Hong Kong

Hello everyone. For the convenience I am writing in English since I know that the dutch people are much better at understanding English than the other way around, haha! Anyhow we have been in Hong Kong now just over a week. We visited some of my family (unfortunately not everybody, sorry!) in Holland the week after we left the USA. It was quite a hectic time and I am sorry to not have been able to say goodbye to some key people in the US either…..But things did get crazy at the end, with 4 different kinds of shipments going to HK and the hardest part was figuring out what to send where. Of course we made some mistakes…After a few days of packing you have no idea what got packed in the first shipment so eventually I ended up with no flip-flops or bathing suit at all but a really nice Christmas outfit, haha!

Our trip to the airport in NY was quite a riot. Now we can laugh about it but at the moment it was quite an ordeal…..We had 12 pieces of luggage! Since we had rented a mini-van for the last weeks we decided we would return it at the airport. This would have not been a problem traveling from JFK airport but we were leaving from Newark. The car rental service told us we could return it at the airport easily….When we got to the airport (on ample time) we realized there was no return office there. We called and it turned out we had to get off the airport again and just follow the signs. We did see them for a while……then they seemed to have suddenly disappeared. We got completely lost and every turn we made to get closer brought us even further from the airport. On top of that we realized why Ella and Eva had been kind of quiet back there. They had shredded a roll of playdough to bits and mashed it into the seat covers. It was the highlight of our adventure!!!! As you can imagine……! Finally the car rental company stayed on the phone with us and led us all the way back. When we got to their office it turned out that we had to take our 12 pieces into a bus and then into a train again to finally reach our gate…..We were all a little bit edgy by then. After checking in we finally got to relax in the lounge.

The visit to Holland was very short…..But it did help us a lot in adjusting to the 12 hours time difference between NY and HK. We tried to rest as much as possible and spend some time with my mom, brother Paul (who flew over especially for us), my sister Shareen, Vincent and Julia (boyfriend and daughter). The weather was typical for Holland; not too much sunshine and a bit of rain. But some good days in between too…Eva had us on our tippytoes as usual by getting a chest cold and she needed a lot of treatments but we made it without having to go to the hospital this time.
Our departure from Schiphol was a lot easier. We had a town car pick us up (we learn fast…) and got there on time. Paul and Shareen waved us goodbye and we got onto the last leg of our journey towards our adventure.
Hong Kong.

After quite an easy flight we arrived in Asia. It was hot and humid but it felt really good! You get quite dehydrated after such a long flight. We were brought to our temporary apartment right away, which is on the south side of Hong Kong island. Like most parts of HK the buildings are very modern and almost ugly sometimes. But the resort has an old colonial building on it with nice little shops, 2 great restaurants, a pediatrician, an outdoor and indoor swimming pool and a coffee shop. I’ve heard quite some dutch people there already. The coffee shop has a little court yard and is nice on sunny days. In front of the building is a huge beach that can be reached by going down a million steps. It’s very different than the Caribbean beaches we’re used to but it looks like a nice place for when it’s a bit warmer. Overlooking the ocean you can see little mountain islands in the near distance….It’s a really spectacular view from our apartment at the top.

We have been going to the beach almost every day. Just to play with the waves and sand, not in our bathing suits. It’s another experience since there are always buses of Chinese tourists arriving. They are almost all dressed in suits. You can tell that they come from the country because they giggle a lot when the waves hit their hands. Flashes are going of everywhere from their cameras. They also grab Ella and Eva at every opportunity to take pictures with them. They even take them on their lap and kiss them. I think it means good luck here, if I remember right…..They luckily don’t mind it and think it’s funny. Maybe that will change over time. The people are very friendly here. Much more than I would have expected. They try to help in every way…..and they like to smile a lot. Getting around by taxi is very funny. Some of the drivers speak hardly any English and it takes some repeating and pointing on maps to ensure being brought to the right place. I have also asked the doorman of the building to write some key addresses in Chinese characters, just in case.

Eva and I have been going into the city quite a bit to find stores that carry her food. Luckily the supermarket downstairs has some of it. But the supply is never constant. The city is not beautiful at all. Very modern and kind of sterile. But fascinating at the same time. It has a lot of great restaurants. And nice areas where a lot of expats hang out. You can find any nationality here and a lot of mixed couples. Really interesting. In between you find these typical Chinese stores where they sell herbs and medicine etc. But not much is authentic building wise. The malls are very very clean and high end. There is a lot of money around here. I can’t even afford shopping here, haha. You can also walk from one mall to the other by walking over walkways. The Honkies definitely like to shop….!

I guess in hot and humid weather there is not much else to do. We have had great weather so far. Temperatures around 23 degrees Celsius and nice and sunny lately. Last weekend especially was nice. We went to a beach about 20 minutes away but in the middle of nowhere. It’s called Shek-O. You get to the village first. Carl and I fell in love with this right away. It has all these really colorful old and authentic little houses with pots and plants on the terraces along meandering narrow streets. Open restaurants run by little old Chinese ladies with 3 teeth cooking on makeshift stoves. Everybody sits under awnings. Very primitive but very colorful to us. The beach was just as amazing….powder white sand and rolling waves. And smooth rock mountains surrounding it. A lot of Australian surf dudes make use of this. On the beach you can rent a (primitive) BBQ pit that is ready to grill on. The Chinese bring bags of food with them and you see them all grilling their own thing on a stick. Apparently that’s what they do on the weekends.

Ella and Eva had a really good time in the waves! They are really enjoying the ocean here. And swimming in the pool at the building. Amazingly Eva’s skin has been quite good. And her breathing also. Knock on wood that she stays this way. Ella had a hard time with getting on the bus to school. I must say it’s quite intimidating. All the children have to run up 7 sets of really long stairs and then find their class on their own. There are not many people helping. So I understood why she had a hard time with this. Slowly we are making progress and she really loves it once she is in her class room. Today she came back with a CD with Chinese (mandarin) exercises and her and Eva have been practicing tonight. They can say orange (tsjangze), pear (li), grape (pow tou) etc. Very funny!!! I have been using it too, haha!

Well, I hope you haven’t fallen asleep by now….It has become a really long story. But so much has happened. I will try to write shorter versions in the future. Hopefully we can get a website going too which will be easier for all of us. Hope to hear from you all, love, Marisa