Inspiration Lake

On the first sunny and warm day of the season, we all decided an outing was in order. So we packed up the kids’ bikes and helmets into our smallish minivan, taking out the kids car seats in order to fit everything in, and drove an hour to Inspiration Lake. Inspiration Lake is one of the closest sites to us where the kids can ride their bikes. It is a bit crazed to go so far for a little bike riding but we were, well, inspired.

Inspiration Lake is an artificial lake with grass and a bike path. The lake is right next to Hong Kong Disneyland and was clearly built at the same time; similar signage, nice bathrooms and a 7-Eleven to sell whatever one needs. Inspiration Lake is definitely a manufactured experience but after the chaotic craziness of real Hong Kong, not entirely unwelcomed.

When we first arrived, we were told the parking lot was full. Parking is a huge issue in Hong Kong, so we readily accepted this reality and made plans for Phil drop us and the bikes, for him to drive to Disneyland and park and return. In the time it took for us to plan this, the parking attendant waved us in. A spot had opened up. We drove in and were surprised to see that the entire parking lot had about twenty spaces- and multiple cars were leaving. The Disneyland parking lot is equally funny. There the lot is huge, almost Disneyland USA size but with about twenty cars parked in it at any given time.

We had a nice afternoon there. It was all very pleasant, very city park like. We listened to frogs and then hunted for them. The kids played in a water sprinkler and cooled off. The kids rode around the lake and we walked. On the far side of the lake, we came upon a large party, with music and dancing. The kids parked their bikes and snuck up on the party. They all came running back to us, telling tales of the party goers dancing with lai see notes in their hands. Tori told us that the party goers smiled and pointed at them, calling them “xiao haidzi,” which means little children. We were pleased the remarks about the wild Western behavior were so innocuous and that the remarks were understood by the little children themselves.