV read them a few bedtime stories... and we all eventually went to sleep.

... Here's where I wish we could ALL breathe a sigh of relief.

Geoff says to go ahead to the park with the other kids tomorrow. I feel off about it... but it makes sense... certainly no sense in staying cooped up in a hotel room with 3 kids.

Tonight, the luggage gets a treat... its own hotel room with a view of the park.

August 3 - Victoria's Peak and more Good Eats

Today we eventually made it OUT of the hotel room to check out the views at Victoria Peak. We walk out of the hotel to the pier where the ferry would take us from the Kowloon shore to Hong Kong Island.



We walked from the pier on Hong Kong Island to the appropriate bus stop at the terminal. We rode the bus to the cable car that would haul us UP, UP, UP to the gift shop. We trekked through the tangle of souvenirs to the bottom of almost a dozen escalator rides up to the observation deck. We stop at escalator ride 5ish to have a Burger King lunch. After proceeding up escalator rides 6 and 7ish we get to the top and take in some pretty amazing views of Hong Kong.



We do everything in reverse(minus the Burger King stop and with the addition of souvenir purchases) and make it back to Kowloon for more deeeeeelicious eating. Once I dig out all the souvenir receipts and what not I hope I can include the names of more restaurants...




Tomorrow we'll make it more low key to gear up for Disneyland Hong Kong! The kids don't know we're going!(tee-hee) Actually T-boy knows... it's our secret. I've forgotten why he was so frumpy that I shared this secret, but hey it worked and he felt cheerier! Started taking steps bigger than 2 cm!

August 2 - Good Eats

OK... Before we EVER LEFT the States my Inay kept telling me to be careful not to lose the kids. That DEFINITELY applies to downtown Hong Kong.


Trying to move around with 4 small kids was tiring, challenging, and stressful. BUT! we still managed to make our way to a wonderful restaurant, Yung Kee on Wellington St. We heard about it from one of G's relatives, Julie, who live lives in Hong Kong. It was DEEEEEELICIOUS. The duck kicked butt! We also had our first taste of "1000 year old egg" AKA "100 year old egg" Century Egg Info. In this region it's typically eaten with a slice of pickled ginger. Geoff and I had to sit with it a minute and decide how adventurous we were going to be... T-boy on the other hand was ready to dive in to the egg adventure. We all loved it!






During a break at the hotel Geoff takes these pictures from our hotel room.



After having Happy Hour drinks and fries we took a night boat cruise and watched the Symphony of Lights. Turner wasn't too hot about getting on a boat but once the light and "laser"(said in the Austin Powers Dr. Evil voice) show started he got over his fears. He still wasn't brave enough to venture to the upper deck where there's a better view... but it turned out. R and Cambo had solid underwear surprises that I needed to clean up and we were the ONLY ones on the lower deck.



After that we have a light dinner where Cambo and R are sleeping on chairs while Flea, T, G, and I enjoy a more quiet meal. Afterwards we walk our way carrying the 2 younger ones to a designated Taxi stand and call it a night. We're going to need more caffeine tomorrow...

August 1 - A Trip to Hong Kong

Geoff left for China on Sunday to visit a plant in Donguong and today I left with the 4 kids to meet him in Hong Kong. I'm so glad that at the gate I can corral the kids into a corner and block then in with the stroller.


We flew Emirates Airlines where Economy Class is a lot closer to 1st class in the states. After boarding the flight attendants walked the aisles of the 777 with their trays of tong handled hot towels. The seats where equiped with individual touch screen monitors and airphones. You could watch movies or TV, listen to music, or play video games by yourself or with other passengers. The food was closer to real food and served with real flatware, no plastic. All beverages, with the exception of champagne, was complimentary. They'll gladly pour you a double.

So... the flight... Totoy sooooo does NOT like to remain buckled, particularly when the "fasten seat belt" light is illuminated. What can I say, I was ready to toss him out the nearest exit(which may have been behind us), as were anyone sitting near us. They made their appreciation for Cam's screams very clear. But we survived. Thank goodness that Emirates had great video games and cartoons for the other kids.


So we land at Hong Kong and it takes us forever and a day to get to baggage claim. Per Felicia, she learned this from an airport book from The Tangredi Fam, "We are in the largest passenger terminal in the world!". I can tell... In our journey to EXIT the airport... Flea has to poop(in bathroom stall with auto-flushing toilets.... auto-flushing toilets and Flea are a bad combo); T needs to go to the bathroom; diapers need to be changed; T decides that he's just done with walking... that's it, no more walking, just done... and if he's going to walk the steps will be no greater than 2 centimeters MAX. This is all before we've even made it to immigration. It takes us so long that our baggage is going round and round with the baggage from the next flight. I'm just glad it's still there :o)

EVENTUALLY, we find the driver from the company at which G is working. I find out later from G that we took SOOOOO long that the folks at the business were starting to really freak out that they had lost their potential client's wife and children. But MAN! This guy can walk FAST! Somehow, even with our baggage cart, he was able to move at running speed without actually running. Felicia and I(with the double stroller) were definitely running. I'm not sure why, but people move quickly here. Very, very quickly.

We get to the Harbour Plaza Hong Kong hotel and check-in to one of the two rooms(the other is in G's name and he's still at the plant working). We order hotdogs and fruit from room service and the kids GO TO SLEEP. (yippee!) Geoff rolls in around midnight and we escape to the connecting room. Tomorrow.... explore Hong Kong! (after we sleep in a bit and G gets some work done and we eat breakfast, get everyone to pee, change diaper, and tag them with a hotel card)

July 22 - Chatuchak

Today Felicia and I went to Chatuchak, the BIG weekend market in Bangkok, by ourselves.

FIRST, I needed to get over my fear. So I brought Felicia with me :o) We would need to get there by taxi. I figured that I should be able to get there no problem, the challenge would be getting home. This will be the 3rd and 4th times in my life that I'll be calling a taxi for myself by myself... Extra bonus: I don't speak Thai. Felicia is very excited that she can show me "the way out of Villa Arcadia to where the taxis are". The second taxi we approach will take us into town... it's about a 1/2 hour ride... for the equivalent of about US$9.00.

I have 2 goals on this outing: Check out the famous market, pick up souvenirs to take back the the states. Well, it turns out that this place it soooo huge you need to have a map if you've got any kind of shoping objective. I was only able to pick up a few things on my "to buy" list before Felicia was ready to call it quits. AND, it started to do that "downpour of rain in spurts" thing so it was getting MORE crowded as shoppers were trying to dodge into the covered portions of the market. Without knowledge of how the market was laid out I unintentionally take the LOONG way around to get to the taxi stand. Good thing I didn't have tons of shopping success to drag around with me.

Overall, it was a GREAT outing and I wished I had visited it earlier and more often. As my friend Ali would say, "Note to self...", I'll be sure to carve out special Chatuchak time on my next visit to Thailand.

This is where Felicia and I stopped for a SIT-DOWN lunch. After all that walking around it was worth spending a whopping US$10.00 to sit down and eat. :o)



Oh yeah! BTW, we did make it back from the market without problem. First of all it helped that G took the boys to the Central Bangna Mall which made it easier for me to tell the driver(instead of having to give turn-by-turn directions to the house). So after a short exchange of broken Thai, broken English, and Taxi-passenger sign language(to indicate, "yes, take the expressway") we were on our way.