Wordless Wednesday: Hong Kong

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday: Hong Kong

The rain pouring down.  I left during Sydney's Superstorm.
I was close to 4 hours delayed due to the airport shutting down 3 times;
twice while I was in the terminal and once while I was on the plane.
Eventually I made it. 

"Head in the Clouds.  Feet in Hong Kong"
(Fashion Walk)

Mid-day crossing at Causeway Bay

A Symphony of Lights, Victoria Harbour
(from Avenue of the Stars on Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront)

High Tea at the Clipper Lounge
(Mandarin Oriental)

Night market stroll

This post is in loving memory:

Me (at 3) and Uncle 8 in matching jackets

Bangkok

Shortly after returning home, I was in the skies again – this time Bangkok-bound!  I had another wonderful work opportunity to travel to Bangkok for 2 back-to-back educational courses.  As usual, I was pressed for time but luckily, our commute to the hospital was by boat every morning so I managed to see some sites.  Otherwise, we squeezed in a few things in the evenings after dinners and I had 2.5 hours before heading to the airport.

Bangkok, Thailand

Our hotel in Bangkok was The Peninsula.  I have always wanted to stay at The Peninsula and it exceeded my expectations.  I mean there was a “P” pressed into the toilet paper!   (Eloise on our usual FaceTime while I am travelling was very impressed by the room).  The negative was the lack of time I had to spend leisurely lying around in my room or the pool.  On my last day, I got up at 6am just so I could dip my feet into the pool.

The Peninsula entrance

The Peninsula welcome (too pretty to eat!)

View from my room

Because I can - watching TV from the bathtub
(Reality: resting my weary feet at 11:00 PM)

The Peninsula pool at 6:00 AM

The course Welcome Reception was held at The Peninsula's Paribatra Aviation Lounge.  It was a pretty special place!

Good morning, Bangkok!

Here are a few of things I saw on our morning and afternoon boat rides to and from the course.

Sky Bar

Most famous for being featured heavily in The Hangover II, it was a must visit.  We raced over here one night for a very expensive drink or 2.  It reminded me of my Mai Tai in Monaco.  It was disgusting but I was going to finish the whole thing for the cost of it.  At least these cocktails were tasty.

Siriraj Medical Museum

Unfortunately (or not) I don’t have any photos from here.  I knew about it from a quick search of off-the-beaten-path things to do in Bangkok on limited time on TripAdvisor.  I didn’t know it was one level down from where I was spending most of my working day so I slipped down there during a break.

There are 5 museums on the hospital campus; the most popular are all together: Pathological, Forensics and Parasitology.  It was well-worth the visit but definitely not for the faint-hearted.  Given my studying background, I was still a bit shell-shocked from the very graphic displays (ahem, mummified remains in a glass cabinet). 

Bangkok Flower Market & Pho Wat (Temple of the Reclining Buddha)

I had 2.5 hours to spare before departing for the airport – yippee!  So after breakfast, I headed across the river to jump on the public boat to the Flower Market.  I didn’t get to go to the Weekend Market so this was great for my ‘market’ fix – the hustle and bustle, trying to get through cramped alley ways through the stalls and rolling food vendors.

Squid, anyone?

After the market, I walked to Pho Wat.  I remember visiting here in the past but it was nice to go again.  It was relatively quiet… just HOT.

Good Eats

I was so excited to eat in Bangkok and nowhere was I disappointed.  Here are some of the delicious plates I had:

At Neverending Summer

A refreshing coconut at The Peninsula

Great news: It looks like I will be heading back there again in a few months’ time so will get to further explore… and eat!

BEST.BIRTHDAY.EVER. Disneyland (Day Two)

We took advantage of the Magic Morning access on this day and started at Fantasyland as the pros do.  We had no time constraints until the late afternoon so we ticked off as many ‘lands’ as we could, and even caught a parade.

It's a small world after all… it's a small world after all.

It's a small, small world

I was happy as I finally had a beignet.  Delicious!

And met a few familiar faces too.

Aladdin and Jasmine

Mickey Mouse, himself.

For dinner, we dined at my favourite: Blue Bayou inside Pirates of the Caribbean.  This was great as part of dining here, we got Fast Passes for Fantasmic which meant we were on rides until 10 minutes before the show started and still sat front row (so close we got wet!) 

Eloise pulled her birthday card again

Fantasmic is fantastic!

Again, we ran into the issue of a few of our favourites being closed: Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion and Matterhorn Bobsleds.  And for the record, after MissE’s meltdown on Star Tours during our last visit we gave it a miss this time.

Favourite ride survey:

Me: Indiana Jones Adventure (MissE did not like this one, one bit)

MrH: Indiana Jones Adventure

MissE: It’s a Small World

MrE: Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (and loved watching Jedi Training Academy)

“Okay, bye” (Day Three)

On our last day, we let Eloise and Eden loose in World of Disney to pick out their take home present.  Eloise chose a Princess Jasmine doll (which we have been having trouble finding) and Eden chose Mickey Mouse’s endorsed Jedi Training Academy lightsaber.  MrH chose a Chewbacca backpack (see the hilarious video of MissE and Chewie.  We really liked Big Hero 6) and I couldn’t resist the Disney make-up line (Haunted Mansion nail polish colours!)

Awesome wonderful cousin picked us up again and was our taxi as we went in search for a new larger suitcase and repacked before our flight.  The kids wore out Kona (they were missing Sabi) until dinner at Carmine’s Italian Restaurant.  Three Six months on and I am still thinking of the pasta I had there!  Then it was time to hop on the plane to Down Under.  Eloise had the best birthday ever and we loved the memories we made there.

Until next time… we’ll be dreaming of Disneyland!

{How cute is this?!  Do your own at Disneyside.  You will also see this in some updates in our house}

BEST.BIRTHDAY.EVER. Disney California Adventure (Day One)

Today is the DAY!!!  

Planning our day

Frozen Fun is at Disney California Adventure so we spent Eloise’s Big Day there.  What better way to celebrate Eloise’s 6^th birthday than meeting Elsa and Anna?  (Warning: There are a whole lot of photos)

Eloise's Big Birthday Celebration

At opening, we headed straight for Cars Land to Fastpass our way onto Radiator Springs Racers (our first time!).  We spent the morning on the rides here (not going to lie, but I love DJ’s Dance Party) until it was time for MissE’s Queen for the Day makeover.

Lightening McQueen

Mater

On Luigi's Flying Tires

Cars Land selfie

Radiator Springs

She had an 'Elsa' makeover at the Anna & Elsa’s Boutique at Downtown Disney while Daddy and Eden headed to RIDEMAKERZ®.  

Let the Elsa-fication begin!

Meanwhile at Ridemakerz...

Pimpin' his ride

Elsa's side braid

A sprinkle of fairy dust

Ready to reveal her makeover!

Queen Eloise

MissE was now ready to meet Anna & Elsa!

Eloise wasn't the only excited one to meet Anna

"Eden, did you steal that penny from the well?"

"Remember the time you punched Hans in the face?"

We had a late lunch at Ariel’s Grotto to meet the Princesses.  Eden decided to heckle the Princesses and paid for it when Snow White kissed his hand and left a lipstick mark.  Eden burst into tears! 

Mulan made him feel better as they compared muscles.

And Eloise compared shoes with Cinderella

And there was more cake...

Then it was time for more rides!  On the way, we met these two rascals...

Chip, Eloise and Dale

Chip N' Dale … where did Eloise go?

A plus with going to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure in January is that it’s the temperature is pleasant and it’s off-peak so the lines are short – yay!  But the downside is the winter hours (shorter) and a few of our favourite attractions are closed like the World of Colour.  Boo!  So we finished the evening at Olaf’s Snow Fest and Freeze the Night! A Family Dance party.  We definitely needed more time here.

Marshmallow!

Favourite ride survey:

Me: Radiator Spring Racers (because I didn’t get to go on The Twilight Zone Tower Terror… again!  Grrr!)

MrH: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror… it’s a love hate relationship.

MissE: Radiator Spring Racers

MrE: It was a tie between Ariel’s Undersea Adventure (although he’s embarrassed to admit it) and Monsters Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!