Thursday, January 21, 2010

Hong Kong Disney Land


Here we are on the Subway to Disney Land.

On the Disney train. Notice the windows and handles Hunter's hanging from?

And here we are. Please take note of my fancy schmancy turquoise necklace; you'll need it for later in the story. Read on.


Michelle, my sister-in-law gave me the idea to dress your fam in bright colors at theme parks so you can find them.


Tarzan's tree house... the line was toooo long. And since it was tour, they separated the lines "Chinese Speakers" and "English Speakers".

We were in the English speaking line. Then Tim and I had the brilliant idea: "Hey, we speak Chinese, let's jump the gate!"

Tim went first. Notice the vertical rip. Right where you don't want to have a vertical rip.
However, seeing it in action, I must say it was hot. Hot. Tell ya what.


The boys stuck their favorite stickers on front of their shirts. Manly Hunter snubbed the lady trying to give him a kitten sticker.

Tim took care of that.


Tanner's sunscreen hair.

------------------BUZZ--------------------

Ah yes, here's a picture of the mighty Buzz. What we came here for. Don't know why they needed a huge statue behind him him too. Huh.


Who's having more fun in this picture? Rode this one 5 times. One time for the Hunter and Tanner.


Such precision.


There's the Calton Team. Yes I rode by myself to take the pictures. I'm secure with myself, see.


Don't hurt it Tanner.


Hilarious. These pics are of Tanner's initial reaction to the Buzz ride.

------------------THE STROLLER SAGA-----------------
For ten bucks USD, you can rent a stroller. They simply place a card in the stroller back with your child's name on it. Simple, no?
Except when you're feverishly searching strollers the park the entire time you're there b/c your original one got stolen. You're wondering if sweet little Stephy Fong might be a THEIF.

Here's Tanners. His THIRD stroller, mind you. Yes, the stroller kept getting stolen over and over when we parked it in the stroller section to get on a ride.
There was no way to lock the strollers up. There was no printed number on the side to be accountable to. Just a little spot to slip a name in.
Have you ever had something stolen from you? Furious much? You feel like a complete fool.
Imagine when it happens 3 times, and the Disney staff is smiling happily each time they say "oh no problem, we'll get you a new one, just go to the other side of the park again and tell them".
It got to the point that I was setting up traps for someone to steal it in front of my eyes while I hid around the corner. I started mulling over all the different ways I could tell someone off in Chinese while staying composed.
When the strollers were stolen, We lost everything inside each time. Drinks, popcorn, sunscreen, and MY PRECIOUS TURQUOISE NECKLACE (from the first time)... which we all reported to security, as if we'd ever see them again!
Anyway, it wasn't until we turned in the last stroller upon leaving that I figured it all out. See this picture:

YES, they offered to give it back to you as a souvenir upon leaving the park!!!!
So basically, get your season pass, fold up this little buddy, pick any stroller you like from the park and slip it in... save $10 USD each time. Brilliant.
So a week goes by, the phone rings:
Me: Hello?
Them: Hello, Mam, This is so and so from Disney Land Hong Kong.
Me: Yeah?
Them: We have a necklace prepared to mail to you.
WHAT?
So now you're thinking, look at that great service. Right.
Me? I'm thinking:

The nerve! To return the necklace...
There's a small part of me that would like to think that my taste in jewelry would be more 'theivable' than a rentable stroller at Disney Land.
Guess even Hong Kong theives know a knock off when they see one.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Only in China

I love the Chinese phrase/word "SuanLe", pronounced: swan luh. It's a wonderful word with so many meanings: "it's been counted", it's in the past, no big deal, whatever, forget about it, move on etc.

There's also a phrase in Chines that goes like this: "Cha Bu Duo". It flows off the tongue, and it's so cool, I'm surprised it hasn't made it's way into the English vocab like Say La Vi has.

It means 'just about' or 'not a big difference'. For those of you that live here, you see this in many parts of China.

Sometimes getting things custom made, and the waste being 2 inches too small- you just might complain, to which you just might get a "Cha Bu Duo" in response from the seamstress (and no refund).

Hunter found an excellent example of Cha Bu Duo.

Sour cream and onion Pringles. Sounds good huh?


Guess they ran out of Sour Cream & Onion....
SuanLe.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Brother's Keeper

For those of you who do the whole "Christmas card exchange", you probably noticed something new about our card this year. Something... hmmm, maybe I should've typed "someone".

But since I still can't blog about this (making it hard to even want to blog at all), the most important event in our family in the last 3+ years, then I'll share the other great events that happen around these parts.

Here are some pictures of when Tanner was sick. He had a fever, and wanted to be held all day. After holding him for hours, I needed to get up and do a couple of things.

So Hunter took over.

Here's Hunter singing to his sweet little Brother.


And here's Tanner asleep in Hunter's little arms.