It looked great, but when the boys and I dashed into the sea we found a filthy mess of plastic flotsam, drink bottles and food wrappers. Plastic bags wrapped around our legs like seaweed. Maybe we were unlucky, and the currents happened to be against us that day. Otherwise, the authorities need to get cleaning.
There’s something mesmeric about a port in full flow. The iconic old green and white Star ferries still ply between Hong Kong island and Tsim Sha Tsui, in Kowloon, as they have for more than a century. Catch one at 8pm and free with your journey you get a spectacular choreographed light show played out by the main harborside skyscrapers.
Hong Kong Disneyland opened in 2005 on Lantau and has been criticized for being too small, but we found it perfect for boys our age. We stayed at the art-deco style Hollywood Hotel, splashed with Goofy in its swimming pool then nipped to the next door Disneyland Hotel to meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Tigger and Piglet over dinner.
Next day, in the actual park, apart from the Chinese “cast members” there wasn’t a particularly oriental tinge to the fun available. We cruised a piranha-infested jungle river, zapped laser guns with Buzz Lightyear and flew up and down on Dumbo’s back. Hawaii’s Lilo and Stitch were the big stars on show, rather than China’s own Mulan and her dragon buddy. When the temperature got too hot we headed indoors for a Lion King show, or got sprayed with hoses during Mickey’s energetic Waterworks Parade. To top off the day, we gathered by Sleeping Beauty’s castle to watch a spectacular firework display. And when the magic was all over we headed back to the city in a Mickey Mouse train — a proper train, that is, with mouse ear-shaped windows.
So, we did it, a family holiday in Hong Kong: buckets and spades chopsticks and pandas Lilo and Stitch bright lights, big city. What more could a young boy want?
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