Hello, Hong Kong

Anticipation can be a wonderful thing. Alan, Bridgette and I have been eagerly and excitedly anticipating our Asia trip for months. I’ve circled our departure date in red on Bridgette’s calendar, and she’s been counting down every night as she marks off her calendar. Finally, the day has arrived, and the first thing Bridgette said when she woke up in the morning was, “We are going to Hong Kong today to see Brianne! Yayyyyyy!”

I really can’t deny that my little girl has become a natural globetrotter. She knows her drill at the airport, handing her passport and boarding pass out with a charming smile at the appropriate check points, taking off her shoes for security (even though I made a point to tell her that the she no longer needed to do that under the new FSA rule), and reminding me to get in line for pre-boarding.

Flying 15 hours in the air does not daunt Bridgette. In fact, she loves the plane ride. The minute we found our seats on the plane, she settled right in to buckle up, remove her shoes, and to turn on the monitor to scope out the kids’ movie selections for the flight.

Our flight to Hong Kong departed at 1:00am, which is about 3 hours past Bridgette’s normal bedtime. You would think she’d be exhausted and sleepy by the time we took off, but no….she was as energetic as ever and immediately asked to watch Smurfs. By 2:30am she finally showed signs of dozing off, but that’s when the flight attendant brought over her Kids’ Meal and she perked up right away at the sight of chicken nuggets, tater tots, and oreo cookies. She munched away happily while Alan and I enjoyed our Thanksgiving meal, courtesy of Singapore airlines–dry turkey with gravy and sweet potatoes. 🙂

At last, after licking the last of the oreo filling, Bridgette crashed and fell into a deep coma-like sleep. I did too, after taking Tylenol PM, and together, we slept for about 10 hours! By the time we woke up, there were only 2 hours left of the flight. After another meal, movie, and we were already looking through our window to catch glimpses of Hong Kong underneath the polluted air.

It was an incredibly sweet moment to witness Bridgette and Brianne’s reunion. I was pushing Bridgette out in her stroller, but at the first sight of Brianne, she jumped up and ran over as fast as she could. The two girls embraced and began chatting nonstop. What a heartwarming moment!

We arrived around 7am Hong Kong time, and our first day was very low key. We had lunch with my parents and grandma, and spent the afternoon hanging out at my grandma’s home so that she could enjoy our company. She’s really come a long way since her stroke and 2 month coma last year. She is now able to stand and walk very slowly with assistance, and even though her vision has deteriorated substantially, she is able to articulate very normally. She was very, very happy to see us, especially her two great-grandchildren together, and as always, she showered us with “red envelopes” for good luck. 🙂

It happened to be my mom’s “western” birthday as well, and although she only celebrates her “chinese” birthday (which would be next month), we still surprised her with a small cake to pre-celebrate her big 60th!

It is 6:00am right now as I finish up this post, and I can hear the girls in Brianne’s room whispering already. Here’s a snippet of their conversation:

Bridgette: Remember when we were younger, we fought over that chair??

Brianne: (Laughs hysterically) Yes, that was so silly, right?

Bridgette: Remember that time when we went to Thailand, we went to the Kids Club and I kept crying for my mommy?

Brianne: (Laughs hysterically again) You were such a baby Bridggy!

Ahhhh, how I live for endearing moments like these. This morning, we’re off to the airport (again!) for a trip to Hangzhou with my family. The girls are beyond excited to be traveling together again. And me? I’m a bit frazzled at the fact that I will not have access to Facebook, Google, and my blogs, but perhaps that may end up to be a good thing for my soul. 🙂

Happy Black Friday!