We arrived in Hong Kong yesterday for a short vacation. Our trip here coincided with a major fireworks show last night to commemorate the 60th anniversary of communist China.
Three barges of fireworks. Just like the Macy’s fireworks in New York City except that I suspect the music was a little different. You could almost tell from the display that it was strident military music.
In contrast, we went to Hong Kong Disneyland today. They have fireworks, too, but theirs are not as nice as the communist’s so we did not stay for them. HK Disneyland is very small but just the right size for our daughter. And less expensive. About US$45 per adult and the merchandise is cheaper, too. After all, Made in China means just over the water.
Even though it was her first time at Disneyland, Citrus had seen at least two of the rides before, in Jakarta. There they had a “It’s a Small World” imitation as well as a copy of the Flying Dumbo ride. Here it was nice to ride a flying elephant that did not have exposed, cut wires sticking out. The Disney elephant could go up and down.
We also went to Space Mountain. I had last been on it about twenty five years ago in Los Angeles and remembered being able to see the tracks a little bit once your eyes adjusted to the dark. Since Citrus met the height requirement, and had done well on the rollercoaster at Sesame Place, we took her in. Despite the deafening sound I could hear her screaming in the dark from the seats behind me. Elysia says her lips were white when we came to a stop. It must have been mindblowing for her. They have definitely updated it and you could not see anything in the darkness beyond the stars. Our daughter did not cry but she does not want to go on it again. Neither does Elysia.
As usual, being Eurasian made Citrus a minor celebrity. About five people took her picture and when we posed with Donald and Daisy Duck, they kept insisting on taking more pictures of her. A bit silly.
Hong Kong Disneyland
Here is a photo of us in front of the castle. Yes, I am wearing my Guantanamo Bay t-shirt. Some in Berkeley would argue that this perfectly captures the nexus between the military-industrial-corporate-Disneyfication complex. Oh cruel world.
[And to those who have asked, we did not feel the Indonesia earthquake while in Singapore, although others did. When it comes to visiting Indonesia it seems we timed it right -- in between the hotel bombings and the earthquake.]
[I have more photos and video but I think they exceed the capacity of my little netbook. As it is, these two photos were uploaded unedited.]
