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Before I agree to 2021 I need to see some terms and conditions

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Happy New Year! Let us hope 2021 is a whole lot better than 2020 ever was, even if it's been off to a bumpy start.

New Years Eve we stayed in and had a toast at midnight with our friend Lindsey, and also had a little zoom party with my friends Amy and Vicki in England. Tradition in the USA is to watch the ball drop in NYC, but obviously it wasn't midnight there yet, so instead we watched the digital countdown on the Discover HK website and counted down in Cantonese. BYEEEEE 2020!

Happy New Year!

We also watched the ball drop on Jan 1 during our afternoon to countdown the East Coast USA and wish them a Happy Noon-Year!

Continuing the celebrations in January, we celebrated my birthday on the 10th! I woke up on Sunday morning to some surprises at my door, lovely room decorations, and a surprise zoom party with my family and friends.

After breakfast, we packed up our things and began the journey toward Hong Kong Disneyland. There is a recreational lake as a part of the resort called Inspiration Lake, where we stopped first for a picnic. We thought it was going to be freezing, but the sun poked its head out and it was a very comfortable 60 degrees, perfect picnic weather.

We feasted on some homemade chicken salad on croissants, hummus and pita chips, cookies, and my favorite juice boxes.

It was surprisingly really busy at Inspiration Lake, but we found a nice little spot away from others. As we left our picnic, a cast member noticed our luggage and asked if we were off to check into a hotel. We said we were, and he ended up creating a little magic for us by calling us our own personal driver to come and pick us up and take us to the hotel so we did not have to wait for the bus.

It might as well have been my very own Cinderella carriage. We chose to stay in the Kingdom Suites at the Disneyland Hotel because there is a great staycation package deal happening right now. We were probably 1 of 2 families staying on the suites floor that evening, the other family staying across the hall in the Frozen themed suite (where every time they opened the door I ran to try and peek inside, ha).

We checked in, and during the process, they explained about all the various meal drop off times. We were really confused, not understanding all the things included in this suite stay. Every 2 hours or so, someone was to bring us some type of food, which is my favorite kind of surprise.

Arriving at our room, we spent the first hour just trying to take the beauty of the room in. It was so elegantly decorated with such amazing detail, I was in total awe.

First bathroom on your left hand side

All the sweet birthday surprises and fun decor for HKDL 15th anniversary

Separate bedroom

View from BOTH balconies of the HK skyline

My favorite part, the master bathroom with jet tub

The tv played instrumental versions of the Cinderella soundtrack, which kept us in an elegant mood all afternoon. The room also came with robes and our very own Cinderella slippers to wear, and a popcorn bucket filled with sweet treats we got to keep!

We had not been in our room long when a knock on the door sounded, and a beautiful Cinderella themed high tea arrived. Most of the dishes were some form of seafood, which is not my preference, but they were stunning!

After tea, there was a kingdom suites activity in the lounge, where the recreational staff helped us make our own Duffy and Shellie Mae pins-

Back in our room, it was time for more sweets. Mike worked really hard on my beautiful cake, trying to make it everything I love, and it was delicious! He even 3d printed me the cute little Disney 29!

Before we even knew we'd be staying in the Cinderella suite, Mike had bought me a new pair of running shoes for my birthday. It was only fitting we took the appropriate photo...

Right about this time, MORE SURPRISE FOOD ARRIVED! We had also ordered some pick up food from the restaurant downstairs before knowing about the bento boxes they were bringing us, so we feasted (again). We also had our complimentary wine on the balcony, watching the night show off in the distance in the HK skyline.

After I was properly stuffed, Mike spoiled me more with a bottle of champagne and strawberries, the bubbliest bubble bath I have ever seen, and face masks.

I truly felt like royalty. I was obviously too excited to sleep from all the fun after.

But finally managed to, knowing my actual birth day might be over, but the celebration was not complete!

The next morning, we woke to yet MORE SURPRISE FOOD! Breakfast was apparently included with our stay, which included our favorite, Mickey Waffles!

Normally if you stay in the Kingdom Suites, a Disney character comes to say goodnight to you, but because of Covid, that sadly does not happen at the moment. However, we got to do Tai Chi with Goofy in the morning instead, which I adored.

The time to check out came way too quickly, and I was really sad to leave our room. Mike cheered me up by taking a huge bite out the chocolate pumpkin carriage, lol.

We had one last waltz in our room before we left for lunch...

Lunch was Disney dim sum at Crystal Lotus. Being that this was our 3rd time to do character dim sum, we knew what we were in for. It's not my favorite tasting, but it is so darn cute!

2015

2018

2021!

As we left the hotel, we noticed they had my name on the birthday announcement list! What a perfect ending to a lovely trip.

When we got home, my friends had surprised me with a little get together watching the finale of Bridgerton with homemade scones, treats, and party hats.

I was really lucky and really did have such an amazing birthday, which is surprising after this crazy year we have had!

The cases have been going down slowly in Hong Kong to around 40 cases daily, but with fear that holiday numbers have not really come in yet, everything is still pretty shut down, including Disney.

So, long story short, we have had a lot more time for hiking and outdoor adventure! One of my favorite hikes we did was in Stanley, called Rhino Rock. The hike itself was pretty short, but involved a lot of uphill stairs, slippery sand, and lovely seaside views.

The rock we were looking for at the end of the hike really looks like a Rhino, and it's easy following the ribbons to get to it.

Now to get on top of this rock seems like it would be easy enough, but it really is not, and I have the scratches on my hands to prove it. You have to climb a tree and then basically jump from the top of the tree to the rock to get onto the 'head of the rhino', then slowly slide down the 'nose' to get to the 'horn'. I sat in the tree for a good 10 minutes trying to get the courage and strength to jump across to the rock, and another 10 minutes trying to get back down, but we got there!

And the view from the top was totally worth it-

After our hike we headed into Stanley, venturing past the outdoor market and the beach.

This market was the first market we have seen in a while that actually seemed open. We also got this adorable hand made dragon stuffed animal!

Another little day adventure was on the way to visit Mike at work in Cyberport to The Abandoned Gods at Waterfall Bay. This was a really cool little spot with thousands of little buddha statues every which way you looked.