Friday, October 31, 2008

HK 2008 Post Mortem

A map is your best friend! The map that came with my small travel book was most helpful in finding MTR stations and walking around.


Shopping in HK is truly an overwhelming experience! There's a store in every corner. Getting a good deal though, is a challenge. Unless maybe it's sale season and everything is truly cheaper.


Hong Kong has changed from the last time I went (2002). So many major improvements! It seems more tourist friendly now, and the tourist sites are accessible. Although, I must say, it also seems more expensive now.


The most popular means of transportation from and to the airport is still the Airport Express. Because we were trying to save, we took the CityFlyer (the local bus). It's about 1/3 the price of airport express, and it wasn't so bad! If you don't mind the longer journey and if you have the muscle to drag your luggage to the Ground transportation terminal (which is a loooong walk), go for the CityFlyer. It's actually the scenic route to HK.



Personally, I think a trip day to Macau should suffice. I'm not a really a gambler, and I enjoyed the busier HK streets better than Macau. The Ruins and the Venetian are must sees though. There are free rides (bus shuttle) here and there!



Must see in HK... The Symphony of lights show every 8PM. Be sure to get a good view in TST, somewhere close to the harbor.

Ni Hao 2008, Day 4

Glad our fourth and last day wasn't a need-to-wake-up-early day. We all got up a little past nine. We decided not to avail of the buffet breakfast. Kars tried to get in touch with CebuPacific to inquire about early check-in. We've been deliberating since the evening before how to kill time. Our flight was at 9:55PM, and we were checking out of the hotel at 1PM. We finally decided to go to Tung Chung anyway (Citygate Outlet Mall), via the MTR and just return back to TST, then take the City Flyer Bus back to the airport.

Packing was surprisingly a breeze. I didn't have a lot of purchases to begin with, which made me a little sad and worried. This was supposed to be my Christmas shopping trip. No BKK this year, but most of the stuff I've been seeing in the stores are slightly more than my budget.



Anyway, we spent the morning packing and taking pictures inside our room. I wanted to use my new red jacket ASAP. And Karina looked like a model for the hotel! Haha. She was still a lola by the way, so she put on some eyeliner. Naks. Dalaga na si Kars. Hehe.






In the afternoon, Remy decided to just roam around the area while Karina and I caught the MTR to Tung Chung. The ride was relatively easy! A little over 30 minutes.



The outlet itself was not that big, which was a relief. We had lunch at the food court first before exploring the stores.

A few more shirts and a new wallet (watch out for my NO-LONGER-UGLY-WALLET!) later, we walked back to the MTR station. Remy was waiting for us at the YMCA lobby about forty minutes after the ride.

The YMCA hotel staff was actually pretty helpful. They helped us weigh our bags (Schmenten's blue suitcase came to about 15 kilos!! Not bad at all!) and they directed us to the A21 City Flyer bus stop.

I have to thank my travel experiences this year for the strength to pull my suitcase and hand carried luggage two blocks down Nathan Road. We had an initial booboo by lining up at the A21 bus stop just before Peking Road, but a nice stranger tapped me and pointed down the street. So we walked further and finally found our stop (where there were other tourists with suitcases waiting).

The bus came five minutes later and we hurriedly got on, dragging our luggage along the way. I channelled my inner amazonista when I hoisted my 15 kilo luggage up. Even the other tourist commented, "Wow. Superman!" Haha. That's Super-Woman to you! Haha.



The bus ride to the airport was less than an hour. Our driver was pretty quick, and there weren't as many stops. We took a chance and got off Terminal 1. More jump shots here. We didn't really care for the other passengers who were passing by (and none of them cared for us either anyway!). Best moment though was when Remy, our jump shot photographer, lost her balance and fell while she was taking our picture.





We were actually right on target, because the Cebu Pacific Air check in counter was in Terminal 1! Wootwoot.



I must say. The Hong Kong Airport.... HUGE. We had to take a train to go to our boarding gate!! There was an ample supply of shops to keep the visiting shopaholic sane.



For dinner, we chose this resto close to our gate. I said to the girls, "I want to be served this time!" We've been eating fast food the past few days. The resto we ate at served a large variety of Asian cuisine. I ordered the Oatmeal Prawns (a.k.a. the Singaporean Cereal Prawns), Sweet and sour pork ribs, Shrimp Dumplings, and Chicken curry. We couldn't finish the food, so I am officially bringing home Hong Kong cooked food!





I brought out MacMacMac. Free Wifi in the airport! we exchanged two emails with Irving, and I chatted for a bit with Epal Pesem.

A little past 9, we walked to gate 46, where our flight was boarding. A few more jump shots of course (on the walkalator and right in front of our gate).






Before we knew it, we were seated on the plane (row 21), and waiting for take off. Poooh. I can't believe Ni_Hao 2008 has finally concluded. It seems like a blur. Probably because so much happened these past four days, and we were simply exhausted at the end of each day. Hehe.


It was very nice going on this trip with both Remy and Kar. My last trip with Kar was four years ago (Uh_huh2004), and we had our BFF Meriyen with us. We're all looking forward to Bora 2008, this December. And the trip which will follow Bora 2008 is Kangkungan 2009. The bank is definitely broken this year! Haha.





Thanks to Kars and Remy for this awesome, awesome trip!! Sa uulitin!

Ni Hao 2008, Day 3

Of all the days in Ni_Hao 2008, Day 3 was when we woke up the earliest. After breakfast at the Salisbury dining hall, we walked to the China Ferry Terminal, close to the Royal National Hotel. It was a good 15 minute walk, and we were pretty psyched about Macau. None of us have been to Macau before, so this was something new.

A few escalators up, we found the ticket offices. One of the barkers told us to get the tickets from the corner ticket outlet, and the round trip ticket turned out to be less expensive than what we had originally quoted from the internet. Wootwoot! We got three tickets to the New World First Ferry to Macau!



10:30 AM was the departure time of our ferry. We were held up a little in Immigration (as the officer asked Remy to fill out a form). We had our own version of Amazing Race Asia. We ran all the way to the gate, where we made it in time for our ride.

This was a most interesting ferry ride! It was uber fast! Like riding a jetski! The seats were comfortable. And because we were so tired from our walkathon the day before, we slept for the most part of the ride.



We arrived in the Macau Ferry about an hour later. It was more immigration stuff first, and then we were out. Grabbed a couple of maps (with Cantonese translations of the tourist attractions in the island), and we walked out to where most public transportations were waiting for passengers. We decided to get a taxi and head off to Largo De Senado first.




Macau seems quieter and more old-European than Hong Kong. We didn't see a lot of people milling in the streets. The buildings weren't as tall. There was a laid back feel to it. And there were many signs in Portuguese.

The driver dropped us off Largo De Senado. But we entered this interesting hall sorts first and took pictures. Then we crossed the street for the nice cobbled stone plaza. It was smaller than what I expected. Hehe. But it had a lot of old European charm. The small alleyways and the interesting buildings. Although it's also very commercialized! There seemed to be a Sasa in every corner! Haha.




Good thing Kar and I thought about our outfits carefully! Our nice bright colored tops looked good on the photos. Hehe.




We walked down the streets, following the signs to "Sau Paulo", which was the St. Paul Cathedral ruins. We passed by a couple of stores which sold egg tarts. I was quick to sample them, confirming the Lord Stowe's in Manila reassures me their egg tarts are as good as the ones here. There was also another store. A pastiliera, which sold a lot of Macau baked goodies. Perfect location, because we could visibly see the ruins up ahead

I must say, seeing the ruins made the long, sweaty walk worthwhile! This is an iconic Macau landmark, and now we know why! It's magnificent! I don't know how the facade survived! Perched on top of the stairway, it was just so picturesque.




Then came out the camera whores in all of us. Haha. We took a lot of pictures! And I reminded Karina about doing jump shots. So jump shots we did!






When we finally got one right, just when Karina landed, her glasses fell off. And when she landed (after the jump), her foot found her glasses and ka-put it went. She was very sad. And she officially became a lola!





After camera whoring, we couldn't stand the Macau heat any longer. We took a cab to the Venetian hotel, which is actually on a different Island (Cotai). From a distance, we could see this hotel was just huge. It was most certainly a mini-Venice!



Now we know where everyone's at! They're in the Venetian! Playing craps, riding the gondola, and taking lots of tourist photos. Haha.











It was past noon, and we were hungry. I was at first doubtful if there was a food court. We decided to eat at this Singaporean resto, where one of the waiters/cooks was Filipino. He gave us a tip that there was a free shuttle going back to the Macau Ferry. Yipee.

After lunch, we went around the hotel. Walking down St. Mark's Square, and taking pictures with a human statue. Obviously, Karina and I were slightly terrified of it. Haha. More pictures of the nice small bridges, and the gondola with the singing rower.

We found a Promod! And a Zara.




None of us were gamblers anyway, so we got on the free shuttle service to the ferry a little before 5 PM, and we were there a quarter past five. We were on standby for the 5:30 PM ride back to Hong Kong. Thankfully, it wasn't very full, so we got in.




Back in Hong Kong, we were all quite pooped from the Macau day of walking. With the little energy we had left, we went to Toys 'R Us for Irb's Transformers toy and to the Esprit Outlet on Hankow Road (a few meters away from our hotel). I think I prolly reached my shopping breaking point there. After paying for my purchases, I sat down close to the entrance by the sidewalk. Kars and Remy, paid for their stuff and we walked back to YMCA.

Kars, being the expert traveller that she was, started packing her stuff and accounting for her expenses. And what did moi do? Take a sinfully relaxing warm bubble bath.

After my bath, I attempted to steal another free wifi signal. To my dismay, the open network "linksys" learned how to use the WEP Password, and I could no longer mooch off the free internet. Dengit. In my frustration (I was also craving for spaghetti that evening), I availed of the four-hour wifi internet service the hotel offered, which ironically, had erratic connection! I ended up sleeping through the 2.5 remaining hours.

What a vacay! Haha. We end up exhausted after each day!