Our Journey Ends - Macau and Hong Kong

We received our passports back this afternoon, each with a full-page devoted to allowing us back into China for another month. If we are lucky, we will get our residence permits early enough within that month that we can also trade Lilly's in for a new one and still travel over the November school holiday. The new passport will happen either way - the trip in November may not, but I'd sure love to see Hanoi while we're in the neighborhood. At least we'll get one or two trips to Guangzhou in, as that is where the U.S. Consulate is located.

We've passed the last few days enjoying Macau and Hong Kong, as we were not allowed on mainland China. I haven't taken many photos, as we didn't really go anywhere visually striking. But the entire family has enjoyed both destinations.

In Macau, we stayed at the Mandarin Oriental - Grand Lapa Hotel, which I happily recommend for family travel. The room was small, but the location and resort in the center of town made up for it. The bed was wildly comfortable, and the breakfast buffet was tasty and vast. I must admit that I've always stuck my nose up at family resorts, but I may be sold on them. The girls love swimming in the outdoor pool, mainly because it was built with children in mind. They enjoyed the playground and the Kids' Club as well, and we even took advantage of it enough to have a lunch date (with a baby in tow, but who can complain about Annika's presence?) Mandarin Oriental has apparently just opened another hotel on the peninsula, within easy walking distance of the first. I am not surprised, as the Grand Lapa certainly feels dated. But it is so luxurious that the out-dated feel almost seems on purpose, like they're calling back another time. But the price was good, the service was tremendous, the location was great, and the resort was loads of fun so I'd happily return here.

Macau takes its cues directly from Las Vegas, and so along with enjoying the hotel, we also explored The Venetian, Fisherman's Wharf The Grand Prix, and the market area around the Ruins of St. Paul. If I've got any good photos, I'll post them soon. The girls and I watched Cirque du Soleil, and Dave gambled at Sands Casino. We found loads of playgrounds, ate loads of egg tarts, and generally enjoyed our time. And then we hopped the ferry to Hong Kong.

Now, we've been to Hong Kong before. We've come as tourists, so we've already climbed The Peak. We've come for the doctor and for the shopping, so we know our bearings around Central. This time, we just came to hang out and enjoy each other's company. Uncle H-- put us up for this round, as they take care of our visa issues, and they've quite comfortably set us up at the South Pacific Hotel near Causeway Bay. Near to the office, its also close to the Metro and loads of shopping - and the girls enjoy the view from the 21st floor room.

We took a day in Kowloon, where we acted like the family tourists that having children makes us. Together, we explored the flower markets, the bird garden, a sunny playground, the space museum and a restaurant with great burgers and milkshakes.

We took a day on Lantau Island, past Disneyland and the airport to ride a cable car up the green hills of the island to a small, wildly touristy village called Ngong Ping. After filling our bellies, we headed away from the crowds as quickly as possible and found some lovely hiking and beautiful green vistas. We ended this day back on Hong Kong Island, with more American food - this time BBQ chicken and fries.

We took a day for shopping, in which Dave and the girls both held up remarkably well. In Central, we filled bags with jeans and Halloween costumes for the girls, a few groceries, a few books, and a few baby items. Moving up to the Mid-Levels, we lunched in Soho over organic dahl and sweet potato fries. On our way back down the hill, Sophia fell right into a fountain and soaked herself. I warn my kids about these type of accidents all the time - I never expected one to happen! Our poor drenched Sophia stripped her clothes in the middle of the street, and put on Lilly's new school clothes. She looked like a rather fashionable hobo, with her hair a crazy mess and her clothes all baggy. Burgers for dinner, and then I hit Causeway Bay solo. Grabbed some home items and a few pieces of clothes for me, as well as the incentive to drop that last baby weight before I need to wear jeans.

We head back tomorrow, so the hum-drum of life in the expat ghetto. The girls return to school on Thursday, but Dave still has the day off. So he and I will spend the morning seeking out something exciting in Shekou. Will let you know if we find it!