Home Sweet Home

November 18th -- Well, we would get to enjoy November 18th twice. We got up this morning and finished packing up our stuff. We had planned to check out of the apartment around noon and head to the airport for our 3:15pm flight. A few minutes after 10am, the receptionist called and informed us that check out was at 10am. Luckily, we were mostly packed, so we grabbed our stuff and headed downstairs. We decided to go to the nearby park in Darling Harbour to allow the kids to burn off a little energy. A little before noon, we headed back to the apartment, picked up our luggage and got a taxi to the airport. The check in process was easy and we were through security by 1:30pm. We went to the Qantas club and grabbed some lunch. Around 2:45 we headed to our gate and boarded our plane. It was an Airbus 380 and was by far the biggest plane we had ever been on. It had a complete 2nd story that ran the length of the plane and an under-cabin crew quarters. We settled into our seats, which were the 4 across the middle. Again, we had the in-seat, on-demand entertainment center, so the kids immediately started watching TV and movies. The flight was as uneventful as a 13 hour flight can be. We all watched some movies, ate dinner and then slept. Amy and I slept for about 3-4 hours and the kids slept for 6-7 hours. When we woke up we had breakfast before landing in Los Angeles around 9:50am...on the 18th! So, here we go for Nov. 18th round 2. We navigated baggage and customs fairly easily before checking in for our flight to DFW. As sad as it is, we must say we were not greeted by the most professional employees...slightly souring our re-entry. We encountered 2 rude American Airline employees and 1 rude Airport employee. If they were just being rude to us, we would have chalked it up to being tired. However, 2 of the 3 were being rude to other passengers. One was being so rude to a lady, that Amy approached the lady to offer her assistance. Now, I can't tell you how proud I was to see "my Amy"...the girl who is (was) afraid to fly, offering to help another passenger. Anyway, we finally made it to our next flight for the final leg to DFW. Once on the flight, Austin fell asleep almost immediately. Amy and I took about 30 minute naps and Abby never slept. However, she did order water for all of us since the drink cart came through while we were asleep. We finally arrived in DFW around 5:00pm. Sign number 2 that Amy has overcome here fear of flying...she was taking pictures out the window as we were landing! Our good friend, Matt, picked us up at the airport and drove us to the hotel in Frisco where we met my Mom. We all then went to La Hacienda for some much missed Tex-Mex. It was then back to the hotel for a much needed night of sleep.

Back in Sydney

November 15th--We left Port Douglas this morning at 9:45 for the hour shuttle ride to the Cairns Airport. We arrived with plenty of time before our flight was to leave. Qantas was remodeling their lounge so we were given vouchers to use at any restaurant within the airport. The kids decided on Hungry Jacks which is the same thing as Burger King in the States. So right after a quick lunch, it was time to board our plane. We were again on a big plane and given a full lunch on our plane ride back to Sydney. We arrived back in Sydney about 4:00 p.m. We quickly got our luggage and hopped in a taxi. It was nice to be at a place that we were familiar with and knew exactly which way the taxi should go in order to get to our apartment. We are staying in the same apartment as we did when we were here a few weeks ago. Anyway, we arrived at the apartment about 5:00 and got our stuff organized. We then left to go eat at Nando's and stop by the grocery store for a few breakfast items.

November 16th--We took it easy this morning. We had a few things to wrap up for our return to the States. Mike then took the kids to play down by Darling Harbour. They played on the playground, rode the train around, and jumped on the FlyMotion. While they were playing, I was doing some last minute shopping. I went to Myers and David Jones which are 2 big department stores here and then the Queen Victoria Building which is a small mall close to our apartment. It's weird to walk around here and see Summer clothes when to us it is really Fall in our heads. I met back up with Mike and the kids about 3:00 at the apartment. We then just hung out until the babysitter arrived at 5:00. Mike and I got a babysitter so we could enjoy a night out in Sydney. The kids were thrilled to see us leave. We headed to the Opera House Bar first. This is an area located right on the Sydney Harbour next to the Opera House. It was so relaxing and nice to watch the sunset over the harbour. From here, we walked to the other side of the harbour to an area called The Rocks. We ate dinner at Phillip's Foote which was recommended to us by our friends, Ren and Dave. The food was wonderful. We entered through the front door and proceed to the back to pick out our meat. We both picked Australian beef t-bone steaks to grill on our own. Once we got our meat, we proceeded to the chargrill barbeque where Mike became the chef. As our meat was being grilled, we filled our plates up at the salad bar. During and after dinner, we reminisced about the past 9 months of traveling. I'm sure there will be plenty more moments like this to come...

November 17th--Our last day traveling...Wow! It's so hard to believe that we have seen so much and had so many experiences. This morning Abby and I headed out for a quick shopping trip. Once we returned, we all went down to Darling Harbour so the kids could show me their talents on the FlyMotion. They were able to jump and do back flips for about 30 minutes. When they got off, we went to eat at McDonald's. Mike and I lost the battle to eat somewhere else. From McDonald's we walked to the bus stop to catch the bus to the Moore Park Entertainment Center to see a movie. Once we arrived at the Entertainment Center, we had about an hour before our movie started. So, the kids played on the playground. Then, we went to see "A Christmas Carol" in 3D at the IMAX. The movie was good, but really not geared towards young kids. It was about 5:00 by the time the movie was over so it was back on the bus to the apartment. We spent the remainder of the night packing up our stuff for our flight out tomorrow only to find out late that I had washed a small packet of Peanut Butter that was in Austin's shorts. Well, this peanut butter landed in the dryer and got on some of our dried clothes. Yes, a little bit of a mess, but the clothes need to be burned anyway after being the only things we've worn for a year. It gave us a good last night laugh!

Low Isles

November 14th--Today was a wonderful and a great way to finish up our time here in Port Douglas. When we got up this morning, we had sunny skies. The kids had done so good at snorkeling in the rain on Thursday, we decided to spend another day on the barrier reef...this time in the sun. We booked another tour with Quicksilver, but this time on their sailing catamaran. We left at 9:30 on the shuttle bus to the marina and boarded the Wavedancer. We sailed for about an hour out to one of the small islands located within the Great Barrier Reef known as the Low Isles. The weather was gorgeous today which made the sail very pleasant. We arrived at the island a little after 11:00 and had to pick out our snorkeling gear at this time. The Wavedancer ties onto a platoon out in the water and then there was a shuttle boat that took us to the island. So, we took the shuttle boat out to the island and got our snorkeling gear on. We all really enjoyed snorkeling around the reef. There were times when the tide got so low that we barely made our way over the reef. Right before getting out of the water for lunch, we found Nemo. There were 4 little clownfish swimming around an anemone. It was so neat to see them in their own environment. It is definitely better than seeing Nemo at an aquarium. After about an hour snorkeling and being on the island, we took the shuttle boat back to the Wavedancer for a buffet lunch. On our way back, our driver helped spot a turtle. It was pretty big and staying with the theme of Nemo, we named him Crush. The lunch was really good and filling. So, after that we shuttled back to the island to do some more snorkeling. At 2:30, we had to catch the shuttle boat back to the Wavedancer for it to depart back to Port Douglas at 3:00. We all laid out on the deck of the catamaran and enjoyed the sail back to Port. We arrived back at the marina in Port Douglas a little after 4:00. We told that the shuttle bus wouldn't leave until 4:55 so we had 30 minutes to kill. We decided to sit down and have a snack at one of the restaurants by the marina. After we finished up, we went to get on the shuttle only to find out that it had already left and would be back in 10 minutes. At this point, the kids were getting hungry for dinner so we made an executive decision to go back to On the Inlet for dinner, hoping that George would grab the bait this time. We arrived at the restaurant just as they were starting the feeding. George was a lot more active tonight, but still didn't clamp on successfully. I'm starting to think that this George thing is just their way of getting people to come eat at the restaurant. At least the food is really good too. Anyway, after a long day and an early dinner, we returned to the hotel for showers and bed.

George the Groper

November 13th--Today we just hung out around the pool area again. Abby and Austin spent most of the day playing with their friend Jessica from Sydney. The weather had improved from yesterday, but it was still mostly cloudy. It started to clear up after lunch. Again, it didn't stop us from having a good time on the beach and in the water. Around 3:00 we went inside to clean up to head to the Marina. We did some shopping at the Marina shops before heading to On the Inlet Restaurant. The Sydney couple and their daughter were there and had recommended it. We got to the restaurant around 4:45 in order to see the 5:00 feeding of George the Groper. This restaurant is known for feeding a huge groper that lives under the restaurant. A man attempted to feed George for about 15 minutes. He put a big fish head on the end of a thick rope and tried to get George to bite on, but he didn't want any part in it today. The anticipation was fun enough though and the food we enjoyed afterwards was wonderful.

Great Barrier Reef

November 12th--Well, I'm pretty sure weather wise, we didn't pick the best day to go to the Barrier Reef. It was a rainy day today. However, I'm not sure what we would have done in the rain anyway. We signed up for a trip to the Great Barrier Reef through Quicksilver. The bus picked us up at 9:30 and took us to the Marina where we boarded the Quicksilver, a 3 story boat. We were immediately informed that there would definitely be some "motion in the ocean" today. So, Abby and I headed to the medicine area on the boat. Abby took a ginger tablet while I took a Travelcom. It seemed to help both of us. On our one hour and 30 minute boat ride, there were many people that got sick, but Abby and I did great. So, the medicine worked. The boat docked at a large activity platform on Agincourt ribbon reef, on the outer reef. We arrived at the platform about 11:30. We got off the boat and grabbed a table on the platform to put our things at. Then, we rode the semi-submersibles boat for about 15 minutes around the reef. We were able to see many different fish and a lot of the reef during this time. After getting off the boat, we decided to eat lunch. After lunch, it was time to go snorkeling. The kids were really excited to get this opportunity. We got all our gear on including a lycra suit. We thought the suit would provide two things: keep us warmer and keep us from being stung by jellyfish. There was a man that was working there that was very helpful to us with the kids. He even let Austin borrow his goggles because Austin didn't really care for the snorkeling mask. So, Mike and Austin entered the water first and off they went in the water. Abby and I followed shortly after. The kids both had on life jackets which helped us a lot. We still had to hold onto them because there was definitely a current today. Anyway, Abby did great at snorkeling. She put her face in the water and really enjoyed what she was seeing. While snorkeling, we got to see parts of the reef and many fish. Cloudy, rainy skies and all, the reef was still amazing. Anyway, after a while of being in the water, we all made our way back to the platform and quickly dried off. The kids had had their fill of snorkeling for the day. So, Mike and I took turns going back out in the water. It's definitely easier when you don't have to worry about a child. Before we knew it, they were blowing the horn indicating to get back on the boat. We were lucky to find a spot inside the boat and on the couch. We were sitting across from 2 nice older women from England that we visited with on the ride back to Port Douglas. On the boat ride back, the crew had a man overboard drill. That added a little excitement to the ride. We arrived back to the marina around 4:30 and boarded the bus back to the Sheraton. We got back to the hotel about 5:00 and all showered off. We then ate dinner here at the hotel before going to bed.

Port Douglas

November 10th--First things first this morning...a very long shower. After using campground showers for a week now, there was definitely the need for a good, long shower for everyone. We then got dressed and headed to breakfast. After eating breakfast this morning, we spent some time catching up with family on SKYPE. Since we had been off internet for a week, we had a lot of catching up to do. After getting off SKYPE, we all went to the pool. Actually we hung out at the lagoon. The Sheraton Hotel that we are staying at has a pool, but there is also 5 acres of saltwater pools that are presented in a lagoon way around the hotel grounds. The lagoons have been created with white sand beach areas at some of the entries into the water. It definitely gives the ocean feeling without having to worry about the 'stingers' that are present now in the ocean. So, we hung out and swam here all day long. The kids made friends with another kid, Jessica, from Sydney. We did get stuck in a short rain shower about noon, but it didn't last long at all. After a long day being in the sun, we got cleaned up and took the shuttle bus into the town of Port Douglas. We ate dinner at the Surf Club. It was recommended to us because it has an outdoor playground. The food was wonderful and so was the atmosphere. We were able to sit outside overlooking the ocean while the kids played. After dinner, we went to the grocery store for some drinks and snacks for the week before heading back to the hotel for bed.


November 11th--Today was more of the same as yesterday. After eating breakfast, we booked a trip to the Great Barrier Reef for tomorrow. It was a little rainy when we first woke up, but it cleared off for us to enjoy the water and sun one more day. We hung out meeting several families from Australia. There aren't a whole lot of people at the resort because it is off season right now. It's amazing to think that it's summertime here, but the beach is off season. A lot of the off season is because of the ocean water. It contains a lot of jellyfish during the summer months. Anyway, today we didn't stay at the lagoon as long as yesterday. We went in about 3:00 to get ready to go back into Port Douglas. We headed in to do some shopping, but quickly realized that stuff in Australian is just expensive. So, we settled on an early dinner at the Ironbar and again had great food. We then headed back to the hotel for bed.

The Red Centre

November 4th--We got up at 6:00 a.m. again this morning. The good thing this time was our stuff was already all packed up from the day before. We left the hotel around 7:00 and made the 10 minute drive to the airport. (I guess it was meant for us to be flying out of the Sydney airport at the same time as Britney Spears was arriving at the airport for her Australian tour.) We were able to get some food and drinks inside the Qantas lounge before our flight departed. Our flight left Sydney about 8:20 a.m. this morning and we were on the coolest looking plane. The outside of it was all painted in an Aboriginal style. The kids thought it was really cool. The flight to Adelaide was a little under 2 hours and we had about a 30 minute layover there. We then got right back on the same plane that headed to Alice Springs. This flight was about the same, a little under 2 hours. We arrived a little before noon and literally landed in the desert. All that was around us was a flat land of red dirt. Our luggage was the last to arrive out on the carousel so we were the last in line for a taxi. We decided that there were only about 4 taxis in the whole town of Alice Springs. :-) Once we finally did get into one though, we had him take us to Britz to pick up our RV (or Hummer Home as the kids call it). We watched a quick video on how everything on the RV worked and off we went in the Hummer Home. We stopped by McDonald's for a very late lunch. We were all so hungry at this point. Then, went by the grocery store and stocked up on food/drinks for the week. We got back in the RV and started towards the campground. On our way, Abby started screaming the door is open. Apparently, when we made a turn, the side door flew right open. We were laughing hysterically and quickly reminded to always lock the door. We arrived at the MacDonnell Douglas Holiday Park (campground) and found our spot. We started to get everything all set up and organized. Mike got everything connected outside except for the waste hose. When I say waste, I mean gray waste water not sewer waste. The sewer waste apparently goes into a holding tank that has to manually be emptied. So, we were advised by Mike that the bathroom in the RV is off limits. Anyway, he wasn't able to find the waste hose and a family pulled up right beside us so he decided to ask them. The guy came over to help Mike, but they quickly realized that Britz hadn't given us a hose and Britz was already closed for the day. So, we all got to talking to this family next to us. They are from Bern, Switzerland and had 2 boys (ages 5 and 2). The kids were instant friends and played the remainder of the evening. The kids played so hard that they were very dirty and needed to take a shower. I had used the restroom at the campground earlier and was surprised at how clean they actually were. So, I took both kids in there to shower off before bedtime. After putting the kids to bed, we sat outside pretty late talking with our new friends. It was really neat to be able to talk to them about Switzerland especially since we loved the country so much and the lady, Petra, has traveled all over the States. They are spending 3 months traveling all over Australia. While sitting outside with them, we actually saw a kangaroo come through the campsite. I tried to get a picture, but it was too dark and the kangaroo was too fast. We said our goodnights around midnight and settled into the RV. Mike and Austin slept in the bed above the driver seat while Abby and I slept in the bed "downstairs".


November 5th--We got up this morning and started getting the RV ready to travel. I had my first campground shower experience. I was actually okay with it...not too bad. We left around 10:00 and had to go by Britz to pick up a hose. After getting the hose, we headed out of Alice Springs. The minute we pulled out of the small town, we saw nothing but dessert. As far as we could see was red clay and flat land. We had no radio stations to listen to and nothing to look at. We passed only 2 gas stations along the 5 hour drive. There was a point in the drive where Mike and I ran out of things to say to each other. A little later, Mike said he was even bored with himself because he had run out of things to think about. We laughed just from being bored. The kids were really good though...they played their Leapsters and napped. We did stop halfway at a rest stop to eat lunch. Now rest stops here aren't like the ones you find in the States. They are basically just an area to pull over and literally rest. There are no bathrooms. We finally arrived at the Ayers Rock Resort around 4:30. So, it was about a 6 hour drive with an hour stop in between. We got the RV all hooked up and headed to the pool for a little while. After swimming, we grilled hamburgers for dinner. The kids watched a movie before bedtime. While they were watching the movie, Mike and I sat outside enjoying the pleasant evening. It's amazing how hot it gets here during the day and then how nice the evenings and mornings are.


November 6th--This morning we headed out to Uluru-Ayers Rock. It's about a 10 minute drive to the entrance of the park and then about another 10 minutes to arrive at the rock. We stopped off at the Culture Center first to pick up a map of the area. We decided to do a kid friendly walk on the base of the rock. The Mala Walk was about an hour long and parts were shaded. Ayers Rock is owned by Aboriginal people and is a very spiritual place. The funny part about this area is the flies are so bad. They land on your face and then try to go into your eyes, ears, mouth and nose. Yuck! So, we had bought fly nets to wear over our head and they were definitely needed. There were times when all you could see were flies on the net. The people that didn't have nets spent most of their time swatting at the flies. Anyway, at the halfway mark of the walk where we turned around, there was a gorge and it was really pleasant there. We actually stopped for a snack and some water before heading back. When we got back to the RV, we made lunch and enjoyed it in the RV at Ayers Rock. After lunch, we drove back to Ayers Rock Resort. (Oh, by the way, I use the word "resort" very loosely.) The resort does have a small shopping center that we stopped off at to look around some of the shops. Then, we returned back to camping spot and went swimming for the afternoon. The temperature is very strange here because it's hot, but very dry. The pool feels cold and when you get out of the water, the air feels cold too. Totally different than Texas hot. After swimming, we all took showers. I cooked dinner at the campsite before heading back to Ayers Rock. We headed to Ayers Rock to watch the sunset. Once we arrived at our spot, we ate dinner in the RV and then sat outside watching the rock change many colors as the sun set on it. It was a sight that is indescribable. After the sun set, we drove back to our campsite. We were surprised to have other people in our spot when we returned. So, it's dark by now and we are having a language barrier with them. We tried to explain to them that this was our spot, but they kept saying it was there. The thing is they had 4WD vehicles not campers so we knew they were in the wrong spot. I finally just walked back up to the reception office and asked for help. The lady told me they were from Italy and they were supposed to be on the lawn because they had tents to set up. Luckily, a guy that worked at the resort came to escort the Italians to their proper location. We quickly got back in our spot and got it all set up for bedtime. The kids went to bed pretty immediately after a busy day. The adults weren't far behind tonight.


November 7th--Being that we had spent plenty of time at Ayers Rock, we were ready to depart the resort by 9:00 a.m. this morning. We left out on another desert drive to King's Canyon this morning. Mike and I got smart about the drive this time and figured that we could listen to our ipods while driving. So, we shared an ipod and put only a headset in one of our ears. It seemed to help with the boring drive. Today though we managed to find ways to be entertained by the dead kangaroos all over the road. The other day, we were amazed and disgusted by them. Not today though, we started to analyze how long we thought they had been there (hey...it's really a boring drive). We arrived in King's Canyon right at noon. We had known that we were going to cross paths with the Switzerland family again. So, when we went to find a campsite we pulled in right next to them. We were all thrilled to see each other. After lunch, their oldest boy, Jonah, came to our camper to watch a movie while their youngest one, Enea, took a nap. After nap time, we all went to the pool for a couple of hours. After swimming, we got dressed for dinner. We had all decided to go eat at Outback BBQ which was located on the resort. Before going to dinner though, we went to one of the sunset platforms to see the Canyon. It was a great view! At the Outback BBQ, we kind of felt like we were back in Texas. There were long picnic benches, live music and Australian BBQ. Mike and I had our first taste of emu, kangaroo, and crocodile. The emu and kangaroo were made into sausages. The crocodile was on a skewer and tasted similar to chicken. They were all surprisingly good. After dinner, the live band invited the kids up on stage to join them for a couple of songs. They also got to entertain the crowd up on the stage. Abby and Austin both had their first solo performance. Abby sang "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" while Austin busted out with "The Boys are Back" from High School Musical. They were very cute. Mike and I also had our turn up on the stage. So, the whole family was involved in the entertainment. We got back to our campsite around 9:00 and all put the kids to sleep. Then, we set outside talking with Petra and Pascal until late. We had a great night of conversation with our new friends. While sitting outside, we saw several dingoes which is an Australian wild dog and can be very dangerous if approached. If you leave them alone, they leave you alone. Right before going to bed though, we looked right up on the canyon and saw a bright light. At first, we thought it might be a fire, but quickly realized that it was the moon coming up over the canyon. It was a beautiful sight. Also, the skies are so clear around here at night as there is almost no light pollution. The skies are just full of stars.


November 8th--We were up early and said our goodbye's to the Oegerli family. Before leaving though, Mike and the kids were filling the RV up with water. This had always been a successful experience up until today when the hose flew out and sprayed everybody. It had a lot of pressure so it was flying around spraying water as Mike tried to catch it. It was very funny. After leaving the campsite, we stopped at the gas station to fill up. When we started pulling out of the station, we heard a horn honking. We kept trying to figure out who was honking at us. After the horn kept honking every time we moved, we finally figured out that was the RV's way of telling us the emergency brake was on. There have been many moments we have felt like Chevy Chase in a version of Vacation! So, after releasing the brake, we headed to King's Canyon and arrived around 8:30. We decided to do an hour long walk along the dry creek bed at the base of the canyon. It was hot this morning. By the time we got back to the RV at 9:30, it was already 33 degrees Celsius. We drank a lot of water before heading out on the road again. We headed out for our drive back to Alice Springs. We stopped about halfway for lunch and the temperature had gotten up to 40 degrees Celsius by then. We just watched the temperature rise as we drove back to Alice Springs. We even saw a dirt tornado along the road. We arrived back at Alice Springs a little after 3:00. Mike took the kids swimming while I did laundry. Doing laundry at a campground was a fun experience. The best was there is this big drying area where you can line dry all your clothes. Well, with the heat and the little bit of breeze, the clothes are dry in no time. In fact as I was hanging all the clothes out, a guy came by and said "By the time you get done putting all that up, the first ones are going to be dry". He was close to being right. It didn't take long at all. In the meantime, the kids had finished swimming and were bouncing at the Jumping Pillow. By the time they were done, it was dinner time. We made spaghetti again and then started cleaning up the RV. We spent some time trying to get our stuff organized and packed up before going to bed.


November 9th--We got up this morning and enjoyed our last morning of eating breakfast outside. Mike made us all pancakes this morning. After breakfast, we finished packing up before pulling out of the campground around 10:00. We drove into town to shop at the Todd Mall. Our guidebook says that Alice Springs is the best place to look at/buy Aboriginal art and crafts. After looking around for a while, we went to eat lunch at KFC (Abby's choice). After lunch, we did some more shopping before turning our RV back in. We got to Britz around 2:00 and checked in the RV. It was at this time that we found out that we had driven 1341 kilometers which converts to about 833 miles. It was an easy process to check it back in and get in a taxi to the airport. We arrived at the Alice Springs airport with plenty of time before our flight. Our flight left at 4:15 and arrived in Cairns (pronounced Cans) about 6:30. It just continues to amaze us that on such a short flight we were served a meal. Upon arriving in Cairns, we retrieved our luggage and got on the Sun Palm shuttle bus to Port Douglas. It was about an hour long drive to our hotel. Unfortunately, it was dark out otherwise it would have been a really pretty drive along the coastline. Austin actually fell asleep on the drive and never woke up until the next morning. I carried him inside and put him in bed. Abby and I went to find something to eat before heading to bed.

Leaving Sydney...NOT!

November 3rd--We got up at 6:00 a.m. this morning to be ready to leave the apartment by 8:00 a.m. We went downstairs to fit in our free breakfast as well. At 8:00 a.m., we checked out and got in a taxi heading to the airport. We arrived at the airport about 8:30 and went to check in for our Qantas flight. The lady could not locate our tickets. She saw our booking information, but their were no ticket numbers assigned. So, we had to go over to the sales desk to try to figure it out and get our tickets "issued". The lady at the Qantas sales desk was very helpful, but not helpful enough as she put us on the phone with British Airways (who we booked our round-the-world tickets with). Mike was on the phone with British Airways telling them to get us our tickets issued or we were going to miss our flight. The guy finally told Mike that there was nothing he could do and for us to call our travel agent. Mike was like "you guys are my travel agent. We've booked Round-The-World tickets directly through you." Anyway, by this time check-in had closed for the flight so it was obvious that we had missed it. So, at this point British Airways couldn't help us and Qantas couldn't help us. We finally got connected to the British Airways Round-The-World desk in the US and the lady there was very helpful. We still don't really understand, but somehow they had a "system glitch" and the tickets were booked, but not issued...whatever!! The unfortunate thing was that we had missed the one Qantas flight to Alice Springs for the day. The next flight didn't leave until tomorrow. Also, the direct flight that we were originally supposed to be on was full so we had to book an indirect flight for tomorrow. We were now flying out of Sydney at 8:20am to Adelaide and then Adelaide to Alice Springs arriving a little before noon. Of course, we also had to change our RV and hotel reservations for our next 2 stops. Luckily, we had some extra days at the end back in Sydney, so we just pushed everything back a day. By the time this was all taken care of, I believe Mike had been on the phone for over 2 hours, but we had our boarding passes in hand for tomorrow's flight. Luckily, the kids were really good through this whole ordeal. There was actually a television next to the monitors that was playing cartoons. So, around 11:00 a.m., we left the ticket area and made our way downstairs to look into getting a hotel for the evening. The guy at the information desk was excellent. He got us a fairly inexpensive hotel close to the apartment. We hoped in a taxi and went to the Novotel on Brighton Beach. After getting checked in, we found something to eat for lunch and then headed to the swimming pool. It had turned HOT in Sydney today...high of 35 Celsius. We spent the afternoon at the hotel pool before heading to dinner. We walked about 10 minutes along the beach promenade to a restaurant called Sabia which sits right on the beach. The kids were able to play in the sand too. Brighton Beach faces Sydney airport so we watched planes take-off and land while eating our dinner. After dinner, we stopped for some much needed ice cream after the stressful morning we had and headed back to the hotel. It was early to bed for everyone as it was going to be another early morning.

Slow day in Sydney

November 2nd--We took it pretty easy today as we had to get ourselves ready to leave for the outback tomorrow. We started the morning off with laundry, blogging and updating pictures. After that, we walked over to David Jones which is one of the big department stores here in Sydney. We ate lunch in the Food Hall there which is on the basement floor. We then looked through their Christmas section at ornaments and such. From here, we walked back to the apartment for a rest. I wasn't feeling very good...trying to catch a cold. So, I laid down to rest and Mike took the kids to the playground at Darling Harbor for the afternoon. He ran into a couple there with their daughter who were from Texas. They now work and live in Melbourne, but were visiting Sydney. They had lived in the neighborhood next to us in Frisco...small world!When they got back, Mike walked over to Regus business center to print off our itinerary and directions for camping in the outback. We then went to eat at Nando's for dinner. After dinner, we headed back to finish packing up. We had to rearrange some stuff because we are going to store one suitcase in Sydney. Then it was to bed early for everyone. We have to get up early tomorrow morning for our flight to Alice Springs.

Bondi Beach

November 1st--Abby and I went to the grocery store first thing this morning to pick up some food for our picnic lunch. We were heading to the beach today and were taking food with us. After we got back from the store, the boys were ready to head out. We took about a 30 minute bus ride to Bondi Beach. One of the bus stops was right by the beach. We found our spot on the sand and immediately started enjoying our picnic lunch. It was a beautiful day on the beach. It was very sunny, but windy too so the temperature was in the 70's. We enjoyed watching all the people learning how to surf and playing in the sand. The water was too cold to actually get into. I think the kids got their feet wet though. We stayed on the beach until about 4:00 when we made our way off the beach. We all enjoyed snow cones while watching beach volleyball and skateboarding as we made our way up to the street. We then walked toward Bronte beach while enjoying the Sculptures by the Sea. We got to see the spectacular Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk transformed into a giant sculpture park of over 100 sculptures by artists from Australia and across the world. Some of the sculptures were so pretty with the water behind them. It was fun and different. After looking at the sculptures, we made our way back to the main street by the beach to find dinner. We decided on Bondi Trattoria knowing that they had to have pizza, which they did. We all enjoyed a wonderful meal before boarding the bus back into Sydney. By the time we made it back to the apartment, it was late and way past the kids bedtime. We all had a great day at the beach. Sydney reminds us a lot of San Diego with its weather and beaches.

Luna Park

October 31st--We took it real slow this morning since yesterday was so busy. Plus, we really felt like that we had seen all the major highlights of Sydney yesterday, so now it was just time to have fun. So, we headed to Luna Park. Luna Park is a small amusement park located across the harbour from the Opera House. We rode the public ferry boat from Darling Harbour to the Luna Park stop. It was a beautiful day in Sydney so the boat ride was really enjoyable. We got a great view of the city skyline and also saw a wedding take place on one of the islands. We arrived at Luna Park about 20 minutes later. The good thing is there is no fee to enter the park, but we had to purchase wrist bands for the rides. The kids were immediately excited and we headed to the 'Coney Island' area. This is where Mike and the kids went down the big slide numerous times. Austin had to have an adult accompany him so Mike was the lucky one of the day to get to be that adult. After Coney Island, we went to the kids rides area. There were 3 rides that Abby and Austin could ride by themselves and so they just kept alternating between them. After about an hour of this, they wanted to go back down the slides. After the the slides, Mike and Austin rode the bumper cars. Then, Mike and Abby rode the Wild Mouse. The Wild Mouse lived up to its name. Mike said that it was by far the jerkiest ride he's ever riden. From here, Austin and Mike rode the ferris wheel while Abby rode the carousel. Then, they all 3 rode the carousel before leaving the park. We had intentions of eating at a restaurant right by the park, but unfortunately when we got there, they informed us it was all booked up. We didn't realize that reservations were needed. Reservations are apparently a big thing in Sydney. All restaurants take reservations. So, we decided to head back to our apartment and figure out what we were going to do for dinner. By the time we got back, Austin was really tired and just wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and Mike said he wasn't really hungry. Abby and I were starving because we hadn't eaten lunch. So, it was Girls Night Out. Abby and I went to eat at Nando's. We had eaten at Nando's in London and loved it. Nando's was about a 10 minute walk from our apartment. We really enjoyed our meal and time together. While we were walking back to the apartment, we passed a couple of kids kind of dressed up. Abby said "They look like they're dressed up fro Halloween". I said "they are dressed up for Halloween". She said "Why?". I said "Because it's Halloween". She said "Oh, it is? Are we going to make it back in time to watch Cat and the Hat?" We did made it back to the apartment just in time for Abby to watch Cat and the Hat on TV and she never gave Halloween another thought. Halloween is not a big deal in Australia. We have seen very little decorations and advertisements for it. We were at a children's park all day and saw no signs of it being Halloween. Very different than what we are used to in the States.

Best of Sydney

October 30th--Our day started pretty early, but we had an exciting day planned. We scheduled ourselves on our first all day tour since we've been traveling. We have always been hesitant of long tours just because of the schedule and the children. But, this tour sounded wonderful and hit all the major sights we wanted to see around Sydney. We were picked up at 7:30 from our apartment and boarded a 20 passenger mini-van. We were the first on the van which worked out well for us because we got the front row seats. We then drove around for about 30 minutes picking up all the other passengers before heading out on our tour. Our first stop was at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Park area. We were able to get out to take some pictures of the Olympic Stadium and the cauldron (that held the flame) that was taken down from the stadium and placed on the ground. We also got to see our tour guide, Ken, demonstrate how to throw a boomerang. It is apparently very tricky so no one was able to practice, but the kids did get to hold one. From the Olympic Park, we headed to have morning tea at Featherdale Wildlife Park. Here we got up close and personal with native animals, especially koalas and kangaroos. We also got to see Wombats, Tassie Devils, Dingo's and Willabys. The Koala and Kangaroo experience was incredible as we were able to feed and pet them. Koalas sleep 19 hours a day so we were lucky to be there while a few were awake. From here, we drove about an hour into the Blue Mountain area. We drove through the cute town of Leura which is known for it's manicured gardens. We also saw the Leura Cascades. Unfortunately, Australia is in a huge drought so the waterfall was very small. From Leura, we entered into Katoomba where we stopped for lunch. Our choices for lunch was a Chinese buffet, roast with vegetables or fish & chips. Between all 4 of us, we got to sample a little bit of all the choices. After lunch, we drove to Echo Point where we saw the world famous 'Three Sisters' and a view of Australia's "Grand Canyon". This is where we saw our most magnificent views of the tour and found out why the area is called the Blue Mountain. There is a blue haze over the area that is caused from the Eucalyptus tree vapors. There are 500 kinds of Eucalyptus trees and Koalas only eat 20 of the 500. No koalas will be seen in the Blue Mountain area because the 20 Eucalyptus trees are not in the area. From Echo Point, we drove to Scenicworld to ride the Scenic Railway which is the world's steepest incline railway and we believe it too. Once we reached the bottom, we walked on the timber boardwalk which took us through the rainforest, past coal mines and allowed us to smell the Eucalyptus trees. We returned up the mountain on the Flyway cable car. Once back on the top, we drove to visit Cahill's Lookout. Here we saw the famous "Boars Head Rock" which does actually look like a Boar. We also learned about the "Mountain Devil" which changes from a red flower into the devilish thorn. We then made our way back to the pretty village of Leura for a short afternoon snack break. When we had driven through the town earlier today, I saw that they had a Christmas Cottage. When I found out that we were actually stopping for some free time, I headed straight to the store. Unfortunately, it was so small and didn't really have anything that couldn't be purchased in the States. After our break we got back on the van and headed into Sydney while being entertained with legendary Aussie Folk music. Our van dropped us off just outside of Sydney where we boarded a boat. We then cruised back to the city along the Parramatta River. The boat took us under Sydney Harbour Bridge with a water view of the Sydney Opera House and then into Sydney Harbour where our tour ended. We walked around the harbour area for some great views of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge at sunset. We then caught a taxi back to the apartment to end our long, but wonderful day.

"This Is It"

October 29th--We slept late this morning...basically we had to make ourselves get up at 9:15. Obviously, you suffer from jetlag even with a 4 hour time difference. I think it's more from not much sleep the night before on the plane than the time difference. Anyway, we ate breakfast in the restaurant downstairs from our apartment before getting ready for the day. We decided to take it easy today since we were all really tired. We had seen on TV that the Michael Jackson movie "This Is It" was playing here in Australia. It was actually all over the news here because one of the dancer's in the performance was from Australia. So, we decided to go see the movie. It was playing at the IMAX theater at the Fox Studios area. By the time we took the bus to the area, it was time for the movie. All 4 of us really enjoyed the movie. Abby was dancing to Billy Jean and Austin was singing "Beat It, Beat It". It was really good and showed how wonderful of a musician, dancer and performer MJ was...truly the King of Pop. After the movie, we went to the playground in the area for a couple of hours. The weather is absolutely gorgeous here...very springlike. So, it's really nice to sit outside. We left the playground to find some dinner in the area. We went to eat at ABLAZE which should actually be named "The world's largest hamburgers". We ordered way too much food because the portions were enormous, but the price showed it too. Australia is one expensive place. Of course, we had gotten ourselves accustomed to the prices in China and Thailand. After dinner, we went back to the apartment for bedtime. We were off to bed early because we booked a tour for the next day that started at 7:30am.

Heading Down Under

October 27th/28th--When we got up this morning, we quickly packed our suitcases up in order to leave the resort at 10:00 a.m. We made it to the airport by 10:45 a.m., which was plenty of time for our 12:05 p.m. flight back to Bangkok. Again, we had an hour long flight from Phuket to Bangkok. Upon arriving in Bangkok, we had to retrieve our luggage and then re-check for our International flight into Sydney. We got a little caught up at baggage claim though. Only 2 of the 4 suitcases came out and the carousel was saying Last Bag. Well, we finally found out that a whole cart went to the wrong place and was on its way back. We did finally get our other 2 suitcases and off we went to check in with Qantas. It was an easy process and we had a pass to get inside the Qantas Business Lounge which was wonderful. We had over 2 hours until our flight left and the kids were starving. So, we spent time in the lounge eating, watching a movie, and checking e-mails. Our plane started boarding at 4:45 p.m. and everyone was on with doors closed by 5:15 p.m., but we couldn't take off early because of the 6:00 a.m. curfew into Sydney. Since Sydney Airport is located in the city, planes can't land until after 6:00 a.m. Anyway, the flight was very nice and uneventful. We all ate dinner, watched movies and then the kids went to sleep pretty quickly. Mike and I got a little bit of rest before landing. After landing, we went through Immigrations, got our bags and then went through Customs. Customs in Australia is like no other country. They are very strict about what you bring into the country...no food of any kind, no soiled clothing items, and no wooden products. If you have any of these items, they have to be searched to approve entry or be put in quarantine. We were lucky to get clearance from a guy at the baggage claim. He came by asked for our customs form and then asked us the major questions. He stamped our form and pointed us to an exit that would make us getting out a whole lot quicker. And boy did it make it much quicker...everyone else that wasn't following us was having to put all their luggage/bags through x-ray machines. So, we were out of the airport a little after 7:00 and getting into a taxi. We arrived at our apartment by 8:00. Unfortunately, our apartment was not ready for us. We had planned on all crashing until about lunch, but that clearly wasn't happening. We stored our baggage and walked down to the Darling Harbour area. We immediately found a playground so the kids played there for about 2 hours. I actually laid down on the ground and took a little nap. Yes, I was that tired. Mike said I looked like a homeless person. We then walked back and were able to get into the apartment about 11:00. I laid down again and took another short nap until we had our luggage delivered. Once our luggage arrived, we sorted out the laundry and started washing. We had a weeks worth of clothes to wash. We ate lunch at Subway and then went to the Sydney Aquarium for the afternoon. The aquarium is on the Darling Harbour. It was a nice outing for us especially since it was pretty low key and kept us from all sleeping too much. After the aquarium, we enjoyed some sunlight by the harbour before heading back to the apartment. Austin and Mike laid down about 5:00 p.m. Mike woke up from his nap, but Austin was asleep for the night. The rest of us ordered pizza before heading to bed early.

Phuket, Thailand

October 20th-October 26th--We have truly been on "vacation" this week and have found our spot in Phuket, Thailand. We couldn't be pulled away from the pool or the beach to update the blog so we are putting the entire week into one post. Plus, we figured that it would get boring to everyone reading day after day that we lazed around the pool/beach a lot...certainly not boring to us though! Anyway, we left Bangkok on October 20th and took a short flight into Phuket on Thai Airways. We arrived into Phuket around noon and were at the Laguna Beach Resort by 1:00. We were lucky to be able to get right into our room and immediately put on our bathing suits. We were able to enjoy the pool all afternoon long. The resort has a wonderful pool area and a really fun waterslide. We also got to meet Meena, the one year old elephant, that lives on site. She comes out for breakfast every morning and then to swim in the ocean in the afternoon. By the end of the week, the kids were best friends with this elephant and feeding her lots of bananas. On our first day in Phuket, Abby got her hair braided on the beach. There were about 6 Thai women all around her doing the work. They had it perfectly done in 30 minutes. Austin was cute sitting right in front of Abby watching all the action. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were much of the same as the first day with lots of swimming, sun and beach. Abby went to Kids Club Wednesday morning while Austin swam with us. Kids Club meets twice a day (morning and afternoon)and is free for Abby, but Austin has to have a babysitter since he's under 4 and so we have to plan ahead. So, he went to Kids Club on Thursday morning and they got to build sand castles out on the beach. On Thursday afternoon, I learned how to do coconut leaf folding. I made a fish, a bird and a grasshopper out of coconut leaves. I use the word learned very loosely because there is no way I could repeat the folding. While I was in my class, Mike and the kids were at the pool making really good friends with another family. So, when I got done, I joined them out on the beach. This family is originally from Sydney, Australia, but now live in Beijing. Both of those locations gave us a lot to talk about. Dave and his wife Ren have 2 kids, Miles who is Abby's age and Reuben who is 2. The kids got along great. As a matter of fact, Miles and Abby hit it off from the beginning. We laughed about them becoming boyfriend/girlfriend. After a long afternoon in the pool, we all ended up going to dinner together at a restaurant on the beach named Tom Yam Goong. It was so much fun and was a great introduction into Thai food. We apparently needed some assistance in ordering the right dishes. Mike and I both opened up our menus and pretty much shut them immediately. We let Ren order all the dishes for us and everything was fantastic. We had a sampler platter of fish cakes, fried shrimp, spring rolls, chicken satay and chicken wrapped in pandan leaves and Spicy Beef Salad. By the time we finished up, all the kids were really tired so everyone put their kids to bed. Mike and Dave met back up on the beach to have some guy time the rest of the evening. Friday was much of the same except we scheduled the kids to go to Kids Club Movie Night. Dave and Ren joined us for dinner this night at Lotus. This was a very nice Seafood/Thai food restaurant on the beach about 10 minutes away from our hotel. Again, Ren did the ordering and the food was excellent. We had chicken satay, fish cakes, papaya salad and soft shell crab just to name a few. It was a wonderful night with our new friends. When we picked the kids up from Kids Club, we had to sadly say our goodbyes to our new friends though. They were leaving early the next morning heading back to Beijing. On Saturday, we took it kind of easy in the morning. We thought we could use a break from the sun for a while. So, Abby and I did Batik Drawing at the resort while Mike and Austin played on the beach. Batik Drawing is the process of waxing and dyeing cloth by human hands. Abby finished up her painting before lunch, but I needed to go back after lunch. However, first we went on our elephant trekking. It was quit an experience because of course, mine and Abby's elephant had to be the one to go off-roading. At times, it actually felt like we were going to fall off even though I knew we weren't (or at least I had convinced myself we weren't). After the elephant rides, we returned back to the hotel. Mike and the kids went swimming while I finished my painting. Abby and I were very pleased with our final products. Abby turned hers into a bag (this girl loves bags and purses!) and I'm going to hang my on the wall someday. On Sunday morning it was more cloudy than usual, but wasn't raining at first. After breakfast, Mike and Austin went kayaking in the Laguna. We all then went to the pool, but right after we got in the pool, the dark clouds really started rolling in and it did start pouring. We all ran back to our room and hung out for a while waiting on the rain to let up. Once it let up some, we walked around some of the beach front shops before eating lunch. While we were eating lunch, the sun started coming out so we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming. We went back to eat at Tom Yam Goong and we were so proud of ourselves for being able to order good Thai food. On Monday, it was pretty much the same weather conditions in the morning with rain. So, we went over to the Canal Village to look around the shops there for about an hour. By the time we got back to the pool, the sun was out and we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming with some of our other Australian friends we had met during the week. This is a popular vacation destination for Aussie's. We were already looking forward to our time in Australia, but are now really looking forward due to the great Aussie's we have met this week. Mike and I had the kids signed up for Movie Night again so that we could enjoy our last night in Phuket. We were a little late dropping them off because we took Abby's braids out. Apparently we needed all 6 Thai ladies again because it took us a little longer than we had anticipated. We ended up eating dinner at the nice Thai restaurant in the hotel. I took a hold of the menu and ordered with confidence. Mike says I did an excellent job with my selections. We enjoyed a spicy papaya salad and a deep-fried seabass dish. We then hung out on the beach for a little while before picking up the kids. We are very sad to be leaving Phuket tomorrow. This place is such a great vacation location and this is truly the first week that we have spent it like we were on vacation. No sightseeing and no obligations at all. It has been really nice and we hope to return someday.

Last night in Bangkok

October 19th--Since we loved our apartment so much here in Bangkok and didn't know what our accommodations were going to be like over the next couple of weeks, we decided to take the opportunity to just hang out for the day. There are 3 televisions, so plenty for everyone to watch what they wanted to watch as well. Abby and I did a lot of schoolwork this morning before heading out to the pool. We spent several hours swimming at the pool before...you got it...it started raining. After going inside, we all hung out watching movies and packing up our suitcases. Mike and I had arranged for a babysitter for the night so that we could go enjoy our last night in Bangkok and some local Thai food. We had KFC delivered to the room for the kids before the babysitter arrived at 7:00. Mike and I left via taxi heading to Baan Klang Naam restaurant. It took our taxi driver a while to find the restaurant. He had to make many turn arounds and pull over to ask another taxi driver. But, we got there nonetheless. The restaurant is open air and right on the river. We were able to enjoy some wonderful Thai food including crab sushi, fried prawns & fruit salad and a spicy shrimp salad. They aren't kidding when they say spicy either. It was probably the hottest thing I've ever had. It was a nice night out. When we got back to the apartment, the babysitter had the place all cleaned up and had even got our laundry out of the dryer and hung it up. She also told us that she rubbed Austin's back to get him to go to sleep. She was wonderful! After she left, we went to check on the kids and saw the funniest thing. Austin was in his 18 month footed pajamas that he carries around as his "blanket". He couldn't even straighten out his legs from being so crammed in there. Mike and I had a good laugh thinking about what the babysitter must have thought as she crammed him in the pajamas. She probably thought it was time for us to get him some new pj's! Anyway, after taking a picture we changed him back into his normal pajamas and headed to bed.

Shopping in Bangkok

October 18th--Today, we would experience the two extremes of shopping in Bangkok. We headed out this morning for the Chatuchak Market, the huge weekend market in Bangkok. We tried to get there before it got too hot, but I don't think that there is any good time to avoid the heat and humidity. This market is by far the biggest outdoor market we have seen along the way. It was endless stalls combined together and there was everything from souvenirs to food to clothing. It is such an experience on your senses, both smell and sight. We actually enjoyed walking around because unlike in China, we were not bothered at all while shopping. No one pressured us into buying anything. It was nice to walk away from the market with a headband and dress for Abby for under $5.00. Now, I told her she better wear the dress before we wash it because it might fall apart after one wash, but she was happy with her new dress. After we left the market, we were going to let the kids play at the playground by the market, but it was covered in water from the rain so we headed back to the apartment. We went swimming for a little while this afternoon before the usual Bangkok afternoon rain came rolling in. So, we then just hung out for a couple of hours before deciding to go to Siam Paragon. Siam Paragon is 5 story, high tech shopping mall...very impressive and better than any shopping mall we have ever seen in the States. The ground floor has a huge food hall. It was here that Mike and I got to enjoy all the street vendor food, but safely. We had grilled bananas, crispy pancakes, chicken satay, and a traditional Thai sweet. We enjoyed all of this food while sitting with the kids in McDonald's. We still aren't able to get them to be too adventurous in their food. After dinner, we made our way up the escalators passing all the shops to the top floor where the movie theater and bowling alley is located. We were going bowling. It was a lot of fun and the kids had a wonderful time. It doesn't matter where you are in the world...bowling is still all the same!

Took by a Tuk-Tuk

October 17th--Today was our day to get out and do the major things that Bangkok has to offer. We left the apartment and caught a taxi to take us to Central Pier. Either the taxi driver didn't know where Central Pier was or he didn't understand us because he didn't drop us off at the pier. It is so hot and humid in Bangkok right now that when we get lost, it is hard to concentrate on how to get to where we need to go. Luckily though, the taxi didn't drop us off very far from the pier. Our plan was to see Bangkok's Riverside sites. So, we started by hopping on the Chao Phraya Tourist Boat that makes many stops along the river. As we approached our stop, on the left, we saw the Wat Arun, The Temple of Dawn. It was a beautiful temple to see from the river. We got of at Tha Tien to go visit Wat Po. We made the short walk to Wat Po, but not without having our smellers seriously tested. I'm pretty sure I've never smelt anything worse than walking through the market filled with fishy stuff. I say fishy stuff because I don't know what all the stuff was...I didn't stop long enough. But, we quickly escaped the smell and were standing at the Wat Po. Wat in Thai means Temple. The Wat Po is also known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. We pretty much went straight to see this enormous Buddha measuring more than 140 feet long. The statue is brick, covered with layers of plaster and gold leaf. The feet are inlaid with mother of pearl. From the Wat Po, we started our walk to the Grand Palace which was only a block away (although a very long block). However, it was a very hot and humid walk to say the least. When we arrived at one of the entrances to the Grand Palace that was for Thai citizens only, we were greeted by a guy that clearly looked like he worked at the palace. He informed us that the palace was only open from 2-4 today and it was about 11:30 at this time. I immediately walked away to stand in the shade to try to comprehend all of this while Mike spoke with this guy. Mike then came over to me and showed me on a map a couple of other temples we could visit until the Grand Palace opened. The guy had a tuk tuk driver waiting to take us to these places and then bring us back. We were told it would only be 20 Bhat (less than $1) for all of this, and we didn't have to pay until we arrived back at the Grand Palace. So, we thought why not...and we climbed into the tuk tuk. The first thing out of Mike's mouth was "I feel like this is a scam, but can't figure out how yet." We were first taken to Wat Intrarawiharn. This is a temple with a giant Buddha standing over 100 feet tall. The lady driver told us to take our time and that she would be waiting for us. Before going inside the temple, we got some drinks and chips to tide us over since it was lunch time. When we got out of the Wat Intrarawiharn, the tuk tuk driver was waiting for us. We climbed into tuk tuk and she told us that she had to go to the toilet. Behind the tuk tuk was a man sitting at a table. He started talking to us...asking us where we were from, etc. He quickly informed us that it was National Gas Holiday today and that tuk tuk rides are so cheap because they get free gas. I was the only one talking to this man at this point, asking him all kinds of questions. As we pulled away, Mike said "Now I remember what the scam is and it's this thing with the free gas." The driver pulled a couple of blocks away before pulling over and telling us she was going to take us shopping. She was telling us all kinds of stuff like "I get free gas" and "just for 5 minutes". When we told her to take us to the Golden Mount Temple (which is where we were told she would take us ), she told us it didn't open until 1:00 and it was 12:30. Mike kept saying "No, no shopping. Two kids, no shopping." She started driving again, very frustrated and talking on her cell phone. She only drove a couple of more blocks before pulling over at a temple and saying "Golden Mount. I'll wait for you here." When we got out of the tuk tuk, we immediately knew we weren't at the Golden Mount and turned around to see our tuk tuk driver speed off. We walked around for a minute just trying to figure out where we were before finally finding a group of Police officers. They were able to point out on our map where we were. Luckily we were not too far from the Grand Palace, so we stood at the curb to hail a cab. Once inside the cab, we came to the conclusion that the Grand Palace was probably open and was never closed today. When we arrived back at the Grand Palace, it was as open as it could be. We were a little angry that at this point in our travels we fell for this scam, but at the end of the day, we got to ride in a tuk tuk for free, see another Wat and we didn't fall for the shopping scam. What they do around here is get you in their tuk tuks, drive you around for a while to see a couple of temples before taking you to a shopping area that is outside of town. The driver goes into the shop to get their gas card and then leaves you at the area. Unfortunately, I'm sure a lot of tourist fall for it. Anyway, back at the Grand Palace...we get our tickets to enter and go inside. The Grand Palace houses not only the royal residence and throne halls, but also a number of government offices. We were first directed to the Wat Phra Kaew, Temple of the Emerald Buddha. It was spectacular to go inside this temple and see a beautiful emerald Buddha way up top. It was definitely not the size of the Buddha's we had seen in the past, but was impressive nonetheless by it's color. This temple is one of the most revered by Thai people. We left the temple cloisters and moved into the grounds of the Grand Palace. If it weren't for the golden rooftops, we would think we were in Italy. The buildings have a Western look to them with columns. We stopped off for some ice cream before exiting the Grand Palace. We hailed a taxi and got in. The taxi driver was trying to charge us 200 Baht and Mike just kept saying "Meter" until finally he started the meter. Halfway through our taxi ride back to the apartment, Mike asked to see the map. At this point, we felt like everyone was out to scam us so he wanted to make sure that we weren't going in circles, but the driver took us directly to the apartment and it cost us much less than 200 Baht. When we got back to the apartment, we went swimming and then ate dinner again poolside. Even though we got scammed (which in the end makes for a good story), we had a great day in Bangkok.

and the world's our oyster!

October 16th--We didn't have a set agenda for the day so after eating breakfast downstairs, we got dressed and headed out. We really wanted to just get adjusted to the area and walk around. So, we walked to the subway stop that is closest to our apartment. On the way, we saw many food vendors, clothes being sewn and flowers being washed all on the streets of Bangkok. Apparently a lot of the life of Bangkok happens on the streets. We got to the subway station and went two stops to Siam. From here, we saw more of the street action as we made our way to the Hard Rock Cafe. This is our 20th Hard Rock Cafe to visit since leaving the States and the best by far. The minute we walked in two waitresses were very attentive to the kids. They brought them temporary tattoos and the two women, Tippy and Tooly, immediately sat down and started putting them on the kids. We got all kinds of fun, free kids stuff while there along with getting to take pictures up on the music stage. The world was definitely our oyster at this Hard Rock. After leaving the Hard Rock, the rain started blowing in so we quickly headed back to our apartment. We spent the rest of the afternoon resting, watching the Disney Channel and then swimming after the rain passed. The pool here is very nice with a bar/food area. By the time we were finished up swimming, it was time for dinner so we ordered dinner out by the pool. It was a fun evening of just hanging out outside. There is also a glassed in game room right by the pool where the kids played and watched TV until it was time for bed.

One night in Bangkok...

October 15th--We all woke up this morning finally feeling back to normal and rested. This was a good thing since we had to get all our stuff reorganized among the 4 suitcases in order to head to the airport. We left the YMCA without a minute to spare...we checked out right at noon and caught the 12:10 Airport Express shuttle bus to Kowloon station. When we arrived at the train station, we were thrilled to find out that we could actually check-in for our flight and check our luggage as well. It was nice to get rid of the luggage here since we still had to take the 30 minute train ride to the airport. We got to the airport and went through security and immigrations fairly quickly. So, we found the Cathay Pacific lounge and were able to hang out in there until our flight. It was great because we could help ourselves to all kinds of fruit, food and drinks which were really good for us at this point. Our flight left at 3:50 for Bangkok. Once again, our plane was very nice. We are getting really spoiled to these big planes with TVs and meals. Our flight was about 2 1/2 hours and we arrived in Bangkok about 5:30 (1 hour time difference). We went through immigration, got our luggage and got in a taxi. The taxi ride was very interesting to say the least. We never feared for our life, but we are lucky we didn't kill each other during our ride. First of all, when the driver popped open the trunk, there was a huge tank (like a large gas tank) inside the trunk. We immediatly knew that all 4 of our suitcases were not going to fit in there. Mike and I just gave each other that "uh oh" look. The driver put our big suitcases in there sitting straight up and then used a bungee cord to hold the lid from flopping open, because it certainly wasn't closing. Our other 2 suitcases rode in the passenger seat while the 4 of us piled in the backseat of the taxi. It was an hour long drive with most of it in some pretty heavy traffic. Of course it was hot and humid and we were all tired from a day of travel. We were so happy to arrive at the Marriot Apartments and were greeted with some much needed lemonade. Our apartment here is really nice...it's 2 bedrooms, but the big thing is there are televisions in all bedrooms with the Disney Channel. The kids are loving it! Since it was after 7pm (8pm to our bodies), we settled in and then ordered pizza for dinner before heading to bed.

Back in Hong Kong

October 14th--Well, after a night's sleep on the train, we all woke up around 7:00 a.m. Unfortunately, that left us about 3 1/2 hours left until our train arrived at Shenzhen. The kids slept great and were feeling great. Mike and I were still not up to par at all. We had horrible headaches and being confined in a sleeper compartment did not help the situation, but we gladly arrived and quickly got off the train. We arrived about an hour later than expected so it was about 11:30 when we got off the train. It took us again about an hour to go through Immigrations in order to enter into Hong Kong. We then got on the 45 minute Subway ride back to the YMCA. We were thrilled to know that our room was ready. All we could think about was getting into the family suite, cranking the air conditioner down and resting. By the time all of this took place, it was about 2:00 so we decided to just go to the lunch buffet in the YMCA. We only had 30 minutes before it closed, but that was long enough for us to eat a light lunch trying to recover from the bug. After lunch, we headed back to the room and rested for several hours. I then took Abby to swim for about an hour while Mike and Austin did the laundry. It was about 6:00 when we all finished up so we got ready for bed. We then all piled in our bed and finished off the evening watching The Wizard of Oz.

Yangshuo bug

October 13th--Well....Mike and I woke up this morning sick with some type of stomach bug. Neither one of us slept well with stomach cramps, but luckily Mike was feeling better than me. So, he took the kids to eat breakfast and came back with some medicine for me. I debated taking it for a while because I didn't know what it was. It was a small bottle full of what looks like BB pellets. I was supposed to take half of the bottle with room temperature water. I finally decided to take it because I felt that bad. Come to find out it was an all-natural herbal medicine. Mike and the kids returned with news that we could have one of the 2 rooms for the day. So, after resting for a little while, we moved all our stuff in the room the kids had stayed in. Their room had 2 twin size beds in it so we all piled into the beds and watched a movie. It helped that it was raining outside so that the kids weren't wanting to go outside to play. By early afternoon, Abby was starting to not feel so good. At about 4:00, Austin asked to go eat so Mike took him to do so. While they were gone, it became official that Abby was sick. So, at this point everyone was taking the natural herb medicine. Around 6:30 and still feeling bad, we all packed up and headed to the front desk to check out. There was a driver there waiting to take us to the train station. So, off we went with him...only to be disappointed that we were getting in a rickety old taxi. Our vehicle the other day from the train station had been a nice, air conditioned van. This had to be the absolute worst taxi ride we've had so far and it certainly didn't help that we were sick. First of all, it was dark and raining outside. Second of all, the driver didn't take the tollway /expressway, he instead took the curvy, dark back roads. Third of all and most important, he drove like a crazy person. He passed cars to our right as a car was coming towards us while driving really fast. I said many prayers and thought to myself "Why am I afraid to fly? I'm more safe in a plane than I am in this taxi right now". Mike says it took 276 Lord's Prayers to get from Yangshuo to the train station. Once we arrived at the train station, the kids were sound asleep in the back seat and the taxi driver wanted to drop us off across the street (in the rain) so that he didn't have to pay to pull into the train station. Mike and him were having a language barrier about getting him to pull up to the station until finally Mike yelled "I DON'T CARE. JUST DRIVE." And he did so...almost to the point that he drove up on the curb of the train station. We quickly got out of the taxi and headed into the station where we found a really nice waiting area. We made spots for the kids to lay down on the benches and they both went back to sleep. It took all Mike and I had not to fall asleep too at this point. Luckily, we made it to 9:00 when we were able to board our train. The kids immediately crawled into their beds and went back to sleep. Mike and I were not far behind them before we were fast asleep too.

Chinese Paradise

October 12th--Wow! I think we have found paradise in China. It's just amazing to know that a place like this exists in the smog and chaos of China. We had a great night of sleep with a very dark room and wonderful air conditioner. After waking up and enjoying the view from the balcony, we headed down to eat breakfast outside by the river. After stuffing ourselves full, we decided to start the day with a bike ride. This time Abby wanted to ride the tandem bike so her and Mike were on that one. Austin and I rode the same bike as yesterday with him in the seat on the back. We rode about 30 minutes to an area where they have the bamboo rafts. As we rode up to this area, we were immediately approached by many locals to buy flowers and water guns. Mike finally gave in to the flower head pieces for Abby and me. They were actually pretty fun to wear while floating down the river. We purchased our tickets for the rafts and were escorted to our rafts. Our bikes were even loaded onto the rafts. The rafts are only for 2 people so we had to separate. Abby and I were on one together and Austin and Mike were on the other. But, it didn't feel like we were that far apart because we all floated down the river side by side. It was such a peaceful and surreal feeling just relaxing down the river. We definitely found our most unique spot to purchase a drink...it was from a lady on a bamboo raft in the middle of the river. The ride was a little over an hour and filled with some excitement when we approach short drop offs that we had to go over. I mean it was definitely no waterfall, but I guess what you would call a mini one. Along the ride, both kids enjoyed putting their feet in the water and catching river grass up out of the water. About halfway down the river, a nice lady handed Austin her water gun. I guess she had exceeded its use. So, the kids enjoyed playing with it the rest of the way. We were dropped back off right at the Mountain Retreat and at this point, it was lunch time. We settled in on the bamboo tables to order lunch. We had a quick lunch before leaving at 2:00 for the Silver Cave. It was about a 30 minute drive to the cave, but it was definitely not a boring 30 minutes. I do believe this one goes down as one of the most interesting things we've seen so far...along the side of the rode was a man walking totally naked. We came up behind him, but I had to turn around as if I didn't know what I was going to see from the front of him. Wow! All four of us were in shock and our driver never acted like it phased him at all. All I could think was "I guess that's normal around here. In the States, you'd be arrested." Shortly after our nudity experience, we arrived at the Silver Cave. It took a couple of minutes for our driver to get a hold of someone to take us into the cave, but once he did, we climbed the stairs up to the entrance and went inside. There were parts of the cave that were just like any other cave, but the middle part was unbelievable. There was a section that had a reflecting pool in it. The reflection in the pool made the cave look like it went down forever. It is hard to describe and the pictures don't do it justice, but it was amazing to see. It took us about an hour to go through the cave and we were back in the car heading back to our hotel. We got back a little after 4:00 and still had some time before dinner. So, we hopped back onto bikes and just went exploring this time. Abby and I were on the tandem bike this time. She was the tour guide and directed us down some rodes that we hadn't been down. It was about a 30 minute ride before we went back for showers. After showers, we went to dinner and then off to see a show called "Impression, Sanjie Liu". The process was a little crazy. First we got into a rickety van with a wild driver. The van bounced all over the ride while passing cars left and right. But, we arrived safely and were escorted to the ticket area. We definitely had a language barrier with our driver and couldn't understand what was going on. Finally, we figured out that we were being thrown into a tour group where we would get our tickets. Some random lady finally gave us our tickets to the show and off we went. At first we were trying to keep up with this tour group, but then realized that we had our seat assignments and were back to being on our own, which we like. We found our seats easily and apparently only Mike and I had seats so the kids had to sit in our laps. The show is set in a riverside amphitheater with the Li River and karst hills as the backdrop. The show was about an hour long and a mix of floodlights, singing and processions with over 200 bamboo rafts in the water at once. It was very impressive. It was on such a grand scale, it reminded you of a Disney production. After the show, we made it back to our driver for our return ride home.

Yangshuo

October 11th - After a good night's sleep (at least as good as you can get on a train), we arrived in Guilin around 7:30am. We were about an hour later than we were scheduled to arrive. When we exited the train station, it was a little chaotic and we were looking for a taxi. All of a sudden, a guy with "Michael" on a sign approaches us and says he is our driver. We didn't realize it, but the hotel had sent a driver to pick us up. This was definitely a welcome bonus. What was really helpful, was that he spoke decent English and so was able to help us find the ticket office and book our return train ticket back to Hong Kong. After purchasing our ticket, we loaded up for the drive to the hotel. Our hotel is in Yangshuo, which is about an hour from the train station in Guilin. It was an easy drive with a lot of beautiful scenery on the way. We arrived at the hotel and were immediately impressed. We are staying at the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat. It is outside the town and set right on the Yulong He river. It is beautiful and peaceful. We were greeted at the front desk and offered some fresh juice. We found a bamboo picnic table outside overlooking the river and sat down. They brought us fresh squeezed orange juice and a breakfast menu. We were glad to see the menu because it had been a long time since McDonald's the night before and we were hungry. We were excited to see both the items and the prices. They had great breakfast choices for very cheap. So we all ordered breakfast and continued to enjoy the beautiful scenery. After eating all our breakfast, they came to let us know that our rooms were ready. We had figured since it was still only about 10:00 in the morning, that we would not have a room until later in the afternoon. But again, we were excited to have a room. So we went to our rooms to drop off our stuff and clean up a little. Our rooms were great. We had two adjoining rooms. Each had bamboo furniture and huge picture windows with balconies overlooking the river. That just added to our enjoyment of the hotel. After unloading our stuff, we headed back down to the reception to plan out our day. We decided to start with a bike ride around the area. The hotel has bikes with kids seats to use. So we loaded up and headed out. Abby and I were on one bike and Amy and Austin were on the other. I handed Abby the camera and told her to take lots of pictures. The bike ride was unbelievable. We rode through areas that felt like we were in a copy of National Geographic. The area was very rural and we passed women washing clothes in the river. We saw lots of beautiful, natural sites with great views of the karst hills and endless rice patties. After our bike ride, we returned to the hotel. We then decided to go into the town of Yangshuo to have lunch and explore the town. We were dropped off at the main shopping street. Of course, there was a KFC right where we were dropped off, so the kids were set on KFC for lunch. That was fine with Amy and I because we weren't that hungry and were looking forward to another great meal back at the hotel tonight. After lunch, we walked the streets of Yangshuo. Unfortunately, since we had already been in Beijing and done all our "China" shopping, we found the constant pushing to buy something a little annoying. Plus, we were a little tired. We walked through the town for a while before finally finding a nice cafe and sitting down for some snacks. After our snacks, we headed back to the hotel. We got cleaned up and headed down for dinner. We again sat outside and enjoyed a great local dinner. Amy and I shared a dish of local beer fish that was awesome. After dinner it was to bed for everyone given our previous nights sleep on the train.

Leaving on an overnight train

October 10th--We spent most of this morning packing up our stuff for our trip to Yangshuo, China. Since we are going to be on an overnight train, we decided to get all our stuff for the next couple of days into one of our small suitcases and then store the other 3 suitcases here at the YMCA. Once we got all our stuff packed up, we checked out of our room and went to eat lunch at the YMCA buffet. After lunch, we walked to the Kowloon park nearby so the kids could play and burn some energy. It was really hot out today. After finishing up at the park, we stopped for ice cream and lots of water to cool off before heading to the subway station. We arrived at the subway around 3:00. It took us about an hour to get to Schenzhen which is the city where we catch the overnight train. It then took us about another hour to go through Immigration. First, we had to get cleared exiting Hong Kong and then we had to get cleared entering mainland China. It's a lot easier process when you are getting on and off planes because you already have the paperwork filled out before getting off the plane. At the train stations, there are people everywhere trying to get this paperwork filled out. It's a little hectic, but we made it just fine. We then walked toward the train station with still about 45 minutes until our train left. So, we found a McDonald's close by. We have come to realize that there is always a McD's to be found. We got a quick bite to eat before boarding the train. The train was nicer than our first overnight train ride. It was a 4 bed compartment, the air conditioner was definitely working and they had soft, relaxing music playing. We all immediately got onto our beds. The kid colored and played their Leapster until it was time for bed. I read a book and Mike listened to music until it was lights out on the train.

Giant Buddha

October 9th--Today our goal was to reach the Giant Buddha. We had 2 choices on how to get there: a ferry then a curvy, 45 minute bus ride or the subway then a 25 minute cable car ride to Ngong Pong. Since Abby and I can get carsick very easily, we opted for the latter. So, off we went on the subway to Tung Chung. It was a little after 11:00 when we arrived and then purchased our tickets for the cable car. We had just started standing in a fairly long line for the cable car when we were informed that the cable car had been suspended and that we could get a refund from the ticket booth. Austin was just a little upset because he was excited about riding the cable car. We were also told that it might start running again in about an hour, but they weren't sure. So, since we knew the bus ride wasn't an option, we decided to hold onto our tickets, go find some lunch and check back a little later. We headed to Pizza Hut for a quick lunch. Luckily, when we finished up lunch, the cable cars were running again. The line was much shorter at this point and we hopped right into a cable car. It actually worked out better for us that it was suspended because it got rid of the crowd and we took advantage of a cheap lunch. So, we were off for our 25 minute cable car ride. Mike and the kids were able to really enjoy the ride. I was a little nervous, but still got to enjoy the sights of the Tung Chung Bay, the airport, and the Giant Buddha when it came into site. The cable car let us off in the small village of Ngong Ping. We walked through it on our way to the Giant Buddha. When you arrive at the bottom of the stairs and look up, it's an amazing site to see the Giant Buddha up on top of the mountain. The Buddha was built in 1993 and is the world's largest seated outdoor bronze Buddha. We climbed the 260 steps all the way up to the viewing platform that surrounds the Giant Buddha. After taking many close up pictures, we climbed back down the stairs and back into the village for a snack. There was an Italian gelato place in the village and the kids were excited for a gelato snack. We then safely made the 25 minute cable car ride back down and then on to the subway. Before heading back to the YMCA, we went to pick up Mike's suit and shirt. It all turned out really nice. Once we got back to the YMCA, the kids went to the pool for a little while. As usual, they were worn out after their swim, so we had a quick dinner in the room before bedtime.

Aberdeen

October 8th--Our first stop of the day was back at Sam's Tailors for Mike to try on his pinned together fabric that would eventually become a suit. The fabric he picked out for this suit is absolutely beautiful. He'll look good for his interviews, that's for sure. The fitting didn't take long so afterwards we headed for the Star Ferry pier. We rode the ferry across Victoria Harbour, picked Subway sandwiches up for the kids, and then tried to locate bus #7 to take us to the other side of the island. We had a hard time finding the location, but once we did, we waited a good while for the bus to come. The bus was not coming so we decided to just hop into a taxi that took us to Aberdeen. He dropped us off at the Aberdeen Marina Club, but that was clearly not what we were looking for. After walking around and going the wrong way, we finally got directed in the right direction for the Jumbo Kingdom Restaurant. The Jumbo Kingdom Restaurant is a floating restaurant and was our spot for lunch. In order to get to the restaurant, we rode a shuttle boat. Mike and I enjoyed a lunch of dim sum and noodles. The kids stayed entertained by their activities that they brought along with them. We finished up our meal sipping on some wonderful Jasmine Tea. When we exited the doors of the restaurant and stepped onto the dock, there was a woman operating a sampan waiting there. Throughout lunch we had been trying to figure out how to get on a sampan and tour the harbour and see the boat people. We were lucky enough to "have one waiting for us", so we jumped right in. The woman driving the boat was so nice and friendly. She was great with the kids. She quickly let them both drive the boat. We took a 20 minute sampan ride around the harbor. We passed fishing boats, dingy boats and even house boats. We saw laundry hung out to dry because a lot of people do live on the water. There was a time when a boat person could be born, live, marry, and die onboard, hardly ever stepping foot on land. I can't even imagine. After our wonderful sampan ride, we rode the bus back to the Central station and got on the subway back toward the YMCA. We got back early enough to enjoy the indoor pool for about an hour before dinner. We headed to a restaurant that was recommended to us called New Star Seafood Restaurant. We were wanting to experience a hot pot restaurant, and I would have to say that we definitely did have the experience. First off, we had a language barrier. Everyone was very friendly and they finally found one waiter that spoke English. At least there was an English menu, but some of the items didn't sound any better in English. We did decide on some items to cook in our hot pot though. We ordered shrimp, fish dumplings, chicken slices, corn on the cob and carrots. The staff at the restaurant was very helpful when our food came by helping us to get started on cooking our food. We were laughing because at one point there were about 4 people around us, all speaking Chinese, helping us cook our food. They were really attentive to the kids though, so that was great. They stabbed the corn on the cobs with chopsticks for the kids to eat. I have to say the fish dumplings were not as good as we hoped, but all in all, we did enjoy the experience and the food. After dinner, we quickly walked to the harbor promenade where we enjoyed the 10 minute Symphony of Lights. This is where 40 buildings on both sides of the harbor put on a light and laser show. The show was neat, but I think the kids had a little higher expectations. About half way through the show, Abby asked when it was going to begin! After the show it was back to the YMCA for bed.

Hong Kong Disneyland

October 7th--Disneyland didn't open until 10:00 this morning so we didn't have to leave too early to get there. We left about 9:15 and rode the subway out to Lantau Island where Disneyland is located. Although Hong Kong Disneyland is much smaller than all the others and has a lot of the usual attractions, it does have the world's only Fantasy Gardens (kids can meet Disney characters here). We arrived right at 10:00 inside the park and were determined to get some Fast Passes for the day. But when we arrived at Space Mountain and there was no line, we went ahead and got in line to ride. While standing there waiting, Austin totally melted down and didn't want to ride. So, he and Mike left while Abby and I rode the ride. It was a good thing Austin didn't ride it because he for sure would have been a little scared. Not only was it the original Space Mountain, but they had put some Halloween features inside as well. When Abby and I exited the ride, Mike and Austin were coming out of riding Buzz Lightyear, which also didn't have a line. So, we all went back in and rode Buzz Lightyear then Autopia. We had only been in the park about 45 minutes and had already done everything in Tomorrowland. We were ecstatic about the lack of crowds and how the day was flowing so far. From Tomorrowland, we went into Fantasyland. We didn't leave a single thing in Fantasyland untouched except for the tea cups. I wasn't going there again. We spent a lot of our time in the Fantasy Gardens. The kids got to meet Minnie, Pooh, Mickey, Pluto and Goofy. Abby even got all their autographs too. We watched the High School Musical live show and the Disney on Parade before entering into Adventureland. In Adventureland, there was the Jungle Cruise, Tarzan's Treehouse and the "Festival of the Lion King" show. By the time we finished up in there, it was 6:30 so we made our way to Main Street U.S.A. where we walked through a couple of shops, grabbed some dinner and watched the Glow in the Park Halloween Parade. The Halloween theme all over the park was fun. After the parade, we still had some time before the fireworks so we went back and rode some rides again. Then, at 8:00, we watched the wonderful firework show above Sleeping Beauty's Castle. After the fireworks were over, the park was closed so we exited and took the subway back to the YMCA.

Victoria Peak

October 6th--We got up and moving pretty quickly this morning. We were really excited about exploring Hong Kong. We first stopped at the China Travel Service to book our overnight train to Guilin for October 10th. After successfully getting the tickets, we made the short walk to the Star Ferry pier to hop aboard the Star Ferry. The ferry is a 5 minute trip across Victoria Harbour taking us to Hong Kong Island. From here we caught a bus to the Peak Tram entrance. The crowds were massive around this area. We had to stand in line to get on the tram, but once we did, it was about an 8 minute climb up Victoria Peak. The tram dropped us off in the Peak Tower where we rode the escalator up many floors to eat lunch at Tien Yi. The restaurant is considered Hong Kong's best dim sum meal with a view. We had dim sum and had a view of Victoria Harbour. After lunch, we made our way up to the observation platform where we had a 360 degree panoramic view. We could see Victoria Harbour, the Hong Kong skyline, and the South China Sea. It was magnificent! Hong Kong has the neatest "big city" skyline we have seen anywhere in the world. The tallest building looks like an electric razor. We then made our way back down and found a Disneyland ticket booth where we were able to purchase our tickets for going to Disneyland tomorrow. Then, we exited Peak Tower and walked around outside for a while before entering the Peak Galleria. We didn't spend much time in there because in the end, it's just a mall. So, we sat outside eating some ice cream, but in the shade. It was pretty hot in Hong Kong...almost 90 degrees. We then headed back down the hill on the tram and back across Victoria Harbour. Mike took the kids back to the room while I stopped off at the Chinese Arts & Crafts store. I liked looking around because it had all the souvenir type items without the pushiness of a market. I then met them back at the room a little bit later. We all then went to Sam's Tailor. Mike was interested in getting a custom made suit. We all helped Mike make his decision on a nice fabric for the suit and then a fabric for a custom shirt to be made as well. The prices here are really cheap and lots of famous people have been Sam's client. After picking everything out, we left Sam's and the kids were hungry. So, we stopped off at McDonalds and got them Happy Meals. They were real troopers through the Dim Sum lunch so they deserved a meal they would actually eat. We headed back the YMCA for bath and early bed since tomorrow is a big day at Disneyland.

It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.

October 5th—We had an early start to the day. We were up at 6:00 and on a shuttle bus at 7:00 heading to the airport. Our bus arrived a little after 8:00 at the Narita Airport. This gave us plenty of time to eat breakfast and hang out in the Cathay Pacific lounge. Getting a pass into the lounge really helped us kill the time with free food, drinks and internet. We boarded our plane about 10:30 and again had a very nice plane. It was another large plane with 2,4,2 seating and individual televisions in the backs of the seats. We were informed that the flight would probably be a little choppy due to Typhoon Parma, but it wasn’t at all. The flight went really well. The kids are such pros at traveling now. When we arrived in Hong Kong, the sun was shining. We went through all the immigration procedures, got our luggage, exchanged our money, and got on the train to Kowloon station. From here, we took a short bus to the YMCA. That’s right; we are staying at the Y.M.C.A. It is apparently a very popular place to stay here and we are very lucky to have gotten a room. Our room is a family suite. It has a bedroom, living room with fold out couch, and an area with a desk, refrigerator and closet. We have a great view of the busy life of Hong Kong. It’s amazing the lights at nighttime on the streets. It reminds me of Vegas with all its brightness. Anyway, after getting settled in, I quickly found the coin laundry which is conveniently on our floor. We hadn’t done laundry in a week so there was a lot to do. It worked out great though because there were 3 normal size washing machines and dryers. After taking the clothes out of the wash and putting them in the dryer, we went to eat pizza at Pizza Hut right by the YMCA. When we returned back, it was bath and to bed for 2 really tired kids. Getting up early and then the hour time difference, made it easy to get them asleep tonight.

A vacation from our travels

October 4th--Well this week has been a nice slow week for us. We’ve had some late nights, but all in all a relaxing time in Tokyo. After seeing some awesome sights and the more "traditional Japan" in Takayama and Kyoto, we had basically decided to just chill out in Tokyo. The Hilton was a nice place to entertain the kids; especially since it rained a big part of our time here. Today, we took the subway into Tokyo to see the Tokyo Tower and eat at our 3rd Hard Rock Café in Japan. It was a quick trip in to Tokyo before heading back to the Hilton for some indoor swimming. I took the kids swimming while Mike packed all our suitcases. After swimming, Mike took the kids to play in the play area while I got ready for dinner. We ate in Forest Garden, the buffet style restaurant in the hotel that features Asian cuisine. It was awesome! They had dishes from Japan, China, India and Thailand. We all got to have exactly what we wanted and sampled everything from sushi to noodles to caramelized sweet potatoes. The desert bar was fantastic and capped off a great meal. It was a great way to end our last night in Japan.

Tokyo Disneyland

October 3rd--Just write "suckers" all over our foreheads because we caved in and went to Disneyland today. This morning while eating breakfast, we talked it over and decided it was such a waste to be staying right here on Disney property and not go to Disneyland. It was off-and-on showers during the morning so we waited until 2:00 to make our final decision about whether or not to go to Disneyland. About this time was when the rain began letting up, so we purchased the discounted Starlight ticket that allowed us to enter the park at 3:00 and off we went. We entered the park at 3:00 with thousands of other people. We were immediately greeted by Pooh, Pinocchio, and the 7 dwarfs so it was instant entertainment. From the entrance, we made our way through Cinderella’s Castle to Fantasyland. I stood in line at the Peter Pan ride while Mike headed off to get a Fastpass. When he returned, there were no more Fastpasses to be given out today and the main rides were at 100 minute long waits. We didn’t let the crowd or the wait times ruin our day. We just patiently waited in line for Peter Pan, Dumbo and then Pinocchio all while enjoying chocolate popcorn and a parade that went right by us. At about 5:00, we headed into Toontown where we rode the Gadget's Go Coaster, visited Chip & Dale’s tree house, Donald’s boat, and Minnie’s house. From Toontown, we went to Autopia. Austin had seen the cars from the top of the roller coaster and really wanted to go drive a car. Luckily, the line was pretty short for this one. We never really stopped for dinner. We all just snacked along the way with lots of popcorn, pizza spring rolls, and donuts too. By this time, it was 7:30 and time for the Electrical Parade. The Japanese have it going on with the whole parade process. They require you to sit down and to fold down your strollers. So, we were a good 5 rows back from the curb, but had no problem seeing the parade. All I can remember from past Disney parades is you are just fighting to get to the front to see. Anyway, the Electrical Parade was so good and exactly how I remember the “true” Electrical Parade to be. It was over about 8:00 and we made a mad dash for the Snow White ride and found ourselves in a short line. After the ride, the kids really wanted to do the Pooh ride. This ride was top on our list and the kids kept begging to ride it. We kept checking the wait time all day and it ranged anywhere from 60-100 minutes. At this point in the day though, we weren’t sure what else we were going to do so we all went and stood in line. The line went by fairly quickly especially since we got to enjoy the fireworks from the line. Pooh’s Hunny Hunt was well worth the wait. It was different than anything we had ridden and very cute. We also got out of the ride just in time to see the last parade of the day, Bansai Villain. By the time the parade was over it was after 9:30 and the park closed at 10:00. So, we just made our way toward the exit, going into a few shops and exited at 10:00. It was a great decision to go to Disneyland. Even with the crowds, we had a great time. Also, after today, we can describe the Japanese as clean and efficient. We had already noticed this, but it was proven very true at Disneyland with the way the lines and rides functioned.