When we got home they couldn’t wait to put them on and give us a fashion show. Mitchell eagerly got dressed up and strutted around singing a chinese new year song much to our delight. You can see a short video of the kids singing here. As a side note, all the decorations on the door behind them were created by Bethany. We’re very proud of her for writing in Chinese.

Mitchell happily got dressed up to head off to school in his Chinese New Year outfit. He was so happy when we went downstairs to wait for his school bus and he discovered his classmates were all dressed up too.

Don’t they look adorable in their red and gold?
Mitchell had a wonderful day and participated in all his Chinese New Year activities. My little boy is growing up and inch by inch he is becoming more open to trying new things and wearing different clothes. Hopefully he’ll have a great year of the Dragon!

In the middle of Disneyland was a lantern adorned with giant golden dragons.

The centre spun around showing a montage of the classic Disney characters. Look closely and you might just find Mushu in this picture too!

Around the rest of the park were various coloured dragons.

These are just a couple of the dragons we encountered. Lady and the Tramp – one of my all time favorite movies, and Aladdin’s Genie.

Bethany decided to rub his lamp and make a wish!

And BAM! There was Mushu. The kids couldn’t leave the park without wishing him a happy year of himself.

Yep … B is for BETHANY! And even Disneyland want you to know “This is it!”

Her brief was “dress scary”.  After a lot of deliberation and mulling around Pottinger Street (the area in Central that specialises in costumes), Titus decided to make use of the Terminator leather jacket I got him many years back. To complete his ensemble we stopped off at the Wan Chai toy markets where he was able to get a replica gun (scarily with bb pellets included).

He got into character walking down one of the main streets of Wan Chai. I was freaked out both by how creepy he looked AND the fact I didn’t want him arrested. He certainly drew a lot of attention.

I went for the basic monster mask approach …

The birthday girl loved our costumes. She couldn’t stop roaring with laughter at Titus as he kept pulling out his gun and asking her guests if they were Sarah Connor.

Was a great night and great fun but I can assure you my kids will never be getting a hold of that gun!

The tour we went on used a boat to take us around to various locations. Our first stop was Sharp Island where the kids explored the coastline for shells, walked up the trail in Kui Tsui Country Park and got to see a “pineapple” rock.These boulders scattered along the shoreline and tidal bridge are named after ‘pineapple’ buns, which have this lined and lumpy texture and actually have nothing to do with the fruit they are named for. They are created from weathering, contraction and expansion of the mineral makeup of the rock. On Sharp Island we also got to see quartz outcrops. I got to show the kids a few examples around the shoreline where they could see the translucency and difference between it and the surrounding rock. The kids loved exploring the rocks after that, realising there was more to the rocks around them than what they thought.

We hopped back on the boat and were taken around some rugged coastline. We travelled past virtually inaccessible but incredibly private beaches, water bashed caves possibly used  by pirates centuries ago and even a stone arch.

My background in geography and geology meant I was totally fascinated by the structures we were seeing, but the kids also seemed to take an interest in what was around us which was great to see.

After stopping on an island for a seafood lunch (included in the price of the tour), we hiked up over the island and the landscape eventually opened up to this …

I couldn’t believe we were still in Hong Kong. This was the last thing I expected to see … a near tropical beach with crystal blue water. Needless to say were were very taken by the breathtaking view and the cleanliness of the beach.

The kids could have stayed here all day and so could I. The guide told us you can actually pay to use an area just off the beach to pitch tents and camp here. If I can ever convince Titus to go camping, this beach would be an awesome place to escape from everything. The hinterland around the beach had wild cows – their parents were just left there many years ago and the cows have continued to thrive in a small herd since.

The final stop on our tour was to an abandoned Hakka village – ‘Yim Tin Tsai Village’. The only part of this island that seems to have had any preservation on it is a church which is kept in beautiful condition. Everywhere else you look you see abandoned ruins of what I can only imagine would have been a very quaint village in times past.

The ruins were beautiful in their own way, surrounded in lush green foliage as the jungle slowly grows over the homes. No one could tell me why the residents deserted the island. I can’t help but wonder as these houses would make very nice homes by Hong Kong standards if they were renovated to their former glory.

Most of the village looks out over salt fields. Villagers used to harvest salt but now only the tidal crabs seem to make use of the fields. The fields were bordered by mangroves offering a barrier between the sea and the land.

We walked around the village through bamboo forest, eventually coming to what we thought was a dam, but turned out to be a breakwater barrier which acts as a typhoon shelter. The barrier connects the island with the Kau Sai Chau golf course.

On our way back to the boat, we passed an abandoned girl guides complex. Surrounded by prison fencing and masses of rusting barbed wire I couldn’t help but wonder whether the barriers were put there to keep the girls in or to keep everyone else out. It certainly would make an interesting setting for a horror novel.

As we rode our boat back to Sai Kung pier the sun was beginning to set and the kids quietly pondered everything they had seen. Mitchell sat at the back of the boat mesmerised by the waves and foam forming in the wake of where we had been.

I wasn’t sure the kids would enjoy a day where we spent a good part of it looking at rocks, but they did. In fact everyone on our tour came away with a new appreciation of what is hidden in Hong Kong if you just take the time out and the effort to explore.

Santa ate his cookies and drank his milk. The reindeer ate a lot of their carrot and made a mess. Santa used sparkly wrapping paper that the kids had never seen in the shops and the magic weaved its spell over both the kids.

Once again the kids were spoilt with a bounty of gifts surrounding our tree. This year Mitchell was truly into the spirit of ripping wildly into his presents, although he has a ways to go to catch up to the speed of Bethany.

Bethany appears to have outgrown much of what I would expect a normal 7 year old to be into with her sole surviving interest being that of Littlest Pet Shop. She was suitably delighted when she discovered Santa had brought her a LPS treehouse to play with all her pets. Mitchell meanwhile was also happy to discovered Santa had read his letter and given him a giant airplane.

There is nothing as joyful as seeing the sparkle of happiness Christmas morning brings to our kids.

First up was my birthday. I’m old. Not OFFICIALLY old … I have to wait until the end of 2012 for that, but I am old. I’m now living my last year of the dirty thirties and to see that in Titus and the kids took me out for a birthday lunch where I was given my ‘cake’ …

Chinese birthday buns to be more correct. This is a bun, not dissimilar to those which are used in bbq pork buns (char siew bau). However these buns are larger, shaped like a peach and filled with a lotus paste, and sometimes a baked egg yoke as well. They are generally only made to order and YUMMY!

On the actual day of my birthday the kids thought it would be a nice day to have a picnic and bike ride. I totally agreed with them so we headed out to Inspiration Lake – an area of Disneyland set aside for free public access – and took a ride around the lake.

Mitchell and I hired a four-wheeler. He had a blast ‘steering’ it with me as we followed behind Bethany. We spent an hour exploring the whole bike track and taking in the scenery. Being away from a lot of the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong it was relatively quiet and peaceful … the only lingering evidence we were in Hong Kong was the ever present pollution mist that hovers unending in the air above us.

We stopped in different spots to explore the vegetation and run on the grass. No ‘keep off the grass’ signs here.

We ended the afternoon sitting on the grass enjoying our lunch together. Our first picnic in Hong Kong was a great way to unwind and relax and just have fun with my kids. It was perfect!

To end my day, Titus and the kids took me out to dinner with one of my favorite cuisines – Teppen-yaki!

 The kids took a front row seat and were completely mesmerised by the chef as he worked his magic. They tried almost everything he created and spent the whole evening smiling as dish after dish was prepared before their eyes.

A prefect day with my family – I am one very lucky mum indeed.

It is that time of year, and whilst I know I have been sadly negligent with getting this blog up to date (I promise to try and be more diligent in the coming week or so), I just wanted to wish all my friends, family and readers where ever you may be a Happy Chinese New Year. We leave the rabbit behind and move onward with the dragon.

I wonder what the Chinese New Year has in store for us all?

p.s How am I doing with the Disney themed e-cards?

I don’t really do the whole New Year Resolution thing, but there has been one little challenge I had been pondering and I’ve decided the new year is the perfect opportunity to set my experiment into motion.

Hong Kong relies heavily on public transport – in particular – taxi’s. There are allegedly some 18,000 taxis in Hong Kong. In most other countries a taxi would not be considered a form of public transport, however here they are cheap and generally abundant. For 4 people it can often be the same price or less to catch a taxi than a bus. Like everyone else here I use Hong Kong taxi’s on a regular basis … so … here is my test question …

How many of Hong Kong’s 18,000 taxis do I ride in over a month/3 months/year? Do I catch the same taxi frequently and not know it, or are the taxis truly so prolific I hardly ever get the same taxi?

I plan to record the number plate of every single taxi I ride for at least the next month … gunna try for the year, but let’s see what the year brings as it unfolds. Anyone want to hazard a guess to how it will pan out? (I honestly have NO idea … so it should be interesting).

Am I crazy? Possibly …

I learnt all too well the transitionary nature of life in Hong Kong as an expat with several friends and acquaintances moving on either back to their homes or to new locations. Some allowed us to bid them farewell and have kept in contact while others, sadly, disappeared in the night never to be heard from again. It was painful for me to see some of my close friends depart, knowing they have played such an important part of my life in this crazy city but I appreciate their friendship and know that for some at least distance won’t dampen our ties.

As the year comes to a close despite those who have moved on I have come to realise how fortunate I am to have a diverse group of friends and acquaintances here. They don’t replace my friends back home and abroad – they just add to the diversity of our lives.

During the year I have discovered the joys of philanthropy. I have volunteered in a variety of different charitable ventures both with my time, resources and money. It has been wonderful having the opportunity to help those less fortunate or in a different situation from the norm. I hope this is something I can continue with for the foreseeable future and, in fact, do more as time allows.

Our family has had the chance to explore places we didn’t even know we would venture to … South Korea and Borneo! Who’d've thought! One can only wonder at what opportunities might open themselves to us in 2012.

Overall the year has been one I certainly can’t complain about. There are those in much worse situations and less fortunate than our family. I hope next year is a good one for EVERYONE!

2012 – bring it on!
My last in the dirty thirties … wonder what it will bring …

Happy New Year everyone.