January has been an amazingly busy month for all of us and I’m anxious to write down the details before I forget. We rung in the New Year with a trip to Ocean Park Hong Kong, which is both an animal theme park and an amusement park located right on southern Hong Kong Island in Aberdeen. We just hopped on the MTR and rode the subway practically right to the front gates! Once we cleared the lines (which were pretty long) we rode thrill rides and checked out the protected harbor, where wild seals and sea lions swim freely and charm tourists. We even got to see a real-life Panda…eating bamboo just like in a documentary. It was awesome!

Here is a list of some of the highlights from January, which I hope to turn into their own short blog posts in time:

1. The kids started school at Malvern College HK. This meant we had to make a few trips to the uniform supplier in Jordan, Kowloon District.
2. We finally got to ride the AIA Hong Kong Observation Wheel . This almost 200 feet tall ferris wheel is located right on Victoria Harbor and the views of the city are incredible.
3. We went to the movies and saw Spider Man Into the SpiderVerse. Popcorn at the movies in HK can be ordered “salty or sweet.” This truly is a brave new world.
4. We needed to see more people, so we booked it to Mong Kok and browsed around the stalls. Lots of totally legit Rolox watches and LQL Doll merchandise along with an unbelievable flower market featuring an entire city block of four-foot tall bonsai trees.
5. Last Saturday was kind of hazy with pollution, so we decided to get out of the city. We hopped a fast ferry to Cheung Chau island and bummed around.  We tried the famous frozen watermelon and mango mochi (NOT gluten-free). I bought a beautiful blue jade bracelet that coordinates with the one Bill bought me for my birthday. We combed the beach for sea glass and got too close to a temple for one local’s liking. We are definitely going back there because I am a little in love.
6. Bill’s birthday is in January. We made him his favorite: yellow cake with chocolate icing (kinda basic but still great) and the kids judged it like Jacques Torres and Nicole Byer on Nailed It. We then went out to a Tapas restaurant in the Mid-levels where Liam ate calamari that was (1) not fried and (2) still had its tentacles.  A good time was had by all!
7. I discovered that we are blocks away from the oldest temple in Hong Kong — the Man Mo Temple — and the most amazing antique district I’ve ever seen on Hollywood Road. UPDATED: Here’s the post.

Here are some other things that have been on our radar screen since the kids and I arrived on December 6th. Hopefully, I will work these into blog posts of their own in the near future.

1. Flying a long-haul with two kids and an oxygen tank: lessons;
2. The “serviced apartment” experience;
3. Finding a Christmas tree on HK island;
4. The Hong Kong Ballet interpretation of The Nutcracker;
5. Getting a Hong Kong ID Card;
6. Aberdeen Street and the Police Married Quarters (PMQ) project;
7. Helper’s day off in Causeway Bay;
8. Visiting the Peak via the Peak Tram
9. Yau lok mm goi! The minibus experience; and
10. Riding the central-mid-levels escalator system.

I have started running again and I am hopeful that with the kids in school I will find a yoga studio that resonates with me. I found one pretty close that offers aerial yoga…so that sounds like a contender. We are planning a trip to the beach community of Sai Kung Town early next month when the kids (and Bill) have a vacation for Chinese New Year and we are planning something big, big, big for April which is double-top secret for now. We are still awaiting our furniture and other home goods from the sea shipment, but we have an estimated port arrival date of January 26th, which is promising, and Mrs. Norris will be joining us on February 12th.