Monday, October 8, 2007

Wednesday, Oct. 3rd - Day 3

Well, we're here, aren't we? So where are our bags! Thankfully, the airport called and said they had found our bags and would be delivering them right to our hotel room door this very morning. Truly we had been taken care of and we knew to whom we should send our thanks. A day should not pass by without us remembering to give thanks for all we have.

Wayne and I hardly slept at all the night before, the beds were so hard, but the kids seemed to do okay. We all woke up stiff and sore and very hungry! Instead of ordering room service, we were eager to get out and about so we went down to the lobby and into one of the several restaurants housed within the Parkview Hotel, the Teahouse. Thankfully, the waiters all spoke English, mostly. We ordered our food and it soon arrived. Amber, being rather ambitious and eager to "try new things" as we had told the kids they must before we left the U.S., had ordered a noodle dish. Everything went well, the food being quite delicious, until we looked up to see Amber with a sour look on her face. Stabbing her chopsticks toward her bowl she demanded, "What is that!" Leaning over, we tried our hardest not to smile but we couldn't help it. Soon we were all laughing heartily as we explained that she had baby squid tentacles in her bowl. Making an "EEEEP" sound, Amber pushed her bowl away from her an announced, I'm done. But, she had eaten almost half a bowl of noodles! We were all impressed. The rest of us had ordered food we were more comfortable with eating.

This next bit is not for the "sensitive" but it did happen and so I shall faithfully record it, especially since these memories are more for us than anyone else. We're glad if you enjoy reading this blog but we'd be quite happy if you kept your judgments to yourself. So many people are quick to judge others when they see a difference in someone else. We've been so glad we're not those kind of people. We'd never have made it here in Hong Kong and on the mainland if all we could do was think nasty thoughts about everyone around us.

Well, here's the funny. We get up to the hotel room after lunch and Brandon points to the table legs of a coffee table, very innocently shouting, "Look, something to remember lunch by ...octopus testicles!" Wayne and I tried so very hard not to laugh but we couldn't help it. We laughed until we cried, both kids begging for us to explain our mirth. We finally did and they had a good giggle too but neither one of them will ever forget that the proper word is "tentacle". The rest of the day passed fairly pleasantly. We all rested again, since we had jet lag and were still adjusting to the new time then ordered room service for dinner. We slept again when night came and that was the end of another day in Hong Kong.

Tuesday, Oct. 2nd - Day 2

We arrived at the Hong Kong International Airport at 8:05 PM. Gathering up all of our belongings, we stepped out of the plane and walked down a narrow hall. At the end of a long ramp down, we were struck by a wall of warm air which carried the scent of a land which was wholly new to us, except for Wayne; he had been to China once before. I'd have to say that Hong Kong definitely has a fragrance all its own.
Enter...the drama! Luckily, this leg of our journey was the least dramatic of all; A good thing too since we were all so tired. On the way down the ramp I had been doing a bag check to make certain we hadn't forgotten anything. It's a good thing I did because sure enough, one bag was left behind. Amber and Wayne hurried back up the ramp and into the plane, retrieving her backpack. We made it through immigration rather quickly and then hurried to baggage claim. I was pleasantly surprised to see that every sign was in both Chinese and English. That made it quite easy to find our way, much better than we expected. It also helped that Wayne had been to the airport before during the preview trip. Arriving at the baggage claim, we waited for our luggage ...and waited ... and waited ...and waited. The unthinkable! Noooo! Our luggage didn't make it with us. Finally we found one out of 10 bags we had checked at the airport in Canada. Eventually the conveyor belt stopped and the bags stopped coming. Wayne went and spoke to an airline representative and left our address in case the bags were found. Taking our one bag and five carry on bags, we walked until we saw a man with a sign saying "Anderson". It was pretty clear that he was there to meet us since every other sign was written in Chinese characters.
Thankfully it had previously been arranged that a van would be waiting to pick us up. The driver took our bags for us and wheeled them out. As we stood there staring at the small mini-van that had been rented for us, we realized that our bags not making it to the airport with us was a blessing in disguise instead of the unthinkable. Oftentimes there are these moments in our lives where all we can see is the negative. We tend to forget that there's someone watching out for us. We would all do much better to be grateful for what we do have instead of constantly fretting and complaining over what we don't. We and our bags barely fit inside the van but soon we were on our way. The drive to our hotel took a while but we were so glad to be off the plane, we didn't mind. Besides, there was a lot to see! Oddly enough, all the views reminded us of Seattle and we felt right at home; The freeways, the water, the green hills, and the tall buildings were actually a welcome sight. Our chatty driver eventually pulled into the driveway of a very lavish looking hotel and I knew we had arrived. We had only seen this place in pictures, both those on the net and those Wayne had taken when he had come here on his preview trip. He really had done a marvelous job finding a place where we would all be safe, happy and well taken care of. The doorman took our bags and opened the door for us while we went and checked in. He then took us up to our rooms and helped us inside. Finally, we could rest, really rest... or so we thought. We were all so tired we just got ready for bed but when we went to lie down, we realized the beds were made of steel! Okay, maybe not but they were so stiff they felt that way. But it didn't matter much, we arrived, we were safe and there was a whole new world out there waiting for us to explore it.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Thursday, Oct 4th - Day 4

I have few memories of this day, likely because it passed swiftly. By this time, we'd had it with the steely hard beds and so we called the concierge. Our beds were swiftly softened with pillow tops being added to the mattresses and more pillows were brought. This was the first day we'd had the maids visit our room while we were there. It felt very strange to be bowed to and called "Madam". We took it all in stride though. Today was the first day that we weren't dragging all day from exhaustion and so we could fully appreciate the view. Oh the view!! I've never seen a place that was MORE beautiful in real life than it had been in the photos. Usually businesses try to pull the wool over your eyes by taking pictures in such a way that places look more alluring than they really are. Thank goodness that wasn't the case with Parkview, the view was absolutely gorgeous from our windows, like looking out upon a fabulous resort... and we were!
Monday, Oct 8th - Day 8

Well, we did a bunch of grocery shopping so this was the first day we actually had cereal and milk available for breakfast; the kids were ecstatic. They'd been without their American comfort foods for almost a week now.

Wayne left for Shenzhen this morning to go to his place of work for a tour. We were kinda nervous to be left in the hotel alone but with our usual verve, we went and explored the first chance we got. We found the reading room of the hotel, where we spent quite a bit of time, playing chess and reading, of course! The hotel worker in the reading room informed us that we needed an ID card and we could check out movies for free so we went and asked for one at the front desk. Movies in hand, we headed back to the room. But, not knowing how to open the lock to our rooms, we thought we had been locked out! We went down to the front desk and had one of the workers come help us. She showed us that you had to turn the key in the lock to the left very hard and hold it there while pushing the door open. Security is nice but sheeesh! We strode into the room, quite relieved, and tried to play our movies. Unfortunately, both DVD players in both our hotel rooms were broken so another call went to the concierge. Eventually the DVD players were replaced and we could watch our movies.

For dinner that night we had some classics, canned spaghetti topped with Kraft Parmesan Cheese! (ugh) Another day we've survived! Whew!

Saturday, Oct 6th - Day 6

Friday we explored the hotel and Saturday was our first outing into the city itself! It was so fun. We went all over the place, from name-brand store to name-brand store. (Mostly this was because one of Wayne's co-workers was with us showing us around and she prefers Gucci, Giorgio Armani, DKNY, etc) I was a bit of a nervous wreck though, I admit. None of the kids had cell phones yet and if any of us became separated, it would have been very difficult to find each other amongst the throngs of people. We survived it though and finally the co-worker had purchased what she had come shopping to find, a $3,000 American Dollar Gucci Diaper Bag. No lie.
Not being such big shoppers, we finally left the place and all went to "The Spaghetti House" to eat. The food was marvelous, very authentic Italian, despite being cooked by mostly Chinese chefs. Some people would say, it's not truly authentic until you go to Italy itself but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.

After lunch we were in for a treat. All of us went to a very famous massage parlor in Hong Kong. It was so incredibly relaxing. The lights were low, there was soft Asian music playing, the sound of a stream, incense burning and hushed voices. Brandon had a waterjet treatment, Amber had her nails manicured and her toenails pedicured and Wayne and I had neck and shoulder massages. It was well worth it and less than half the cost of a similar massage in the US.

Finally it was time to get back to the hotel and boy was I ready. I'd become so frazzled trying to keep track of everyone and keep us all safe. We rested well that night, at last. The end of another day.



Sunday, Oct 7 - Day 7

I've never been intimidated by breakfast in my life, not until I had it at the Teahouse restuarant here at the Hong Kong Parkview. Everything was literally served on silver salvers. The tea sets were all made from real silver, and the food was spread out as far as the eye could see. Everything was so delicious but quite expensive. We would soon have to find a store and stock up on food so we could regularly eat meals in our hotel room at a much lesser cost.

Today was the day we tried to use the washer and dryer for the first time. It seemed rather ingenious to us when we realized that due to space limitations over here, many washers and dryers are built together, as a single unit. It was that way in our hotel rooms. Yes, rooms...we needed two hotel rooms so we'd all have a place to sleep. Anyway, we needed clean clothes so I endeavoured to learn how to use this fantastical device. It wasn't a good experiment really, especially since the manual read from front to back and was written in pseudo-English. We also realized we needed to buy laundry detergent so we gave up and sent our clothes out to be laundered.

The rest of this day was spent exploring the hotel and resort.

Off we go!

Our adventure truly began the day we heard that the U.S. Government had officially approved the sale of the PC division of IBM to Legend, a China based company. In time Legend was renamed Lenovo, the name the global company currently uses. Once we heard this news, all of our good natured joking about possibly being sent to China if the division of IBM in which Wayne worked was sold suddenly became a reality. From then on it was a race to prepare for the possibility. The kids did their part by immediately rushing over to the computer and punching in "How to speak Chinese.com" into the search engine on their computers. They quickly found an appropriate website and soon were speaking phrases to us in Cantonese, proudly translating. I began researching the country while Wayne stayed on top of current events at work. Possibly turned into liklihood, which turned into most likely, which turned into almost positive, which soon became, "I've booked the tickets for our flights!". Thus began our Asia Adventure.


October 1st, Day 1: We woke in the morning around 7 am, having had only a few hours sleep the night before. Luckily our bags were all packed and ready. We loaded them into our rented vehicle and drove to the airport, feeling quite strange unloading 10 suitcases plus 5 carry-on bags, one being a computer bag. As we turned in our rental car one of the attendants looked to us with a smile and asked, "Traveling over seas?" To which we replied "Yes, we're moving to Hong Kong for a year." He commented, "Yep, everyone traveling with that much luggage is always headed overseas."


Off we went, getting curious looks from many passers-by as the four of us drove well loaded luggage carts through the airport. Enter...the drama! We expected some hitches in our travel plans for rarely does any event ever go completely smoothly. What we were not prepared for, however, was our itinerary to not clearly state which airline we'd be flying during our short 42 minute hop from Sea-Tac Airport to Vancouver's Airport, where we would catch our connecting international flight. Now this likely wouldn't have been a real problem except for the fact that when we reached United's check-in counter we were faced with "Self Check-in" computers. Everyone was struggling with the automated job stealers; improper boarding passes being issued, transactions not completed, or various error messages popping up. Computers are great tools but as with most tools they're best paired with a human user to achieve optimum results, as we discovered. There was no "Hey, we know we have more bags than we're allowed and some of our bags are overweight but can we pay the extra cost and fly the bags over with us anyway?" button on the automated check-in machine. I tell ya, I think it'll be a long, long while before we see any really intelligent i-robots running around. I think it's a compliment to the creator that human intelligence can't be so easily duplicated. (Then again, there are some people who make you wonder...) So there we stood, futilely trying to flag down some human help. When it finally came it was in the form of an "usher" of sorts, who delighted in chastising us over our bags taking up too much space and blocking too many of the broken auto-monsters. Finally we found a decent individual with the knowledge to help us and this first travel nightmare became a thing of the past, or so we thought. Wayne insisted we were flying United and the airport personal kept saying Air Canada. Well, this is why the wise traveler arrives at the airport at least two hours before their flights, to deal with such problems. As it turns out, we were indeed flying Air Canada but they are partnered with United and the names of both Airlines were on the itinerary. Eventually, with some shuffling of items from suitcase to suitcase to make sure each bag was within the proper weight limit, we finally received our boarding passes and were off, headed for the gate! By this time we had only an hour left before our flight was due to depart and sure enough as soon as we reached the security gate we were informed "I'm not sure if they told you, but you've been selected for extra screening." To which I immediately replied, "YAY!!" I figured the poor security guard had heard enough of the other kind of response that day and indeed he looked at me quite strangely as I seemed not to be upset in the least. It was then that I wondered what the "extra screening" entailed. Soon, however, the kids asked "What's that mean?" and I decided that instead of teaching them to be upset over every little hiccup and inconvenience in life that you can do nothing about, might as well celebrate. So I told them, "It means they pass a wand over you, making sure you're not carrying anything bad." Again I called out "YAY!" and they echoed my sentiment. By now the guard was really confused over why we were apparently so happy about getting patted down, having the zipper of one of our bags broken by over-zealous security personnel and learning that staples in passports will make the metal detector beep (which is exactly what happened). All I have to say is, it's really good that Wayne's pants didn't fall down when he was forced to remove his belt. We were running late enough as it is to be slowed down by such as that. ;)

Anyway, belongings gathered up, zippers fixed, shoes and belt on, we hopped on the tram, raced for our gate and made it in time. The surprising thing was finding out that we had booked a flight on a little puddle jumper, a twin engine propeller plane, for the 42 minute hop to Canada. It was also very interesting having to show our passports for the first time since they're now required when U.S. citizens visit Canada.

We walked down a long hall then down some steps and went right out onto the airfield! Our little plane was too small to match up to the size of the typical loading docks. Airport personnel and a roped off section of the blacktop guided us to the proper place. The plane was even too small for our larger pieces of carry-on luggage! We had to leave them on a rack for loading into the plane's belly. Up we climbed the metal steps leading into the plane, feeling very much like we were going on Safari, and tried to find our seats. As it turns out, we had assigned seating on this particular plane but were able to trade seats with a few people so we could all sit together. It's a good thing the flight was short because everyone was cramped into tiny spaces. Amber had a good outlook though. "I can handle this cause the next flight is going to be first class!" She commented candidly. Believe it or not, that propeller plane flight was quite smooth compared to many of the jet flights on which we'd flown in the past.

In no time at all we landed at the Vancouver Airport, a very pretty place. We wished we'd had more time to explore the duty free shops and some of the restaurants we'd heard about from friends but as soon as we landed we had to race off to catch our connecting flight. Enter...the drama! Again we had a little struggle since apparently we were supposed to have received boarding passes for the flight to China way back when we at the United/Air Canada monsterly self check-in computers. Luckily, we were able to speak with someone who could direct us to the proper gate and the security guard at the gate was kind enough to let Wayne in without boarding passes to speak with the Cathay Pacific officials. The guard was also kind enough to let the kids play on the moving sidewalks, one form of automation of which I approve! (They don't talk back and if they don't work you can always just use the normal ground to get you to where you need to go!) That kept the kids busy while Wayne sorted out the hassle and returned triumphant with boarding passes in hand. We then all gave our boarding passes to the kindly guard and were finally allowed to wait at the gate for our flight to begin boarding procedures. Now here is where things started to get...interesting. Never before have I seen such a conglomeration of so many different nationalities as in that waiting area. You name it, it was there and in traditional garb too! It felt surreal, like being in one of those movies where you travel to a foreign country and the only transportation is a near broken down bus where you're as likely to be riding with chickens and goats as with people. We quickly learned, however, that people are...well...people. One gentleman, who wore traditional garb including a turban and spoke no English, was kind enough to motion to Brandon that he had dropped his allergy medication under his seat when he sat down. This was a good thing too, for it was the only bottle we had at the time, the rest being packed away. The bottle was retrieved and we said our thank yous. This happened often along our way, acts of kindness from people of all different nationalities. Truly, one should never judge others by appearances alone. (We already knew that but it was sure nice to have it reaffirmed ;)


"We will now begin boarding our business class travelers." The announcement finally came over the intercom and was repeated in other languages for the benefit of people of other nationalities. We quickly strode forward, a little surprised by this, none of us having flown First Class before. Then when we entered the plane we were asked to turn left instead of right, something else that we were not used to. We stepped into the First Class cabin and I swore I heard angels sing. Turns out it was the kids doing their trademark "glory" sound and they were right, it was definitely glorious. The seats were three sets of two across and six deep, one set on the left side, one set in the middle and one set on the right. The flight attendants helped us find our seats and of course, the kids immediately began learning how to use every gadget available. They had to teach US how parts of the remote to the entertainment systems worked. That's what we get for having to get carry-on luggage stowed first and not getting to 'play', I suppose. Ah, to be a kid again.

Wayne had asked around and learned that Cathay Pacific was one of the best airlines to fly on if you are traveling overseas. We were so incredibly spoiled during that flight. Soon after we had taken off we were brought hot towels to wash up our faces and hands with so we would feel refreshed and clean before lunch. Lunch was literally a six course meal. It started with scallops and freshly roasted nuts (they were still warm) then moved on to a platter of smoked duck breast with grilled mango, oyster mushrooms and cumberland sauce. Surprisingly, the kids ate the scallops but not so much of the food on the platter. "I thought it was a banana." Brandon said of the scallop. "But I ate it anyway." "Did you like it?" I asked. "Yeah, it was good!" He replied. Then we moved on to the salad of fresh greens with balsamic vinaigrette dressing. After that it was time for the main course. Here we were given a choice of stir-fried seafood, grilled beef tenderloin, Kung Po chicken, or Penne with roasted red pepper. Next we were offered a selection of delicious cheeses, crackers and grapes. Then a selection of fresh fruit. After that came a slice of flan and herbal tea or coffee.

After the meal we were again given hot towels to use to clean up. Then the flight attendants handed out complimentary gift sets, which had socks, earplugs, eyecovers, mini lotions, eye cream, lip balm, a toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, a hairbrush and a disposable handkerchief. Now it was time for "lights out". By this time we had nearly reached our cruising altitude of 35,000 feet and the sun was so bright all the window covers were shut. The lights were also dimmed so that anyone who wished to sleep was more easily able to do so. For those not interested in sleeping there were entertainment systems which were mounted in the backs of each seat in front of them. They had movies, music, games, television and flight information all available at the touch a button. We all watched movies for a while and soon the flight felt...strange. Because one couldn't see out the windows it felt like...being on a train, until the turbulance hit. Then you were reminded that it was a plane flight. The flight was actually surprisingly smooth for as long as it was and for the amount of distance we traveled.

I wasn't able to sleep much during the flight; I was too apprehensive to sleep while Wayne and both kids were sleeping. Instead I watched movies and watched over them, seeing to needs such as more blankets and extra pillows, glasses of water and allergy medicine. Eventually, just as I began to feel safe enough to doze off, it was "breakfast" time. It seems that no matter what time it really is, the airplanes flying along international routes run on their own schedule. After passengers board, get settled and the plane is reaching cruising altitude, it's time to feed people. Several hours before the flight ends, it's time to eat again. Breakfast was delicious, if a bit more simple than dinner. Everyone in first class was brought steaming hot towels again to clean up with after sleeping. Then the food arrived.

(Amber writing now)
For our drinks on this glorious day, we had a choice of orange juice, apple juice or a strawberry banana smoothie. For the starters of this wondrous meal we had a choice of 2 out of three; fresh seasonal fruit, fruit yogurt or assorted cereals. Of course, we chose the fruit and the yogurt. For our huge main course, there was a choice herb cream cheese omelette with tomato concasse sauce, smoked bacon, chicken sausage and potato cake or stir-fried rice noodles and Chinese dim sum served with chilli sauce or chicken mushroom congee accompanied by spring onion pancake. After this delicious main course, we had assorted rolls and breakfast pastries served with preserves, honey and butter. Then to tie it all up we had tea or coffee. Pretty huge, huh?

Soon after we arrived at the airport... but that's a post for day 2 since we left America on the first but arrived in Hong Kong on the second of October.