Family on a visit!

My family came to Hong Kong for the wedding, well, half of my family anyway, mom, dad, baby brother Björn and his girlfriend Minea. And it was such a great time to have them here! I was happy to show them Hong Kong, which is a fascinating city. One thing I know we didn't do enough was shopping. But now we've visited the most important places, so when they come back (which I hope they do) it will certainly be more shopping! We had four full days, and I think they were all happy with the program :). 

Honey and I picked them up at the airport Monday afternoon around 4.15pm. Honey had borrowed his uncle's van. It was a nice day. We drove back to North Point, which took about an hour. We dropped off my brother and his girlfriend first, who stayed at Ibis in North Point (They said the room was very tiny but good enough, and they had free WiFi). My parents stayed at Harbour Plaza in North Point. An okay hotel with still pretty small room, but it worked anyway. Both hotels are within walking distance to our apartment, so our place became a natural meeting point when we started the day. 

Minea and Björn enjoying Korean food. 

Anyway, the first night we ate a local Korean bbq dinner. It seemed like everybody enjoyed it. It was also the first encounter of how Hong Kong people order and eat, as in we order several dishes that are placed on the table and served to all to eat. It's like we make our own little buffet, grab a little of each. I think my family was a bit surprised at first, but they got it quickly and seemed to really enjoy it. They even started practicing eating with chop sticks! Although the fork and knife was right there when the chop sticks got too tiring to use :). 

Overall is Hong Kong a "late-in-the day" start, as in, stores usually don't open until around noon, people come to work after 9am etc. We kept that late start with my family, which I know dad liked. I mean, just last winter my dad was too sick to even be able to leave his house. Now some months later he's flying to Hong Kong! He surely recovered well. I am so grateful that he could make it here, see Hong Kong and be a part of the wedding. 

The second day in Hong Kong they all came to our apartment. My parents who didn't have internet at their hotel used our WiFi and for an hour or so. They were like teenagers, sitting with their phones to their faces haha. It was kind of cute to see :). 

One of the views of Hong Kong from the Peak.

Once we got off the couch we took the bus to Central, walked around a short while. Then the sun came out, and we decided it was a great time to head to the Peak. We took the tram (scary ride) and walked around the peak in refreshing air and warming sunlight. It was so nice. We got some good pictures. We then ate a small lunch before we headed back down to Central. And we did the exactly right thing to head to the peak as soon as the sun showed up, because when we were done it was cloudy again, and perfect for some shopping :). We went to IFC, a very fancy shopping mall by the water. Since we are in a city it is a lot of walking, and the first day my dad's feet started hurting. He's not used to this much walking, and it seems like he unfortunately had the wrong shoes. But we took it easy and rested where we could. We finished in Causeway Bay with a delicious steakhouse dinner at Entrecôte. I think we were all satisfied after this and slept well that night. 

Cheung Chau

The third day Honey's dad took us to Cheung Chau, an island outside Hong Kong. It took about 30 mins to get there on the fast ferry. It was a really nice day, and more walking. It's a very peaceful island, quiet and very different from actual Hong Kong. The buildings are not more than three or four stories tall, no cars (except with special permit) and some pretty nice beaches. We all enjoyed the place a lot. We had dim sum for lunch (first time my family tried it), Honey's dad taught my family how to use the chop sticks (more practicing) while we enjoyed the ocean view. We took the ferry back and went to Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) where we admired the fabulous Christmas decorations at 1881 Heritage and at the Peninsula Hotel. We had fantastic Indian food with spicy curries, naan bread and Chinese beer. It was quite the experience for my family. We finished the day at Avenue of Stars where we watched Symphony of lights. After this my mom and dad were done and we called it a night. Sightseeing is exhausting, it really is. 

Me and mom at the Big Buddha.

On the fourth day, Thursday, Honey had two days off from work (thanks to the wedding on Saturday). We took the subway to Tung Chung, where we jumped on a glass bottom cable car to experience the Big Buddha and the Po Lim Monastery. I think this is a must-see when you're in Hong Kong. It's pretty darn cool. The Buddha is really big. It's so many stairs to walk up to it, but we didn't do that this time. Well, Björn and Minea did, who are young and strong. But Honey and I stayed behind with mom and dad. There are things to see anyway, and viewing the Buddha from a distance is still pretty cool. We took the bus back to the real world, and back to a shopping outlet. We let everyone go and said to meet up in an hour. They finally got their cheap shopping :). It was great. I think most of us got some good deals, for example dad got a pair of New Balance for a whopping cheap price of 350 HKD, and they were very nice! 

In the evening Honey's family had arranged for a big Chinese dinner at an exclusive club member only Shanghai restaurant. It's the second time my family got to experience the real Chinese cuisine. Very interesting. It seemed like the extended family all got along, which was great to see. I think my dad's favorite dish that night was the fish head soup. Who could have foreseen that? 

Family waiting for the extended family at the fancy
Chinese members only restaurant.

Friday was the day before the wedding and Honey and I had to take care of some things. First Minea and I went to get our nails done close to home. That was fun. While we got beautiful Honey went to pick up my wedding dress and some prints that we intended to use at the wedding reception. After that Minea and Björn took off by themselves, while mom and dad hung out with us. 

View from the bathroom on 103rd floor. 

We started by eating lunch on the 102nd floor at Ritz-Carlton, ICC. Oh My! Oh WOW! The view! The luxury, the hospitality, the friendliness! It was surely a magnificent experience. Set lunch cost 248 HKD, actually not pricey when you put the whole experience in context. And then the view! It is a fantastic view of the beautiful Hong Kong Island skyline. Yes, the food was delicious too! We are definitely going back. 

After lunch we took a taxi to East TST and picked up a wedding gift from Honey's parents, two very nice watches. It took a great while to get them set up, but once done they looked amazing. We kept travelling by taxi, to Mong Kok station, where we met up with the girl who made our wedding give-aways, (very nice hand-made greeting cards). We got the cards, she got the cash. From there we walked to the Ladies Market, where we dropped off mom and dad so they can do some shopping (I told them to meet them at the Starbucks at the end of the street), while we went to buy more supplies for the wedding. 

Crowded subway train!

We moved on and took the subway back. Honey went with my parents to Outback, where we had booked a table, I went home to drop off our stuff, met Minea and Björn and walked over to the hotel where my sister was gonna stay (which was the same hotel that our parents stayed at). She arrived straight from Australia with all her suitcases to move back to Sweden. When she finally arrived, and got her super nice suite (at no extra charge!), we took a taxi to the restaurant and could finally eat! 

Mom and sis at Outback Steakhouse.

Saturday was the wedding, great day for everyone involved :). 

Sunday, the day the family went back to Sweden (the plane left Hong Kong at 01.20am). We started late. I picked up my family at the hotel after I dropped off the wedding dress. Honey had a car that day and we drove down to Stanley and had a very satisfying lunch. It was the warmest day of the week I think. We dropped Minea and Björn off in Stanley and they were off by themselves. They had a key to our apartment, where they had their luggage. We hung out in Stanley Market for a short while before we drove to Repulse Bay to look at the nice beach. After that we went to Causeway Bay for a coffee and some last minute shopping. It was all relaxed and nice. We actually ran in to Minea and Björn. We all went to the same mall, although it wasn't planned! Great minds think alike :). 

Unfortunately everyone couldn't fit in the car to the airport with all the luggage, so Minea and Björn took the bus (which is very easy and cheap). We met up with them at the airport. We ate dinner and said our Good-byes. It was surely a busy but a fantastic week! We had a great time, and I already miss them a lot. I'm looking forward to have them back! 

Happy family after the first tea ceremony.