We are barely feeling settled into our home and our routines but we took a vacation anyway. Caleb had a work event in Hong Kong that would require him to be gone over the weekend. With one flight and 2 nights hotel paid for we decided it was a good opportunity to have a little vacation. Caleb took a couple days off of work so we could spend some time together and explore Hong Kong.
Day 1: Our trip from our apartment in Japan to the airport ended up being quite crazy. We got up and ready to leave the house for our 9:25 am flight. Of course we had a couple last things to throw in the suitcases but we headed out the door in what we felt was plenty of time. Instead of riding multiple trains, or one taxi the whole way, our plan was to take a taxi from our apartment to a station that ran a train that went directly to the airport. It seemed like a great plan until…….
As you may know Japan subway system is extensive. It really makes it possible to get just about anywhere without a car. We got to the subway station just fine, looked at the maps, followed the signs, went to the right platform but we got onto the wrong train. We found out later that one train would turn into an airport express train. We were NOT on THAT train! After some time checking the subway maps on our phone, reading the scrolling announcements that are displayed in the subway cars (mostly in Japanese, with occasional English) , and having a fair amount of panic we decided it would be best to get off the train and get onto another one. At the station we determined we indeed had been on the wrong train and needed to wait another 10 minutes to get on the correct one.
We finally got to the airport and knew we were cutting it really close for our flight. We tried to check in on-line, at home before we left but no luck, we tried to check in at the kiosk at the airport, no luck. We followed to signs to the ticket booth for Japan Airlines only to be directed to another counter for their partner airline. As we finally got to the correct desk we told the receptionist we were in a big hurry and needed to get our tickets right away. We got to cut in line and we got our tickets but our seats were spread throughout the plane. At this point I think we had 20 minutes before the plane was scheduled to take off. The kids had been doing really good with our chaotic morning but Zeke was REALLY starting to panic now. We rushed to security and were able to get through fairly quickly! Next, we headed to immigration. The line was pretty short and we were feeling like everything may work just fine. When we got to the counter we were turned away because we had not filled out the proper paperwork. We exited the line and began to fill out the papers. I had so much adrenaline pumping through my veins that my hand was shaking while I was attempting to fill out the papers and needed to start a new form because I switched the kids birth years. Sometimes having 2 kids with birthdays in the same moth is hard! Once we got the paperwork filled out correctly we had to reenter the line. Soon after, someone asked us if she could cut in line because her flight was about to leave. We found out she was on the same flight as we were. I guess we weren’t the only ones running late. After getting through immigration we ran, fast, all 4 of us carrying backpacks and rolling our carry on roller bags, down the 5 moving walkways to the gate. You should take a minute to visualize this. It is quite hilarious! I am sure we turned lots of heads! As we arrived at the gate out of breath we told the attendant our flight number and she informed us OUR FLIGHT HAD BEEN DELAYED! It was only then that I noticed the hundred people waiting next to the gate, all staring at us! We caught our breath and waited in line for an additional 15 minutes before boarding. The flight went fine and the kids did great even though our seats were spread throughout the plane. So happy to have older kids! There is no way this would have worked if they were younger!
Hong Kong Geography
Hong Kong International airport is on Lantau Island and since this was 30-45 minutes from our hotel. We decided to do some sightseeing on Lanau Island right away. I had done some research ahead of time to see which things we should see and do. On the top of the list was visiting Tian Tan “Big Buddha” From the airport we to took a taxi to the cable car station. Luckily we were able to put our luggage in storage there. We bought tickets for the cable car. It was an amazing experience. We got in the gondola type cable car and off we went on our 3.7 km journey through the mountainous Island. At one point they stopped us because it was windy. That was a bit freaky. Our car didn’t move much but we just sat there for a couple minutes dangling in the sky watching as clouds rolled over the hill in front of us! The cable car ride took about 25 minutes for us to get the Ngong Ping village which hosts the Tian Tan Buddha.
The village was cute and filled with shops, a tea house, theater, restaurants, cultural demonstrations, shrines and statues. We even saw cows! They were resting in the grass near some of the statues. It was funny to watch tourists cautiously walk up to pose with the cows that were very tame and used to people So of course we followed along and took pictures of the cows too 😉 Here we are at the entrance!
The climate in Hong Kong is quite tropical. We were all quite tired and warm after our busy afternoon. We decided it would be best to head towards the hotel to unwind a bit. From Npong Village we took the cable car back to the station and then figured out how to get train tickets. We bought a pre-paid sim card for my phone and used the change to purchase subway tickets to our hotel. It was only a 30 minute train ride and the station was in the basement of our hotel / mall so that was super convenient! Caleb’s work event was in Kowloon at the W Hong Kong, a luxury hotel with an outdoor swimming pool on the 76th floor! Instead of switching hotels midway through our trip to save some money we decided to make things easier and enjoy the extra comforts! It was a nice hotel with lots of little extras. We discovered the basement levels of the hotel connected to a large shopping mall complete with ice rink, movie theater and grocery store. We picked up some snacks and headed to our room . The kids were impressed with the glass elevators that had lights in the floor! Most of the time there was a concierge waiting to push the elevator buttons for you. The room was nice and we were happy they were able to find us a room with 2 beds. (Although the beds felt quite small. I think they were somewhere between a full and queen size) The kids got changed right away because they wanted to check out the pool! They insisted on wearing the fancy robes. 🙂 They are such silly kids. I think they kind of looks like scientists on their way to the lab! The kids spent an hour or so in the pool while Caleb and I sat poolside with a drink! We were all we were all ready for bed soon after. |
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