Thursday, May 22 - Sunday, May 25

Thursday, May 22 - Sunday, May 25

A Pookie reunion! Chris and Nick came home to find Pookie, an apology note from the management office and candy waiting for them. He'd gotten caught up in the sheets, but they sanitized him. Ewww-what does that mean? Oh happy day!

Friday I took the day off and we headed to Stanley. We caught the double decker bus and enjoyed our first sunny day in over a week! We went through the market to view the goods and buy Nick an airplane. Then onto lunch and the beach. The water felt so wonderful. I'd swear we were at a resort somewhere, it was so beautiful. Nick took right to the water, "Can i swim?!".

Saturday was Lantau Island for the Big Buddah. We took a ferry, then a bus, then a short walk of 260 steps up to see the Buddah. Nick made it 240 steps before asking to be carried. It was very foggy, so we only got glimpses of the Buddah every few minutes. And mosquitos. Did I mention the mosquitos? Then back down the 260 steps (carrying the 35 lb turkey the whole way this time) and ready for lunch. No nap for Nick, so a few fits were thrown in throughout the day for good measure. At one point, I left Nick and Chris on Wisdom Path to sort out their issues. Three minutes later they both emerged with scowls on their faces. Guess that wisdom didn't work right away. Apparently the thing to do is eat at the vegetarian, family style place that's part of the Monestary. Well, they brought us lots of food. But can't say any of us were excited about it. We started with tea and a soup/broth. It resembled muddy water with green pepper chunks in it. Chris still won't claim to know what that veggie was. Then a big rice pot with some other veggies to add in. Lots of tofu. I don't want to be a monk. Then we walked to the cable cars to take us down the other side of the mountain (as scary as a roller coaster at points) and to the subway to take us back to our neighborhood. Phew. What a day! Home with snacks and then naps. Well, at least 2 of us took naps. Nick figured out how to work the DVD player and watched the Scooby Doo movie. Again. Pizza for dinner - oh sweet heaven! My belly was so happy!

We ended the busy weekend with a day on Kowloon. We took the ferry over and then walked over to the Hong Kong Museum of History. Nick loved it and I actually learned some things about the culture we’ve been living in for the past month. Then we headed to the subway and made our way to the Ladies Market. “Copies, copies”. Chris didn’t think that sounded much better than saying “fake bags” or “counterfeit watches”. It’s amazing the crazy wares they sell at these markets. Everything from jewelry to underwear to fake bags to shoes to costumes. Back to the subway to Kowloon park, where we wandered forever looking for the Kung Fu exhibition. Never found it. But did find a great swimming pool for Chris and Nick to visit this week. Also found signs for parrots and flamingos. Nick got it in his head that we were looking for mangos. So we pretended to look all afternoon for mangos. It was on the ferry ride home that he said “we saw the parrots, but not the flamingos”. Mangos. Flamangos. Flamingos. Ahhhhhh. Chris researched and found a noodle shop for an early dinner. It was authentic. So much so that I had to make a McD’s run once we got home. McDs is insanely cheap here. Hey, 3 yr olds love McDs! They sell sundaes with green tea sauch and red beans, apple pies/red bean pies, Shogun burgers (which from what we can tell might be like McRibs) and exotic sauces for their McNuggets: Pineapple/Soy and Mustard/Chili.