[Continued HK series #7 of 10]
We reconnected with our good friends Greg and Carolyn and their kids (who came from the central mainland) just to see us! Seeing them was one of the best parts of the trip for me... other than seeing Heather and going to Macau to see the fancy show.
We pretty much played and ate... a lot!
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| Cory (16) Craig (12) Priscilla (8) Emily (12) Hannah (9) |
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| Ocean Park Giant Pandas |
The first full day they arrived we headed to Ocean Park (similar to SeaWorld)
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| Traveling to the other side of the Park on the cable car (see Greg & Priscilla) |
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| Trapped... no where else to go! |
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| Flying on the Whirly Bird |
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| "Sea Dreams" Dolphin & Sea Lion Show |
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| Toucans in the Rainforest (Emily's favorite part of the Park) |
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| It was dark by the time we visited the Pandas and I know this picture is not great ( yes I took it, not my husband) but I love the posture of the panda. Literally he was a huge lump sleeping on the log. So cute! |
We ate!
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| Dim sum at Jade Garden |
We visited Stanley Market on HK Island side
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| Shopping galore... BUT it's more expensive here than on the Kowloon side! Trust me!! |
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| Stanley Beach |
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| Visiting Aberdeen Harbour on the HK Island side |
Aberdeen is currently famous for the floating restaurant. Actually "Hong Kong" was the original name for this Aberdeen area since the Ming Dynasty. In the early 19th century, foreigners who landed in this Aberdeen Village mistakenly thought that the whole island was called 'Hong Kong'. By the time they were aware of their mistake, the name "Hong Kong" had already been widely used for the whole island. So they renamed this original HK village "Aberdeen" because it was very similar topographically like the port of Aberdeen in Scotland.
We ate some more...
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| At Cafe de Coral |
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| And on the street |
And then played some more... this time at HK Disneyland
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| My niece, Marissa, was able to join us for the whole day... and boy did she have fun with her cousins! |
The last time we were here was six years ago... with Greg, Carolyn and the boys
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| Priscilla was not a part of their family...yet.. and remained on the mainland until she became an official part of their family. |
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| One big beautiful family! |
They rode on lots of rides...
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| Dumbo is very popular with adults here on HK... |
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| The Festival of the Lion King show |
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| A brand new ride called Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars |
Since the last time we were here six years ago, they added two new areas in HK Disney... Grizzly Gulch (kind of like our Frontierland). It had one ride and one play area (Geyser Gulch). The ride was amazing! Very creatively designed! Nothing like it at the other Disney parks. The kids rode on it five times! No line apparently... good for us!
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| Hannah's classmate Katelyn and her family joined us for the day. They also happened to be in HK for Christmas! What a small world!! |
And we ate some more...
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| Nachos apparently come with gloves so your fingers don't get dirty! What a grand idea!! |
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| This is the 4D show Mickey's PhilharMagic in Fantasyland... loved it! |
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| A Small World all decked out in Christmas lights! |
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| Matthew's dinner with chicken flavored Mickey rice and tomato sauce grilled chicken |
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| Many of us got the fried chicken... with complimentary gloves! Finger-linkin' good Cory! |
The second new area is Toy Story Land... amazingly and intricately designed right down to the chairs and signs!! It reminds me of Bug's Land in California Adventure.
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| Woody here welcomes you to his town and you go right into an wonderful world of toys many of which you would recognize! |
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| The other entrance to Toy Story Land.. see the T-Rex, tinkertoys, blocks |
One of the most popular rides was RC Racer...
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| It reminds me of the big ship ride at Great America that goes back and forth in a U shape... |
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| A pretty cool thing about it is when the ride is going the switch moves to 'Fast' and when the ride is over it moves to 'Off' |
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| Matthew and the girls waited over 40 minutes to ride this ride... can you see him and the girls? Marissa wasn't quite enjoying this one.. |
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| Toy Solders.. pretty realistic |
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| Toy Solder Parachute Drop (it's like the jellyfish ride at California Adventure) |
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| Slinky Dog Spin (reminds me of the Berserker at Great America) |
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| Andy's Toy Box Opening soon.... |
Check out the attention to detail of these life-sized toys...
Even down to the bathrooms... or toilets as they call them in HK..
Lastly.. Mystic Point is the newest 'area' under construction.. it kind of reminds me of the Haunted House/New Orleans area.. what do you think?
After the rides, parades, fireworks we headed back to our hotel on the MTR...
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| Six years ago... |
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| .. and today... |
We play hard and eat hard... could not not go to a Buffet! This time it was at the JW Marriott Hotel near the airport which was about 30 minutes away from our hotel. Yes, we will travel for good food!
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| Bread and soup section |
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| Salad and cheese bar |
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| Dessert section |
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| More desserts with chocolate fountain |
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| Middle Eastern fare |
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| Chinese BBQ |
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| Made to order Noodle Bar and steamed delicacies |
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| Made-to-order Soup Noodle Bar |
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| My first plate... I absolutely loved the Chinese melon soup.. I had three bowls of it |
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| Cory and his escargot... tastes like squid he says |
After eating all that food... it can make you a little silly...
At least for some of us...
NEXT UP: Top Picks in a Nutshell
2 comments:
Wow, I'm tired just reading about the adventures, especially at Disney.
Looks like an amazing trip.
Keep it coming.
Patrick.
it's fun to see what HKDisney looks like...as well as the 6-year differences in pictures of the kids
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