This year we are trying to take advantage of living in South East Asia and the many public holidays due to the convergence of religions and cultures that collide here. Some places we seek to visit are big bucket list countries, some quiet beaches or unknown places, and some areas we are just awakening to their rich cultures while living nearby.
It’s amazing how many places are less than 4 hours away and allow us to experience a completely different world than we are used to.
We have learned by traveling so much as a family that we each have a particular traveler’s tempo, which can feel a little like a scattered piece of jazz (except not nearly as nice to listen to). Yet, when you put us together on a family trip, we usually find a way to make our chaotic sounds into music by the end.
Luckily, we have very good friends who have lived in Hong Kong and therefore received these deep and delicious itineraries for those in the know. The research has been a lifesaver for us, especially as we try to chug down entire cities in a few days.
We hope to be able to quickly jump right into the fun and get to see cities through our friend’s eyes, ears, and stomachs…if only we can work as a team.
Arrival:
We arrived early and it didn’t take us too long from the airport to our hotel. We beg the children to look out the window 30 times so they are experiencing being in the city, instead of making it to the next level in their video games.
The awe of travel seems to be sinking in a bit more with our 10-year-old, but our 7-year-old thinks it’s quite annoying that we keep dragging him from his comfortable home out into the world to see things that we could just “look up” online. (Note to self: need to pry away the tablets ASAP)
(He will appreciate it when he gets older, he will appreciate it when he gets older, he will appreciate it when he gets older…)
We are staying in the Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) area of Hong Kong not too far from the Victoria Harbor and right across from Hong Kong Island. Every other depiction of Hong Kong, that I had seen in movies, was always of the very busy downtown city view. Never really showing the gorgeous waterways, islands, and incredible mountainous areas that were great for hiking. I was excited to see the bigger picture up close.
That first afternoon started a bit rocky. One child didn’t want to eat anything besides McDonald's’ and the rest of us got held up at a Chinese restaurant with a large language barrier that led to the wrong order and a waitstaff who seemed happy to have us leave promptly after pointing this out.
After finally getting all the eating out of the way, we started to make our way to Victoria Harbor. We took in the breathtaking Hong Kong skyline and the bustling boardwalk, trying to understand where we were and how we would navigate the city. Then, we stopped a few times to let the kids play at the playgrounds along the way.
Already we were pleased to see how open the downtown area was, filled with parks, sculptures, and other art installations to make the city feel inviting. Yet it can be hard to take the temperature of a city when you’re just a tourist peeking in.
That night we had a fantastic dinner in the hotel restaurant on the 36th floor, which afforded us an easier eating experience and a perfect view of the nightly light show downtown, which we’d be seeing up close in a couple of days.
Best activities on our agenda:
Aqua Luna Red Sail Boat Ride
After a busy day we booked the Aqua Luna red-sail junk boats that left right before 8 PM which put us squarely in the middle of the music and lights show that were put on the harbor nightly.
The lines to get on these boats were massive and we had to remember our NY roots to get through the crowds waiting to get on these boats but finally, we got on to enjoy the party.
The boats sail around the harbor as you sip on a few drinks and then a 15-minute synchronized music and light show starts up that feels like you are in the middle of a Transformers movie as the buildings dance with EDM music & lights. The kids (and adults) went nuts as soon as the music started.
Escalators through the Mid-levels
Next, we were ready to take on something both interesting and odd… the escalators that ran up the mid-levels in Hong Kong.
When these were mentioned to us by friends in Hong Kong, I didn’t understand what the big deal was. Then we read that these were the longest escalators in the world. Ok, starting to get more interesting… that is until we mentioned to the kids that we were excited to see these escalators.
Talk about a vibe killer.
The look on their faces was priceless. “Really Dad? Mom? Escalators? This is what you are excited to see?”
Ok, I’ll give it to them that it doesn’t sound very thrilling but I loved the experience. I’ve never seen an escalator that had traffic lights and where people would gather to wait for the escalators to stop traveling one way and switch the direction to start going up. Picture one escalator with a set of stairs on the right of it for people who don’t have time or the inclination to wait. After about 5 minutes the escalator direction changed direction and it was our turn to hop on.
The view from the escalators themselves was cool, but then we realized that as we traveled up, almost every landing was a different neighborhood to explore, with local places to stop to eat, see, and visit.
I had my sites on visiting the PMQ (Police Married Headquarters) which is where married police officers were sanctioned to live, but is now turned into art studios and shops to both preserve the building and utilize it in a new way.
We also stumbled upon an old prison that has been remade to act as a gorgeous open plaza with modern restaurants and cafes. (That definitely skewed our kids’ vision of what jails are like)
And the part that we all loved the most was finding so many delicious foods on the way down. We kept hopping on and off the escalators whenever we spotted a new mural I wanted to capture or an enticing menu the kids wanted to try.
What made this so much fun ended up being the exploration we did together, despite the complaints in the beginning and the struggle to find our way.
Hiking to the Peak:
Going to the highest point in Hong Kong would be quite a lot for the kids to do simply by walking alone, so we took a car up as far as we could, then walked around the peak stopping along the way for “tired little legs” and water breaks.
Although we loved the view, the cable ride down from the peak was the absolute coolest thing I’ve taken outside of an actual rollercoaster. It felt like we were in the movie Inception, as the cable car slid back down the mountain at such a severe angle that all of the buildings outside our window appeared to be at a 45-degree angle.
I thought I’d get sick as we went down the mountain and just prayed that the cables were strong enough to get us down safely. Super cool, but I don’t think I want to do that one again.
Central Market
Winding our way on foot, we made our way to the subway (which was massive compared to the easy-to-navigate subway of Singapore or even the web-connected lines of Tokyo. Now that we’re experienced travelers, you start to see the similarities and appreciate the ease of getting around certain places vs. others. Hong Kong was connected by subway, however, its size made getting around on foot and public transport quite tiring (especially with 2 littles in tow)
Nonetheless, we headed to Central by subway to check out the area. Already tired from the morning, I don’t think I was quite enamored with the area, but we loved Central Market (home to what used to be a huge trading market in the middle of town) we luckily fell upon some cool local shops and had amazing soup dumplings, ramen noodles & desserts that helped spring us back to life.
Stanley Beach
After spending the first couple of days in the center of the city, we were ready to keep venturing further. We knew Stanley Beach was a recommended spot, but weren’t quite prepared for the windy road as we hugged the curves of the mountains.
But the views were unbelievable and well worth the car ride. Islands jutting out from the water, blue skies, and lush greenery. Were we still in Hong Kong? This felt like we had traveled to another place entirely.
We were grateful that no one was too sick afterward, but I thought it best to take a slow walk to get ourselves back to 100%. We headed through the Stanley outdoor markets to the beach and then came upon a playground next to the Tin Hau Temple.
As we looked around the area and hiked around, the kids started to ask if we could move here next.
Uh oh, I think they’ve officially caught the expat bug.
Making it fun for the kids:
It’s hard to take a family trip without carefully balancing the things that are going to make it palatable for the kids and easy for you to experience the things that are on your travel list. We usually start with something for them in the day, then something for us, and on the rare occasion find an activity that we all can agree upon.
This time we visited the Hong Kong Science Museum, which was fantastic both in scope and size. Everything feels just a bit bigger and more elaborate in Hong Kong than Singapore mostly because there is more space to create. While Singapore has a steady rotation of exhibits that help make things feel fresh, the Hong Kong museums felt more grand like the museums we were used to experiencing in NY.
What I loved about this museum was just how inclusive and interactive it was, noting not just the history of science that I’ve been taught from my American schooling but also from an international lens. Throughout the museum, they had parts of the exhibits that showed how different nations contributed to the space race, the importance of space in different cultures, and how this plays a role in media around the world.
The best moment there was viewing with my daughter the exhibit featuring Mae Jamison, the first black woman astronaut. It explained how Mae was inspired by Star Trek when she was young, especially the black actress Nichelle Nichols who was cast as an equal member of the enterprise.
Seeing that full circle of art impacting future realities was an awesome moment to capture for her as she forms her own views of the world and what’s possible. I was impressed by how inclusivity was woven throughout the museum which helped tell a larger story instead of just one POV for one audience.
And for kids, it’s just a natural part of the story, but for me, I can really appreciate all of the different strings that are being tied together to build a stronger understanding.
We also went to the Hong Kong Space Museum near Victoria Harbor the day before we left. The kids loved the interactivity of all of these exhibits and ran from exhibit to exhibit with abandon, barely reading the blurbs next to each activity, as we were begging them to read not just play with the activity, but our cries fell on deaf ears as they gleefully raced to be first at the next station.
Racing from activity to activity was almost always bookended with 20 to 30 minutes of allowing the kids to run like crazy in the many playgrounds in the city. I was grateful to see how much play was planned out in Hong Kong with the nod to parents that needed the mental break too, but making these easily accessible and plentiful throughout the city.
Sick while traveling or sick from traveling??
What made this trip feel challenging wasn’t that it was a city trip (we’ve done plenty of those) or that we were trying to do a lot (that’s kind of on brand for us), it’s that for more than half the trip I was sick but still trying to keep pace.
Unfortunately, I seem to be prone to sinus infections/headaches on flights since we started our expat assignment.
Usually only lasts a couple of days, yet this time it started with a sinus headache, that blossomed into a cold and then ended with just a regular headache, but for 3 out of the 5 days of travel, all I want to do is lay down instead of running around like we’re on the amazing race.
In my mind, that’s never an option to quit early when you’ve spent all this time and money planning a trip and other people are counting on you.
You can’t plan for being sick, yet at this point, I kinda do. I’ve found that taking enough Advil with you can be the difference between making it through the day vs. bowing out of your plans and regretting it later. (Also, it is so hard to find the right medicine when you are traveling so do yourself a favor and take yours and your kids meds with you, just in case).
No one wants to be wandering through a new country trying to find medicine or worse even a doctor. (I’ve been to a hospital while traveling in Mexico, so trust me on this one!)
Did we reach the limits of our togetherness?
Now if it sounds like all of our trips are simply delightful, let me assure you that the people taking them aren’t perfect. At the tail-end of the trip, we had a total meltdown on the streets of Hong Kong, which started as a curt discussion about making a journey to buy pastries, to arguing about who got to complete more of their itinerary items than the other. (Note to self: never come between a sweet tooth and their pastries)
Our kids looked back and forth at their parents melting down in front of their eyes as if they were watching Wimbledon. Who would win the match? We ended it without too much fanfare but more with the agreement to stop talking and just make it through the rest of the afternoon.
Why were we so upset? Was it that our expectations of the trip weren’t met? Were we just tired, sick, or hungry? Maybe all 3? Neither of us knew, but we both were ready for a break from our vacation.
I think we were trying to stuff too much into this trip with kids and we had reached the end of our ability to not let the small annoyances get to us.
Usually, it would be one or both of the kids that were acting up, but this time we decided to play the roles of “little kids not getting our way”. Apparently, we’re well-versed in how to make those roles come alive!
After some deep breaths and mumbles we made it to a noodle lunch counter, slurped down our ramen dutifully and reset.
Departure:
How will we remember this trip?
-Exciting
-Overwhelming
-Beautiful
-Hectic
-Incredible
-Too much
-Not enough
I think the trip was a great chance for us to see another city that we’ve always been curious to visit.
Was it a perfect trip? No, it won’t go down as the best family trip but that’s mostly due to our state of health vs. the city itself.
And that’s ok. They can’t and won’t all be winners despite one’s desire to make each trip “the best trip ever”
This is one of those trips where you have the right time to travel, a great location, and a full agenda from those who’ve lived there, but maybe not the right mix of travel expectations and level of health to make it all it could be.
Also, while I love getting to see the world with our children, some trips won’t be as wonderful or as easy with little kids. I think once we accept that, we’ll be able to let out some of the travel pressure.
What I’m most proud of is that we recovered from our moments of annoyance or fatigue and pulled it together in the end to enjoy the last moments in a general state of harmony, all happy to have made the trip. We may not always be as carefree as we picture ourselves when planning the vacation, but the memories of little annoyances fade and hopefully what we'll remember are the moments of being together.
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