We have a 2:20 flight back to Beijing.  The morning is spent lounging and packing.  We catch the shuttle back to train station.  We’re able to check in for the flight at the train station, including our luggage.  It sure makes the trip to the airport easy.  The train is quick, but when we get to the airport, there isn’t a gate listed for our flight.  It’s been raining all day, and there seem to be lots of cancellations and delays on the “Departures” board.  We work our way through Security and Immigration, and then get some lunch, waiting for our gate to post up.  It finally posts, we head to the gate and board.  On board, after a long wait, they tell us we’ve been delayed.  They start serving drinks, and a movie comes on the screen.  One hour later we get to take off.

Looking out our window before we head out to the airport

Back in Beijing, our arrival is smooth.  The luggage made the trip successfully and we get a good taxi driver.  Home sweet home!  We had a great trip.  Judy is celebrating Spring Break the rest of the week, but I have classes tomorrow.

Disneyland Hong Kong is our destination for today.  We’ve developed an affinity for Disney parks and all the unique design features they put in their parks.  We’re really curious what Disneyland in China might look like.

Disney entrance plaza

Looks familiar doesn’t it?

Main Street

It’s the castle, but on a somewhat smaller scale.

To get to the park requires use of the Hong Kong trains, but with a little work we get it figured out.  40 minutes later, we are exiting a Disneyland train and walking into the park.  As with most of their properties, the entrance is a large area with fountains and sculptures.  It’s raining intermittently, and there doesn’t seem to be much of a crowd.  We get our tickets, and pass through the gates into the very familiar world of a Disney park.  There’s a train station and then Main Street with shops and food.   At the end is the castle, but it’s much smaller.  We start our tour of the park looking for the Hong Kong version of the Haunted Mansion, named Mystic Manor.

Mystic Manor is an entirely different story than the Haunted Mansion, and employs entirely different effects.  It’s a lot of fun, observing the mix of Disney and China in the presentation.  There are no lines, so we get to check it out several times.  There are several different areas of the park, just like any other Disneyland (Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, etc.).  They’re smaller, with fewer attractions, but well done.  We enjoy ourselves and get through the entire park quickly, thanks to damp weather, and the fact that it’s a Tuesday.

Back at the hotel, we relax before heading out to see a more of downtown Hong Kong.  It’s a bustling city full of lights and traffic.  It’s been a great 4 days.  Our visit has whetted our appetite for possibly another visit before we leave Asia permanently.

We begin our Day 2 of Hong Kong touring boarding the Star Ferry to cross the harbor.  Our Big Bus tour today begins in Kowloon, on the other side.  It’s raining today, but we can see enough to be impressed.  The bus provides earphones for recorded commentary of the tour.  It’s so helpful to better understand all the sights we’re seeing.  After the tour, we walk to the nearby Peninsula Hotel, the oldest 5-star hotel in Hong Kong.  It’s a grand old hotel, with an afternoon “high tea”, considered a must-do in Hong Kong.  We arrive 45 minutes early, and the line is already beginning to form.

The Peninsula Hotel

One of the 14 Rolls Royce “shuttles” in the fleet of the Peninsula Hotel.

It’s a very formal tea, with fancy cakes, etc. and some exclusive teas.  We enjoy ourselves, as well as watching the hotel activities.  The Peninsula has a fleet of 14 Rolls Royce limos, painted “Peninsula” green.  Cars are pulling up and loading and unloading guests all afternoon.  This is a great way to kill the afternoon.

Walking around the streets of Kowloon

The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center

The ICC building. Dinner on the 102nd floor tonight.

Hong Kong Skyline from the harbor

We walk around Kowloon, getting a feel for the streets and the activity.  One of the “side tours” is the Star Ferry Harbor Tour.  There are some great views.  Our dinner tonight is at Tosca, in the ICC building, the tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong.  We head over early hoping to visit the Sky Tower, a viewing area on the 100^th floor.  It’s really scenic, although the clouds are close to fogging us in.  After an hour of viewing, we head back down, looking for our restaurant.  We find the entrance for the Ritz Carlton Hotel and our restaurant, but it only leads to an elevator bay.  We’re loaded onto a high-speed elevator back to the top and the 103^rd floor.  We unload into a reception area and desk for the hotel, ON THE 103^RD FLOOR!  This is really high!

The view from the 100th floor of the ICC.

Tosca is down an escalator on the 102^nd floor.  It’s what could safely be called “fine dining”.  We enjoy our dinner and the view.  It’s an unbelievable setting for a meal, and a highlight for our Hong Kong trip.

Brussels Sprouts

Roasted guinea fowl.

The plan for our first day in Hong Kong is to find “The Big Bus”, a double-decker tourist bus, designed for hop-on / hop-off sightseeing.  There are three routes available for tours.  The fee includes 2 days of riding privileges with unlimited on-off loading.  There are also a few extra side tours.  One of the stops is close to our hotel, so we start looking for it.  There is nothing marking a loading site.  I was expecting some kind of sign, or kiosk, or something.  I finally spot a bus, but it’s driving away.  According to the brochures, another should be along in 20 minutes, so we cool our heels with some level of impatience.  Finally, a bus rolls up, and our Hong Kong touring begins.

Hong Kong Skyline on Friday night

The Big Bus

More Friday night pictures

We begin with the Hong Kong downtown route, seeing many of the city buildings and historical sites.  Part of the tour is the cable car up to Victoria Peak.  It’s a steep ride with tremendous views of Hong Kong and Victoria Harbor.  The top is fogged in with cloud cover, but we enjoy a meal at “Bubba Gump’s” at the peak.

Hong Kong Streets and the trolley system

Back at the bottom of the hill, we switch to another bus route taking us to the south side of Hong Kong Island and Stanley.  After passing thru a tunnel, we find ourselves out of the city, and touring a coastline.  The big attraction is Stanley, a beach, market, and shopping area.  It’s surrounded with very exclusive apartments.  We hop off and walk through the Stanley Market, making a few touristy purchases.  Back at the bus we finish the tour and head back to the hotel.  It’s been a full day of touring and we’re beat.  I go looking for an ATM to get some cash and find a McDonalds.  I grab some food for dinner in the room, and we finish the night enjoying the views from our hotel room of the harbor.

The Stanley Market

Stanley restaurant row

A cemetery near Stanley

We’re anxious to get to Hong Kong.  According to weather forecasts, the temps will be between 70 and 78 the entire trip.  There are also supposed to be intermittent showers, which will definitely be a change from Beijing.  We’re getting better at dealing with airports.  Taxi and check-in goes smoothly.  Security is never easy, but we’re packing better than we used to.  Immigration is easy but requires standing in line for a little while.  The flight departs about 9:45am, 15 minutes later than scheduled.

Landing is more interesting than usual.  It’s overcast, but it becomes obvious we’re circling.  Finally, an hour after our scheduled arrival, we start down, and break through the clouds.  It’s a really bumpy landing.  They had warned about high winds on approach.  On the ground finally, we begin to figure out how to get into the city.

Just outside immigration and the luggage area, I find a place to exchange our money for Hong Kong dollars.  HKD is 7-1 to US dollars.  Chinese RMB is 6-1.  This should be easier than the Thai Baht, and Korean money.  This exchange spot also sells round-trip tickets for the Airport Express to downtown Hong Kong Station.  It’s a smooth high-speed trip that takes 24 minutes.  At the station, there are free shuttles to the downtown hotels.  30 minutes later, we’re moving into our room.

It’s a nice room with a gorgeous view of Victoria Harbor.  We’re right above the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center.  If you ever look at a map of Hong Kong, the HKCEC juts out into the harbor very near the center of downtown.  The view is so dramatic, I’m not sure I’m going to want to leave the room.  It was worth the extra we paid for the “Harbor View”, as opposed to the City View.

After unpacking and resting, we decide to venture out for the “Symphony of Lights”.  It’s a light show with music encompassing the Hong Kong skyline.  We figure out how to catch a nearby Star Ferry (less than 50 cents), and cross the Harbor to Kowloon to the viewing area.  Our hotel is right in the middle of the presentation.  Hong Kong touts itself as having more skyscrapers than anywhere else in the world (twice as many as New York City).  It’s hard to argue.  It’s breathtaking.  There’s no way photos can do this justice.  Before the scheduled start, there is an announcement that in honor of the World Wildlife Foundation “Hour of Darkness”, there will be no light show tonight.  In fact, the skyscrapers are going to turn off all their lights.  We’ll get to catch it another night.  We board the ferry for our return trip, and it’s not too long before we’re looking at the lights on the Kowloon side of the harbor from our bed.

Judy has no classes today.  BISS just has professional development all day.  She’s not in a hurry to leave for school, but if she doesn’t go early, getting a taxi may be a problem.  Friday is an “early” day for me.  I leave around 8:15.  The trains are not overly crowded.

After classes, I get a chance to talk to the teachers about their airport pickup experiences.  Steve (from Miami) was picking up a friend coming in for a visit.  He went to the wrong terminal, and after an hour of exchanging phone calls, figured it out, caught a bus to the correct terminal, and found her.  She was a little freaked out.  She had some anxiety about making the trip, and Steve not being there when she arrived heightened the problem.  He finally got her settled down and she was sleeping when he left the apartment this morning.

Josie (from El Paso/London) was in charge of picking up the new English teacher, Rhena, from Ohio.  Rhena is replacing Lori, who didn’t return to Beijing after Spring Festival break.  They found each other without issue and BHSFIC had provided a driver to get them into town.  He dropped them off at the main campus where Rhena was supposed to spend the night.  Apparently no one had made plans for bedding for the dorm room for the night, or arranged for her to get to school the next day, or had any plans for meals.  Thankfully Josie had an extra room at her apartment for the night.  I can’t imagine coming into town, and being dropped off at a strange site, with no instructions for what was going to happen next.  Thankfully Josie was with her and handled it all.  Rhena told Josie, if she hadn’t been there, she probably would have headed back to the airport and then back to the US.  BHSFIC has got to figure out how to better handle incoming teachers from the US.  Now Rhena gets to find an apartment, and learn all the tricks for utilities, etc.

When I get home, it’s nap time.  When I wake up, I begin packing for Hong Kong.  Judy calls, and we meet at Bluche for social time with the faculty at BISS.  We don’t stay long with packing hanging over our heads.  We only have to pack for four days, so it’s not too much of an issue, and the flight isn’t that early tomorrow.  Time for a vacation!

Today is a full day for me.  I have a regular school day finishing with Orchestra Club around 5:30.  The faculty has a social activity planned at a Spanish restaurant in Sanlitun Village at 7:00 pm.  Since I don’t see them very often, I decide to participate.  It requires a little different train route coming from BHSFIC, and coming out of the new station, I’m amazed at the sites.  It seems that every train station is in a world of it’s own with huge shopping malls and other interesting buildings.  I grab one of the motorized rickshaws after negotiating the fare, for the trip down the street to Sanlitun.  The driver is crazy.  He’ll take on trucks or any other vehicle as he makes his way down the street, honking, swerving, and yelling as he goes.

Arriving early at the restaurant, I get seated and order appetizers for the table.  It’s half-price night, on everything.  A small group is attending this evening.  None of the Chinese teachers are coming because they have early classes.  The teachers from the US I visit with the most are busy picking up people from the airport, and never arrive.  Our group ends up with five total.  Louise organized the activity.  Dr. Prettyman (from Utah) is the academic prinicipal, but mostly in charge of accreditation.  “Big Frank”, as the kids call him, is in charge of activities.  The final member of the group is David, the theater teacher.  I haven’t seen him since school started.  He teaches on Tuesday, and I teach on Thursday and Friday.

David taught one year at Amarillo College.  Says he enjoyed Amarillo and the Panhandle.  He taught 20 years at Milton Academy, a prestigious prep school in Boston.  He’s been in Beijing since 2007 and has a Chinese wife.  He is involved in numerous theater productions in the city.  He is also beginning to make inroads into the film industry as an actor.  One of his films is due out in April.  He told us tonight he’s scheduled to start shooting a movie with Jackie Chan in a few weeks.  I’m anxious to see his movie when it hits the theaters in China next month.

I mentioned last week that Judy taught a “model lesson” last Friday.  No one was exactly sure why.  Today we got the “lowdown”.  I’ll try to post the notice the school sent out to staff and parents today.

BISS@OP announcement

I’ve also included a few extra pictures taken of Judy while she was teaching the lesson.  She got several great comments at the Monday morning faculty meeting from the administrators that attended.

A mixed group of 2nd graders from BISS and 1st graders from the new school. Lots of adults checking her out.

Haircut time today!  I go over the Marriott early to swim, and then walk the ½ mile down the street to the salon.  This is the embassy neighborhood, and I pass the American Embassy, also France, Israel, and India.  At an intersection between the Indian & Israeli Embassies, there are LOTS of police gathered around, getting instructions.  I can’t stop now, but I’m gonna check it out later.

After the haircut, I head back up the street to the embassy area.  Many more police around, as well as cameras.  I take up a position across the street, just curious.  It’s not too long before they start moving us down the street.  I see all kinds of busses at the other end of the street, and it’s taped off.  Ambulances are pulling in and parking, like they’re getting ready for something.  We keep getting encouraged to move down the street.  Finally, a group comes into view from the other end.  They’re carrying signs, but they’re in Chinese, so I still don’t have it figured out.  They turn off the main street.  When I check out Google Maps on the iPad, I notice the Malaysian Embassy is down that street.

The story is that the protesters were surviving family members of the Malaysian plane disappearance.  They were told last night, officially, that all data pointed to the plane crashing, and they should accept the fact that their loved ones weren’t going to return.  They met this morning at the Lido Hotel, where they had been staying and attending update meetings.  They loaded buses for a trip to the Malaysian Embassy.  The busses were blocked from departing the hotel by the police, so the families decided to walk.  It’s about 4 kilometers.  They walked down a very busy street, shutting down traffic, and turned onto Embassy Row.  Before they arrived, another 3 bus loads of police arrived and unloaded.  We’re so far away by now that I can’t see much, but all the excitement is interesting.  I’m curious how the police would handle crowds like this.  They did a good job.  Everytime I was “encouraged” to move, they were polite.  The only problems I saw were when people tried to push past them.

Blog #200!!!!  I never expected to get this far.  Some days, it’s really tough to try and make something interesting out of a boring day.  The longer we’re here, the more mundane it will become.  I’ll try to kick my life up a notch or two if it really begins to drag.

I’m determined to find a fan today.  Lilly is coming around 9:30, so I plan for an early swim, followed by lunch, and a trip to Sundan in Sanlitun for a fan.  I’ve bought lots of electronic items in the past at Sundan (our clothes dryer, etc.)  They’ve got everything!   WRONG!  They don’t have fans.  They tell me they’ll begin to arrive in a month.  I’m beginning to fear for Judy’s sanity if I can’t find a fan, soon.  We’ve got 80’s in the weather forecast for this week.

While I’m at Sanlitun, I noticed some kind of activity in the square.  There’s a big elaborate set-up for the new Captain America promotion.  There are signs touting an appearance by Chris Evans.  After a google search, I find out he’s the “stud” in the movie.  Not sure when it all happens, but there is definitely a crowd waiting for something.

One of the fans actually has a shield?

Check out the two cleaning staff hand polishing the stage on the far right.

I head into the Yashow Market next door, looking for a couple of items.   Judy has been discussing my lack of a decent “light” jacket”, and she needs a small computer rolling bag for airline travel.  I find several rows of luggage shops.  It seems I can buy any TUMI bag I want for around $24, and that’s before I start negotiating.  I put everyone off by telling them I’m not buying today, until my wife sees the bag.  This isn’t Walmart.  There are no returns.

I find the floor with all the men’s wear, looking for jackets.  I see a few that aren’t bad, stopping at a shop with lots of Polo and Armani jackets.  I’m trying to figure out what kind of price I can get.  She says 300rmb (divide by 6 for dollars).  I tell her I’m probably not buying today, and she forces me to quote a price (jamming the calculator in my hand).  I tell her 100rmb and I ‘ll buy today.  She whines and moans, and moves down to 150.  After 5 minutes of her whining and me trying to move away, we settle on 120 rmb, so I’ve got a new coat, after all.

Back home I head out to Metro and make my grocery run for the week.  This should get us through our Hong Kong trip next week.