Robertson Tribe Updates

So much happens in one day around here that you can’t possibly post it all. I’d be here all night. I will try to hit some highlights for you all so the hate mail will stop.
We started our day at the bus stop, trying to catch a bus to church. After enduring numerous stares, including one lady who came to a complete stop to stare and count, the bus arrived and blew right by. J tried to wave them down, but they were either full, or they thought J looked kind of sketchy and the bus kept going. There we stood, all dressed up and no place to go, or rather, no way to get there. We promptly hailed TWO taxis since there are 7 of us, and after J gave our cab driver directions, off we went and he hopped in the other taxi with the rest of the gang. We arrived with time to spare and were able to visit with some great people and renew some friendships. Our kids enjoyed meeting new friends and D was eating up some “boy time”. Church was great, we chatted some more and then a group of us headed across the street to eat at a local hole-in-the-wall place with a Chinese menu and no pictures for dumb english people. Thankfully we had a HKG native with us and he went in and ordered for everyone. They set up a long row of rickety, ready to fall over card tables and there we sat, all 25 of us, being stared at and calling much attention to ourselves, while the cooks kept bringing food out of the restaurant and yummy drinks, including a cold coke in a bottle…ahhh, heaven. To add to the authenticity, there was an open air concert of cantonese opera, which was um, ah, unique. Miss C ate her fried rice with chopsticks in front of many proficient “chopstickers”, proving she is a great sport. We tried lots of new things and most of them were delicious. As we were leaving the area, we encountered a mime/clown who entertained the children with tricks. R still hasn’t stopped talking about how she started with one foam shape in her hand then when she opened it again, she had TWO….”how did he DO that Mama?”. D was also enamoured with the clown as he watched him use the superpowers he got from his buddy Superman to bend a spoon right in front of D’s eyes. I thought his eyeballs would pop out of his head when he saw the spoon. Ahhh, fun times.

After many hugs, thank you’s and goodbyes, we headed home. Off we went in search of another taxi. Actually, two taxis. J flagged down the first one, again used his map to give instructions to the driver and I hopped in with R and L in tow. He sped off, leaving the rest of the gang to hail another cab and meet us at home. After a rather scenic ride, I’m starting to think, this is taking too long and I have no cell phone on me, I don’t speak chinese and if he keeps driving, I don’t have enough cash for the fare. After a long ride, he pulls in to a mall not far from our house (at least I knew where I was!) and says, “Ok? Is ok?”while pointing to the door. I say, “no!” I repeat my address, he babbles to me in chinese and I realize I am indeed, in trouble. He called someone on his cell phone and explained the problem (I think he did, who knows) and then passed me the phone. The lady asked me where I needed to go and I told her, I passed the phone to the driver, more chinese, he starts to drive again, as he says, “Ok. Is ok. Now. Is ok now.” YIKES! Off we go, heading toward home and I see J on the sidewalk, pacing up and down the main street, closest to our house. As we turn, he’s racing to follow us, wondering why in the world we are 10 minutes later than they are when we left 5 minutes before they did! It was NOT a highlight of my time in HKG, let me tell you, but I survived and feel like I won an Olympic event!

This entry was posted on Monday, December 3rd, 2007 at 9:25 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.