What is everyone up to for the chinese new year?

I'm going to be sourcing supplies, toys & books for a new branch of my playgroup centre that will be opening after Easter...taking care of the kids, picking up and dropping off dogs for my hubby's biz, cooking, cleaning...hopefully sleeping a little...will probably have to meet in-laws for dinner....not much else really....oh, yeah...planning my kids' double birthday party for Feb 12....almost forgot that...oops!
 
Busy, busy ladies. I plan to sleep as much as possible and sort through the clutter in my house, organize things and give/throw a bunch of stuff away. So, keep your eyes open for posts about stuff I'm giving away--should be a lot of it.

All the best to SZJ with her upcoming c-section this week and to Cara with all the madness :)
 
Hubby is flying out for business for the entire week, so me and the kids in the meantime will be meeting a lot of friends, going out to the park, Play town, Ocean Park, shopping and trying out new recipes.
 
you are NUTS to go to OP during the holiday! you could not pay me to go there over that week! the # of mainland tourists there would make it anything but fun (for me)....you are one brave, patient (and a little crazy) lady! LOL!

thanka: that nesting instinct has kicked in, has it?
 
I was going to try Disney on one of the days but Cara's post has scared me a little! Also planning on doing a lot of spring cleaning because we are hoping to move soon so I want to clear the clutter before we do and hubby being off for a few days means he can entertain the kids while I am sorting everything!
 
CNY is the most boring holiday ever. There is nothing to do other than going to visit friend and relative. You have to spend lot in gifts and lai si and get nothing in return. CNY is fun only for kids, and that only because of the sweets, snacks and lai si.

My brother came to visit me 2 or 3 years ago during CNY and got so bored that he said not to come again during that holiday. Some big department stores, like WingOn for example, close for few days. Some close for a week... Thre is usually nothing interesting on the TV, as all the regural programs get preempted. And going to parks would be fun if it weren't usually cold and windy outside!
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i DID go to OP ONCE, about 9 years ago over CNY.... my cousin waited for mcd's for over an hour to get something to eat... the rides, forget it... you'd be lucky to have 2 rides all day...if you like spending hours waiting in line, then go. if not, stay well clear of OP & Disney...

when Disney first opened, they sold out of tickets over CNY...mainlanders were scaling the fence to get in! it was ridiculous!

you REALLY couldn't pay me enough to go over the holiday! remember, mainlanders get an entire week off and lots of them travel during that time... many to HK...
 
Was in TST over the weekend, and had to pop into Watsons to pick up a couple of things. The only customers were mainlanders and they were buying cases of chocolates, and there was only 1 cashier open!!! Watsons needs a quick lane for less than 10 items.
 
Cheers, you have saved me! I hadn't mentioned it to the children yet, so now I won't bother. I think I just assumed that most people head over to the mainland during new years and it would be quiet but now it gives me an extra day to organise the clutter!
 
carang said:
thanka: that nesting instinct has kicked in, has it?
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Yes, this has been building for weeks and weeks to the point where I literally can't stand it anymore! The house must be cleaned! Just in time for Chinese New Year too. I'm sooooo traditional. :)
 
ohh goodness we where going to take our son to OP thank you for saving us we made the mistake and took him to flower market yesterday took an hour to find a taxi to come back to HK side ,....... lol can you tell we are fairly new to HK lol :)
 
carang said:
i DID go to OP ONCE, about 9 years ago over CNY.... my cousin waited for mcd's for over an hour to get something to eat... the rides, forget it... you'd be lucky to have 2 rides all day...if you like spending hours waiting in line, then go. if not, stay well clear of OP & Disney...

when Disney first opened, they sold out of tickets over CNY...mainlanders were scaling the fence to get in! it was ridiculous!

you REALLY couldn't pay me enough to go over the holiday! remember, mainlanders get an entire week off and lots of them travel during that time... many to HK...
Click to expand...

Totally agree with Cara. I'm not even brave enough to go to Ocean Park on the weekends now because of the hoardes of Mainland Chinese people there. We did go over a weekend in November--on a Sunday because it was my husband's birthday and he got in free, my son was just barely under 3-years-old so he got in free and we redeemed Park n' Shop points for a free ticket for me.

It was utter madness! I'm glad that my husband's friend who lives in Aberdeen volunteered to go along with us--he did a lot of packing of the stroller and he actually went to get us food and come back because we literally could not navigate the crowds with a little kid and pregnant belly.

When we went to see the seals and dolphins perform we arrived about 20 minutes early and that's the only way we were able to get a seat. Also, we were leaving the performance early just to get away from the crowds and not get trampled and as I got up from my seat (climbing up the really steep and scary stairs) a Mainland lady literally started pushing me backwards down the steps (7 months pregnant and all!) because she was so panicked to try to grab the seat I had just vacated.

I nearly was knocked backwards (which would have been awful because once you start falling on those stairs it's a LONG way down) and my husband had to fight her off of me so that I could just walk up the exit!

Another note--there were Mainland women who would get uncomfortable close to my son's stroller, squat down to take a peek inside when he was sleeping. Then they would just stand there and stare at my husband and I trying to figure out, I guess, if my son looked more like me or my husband (he is Chinese, I'm not). It was a bit weird--and that sort of in-your-face action happened all day long. Just a hugely different culture, I tell ya'!

It's a good thing we had no ambitions to really go on many adult rides that day--the kids rides didn't have really long lines but my husband got on one adult ride the whole day. We were more interested in seeing the pandas etc.

Yeah, Ocean Park (and probably even moreso Disney) are not very nice destinations over any major holidays. Go on a weekday that isn't close to a holiday and it's much better.
 
Chinese New Year it's boring. My husabnd has to work most of the days during this time and when he gets a week off later we were thinking to stay in hongkong for a few nights in the middle of Feburary ( which is still during Chinese New Year, before the lantern fest, we live in the Mainland). Thinking to go the the Peak, Standley, and Ocean park. Do you think the crowd will still be around then?

If they are, we perhaps will change our plan. It won't be safe to navigate through the crowd when I am pregnant and we have a 20 month old too.
 
carang said:
you are NUTS to go to OP during the holiday! you could not pay me to go there over that week! the # of mainland tourists there would make it anything but fun (for me)....you are one brave, patient (and a little crazy) lady! LOL!

OMG!!! You have scared me and thank you so much for it. It was my friend's idea and I knew it would be crowded but not the extent where people are jumping fences and all that craziness... THANK YOU, we are not going to Ocean Park!!!
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just to clarify: the jumping/scaling of fences was in 2006 @ Disney, NOT at OP.... but it wouldn't be far off to assume that it will be incredibly busy at OP, too.
 
Do not go OP it is terrible! Went there last year, even queuing those tourists I think are mainlanders are pushing. My dad got angry and tell them to back off it's not as if you push or get closer (literally skin to skin) the whole waiting can speed up? Maybe they just want to jump queue? :( Inside the aquarium they use flashes and doesn't not have the courtesy to move on after taking photo. What annoys me the most is after taking photos with flash they still stand there and making comment that why I can't see the fishes? They themselves had scared all the fishes away with those flashes! So we can't get near enough with the fishes and there is no fishes. I can tell you only the panda hall you can see properly as there are many staffs supervising and maintaining order.
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Try Strawberry Picking!

Hi Ladies,
Another activity you might want to consider is strawberry picking. We went to Rainbow Organic Strawberry farm, in Fanling, on Monday and it was brilliant.

Its a bit of a trek but oh so worth it! My friends and I went by car and it took more or less an hour from Cental. The kids, ages ranging from 2.5 to 4yrs old, had a blast picking and eating the berries. The farm charges by the pound and its not exactly cheap but they probably factured in the berries you eat along the way, too! ;) The berries were super sweet, fragrant and delicious!

The farm is opened during CNY and there was nobody there when we went this week.

Google their website, although its all in Chinese.

This activity was such a treat and I'd definately go back again!
 
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