Second childhood at Disneyland

My main mission to head towards Hong Kong was not celebrating my second wedding anniversary, though I assumed that was the reason why my husband bought both of us round-trip tickets and five-star accommodation in one of the leading financial capitals in the world. My goal was set —  if Hong Kong is synonymous with “finance”, I would have to spend some bucks to contribute to this growing economy.

And, boy did I! Not just bucks, I spent BIG bucks. Thanks to the fact that most Honkys find time to shop only at night, resulting in most stores downing shutters way past midnight, poor husband was dragged all around the island, coughing up currency bills and lugging humongous shopping bags.

Every time he protested, I would smile sweetly and say “I am on a quest to find the best fashion accessory in town”. After all, I needed a Louis Vuitton bag I could sport around my girlfriends when I went partying with them on the New Year. The list grew long and endless and we finally decided to call it a night and go back to our hotel, ravenously hungry and hopeful that I would be able to zero in upon “the bag” the next morning.

Somehow between night and morning, my husband figured that if I didn’t take a break from the painful shopping ritual, he would have to forcibly confine me in our hotel room. Next morning, I was greeted by breakfast in bed and two tickets to Hong Kong Disneyland. I was apprehensive. I prayed hard that instead of my LV bag, I wouldn’t have to carry a Hello Kitty bag to my New Year rendezvous. And wasn’t it a place where a bunch of cackling kids partied? They were definitely not my idea of “good company” on my romantic anniversary. (I couldn’t stop thinking about those wicked kids, on my flight to Hong Kong, who had robbed me of my precious sleep with their consistent screaming).

The moment I set my eyes on the grand entrance to the Disneyland castle, the monument made famous at the end of every Walt Disney cartoon film, I realised the day wasn’t going to be that bad either. After all, Cinderella and Snow White were more than willing to pose for pictures with me. “Ooh, hope Cinderella with her big, curly hair does not overshadow my newly bought Mango hat,” I reminded myself above the din.

Actually, the place wasn’t bad at all. It was fun and a riot of colours. It smelled heavenly, as if all the fairytale characters had doused themselves with secret potions from Burberry or Chanel. I even heard a bunch of American tourists pleading with Donald Duck manning a kiddie toy-train, if they could sneak their way ahead of all the kids to get “window-side seats.”

I battled with another woman to get the horse of my choice on the Cinderella Carousel, almost overturned a kid to climb into the Cup and Saucer ride, argued with the candyman for a bigger dollop of the pinkest candy floss I had ever seen. I didn’t care about LV bags or Mango hats anymore. In fact, when the wind blew my hat off my head and a red headed toddler stepped on it, I warmly returned the elfin smile she flashed at me.

And it was not just her smile that caught my eye, it was also something she was sporting on her head. It was nothing original, didn’t have a fashion brand stamped on it and neither was it limited edition. In fact one quarter of the tourists around me were sporting it. It was a simple pink hair-band with two very fluffy Minnie Mouse ears attached to it.

For once, I didn’t stop to mull whether the pink was so-last-season! I just went ahead and bought one as a reminder of the morning at Disneyland, Hong  Kong where I did not hesitate to kick off my brand new Aldo shoes to climb on top of the tallest horse on the Carousel ride. After all, I had found my favourite fashion accessory of the moment. (On New Year’s eve, my friends did enquire where I got it from)…