Grandma Gloria and Aunt Nicole visit Hong Kong

We LOVE visitors!

I've said it before on this blog and I hope anybody who visits us feels it too.

We really do LOVE (if I could emphasize it anymore I would) visitors. Whether it's friends or family or even just an acquaintance, when you travel such a long way and make an effort to see us in Hong Kong, it means the world to us. In turn, we hope you'll feel welcomed, special, and loved too. 

Our first family visitors to Hong Kong were Grandma Gloria and Aunt Nicole. They came last month for two weeks (and we wished they could have stayed longer). We made a few adjustments so they could stay with us in our 1200 sf apartment. The kids' room turned into the guest room. Grandma took the bottom bunk bed while Aunt Nicole and Leah slept together on the top bunk. We warned Nicole that Leah's got a powerful, midnight karate chop and kung fu kick but it did not deter her. Nicole claims Leah was an angel to sleep with (it must have been Nicole's essential oils). The other 3 kids crashed on the pull-out sofa bed each night. We also took a little vacation from school work (except for one history lesson and a trip to the public library so Grandma could see a little bit of how we do school).

During their 2 week visit we had so much we wanted to show them and share with them. They also had a few must-dos on their list. Here's a few of the highlights from their visit.

The Ladies Market and The Jade Market

These popular outdoor markets with hundreds of stalls selling all kinds of clothing, accessories, souvenirs, and jewelry for bargain prices was a must stop. All the girls spent a day wandering the markets looking for good deals and learning how to shop HK style. Nicole, our confessed shopaholic, was in heaven. She quickly learned the art of haggling with many of the overaggressive vendors. Gloria and Nicole found most of their gifts and souvenirs in these markets.

FOOD

Nicole loves Asian food and enjoyed the endless amounts of it in Hong Kong. A few times she ventured into a little "hole-in-the-wall" establishment for a bite to eat with only our daring Leah as her companion.

Mui Wo Beach

During their visit, the weather was not particularly great. Fortunately it did not rain (since they left we've had lots and lots of rain including some impressive thunder and lightning storms) but it was a bit chilly and there were lots of dark, overcast days. Despite the lack of sun, we still enjoyed some of Hong Kong's outdoor beauties, like the beach. We spent a few hours at a beach in Mui Wo (a smaller village about 30 minutes away from our city on Lantau Island).

Big Buddha

Although the weather was not ideal for visiting the Big Buddha, we didn't want to miss seeing this amazing site. The Big Buddha is a large bronze statue over 100 feet tall sitting on a lotus throne.

With such low clouds, we had to climb the 300 steps just to see the statue.

Thank goodness Grandma's 2 new bionic knees made it possible to make this steep climb - they got quite a work out!

Surrounding the Big Buddha are the goddess statues offering incense, ointment, flowers, and fruit.

There's also a row of 12 Heavenly Generals guarding the path to the Big Buddha. Each general has a helmet with one of the zodiac signs. 

Ian and Cade tried to hold The Big Buddha is their hand.

The bus ride to the Big Buddha was very windy (meaning curvy not blustery) that a few of us got a little motion sickness. Plus, the bus driver was a maniac - he was flying around the curves so fast - we were scared for our lives. A few of the locals even put on their seat belts (a very rare sight). To avoid another scary bus ride down, we took the gondola. It was safer and straighter but we couldn't see anything but clouds the entire ride.

Thanks to cute kids and a super friendly couple from England, we had a nice return trip.

 

Disneyland

One of the highlights of Grandma's and Nicole's visit was going to Disneyland. We had a fantastic time sharing "the happiest place on earth" with Grandma who's never been and Nicole who last went when she was a young kid.

Getting there we rode The Disneyland Express, the subway train decorated with Disney memorabilia and Mickey Mouse shaped windows and handrails. 

I had to fight off a large Chinese tourist group who kept getting in front of me to get a picture of the entrance. I finally growled at them and got this quick picture (too bad my group was too far away to see clearly).

There seemed to be a lot of people as we entered the park but once inside we didn't have to wait long for any of the rides. Some of the best rides like Grizzly Gultch (the funnest roller coaster) had a very small line. Grandma and Cade were literally able to get off and back on with no wait. I was totally surprised by Grandma's sense of adventure. She went on every single ride despite some of us wimping out. Cade took her on Space Mountain, the 3 younger kids spun her mercilessly on the Teacups,

and Ian and Nicole rode RC Racer with her.

We all enjoyed some of the tamer rides like Parachute Drop

and It's A Small World.

Nicole loved the Disney characters,

especially Stitch.

And, we couldn't miss the favorite photo ops of

Tomorrowland,

Sleeping Beauty's Castle,

Toy Story Land,

RC Racer,

Pixie Hollow,

and Grizzly Gulch.

And to show Grandpa Ted and Aunt Kelly (our avid Scrabble players) that we were thinking about them while playing at Disneyland, here's a picture just for them.

Soccer Game

Cade got a chance to show off his soccer skills to Grandma not only at a few soccer practices during the week but also in a real game.

After the game, Cade and Kyle showed Grandma around downtown

and took her to a restaurant to introduce her to some new foods, including dumplings and squid ink bread.

 

Day trip to Macau

While Nicole was in Japan for a few days visiting her exchange students, we took Grandma to Macau. Sunday morning we rode over on the ferry.

We did a quick tour of Macau to show Grandma our old neighborhood and a few of the sites. Starting at the Venetian (where Kyle worked)

we walked through Old Taipa,

introduced her to the famous egg tart

and popular Koi Kei Bakery,

and ended at the Flower City Garden park that was next to our building.

Then we stopped at the Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral

before heading over to church where Grandma meet our beloved Macau 2nd Branch members. Grandma felt so welcomed by our dear friends. Unfortunately I forgot to take any pictures of our branch family with Grandma (she's even taller than a few of them). We had a wonderful visit to Macau.

LDS Hong Kong Temple
A must-do item on Grandma's vacation list was to visit the Hong Kong Temple.

We had to cross the street to take a picture of the full height of this beautiful building but it was still a challenge because so many double decker buses drove by blocking our view. Eventually we got this cute picture.

Grandma and Kyle spent a nice afternoon in the temple.

Hong Kong skyline

Although it was too foggy to see the amazing Hong Kong skyline across the harbor clearly, we still made a fun outing of it on the last night of Grandma's and Nicole's visit.

We had a fantastic time with Grandma and Nicole - it was an awesome visit!

Remember - we love visitors!

So, if you're thinking about coming our way, DO IT! Come and visit; we'd LOVE to see you!