Mak and Jack: Hong Kong

I can't tell you how exciting it is to ride an Airbus 330 through typhoon weather on our way to Hong Kong. I'll just say that it was a bumpy ride. Makena cooperated and kept her seatbelt on and held my hand throughout the turbulence. The plane was full of people wearing masks - a constant reminder about the spread of swine flu across Asia. Not fun. Regardless, we landed safely and were greeted by sweltering humidity and more stormy weather to which my hair responded accordingly.

The second part of this adventure was to reunite with our Seattle friends who were now living in HK for the next two years. They were part of our adoption group and we met and befriended them when they were in China adopting their daughter Amelie (Esme's little sister).

Amelie and Jack hit it off right away which meant that Makena had to keep a close eye on the two as her sense of proprietorship kicked into full gear. Poor Amelie became a little frazzled observing Makena claim all of her toys as hers. We kept telling Amelie to ignore what Makena was saying and that worked for a bit. I also came to a very expensive realization while we were in Hong Kong which was that my children don't travel the world with the intent of actually seeing it (okay, Mak is three and has no say.)They put up with the travel to swim in new pools.

The kids were wiped out from the time spent in Singapore and by the time we landed in the apartment and getting them to leave this toy-filled sanctuary was quite trying. The constant rains and the allure of the Wii didn't help matters either. Esme and Jack bonded over some serious Wii tennis matches. Heaven.

So, Alas, I did not see much of the city but in all reality, I was wiped out too and glad to catch up on my reading. I did read a few tour guides therefore I knew what I was missing and I did escape with Doug and Kenwyn at night to have grownup dinners and walk around in the rain. I was taken to a few extraordinary restaurants and tried Manchurian and Nepalese food for the first time. Both cuisines made deliciously delectable use of potatoes. I still think about the potato and eggplant dish I had that will lure me back to that Manchurian restaurant when I set foot in Hong Kong again. Yum!

I did end up having to take Jack to the doctor a couple of days after we arrived because he was complaining of stomach ailments (and to rule out Swine flu at his insistence.) We tried to figure out if it was the sushi dinner our last night in Singapore or the malaysian curry lunch the day before that did it. His culinary curiosity may have gotten to him after all.

We found our way to a very large practice full of ailing foreigners. We were seen very quickly and Jack was given something for the cramps and told to eat white rice for the next few days, which did not go over very well. He was also told that he did not have Swine flu, which did go over well.

Although we took a cab to the doctor's office, we walked home and rode the longest escalator in the world, up the the hill, to the mid-levels where our friends lived. Jack experienced a feel for the city without walking too much. There were store fronts, cross streets and alley ways crisscrossing under the escalator that were bustling with businesses, shops and restaurants full of people. I was dying to explore them but knew I was pushing my luck so I could only study them from afar. Jack only tolerated the field trip home because I promised to get him back to the pool while the sun was still out.