Out and about

After feeding SV congee we took a walk around Kowloon and some of the more expensive shops in Hong Kong. Of course we had to stop for lunch where SV really enjoyed looking at and playing with the menu. She has really taken a real liking to thick laminated paper with cartoon pictures on it like this menu and airplane safety cards (at least she will be one person that will know what to do in case of an aircraft emergency).

After lunch we took a ferry to Hong Kong Island where we walked around the back streets trying to get mildly lost before meeting up with friends for dinner. We succeed in finding some small alleys with a milk tea place and other interesting shops. We also found a strange gaudy display with lots of fake roses where people were taking photographs of themselves.

First real solid food

The second morning in Hong Kong we decided to give SV congee, Chinese rice porridge, for breakfast as her first real eating experience. Previously in Paris and Slovakia we gave her bread which she licked but didn't really swallow. This time though we were hoping she would eat the congee. We certainly weren't disappointed, she really enjoyed it both in her mouth and all over her clothes.

Sleepy little traveller

After her around the world trip a certain someone got very tired and fell asleep. It's not easy being a small baby.

An afternoon in Kowloon

After doing a bit of street shopping we needed a rest, so we walked to what we thought was going to be a park. It turned out to be a soccer stadium where a lively and informal match was taking place. We ended up staying there for a while because the action fascinated SV, to the point where she took off her shirt and started waving it around like a proper soccer hooligan. Some of the other spectators couldn't believe it and were looking at us, but she didn't care.

The excitement got to SV and she napped during the entire dinner and subsequent stop at 7eleven for a slurpee.  The first full day in Hong Kong was certainly action packed and did not disappoint.

First day in Hong Kong

After our long flight we slept in a little bit in the morning and SV took advantage of the big bed to work on her sitting. She did really well too. Once we got going we went to the cheapest Michelin Star restaurant in the world, Tim Ho Wan in Kowloon. We had about a 1.5 hour wait so we wandered the streets of the neighbourhood. KT ended up looking at and eventually buying glasses while SV and TV watched.
Eventually when we had it, the food was very well made and most the dishes were delicious, but we made some poor choices on some of the dishes. SV was as usual entertaining everyone including the man next to her whom she kept grabbing on his elbow. After lunch we found a street market through which we walked and shopped.

Arriving in Hong Kong

The fifth and last leg of the World Tour has started in Hong Kong. When we arrived we took advantage of the fabulous airport express train into Kowloon before catching a cheap (by Sydney standards) taxi to our hotel. Once in our room we were impressed by the size of our suite which we were upgraded to for the duration of our stay. When we started unpacking we noticed how many toys SV had already received on her tour and we decided to take a photograph with most of them. Some we had sent home already to make space in our suitcase, and there were still a few in our other suitcases that we missed. As the photograph shows, people were entirely too generous with the number of toys and everything else they gave SV. All three of us really appreciate it though.

Slovakia to Hong Kong via Vienna

The day we were leaving Slovakia it started snowing lightly in the morning before we left. That was not only unexpected as earlier in the week it was around 25C or in the 70sF. It sure made it pretty though, and gave SV her first snowfall experience. We drove to Vienna where we walked around the old city and stopped in for a coffee and schnitzel with our little air traveler. At the Viennese airport we spent some time and took photographs of SV with Sacher torts (in Australia people pronounce her name that way so we thought it was funny).
We had a short flight to Zurich where we transferred to our flight to Hong Kong with a minor layover. SV lounged around as we got ready for another of the 11+ hour flights in our itinerary and got her prepared for her overnight sleep. We were very tired, but the Swiss Air staff were very friendly and all three of us slept quite well and long most of the way, only waking up somewhere over Vietnam.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to everyone! We have celebrated across two continents with our arrival home.

Home again

Just landed back home in Sydney! Thank you to everyone for making it such an amazing success, especially our baby girl for being practically perfect the entire time.

Slovakia roundup 2

Here are several more photographs from Slovakia that show what we did, especially SV.