Ocean Park and Our February Activities, Continued

We continue with more catch-up pictures and anecdotes of our adventures in February.  

I got tired during my last post and didn't finish posting my pictures from Chinese New Year.   Our building brought in a really pretty peach blossom tree for the holidays.

I bought this bouquet from a good flower stall in Central, deliberately picking a very vibrant red, in honor of the new year. It really gave me such an uplift in spirits.  Those tulips from Holland were so luscious.  And that glorious amaryllis bloomed for days and days.  

 This girl knows all her letters in both upper case and lower case and all the sounds each letter makes.  She is sounding words out now and also recognizing Chinese characters.  

So. much. personality.

 

We found out that Lola was accepted into Singapore International School for their preparatory year 1 program, which is the equivalent of Hong Kong's K2.  The school was closed for tours but we took a drive there one day just to check out the outside.  The school has a website showing the school's interior through videos and pictures and Lola is already chattering excitedly about the classrooms and dance studio and basketball court.  After much deliberation, we've accepted the offer and Lola will start half days there in September pending what we hear back from other schools.  It's a good fully bilingual school with nice facilities about a 10 minute drive from our apartment, and it has the added bonus of being a through train school so that we don't need to reapply for primary or middle school.  Depending on how Zooming and activities go, we may also keep Lola in KCS half day for the morning.

She was also accepted into Independent Schools Foundation (ISF) for their year 1 nursery school program, but I don't think we are going to accept that offer given how Lola is already learning how to read and write in her current K1 class at KCS.  We just went for her assessment for ISF year 2.  Because of her birthday falling within the range they would allow for either year, we decided to try even though it meant we had to pay for two different assessments for the same year...and the school would not waive or give a discount.  We have paid many assessment fees, hefty non-refundable deposits and extension fees at various schools just to maintain or keep our options open.  And Lola just turned 3.  This city is ridiculous. 

Ocean Park opened back up last week and I lost no time in taking Lola and the boys on a Friday (I took a day off from work) and then went back with Lola and friends on Saturday.  I am totally biased, but how cute are these guys?!  Their skin is a treasure in how silky soft it is, and they smell so good.  And their big eyes, and swoopy cowlicky hair (all courtesy of Michael), and rounded soft bellies... argh, gets me every time.

Our go-to at Ocean Park is to beeline for the Sea Carousel. They have amazing animals and it's best to head there first before the lines get long.  Lola really likes the seahorse but that's for people over a certain height and she's not tall enough yet.  Usually we opt for the dual seaters that are specially designed for a kid in front and an adult in back (the whales and the dolphins).

We took the whiskers express train up the mountain (Ocean Park is split into two levels given the sheer verticality and breathtaking views), watched the dolphin and sea animals show (which Lola insisted we walk out on because she complained it was too loud), and then came back down via the cable car that affords stunning views over the cliffs and waters of the south side of Hong Kong island.

We banged on some drums and xylophones, took a ferris wheel hot air balloon ride, rode Toto the Loco (the little pink train - Siti with Teo, and me with Al and Lola) and checked out their special exhibit, Candy Land, where the boys had a blast climbing and crawling all around.

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we went on Saturday, we went to see the penguins, the sea lion, the seals, the otters and the arctic foxes. It was again a stunning day and we managed to get two sea carousel spins out of it.  Great times!

   

You Crack Me Up, Dad

 This is a post dedicated to Lola's recent various funny activities:

She doesn't want to nap anymore and will try anything possible to get out of it.  What used to be a really painful bedtime routine got a little bit better as long as we went through all of the steps (wash hands, change clothes, draw curtains, drink water, read "2, no 7, no 3, no 5, ok, 4" stories, Lola gives me a running hug while I count to 20, etc.)

She loves chocolate and bread and cake and any kinds of sweets.  When I take her shopping for sweets, admittedly a pretty special treat in itself, she tries her best to maximize the opportunities.  For example, the next day, she asks me if we can go buy more sweets again.  I say no, because we just went the day before.  She'll turn to me wide eyed, blinking deliberately, and innocently proclaim, "but we're buying candy for [insert other person's name here]!"

After reading the  Oxford Learning series, she's taken to calling me "Mom" and Michael "Dad" in a particular, slightly British accent.  She'll say "You crack me up, Dad!" and "You stress me out, Mom!"  She's also really good at imitating nearly anything or anyone.  She has an impeccable Filipina accent when she speaks English, which she turns on only when she's speaking to her aunties.  She calls it Tagalog, but really it's just English with a Filipina accent.  However, she does actually speak and understand Tagalog also - her renditions of popular children's songs are impeccable.  Her Mandarin constantly draws amazed stares and commentary.

Lola will also come up with lots of activities or suggestions, to get her dad to stay out of her way, under the guise of playing.  One of our favorites has been when she suggested he play hide and seek with her, then she abandoned him while he was counting so that she could go play something else.  What a clever, cheeky little thing!

A Happy Belated Year of the Ox! And the First Half of February

My Blogger is broken.  I've tried to write this post about eight times now since February 11, no joke, and it refuses to save any drafts.  I've lost so many paragraphs of what I've written and rewritten that I don't have as much energy to launch into it anymore.  I hope this is not a foreshadowing of our upcoming year, or a not so subtle message from Blogger that I should just quit.  Anyway, February has been a simply lovely time for us and the kids.  

The weather has been amazing, full of sunshine and warmth, clear blue skies and beautiful days.  We have been quite constrained in what we have been able to do, as until February 18 all schools were closed, all restaurants shut by 6 pm, no bars, no beaches, no swimming pools, no movie theaters, etc.  However, we still managed to fit in quite a lot of fun activities for the kids, whether playing at home, in our garage, at the clubs, or in parks.  

A lot of activities were on hold for two weeks for the lunar new year holidays, but it was still fun to see the peach blossoms, the little orange trees, and to teach the kids all about the new year.  We also went to a few Chinese New Year parties/events.

Taking it from the top of the month, here is Lola checking out the urban garden at the American Club.

Lola has gotten quite comfortable with the slides, despite how big and how fast they go!  

She has a standing playdate with one of her classmates every Tuesday.  They usually go to Victoria Park to ride their bicycles, scooter, play, share toys, read books together, and picnic.

Lola, Al and Teo all love going to Stanley, where there are a lot of other kids running around, playing, and riding their scooters.  On one of the first days that she went there this month, Lola enjoyed not one, not two, but four slices of pizza!  Wowee.  Lola loves watching for party boats and fishermen's boats when she is there, also.  One time they got to access a little bit of the beach, which was a surprise and delight.

Meanwhile this is in contrast to what I understand my parents and many parts of the U.S. are dealing with:

My grandma celebrated her 94th birthday on February 3, and they celebrated at home with a big bowl of noodles (symbolizing longevity) and a red packet.  I'm so happy and grateful that my parents and grandmas are doing well.

I got the boys tricycles for them to ride around on.  Al likes it very much, Teo not so much at all.  However, they also have a mini scooter (with a seat) and while Al doesn't really know what to do with it, Teo immediately grasped the concept and was scootering away.

The boys continue to have Mandarin playgroups two times a week at home with teacher Sophie, and it has been awesome.  They are comfortable and familiar with her and will crawl to her for hugs and comfort.

But sometimes messy play makes them very upset. Incidentally, look at their bellies - how sweet are they?

I took advantage of some down time and went to a wine tasting at the American Club in town.  

One of my new routines with Lola has been to... go to my office on Saturday mornings.  She loves going with me to my office so much, and has so much fun clacking away on my computer/telephone/calculator, and drawing/stamping/paper clipping my legal pads, that I can't bring myself to deny her.  We have a whole routine, and she loves that I have my own office with a closet and shoes ("you forgot to bring them home Mommy!") and a pantry with spicy water (Pellegrino) and soybean milk.  I assure you the whole thing is super sweet.

When we finish up with our work, we walk over hand in hand to the American Club for our mommy and Lola lunch.  She orders the lemonade and the cheeseburger with fries, I order the salad with fruit or else a sandwich, and we sit and enjoy and have a conversation.  This kid, I tell you!

Right before Chinese New Year, the club had a special menu starting later that we couldn't wait for, so I took Lola to dim sum at Shanghai Garden in Exchange Square. It was very fancy, Lola tried chicken feet and loved everything, and we finished with mango sago tapioca dessert.

Meanwhile our trips to Maggie and Rose continue with the same frequency.  We are fixtures at this club.  The boys are really good at exploring the whole soft play area and now really enjoy sliding on the big yellow slide on their own.

I mentioned in the last post that Lola has started French classes on Wednesday afternoons.   Here she is on her walk from her class to find her brothers at Maggie and Rose, on the one day that it rained in Hong Kong, in like 4 months.  It's been the only rainy day since.  She will soon be adding another French class next week because her interest is high and her curiosity to be in school and learning unabated. 

To keep Lola occupied during the time off from Zoom, I sent her to sports camp every morning at Sun Yat Sen park.  It was a great way to burn off her energy.  The sunshine had her and the boys napping so well every day, and going to bed pretty easily at night also.  There is something so satisfying about little kids falling into the deep, heavy limbed slumber of the well-exercised.  On one of the days Lola even dismissed me from her room, saying, "You can go now mommy, I'm tired" and did not require me to sing to her, which was a jaw-dropping never before witnessed event in the entire saga of her life.

On the 13th, to coincide with Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day, Lola and a few of her friends from school gathered to attend a small party at Maggie and Rose.  They did an amazing job and Lola cooked no bake cheesecake and glutinous rice rolls and made me a paper mache heart, all while Al and Teo crawled around to their heart's content.  Lol and I dressed in florals to match.  I had a ton of fun also.

We made a rather silly mistake on the afternoon of Sunday the 14th, which was to head to Tai Tam Reservoir for a walk with friends.  It was the absolute worst with traffic backed up for miles, tons of people walking all around, and just... a lot of stress.  Especially when we realized there was no place to park.  But it was still nice to be out and about. 

When we returned, Lola and I went to the car and hung out, listening to songs on the CD, bouncing around (with the shoes off, don't worry Michael), and she showed me how to honk the horn, turn on the windshield wipers, and eject the CDs.  She knows a lot about driving and operating a car, and we had a good time.

From Al, Lola and Teo, happy year of the Ox!