Thanksgiving in Hong Kong

This year for Thanksgiving, we decided to utilize our Frequent Flier miles and go to Hong Kong for 3 days. We flew out on Tuesday, November 23rd, arriving at 12:30am, Hong Kong time...meaning our kids didn't get to bed until after 1am...which didn't start the next day off very well!

We stayed 3 nights at the Disney Hollywood Hotel. The girls LOVED it, and it was actually 50% cheaper than any other hotel that I found while researching and working with Hotels.com. However, it was on Lantau Island, which meant it was a bit further to get to pretty much EVERYTHING else in Hong Kong.

Day 1
The first day in Hong Kong was spent partly with a Tailor- Scott was measured and fitted for two custom tailored suits and 2 shirts, while I had a nice Trench coat style jacket made for myself. Hong Kong is the place to go in Asia for custom fit clothes- a lot cheaper and much better quality and fit than those off the rack or from a store in either the States or Tokyo. After our visit to Sam's Tailor- Sam has made clothes for TONS of Hollywood stars, presidents and the rich and famous of the world...and has signed pictures of himself with them posted all over his walls, we went to Kowloon park, to let the girls run around and get some exercise. From there we went to Fa Yuen Street to shop. This street was UNBELIEVABLY busy, crazy, with shops, upon shops, upon shops...behind, in front, everywhere... and everything is SUPER cheap, as nearly everything now a days is "Made In China"! It was a bit too crazy for us though, and it didn't take long to realize this was not a place we could stay too long with little kids. Those two things took most of the day, and we headed back for an early night at the hotel.


I am not sure what this was, but all the Disney Characters were doing this with their hands as well!

Day 2



On Thanksgiving day, we headed to Hong Kong Disneyland. The weather was perfect- a balmy 75+ degrees, sunny and gorgeous! The park, though smaller than Tokyo Disney, and MUCH smaller than Disney World, was a great size, not too busy and a TON of fun for us as a family. We had a chance to get onto everything we wanted to, some things twice. The only issues we had this day- I managed to drop an entire tray of burning hot pizza (shaped like Mickey Mouse!) on my bare leg and shoe at lunch time....didn't feel so great, and my white tennis shoe was a pizza sauced mess, and I also managed to forget to grab Hanna's clothes when she changed into warmer weather clothes in the bathroom, so we lost an outfit! UGH!! We did get to see the Christmas parade, enjoy the Christmas decor and songs all throughout the park, meet elves, watch the fireworks and see the lighting of the Disney Hong Kong Christmas tree- the coolest part was that they had all the buildings lit up, the lights off and "snow" falling all down Main Street for the rest of the night! The snow was actually soap bubbles, but the it was so neat to see! The night ended with the Fireworks show and we still got back to the hotel by 9pm!


Me and my Girls


With a Christmas Elf

Day 3
Friday ended up being a part frustrating, part fun day. We had to go back to the Tailor to get a final fitting and pick up the clothing items we had made. The tailor was in Kowloon, which was about a 35 min ride from the Hollywood Hotel, and the LAST place the girls wanted to go "again"! After the Tailor, we headed to Hong Kong Island, to visit The Peak, which is a "peak" location where you can view all of Victoria Harbor- the view was phenomenal-and then head to the Botanical gardens and Zoological park. But first, we had find somewhere to eat...which is ALWAYS a challenge..Hanna wants McDonald's all the time - she would eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner if she had the opportunity. Maya, Scott and I are all completely SICK of McDonald's....but, that is where we ended up, because I did not do the research in advance to see what restaurants were in what parts of Hong Kong. This meal was completely frustrating (not only were we at McDonald's, but it had limited seating- I ended up standing up, Scott had to go down the street to find a restroom, and Hanna continued to yell at all three of us the entire meal (did I mention she is in a TERRIBLE stage/phase right now? If it isn't her way, she yells, screams, hits and stomps here feet...it has been a rough month for the Garrison's! She is completely unwilling to try anything- last week she didn't want to watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory because according to her, it was about "chocolate and a factory, and that sounds dumb!"...she also didn't want to watch How to Train a Dragon, because it was about "dragons and training", equally as dumb...however, she ended up liking both movies...she has been SO difficult!) :)I know if you have not traveled in Asia, or lived in Asia, you probably can't imagine how difficult it is to find food that a 7 and 4 year old will eat- but most restaurants are local cuisine, writing in Chinese, Japanese, etc., and not obvious on what items the restaurant actually serves...making it quite hard to make a decision, for fear of being the "wrong" decision! After lunch, in which I threatened to just take us all back to the hotel and do NOTHING (yes, pitching a fit at 37 does still happen!), we ended up walking our way to the Tram for The Peak. Did I mention how unbelievable my husband is with maps and directions? He can get us anywhere, anytime, if you just give him a map and a few minutes time..he is amazing (which is good, because the way he was fighting with Hanna, he is lucky I didn't send him back to the hotel room!) :)

The peak was fantastic. The view was incredible, plus, we got to do a little shopping, and I even found a bag of Cheddar and Sour cream Ruffles chips (both of the girls favorites, and something you can not buy in Japan) as well as US Magazine in English...oh, how the little things become big things when you can't get them!


View from The Peak


Scott and I

http://www.thepeak.com.hk/en/home.asp

After the Peak, we went to the Botanical gardens and Zoo, and then proceeded to a local kids park to let the girls play. Scott and I spent most of our time on our iPhones looking for restaurants for dinner...finally finding an Outback near the tailor (which we had to go back to to get our new clothes!). We had a fantastically normal, non McDonald's dinner, and then headed to the Symphony of Lights show over Victoria Harbor, watching from the Kowloon side. This light show is in the Guinness Book of World records as the largest, permanent light show in the world. What was even cooler was the because it was Christmas, a lot of the buildings had their entire fronts decorated with Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Christmas ornaments, stars, etc., which was so very festive!

http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/attractions/kln-symphony-lights.html


Symphony of Light Show, Victoria Harbor

There are some things that Scott and I have discovered about our kids- first, flying late at night, and not getting to bed until very late makes for crabby, tired kids the next day, and never starts a vacation off well...Second, not researching an Asian city enough to know where we have access to American/Western style restaurants is NOT a good idea when you have two of the most PICKY eaters on the planet. And finally, taking my crazy monkeys on a train, when we could easily take a cab, isn't the smartest idea- for some reason when you get them on a train, they think they are at a play park...! However, we are very glad we had the chance to visit Hong Kong- it is a really beautiful city, with a lot to offer, and I would do it again in a heartbeat- McDonald's, burnt leg and all!