First Day Happiness

It’s liberating to know that from now on, all we need to worry about are the kids and two bags. And between the loud personalities and bright colors, I am hopeful that we don’t lose a kid or a bag.

Before departure, what we dreaded most about our adventure was the 16 hour flight from JFK to Hong Kong. How on earth were we to entertain two toddlers in a confined space for that amount of time? Our strategy of a 1:20 AM flight paid off. The kids slept for 13 of the 16 hours, allowing us to watch 3 movies and do some napping of our own. The MacGyver in me made Kayan a little crib on the floor of our seats and he passed out immediately. Laying down an airplane blanked between him and layers of passenger dirt was probably not hygienic, but the kid’s got to build his immunity for this trip anyway.

Here are two things I learnt on day 1 in Hong Kong.

It’s much cleaner than Manhattan. Not a high bar but, given that the cities rival each other in population density and general energy, I figured it would be a closer call. For once I didn’t cringe when Ava wanted to use the bathroom at the playground. It had a personal attendant whose bleaching skills I had already admired while watching from the swing set.

Hong Kong a culinary wonderland. We arrived at Sandeep’s brother’s apartment at 7 AM, ready for dinner. Lin Heung Tea House is around the corner from the apartment and the dim sum was already flowing. I confess that I couldn’t tell that much of a difference in taste from it and my favorite New York joint Chatham Square, but the crowd of elderly sipping their morning tea and workers fueling up for the day was entertaining to watch. I’m not sure that they were equally entertained by our to kids who broke every rule of chopstick etiquette.

– Do not drop chopsticks. Dropped. Three times.
– Do not stab food with chopsticks. Stabbed to pulpy heaps.
– Do not make noise with chopsticks. In all fairness, Wednesday is music class at home.

Dinner at La’Taste was the freshest Vietnamese I’ve had and their grilled chicken was the only thing other than candy that Ava ate since leaving New York.

First day on the trip – total success. Happy kids, happy parents. Let’s hope this holds for the next 304.