travel blog: hongkong revisited

day one

i woke up early. about 2:00 am since i need to fetch toni from her place. err. i mean i need to be at her place so that her dad could give us a ride to NAIA. i arrived at her place in cainta about 3am and waited for about 15 minutes since she just got out of shower.

we arrived at the airport about 4:30am. we got our boarding passs about 5am already.

the plane left at exactly 7am and arrived at hongkong international airport by 9am. we got out of the airport at around 11am due to a long queue at the immigration counter. we took the airport express and rode the bus to marco polo prince. we did some unpacking and some rest. i got my own bed with 4 pillows. god i love to sleep already but i don't want to waste the time sleeping.

 around 1pm we roamed the hotel ground until we found crystal jade resto. we need to wait since we are seven in the group. lunch was quite good though i only had some chinese soup and i forgot what they call it dimsum.

we took some walk in the afternoon and look for money changer. the current rate is US$1 = HK$7.01 but luckily we found one that is much better. he gave us $7.7. that was a catch. i shelled out US$200 for the day. we took the MTR to go to mongkok to do some shopping. i am not familiar with the train system in hk but if you know how to read you'll get by. we purchased the octupus card for $150 which is good until it has value left (i guess $100) an you can refund the remaining amount including $50. we took the tsuen wan line from tsim sha tsui to yau me tei then change train on kwunteng line from yau me tei to mongkok. so basically the lines going back is just the same.

in mongkok there's a lot of shops to choose from. if you are looking for gadgets like mobile phones of any brands and models, digital cameras, high-end tv, portable video players, watches, shirts, pants, shorts, cosmetics, antiques etc. you name it they have it.. that is if you know where to find what you are looking for.there are lots of sasa stores in every corners and turns  as well as watsons, bonjour and i don't know the others. my feet are already aching what the hell. its gonna be years again before i could visit the place so i just ignored the pain and keep on walking, window shopping and did some buying. i got myself a hummer edt for $210. its quite cheaper compared to the price in the phils. i also bought some cream for my eyebag and mini edt for pasalubong. i think this mini edts are freebies for the perfs that you are gonna buy but since i cannot buy all my friends perfs the same size that i got for myself i just bought some for them. i was not lucky enough to find a shirt for myself coz its hard to choose specially if there is to choose from so i decided to just look around. we went back to the hotel around 7pm and had our dinner at xxx. food there was cheap and not that good really. we were planning to have the cruise but unfortunately it was raining that night so we just stayed in the hotel. toni wants to go outside to do some late shopping so we strolled kowloon god knows what street was that but i remember that street coz we went there in '04 when we first went there. anyway bossini and giordano had a sale that day/night so i was able to buy myself a shirt and a walking shorts. we got like 10% discount. went back to bed around 11pm.

   

  

day two

woke up early.our IT for the day is hk island. we took mtr to get to admiralty. we are supposed to explore the island but we have no solid plans so we took a cab instead and went to a temple in hollywood rd. toni's cuz tried a fortune teller for a $100 i guess to know the future. whatever. bought some ref magnet then we went to the tram for a peak ride. the ticket we got covered the tram ride and the visit to m. taussaud wax museum. we had our lunch there as well and in the afternoon when everyone is so tired of walking we planned on going back to the hotel since it was raining already. instead we went to times square and sogo for further shopping. and for some reason it did not end there. we went back to mongkok to buy mobile phones. they bough like 5 or 6 units. cellphones is cheaper there buy 1500-2000 pesos.. really. since it was still raining hard that day we decided to have our dinner there. looking for a place to eat was hard since it was also raining hard and its already dark though the place was full of lights. we saw one familiar place- kfc. afterwards we went to walk of the stars in kowloon. it was there we learned that the cruise is operating even when its raining. how stupid were we. anyway, we just watched the symphony of lights and headed back to the hotel.

   

  

day 3

we checked-out early in marco polo and took a cab to hollywood disney hotel. after checking-in and having our breakfast in the hotel we went to disneyland. it was raining that morning so its  sort of difficult and uncomfortable to roam around and explore the whole theme park. the first location that will greet you is the main street. like the old american street. walking further will lead you to tomorrowland, fantasyland and pirateland. i love the golden mickeys show and the festival of lion king. i like as well the jungle cruise and many adventures of winnie the pooh. i hate the space mountain ride though. i am not a fan of this kind of ride for some reason. i don't like speed and the feeling of being dragged and that feeling in your stomach when the ride is going down at a speed. i hate that. stitch encounter is quite fun though coz raymond was the prisoner number ?? i forgot the number. i bought some merchandise mostly pasalubong for my family in main street. all the stores i noticed sell the same stuff. we had our dinner at main street corner cafe. the waitress there was so accomodating and even warned us that the fireworks was to begin in 5 minutes so we need to hurry finish our fod and pay. the  spectacle of lights was a sight to behold.i never saw one in enchanted kingdom so i cannot make any comparison. we went to disney hotel quite satisfied and tired at the same time. as if the night is not over, toni decided to do some night walk around the hotel. there is really nothing to see since its about 10pm.

  

  

  

  

day 4

that day we went to ngong ping 360, had a cable car ride and walked god knows how many steps was that to the giant buddha. it was raining that day again but that did not drench our spirit. it was our last day anyway.  the cable ride was 30 mins long passing the sea and mountains in lantau. the ticket we got was good for the cable car ride, walk with buddha, and monkey's tale. tian tan buddha or the giant buddha was a sight to behold from afar as you can see from my pics in my previous entry.

  

 

overall this experience was really amazing. one place with lots of sights, delicious food, disciplined citizens, and shopping stores. i did not enjoy this much the first time i came here. maybe i learned or experienced something new. next stop... i don't know yet. need to save again for the next adventure. 

realization

why would you pursue if in the first place it won't work? why would you go to the first step when you know there is no second step to take. maybe there is a better route to take. what dya think?

i don't need to explain or expound or whatever this idea is all about. if you don't get the picture then you simply don't..

travel blog: beijing

its been a year since me and my friends went to beijing. the construction of the bird's nest back then was undergoing. big trees were really planted while the temperature outside was below zero. winter was fast approaching and it was really chilling to the bones. we managed though to visit some tourist sites despite the odds.

beijing is a big city. with lots of really big hotels and buildings. you won't get lost though as the transport system is quite better compared to other cities i've been to. foods were great if you know what you like to try. not all in the menu will taste good to your tongue. shopping malls are everywhere. at night vendors sprawl the streets and you can find cheap items there which of course can be found as well in the famous divisoria. 

visiting the great wall was quite an experience. walking the long and steep wall was quite exhausting, really. it was really cold at that time so i guess that helped a little compared to walking there if it was summertime which i think i might have been drenched in my own sweat. 

the hotel we stayed was good too. we were upgraded to a suite since the triple bedroom was not available anymore. 

another good thing was that in front of our hotel crossing the street is a catholic church so were also able to attend a sunday mass. and we saw some filipinos from other cities attending the mass as well.

i want to write more but all these are just memories and i am sleepy already. i'll write about the trip in shanghai next time. 

armani exchange

a friend went to the united states so i need him to buy me some shirts. i am not into specific brand/label really but i want a/x rosetta t-shirt and a/x foil logo t-shirt. these really are not luxury coz they are not priced over a hundred bucks. maybe just the logo but what the heck.

we all work to earn a living. and i always spend my money unwisely. but i am happy. everyone should be happy even for a minute or two.

a/x rosetta t-shirt

a/x foil t-shirt

movie: the kite runner

two thumbs up for this movie. great storyline, storytelling. i have not read the book but i guess it must be great. i commend the author for his story.

i like the twist in the story. i almost cried in tears but of course since my friends are around i have to hold them.

it was really moving. the story of friendship created out of political/war era, the truth behind the lies, acceptance and redemption.

best lines i liked from the movie:

do you want me to run that kite for you? for you a thousand times over

my dreams my ambition

i always wanted to be a writer. a book author. or perhaps a newspaper columnist. but it seems writing doesn't like me. i have a hard time putting coherence to my thoughts. thousands of ideas shoot like stray bullets going nowhere. 

i also dreamt of becoming a singer. but i was only allowed to do so like most others to sing in the bathroom where my voice syncs with the flow of the faucet water and drowns into the drain together with the soap bubbles. i have to give exception of course to the nights of drinking spree where singing in the karaoke is the only way i could share my failure in music.

i can't be an actor cause i don't have the looks. no i don't want to be typecast into comedies. my looks alone is a joke.

after sometime i gave up wanting to be somebody. i didn't turn into someone important but i realized what i am capable of doing. and that makes me feel better. and when i feel better i do better. most of the time.