Wordless Wednesday-Disney Hong Kong Day 1

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Expat Bostonians

Sign by the motor coach drop off.  We got into Hong Kong around 2/3pm, ate food, got sims for our cell phones, got a cab to the hotel, checked in, spent some time in the room (as Ellie had birthday surprises set up by the staff), and then headed over to the park around 6.

Fountain by the Main Gate.  Pretty during the day, but spectacular at night, when they use lights and the water choreography to music is spectacular.  Ellie could’ve stayed here all night and been equally happy.

The park was doing Halloween related evening stuff.  This was taken over in the Adventureland section of the park on our walk toward the Jungle Cruise.  Adventureland was the creepiest of the set-ups.  Ellie, however doesn’t scare easily, and Rhi apparently will sleep through anything.

Princess Ellie sitting in a throne of bones, as one does.  Also from Adventureland.  This was taken after the Jungle Cruise.  I’d only ever taken the Jungle Cruise during the day in the California Park (which is my only point of reference for Disney-never been to Florida), so I can’t speak to how the differences at night might be night time related versus Halloween related (there was something on the map about the ride being a bit different, but I don’t still have it, so I’m unsure).  Ellie thought the Jungle Cruise was awesome–it ended up being one of only two rides we went on multiple times during the trip.

She spent the entire first night, and some chunk of the second day in her Ariel costume.  Because really, if an Ariel costume isn’t appropriate Disneyland-wear, I don’t know what is.

Ellie and Daddy on the Dumbo ride in Fantasyland (which is where, over the course of the three days we spent the most time).

Throughout Fantasyland there were trick or treat stops (although sadly the candy was the same all over the park, and was a marshmallow thing with jelly in the middle that Ellie hated–I’m told by someone who was just in the Florida park, it’s different candy and everything from chocolate to skittles–kind of bummed that didn’t hold true here).  During certain hours, characters were there for photo ops.  But we got there late enough that kids were just taking turns getting their pictures taken with the decorations at the stop.

Ellie was mesmerized by the fireworks over Sleeping Beauty Castle.  We ended up watching them both nights because she was so in love with them.

Another fireworks shot

We wandered around a bit after the fireworks and then headed back to the hotel.  Ellie whined about going to bed, but was predictably asleep within minutes.

Filed under: Asia, Disneyland, Hong Kong, Pictures, Tourist Destinations, Travel by Continent, Country | Leave a Comment »

Elanor is 4

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Expat Bostonians

My darling Ellie,

Happy fourth birthday.  May you always embrace the world as fearlessly and with as big a heart as you do today.
Love

Mommy

PS-Stop calling me mother-it’s freaking me out.

Filed under: Asia, Australia, Boston, DC, Holidays (Not Singaporean), Hong Kong, Maine, North America, Pictures, Random Stuff, Sydney, Third Culture Kids, Tourist Destinations, Travel by Continent, Country, US, Video | 4 Comments »

Asking for advice-Disneyland HK

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Expat Bostonians

We are going to Disney HK in 3 weeks to celebrate various birthdays (primarily E’s).  I’ve booked the birthday add ons for the room (streamers, balloons and such), the meals with characters, the birthday cake to be given at a meal, and a princess makeover for E

Staying at the Disneyland HK Hotel, 3 days 2 nights.

Also worth noting-the halloween thing will be happening

Apart from that—lay it on me–tips, tricks, advice, warnings–GO!

Disneyland, Anaheim, California (USA)-2005

Filed under: Hong Kong, hotels/serviced apartments, Random Stuff, Tourist Destinations, Travel, Travel by Continent, Country | 4 Comments »

500

Posted on May 19, 2012 by Expat Bostonians

This is my 500th post at Expat Bostonians.

I began the blog on March 8th, 2010; 2 years, 2 months and 9 or 10 days (depending on how you count the time difference) ago.  A blog seemed like the logical way to keep our friends back home apprised of what life here in the Lion City was like.  Before I moved here, the only things I knew (or thought I knew) about Singapore was that some American kid had gotten caned here when I was in high school, and that chewing gum was illegal here.

In honor of my 500th post, I thought I’d share some of my favorite posts in chronological order.

2010–Lots of factual posts (what does the money here look like), not a ton of introspection.  I think I was so busy taking in Singapore that I couldn’t really process it.

Our look see visit to Singapore — This is a favorite post because it’s my baseline.  It contains my first photos and impressions of Singapore.  This is a post I look back at to see how far I’ve come.

Awkward–My first post about hiring a helper.

4th of July, Singaporean Style–Our first big American holiday spent in Singapore, and a favorite memory to this day.  I’ve loved the American 4th of July event both years we’ve been here, and I’m looking forward to our third in a few months.

Palawan Beach–Our first visit there, and contains some of my favorite photos.

Thailand, Part 2–Describes one of the coolest things I’ve done in Southeast Asia-the Siam Safari in Phuket.  A 6 hour adventure that tried to balance eco-tourism with preserving culture, and the struggles that come with it.  I’m a nerd, so learning on vacation=YAY.  Also-BABY ELEPHANTS! Extremely long entry, but one of my all time favorites

Christmas out and about in Singapore–I was totally thrown by stores being open and seeing Christmas treated as just another state sanctioned holiday.

2011-I got to know more people and began to really participate in the blogging community here.  I started writing posts that tried to get to the why instead of the what.  WHY were things the way they were instead of a book report.

Happy (sort of ) New Years–I live tweeted the NYE special with Kirsten and this post shares some of the highlights. Sort of New Years because it was 2011 in Singapore but still 2010 in Boston.

Skin Whitening…it’s a “thing” here–One of the first posts discussing my discomfort with the way whiteness is idealized here.

Having a Maid…the bad and the ugly–Singapore practically expects you to have a maid, but few people talk about the negatives.  This post explored the negatives both from the culture clash perspective and the issues within Singapore itself (the racism and abuses).

What do I do when the power goes out and other questions I forgot to ask–just when you think you’ve figured out expat life, something happens to totally upend your sense of comfort.

Hong Kong-Goldfish Market and Street Markets–On our child-free vacation in Hong Kong, Ravi and I visited the Goldfish Market in Hong Kong and it was another really memorable vacation moment.

Bad Expat (Part 1-ur doin it rong)–In which I explain all the ways I suck at being an expat.

Seth Rogen talks about Singapore–and SG isn’t happy–this was the first time I felt like I could explain and understand both sides of a US/SG critique and conflict of humor.

Things you don’t see/hear in Singapore–After a trip home, I began to realize there are some things I never see or hear in Singapore

Maids, Cultural Expectations and the Importance of Modeling (expat to expat advice)–A post that really talks about the cultural issues (small and big) that come with having a maid.

Pink Dot 2011–I was so proud to be at Pink Dot (an celebration of all love, particularly LGBT love and the only pro-gay event in Singapore) last year, when Google stepped up as the first ever corporate sponsor.

A negative experience at a doctor’s office and maybe some news–It feels strange to put such an angry post on my “favorites/top” list.  However, I think it is well written and it clearly articulates an issue I’ve had repeatedly with older male doctors in Singapore-being condescended to/spoken to as if I were my 3 year old.  As an expat, you have to constantly negotiate cultural issues, and, in general, it is best to learn to bend and to be flexible.  However, it is also okay to have lines that you can not, under any circumstance, cross.  This experience was one of them.

Our second 4th of July in Singapore-Our second, and equally memorable 4th of July in Singapore

My tale of laptop woe grows–I take my laptop to a certified apple repair center, tragic hilarity ensues

Comparing Singaporean and American Pregnancy Guides–After having a baby in the US, I wanted to read a local pregnancy guide to figure out how the approach locally was different.

My first name is not Crystalann–I like the post more because of the really interesting conversation it inspired in the comments section about names and culture.

Validation-The post I wrote after my first fiction short story acceptance

Santa Cruz Boardwalk-A wonderful day with Ellie on vacation.  Ravi was sick, and I was pregnant, so it was one of our last big adventures just her and I before the baby arrived.  I also love the pictures.

Why I didn’t want to be in the US on 9/11-On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, I was in the US and I was reminded of many of the things I don’t like about being an American, and why we have such a bad reputation abroad.

Just WHAT is in those 8 suitcases Part 1 and Part 2 –A photo essay of the kind of nonsense we bring back to Singapore from home.

Prenatal care in the US vs Singapore–Shh, don’t tell anyone, but I might like Singaporean prenatal care better.

Rhiannon Arcadia-I got to announce and post a picture of my newly born 2nd child.  Of course it’s a favorite.

An American Halloween in Singapore–We go trick or treating!

Happy Birthday Elanor–her 3rd birthday post

Slutwalk Singapore 2011–I took the girls to slutwalk because I want to raise them to be strong independent feminists.

Wicked Green Carpet and Gala–I won tickets to the black tie gala premiere of Wicked in Singapore.  My friend Kirsten and I and our lack of social skills went…hilarity ensued.

Oh Christmas Tree—We had a great Christmas Tree, until the cats went on the offensive

Disconnect-Firing B was not a highlight of my blog, but it was one of the most significant events, and for that reason, I need to include it.

2012-I’m really proud that so far in 2012, I got nominated for a Singapore Blog Award, was named a top blog by InterNations and have started contributing professionally at White As Milk.

Irresistible-The book with my short story in it was published (the short story is under a pen name, but if you read the book, you’ll be able to figure it out, trust me)

That does not mean what you think it means–English vs English FAIL

Lessons learned from my negative maid experience–I take ownership of my mistakes in the whole B debacle

What I love about Singapore that has nothing to do with my children–I had to really think about this as all my reflexive answers have to do with my kids.

Where are you from–I share a story about Ravi and wonder aloud how my 3rd culture kids are going to react to their home culture…or if they’ll even consider it their home culture

Stuff I wish I hadn’t brought to Singapore–Things that I’ve found around the house that have me wondering just what I was thinking when I brought them to Singapore

Elanor and the ACA–why health care matters–Elanor’s story (warning–possible triggers as it does graphically describe what happened to Ellie at a week of age, including how close she came to death, and includes a photo from intensive care)

When I was six–What life was like for me in small town MA as a kid in the 80′s

My misconceptions about Expat Life–Boy did I have it wrong on some things.

Ways that living in Singapore have changed me—the shallow edition

Wild Life Sydney Zoo at Darling Harbour–the highlight of our trip to Australia

My bank is trying to Punk Me-another absurd/hilarious tale of customer service hell

Filed under: Acts of Supreme Clumsiness, Asia, Attractions, Australia, Before the Move, Boston, Culture Shock, customs, Expat to Expat Advice, general places, headdesk moments, Helpers, Holidays (Not Singaporean), Hong Kong, Identity, medical, North America, Phuket, politics, Pregnant Expat, San Francisco, Singapore, Sydney, Thailand, Third Culture Kids, Travel, Travel by Continent, Country, Uniquely Singapore, US, With Kids | 4 Comments »

Random Hong Kong

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Expat Bostonians

A few pictures that didn’t belong anywhere else, but were worth sharing

Desserts from the buffet at the Shangri-La restaurant “Cafe TOO”

Dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse…we were given a romantic private room/booth


Street signs

Subway sign encouraging people to report corruption

Seen in a public park while we were waiting to call Elanor

Cherry, seen in the market

fake flowers, seen in a market

Are you going to Disney or the Airport?

Filed under: Hong Kong, Pictures | Tagged: , , , , | 3 Comments »

Hotel Review – The Conrad, Hong Kong

Posted on March 1, 2011 by Expat Bostonians

Just as Ravi and I cashed in airline miles to fly to Hong Kong, we also cashed in hotel frequent stay points to pay for our hotel room.  We have status (and a reserve of points we’ve been saving up) with Hilton, and as the only Hilton brand hotel in Hong Kong is The Conrad, our decision about where to stay was made for us.

The Conrad brand is the “luxury” brand of the Hilton chain, so I was looking forward to staying there.

When we landed at the airport, we went searching for a large taxi reservation desk (what we call maxicabs in Singapore and we’d call a van in Boston).  The two suitcases we’d brought could easily fit in the trunk of a regular cab, but the wheelchair meant we needed something bigger.  Instead we found kiosks for various hotel chains and properties, and we (correctly) assumed that The Conrad desk could help us out.  We were whisked out to a nicely appointed car with either an extremely large trunk or a magician of a driver, because all three items fit in the trunk of the otherwise small car with ease.

Upon arrival at the hotel, we were whisked past “regular” check-in and taken to the Club Level Lounge on the 59th floor.  There we were seated (not that I wasn’t already, thanks to the wheelchair) and checked in privately (something I had hitherto only experienced at the Hilton in Bombay–which is now an Oberoi).  We were thankful that our room was available for immediate check-in (it was only noon or so, and official check in was at 3), and we were escorted to our 60th floor room.

The key to making a guest feel welcome is little touches.  The Conrad excels at little touches.

We were welcomed with hot tea within minutes of having checked into the room

We arrived back at the hotel our first night to see branded teddy bears waiting for us in the turned down bed

(also, slippers on both sides of the bed in a guaze bag, should we want to use them)

Complementary fruit and chocolate were delivered to the room daily

Who doesn’t love a rubber ducky for the bath?

(I arranged the towel, orchid and duck for the shot, and then faded the color saturation in this shot in post-production)

Bible?  Teachings of Buddha?  Or do you want to learn how to build a hotel empire from Conrad Hilton?

Another nice touch was the two different robe options (heavy terry cloth in the bathroom, and light cotton ones in the closet).  For us, that the closet was a walk-in was incredibly useful, as my chair stowed away nicely in there, not cluttering the room.

As a person in a wheelchair in not-so-accessible Hong Kong, I presented a few issues.  We elected not to get an “accessible room” (in part because there were no Club Level accessible rooms, or none available) and my wheelchair did not pass unfolded through the door.  For me, it wasn’t an issue as I had the crutch and was allowed to do some light walking, so I’d get out of the chair before entering the room and exit the room before sitting.  The chair would fold and then move in and out of the room.

We’re fairly independent travelers…we don’t go in for travel agents, concierges or “arranging” for the most part.  We’d rather book online, use google maps, and walk or take public transit.  But with the wheelchair, we constantly needed to ask for help.  The Conrad always stepped up…asking a taxi to park closer to the curb so I could more easily transition in and out of the cab, once physically lifting the chair over a curb, and when we had dinner reservations at Ruth’s Chris but couldn’t figure out how to get there–personally escorted through a confusing warren of buildings and elevators to avoid the street (and its lack of a pedestrian cross-way).  I was impressed and grateful at how effortlessly they went out of their way to help us find solutions.

On Friday and Saturday nights they hold a dessert bar.  We elected to skip dinner and eat dessert instead on Saturday.  There was an assortment of desserts that would appeal to any sweet tooth from crepes, souffles and fruit flambéd over ice cream on order to chocolate puddings (effectively a molten chocolate cake) to cheesecakes to tarts and cream puffs.  Not for a lack of effort, but I don’t think we even managed to try everything once.  The dessert bar is held at the main bar in the lobby, and at least on the night we were there, they also had a woman with a lovely voice providing live music.

 

Would you like a crêpe?

Individual white chocolate cheesecake?

Or a song to accompany your consumption of the delicious goodies?

One thing I hadn’t understood about Hong Kong when we booked the trip was that it’s comprised of a small section on the mainland (over the border from China) and then a series of islands.  The Conrad is on Hong Kong Island, in a section of town with a lot of upscale hotels, restaurants and shopping.  It’s connected to the Pacific Place Mall, and the Admiralty MTR subway stop.  Had I not been in the wheelchair, I daresay I would have declared it incredibly easy to get everywhere from there…with a wheelchair, get used to cabs and get used to few curbs having an accessibility ramp.

Although Hong Kong is among the world’s most packed and bustling cities, the view from our room was surprisingly green.

The next day, when it was overcast, the clouds/mist made this same scene look almost magical

No hotel is perfect, and there were a few things that weren’t as impressive as we were otherwise expecting.  The breakfast buffet was okay, but firmly middle of the pack in terms of selection and taste.  The gift shop had very limited hours and almost no selection–it seemed to mostly have jewelry on offer.  There were some amenties and some magazines, but not a great selection.  There was no food for sale (and over the years I’ve come to rely on the gift shop for snack fixes, so this stung).

Sadly, The Conrad is not a cheap hotel.  The average room rate is about 400+USD (which is why we’ve only ever stayed in Conrad brand hotels on other people’s money–my in-laws paid for our honeymoon room, or on points).  Even with our usual brand loyalty to Hilton, unless we use points, I don’t see us going back to The Conrad on future stays in Hong Kong.  But if it’s within your price (or frequent stay points) range, I highly encourage you to stay there.

Filed under: Hong Kong, hotels/serviced apartments, Pictures, Travel | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Hong Kong-Taylor Swift concert

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Expat Bostonians

I’m not a huge concert person…I’m a theater geek, for all that I love music.  I can actually count the number of concerts I’ve been to on two hands, and with the exception of Prince at Madison Square Garden in 2004(?), they were all small venue set-ups.

So given all of that, I’m not sure why I wanted to go to the Taylor Swift concert so badly, except that I did.  I found out about her Asia tour shortly after getting back to Singapore via one of the many giant billboards on Orchard Road.  I called SISTIC (think Ticketmaster) but the concert was sold out.  Ravi saw that I was a bit dejected to have completely missed out, and he was the one who saw that her concert in Hong Kong still had tickets available.  Fast-forward 48 hours and my Christmas present and our joint Valentine’s day present were planned–I’d get to see Taylor Swift (he likes her music, too, so it wasn’t a huge sacrifice on his part), and we’d get to go to Hong Kong.

Thanks for inspiring the first big romantic getaway since we had kids, Taylor. (G2 picture)

I think it has a lot to do with availability…living in Boston (a stone’s throw from New York), I had a nonstop selection of shows, plays and concerts to pick from.  I invariably picked theater because it seemed that there was always something in the musical theater genre that I wanted to do more than any of the concerts that came through (minus Madonna, but the tickets were ridiculously overpriced at 200+).  In Singapore, there’s theater…but the selection is a lot smaller (comparitively), and between settling in, and life getting in the way, other than Ballet under the Stars and Voyage de la Vie, I just haven’t taken the iniative other than to hint to Ravi that there were things I’d like to see, rather than just buying a ticket (or two) myself.

The concert was held at the Asiaworld Expo center, which is out by the airport, about a 30-40 minute drive from our hotel.  After getting back from the markets , we had time to grab showers, rest and snack.  At the expo center, there was some confusion about our seats, as I’d requested to be moved to wheelchair seating, and although they’d confirmed the move by email, my tickets were still for our original seats.  I would quickly be very happy about this as the wheelchair seating was (a) far from the stage and (b) obstructed, view-wise.

Having navigated the markets, I decided I could handle the stairs to our original seats with a little help from Ravi.  It was slow going, but we got to our seats, and they were fantastic!  We were to the side of the stage, 10 rows back, on the aisle.  We could easily see the stage without needing the screens (unlike our seats for the Prince concert, right, Steph?).

We sat down as the opening act was going on.  We’re kind of glad that we caught the Asia leg, as the American Tour will have a Christian band as the opening act, and Ravi and I are not so much into the whole “Christian” (or any religion, let’s be real) music thing (or religion at all).  We have no idea who the guy was…wikipedia says his name is Sapo Johnny, but googling found me nothing more than that.

Taylor opened the concert with “Sparks Fly”

(video shot on my iPhone)

It was a great concert.  She doesn’t go in for flashy dance numbers or the sorts of things you’d see at a Lady Gaga  or Britney Spears concert (not that I wouldn’t kill to go to a Lady Gaga concert).  She did a few numbers acoustically with just her and a guitar or ukelele and her voice.  She did a few costume changes, and I loved her opening dress (the one she’s wearing in the video above) and the final one (which I don’t have pictures of). The band is great, and I have a new affection for a few songs off Speak Now that I liked, but didn’t LOVE prior to the concert. (Sparks Fly and Better than Revenge…download them).

If I’m being honest, I was a little taken aback at how young the crowd was.  Granted, Taylor Swift is 21, so this was naivete on my part.  But I was surrounded by 7-13 year old girls.  I felt like I was perhaps a bit old to be there, but what the hell, right?

When I read no cameras, like an idiot I left my camera in the hotel.  So all the images and video are off my iPhone and Ravi’s G2…and the batteries on both predictably died within 20 minutes of Taylor taking the stage.  Concert lighting is a pain in the ass to photograph (or so say my photography books) so going in with my two cell phones means the pics and video aren’t as good quality as I’d like.  Not bringing it shows how inexperienced a concertgoer I am…pictures and video at a Broadway show will get you kicked out.

Sorry I don’t have more, but what I can do is repost Taylor’s vlog about her Asia Tour, which is adorable…I especially love the moment where she’s at Changi airport here in Singapore and looks at the camera and says “I don’t know if it’s jetlag, but I think there’s a forest in the airport”…Yup, Taylor, Singapore is so into greenery that we do have giant trees in the middle of the airport…but the jetlag doesn’t help with the surrealism of it all.

Filed under: Hong Kong, Pictures, Video | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Hong Kong–Goldfish Market and street markets.

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Expat Bostonians

Finally!  An entry where I’m not embarrassed to be doing something I could/will do with my 2 year old in Hong Kong!

Of the things I wanted to see in Hong Kong that were local, the markets were high up on my list.  I loved the street markets in India and Phuket, and I learned to haggle from the Master–my mother-in-law, Suchita.  However, the guidebooks said they weren’t easily navigable.

Screw it, I said to Ravi…let’s take my crutch out for a spin.  At 7 weeks out from the break, I had permission to put “some” weight on my foot, but I had fairly poor stamina.  However, we decided that I could probably handle the markets if we got close enough…and if not, we’d do what we could and then we’d find a cab to get back to the hotel with plenty of time before the evening’s Taylor Swift concert.

I’m so glad we did.

Not showable…the smell that assaults your nose as these signs assault your vision

It’s not an open air market in the same fashion that I found in India or Thailand…or would later find two blocks away selling clothes, toys, and food, but rather a concentration of stores all selling fish, turtles, and aquarium supplies along the same chunk of road.


Which one of a billion different types of goldfish and other fish do you need?

Shops sprawl out onto the sidewalk, creating the “market” feel.  Bags of fish are tied to stands on the sidewalk, and other goods spill out onto the pedestrian way as well.  The street between the two sides of the market was choked with parked cars on either side and traffic lurching its way up the street as pedestrians played chicken crossing from side to side.

 

Pick me!  Pick me!

I immediately thought of my friend Brandy’s husband, Steve, whose hobbies include a giant aquarium in their home.  This sort of place seems like a mecca for home aquarium enthusiasts, albeit only really for the locals.  According to the quick googling I did, live fish are not allowed in most airline cabins, and at least in the US, are not allowed in at all by immigration.  Sorry, Steve….but if you ever had the chance, I bet you’d love it.

Cue parental guilt

We also saw many stores carried turtles.  It’s a long story, but Elanor’s baby nickname was Turtle (and still is, no matter that it doesn’t fit her even remotely)…seeing the little turtles made us miss her like crazy.

There were also some more generic pet stores sprinkled throughout the market, and we did pop into one of those to get some guilt gifts for the kittens.  Because we’re suckers…let’s move on.

A few blocks away as we were looking for an MTR station (as it could take us directly back to the hotel) we stumbled upon an open air market that sold everything from underwear to fruit.

Thought I was using hyperbole when I said underwear, didn’t you?

I was getting tired, so we didn’t spend as much time there as I would have liked.  However, I got to see a range of  goods on offer (although I never heard the “realfakes” the guides books promised I would be offered).  The experience deeply reminded me of going to flea markets when I was a kid, and the markets I’ve experienced in Asia.  Loud, packed (which occasionally made using my crutch tricky), and full of random and amusing thing.

The best part, unquestionably was when we stumbled across what was effectively a life infomercial.  See the video below to watch the woman demonstrating knives she was selling.

Buy the knives!

We ended needing a cab to get home…the subway had an entrance in the market, but it involved walking through what felt like endless overpass walkways, and after 10 minutes of pain, we went down the nearest set of stairs and hailed a cab.  I’m looking forward to the next visit…nearby there is a flower market and I would have loved far more time/energy to explore the markets we were in.

 

Filed under: Hong Kong, Pictures, Shopping, Tourist Destinations, Video | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

Hong Kong–Ocean Park

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Expat Bostonians

On Sunday, we continued our theme of “things we could have done had we brought the toddler” and hit Ocean Park Amusement Park.  According to Wikipedia, Forbes says that Ocean Park is the world’s 7th most popular amusement park, and 33rd most visited tourist attraction in the world.  It is far more popular than its rival, Hong Kong Disneyland, attracting more visitors per year.

One explanation for this is that Ocean Park costs $32 USD for entry, while HK Disney is $45.  Another is that Ocean Park has been around for almost 35 years (thus people our age remember going as kids and now want to bring their kids) while Disney has only been in HK for 5 years.

We decided to spend a day at an amusement park because of accessibility issues.  Ocean Park (and Disney, which was our back-up plan) advertises that they have wheelchair friendly facilities and that guests in wheelchairs can get onto rides without a lot of trouble.

What wasn’t clear to us is that while Ocean Park is technically quite accessible, it’s a nightmare for anyone pushing someone else in a wheelchair….because it’s built into both sides of a mountain.  There is very little in the way of flat ground..it’s all pushing someone up a hill or down a hill, which gets exhausting.  Sadly, unlike places like the zoo here in Singapore, they don’t have electric carts to rent to remove the burden from the person who is otherwise pushing the chair.

For us, though, the big draw was that Ocean Park has Pandas.  While Singapore is supposed to be getting a Panda for the upcoming River Safari attraction (which will be our fourth zoo after the main Zoo, the Night Safari, and Jurong Bird Park) opening sometime next year, we don’t currently have one…and Ravi and I love Panda bears (well, we’re big fans of bears in general).

Nom Nom Nom

After some panda watching, we got on the cable cars, which go up over the top of the mountain and down the other side to reach the second half of the park.  There is a special car that is made to be wheelchair accessible, but it is a tight fit with the wheelchair and a second person.  The trip took maybe 5-15 minutes (I wasn’t paying attention) and the views are INCREDIBLE, even with the heavy fog we say on the day we visited.

If you embiggen, you’ll see the dragon carved out of shrubbery on the right…

Looking back at the bay (not sure what part of HK this is) from the cable car

Once on the other side, we found the McDonalds (what? it’s tradition to eat a McDonald’s in every country we visit!) and had a quick lunch.  We wandered toward some of the rides I really wanted to visit, bypassing the Yangtze River Sturgeon exhibit, and accidentally missing the dolphin show.  I was pretty sad that I had to pass up the big roller coaster (which also goes upside down) because of stairs…and the secondary consideration that a rollercoaster like that probably wasn’t the best thing for my foot, even if I *am* almost 6 weeks out from the break.  We did hit a few rides…and the staff were very nice…in a wheelchair you often enter through the exit gate, and by-pass the line.

WANT

From the back end of the second half of the park, there are two ways to reach the rides back to the first half…up a series of escalators or by hiking back up a steep hill.  Rather than force Ravi to push me back up the hills, I got out of the chair and rode the escalators, while he folded the chair and pushed it in front of him on the escalator behind me (in the same way we take the stroller on the escalators here in Singapore).  This saved us a great deal of time, and allowed us to reach the funicular (the other transport option between the two parts of the park) for the ride back.  On the funicular, there is an attempt using blacklight and music to give you the experience of being on a submarine passing through deep water…it was okay, but either due to lack of Cantonese or because it’s just genuinely not made clear, Ravi and I both felt like we’d missed the real “point” of the experience (other than transportation).

We arrived just in time to catch the big show of the day…Symbio.  Shown each day at close of day, Symbio tells the story of the fight between the water and fire dragons for supremacy and how they learned to work together.  The show is done with music, projections on the main fountain, pyrotechnics and other special effects.  The video is just over six minutes, and sadly there is someone blocking part of the view on the left because I was shooting it from my chair, but it’s worth watching at least some of…at one point a few minutes in, they light the lake on fire.

Having spent the day there, I am a bit surprised that HK Disney isn’t more popular than Ocean Park.  While they’re trying, Ocean Park is difficult to navigate with a wheelchair (and wouldn’t be a picnic with a stroller, either), the park is showing it’s age (it’s a bit run-down and dirty), and while it does have some big attractions (Pandas, dolphins, giant aquarium), I think Disney would probably give more bang for the tourist buck.

On the other hand, it’s not just admission that’s cheaper.  I haven’t been to HK Disney, but I’ve been to Disneyland, and I know that food in the park isn’t cheap, while it seemed reasonable at Ocean Park.  I HAVE been to an HK Disney hotel gift shop (guilt gifts…E has recently gotten into Mickey Mouse, and we wanted to get her an authentic one) and the merchandise is priced MUCH higher at Disney.  Like I noted, Ocean Park has been around for over 30 years, so I can see how for people nearby, it’s somewhere you went as a kid, so you want to take your kids (much as I wish Whalom Park were still open, so I could take E and how we’ll likely take E to Canobie Lake Park in New Hampshire at some point…both were/are fairly lame, but they have nostalgic value for us).

Filed under: Hong Kong, Pictures, Tourist Destinations, Video | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Hong Kong-New Town Plaza (including Snoopy World)

Posted on February 24, 2011 by Expat Bostonians

Once we arrived in Hong Kong, the rest of our first day was devoted to tracking down local sim cards with data plans (which allowed Ravi and I to maintain internet access on our respective smartphones–god forbid we miss a critical facebook update, right?), catching up on sleep, and dinner.  Not the most exciting of days, but we enjoyed ourselves.

After leaving our two year old in Singapore, it makes sense that we’d spend a decent chunk of Saturday doing something she would have loved.  Namely, we made a pilgrimage to a local mall because a guidebook told us they had “Snoopy World” there, and Ravi’s hither-to-unknown attachment to the beagle in question demanded that we go (don’t get me wrong, I grew up loving snoopy, too, but I didn’t feel the need to check out Snoopy World).  To be entirely fair, I’m not sure if we would have done it, or spent as much time there had I not been in a wheelchair, but Hong Kong is not terribly accessible and our choices were limited by that and by weather (which was cold and rainy or cold and overcast…and someone unnamed idiot left her fall/spring jacket in the US because “I won’t need that in Singapore”).

Snoopy World is an outdoor playground at the New Town Plaza mall, which is a “local” shopping mall in Sha Tin (which is also the subway stop name to use if you take the MTR).  Unlike the malls in the more “touristy” parts of Hong Kong, shopping here meant that the stores would be more affordable (as opposed to the mall connected to our hotel which was comprised of Prada next to Gucci next to Tod’s, etc).  It also meant that we were less likely to run into employees who spoke English.

When we first arrived, we were starving, so we set out in search of food, and settled on a Japanese Place.  There was some confusion when we ordered as apparently both the main course I ordered and the main course Ravi wanted were considered “shareable” dinners, and it took finding an English speaking employee and some sign language to convey that yes, we actually wanted both entrees.

Next, onwards to Snoopy World!  Which was closed because of rain.  *headdesk*  But I was still able to get a few good exterior shots…

street lamps are decorated by snoopy and woodstock

Statues of the Peanuts gang next to the snoopy-themed playground equipment

I am certain that when we bring E to Hong Kong (and considering HK is a great long weekend getaway, we’re certain we will) this will be high on our list of places to spend time–E would go nuts for the playground equipment.

When the sky opened up on us we retreated into the mall and began exploring what a local mall looks like in Hong Kong.

A sign in the window tried to reassure us that we’d find no fake cds or dvds inside.

“Book Castle” which provided us with the first of many guilt gifts for Elanor

Honda and Toyota each had a storefront salesroom in the mall.  I’m guessing that they don’t let you test drive…

Chinese New Year bunnies to take your pictures with (not pictured…merchandising counter)

Most escalator banks were comprised of 4, rather than two escalators…two in each direction

We apparently missed the local grocery store because we thought it was a department store and left before finding the food.  I’m a little sad that I missed that, as I’ve discovered this strange new love of spending time in grocery stores when I’m abroad.  It lets me play “would I survive living here” to some degree, I suppose.  Given that while we can get a lot of things we love in Singapore, but not all…it also lets me keep an eye out for foodstuffs I miss.

Overall, it reminded me a lot of the local malls (as opposed to the Orchard Road malls) here in Singapore….which was something of a theme during our Hong Kong trip.  Hong Kong reminds me a lot of Singapore (more congested, less clean, but similar).  In particular, for local friends, New Town is a lot like Suntec City…there are different “phases” of the mall, which are only reachable by walkways on certain floors, making it effectively three large connected malls.

We headed back to the hotel for dinner…aka the dessert bar…but I’ll talk about that more during my review of the property.

Filed under: headdesk moments, Hong Kong, Pictures, Shopping | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

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