When the kids and I arrived on a Saturday afternoon, Andy had already been in Hong Kong a week and gotten a few of the kinks out with driving. We drove to church that Sunday and it was nothing short of "Glorious"...cutting our commute from 60-75 minutes, down to 30 minutes. Changing our routine from catching two taxis to the bus terminus, then changing buses at a stop before the tunnel...to a leisurely drive in air-conditioning, listening to our music. That first drive the kids were actually quiet...I think they were as nervous as we were...that has since changed:)
The following Monday was my turn. I was to take Emma and Josh to school because the three of us were participating in some activities to welcome new families to the school. I was a little nervous there wouldn't be parking at the school since I hadn't reserved any and I didn't know where to park otherwise, but Andy encouraged me and so we headed out. I had my "trusty"GPS on my phone because even though I had taken numerous taxis to the kids' school in the past, its different when you are behind the wheel. I do remember having a huge pit in my stomach, as I couldn't have been more tense, but after getting on the highway, I loosened up and things started to get more comfortable. I only hit the wipers instead of the turn signal three times that trip. We found ourselves to school in 15 minutes(saving us 45 min), AND there was easy parking at the school...hooray!!
The rest of the week were more trips to school, and my dear friend Amy driving with me to New Town Plaza! I started to feel like I got the hang of this...THEN, I attempted a trip to New Town Plaza by myself because the girls needed school supplies. This time I went by way of GPS and Andy's directions to a parking garage that was close by, but not connected. We made our way...the long way...after making a few wrong turns, and not being able to make a turn because of a funeral procession...and got to a very dodgy parking garage. This garage was so tight that I got claustrophobic very quickly and looked for the easiest spot I could find. One spot looked promising...one that I could pull straight into and not have to back in. Mistake #1...ALWAYS back your car in the spot!
We had a lovely lunch, found our supplies, and made it back to the car, no problem. Now I had to get the car out. The cars are so tight that Grace, who was seated in the front passenger seat, couldn't even get out of her door. So since she couldn't get in yet, she was in charge of helping me out...while Emma prayed in the back seat:) Pulling out of the spot put me into an exit lane, so after waiting for an opening (did I mention this was Saturday?) I pulled out and turned the car because there was a post almost directly behind the car. Unfortunately I did not do a very good job and somehow got stuck between hitting the very expensive Mercedes I was parked next to and the post. Obviously, I erred too close to the post, and realized the next day that I christened the car with a few new scratches:) After about 5 minutes of pulling forward and backward several times without making any headway, a stranger got my attention and tried to guide me out himself. By now there were a few cars waiting for me to get out of the way. When this still didn't help, he offered to drive the car for me...and having no dignity or pride left, I took him up on his offer...taking his car keys and phone as collateral since Emma was still in the backseat. With two quick swift moves we were out of a jam and I was back in the car...thankful for the stranger and swearing to never visit that parking garage again!
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| My new scratches:) |
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| I needed to show that I do know how to parallel park |
Last weekend we decided to become adventurous and go to a beach on the Island. We had been wanting to go, but never badly enough to venture on the hours of public transportation it would take to get there. We knew it would take a little under an hour by car, and left about 10am. Mistake #2...If you know you will be parking, never leave that late! We arrived to the EXIT of the first beach with a police officer letting us know there wasn't any more parking. We decided to go to the next exit for another beach, and after driving around, realized there wasn't any parking there either. We finally drove another 20 minutes to a third beach and found parking...but by the time we got there, we only stayed a couple hours before we were tired and hungry and left for home. We did get home with a sense of satisfaction that we had done it...and knew how to do it better the next time:)
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| Fun times at Repulse Bay |
Finally, after following my friend Amy AGAIN to New Town Plaza, I left by myself to find home. The comical thing was that I was having a difficult time following my GPS, as it kept spinning and rerouting me. When I started going up a mountain, I knew that I needed to turn around. As soon as I could, I pulled into a small little lot to turn around. When I got the car around and looked left, there was a rather large monkey sitting on the curb, with a baby behind. Now I know that monkeys are not a rarity in Hong Kong, but this was the first time I had seen one in the wild. He wasn't too keen on me rolling down my window to take a picture, so I made it fast before I was on my way. Needless to say, you just never know what you are going to find in Hong Kong...and driving has certainly added a whole new dimension to the adventure:) We are looking forward to these next two years and what the Lord has in store for us!
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