Yesterday we awoke early as usual and made our way down to breakfast. It is sad how many fewer children you see around the hotel than four years ago. I was speaking with one of the adoptive mom's who told me there would be 27 families at their consulate appointment. We had over 90 the day we went with Devlin, and there had been a group the day before and another going the day after. I really hope there are indeed more domestic adoptions taking place and those girls are going to families. I worry that they are being hidden because it provides China good press at a time when the world media is so focused upon them.
Our guide picked us up at 11:30. We thought this seemed early for a 2:45 flight, and once we were underway we discovered that we were right. We kept driving through neighborhoods instead of getting right onto the highway, then he announced that we were heading to a mall. Before he could go any further I told him that we were under no circumstances going to a mall, that we were going to the airport and that was it. I told him that it was deceitful to tell us that we needed to leave by 11:30 to catch out flight when really he had planned this side trip all along. He told the driver to head for the airport and apologized, but considering that he was already on my bad side nothing that he had to say was going to get him into my good graces. Once at the airport I kept trying to get rid of him. We really do not need any assistance in getting checked in for a flight, but he would not leave our sides until we got to security. We had over 2 hours to kill once we were through security, which is no fun with three children in tow. It would have been so much nicer to spend the extra 45-60 minutes at the hotel. We did give him a lousy report on the review he asked us to complete and I plan on emailing the tour company when I get home.
The flight itself was quick and uneventful, really no more than a quick up and down. Once in Hong Kong we were one our own. We filled out the immigration paperwork, collected our luggage and found a cab big enough for us and our stuff. It was when the bill was presented at the hotel that we realized we were most definitely not in China anymore. ouch.
This morning we had our big surprise for the kids. We did not tell them where we were going. We had the doorman tell the cab driver our destination in Cantonese and off we went. We kept thinking the boys would see the road signs with the big mouse ears on them, but no, we were pulling onto Disney property before they realized our destination. We were able to cash in on a deal with with the purchase of one day's ticket the second was just HK$100 (about $14 US) so this was the first of two days. Disneyland Hong Kong is quite a bit smaller than Walt Disney World, so we probably could have gotten away with just a one-day visit, but there is still some more to do since we are not park commandos. The only downside of the day, I managed to sprain my ankle boarding the first ride of the day. I was stepping over the side of the car on the Astro Orbiter and either missed a step, or caught the side of my foot on the seat, but either way I came down on a twisted ankle. The pain was intense at first and I got all sweaty and clammy. The ride attendents were quite worried. I insisted on staying on the ride with the kids but then headed to first aid as soon as it ended. They iced me and wrapped my ankle and I had some ibuprofen in my bag. I managed to get around the park okay, lucky it is so small. It seems to be a very minor sprain, but leave it to me. Apparently keeping orthopedist in business in the US is no longer enough for me, I had to branch out to Asia.
We let the kids have McDonalds for dinner and just sent them all to bed. Tomorrow we see the sights on Hong Kong. Please pray that this tour guide is more tolerable than our last.
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