Halloween in Hong Kong

A few weeks before Halloween, many stores started selling simple costumes and Halloween themed candies.  Although the quantities were small compared to what we're used to in the States, it's considerably more than we experienced last year in Macau. We found some basic costume props and the kids dressed up as witches and skeleton ghosts.

On the Saturday before Halloween, our apartment complex hosted a Halloween party in the club house.  There were different booths and stations with Halloween themed activities.  Of course, being Hong Kong, there were lots of people and long lines for all the activities.  My boys enjoyed getting scared in the haunted houses and playing a few silly games for Halloween prizes while my girls made a flying bat at the arts and crafts station and had fun in the bouncy house/slide.

Even with their costumes on, my kids still stood out in the crowd.  I'm not sure if it's their blonde hair or fair skin or what but there were a few people that took their pictures at the party.  One woman even had Leah and Abby stop and pose for her so she could get a good picture with her phone. 

On the day of Halloween, we went to Disneyland to experience their Haunted Halloween.  The park is transformed into a haunted land with ghosts, monsters, pumpkins, cobwebs, spooky trees and they "dare you not to scream".  For every scary or haunted thing in the park you see or ride and don't scream, you get a sticker. 

Our favorite scary addition was the Baby Head from Toy Story.  We also explored Disneyland's newest land, Mystic Point, which is home to the eccentric explorer Lord Henry Mystic.  His collection of ancient artifacts comes to life with an enchanted music dust on the ride Mystic Manor.

The girls got a little scared in this ride but didn't scream so they could earn a sticker.

We also enjoyed some of the other favorite and less scary rides and lands, like Tomorrowland and Fantasyland.

While waiting in line for a ride in Fantasyland, we were again reminded how much of a novelty our kids are here in Asia.  Four Chinese adults (who are at least my parent's age) made their way through the line acting like they were trying to meet up with some friends but stopped in front of us and behind an Australian family (cutting in line is common practice here and there are many signs and often pamphlets passed out to discourage the practice).  After a few minutes of staring and admiring the kids, one man became even more bold and started gently petting Ian's arm.  Ian rolled his eyes while the rest of us tried to disguise our laughs.  The man giddily smiled and then made hand gestures to show me he was impressed that all 4 kids were mine.  We're still surprised by the reactions to our family.

Trick-or-treating was not part of our Halloween activities but we still had some Halloween fun this year.

New Friends

Living in Hong Kong was not part of our plans just a few months ago.  But as life often does, it threw us some curve balls and now we're learning to live in this big, fast-paced city.  There have been many challenges and feelings of homesickness (for the USA and Macau) but we're doing our best to adjust.

Our lifesaver has been new friends.  We've met lots of fantastic people here and felt an instant connection with many of them.  They've showed us around parts of Hong Kong, given advice about living here, invited us to their homes, included us in their activities, offered help and assistance, and simply been good, caring friends.  We're so thankful for new friends!

We joined a group of homeschoolers that meets weekly.  They go on field trips, participate in community service, share homeschooling ideas, books, etc., do co-ops, and have park days so the kids can run around and play.  One of the kids' favorite things to do with this group is climb trees and explore nature.

The homeschooling group has kids of all ages and nationalities but everyone gets along so well.  Although we've only attended a few meetings, the kids act like they've known the other kids for a long time and look forward to being with them each week.  During our last activity at a park, the kids invented a game that included digging for rocks which were then used for money and trading.  Some of the moms compared them to the early settlers at Jamestown.  Since some of the members are Australian and not familiar with Jamestown, the kids had an opportunity to explain.  My kids were especially excited to share details since we had a history lesson on Jamestown just a few days earlier - perfect timing!

We've also made some great friends at church, many of whom have similar aged kids as ours.  We were warmly welcomed at church and quickly included in their social activities, even non-church related ones.  In the first week of meeting these new friends, I was invited to be a part of a "Girl's Weekend" trip to Borneo.  We're going at the end of November and I'm excited about this fun get-away (I'll make sure to have a blog post all about our girly trip).

During the last few weeks, we've done a number of things with our new friends including visiting the library, going swimming, eating out, going to the temple, and just hanging out and playing.  But, the highlights were a service project and a visit to a museum.

One Saturday morning, we spent a few hours helping a non-profit organization, Soap Cycling.  This organization collects used soap from hotels,

sorts the soap,


cleans and sanitizes the soap,


and then packs the soap

to distribute to less developed countries and areas in Asia suffering from preventable diseases.

This was a great service project.  We enjoyed working together with our new friends and helping such a good cause.  The kids loved that they were helping kids in underprivileged areas.  And scraping soap was pretty fun; they even carved pictures into some of the soap bars to take home as souvenirs.

With some of our new friends, we also visited Noah's Ark.

This is the world's first full size replica of Noah's Ark (yes that's a freeway in the background so it looks smaller than it really is) with life-size statues of animal pairs.

Inside the ark is a huge children's museum with 20+ interactive activities.  Abby had fun in the costume and stage area, Leah loved the kitchen and plastic food, Cade discovered the art room and not surprisingly, Ian found the building area with legos and kinects.  There was also a music room that everyone enjoyed.  They put a little music show on for us as they pounded the drums, shook the maracas, and played the xylophone.    

We are so thankful for our new friends!  They've really helped us adjust to our new life in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong Way

After living in Macau for 1 year, we thought moving to Hong Kong would be a relatively easy transition.  We considered ourselves more familiar with many Chinese customs and practices, knew what it's like to live in a high rise building, and were used to using public transportation.  But, we quickly discovered that Hong Kong is very different from Macau.  We're learning and adjusting to a more fast paced, overcrowded, expensive way of life in Hong Kong.

First of all, we've had to adapt to a new daily schedule due to Hong Kong's late work hours and long commutes.  Kyle's office hours tend to be from 9 am to 6 or 7 pm plus an hour commute both ways.  Wanting to continue our tradition of eating dinner as a family, we pushed back our dinner time to 8 pm.  It may seem late but we were able to adjust the time of our other meals since homeschooling allows for scheduling flexibility.  It's been so nice not to have an early morning school bell schedule.

Public transportation in Hong Kong is an elaborate web of buses, subways, taxis, shuttles, trolleys, ferries, and walking.  I'm overwhelmed by the different options to get from one place to another, especially since it's common to use more than 1 option in a single journey.  Kyle's mastering the system much faster than I am but he gets to ride them everyday to and from work.  On a typical day, the fastest way for him is a long bus ride, hop on a trolley, and then walk a few blocks to work.  The return trip includes a trolley or taxi drive to the nearest subway station, a long subway ride, and then a short shuttle bus to our complex.

Although the transportation system can be a bit complex, it does run smoothly and on a timely basis.  And, if it's not super crowded, some of the modes can be fun.   

The kids' love the double decker buses.  The front seat on the top level is the best seat with the great views (even in the rain at night).

The subway is fun, especially when riding with friends; but having them all seated is very unusual.  They prefer to stand without holding the rails or grab the rings and swing.

The trolley or tram is the oldest form of public transportation in Hong Kong and is fun to ride for it's old-school feel.   

It was great to find out there are 5-seat taxis in Hong Kong. Although it's still a little squishy and we have to double up on seat belts, we can all fit into one taxi (something we could never do in Macau).

Ferries are not my favorite way to travel since I get a little seasick but are a valid option, especially for those living or commuting to and from the different islands that make up Hong Kong.

In Macau, motor scooters are a very popular form of transportation.  It's amazing to watch motor scooters drivers squeeze by huge buses on narrow streets, weave in and out of traffic, carry dogs, shopping bags, and other odd shaped objects, and find parking in already full parking areas.  In Hong Kong, however, motor scooters are not commonly used except for food deliveries.  Even McDonald's delivers here.

 

Another common practice we're getting used to in Hong Kong is BYOB, bring your own bag.  If you don't bring a bag or cart to carry your groceries home in, you have to pay for a plastic bag.  The bags are cheap but the stores are stingy.  They overstuff the bags to ensure you use the fewest number possible.  So, watch out for smashed breads, fruits, and other soft foods.

We believed Hong Kong would have a greater variety of American/Western foods compared to Macau.  And, it still might but we're still looking for some of these stores.  So far we found one "Costco" type store with bulk items and familiar foods and brands.  Kyle and the kids HAD to have the giant jar of Kosher Dill pickles (but eating the pickles for breakfast to me is just WRONG).  

Kyle also found a bakery that makes "real" cupcakes that don't have jello chunks or are low sugar.  They come in familiar flavors and are delicious.  We got some in celebration of Abby's 9th birthday. 

Happy Birthday to our beautiful Abby!

Celebrating some of our favorite holidays will be much easier in Hong Kong.  Just this month stores started selling Halloween costumes and candy.  There's not a lot of Halloween stuff, especially compared to stores in America, but at least we won't get strange looks and laughs when we dress up like we did last year in Macau.

We're still learning and adjusting to life in Hong Kong.  We've had some challenges, lots of frustrations, and many, many blessings.  We're healthy and well, making friends, enjoying family time together, and trying to make the most of this new adventure.

P.S. - Our new apartment still doesn't have internet service so I haven't been able to blog as often as I'd like.  There's so much more to share about our experiences in Hong Kong.  We hope to be connected by the end of next week (I'm keeping my fingers crossed) and I promise to blog more frequently.   

Hiking in HK

Hong Kong is the "most vertical city in the world" with more than 2300 skyscrapers and high rise buildings creating an impressive and inspiring skyline.  Hong Kong is also well known for it's busy harbors, fast paced business and economic lifestyle, shopping, food, extensive transportation system, and dense population of over 7 million people.  But, not far from this urban lifestyle is beautiful excursions into the natural surroundings.  Surprisingly, about 40% of Hong Kong is country parks and hiking trails.  It should be easy to leave the city behind and get lost in the beauties of nature.  

On a Saturday morning, we ventured out to discover this greener, natural side of Hong Kong.  According to google maps, a reservoir and hiking trails were not far away from us but it was more difficult than we imagined to find.  No one seemed to know exactly how to get there.  Our attempt on foot was turning into a long, unending torture, so we found a taxi driver willing to help us.  Ironically, even those the taxi driver asked for directions who ended up living less than 1/2 a mile away didn't know how to get there either.  Fortunately, with google maps and a willing taxi driver, we found the trail head.  (Special thanks to our cool taxi driver!)

At the trail head, we chose to follow the MacLehose Trail.  Although we didn't hike the entire trail, some friendly hikers recommended the path that led to a waterfall and magnificent views of the reservoir.  

It was amazing how quickly the big, busy, concrete city disappeared as we journeyed into the beautiful land of nature.  

We hiked along dirt paths, up and over rocks, through trees and bushes to

a stream and waterfall.

Just above the waterfall, we stopped to rest and splash our necks and faces for a much needed cool down.

Along the trail, we also encountered a few different animals.  Leah loved the big, beautiful, black butterflies.

Cade had a staring contest with this bold lizard for a VERY long time.

It eventually gave up and ran across the path showing off it's extremely long tail.

We also discovered a colony of ants working to together to carry this dead lizard.  It was mesmerizing to watch them walk up and down and around the face of the rock.  I think they were trying to get the lizard into the crack of the rock but it wouldn't fit so they circled around to try again and again.   

We had a great time hiking and enjoyed our day in the refreshing outdoors.

On the journey back along the road the taxi driver took us up, a friendly Chinese couple stopped and offered to take us back down.  (Can we claim we hitchhiked in a foreign country?)  Although we couldn't communicate well with this generous couple, we were deeply touched by their kindness.  There are good, kind people all over the world!

We enjoyed our long, hot day of hiking and hope to discover more of the beautiful, hidden gems of Hong Kong through its parks and trails.

It's Only Temporary...

Returning to Asia for another year still left us with many unanswered questions, primarily, where to live.  We hoped to return to Macau, find a new apartment, start homeschooling, and settle into a normal routine; but life doesn't always go as planned.  Due to visa issues stemming from Kyle changing jobs, we were required to leave Macau for a minimum of 30 days and reapply for a new work visa, starting the application process over again that took 3+ months last year, including mandatory leaves after 30, 20, then 10 days in the country.  Fortunately, Kyle's new company also has an office in Hong Kong so we packed our bags to camp out (not literally ;) - we're in a serviced apartment not a tent) in Hong Kong for a month.

Our serviced apartment is located at the Gold Coast in the Tuen Mun area.  The Gold Coast facilities include 20 residential buildings, a hotel, a shopping plaza, a yacht club (some people actually live on the boats permanently - we met a family at church that's been living on one for the last 2 years), and a beach.

Our apartment (in one of the high-rise buildings just over my left shoulder in the picture above) is about 930 sf.  It has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, and living room area.  The kids' rooms are just big enough to fit a twin size bed and one storage unit for clothing.  The master bedroom has a queen size bed, a small desk, and 2 storage units for clothing.  One of the bathrooms is so cramped that it's difficult to close the door which must be done for access to the bath/shower and toilet.  We primarily use the other, somewhat larger bathroom, but it's not always convenient with 6 people in the house.  The living area is a decent size but the dining table is only made for 4 people.  The kitchen is also only stocked with dishes for 4 people; even the 2 pots and pans are pretty small for cooking for our size family.

Despite a smaller apartment, we've enjoyed some of the other amenities here at the Gold Coast, especially the swimming pool.  We've gone swimming almost every day and the kids have improved their swimming skills immensely.

Cade and Abby love to dive for toys and do tricks, like summersaults and handstands.  Ian was a nose-plugging-one-armed-splashing-fit swimmer but now he can swim with both arms calmly as far as he can hold his breathe, about 8 meters (Kyle and Ian measured, of course).  Ian can also float on his back for a very long time.  Leah's never been afraid of the water and loves to put her face under.  Although she moves pretty well with an inner tube, she now prefers to plug her nose and just glide.

We also frequent the shopping plaza almost daily for groceries.  We weren't impressed with the market the first time we went but found out that there's a second floor.  It was exciting to discover they stock tortillas (something very difficult to find in Macau) but disappointing that they don't carry refried beans.    Even after a few weeks here, we still think it's weird to ride an elevator with a shopping cart.

The Golden Beach is a long beach with a boardwalk lined with tropical trees and flowers.  I've had a few enjoyable morning runs along the boardwalk.  We also had a fun, homeschool outing at the beach.

 The kids love to jump the incoming waves and play in the sand.

They also collected seashells.

 I loved watching the old women clean the beach.  They swept all the debris and seaweed that the tide brought in.  They use dust pans with small holes drilled in the bottom.  The sand leaked out of the holes leaving the unwanted debris which was then dumped into their bamboo garbage baskets.

Dolphin Square, another of our favorite places at the Gold Coast, is found at the end of the boardwalk.  

 It celebrates and educates visitors about the endangered pink dolphin found in the waters around Hong Kong.

We were fascinated to learn that their pink color comes not from a pigment but overdeveloped blood vessels causing them to gradually turn pink with age.

Although we have fun things to do here at the Gold Coast, living temporarily has many challenges.  We're doing our best to deal with these challenges but we're really anxious to find a place to call home. Unfortunately returning to Macau will mean a few more months of uncertainty and temporary living conditions.  Longing for stability and a sense of permanency, we've opted to live in Hong Kong.  We're sad to leave Macau, especially so many good friends and a wonderful church community (Macau 2nd Branch will always have a special place in our hearts) but we plan to keep in touch and even visit a few times this year.  Our temporary time in Hong Kong has given us the opportunity to familiarize ourself with the different areas of Hong Kong and determine where and what will be the best place for our family.  We're moving next week to a new permanent home, so I'll post pictures and more details soon.

To Hong Kong or Bust

The kids and I had a very long, uneventful trip to Hong Kong, where Kyle was anxiously waiting for us.  We sailed through immigration and easily got all our luggage.  Nearing the exit, we caught a glimpse of Kyle and got pretty excited.  Leah started jumping up and down, cheering, and raced to be the first to give him a hug.  It was awesome to be together again!  

Kyle spent the night before at the hotel connected to the airport because our flight arrived so early in the morning.  Wisely, he opted for a late check-out so we had a room in which to refresh and relax.  I caught up on some much needed sleep while Kyle and the kids went swimming.

Jet lag + swimming = CRASH

The kids fell asleep in the hotel lobby waiting for the taxis to arrive and take us to our next hotel (closer to our next day's activities).  It was a CHALLENGE to move our over-tired kids.  We discovered Ian's a pretty good sleep walker in wide open spaces but in narrow hallways, like our next hotel, he ran into walls - not a fun way to wake up!  Thank goodness for the bellhops who managed ALL of our luggage.  Once we got to our rooms, the kids quickly found a comfortable spot (Cade wasn't even on a bed) and "hit the pillow" hard.  They slept from 3:30 pm to about 6:30 am, almost 15 hours!  

The next day we attended a work party with Kyle's new company, Energenz.  The rainy weather changed the venue from an outdoor, beach, and kayaking activity to an indoor bowling fest.  

I quietly rolled a few strikes, including a turkey, and soundly beat everyone in the first game - go me!  Game 2 was a much closer race but Kyle pulled out a win at the end.  We really enjoyed getting to know Kyle's new co-workers.  It's a young, growing company (10-15  employees).  Kyle's the oldest and most experienced in the group; plus he's the only one married and with kids.

Making it to Hong Kong with 4 kids, 4 suitcases, and 4 back packs with no major incidents was a big success!  We're all so happy to be together as a family again.  Although, our immediate future plans, including where we're going to live for the next year, are still vague, we hope that being together will help that decision process.  Check back soon to find out where the Kisebachs end up living and what we're doing for the second year of our Asian adventures.