I went to Hong Kong with my husband to experience something exotic and we weren't disappointed - the bustle, the skyscrapers, the food markets, the rattling trams, the boat people - all the sounds and smells of the orient. But it's not a destination I would have associated with family holidays - until now that is.
I'll be honest, I was quite surprised to see families with young children tucking into the breakfast buffet at our hotel, the Cosmopolitan in Causeway Bay area. The travel writer in me couldn't resist finding out what they were up to. Here's what one family told me:
"We're on our way to Australia to visit Carol's brother, who lives there. Carol and I wanted to see Hong Kong but we knew the children wouldn't be too keen just sight-seeing so we decided to have a four day stop-over and include a day out at Ocean Park. It's really good. You need a full day there. The aquarium is just amazing. You really feel as though you're at the bottom of the ocean, right in amongst all the sea creatures and coral. But it's a whole theme park as well, fountains, light shows, rides - the kids loved it."
Carol and Bob had found the family holiday offer on the internet. It combined the accommodation at the Cosmopolitan, in their Ocean Park theme suite, with transport and tickets for the day out at the theme park.
Having tired themselves out at Ocean Park on the previous day, they said they were planning to take it easy for a few hours before walking down to the street markets which open around noon. The children were more than happy to get back upstairs because there was a Wii game in the room.
Carol added that the suite had cartoons on DVD as well, plus various cuddly toys based on Ocean Park, and children's snack boxes, so they thought they might get away with booking the hotel's free baby-sitting service later in the day and take the opportunity to treat themselves to a cocktail in the bar.
As families do, I suspected they had ordered their children to eat as much as possible at breakfast time! We were actually doing the same. The buffet was open until 10:30 am so we certainly didn't need any lunch.
I loved the choice of foods. My husband was a bit conservative and plumped for cereal followed by bacon and a custom-cooked omelette but I tried almost everything. There were salads, meats, bread, waffles, jams, sauces (mango syrup on yoghurt and creamy muesli - my favourite!), cakes, rice, noodles, broth, dim sum, fruit - it was a shame to be full up and have to stop.
You can understand what a boon it is to have such a choice when you have children with you. I couldn't believe how much Bob and Carol's two put away, considering what slender sticks they were.
Eating out in Hong Kong is fairly cheap, which gives it another plus point if you're bringing your children. The streets are full of small cafes which offer the kind of food children tend to like: rice and noodle dishes which often cost less than £3 with glasses of weak tea to wash it down. (If you don't like the tea, don't drink it because as soon as your glass is empty, it will be re-filled!)
Although an Ocean Park visit will probably be your children's highlight, it's a lot of fun riding around the city on the top deck of a tram, and that costs almost nothing, less than 20p per journey. All you have to do is drop the coins in a box when you get off.
There are not many places in the world where you can combine the excitement of the big city with the excitement of a theme park so easily in such a small area. Hong Kong is full of surprises.
Kay Ellis is a travel writer specialising in independent travel including long distance trails and backpacking but also published author of articles in many UK magazines. http://www.kayellis.co.uk Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kay_Ellis |
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