Millers in Shanghai: December 2005

Trip to Hong Kong

We left for our trip to Hong Kong on December 17. Luckily we had a direct flight, which took about 4 ½ hours, but even that just wasn’t fast enough for some of us. Luke had been counting down the days for over a month and just couldn’t wait to get to Hong Kong to see his friends. Neither could the rest of us for that matter.

We arrived at the airport in Hong Kong, caught a taxi and went to Hong Kong Disneyland to stay at the Hollywood Hotel. It was nice to be in a place that was cooler than Jakarta and very nice to see everything decorated for Christmas.

We were anxious to meet up with our Michigan friends (two other families that were transferred by Ford to China) and were thrilled when we looked out our hotel window and saw the Wadley family coming back from the swimming pool. It was good to catch up with them. The Larsen’s arrived later that evening and the women got together to chat after the kids were in bed. Boy have all of our lives changed.

On Sunday morning we rode the train in to Kowloon to attend one of the English speaking Hong Kong wards, and then stayed after for their potluck Christmas dinner – it was nice of them to ask all 18 of us to stay. That night we ate at one of the restaurants in the hotel. It was a huge buffet with a lot of Western food and the best ice cream any of us have found in Asia. We all gorged ourselves on the chocolate fountain and other delicious food.

Monday and Tuesday we enjoyed Disneyland. Even though it is quite a bit smaller than the other Disney parks we have been to, it was still fun. A couple of times while we were there we even thought we were in the US. Monday night we saw the lighting of the Christmas tree on Main Street USA and after the lighting, they had bubble machines making fake snow. We were all so excited.

Wednesday we left Disney and went to downtown Hong Kong where we enjoyed our 15th floor corner hotel room and the YMCA. From our room we could see all of Victoria Harbor and the Christmas lights on all the buildings – it was a great view.

We went to a couple of malls and were amazed at all the things we could find there -- even See’s Candies! Yes, I bought several butterscotch suckers. On Thursday we went to the temple with the two other couples while the older girls watched all 12 children in a room at the church (in the same building as the temple, on the lower levels). The girls all went to the Ladies market one night and had fun watching Laurel bargain with the shop keepers. She’s a pro!

We went to Stanley market and shopped, buying lots of clothes for Mallory, a few Christmas presents and a suitcase to bring it all home in.

Creed went one night with Mike to the night market and returned at 12:30am! We were amazed at how that city is hopping during all hours of the night, as well as how safe we felt there.

We also went up to Victoria Peak and enjoyed the beautiful view. We loved eating at American restaurants and seeing many other ‘westerners’. It was also nice not to be stared at so much.

We were able to squeeze in a performance of the Nutcracker which was at the cultural center right across the street from our hotel. Nash was sick and Mallory wasn’t allowed in so Grant, Luke and I joined the Wadley & Larsen girls. The boys felt pretty important to be the only males there. They really enjoyed it -- at least the first part. Then we all got a laugh watching Grant wake up to clap at the end of the dances only then to quickly fall back to sleep.

Overall, we had a great time. Despite at least one of the kids being sick everyday, we all seemed to still enjoy ourselves and it was wonderful to be with friends. Hong Kong is so clean and so organized -- nothing like Jakarta. It was hard to come home…almost depressing. It was also nice to have privacy for awhile (no staff around constantly) and not have the stress of worrying about our safety. I haven’t felt that relaxed for 6 months. We would go back to Hong Kong in a heartbeat. We are sad the trip is over.

Christmas

We arrived in Jakarta at 1:00 pm on Christmas Eve, but by time we made it through immigration & customs and got our luggage, then braved the Jakarta traffic we didn’t get home from the airport until 4:00 pm. We were able to squeeze in a few Christmas traditions, though. We made gingerbread men, Christmas jello, had fondue and hot chocolate, read the Christmas story, The Night Before Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, sang Silent Night and played the Almond Pudding game (Creed had the almond). By the time the boys got in bed, it was 9:00 pm. We had church at 8:00 am so we told the boys we would let them get up at 5:30am. We let them see their stockings and the gift from Santa and then we went to church.

We opened the rest of the presents after church. The boys had a blast riding their little self propelled cars around the house and having races and playing with the new PlayStation 2. We had a nice, quiet Christmas Day. I made pies and cooked a rib eye roast for Christmas dinner.

Other Business

Mallory is learning words so quickly and finally has a few more teeth. On our trip two of her top teeth poked through with two others on their way. She is the apple of her brother’s eyes and loved Disneyland, especially the characters. She would see one and get so excited she would just about burst.

Nash, Grant and Luke all received excellent grades this past semester. They are enjoying their three week break from school. Grant and Nash couldn’t get enough of Space Mountain at Disneyland and would stay as late as they could with Creed so they could ride it over and over again. Nash got an electronic organizer from Mallory for Christmas and has been inputting data and learning all about it. Grant and Luke have had a blast with the raft the boys received from Sami Chlaus. They paddle all around the pool and even play ‘lifesaving’ games. They love to take it under the waterfall and try to stand up in it.

We are grateful for the friends and family that we have. We miss everyone very much during this time of year and hope you are all well.