Week 25: 9/18/05

<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> <A HREF="id51.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Week 11: 6/12/05 "><B>Week 11: 6/12/05 </B></A></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> <B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f00000cc00.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Week 25: 9/18/05 </B></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 25: 9/18/05 </div> <div> Hello my weary travel companions!<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> You know the great Erma Bombeck wrote "When you look like your passport photo, it's time to go home". Well, for all of us, that time has come, and since I have a really <I>bad</I> passport photo, I know of what I speak! This has been an interesting trip, hasn't it? We've had some major ups and downs, experienced local culture, enjoyed the company of new friends, endured the loneliness of being separated from Michael for several months, and entertained ourselves with lots of visitors.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Our Final Week</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Monday was Hong Kong Disneyland's Grand Opening, and the boys and I stayed as far away from it as possible. Michael was there in the afternoon, and I went to the post office in the early morning to get the special Disneyland postage stamps with the date stamp of 9-12-05 that had the castle and fireworks on it. Evidently, I wasn't the only one in Hong Kong who had the same idea, as I ended up standing in line for nearly five hours along with thousands of others to get the stamps. Halfway through the line, I thought about giving up, but I had stayed up until 1:00 a.m. writing twenty-one Disneyland postcards, so I felt like I had to see it through or my time would have been wasted. If you are one of the people who get one of these postcards in your mailbox, please do me a favor and just save it forever, okay? Or at least tell me you're going to... it will make me feel less silly about spending my time doing that instead of packing up for the movers the next day. They sold out of many of the stamps before I got to the window, so I had to mail the postcards with <I>FIVE DOLLAR</I> stamps. So that was my way to celebrate the Grand Opening... standing in an enormous line and spending a lot of money on Disney stuff. Michael got to shake Michael Eisner's hand after Mike E told Mike C what a great show the Golden Mickeys is. I'm glad he did, since Michael my husband has worked so many events with Michael the head of Disney over the last decade, and not once has he introduced himself. Since Michael Eisner is leaving the Company at the end of this month, I told Mike it was his last chance to do it. Turned out he didn't have to, since Michael E approached Mike with an outstretched hand at the end of the show, congratulating him on a job well done.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> Tuesday morning the movers came to take away all our personal belongings. It was an emotional day for Nathan, who believed that they were there to steal his stuff, not just send it on back to California. It was a draining day for Michael and I, since the reality of making our ninth move in nine years is right here, right now, and it is just not something we are looking forward to.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Wednesday and Thursday I worked on getting the house in order and wrote like mad, trying to get caught up on these weekly updates so we can all leave Hong Kong at the same time. Friday Michael came home early from his last day of work here in Hong Kong. He walked through the door and said "You'll never guess what I've been doing the last two and a half hours!". Turns out one of the guys on his crew "kidnapped" Mike and took him for a ride all over the entire country of Hong Kong... on a motorcycle! They went far up into the New Territories near the border to China, following the eastern coastline down to Kowloon and then circled around Hong Kong Island and came here to Parkview. I had trouble keeping my jaw off the floor. <I>You did WHAT?!?!?!,</I> I cried out, <I>We leave Hong Kong in 48 hours... what if you had gotten killed!!! Why didn't you call me??</I> Mike just laughed and said if he had told me, I wouldn't have let him go. So true. I know what you are thinking- Heather, you have two little boys, just you wait! Yeah, yeah, I don't want to hear about it. Good thing Costco sells haircolor by the case, since the grays are now more numerous than the blondes these days... Mike and I went out on the town for our last Friday night in Hong Kong, leaving the kids with the wonderful babysitter we have used for the last six months. We wandered around Kowloon, and popped into the Hard Rock Cafe of all places for some dessert before taking the Star Ferry for the last time through Victoria Harbor under a nearly full moon high above the beautiful Hong Kong skyline.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Which Brings Us To Today</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Our final day in Hong Kong was very much like our first day in Hong Kong, lot of tears from the kids and exasperation from the adults. The kids were cranky and moody and woke us up so early I wanted to cry, especially since we were up past midnight last night. I had the day all planned out with a list of things to accomplish. First was to get another back mauling by my friend Helga at the salon here at Parkview, which was painful but fabulous. Mike was supposed to make a phone call for me and begin packing, but it didn't happen, the boys were too excited at the rare chance to see their dad to actually leave him alone. We had ordered some art that was going to be delivered yesterday. It wasn't. They said they would deliver it tonight, but that just cut it too close for me, since we are leaving Parkview at 6:30 a.m. and if they forgot for any reason, we'd be in trouble. So we all jumped in a taxi and went to Stanley Market to pick it up. We ate lunch, and Mike and the boys went home so Ben could nap, Mike could pack, and Nathan could watch a DVD. I stayed behind for about 20 minutes, picking up one last thing. Then the skies opened up and the rain came out of nowhere, flooding the streets. I tried for over twenty minutes to get a taxi, and when I finally did, I felt so proud of myself to be able to give directions to where I wanted to go (The Hopewell Centre in Wan Chai on Queen's Road East) since when we first got here I was clueless when the taxi driver would say "How do you want me to get there?". This particular taxi driver had other plans though. He told me the route I wanted to take was too busy and he'd take me another way. I asked if it was fast, since I had this list of things to do, and he assured me it was. He took off in the exact opposite direction that I wanted to go, all along the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. It was beautiful, even in the pouring rain, and at first I was grateful for the unexpected tour of the Island. But after 30 minutes, we were still not in the city part of the Island. We went up the east side of the Island and finally came out to Victoria Harbour. I could vaguely make out the Hopewell Centre in the skyline through the intense rain. And then we hit traffic. And then the rain got heavier. I started to get a little nervous, since the fare on the taxi had already hit $100 HK, and as far as I could tell, I wasn't any closer to my destination than I was when I was in Stanley. Traffic did not move. I started stressing, and called Mike, who said he hadn't made much progress in the packing department. I decided to toss my list out the window, since instead of having all the packing done by the time I got home, I knew we'd be spending the rest of the night doing it together. When traffic started moving again, I realized where the taxi driver was taking me, right past Parkview. If he'd gone the way I asked him to go in the first place, this is where we would have come out. So we were still going to hit the traffic that he was trying to miss! I was angry by that point, since the taxi fare was now over $200 HK, which is over $25 US dollars. Hong Kong Island is only six miles from end to end, so I was fuming that it was going to cost me a ton of money to go less than a mile as the crow flies. I finally got there, did what I had to do, and then got into another line for another taxi to get home. The rain was coming down even more heavily, so unoccupied taxis were far and few between, and it took forty minutes to get home when I finally got one. Once I got home, Mike and I plowed through as much packing as we could, and then took a break when the babysitter came up to say goodbye to the kids. She held out her arms to Ben, and he just put his little head on her shoulder and held on tight. So sweet since Ben can be particular about those he doles out physical affection to. Nathan gave her a bear hug and a wet kiss and she laughed so hard. Mui has been so wonderful to us, what an amazing blessing to find someone to look after our kids with so much love while we are so far away from our favorite babysitters back in California. She cried when she left, which made us cry after she was gone. That is the most surprising thing about our time in Hong Kong- although we were only here six months, we have made some amazing friends who we will surely keep in touch with for many years to come, and certainly never forget.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> We're still up packing like crazy, Michael is hovering over me, ready to pack up the computer so I better sign off. I checked the Hong Kong Observatory website, and wouldn't you know that we are in the midst of a Tropical Cyclone Warning, Level 1, which explains the massive rain. Hopefully it will be clear skies for our flight tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. Our driver will be here tomorrow at 6:30 a.m., so it really is time to get a move on and finish up the packing so we can catch at least an hour of sleep! We arrive into LAX at 10:10 a.m. on Sunday and then we'll go to Michael's parent's house for the afternoon until our cars are delivered from storage. Then we are taking off for my parent's house, where we'll let the grandparents take care of the monkeys for a bit. Michael and I are going to take a little road trip, just the two of us, to spend some much needed time alone away from the kids so we can reintroduce ourselves to one another. Then we return to Los Angeles, where Michael has a little bit of closeout work to do on the Hong Kong Disneyland project... then it's on to the next adventure! We have no idea what that is yet, so I guess we'll all find out together! We probably won't have email access for the next week, so we'll catch you after our vacation!<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Thanks for Coming Along</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> We have had a great time, and hope you have too. This was my little project, started as a way to have a record of our time here in Hong Kong for our kids to read about as they grow up, and possibly entertain a few of our friends and family in the process. I had no idea the magnitude of the "little project" when I started, and how difficult it would prove to be stealing minutes here and there each day to come up with something worth reading about, especially during the weeks when I didn't think we'd make it to the end of the project with our family intact. You all have done a great job of keeping us company on the journey, and I would travel with you again any time! Of course, I'm going to take a little break in the hopes that for once our lives will become so <I>boring</I> and <I>mundane</I> I'll have <I>nothing</I> of interest to write about! </div> <bR> <div> Nah, not me, I'd never <I>really</I> hope for that... </div> <bR> <div> And neither would you, right?</div> <bR> <div> <B>Have a Safe Trip Home!</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>Heather, Michael, Nathan, and Benjamin Chase</B></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="770" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 292 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="649680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The Media for Grand Opening</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="64b680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Sunset over the Castle</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 308 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="64d680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Mike in front of his theater</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="64f680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The fruit of my labor...</div> <div> standing in line for five hours for Disney stamps</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 292 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="655680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Packing day!</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="653680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Ben investigates</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 292 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="657680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Hmmm... what's in this one?</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="659680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The Prince surveys the movers</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 308 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="65e680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Views from the motorcycle</div> <div> You can see Mike's neck in the mirror.</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="660680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> View from the motorcycle</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 292 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="662680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> View from the motorcycle</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="664680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> View from the motorcycle</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 292 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="666680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Sad, sweet Benjamin says goodbye to Miss Mui</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="668680e0.jpg" border=0 width="360" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Mui with the boys for one final goodbye.</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 541 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="66a58c20.jpg" border=0 width="600" height="450" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The view from our bedroom window right now...</div> <bR> <div> <I>Goodbye Hong Kong!</I></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>