What a towel is NOT for in Hong Kong.

Where in the world has the time been going?  It has been almost two months since our trip to Hong Kong and I am finally getting around to blogging about day three.  Life happened over the past couple of months.  I had two very sick boys that ended up with pneumonia and one with a ruptured ear drum.  We had so many appointments and were confined to our home to keep from spreading our germs, that I was beginning to go a little crazy.  Thankfully, there was a light at the end of the tunnel and we are all healthy again!  So, here were are.  I'll tell you a little about our crazy day three in Hong Kong.

We woke up in complete bliss after our wonderful day at Disneyland.  We had enjoyed ourselves so much there and were ready to give Hong Kong another chance after our rocky start.  Ben noticed a paper had been slipped under our door during the night and passed it along to me.  It said,  "Please contact the head of house keeping due to an issue in your room."  I had absolutely no idea what this could be regarding.  We had not broken anything and the boys had been quiet in the room, so I wasn't really sure what this could be about.

I headed down to the main desk to see a very stern looking women that immediately flipped out her phone and started scrolling through pictures.   She shows me a picture and asked me if this was my room. Remember, I said I would be sharing what a towel is NOT for in Hong Kong?  Let me go back to the sleep deprived first night we were in Hong Kong and we were all feeling terrible with a sickness that was creeping in on us.  I had spilled a little bit of medicine on the counter and cleaned it up with a towel and then laid the clean medicine cup on it to dry.  That teeny tiny little pink spot I cleaned up with the towel was the problem.  I was told that THIS time they would not charge me for the stain, but if it happened again I would be charged.  This was on a white towel, that would be bleached, and the spot would have come out without bleach anyway.  I stood there a little confused and basically just walked away laughing. To recap, a towel is not for cleaning.  Lesson learned. Yep, Hong Kong was just not going to be kind to us.

After lunch, we headed out to tackle the MTR (Don't confuse it with Bangkok's MRT.  They will correct you!)  We headed to the Star Ferry.  We were planning on checking out the light show that night, but the ticket counter was closed.  Everyone we asked seemed confused about how to get tickets, so we scrapped that idea, but hey, we did get to see the boat.

 The Tsuen Wan MTR Station that we used.  Thankfully, we were at the end of the line, so it made it pretty easy for us.

 The boys on the MTR

The Star Ferry

On to plan B.  We decided to head to the Peak Tram to head up to the Peak to see the great views on Hong Kong. We were dropped off at the line to see that there was  2 hour wait to get on the tram.  I wasn't going to let all of our plans be ruined, so we decided just to tough it out and wait in line.  We ended up waiting about an hour and a half to get to the tram, which was only about a 10 minute ride!  It was pretty fun to look out and see the views as we climbed up a very steep mountain.  It was getting close to sunset, so we made our way up to the Peak.  Then we headed up many escalators to The Sky Terrace 428, which is the highest viewing platform in Hong Kong.  The views are supposed to be amazing.  Let's keep 2 things in mind...I am deathly afraid of heights and the whole time we were in Hong Kong the smog was so bad you could hardly see in front of you.

 Waiting in line for The Peak Tram

At the top of the Terrace, they hand you headphones to get a historical tour of the city.  The boys loved listening to the recordings.  I, on the other hand, was so nervous from being up so high and surrounded by glass walls, that I sat down and people watched.  I never even put the headphones on.  Too much of a sensory overload for me.  We really could not see much from up there.  I would only recommend spending the money to do that if it is a clear day.  I am sure it would be amazing to look out over the water and see all building from up there. Maybe we will get another chance someday.  After we left the peak ,we grabbed a quick bite to eat and waited another hour and a half to get back on the tram and head back down the mountain.  You have the option to buy a one way ticket up the mountain.  I would do that and just get a taxi back down.

On the Sky Terrace

The boys listening to the recordings about Hong Kong

 View from The Peak

We did catch a pretty sunset

Nighttime View from The Peak 

Lincoln checking out the market before heading back home

We made it back to our hotel after a long day and looked at each other, trying to figure out what we had accomplished.  And we realized all we had done all day was wait...wait for a shuttle...wait for a taxi...tram...dinner..tram...taxi. One thing I have been learning is that when you are scheduling out your days when traveling, it may look good on paper, but it may not actually go anywhere as smooth as you had hoped for.  It is a learning experience for sure.  We did meet some very sweet people on the MTR that gave the boys some biscuits. (How do you teach your kids to not take food from strangers when everyone in Asia is always handing them some kind of treat?)  So Hong Kong, will you redeem yourself on day four?  Check back to find out!