Back in February, the girls had a second winter break at school, for 1 week. Mimi and I contemplated for the longest time on where to go. After all, we had to maximize these opportunities to do a little more traveling together! We pretty much settled on Orlando, for a week long of Disney theme parks. I did my research as usual on where to stay and what our itinerary would look like.
Well, as we all know, plans that take a detour are a normal part of life. Brianne received an interview request from one of the schools that she applied to in Hong Kong, so it was imperative that she go back for it during her winter break. As for Bridgette and I, it was a no brainer for us to tag along….a perfect excuse to visit our families and friends there, while getting to indulge in good food. 🙂
I had mentioned in a previous post how much my family love surprises. We like to surprise each other with every chance that we get, and you’d think some of these surprises would get old after so many years, but it never does. This time was no exception….
The plan was for us to keep this spur-of-the-moment trip “hush hush“, and surprise everyone there upon arrival, including Brianne’s dad! We needed an accomplice there though, to be sure our plans carried out smoothly. We chose my mom, for she was pretty good at keeping secrets. 🙂
Mimi and Brianne are loyal to Cathay Pacific airlines whereas Bridgette and I always choose Singapore airlines, so we purchased separate tickets for the trip…or so I thought. The day of our departure, Alan, Bridgette and I dropped them at the airport to bid them farewell in the morning, then spent a nice day together in the city by ourselves before Alan dropped Bridgette and I at the airport late at night.
We went through the usual check in and security drills, stopped at one of the bookstores to read a bit, before we headed down to our departure gate. We found two seats furthest away from the crowded gate and made ourselves comfortable there while waiting for the call to board.
“SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Out of virtually nowhere, Mimi and Brianne jumped out right in front of us. I used all those exclamations above to signify how loud they actually were!!
I was in a state of shock. I don’t think I even reacted the first 3 seconds. I just stared at them in disbelief. Hadn’t we taken them to the airport that very morning? They were suppose to be half way to Hong Kong already! What on earth were they doing there? I was so shocked I couldn’t even put the pieces of the puzzle together.
Kudos to my sis, who now carries the honorary title of “Master Surpriser” in our family for pulling this one off. She carefully crafted this surprise, for she knew as good as she may be in planning surprises, I was equally good at seeing through them beforehand. In other words, it’s actually very very difficult to surprise me. I’ve got to hand it to her though, I did not suspect a thing this time! I admit, it was pretty fun to be surprised. 🙂
For those of you who wonder, my sister’s plan was pretty flawless. She booked her tickets through my cousin’s travel agency, keeping it all a secret from us. After we dropped her and Brianne off at the airport in the a.m., they took a cab back to our parent’s house in Daly City and hid there for the whole day to be sure they wouldn’t run into us. They arrived at the airport early in the evening to check-in, and asked the airline attendant to be sure Bridgette and I would be assigned to the same row of seats as she and Brianne….which explains why I was rejected when I asked for a window seat upon check-in! 🙂 Way to go Mims, for pulling off this “surprise within a surprise!”
It’s not difficult to travel with the girls at all, even on these 15 hour flights, because they love flying. They love the in-flight entertainment options, the kids’ meals, and just being on a plane! Thank goodness for that, since I personally have a hard time on long flights, especially when I am unable to sleep well.
Upon arrival to Hong Kong International Airport, Brianne and Bridgette were immediately ready to rock and roll, while I was ready to nap in a real bed! 🙂
We went our separate ways from the airport–Mimi and Brianne sneaked home to surprise Brian while my mom took Bridgette and I to her house to surprise my dad and my grandma. All went according to our plans and we successfully surprised everyone! 🙂
After the pressure of keeping everything “hush hush” was officially behind us, we spent the next 10 days eating awesome food and spending lots of quality time with our families….
We had two overlapping days with my in-law’s trip to Hong Kong, so Bridgette was thrilled to get to spend some time with them too! When asked where she wanted to take them, her answer was “high tea.” 🙂
A short, but memorable trip for sure….really grateful for the wonderful times we had with family and friends!
