Cheung Chau

Once upon a time, OJ asked me what I wanted to do for my Birthday. I suggested that maybe it would be fun to go to Cheung Chau (a small island south of HK island, still part of Hong Kong). We could stay the night, go to the beach, you know make a little trip out of it. I thought it would be fun, and it was...sort of :)

We departed HK island on this bad boy. Mind you, we had already taken a taxi, train, and bus to get to this point. We boarded the ferry a little too quickly and sat there sweating to death while we waited for it to depart...we didn't have any water...stupid me. Graham kept asking and asking because usually his mother takes water wherever they go...oops. It cooled off a little once we started moving and distracted Graham.

When we got to the hotel (The Warwick), it was dark. But it only took us about 7 minutes to walk from one side of the island where our ferry docked to the other side where our hotel was. (Note the very small police van in the lower left hand corner. All the vehicles are made teeny tiny on this island because all the streets are so small. Graham loved them. Every time he looks at this picture he points out the car and says "woo woo woo woo".)

Our hotel was...let's just say was less than awesome. We knew it wouldn't be great. It is the only hotel they have. This figure was in the lobby...Graham stood in front of it when we arrived and yelled "Jesus" over and over very loudly. Yes, it is a woman.

This is our bed, don't be distracted by its large size. That size was diminished when we asked for 5 more pillows in an attempt to make it more comfortable. Those 5 pillows were all for me...what can I say? I'm selfish. You may be wondering if the pillows worked, they didn't. It was like sleeping on concrete. I kept praying the night would pass quickly...I could NOT fall asleep.

Graham's mammoth crib ( maybe it wasn't and I've just been living in a country with mini me sizes for too long) ...he seemed to have no problem at all sleeping. OJ was wishing he would've slept with Graham in the crib instead of with me tossing and turning all night.

The little balcony in our room.

The view from our balcony.

After a refreshing nights sleep and a hearty breakfast of cornflakes, warm milk, and yogurt. (What can we say, we like to save where we can.) We headed down to the beach.

After renting a beach chair and umbrella and realizing we had no cash, OJ went to the bank while I tried to coax Graham off of my lap and into the water ( the beach was a little rocky). So I applied sunscreen the best I could with him on my lap and off we went. The water was wavy but Graham didn't seem to mind.

Let's talk about people watching on the beach...now that is a fun past time. There were some random people at this beach. The natives are especially entertaining to watch as they take pictures on the beach. They will hold very still until the last second and then strike these hilarious poses...very entertaining.

hmmmm I wonder what we did that was entertaining for them?

(a shot along the beach)

Our lifeguard.

The helicopter that I think was probably Graham's favorite part of the whole trip.

After a few hours at the beach we decided to head back to the hotel for some naps. Surprisingly I was able to fall asleep...we all woke up feeling rested. I woke up feeling burned...apparently the spray sunscreen that I used on Graham ran out when I used it on myself...awesome. We decided to head out and explore the Island a little bit and see if we couldn't find a place to eat while we were at it. It was way too hot walking around and we weren't covering much ground. So we figured we'd rent one of these bad boys.

Not 3 minutes after we had rented it and a policeman stopped us telling us that we couldn't ride the bike, that it was illegal....what?!? Let me remind you that these bikes were ALL over the place. He kindly told us that OJ could get off and push the bike but to ride it with us on the back was illegal. So we did what every good law-abiding citizen does...OJ got off pushed the bike until we were past the view of the police officer and hopped back on. :) It was a good thing we did, we would have missed out on seeing these sights, and finding a place to eat.

After we returned our bike we went back to a little Thai place that we had found to eat at that looked relatively "safe". I ordered a delicious yellow curry. I was pleasantly surprised how good it was. We walked around a bit after that and let Graham play at the playground on the beach. Then we headed back to the hotel for bed. Once again this was a sleepless night...only add a sunburn, chills, and diarrhea. I don't know what it was...sun stroke, the food, or brushing my teeth with the water but something was not right.

We woke up early the next morning and wanted outta there so we packed our stuff up, checked out, grabbed McDonald's for breakfast, and hopped on that ferry.

You think this is the end of the story...oh no...it gets better...in fact this is the best part.

When we got off the ferry we caught a taxi to get to our bus stop. While we were in the taxi OJ noticed that "our" bus was right behind us. He was determined to catch it...(mind you we had to get our luggage out, pay the taxi driver, and walk a little ways to the stop). Once OJ decides to do something there is no derailing him. At this point I was not feeling well, I mentioned it, but he was focused. He jumps out grabs everything, including Graham and runs to catch the bus. Finally I waddling behind him yell "OJ stop, STOP, we are not getting on the bus. I'm gonna mess my pants." That seemed to sink in, so he stayed at the bus stop while I tried to find a bathroom. Bathrooms are not always easy to find in Hong Kong. I wandered around into stores asking if they had one, no one apparently did but they kept pointing to where one was. Meanwhile I was praying that I wouldn't mess my pants. Finally a lady tells me that there was a public restroom at the park. I rushed to it only to find that it was not only disgusting but a squatter (note: most restrooms do not have toilet paper, especially public ones. Luckily this one did it is located outside all the stalls)

Anyway, without giving too many details...everything came out of me at both ends.

I actually felt better...I begin to walk back to where I left OJ and Graham. I've been walking a good 10 minutes when I notice the back of my skirt is completely up and tucked into the back of my underwear. I was mortified. I walked faster feeling somewhat better if I didn't have to look anyone in the eye that was behind me.

I arrived to find a panicked OJ and Graham. OJ because I had been gone for a good 30-40 minutes and I didn't have my cell phone, he was afraid that I had passed out somewhere. (has happened before)and Graham because he's going through the "I freak out whenever my mom leaves me stage".

All in all I would say it was an unforgettable birthday.

See aren't you glad you read the whole thing?!