misstinapie

Like anything experiencing new it involves tons of learning. Here are the things I observed in HK and Shenzhen: Rest Rooms HK parks take pride in their cleanliness that a trip to their restrooms are nothing but annoying. The seats and tiles are clean, tissue is plenty and water and hand drier works. I have only tried going to the public toilet in Shenzhen and it was new going to a bowl less toilet bowl. Now I know what to expect when I go to Korea, because from what I heard, most of their public restrooms have this. Escalators While I've read about the stay right policy in escalators, this is not 100%. It is at the airport; I kept on reiterating this to my group when we're at one but not on the building were we went (Happy Store). I was able to observe locals going to and fro and none of them are as strict. Money Their money have different designs unlike ours (dependent upon THE BANK that issues it) so don't panic when they hand you one with a different design. Also, I rare...

We're already there by 4pm, enough for the other family we're with at Shenzhen to make it to their 5pm trip. Ours were still around 10pm so we do have plenty of time, but not exactly enough to know what it is we were doing. I also have 2 goals to do for today which is: 1. Buy my boss the Long Champ bag she wanted (she gave me 700HKD) 2. Meet Mr. Lee for my sister's bag. First thing we did was find food. Like seriously our stomachs are grumbling for food. We were able to buy a cheap fast food type there (Mcdonalds is under renovation) but I forgot the name though. We spent not more than 500 pesos all in all. Initially we were at Terminal A waiting on the 2nd floor, right above the agency posts were I'm supposed to meet Mr. Lee. But there is a problem. We could not find were we should get our boarding passes!! First we asked for directions on where to go and the first one we got made us have a really long walk, making my mom furious at where I was taking them. We turned a...

While earlier we did saw it's bad points, seeing how the highways are cleaned and devoid of beggars, it kind of look like the best side of Manila. On the way there we had a hard time deciphering the lines of Ms. Lisa that it took us a minute or two to get what she said. I end up becoming the unofficial translator of what I understood from what she said. She smiles frequently whenever she has nothing more left to say, probably thinking what's wrong why we can't decide. We're suddenly a huge family! First stop was the Jade Jewelry. Again, no cameras inside were allowed and the mandatory explanation of how to spot original and fake jades and the likes. Our group was entirely small compared to the others and this is the first time we've seen a lot of Muslims and Indians around. We (I mean MY family, but I think the other family were able to buy a Pi Xu) have refrained from buying anything other than tea, which we got for a bargain after the father in the other family po...

My family only gets 1 room unlike the 5membered-family with 2 rooms. Both are given too far apart. They wanted to change rooms with us but my mom declined. What's more something odd just happened to our room. Charades with the Manager The door of our bath was locked, well it wasn't at first but then when my sister closed it shut, it came on locked. Probably the safety was ready that time and no one noticed. She hurriedly went downstairs (she have to take the blame since she's the one who closed the door in full and accidentally locking it from the inside) and asked for a key. What came instead was the manager who she claimed could not understand her plain english and her charades. We motioned the locked bathroom door and I was surprised that instead of getting the key he was actually picking the lock! But after a few futile attempts he also gave in, fetched a key from somewhere and finally unlocking it. Again, I don't think he have noticed our thank yous. The actual roo...

Sometimes thinking so much would cause you... The instruction was, once you see which platform the train is supposed to board on what location, (there are two stations at the very end) you simply have to follow the time. Which we did but the father of the other family kept insisting that the train that came was not the train we should catch. We girls (he's the only guy on our group) were insisting this was really our train but he kept on looking at the new schedule. In the end he gave in and we all went in for the 45min long ride. Immigration again We have not filled in those immigration forms that all 3 of us were held up on immigration to fill those out. When we were writing (few foreigners that time) a girl of probably European descent was near in tears asking for a pen (she hasn't prepared her forms too) saying she have to catch a meeting that is just a few minutes away. I wonder whatever happened to her because when we stepped out of the border she was still at the immigra...

When everything seemed so so normal... After everyone had their fill, we then went back to the bus to take us to Disneyland. But this was AFTER we have learned the mystery of: 1. Why the photographer was insistent on taking each and one of our photos. 2. Why the photographer grew missing when we were at the Jewelry outlet 3. Why HE suddenly appeared at the Happy Store and join us at the bus. More tour information was provided by Mr. Lee but to my dismay, they began selling stuff. Boxed keychains and plates of our pictures. It's irritating that this 'technique' totally got my mom who was so willing with indulging with pictures that I can't simply not buy them and they're not cheap at all! It's so so pricey :-( Mid level Victoria Peak Finally, Disneyland! Specific instructions were given to us once we're on the park, and that is we have to go back immediately after the fireworks. We have at least 15 minutes till we reached the parking lot for our next destinat...

Wow. I'm now 26. Amazing! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Last year I had a lot of firsts: My first trip abroad to Hongkong My first time on a plane My first time to Ilocos Me and Reagan's first year (Officially that is) (Also the first time I received flowers evar) Experienced: Learning a new language (Japanese) Going to the Mind Museum Amazing year of concerts : The Fray, James Morrison, Megadeth Watching Cirque de Soleil (less off of my bucket list!) Had my hair permed Discovered A new hobby in the form of polymer clay Amazing books and authors: (Pinterest full list here ) David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas, Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, currently reading Number9dream) David Levithan (Lover's Dictionary, Every Day) Haruki Murakami (IQ84) A nice new bakeshop: Tous Le Jours ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I have a lot of plans for next year but who knows! None of them above I have planned which made it all so wonderful. Have...

Before they leave us to Disneyland, they took us to a small store in a building I've no idea where. It's a small retail shop that offers pasalubong: food, bags, shirts. They also have unlimited free taste of food which Mr. Lee was promoting endlessly to consume because food at Disneyland is quite expensive. I'm not really fond of food tasting that much it felt cheating*. I bought Almond cakes and some other boxed food (Rice Crackers I would gladly buy in bulk but I don't know how to carry that huge of a pack) I can take home. Later when I come home I will realize how I've not bought enough for everyone. I wish none of my office mates remember I was on vacation haha! Tip: They are aware of the pasalubong hoarding so they do offer free shipping to hotel. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to try it out, because by this evening, we will travel to Shenzhen. * Or so I believe. A friend of mine told me that these kind of shops sell goods notches higher compared to when you ...

Our entire group was ushered in to their orientation room where someone (I forgot her name) discussed to us the process of creating jewelry and their award winning designs. At that point it felt like it was some ambush of sorts and if it weren't for the entire group going, I might have been hysterical. In that same room they also have a wall dedicated to popular people who frequent their store, one of which was Pacman. She said he has been a regular customer ever since he was still a nobody up to the time he can basically afford anything. I doubt though that he (Pacman) was 'that' poor because no one goes to HK just to buy jewelry and not able to afford something. I promised not to buy any jewelry from the store but I ended up getting my mom a bracelet ( 200HKD ) and myself an 18k gold plated zodiac sign pendant ( 450HKD ) which I have no intention of buying in the first place. I rarely wear jewelry so I think this would end up being stowed away in a safety box for a long t...

After an hour, we were taken to the Aberdeen Fishing Village which offers a non compulsory ride towards the village at a cost of  50HKD  per head,  25HKD  for 11 yrs and younger. Mr Lee told us that this is not part of the package, hence we still have to pay on our own. We instantly grabbed the opportunity since we won't have nothing to do if we tapped out, besides, i think the price is already reasonable. Also on the port is the Jumbo Floating Restaurant where our guide tells us you pay for the decoration not the food :-P. Looks amazing outside so I assume you really pay for the ambiance. One of the unbelievable things in this experience is how the water doesn't smell. There's not even trash as well so it wasn't hard for me to decide to join the boat ride. And speaking of boat rides, they strictly impose no overloading. It's just too convenient that cops are just nearby haha! Other than going round the village and some photo ops for the floating restaurant, there ...

So it's been days since the implementation of the new bus route scheme in EDSA. A lot of people hate it but I maybe one of those who agree to this. It does add to the confusion but don't we all have a time to adapt to this? It must be my fault that I was not aware of it up until the last minute but to me this is a good news. Here are a lot of pros I love about the scheme: 1. I come from Cavite every single day of work and a bus not stopping on a particular bus stop deters more passengers which result to more chairs available for me in the morning.  2. Less stops means you arrive earlier too. For example, I can take Bus A and skip Ayala which is seriously filled with so much bus not to mention there's a dreaded intersection too. 3. Less congestion in one particular stop which translates to less noise and air pollution while waiting. As part of the campaign, we were given flyers on which bus goes where. Here's a copy:  I keep a copy in my wallet just in case :-) L...

Mr. Lee kept on repeating how he is related to Bruce Lee which I think everyone missed when he said 'geologically speaking he's my Older Brother'. He showed us the only sculpture of all the actors who have stars on the avenue which is of Bruce Lee and pointed out the famous ones. I saw Jet Li's, Michelle Yeoh's Chow Yun Fat's but not Andy Lau's!! Too bad it must have been some place I haven't been :-(. In here also is where Mr. Lee's photographer companion (who is handsome btw) was also insistent in taking pictures of all of us which my mom was so happy indulging; to my demise later on. Mr. Lee also said how every night (or was it on weekends) the avenue is also a good place to hang out for due to fireworks and light show. Something we should go back to. Avenue of the stars is walking distance to Tsim Sha Tsui so I know when to go to when I decide to do a DIY back. A few minutes before we finished the tour, the rain started pouring much worse again, ...

I mistook the directions Vincent gave us so I had us all 3 go back to the hotel lobby. It was convenient that he would also fetch other visitors here as well so it was a relief on my part. If not we'd be so doomed as he said he looked for us there ::phew:: The waiting is a bit agonizing because there are just too many people talking, particularly the Chinese. One family's father who we guess are going on the same tour (thank heavens for stickers) was not even keen in discreetly remarking how it felt like we are in a bird cage. Mr. Lee was late but he said he was stuck in traffic he haven't anticipated. He consoled us by singing a Tagalog song which he prides as one of his skills none of the tour guides have. He also knows bits of Tagalog which added to his appeal and he's really entertaining. He also gave us a lot of information about HK and it's huge difference with China (to emphasize for us 3 who were the only ones going there). One of the marvelous thing about i...

Earlier, we were advised by Vincent to come down for breakfast and check out as early as 645. We went out much more earlier than that, 630, and he was right in the influx of people. Our itinerary tells us that this same evening we will be going to Shenzhen so we need to check out. We haven't requested for anything (other than the adaptor) so check out is a breeze and I got my deposit (500 HKD) back. After our check out we headed to where our breakfast was served: Cafe de Coral. Tip: If you are also staying in this hotel, do a left, the alley near the garbage cans (yeah, so far no one cares about this) which is quicker than the right turn (what we first took). While waiting, we saw the rest of the visitors, most of which were Pinoys. Later on we would see plenty of them and even go around in the same bus.  Simple yet flavorful at Cafe de Coral We were given 3 vouchers which have 3 options on them, all served with toast, choice of tea or coffee, egg and your choice of meat: sausage, ...

After we were dropped off at our hotel, our IT for today consists nothing more than Ocean Park. We waited for our guide to take us there and he left us on our own. The travel time was approx 45mins. We haven't had breakfast and we are already hungry. We went to the first restaurant we laid our eyes on, Neptune Restaurant. So you mean this is waiting, AGAIN? So we went in and took their lunch sets. Meal includes soup, your choice of main dish (sirloin, fish, pasta, etc), tea or coffee, and dessert (Haagen Dazs ice cream or tropical fruit). The ambiance is a bit formal and they have us seat next to the aquarium. The food is okay, like eatable okay but to my dismay does not, to me, live up to how much I paid for and expected from it. The price is truly steep, 198HKD per head (+compulsory 10% service charge) which I disappointingly regret when I step out. The serving is so puny. What's more, the food just takes forever to be served. I was done with my pasta before their food came...

On the way to our hotel, I can't stop but be amazed at the largeness of it all. Buildings are just too tall compared to what I've seen here in Manila and their sky ways are too high up I think I gasped when I realized how high we were off the ground! HK being surrounded by mountains make me compare it to Baguio only so so much in an extreme scale. The view way up high... The lobby of Rambler Oasis Hotel is at the 5th floor and we were dropped off at their parking area. I guess they've reserved much of their floors for parking because guess what floor they gave us? It's just the 30th floor! I don't even think I've ever been that high up in a building ever! Tip: There are 3 of us but we were advised by the driver to ONLY give two passports for check in as it will incur a separate charge.  The room they gave us is decently spaced, 2 beds, cable tv, bath tub. Not bad for an inexpensive hotel. The view from top is nothing to be desired though, because we are near the...

  Out of the plane, we headed to the immigration area* where we wrote our arrival papers while on line. Tiger Airways should have provided us those paper prior landing but they were out of it that time so we ended up rushing writing our details. When it was my turn it took me a long time to realize that the guy behind the immigration counter was asking for my hotel details. I think he got too annoyed and remarked how I could not answer a very simple question. If I was a bit braver I might have insulted him for his accent but 1. that's too juvenile, and 2. not my country. All 3 of us have never been to HK before and even though my mom have her own share of airport knowledge, none of it prepared us once we went out of the arrival area. There's too much people and we have no idea where to go next. We walked aimlessly finding for a clue. Only with a strike of luck (I guess) that I saw the poles in Hall B bearing our stickers' name. (Later when I was reading our document papers ...

In line with my first trip abroad and first time flyer, my mind was filled with different thoughts. For one, unlike when you are on land, you always have the option to just get off when you want to, especially in an emergency. When you're in a plane however, you are forced to accept the reality that there is only one option. Down. But other than that, there are also things that you would dread seeing out in your cabin window because for sure, you are so doomed. 5. Sky scraper 4. Your captain (and crew) with parachutes on. 3. Missing wing 2. Another plane approaching towards you 1. The Depth of an Ocean *Disclaimer: None of the images are mine. Photos are linked on their own respective websites.