What a day… we left our hotel around 230pm to pick up Grace’s
Visa at the Consulate and then headed to the train station. Jack
helped us in with our luggage and we said goodbye. He was great
we could not have done it without him. Our train arrived on time
and we had to go thru security and it was not easy with 7 pieces
of luggage, and a new baby. The train station was very busy and
to get to the tracks you had to take the escalator down to the
lower level. This is where we had our first problem. Samantha
had her bag and the video camera and I was carrying the baby and
the diaper bag and one large luggage on wheels. When we got to
the escalator there were so many people and it was so steep I
was afraid to get on without holding on to the railing. Samantha
now is ahead of me heading down the escalator and Paul is behind
me with luggage wrapped around every part of his body – behind
him about 300 people waiting to go down to the train. I decide
it’s not a good idea and I leave the large luggage so I can hold
on – now Paul is being called back by the Chinese train police
to step back and take the train lift. I look back and he is not
happy. Samantha for some reason is finding this funny and we are
now separated. I try asking where the lift is and no one
understands me. All I had to hear was “all aboard” and I would
of panicked. Thank God a few minutes later Samantha spots Paul
heading towards us . I am now relieved and trying not to
hysterical laugh watching poor Paul carry all this luggage. I
think he even had something hanging from his teeth!! Now we are
getting ready to board the train and the train attendant is
shaking her head at us. No train 5 ..train 3 – now we are
running with the luggage, baby, and Sam to find train 3. There
is no way we want to miss this train and lucky us train 3 was
around the bend. We had a nice 2 hour train ride. Grace slept
most of it and the rest of us tried to relax. We arrived safe
and sound at the Hong Kong train station. What a beautiful train
station – lots of stores and restaurants. We decided not to stay
and headed out to find a taxi.
Jack our guide wrote in Chinese the name of our hotel and we got
into a cab and we were off. The ride to the Marriott Sky was
about 30 minutes and the hotel is great. The indoor pool is
beautiful and Samantha went swimming. We were exhausted but
promised her we would take her.
Here is the the worst of the day. I lost our camera. I had it in
the taxi and wanted to take a picture of Hong Kong streets so
beautiful like New York. I had it in my jean jacket but when I
got to the hotel it was gone. Needless to say I was so upset . I
called downstairs to leave a message incase the driver noticed
and came back. I know it was a long shot but it was worth a
shot. They said they could of helped if we knew the cab number
or had a receipt but of course we did not have either. Paul was
trying to make me feel better saying we had the blog pictures
and the rest will be in our memory.
We went to dinner when Samantha says to me “mom don’t you have
the pictures saved on your laptop?” She was right !!!! I have
the pictures except for the few I took earlier today. One
picture I took was Paul juggling the luggage and it was a funny
picture, I guess you will have to use your imagination. I am
sorry we lost the camera but because of my good friend Laura I
had a backup camera and this is why you are able to see a few
pictures from Hong Kong.
Ok, I am signing off. Its 1030pm we have a 615am wakeup call and
we need to be at airport at 8am, 2 hours earlier than our 1015
flight. It’s going to be a long 14 hour flight with a baby but
we are so excited to see our family and friends that we are
looking forward to it. Goodnight from Hong Kong
