School in a Suitcase

Our time in Hong Kong has been a bit of a blur!  After about 3 days of jet lag, we finally woke up at about 5 am instead of 2 am.   Yesterday, we woke up at 7 am!  The kids are adjusting to being 16 hours ahead, although Théo is still exhausted (meaning cranky and constantly acting up, teasing Vivi, etc.).

The day after our “fart” day, Théo and went on a factory tour (related to Dan’s business) to Shenzen, China, while Vivi and I went to the Ladies Market in Monkok.  Both days were full-on culture shock for the kids.

Théo was treated as a novelty toy at the factory, and treated to lunch, which started off with chicken feet for appetizers (not the best first meal on a woozy stomach).  Théo was so grossed out that he barely ate anything for about 24 more hours, when we stopped at a “Monster Burger”.  It was also a very full day for the boys, as they had to leave at 8 am and didn’t get back until about 6pm.

Vivi and I had our own culture shock, when we naively took a shopping trip to the most populated place in the world.  Hong Kong itself is incredibly busy, with 6.8 million people crammed into a city the size of Manhatten.  But Mongkok, the area that contains the Ladies Market, is the world’s most densely populated area, at 130, 000 people per square kilometer (compared to the 1 252 people per square kilometer we are used to).  Vivianne was stared at, her cheeks pinched, and her head patted.  Many residents of this area are immigrants from mainland China, and have had little experience with cute little red-headed girls.  It was pretty overwhelming, especially on a few hours of sleep.  We bargained for hair-clips for both of us (found out later that we got a good deal), and had lunch at a noodle shop (suspect meat but the noodles and broth were fine!).

The day after was a sight-seeing day on Hong Kong Island.   We took the world’s longest escalator, which goes for 20 minutes up the side of a mountain.  We also took the Peak Tram up Victoria Mountain (although the weather has been unusual, socked in with fog, so no views), and ran down through the forest.  Over on Hong Kong Island, it is much more familiar, with more tourists, expats, English speakers, and more familiar restaurants and stores.  We found a Chinese staple that the kids love – coconut buns fresh from the bakery.  We are also quite adept now at taking the MTR commuter train, as it takes at least 45 minutes for us to get out of the suburbs where our hotel is located.