Hannah hits 4

Hannah has made it to four years; funnily enough though we didn't expect much to change we have noticed the odd change recently. The most noticeable is one that I presume all parents are desperately waiting for almost as much as the time when you start potty training but are not sure when it will be successful. It is, of course, the time that a child begins to get over tantrums!

Yes, until a couple of weeks ago, when Hannah didn't get what she wanted (and the old 'distract her' tactic doesn't work as well as it used to when she was longer) we'd end up in long stand-offs, often involving her not coming along with us and staying in a sweet shop, near a fairground ride, or whatever.

Now that stand-off is still as dramatic as ever but is down to about a minute and once we walk off Hannah does actually run after us (crying of course) but does quickly accept reality and calm down. I hope it lasts… maybe, finally, she is learning that she can't always get what she wants, and there is a semblance of discipline appearing?

Hannah got her dream present a couple of weeks before her birthday when her grandpa turned up for a weekend (for those without kids, I'll tell you what all kids from 3 years old and up want: it's a tablet computer or similar device able to play games, watch cartoons, and tale photos) but still she was looking forward to her party. 8 friends came, mostly from her kindergarten, and all Chinese. They played, ate, cooked, danced, played some more, gave and took gifts and 2 and a half hours later left behind a happy and exhausted 8-year old.

I don't know the names of most of the kids, or indeed most of the parents, but I think Andrea and our nanny do. Though as I understand it the party invite list conversation started a couple of weeks ago and went something like "Hannah, which friends do you like the most and want to invite to the party?" and "Hannah, can you and the nanny talk to the friends and their parents over the next week at collection time to invite them". Andrea has some time on her hands as she doesn't start her new job until next month so did most of the organizing, whilst I was mostly on photo duty and general supervision (including of Leah) whilst also being responsible for getting hold of a red bike that morning and getting it wrapped up somehow.

All went well (though the bike is a bit big, it should be fine in a couple of months, and last her several years) and maybe it will be the first party she'll remember when she is older?

Meanwhile Leah has continued her rapid development, trying to run now, practicing using forks and spoons, and beginning to argue with her sister (over toys, naturally). She gets very vocal, though currently only has the standard mama and baba as words. She's got most of her teeth and a large belly from her non-stop eating (and drinking). Sometimes she sleeps really well and gets her 12 hours a night; sometimes she wakes up once or twice and needs comforting back to bed, but she is a great little toddler and really happy to walk around all day long. Today at the indoor playground she mastered walking up the 3 stairs of a small slide and going down the slide herself. It is the age where all the basics are there so simply combining various things leads to many different "firsts".

I'm sure the kids are going to have a lot of fun during their month in Europe coming up; and their grandparents and uncles/aunts (and the associated pets) will have even more fun playing with the two of them. It will be the first time they see them walking and playing together and interacting (rather than just Hannah playing with Leah, though that was also fun). Now that we have got Hannah past her tantrums, I wonder if we are going to be facing another major issue to deal with instead: the fighting between two kids who both want the same thing. How long will that issue last (maybe until we are bankrupt buying two of everything)?

And lastly we are just about to enter the Chinese New Year month, when there is no kindergarten, everything closes down, and everyone runs home for at least 1-2 weeks during this period. All the Christmas decorations have finally come down everywhere to be replaced with red Chinese lanterns and I seem to see monkeys on sale everywhere…. For an already shaky economy, the low of the holiday may not help; although it should stabilize the dodgy stock market since there will be limited investment activity (and limited expectations of any too)!

Macau

Back in my very first days in China I had popped over to Macau for a couple of days and a night from a regular trip to Hong Kong. I remember the impressive Portuguese architecture, some sleezy prostitutes, and a casino. Fast forward more than a decade and Macau has become the world's largest gambling destination, with 2-3 times more revenue than Vegas; it had joined up two islands with landfill in order to build some of the world's biggest casinos and hotels (and indeed, biggest buildings by floor space); there is a bridge being built between Hong Kong and Macau (at 30km or so, it is insane); and the little place has changed dramatically.

Originally a Portuguese colony, it was also handed back to the Chinese around the same time that Hong Kong was (from the British) and then it promptly opened up what had been a monopoly in gambling licenses (to one rich Hong Kong tycoon) and the floodgates opened with the Chinese getting very rich and having a large appetite for gambling needed to be satiated (it's illegal in the Mainland). Plus of course much of the rest of Asia came over to gamble to.

It is very different to Vegas: the gambling games are mostly different to those popular in the West, the minimum bets are high, there was until recently little else apart from gambling to do there, and the place is tiny. Now it is seeking to have people stay for longer (with more shows and theme parks), and to broaden its income into other forms of tourism (there is a nice museum in the grounds of the old fort, some impressive funding for reconstruction of old buildings and museums explaining them, a great app for walks exploring Macau and free wi-fi covering much of the islands etc).

We went there a couple months ago just for a day and enjoyed walking around the old town with very impressive churches and sqaures alongside the famous Ruins of St Paul's Church (which only has one wall standing at the top of a large flight of stairs), as well as a quick trip to the Venetian. The egg tarts there are still delicious. We went back again for the three-day New Year's Eve weekend where there was a good fireworks display and we had more time to explore the two islands off the mainland (though which are now one big island since the land between them has been filled in--there is still some water between them and the mainland part of Macau though which is crossed by bridges).

There are well signposted walks, a few old buildings, and some sleepy fishing folk alongside a couple of nice beaches. A world away from the casinos. We spent more time in the incredible Venetian and the massive City of Dreams; Andrea, Hannah and my dad went to watch a decent show there; we got to know the police station quite well as we searched (successfully eventually) to get a bag back that we had left in a taxi); and we generally had a good time there.

It is an interesting place, but it is very small. Hong Kong seems big in comparison (and it is) - partly because it has more diversity to its economy, it has a lot more islands and more countryside, it has a lot happening, and it feels like a real city. Macau just feels like a few districts next to each other with a lot of tourists going in between them. It's quite a nice place to take kids: they love the Venetian of course; there are several expensive kids play areas in the hotels; many of the hotels are kid friendly (though not that cheap); there are playgrounds dotted around the city; the beaches are fairly sparse (at least at this time of the year) and clean; and there's no need to walk too much.

It is a fascinating place to visit for a couple of days, though I'm not sure I'd want to live there as it really is so small and so dependent on casino-hotels (which are starting to struggle now due to the economic slowdown, restrictions on Chinese going to Macau, and corruption crackdown that discourages people flaunting or spending their money that may be illicitly gained). The older parts can get totally over-run with tourists (as can the casinos) and the transport is not great, due to a lack of taxis and poor planning of the bus routes (we found many of the buses on the popular bus routes were always full at busy times).

Now it's 2016, our kids are rapidly growing up and playing with each other and life is moving on. Let's see what this year brings!