Thanksgiving weekend in Hong Kong!

Hey y'all!
This past week has truly been amazing in so many, many ways.  To start, it was American Thanksgiving!!!!  Yay…so my normally adorable preschoolers got a special surprise.

I can't post pictures of my precious students… so these are their teddy bears

Thanksgiving TURKEY!!!  Thank Principal Susan!

I celebrated in typical American fashion:

And I had a pretty fantastic dinner with the CEO of the school and various church members:

So many food pictures...

We love them in Taiwan

Don't worry, there are more...

But it was time for me to take a break from Taichung life for a little dose of home.  But since America (or Canada) is too far away…off I went to Hong Kong!

*I truly believe in seeing everything a country (or S.A.R.) has to offer.  But I live in Taiwan, so most of what I did in HK was to get a taste of "western" culture, which is intertwined with more traditional Chinese culture in Hong Kong.  So if my excitement about American culture seems a little disturbing, sorry!  The holidays have made me miss home!*

Friday Afternoon/Evening:

HK Airport is totally ready for Christmas

Double decker bus- the cheapest way to get from the airport to your destination!!!

But don't take the bus if you have places to go…because traffic can be a LITTLE problem  here.  But it gives you a great view of the city and a real idea of how HK actually operates.

Also, feel free to enjoy delicious sushi dinners in your hotel room when you finally get there at 9 pm..

Saturday:
This is probably the closest I actually got to being culturally appropriate.  So when you think of HK, you probably think of me doing things like this:

My first selfie of the trip! REAL TALK: Gingerbread lattes don't exist in Taiwan!  But they do in Hong Kong!

 You probably don't see me here:

This is Tai O, quite possibly the most beautiful town I have been to in a long time.   Huge SHOUT-OUT to Cindy Fung, who has worked here, for recommending I visit!  (And this is the view from the Solo Cafe.)
To get to Tai O is very easy, and only takes about 2 hours from my hotel in the heart of Kowloon.  Amazing!!!

Fresh air/No throngs of tourists?  Sign me up!

Also delicious ginger honey tea and informational books provided by the greatest cafe ever!

And you can take a boat to see dolphins...

But there has to be a downside…the constant smell of fish and shrimp paste

Which clearly didn't get me down when I made it to the Tai O Heritage Hotel!

Or spoil my appetite- yummy pork dumplings (another great recommendation from Cindy)

Having spent a delightful morning and afternoon in Tai O, I arrived back in the metropolitan HK area with plans to attempt to understand the MTR Airport Express (which I failed at MISERABLY!!!)  and to aimlessly wander around some shopping malls.
So imagine my surprise when I found myself here:

Wait…is that ice?

Are these ice skates?

Have I just been skating at the rink for an hour and a half?

The Canadian in me can't resist ice skating.  So having found a rink and wanting to relive my glorious Rockefeller Plaza days (well, day, I only went once) off I went.  I'm actually not horrid at skating, so I managed to stay upright the whole time.  Strangely enough, I didn't notice any fathers attempting to teach their daughters hockey strategies (thanks daddy!)

 I did a little shopping:

TMNT Advent Calendar #winning

Yeah…this is creepy…what are you doing Hong Kong?

Also, Cartier decorates for the holidays spectacularly everywhere, not just on 5th Ave.

I returned home, by way of mile long subway connector overpass (Dear NYC, can we get one of these between Grand Central and Penn, please?), to my hotel to rest up for my next magical adventure Sunday…which was also when I had to go home…

And got an obligatory Christmas-y pic at the mall!

Sunday:
What's a poor deprived expat to do when missing the Christmas season in the States?  There's only one answer, y'all: GO TO DISNEYLAND!

I am enroute to the happiest place on earth!

 HK Disneyland is clearly winning with the convenience factor, everyone.  For starters, you can take the subway to Disneyland.  Less than 1/2 a mile from the front gate.  And not just any subway car…the special mickey car.

Disneyworld, your monorails aren't this cool.  And they're in the park.

Also you can buy your ticket at Circle-K, which is basically the same thing as 7-11.  Hello, convenience!  Good-bye, traffic nightmares!

Scenes from the happiest metro station in the world!

I arrived at the park about a half hour before it opened and was treated to these beautiful views as it opened!

The front gate!

And here come the princesses to greet us!

 Once inside, there was soooo much to do:

Buzz Lightyear!!! 

"You must be sober and in good health to ride this ride."  Ummm…what types of problems are y'all having in HK?

Sleeping Beauty's Castle (also, the smallest castle ever.)

My favorite ride!!!!!!  (no sarcasm.)  Just as magical in HK as in Orlando!

 There was delicious food to eat:

Dole Mango Whip!!!!  They have them in HK too!

Mickey mouse hot chocolate!!!  Look at the sprinkles!

Also, hot ginger coca-cola.  Sounds gross to me, but to each their own...

There was a parade to watch:

Parade time!

It's like the Mickey water tower at WDW!

Lion King = A classic no matter where you are

And every parade needs a band playing Christmas carols!

There were new and old friends to meet!

Even before the park opening, I found these two!

Look who I ran into right as the park opened!

Not pictured: Tinkerbell's extreme confusion when she asked: "Where did you fly in from?" and I sad Taiwan.  #expatproblems

But eventually, I had a flight to catch…so I said goodbye:

 After (top) and Before (bottom) shots!!

No, Thank you Disney!

Grabbed one last Gingerbread Latte for the flight:

See you next Christmas!

My airline still feeds me! Yay Dragonair!

 And I was out of HK$!!!  So thanks HK for the amazing weekend!  But I can honestly say I am happy to be home in Taichung for now!

Christmas tree at school/home!

Happy start of the Advent season everyone!  I hope mine continues to be this blessed!  Check back next weekend for pics and stories of our preschool Christmas show!