It’s Saturday, and we were looking for something fun to do with the kids here in Hong Kong. Believe it or not, in all of our explorations of Asia thus far, we have completely missed seeing what some might think of as the mascot of China – the Giant Panda. In our defense, we’ve been busy. Anytime you plan a trip, you have to make choices. You can’t see and do everything a place has to offer. There just isn’t enough time. With that said, I’ll admit that we chose not to go to the zoo in Beijing. In retrospect, that was probably a poor decision, as another couple from our adoption group reported that it was fabulous. Then, while we were in the Guang, we wanted to use one of our free days to go to the safari park located on the outskirts of the city. Unfortunately, we were outvoted by the other families, and we ended up going to the (boring) jade and pearl markets instead. It was beginning to look like we were not meant to see a Panda on this trip. So, in planning our day today, Chris excitedly introduced the possibility of going to Ocean Park for the day. “We can see some Giant Pandas there!” he said, as a way to sell me on the idea. I groaned. Oh God, not a theme park! I’ll be honest, I’m not a big fan. We live in Florida, so we go – a lot. Universal, SeaWorld, Disney, we’ve seen them all. I don’t know why, but my husband loves theme parks. I mean, LOVES THEM, loves them. As we discussed our possible theme park day, I could feel the dread churning around in my stomach. I don’t know for certain, but I think that maybe one of the deeper circles of hell involves an endless day at a foreign theme park in 100 degree heat and 98% humidity with two cranky children . . . Sometimes, there are things you must do for the person you love. Thankfully, we arrived right at the parks’ opening time. It was sunny, and the temperature was already rising. We made a beeline for the Panda exhibit, and made it there just in time for feeding. The habitat was large, and well kept, which made me feel a little better about paying to see the Panda prison. The Pandas themselves seemed peaceful and happy as we watched them munch their breakfast of bamboo. We spend the remainder of the day, doing all of the regular theme park stuff. Ocean Park is an interesting mix of a zoo, an aquarium, and a typical theme park with rides and such. We took the gondolas up to the top of the mountain, and saw beautiful vista views. We marveled at the exotic and colorful birds and fish. When it came time for lunch, we had some interesting choices to make. The ‘street’ vendors offered hot dogs, grilled squid, or spicy fish balls. Hmmm. We decided to skip those, and opted for a sit down restaurant complete with a/c. We enjoyed a relatively healthy meal of stir-fried chicken with ginger, and some barbecued pork dumplings. Yum! Best theme park food we’ve ever had. Despite all odds, and exceeding all expectations, Mia was fantastic. Everyday, as we are getting to know each other, I am so grateful that she is ours. She has a lightness of spirit and a real sparkle in her soul. If I were her age, with her background, this would have to have been (another) overwhelming experience. Yet she took it all in stride, with a huge smile on her face. I have a feeling that I have a lot to learn from this little girl.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Lisa LynchLisa is a world traveling mom that took the ultimate adventure Archives
December 2012
|