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| SYD - HKG (A380) |
I am so
grateful to my company for allowing me to assist on an educational course to
Hong Kong. It was an interesting
learning experience for me; as I quickly learned that cadaveric courses are all
not like our learning labs in Australia!
I also learned that my Cantonese is rusty. But at least I tried!
This trip
also offered a chance to see my extended family. But it meant I spent 10 days away from Eloise
and Eden, the longest I have been away from either. While Eloise was more than happy for the 10 days
without me (see November post), poor Eden didn’t cope as well – opting to sleep with his
bedroom door open with the hopes I would come home in the middle of the
night. I have to admit, although I was a
bit unsure as to what to do with so much silence at first, I enjoyed my
mini-break.
You may not
know this about me, but I spent a lot of my childhood in Hong Kong , even
calling it home for a few years. Two of
my fondest memories were going to “Ma Lau Shan” (Monkey Mountain in Kam Shan
Country Park) with my Auntie Madina and Uncle Augustine to feed the
monkeys. And the other was riding the
cable cars to Ocean Park, the only way in and out of the fun park. I let 11 year pass since my last visit to
Hong Kong and it is nearly unrecognizable now!
Feeding the monkeys is now illegal; and I am quietly relieved after
having monkeys jump out the bushes at me in Agra, India. And while I was able to ride the cable cars
at Ocean Park, they now have a much more efficient train in and out.
So without
further ado, my “work-holiday” mostly in photos:
*Note:
Sorry, no photos of work will be posted (medical images).
Day 1: Hello
Hong Kong!
I arrived in the late afternoon. It was a pleasant flight with a full row to myself! After watching a few movies, I really had no idea what to do with myself considering I didn't have to answer rapid fire questions for the last 10 hours. Only "What would you like for lunch?" and "Tea or coffee?" Life with a 4 year old girl.
Eating, right away! Explore the Hyatt Regency Sha Tin later!
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| Kaya Korean BBQ |
On the drive
back to the hotel, we passed my grandma’s old place on Waterloo Road, now an
unrecognizable green. I have many fond
memories there: lying in my grandma’s bed listening to the planes overhead and
walking to the corner shop with Ah-mah and always talking her into an ice cream
or a soy bean drink.
Although it
was 3am in Australia for me, I managed a welcome drink with a co-worker.
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| I will definitely pass on this beer next time! Yuck! |
Day 2:
While today
was technically a working day for me, I had the morning to myself… after a
FaceTime with Eloise who I had to show my hotel room to (we sure named her
correctly!) and Eden who was looking for me but “I can’t find you!” (transcript
below). I managed to get in a swim and
leisurely (Chinese) breakfast.
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| 25m pool |
FaceTime with Eden
Eden: Hi
mama! Where are you?
Me: Hi
buddy! I’m in the hotel.
Eden: I
looking for you. I can’t find you.
Me: I’ll be home in a few days.
Eden: Are
you on airplane?
Me: No, I’m
at the hotel.
Eden: Oh,
you on airplane?
Me: No, I’m
in the hotel.
Eden: You on
airplane?
Me: Okay,
I’m on the airplane.
Eden: Smiling. I love you! BE. BACK. SOON. (While
pointing his finger)
That
evening, we had a welcome dinner and I was excited to dine on the famous Peking
duck at Sha Tin 18 Restaurant.
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| We would like to see him in surgery… butcher knife and all! |
Day 3:
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| I love jook for breakfast! |
Today was
spent working... and unfortunately, an incident I passed off as nothing was a
catalyst for new footwear for 3-6 weeks.
I was waiting for a few late arrivals via taxi in front of the
specialist clinic. There were very few
people around, yet this woman (a rather large one) walked straight into
me. Luckily, I caught myself from
falling but ouch! It sure hurt. The show must go on… and I ignored it,
getting through the day.
That evening
I got to have fun! We went to Ocean
Park’s Halloween Fest. Okay, you know I
am not a chicken… but seriously, Ocean Park can do scary. They had multiple haunted houses with dark corners and creatures of night jumping at you. The best was Law Lan's Possessed Possessions.
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| Pumpkin Creation Lab |
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| K-Pop Madness |
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| Ocean Park cable car |
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| Old Hong Kong filled with food stalls |
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| Facing my fears (FreakMob 2013) |
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| Even the M&M Crash the Monster Party haunted house was scary! |
After a few hours
on my feet, and tripping on a raised curb post riding The Hair Raiser, I felt
my right foot toes seize up. I thought
maybe it was a toe cramp and limped back to the hotel. Putting my
feet up at the hotel, I noticed my right foot was now completely bruised and
swollen. I iced it overnight and hoped
for the best… but the best didn’t happen.
Day 4:
My foot was
still swollen and bruised but I limped through most of the day. At lunch time, a few of the orthopaedic
surgeons (who better to be surrounded by) noticed my limp and were more than happy
to look at my foot (much to my embarrassment).
So we swung a C-arm around and up my foot went. Diagnosis: broken toe! The poor little piggy that had none gets the
short end of the stick again!
Towards the
end of the day, I headed to Hong Kong –side to have proper x-rays done on my
toe. Luckily for me, our meeting place
was the Mandarin Oriental Hotel where I got to indulge in Afternoon Tea (one of
my favourite things to do in Hong Kong).
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| High Tea at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel |
With my
family, no trip to Hong Kong is complete without needing a visit to the Hong
Kong Sanatorium Hospital (amazingly enough, they still had my hospital records
from when I was 3 year thought I could fly off a slide. I can’t fly, by the way). Thank goodness for family! No one was worried because I was in good
hands so a short time later, out I “walked” in a plaster cast and crutches with
the promise that it was only overnight.
Day 5:
The morning
was spent at the hospital for an orthopaedic shoe fitting, my footwear for 3-6
weeks.
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| Left photo: C-Arm x-ray/ Right photo: my Aircast |
That evening
I enjoyed dinner with my co-workers and some seriously yummy food.
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| City Art Restaurant Sha Tin |
Day 6:
After my
last work day done and dusted, came celebration shopping! Chrissy and I really tried to put a good
effort in but only made it to one store, Sasa – cosmetics paradise. Auntie Marion and Uncle YC invited us to a
home-cooked dinner like my dad makes which I was ever so grateful for.
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| Time Square |
Day 7: Work
Hard. Play Harder.
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| Disneyland train |
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| The handles are Mickey Mouse shaped |
Today I
spent the day at Disneyland Hong Kong, Aircast and all! I tagged along with my co-worker’s family and
we had such a fun day. We were so glad
that we took locals advice to go mid-week because there were no lines… for
anything which meant we got to go on rides 2-3 times in a row.
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| Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party |
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| Sleeping Beauty's Castle (And yes, I am wearing a Disney Princess skirt) |
Disneyland was also decked out for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, but Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy was pretty scary! And the exclusive to Disneyland Hong Kong, Toy Story Land is seriously the best.
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| Me & Buzz Lightyear (I did have the boot after all!) |
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| Cal with Jack Skellington cotton candy |
I left my
fellow Disney-goers for a solid hour of shopping at the stores on Main
Street.
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| So long, farewell Disneyland Hong Kong! |
Day 7: Happy
Halloween!
Today I
spent the day with Auntie Madina and Auntie Bessie. We started the morning at The Peak Lookout and Madame Tussaud's.
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| View from the top |
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| Obama, I'm going to have to go ahead and ask you to... |
Next was lunch at the Hong Kong Jockey Club
where I stuffed myself silly with dim sum and hand-pulled noodles (SOOO good).
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| Chef making my noodles for me. Literally. |
After
visiting the Disney Store and being disappointed the princess dresses were even
more expensive than Disney princess dresses in Australia, Chrissy aided by her
co-workers with little girls was able to track down markets, selling princess
dresses. YAY! Auntie
Madina and Auntie Bessie were great at helping me bargain down to $10-15 a
dress! (My Chinglish would have failed
miserably).
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| I love the sights and sounds (and smells) of markets |
We refreshed
after shopping at the Shangri-La Hong Kong Island and met again later that
evening for dinner at the Hong Kong Golf Club with Uncle Augustine.
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| High Tea, The Shangri-La Hong Kong Island |
Day 8: My
last full day in Hong Kong
I spent the
morning in scenic Stanley.
Unfortunately, the markets here were tourist prices so I annoyingly overpaid
for a few tee-shirts.
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| Stanley |
In the
afternoon, Auntie Madina took me to Kowloon via the Star Ferry.
And finally,
we had one last dinner to say “until next time” before departing the next day.
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| Great food, even better company |
Day 9:
Goodbye Hong Kong!
My last few
hours in Hong Kong were spent hitting a few more shopping spots and a yummy
lunch Tsui Wah Restaurant.
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| One more milk tea |
Day 10: Home
Sweet Home
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| Eden creating his Kellyville Pet (shop) inspired welcome home sign |
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| Eloise hard at work |
Without this
sounding like an Oscar’s acceptance speech, a big thank you to all my family in
Hong Kong who were so hospitable and understanding with me and my broken toe. I really did have a fantastic time and hope
that 11 years doesn’t go by again without me returning. I hope its 11 months! Hugs and kisses to you all!
Follow-up:
After 2 weeks, I was given clearance to wear REASONABLE matching shoes again as
long as the toe was taped to the little piggy that had roast beef! After 3 weeks, I am more comfortable in my
shoes but am still limping. And finally
at 5 weeks, I am almost there… just can’t quite get into heels yet (bummer for
Christmas party season).
