Week 11: 6/12/05

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFCC80" TEXT="#080000" background="67cc8b83.jpg"> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Random Things to Make You Giggle"><B>Random Things to Make You Giggle</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id77.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hong Kong Disneyland"><B>Hong Kong Disneyland</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Our Parkview Apartment"><B>Our Parkview Apartment</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 1: 4/3/05"><B>Week 1: 4/3/05</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 2: 4/10/05"><B>Week 2: 4/10/05</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 3: 4/17/05"><B>Week 3: 4/17/05</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 4: 4/24/05 "><B>Week 4: 4/24/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 5: 5/1/05 "><B>Week 5: 5/1/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 6: 5/8/05 "><B>Week 6: 5/8/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 7: 5/15/05 "><B>Week 7: 5/15/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id41.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 8: 5/22/05 "><B>Week 8: 5/22/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 9: 5/29/05 "><B>Week 9: 5/29/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 10: 6/5/05 "><B>Week 10: 6/5/05 </B></A></div> <div> <B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f00000cc00.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Week 11: 6/12/05 </B></div> <div> <A HREF="id53.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 12: 6/19/05 "><B>Week 12: 6/19/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id55.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 13: 6/26/05 "><B>Week 13: 6/26/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id57.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 14: 7/3/05 "><B>Week 14: 7/3/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id60.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 15: 7/10/05 "><B>Week 15: 7/10/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id62.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 16: 7/17/05 "><B>Week 16: 7/17/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id64.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 17: 7/24/05 "><B>Week 17: 7/24/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id65.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 18: 7/31/05 "><B>Week 18: 7/31/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id67.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 19: 8/7/05 "><B>Week 19: 8/7/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id70.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 20: 8/14/05 "><B>Week 20: 8/14/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id71.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 21: 8/21/05 "><B>Week 21: 8/21/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id74.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 22: 8/28/05 "><B>Week 22: 8/28/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id76.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 23: 9/4/05 "><B>Week 23: 9/4/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id79.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 24: 9/11/05 "><B>Week 24: 9/11/05 </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id80.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 25: 9/18/05 "><B>Week 25: 9/18/05 </B></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Australian Sunrise" ><B>Welcome to Chase family planet!</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Australian Sunrise" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >    |    </FONT> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Welcome to Chase family planet!">home</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Adventures in Asia">Adventures in Asia</A>   ·   <A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us">Contact Us</A></div> <bR> <div> Week 11: 6/12/05 </div> <div> <B>Hello There!</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> So this week was an awesome week... it was almost like being on vacation! So slather on the SPF 30, prop up your feet and take the paper umbrella out of your drink so you can see the screen and read on!<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>End of the School Year Highlights</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Nathan came home from school last week with a note pinned to his uniform. We have been having a few problems with him (well, maybe more than a few, but I don't want to go into it, at least not this week) so I was worried that the note was going to say something polite but terrible. Instead, it was a permission slip to go on a field trip to the Hong Kong Science Museum. After the signature line, in the small print, it said "Please indicate that you or your helper will accompany your child". A "Helper", which is short for domestic helper, is a live in maid/nanny, which just about every non-Chinese person here in Hong Kong has, except us. So it was up to either Mike or I to accompany Nathan on his first field trip. After figuring out how much this "free" field trip was going to cost to pay someone to watch Benjamin for nearly five hours, I called Mike and told him about the field trip. He did a quick check of his schedule and saw no meetings scheduled for Monday, then called me back after checking with the powers that be, saying he could bail out of the office early that day so long as he kept his cell phone tethered firmly to his ear. Mike met Nathan at his school, and together they boarded the bus which took them across the harbor (via tunnel) to the Science Museum. They had a blast trying out all the fabulous hands-on exhibits, Nathan practically bursting with happiness at the unexpected extra time with just he and daddy. </div> <bR> <div> When they returned back to school, Michael decided to ride the school bus home with Nathan. For the past three months Nathan has told us all about his friend "Nay-CO-Nut" and how together they fight the bad guys and share crackers on the bus. I have the master class list, and could not find a child with a name that sounds anything like that. Knowing that Nathan takes after his mom as far as having a rich fantasy life goes, I shrugged my shoulders and assumed this particular person resided happily in Nathan's imagination. However, on the day of the field trip Nathan introduced Mike to Nayconut, who lives here at Parkview and whose given name is actually Nicholas. Nicholas, who is a grade lower than Nathan, asked Mike why Nathan never comes to his house to play. Mike said it was because Nathan was never invited, and gave Nicholas our phone number and said to call sometime. About five minutes after the boys walked through the door, the phone rang and we were all invited to go up to Nicholas's flat. The Parkview has two sections, the "serviced apartments" section, which is like a hotel and can be rented for a week up to several years (where we live), and the unfurnished apartments, which are leased or purchased. Nicholas and his family live in that section. In a very huge apartment. Really, really big. So big that they have not just one live in domestic helper, but two to take care of it. Both of Nicholas's parents work the kind of hours that Michael does, only not just for six months, but for the duration. Nicholas and his sister were born here in Hong Kong to parents who work in the banking industry who have lived here in Hong Kong for 15 years. One of the helpers, Rhea, has been with them since the children were born. The other one focuses on all the cooking and cleaning. Rhea has called up several times to invite Nathan up to play or to take him to the playground with Nicholas, which always makes me feel slightly awkward to have someone else's nanny watch my child for a playdate. I feel like I should be paying her! I'm just relieved to find that no parent that I know of (so far) has indeed named their child Nayconut!<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Thursday night Nathan's school hosted a "Dad's Date", when the children get to bring their fathers for a fun filled evening. To save time I brought Nathan and Ben down to the train station so that Mike didn't have to come all the way home to pick up Nathan to get to school. During the event, kids and dads go through an abbreviated version of a typical school day. Nathan was beyond bursting this time, so excited to have so much of his dad's undivided attention. Mike was chosen to read a story to all the kids, who started out sitting in a circle around him. During the reading, the kids inched their way forward until Mike was draped in children, like a Christmas tree with very wiggly ornaments. During the Dad's Date I was reluctant to just return home with Ben and wait for Mike and Nathan to get home. So Benjamin and I decided to explore the city by foot. We were at the Admiralty MTR station, which is underneath a mall called Pacific Place. It happens to be right in front of a giant park called Hong Kong Park. So we wandered through the park, looking at giant fish and turtles in a pond, checking out a huge pelican outside the free walk-through aviary (which was closed for the evening) and a six level playground that Ben was incredibly excited to have all to himself as the sun was setting. It was very peaceful to be in the center of a circle of lush green trees, which was then surrounded by the giant skyscrapers that make up the famous Hong Kong skyline. We wandered further through the city and found the Peak Tram station that takes you up the side of Victoria Peak via a funicular railway, but the fog was rolling in so I didn't want to spend the money to ride up into the clouds! It was a pleasant and peaceful evening and I enjoyed not having to yell "Slow down Ben! Hurry up Nathan!" It was just my youngest son and I, going at his pace and taking time to look at things from his level. All four of us made it home at about the same time, everyone happy and in a great mood.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Dragon Boat Festival</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> This has got to be one of the craziest public holidays I've ever heard of- a festival surrounding an athletic event spawned after a suicide long ago. The Dragon Boat festival has an interesting legend behind it. Over two thousand years ago there lived a well respected statesman with a flair for poetry named Qu Yuan. His reputation for integrity was unsurpassed and he served as the Minister of State. Things got sticky when his righteousness and talent with the written word put him at the center of much jealousy in the Emperor's court, which was filled with wicked characters filled with greed, not pleased with this supposedly honest poet. Some stories say officials convinced the Emperor that Qu Yuan was corrupt, that his pleas for reforms were just a charade to cover some nefarious behavior in the background, which resulted in his banishment from the Kingdom of Chu in China. He then evidently wandered the countryside, writing poems about patriotism and love for the people. Finally, filled with despair over the state of corruption in his beloved Kingdom, he tied a huge rock around his waist and jumped into the Mei Lo River, in the Hunan province of China. The fishermen on the river who witnessed this desperate act sailed up and down the river, pounding their oars on the water with the hopes that the noise might scare away the fish waiting to feast on Qu Yuan's body. Every year on the anniversary of his death (the very inauspicious date of the fifth day of the fifth month in the Chinese Lunar calendar), the local peasants would throw rice dumplings wrapped in banana leaves into the river to appease the river spirits. </div> <bR> <div> So what do dragon boats have anything to do with this? Historically the Chinese consider dragons to be the guardians of water and rain, as well as a symbol of benevolence and power. Dragon boats are long canoe-like boats with a head and a tail filled with paddlers who row in unison to the beat of a drum provided by a drummer who sits right behind the head on the boat. Somehow it would seem that the legend of the fisherman beating the water got tied with dragon boats beating drums, and an annual festival was born. Today it has become a big sport, big enough to be considered, but ultimately not chosen, to become an Olympic competition at the upcoming 2008 Olympic games in Beijing. Knowing that one of Mike's crew and our friend James were participating in this year's festival, and the fact that it took place practically in our back yard on the south side the island, we decided to go check it out. Our taxi driver got as close as possible, and then we walked the rest of the way to Stanley Beach along with hundreds of other spectators and participants. Most of the spectators lined the beach on the shore and out in the water, the race area was surrounded by yachts and junks vying for the best views of the long dragon boats and their racing teams. We got caught in the flow of people going into the participants' area and ended up at the water's edge along with dozens of spandex clad teams. The sun was blazing, the typical cloudy Hong Kong skies no where to be seen despite the projected chance of showers. The 11:00 a.m. race was postponed for five minutes as the teams had difficultly getting into position. The race we saw included a team from Korea who had taken a red eye flight into Hong Kong, arriving that morning and going straight to the water, and having never participated before, the team came in last, but good for them for trying! We had a great view of the race when it started, and were mildly alarmed when we realized that the boats were heading straight for us with no signs of slowing down. In fact, the boats all beached themselves on the shore inches away from us, giving us that up close and personal experience of seeing the paddlers drenched in sweat. They weren't the only ones, and pleased with ourselves for seeing a race in such an intimate fashion, we decided to go back home and jump in the Parkview pool to cool ourselves off, followed by a poolside early dinner.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Ticket Drama</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Several weeks ago Mike got the email inviting all the Imagineers to come to the first ever Disneyland Hong Kong preview. Each Imagineer was allotted four tickets to the special event, but the names of each person attending had to be given within about 24 hours of the invite going out. Obviously we're a family of four, so that works out nicely. But then on the Friday before the Sunday event, we found out that like the other Disney theme parks, children under three don't need a ticket, so we could have invited a lucky single person to be our guest. Bummed that we weren't informed of this earlier, Mike went to pick up the ticket media and mentioned that he wished he'd have known sooner. The long suffering assistant to Michael's boss said that if Mike gave her a name <I>right then</I>, she would add another person to the guest list and give Mike another ticket. We racked our brains, but realized that one, we didn't know any single people, and two, all the non-Disney friends we have in Hong Kong were going to be celebrating that day at a birthday party on the beach, and it wouldn't be fair to the guest of honor to steal any guests away! In a moment of inspiration, I thought of our babysitter Mui (pronounced Moo-ee), the wonderful woman who works as a housekeeper at the Parkview by day and then watches our two wild children by night so that Mike and I can go out on Fridays and any other day Mike can manage to get off work before 8:00 p.m. I had her full name on a receipt for the babysitting fees, so I spelled it out for Mike, who brought home a ticket for her. </div> <bR> <div> When she arrived that evening to watch the kids, we crossed our fingers for luck and asked her if she'd like to accompany us as a guest to Disneyland. She is Chinese, born and raised here in Hong Kong, living with her father, sister, brother in law, and a baby niece and nephew. Her English is okay, but our Chinese is non-existent, so her answer was pretty funny. She said "It is not possible, I don't have a passport". The ticket media for Disneyland is called a "passport" so it took a second to realize that what <I>she</I> thought we meant was "we are flying to Disneyland in California, USA on Sunday and want to bring you along, care to join us?" We have a giant bilingual wall atlas of Hong Kong hanging in our hall, so we dragged her to it and pointed out the doted line on the map that said "Site of future Hong Kong Disneyland Theme Park" in English and Chinese. Instead of a lightbulb moment of recognition, we watched her eyes then really bug out. I felt slightly nauseous, thinking we'd made some grave error in asking her and in some way had insulted her. Especially when she said she needed to think about it and her normally sunny face was replaced with a very pensive and worried expression. We said she could think all she wanted, but if she wanted to go she had to meet us here on Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. We left her with the paperwork describing the days events. Knowing she can't read English, we hinted that maybe one of the Parkview employees on duty at the front desk might read/translate it to her to make her understand we weren't asking her to join a cult, just to come for a day of fun that only about 6,000 extremely lucky people would be able to participate in. Mike and I ran off to our friend's house for four hours, and returned to find her happy again, saying she'd called her major Disney fan sister who told her she <B>HAD</B> to go, and that she would very much like to come with us. We said we'd see her Sunday and then did a quiet little happy dance behind the closing door as she left. </div> <bR> <div> We pay Mui to watch our boys, but everything she does is filled with such love, like tucking Ben's little blankie around him every ten minutes while he tosses and turns in his sleep, getting Nathan endless cups of "cold, cold, cold water" to put on his nightstand, decluttering our entire home after the boys are in bed, deep scrubbing the kitchen, organizing my pantry, and spiriting away the contents of our only trashcan in the house, which thanks to the whole "Trains in the Trash" incident, fills up pretty quick. All these little things Mui does are such a huge blessing, and make me feel so humble, especially since I know she spends her entire day scrubbing and cleaning, only to come here after work and do more of the same. I always tell her to just relax and put her feet up (since the boys go to bed right when she gets here), but she always makes me secretly believe that she has a team of little elves that come through and make my home sparkle and shine so that not only do I have a wonderful evening out, I can return home to domestic beauty and peace, knowing my kids have been treated firmly but lovingly which make them ask if she can come over every night. I'm so grateful to this woman, but beyond our monetary remuneration for her services, we were clueless how to show her we really appreciate the extra little touches she provides. We hoped this would be that little thing we were looking for.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>The Memorable Magic Kingdom</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> The morning dawned nice and sunny, but with a weather forecast of thundershowers headed our way. A quick prayer, <I>"God, please don't let the rain start until 7:00 p.m. when the preview is over and we are home"</I> and then we were on our way. We were the first people on the first bus. Mike was laughing at my enthusiasm over seeing Disney's latest park. The bus driver swung us through the parking lots of the two Resort Hotels, the Disneyland Hotel (which looks like the Disney's Grand Floridian in Florida) and the Hollywood Hotel (which is identical to Tokyo Disneyland's Ambassador Hotel). The driver stopped in both places and the GM's hopped on and begged everyone to get off the bus and have a stroll through the hotels, which many people actually did. From the doorways, fuzzy Disney characters danced and beckoned us... five years ago when I worked for the Disneyland Resort Hotels in CA, I would have been the first person off the bus. But in my present career as the parent of two boys ga-ga for all things related to Mickey Mouse, I stayed in my seat and tried to will the driver to get us to the main gate faster. Upon arrival, we qued up outside the barrier, and caught our first glimpse of the man (er, mouse?) we were there to see, Mickey, waving to us and the camera crew we were surrounded by. Finally the gates were opened and we entered the Magic Kingdom. It was strange to be in a place so familiar while at the same time so foreign, like finding yourself in a dream or perhaps the Twilight Zone. For instance, walking down Main Street you get the feeling that you've been there before, but in looking at the shop windows, still devoid of the sweet inscriptions bearing the names of key players in the creation of the park, you think maybe this could really be a movie set for The Music Man. And still over 90 days from the opening, the wrought-iron planters traditionally brimming with flora were filled with bare earth and brightly colored strips of nylon attached to metal spikes indicating where the gardeners will soon place the greenery. This is not to say that there wasn't plenty to see! But not for Benjamin, who fell dead asleep in the humid heat minutes before we made our way through the main gate, not to rejoin us again for about an hour, looking extremely confused as we grabbed him from his stroller and deposited him on the Buzz Lightyear attraction. Our fears that Mui might not enjoy herself quickly abated when she was caught up in the excitement of being among the first guests to ever set foot on this brand new land (literally, since this park was built on reclaimed land). </div> <bR> <div> Do I really need to tell you how much my children loved being there? For Nathan, every day that we've been away from Disneyland in California has been torture, so this was like a dream come true for him. The nicest thing about this day was that everything was free... every one hundred feet there was an ice cream or popcorn stand, and eager new cast members offering up bottled water or Coke everywhere you looked. We tried out one of the four restaurants open for the preview, the River View Cafe which was serving a family style Chinese meal set menu. In the blazing hot and sticky air, we dined on Hot and Sour soup, Honzhou chicken, beef with black bean sauce, and sautéed veggies. Everything was delicious, and definitely NOT what I'm used to eating at a theme park! Nathan, Mike, and I rode Space Mountain, and Nathan cried when we got off. The photo they took of him on the ride was priceless. We told him he never had to do it again, but we did make Mui ride it with Mike. She came off the ride downright green. An hour later Nathan was begging to go on it again, and we obliged, and this time he came off smiling. After we'd circled the entire park, we wound up in front of the Castle, where a line made it's way up to Mickey and Minnie posing together for photos with the guests. We got in the line, hoping that by the time we got there, we'd have the chance to get that unique photo. Our turn finally came, and as we stepped into place, the character handler told us that Mickey and Minnie had to go have a glass of water and they'd be right back. In typical Disney fashion, not 30 seconds after stepping backstage, they were back and refreshed! Amazing how they do that! We got the million dollar shot of our family in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle with Mickey and Minnie, Nathan grinning ear to ear, Benjamin cooing and petting Minnie's face, surely wondering how the tiny doll he sleeps with at night suddenly grew so large, and not a person in the background to mar the photo. Pure Disney magic, tailor-made for the Chase family. </div> <bR> <div> Our only problem will be the next time we go to Disneyland, Nathan will expect to get free popcorn and ice cream where ever he goes, and will surely complain that the lines are too long, as we never waited to step onto anything. I'm not going to say anything negative here, as the press is doing plenty of that, but I'll just close by saying it was a wholly satisfactory day... I got to touch and see and smell the product that Mike has poured his time into for the last 18 months, and enjoyed miraculously perfect behavior from my normally wild children. Nathan got to go to the place he thanks God for every night in his prayers, eat unlimited food of the kind normally denied to him, and ride some really cool rides. Benjamin got to run as fast as his little legs would take him in the safe and wide open spaces not found anywhere else in the bustling metropolis of Hong Kong. Mike got to preen a bit, pointing out little insider details and showing off his family to his co-workers. And Mui has become the most popular housekeeper here at Parkview, creating waves of envy and commanding a sudden extra measure of respect for our family from the other housekeepers, desperately hoping that we'll take them next! After the long trip home with our sticky, tired children, the doorman at the Parkview opened the door of our taxi, and suddenly the skies opened and poured out the rain that had held back all day. A quick glance at the lobby clock showed the time as <I>7:00 p.m</I>. I know we'll be going back at least two more times before we leave here, but like so many other "firsts" in our lives, it will never have the exact same magic when experienced a second time. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Mayday, Mayday...</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> The high of Week Eleven gets nearly obliterated by the low of Week Twelve as Benjamin makes his first trip to the hospital in Hong Kong, Michael and I get to attend our first parent-teacher conference, and I somehow mix up the date for Father's Day and manage to overbook our entire day, putting the whole family (and our bank account) in a downward spiral of doom.  Aw, come on, you <I>know</I> you want to hear about it!  But for now, enjoy the great photos of Hong Kong Disneyland and Nathan's field trip!</div> <bR> <div> <B>Happy traveling!</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#00BF00" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>Heather, Michael, Nathan, and Benjamin Chase</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="771" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 341 WIDTH="376"><div> <IMG SRC="330680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Field Trip!  Nathan and his classmates at the Hong Kong Science Museum.  Nathan is the youngest child in his class, but very much the tallest.</div> <bR> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="32e680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> We all live in a yellow submarine...</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 518 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="32c68e00.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="480" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Nathan at school with Daddy, </div> <div> about the happiest a boy can be!</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="376"><div> <IMG SRC="33268e00.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="480" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Ben quality tested every single bench in Hong Kong Park.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 502 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="334680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> One of the coolest sand pits on the planet!  </div> <div> Despite Benjamin's impending 2nd birthday, </div> <div> he still looks like such a little baby </div> <div> on these big diggers.</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="33668e00.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="480" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Melting in the sun at the Dragon Festival.</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 308 WIDTH="376"><div> <IMG SRC="338680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> And they're off!  All the motor boat lined up are there to watch the races.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="33a680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Team number 8 comes into shore.</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 385 WIDTH="376"><div> <IMG SRC="33c680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The best $20 you can spend when you have two active boys is to purchase a mini-trampoline.  Of course, if you have $200 and can get a larger one it's even better, but this works great in our itty bitty flat...</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="376"><div> <IMG SRC="33e045b0.jpg" border=0 width="260" height="347" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> ...and after they've jumped themselves to the point of exhaustion, it serves another purpose, too!</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 502 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="34068e00.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="480" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Mickey, Minnie, the boys, and Mui</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="376"><div> <IMG SRC="342680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Here we are, just off the bus outside the Main Gate of Hong Kong Disneyland, ready to go in and explore.  Benjamin was so excited he promptly passed out.  The heat probably didn't help much!</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 518 WIDTH="376"><div> <IMG SRC="344680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The flying saucers in Tomorrowland with Heather, Benjamin, and Mui.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="376"><div> <IMG SRC="34c68e00.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="480" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> This is the screen shot of Nathan on his very first ride on Space Mountain.  </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 502 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="34868e00.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="480" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Sweltering Stitch with the boys</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="34a68e00.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="480" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The Don and the Nat</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 492 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="34e68e00.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="480" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="376"><div> <IMG SRC="350680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> A TRAIN! says Ben, nearly foaming at the mouth trying to push his way out of Mui's arms to get to it faster</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 654 ><NOBR><bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="352bc0d0.jpg" border=0 width="700" height="525" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> This is the entrance to Mike's theater, which was not open to walk through yet.  </div> <div> On this day, the exterior was still pretty heavily wrapped in scaffolding </div> <div> and it was missing the giant marquee that will proclaim "Golden Mickeys".  </div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 89 ><NOBR><div> For more photos of Hong Kong Disneyland, </div> <div> visit our "<A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Whats New">What's New</A>" Page!</div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>