Biking in Sha Tin

Mother's day started off with a homemade breakfast of Raisin Bran and tea brought to me in bed. It was really sweet. Austin and Ally were excited to bring me the cards and clay bowls they made for me at school. Steven surprised me with a huge print of hundreds of the best photos of our time here in Asia.

After destroying the house in only 2 hours, we decided it was time to get out of it. So we packed up the car with our bikes, snacks and gear for an adventure in the New Territories. Driving alone is an adventure. It takes both of us concentrating hard to figure out where we are going. We successfully made it to Sha Tin, despite the fact that we thought we were going to Tai Po. But it didn't matter as the bike trail goes between both places. Once we parked in a garage, we had no idea how to find the bike path. We asked several people, but we were more confused by asking. So we trusted our insticts and headed towards the river that we had driven over. Some how we made it. We started at Sha Tin Park. Ally and Austin rode their own bikes and we ran beside until we could find the bike shop. This was Austin's first time riding without training wheels outside of our basketball court at the apartment. It was a little shakey. A crash into the wall, a crash into the sister. By the time we got to the bike rental shop, the kids were ready to ditch the bikes. So it was perfect that there was a three wheeled, covered bike where they could ride in the back with style, well maybe not style.... The bike shop had a guy who could speak English so we managed to arrange for them to watch the kids bikes while we rented theirs.

Then we went down the trail along the river. Sha Tin is basically the burbs of Hong Kong. But in true Hong Kong fashion. It's full of high rise apartments and shopping malls. The river was a sewage brown and the sky was grey. (There was no fog or clouds that day.)

The trip to Tai Po is 11Km. Not far in our pre-kid days, but endless in our post-kid, riding a huge circus bike days. Besides the 3 wheeler wasn't allowed to go that far. So we went as far as we could, doing a round trip of the river trail. We rode past the Sha Tin race track and stopped in our tracks! Staring down at us were race horses in a high rise.

On the other side of the river, we stopped to watch teenagers run a rock walkway. Rocks are set upwards. I think it's to "massage" your feet, but I am not sure. Anyways, the kids were rolling in pain and their parents were laughing hysterically. Ally and Austin jumped off the bike, took off their shoes and made it about 2 feet before they decided it was much better just to swing on the bar.

After the ride, we headed back to the car, finding a more direct way through a shopping mall. We stopped at McDonalds for a treat. As the only Gweilos in the area, and the only Gweilos carrying two bikes through a mall, we received looks of looks. Right near us was Snoopyland and The Heritage Museum, but we were all hot and sweaty and not feeling the greatest. Home was all we wanted. Even though we got lost, we still made it home by 3. We all sorta collasped inside. By then we all had sore throats and felt, well, felt like crap. Austin and I tried to lay down. We got up to try to eat dinner, but he vomited all over the dining room floor. Multiple times. And no we just couldn't make it to the toilet.... We got it cleaned up. Austin tucked in our bed. Ate pizza. And we're in bed by 6pm. What a mother's day. You know you are a mom when you are cleaning up vomit.
Happy Mother's day to all.