The Best Holiday Ever

At the risk of sounding 夸张，I declare our recent 20 days in SG/HK the best holiday since 2006.

Why?

I always have mixed feelings about visiting SG.

I love that I can slip easily and anonymously into the "system": disappearing into a sea of Chinese faces, getting on public transport without hassles, enjoying teh si, char kway teow, claypot rice, chwee kway at any hawker centre.

This time, we were super blessed by an offer of accommodation from our very dear CG friends. Not only did it save us $$, it was the perfect way to spend time together.

We also got a treat: two nights at Holiday Inn Outram Rd and two nights at Resorts World Sentosa, thanks to Groupon.

And we got to visit with some very special friends, including a girlfriend I haven't seen since college. 25 years, imagine...

So what's not to like about SG? It's a personal thing: the unspoken undercurrents at family gatherings.

Sussing out what's the right thing to say to please and not offend, since we're the guests from overseas.

Putting on my best "parent" face, stating confidently and firmly my "family rules", as if I always know what's best for my kids, when most of the time, I'm still working it out and would love a bit more validation from my family.

Trying not to wince when the younger child is favoured over her older sibling because she happens to have a sunny, easygoing personality. I have painful memories of being sidelined as a kid because, like my firstborn, I'm reserved, take ages to warm up to people and have quite low EQ (working hard on it lah).

Trying not to get angry when mum makes baseless assumptions and well-intended but unsolicited comments about my choices, parenting style, etc etc.

Most of all, wondering how to approach the elephant-in-the-room: mum getting older, me being the only child and living in a different country.

Nothing changed this visit, except for the inevitable: kids growing up, elders slowing down and getting more noticeably frail.

So I was glad hubby had scheduled 6 nights in HK right after SG, because that was when our real holiday began.

HK is so like SG, just more crowded and more stylish. I haven't visited since I was 21, when I visited HK with mum, a cousin and my aunt. That one was a conducted tour. 'Nuff said.

This time, hubby said he was relying on me to be lead the way, since he can't speak Cantonese, and the kids can barely speak Mandarin.

I became official translator, interpreter, form-filler and negotiator.

At Ladies Street, I put on my best Canto accent and haggled over everything: silicon rubber purses that the girls wanted to buy for their friends, Chinese embroidered shoes to go with the cheongsam and gongfu outfit for their next cultural day at school, craft supplies (forgot to put in the check-in luggage and the craft scissors got confiscated at Customs - Miss B was furious), a backpack.

We bought a half kilo of Bee Cheng Hiang bak kwa for HKD184 (less than S$30) and devoured the lot, with BreadTalk bread, in our hotel room.

Best supper/breakfast ever.

We dragged ourselves through Disneyland - oh, the things we endure for our kids! The queues were 45 - 60 minutes long, the food was ex, the sun was too hot, and The Ugly Tourist popped up everywhere. Especially when queueing for popular rides/shows.

There was this mother and son behind us who kept pushing forward, even after we turned round to look at them. She even put her hand right over Miss B's, when Miss B had already planted her hand on the railing. Incredible. Finally, I engaged her in conversation (in Mandarin). She wanted to know if the ride was going to be a 刺激 one. Sigh.

If not for my kids, I would skip all the attractions that end with "Land" or "Park" or have the word "Adventure" in them.

We loved the hotels hubby had picked, esp the L'hotel at HK Island South near the airport. The smart-looking and stylish guest relations manager left us a message when we returned from our day out. When hubby called back, all the GRM wanted to know was how was our stay and was there anything he could do for us.

We gave him an honourable mention in the feedback form when we left. Hope he gets a promotion.

The L'hotel Nina et Convention Centre was posh and we loved the views from our 77th floor room.
But the customer service was conspicuously lacking. When I asked to break down a large (bank)note into smaller notes, the receptionist took my money and walked off to the other end of the counter, came back with the small notes and gave them to me. No 'hello'. No 'how can I help you?'

Then there's the MTR, HK's public train system. It's so like SG's MRT it's uncanny. Who copied whom?

Getting around by train is a breeze. All the islands are connected. Just know your station and you'll be fine. Like Disneyland, everything is said/printed in three languages: Cantonese, Mandarin, English. You're bound to find your way.

I think what I enjoyed the most - aside from dim sum and shopping - was just the sheer joy of speaking and hearing others speak in Cantonese and Mandarin everywhere. The Hongkongers are so flexible. When I ordered "char shao bao" instead of "char siu bao" at a restaurant, the manager switched to English, haha. I've also heard them fluently communicate in Mandarin with mainland visitors. And there's nothing quite so endearing as HK-accented English. Ranks right up there with Singlish.

Now to plan the next holiday...something to do with food, luxe lodgings, sights to see...a cruise methinks...