Bird Garden and The Peak in Hong Kong

We only stayed in Hong Kong for a long weekend and so we packed a lot of stuff into the two days we met up with Angela and family.  There is so much to do in Hong Kong that you could easily spend a week there and not see or do everything. Angela had suggested the Bird Garden for Saturday morning and it sounded like something the kids would really enjoy. 

Bird Garden is essentially a meeting place for the locals where they can share bird stories all while showing them off. These men are very proud of their birds, let me tell you. It was quite an adventure. If birds aren't your thing, maybe the gazillion hopping insects, squirrels or other unclassified critters will strike your fancy. It's definitely worth the fifteen minutes it takes to explore. And the cages, I'm still kicking myself for not buying one (damn you, Chad). 

After Bird Garden, we ate more dim sum before heading to the Star Ferry and Hong Kong Island. These ferries have been operating between Kowloon and Hong Kong since 1888. In addition to a really cheap ticket, the cool(er) harbor air was a welcomed treat. 

When we got to the Hong Kong side, we opted for convenience and bought 'hop on, hop off' tickets to get us to 'The Peak,' which is basically the highest point in HK with the most spectacular views of the city. The tram ride up is pretty cool too. While up there, we enjoyed some bubble tea and dinner before calling it a long day and heading towards the hotel.

Our last day in HK was spent souvenir shopping and eating as many pineapple buns and egg tarts as humanly possible. 

And then we flew home.

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After pointing and laughing at our ridiculously huge backpack, please just ignore Rhett while he eats pocky and looks like a hot mess. Thank you. Carry on.

I'm pretty sure that if you could go back and ask our twenty year old selves if we'd ever be in Hong Kong... together... ten years later...with three kids between us... our reactions would have been pretty epic.

Thank you, friend, for a perfect excuse to take a vacation.

:)

Hotel: Holiday Inn Golden Mile 

Great breakfast and location! 

More info here.

We got around the city and a round trip ticket for the airport with our nifty Octopus card.

More info on that here.

Are you still hung up on the pineapple bun and egg tart comment?

Local snack info here.

(I could really go for a few of these right now)

I'll meet you in Hong Kong

So something like two years ago we found out we'd be heading to South Korea once our time in Germany came to an end. I believe that my exact word to Chad was something along the lines of "no." Like with that one little word I could will away these orders and go some place conventional. Say... Texas, Colorado, or Washington. Alas, those duty stations just were not in our cards and after days (okay, maybe a month) of consideration I came to terms with this news. The major consolation in this whole scenario was that living in Korea would allow us to travel in Asia and that really got me pretty excited. I emailed my good friend, Angela, (her visit to Germany was awesome, read about it here) that if she had any plans to visit her grandma in Hong Kong, we'd love to meet her there. And so our first tentative Asian vacation was planned.

We made it a reality last month and I'm so glad we did.
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Our first day together, we took the subway over to Lantau Island to see the Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery. We opted for the glass bottom cable car and it did an excellent job of entertaining the babes.
We then rode back into the Kowloon side and explored all the markets, did a little shopping and ate our weight in Dim Sum (only a slight exaggeration).
We were so thankful to have Ben and Angela help us navigate Hong Kong especially when it came to the food. Angela and I are going on ten years of enjoying meals together and it was great to be able to bring our husbands and kids along for this ride.
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Incheon to Bali (with two kids, four suitcases, three carry-ons and a three hour delay)

In anticipation of my thirtieth birthday, Chad asked me what I wanted or wanted to do.

I told him to take me away.

As usual he didn't disappoint. 

I chose Bali for no specific reason other than it sounded like a really nice place to visit.

Hey, I read Eat, Pray, Love.

So on a cold February morning we hopped into the car and were one step closer to paradise.

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Our first few days in country we decided to take it easy and actually have a vacation. No sightseeing or running around... just sleeping, eating and swimming.
It was glorious.
I couldn't remember the last time we went somewhere and had NO plans other than doing whatever suited us in that moment. Pure bliss.
The Balinese are wonderfully kind and may even love children more than Koreans.
They were super welcoming and helpful and their food? I have no words.
This trip was the absolute best way to prepare for turning thirty.
(The deep friend bananas and beer helped me cope as well.)
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"I'm not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world."

-Mary Anne Radmache

Delayed in Incheon with kids- Don't panic! They have play areas, changing rooms and nursing cubbies conveniently scattered throughout the terminals (after security). Rhett's favorite even had a ball pit.

In Bali, we stayed here and opted for the all-inclusive package.