The child was very excited about our trip to Hong Kong. On a normal morning we usually have a hard time waking her- lots of pushing and protesting, and some days she actually misses the school bus. On this day however, she got up at 5.30 a.m and was the first to finish dressing before us. Here we see her skipping and flying into the plane.
Asian air travel is reliable. We arrived in Hong Kong just before lunchtime, checked into the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel, which has a bland cheesy decor that nevertheless thrill young children and impressionable adults, but redeems somewhat with double beds in the rooms, complete with duvets and non-saggy mattresses. Lunch at the hotel Chinese restaurant Crystal Lotus was quite forgettable, it coasts on its menu of kid-friendly dishes i.e. give them Disney character-shaped foods. Most tasted average at best,but V happily ate them up. They simply don't find it morbid to be eating their favourite characters, very bizarre.
Food at Disney universe, whether it was at the hotel or the park, is quite dreadful. However, the hotel breakfast buffet spread is decent enough. The whole point of this breakfast is that Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Goofy will be in character for a solid hour (9-10 a.m.), going from table to table and letting everybody take as many pictures as they like. This can mean a lot of posing and clicking, especially at tables occupied by thirty-something Japanese women in full Disney fan-mode, holding Mickey plushies and squealing too many times 'kawai'.. I reminded myself to chill and asked the waiter for another cup of tea.
We bought a two day pass for Disneyland park. It was a good idea to go first on a Sunday night, the park closes at 11 pm and the crowd was relatively light. The park is not as small as we had presumed, and laid out like the one in Paris so we could zoom in on all of 's favourite rides. Don't forget to top up the experience with a ride on the MTR line to Sunny Bay, the train is Mickey-fitted and the child couldn't be more thrilled.
Next: Our actual holiday begins...
