A Travel Journal Entry Eck
So I haven't really talked about my trip to Hong Kong with the girls. :)
Hmmn.
Day 1: We arrive at the Chek Lap Kok Airport at around 7pm. We were kinda stunned that we had to take a train ride to another part of the airport. After chatting our way at the long queue at the immigration area, we got our bags, then waited for a few minutes for the airport transfer to arrive. It took about 40 minutes for us to get to Tsim Sha Tsui. We had to check in at the hotel, which was near everything--Watson's, 7Eleven, Babila, Giordano stores, lots of other boutiques. We found one of the receptionists very cute. I think his name was Andy. Hahaha. After settling down in our rooms (Bia and I took the double room, while Liz, Grid and Paula stayed at the triple room), we walked the alleys for dinner, and landed on Mei Sun Restaurant. Pretty good food, and the server was verrry nice to us. :) I loved the squid.
When dinner was done, we walked around and found ourselves in the middle of a night market thingy. I'm not sure, but I think it was the Temple Market. Good stuff, but I think some of the clothes that were being sold there can also be bought at 168 here in Manila. So I just bought some pairs of foot socks (each costing about 5HKD, not bad).
We went back to the hotel and slept.
Day 2: We woke up super early, since we all opted to take the city tour. While waiting for the girls (and for our own tour guide) at the lobby, this Pinoy dad mistook me for a local, and said to me, "Ex-cuuuse meee. Ahhh yoo ouhh touhhh guide?" with a fake Chinese accent. It was pretty funny, especially when Bia told him in Tagalog that we were also tourists, and that we were also Filipinos. Ahaha. He backed off immediately. Hee.
We finally meet our tour guide inside the bus. We had to pick up a few more passengers from other hotels, so out of sheer boredom, the five of us camwhored like there was no tomorrow. Inside the freakin' bus. Haha. The tour covered Aberdeen, Repulse Bay, "half-peak" of Victoria Peak, a jewelry factory, and this fugly outlet store. The first part of the tour was okay, but I actually hated the outlet store part. Liz was forced to buy the picture-plate as a donation to the tour guide's assistant. Boo. Anyway, the bus dropped everyone of at Granville. We didn't have lunch yet, and that was around 2:30 in the afternoon, so we were really fuggin' famished. So, we had lunch at this place called Brazil! Brazil! It was an all-you-can-eat thing that closed at 3pm, so we made like P.G.'s and filled our plates like craaaazy. As in we hoarded food, it was actually very embarassing. I felt like I wouldn't be able to finish everything on my plate, but I was wrong. Very, very wrong. ;p Hee.
After lunch, we headed to Granville, and went in and out of the many shops that lined the street. I couldn't decide on whether I should get this fab white jacket or not, but after a few more stores, I finally decided to purchase the damn thing. Hah. And its tag says "to be a princess". How very chichi. Haha. We went back to the hotel to rest our precious feet for about an hour, and then took the MTR to Causeway Bay. It was getting late, but we didn't want to waste time, so. ;p While purchasing tickets to Causeway, this Chinese couple approached me and Paula and started asking us questions. In Chinese. They thought we were locals! Haha! That was strike 2 for me. I was amused about how I'm being mistaken for as a local. Hee. Anyway, at Causeway Bay, we posed with a man-eating meat slab, window shopped (because the prices of the stuff they sold were twice as high as the ones in Tsim Sha Tsui, damn it), and had dinner at another local eatery. It was pretty fun walking around, but unfortunately for us, we had to return to the hotel right away, due to my stupid tummyache.
On the way back, we saw this Insta-photo machine, and squeezed ourselves inside the booth. That was fun! Liz's legs were wobbly right after, because I had to "sit" on them. Haha. Sorry, Liz. ;p Before we headed to the hotel, Bia and I bought a box of antacids from a local drugstore. I loved how they wrapped the box in this Chinese-print paper. Astig. :D
Day 3: We woke up a tad late than Day 2. This was Disneyland Day. After breakfast at McDonald's, we took the MTR (pretty addictive mode of transportation, by the way) to Happy Land. The train to Disney was so cute, we couldn't resist camwhoring again. In fact, we looked so excited that two locals even helped out with the photo op. What nice people! Hehe.
Disneyland was fun! Fun! Fun! Though there weren't any thriller rides (no loopy roller coasters, nor 40ft-drop rides), the place was fantastic. There were so many Pinoys in Disneyland! Hehe. We had lunch at the Banquet Hall (or something), much thanks to Bia. ;p We were able to camwhore again--this time with Mickey, Minnie and Pluto! Liz and I got addicted with this coin-press machine. Strike 3 actually happened near one of these coin-pressing machine! Haha. Funny, funny. :) Anyway, we stayed there until around 9, I think. We waited for the fireworks at Cinderella's castle. It was the perfect way to end our Disney visit.
After D-Land, we stopped at Mongkok for the Ladies' Market. The Ladies' Market was a bit like Manila tiangges, especially because most of the things being sold there are also available in Manila. Bia found some fantastic watch necklaces, though. Very, very pretty. :) It was funny how the vendors would make us come back to buy their stuff, too. They'd drop the prices when you try to leave their stalls. Hehe.
We went back to our hotel before the MTR closed. We were all so exhausted, and my right toe actually went numb from all the walking, but I didn't really want to go home yet. Technically, that was our last night, so I wanted to make the most out of it. Back in the hotel, Bia and I hung out for a while at Liz, Grid and Paula's room. Some of us had dinner, while the others soaked their feet in hot water to relax. Bia and I were already sleepy, though, so we went back to our room and rested for Day 4.
Day 4: We woke up a bit late, but Bia and I managed to have breakfast at Cafe de Coral. One of my officemates suggested that we try this place because of the good food that they had, so we did. Then we got Mc Donald's food for the three girls. We checked out on time, and left our bags with the hotel people, because we still wanted to check out Central. Central was a pretty interesting place: most of the people walking around wore black and looked so damn sleek. One of them even reminded me of Jude Law. Hot. Haha. The five of us splurged on some Ben & Jerry's at Lan Kwai Fong, then walked up in search for a park. Sadly, we had to go back to Tsim Sha Tsui before we found a park. Back in TST, we visited some more shops along Granville. I scored another fab jacket, while Bia bought a shirt, and Liz got a cardi. A few strides took us to a shoe store. I wanted to buy a pair of boots, but didn't. Bia bought a great-looking green pair, though. Niiice. We stopped with the shopping because it was already 3:30. The shuttle was supposed to pick us up at 4, so we hurried back to the hotel.
The shuttle ride to the airport seemed longer. Anyway, we got to the airport at around 5:30. After immigration and baggage, we spent the rest of our time (and Hong Kong dollars) at the shops and restos inside the airport. Paula and I treated ourselves to a box of Godiva. Plus another cup of ice cream. Haha. Then we hurried to the train thing, and waited for boarding, which was around 7:30.
Fun, fun trip. :)
Hmmn.
Day 1: We arrive at the Chek Lap Kok Airport at around 7pm. We were kinda stunned that we had to take a train ride to another part of the airport. After chatting our way at the long queue at the immigration area, we got our bags, then waited for a few minutes for the airport transfer to arrive. It took about 40 minutes for us to get to Tsim Sha Tsui. We had to check in at the hotel, which was near everything--Watson's, 7Eleven, Babila, Giordano stores, lots of other boutiques. We found one of the receptionists very cute. I think his name was Andy. Hahaha. After settling down in our rooms (Bia and I took the double room, while Liz, Grid and Paula stayed at the triple room), we walked the alleys for dinner, and landed on Mei Sun Restaurant. Pretty good food, and the server was verrry nice to us. :) I loved the squid.
When dinner was done, we walked around and found ourselves in the middle of a night market thingy. I'm not sure, but I think it was the Temple Market. Good stuff, but I think some of the clothes that were being sold there can also be bought at 168 here in Manila. So I just bought some pairs of foot socks (each costing about 5HKD, not bad).
We went back to the hotel and slept.
Day 2: We woke up super early, since we all opted to take the city tour. While waiting for the girls (and for our own tour guide) at the lobby, this Pinoy dad mistook me for a local, and said to me, "Ex-cuuuse meee. Ahhh yoo ouhh touhhh guide?" with a fake Chinese accent. It was pretty funny, especially when Bia told him in Tagalog that we were also tourists, and that we were also Filipinos. Ahaha. He backed off immediately. Hee.
We finally meet our tour guide inside the bus. We had to pick up a few more passengers from other hotels, so out of sheer boredom, the five of us camwhored like there was no tomorrow. Inside the freakin' bus. Haha. The tour covered Aberdeen, Repulse Bay, "half-peak" of Victoria Peak, a jewelry factory, and this fugly outlet store. The first part of the tour was okay, but I actually hated the outlet store part. Liz was forced to buy the picture-plate as a donation to the tour guide's assistant. Boo. Anyway, the bus dropped everyone of at Granville. We didn't have lunch yet, and that was around 2:30 in the afternoon, so we were really fuggin' famished. So, we had lunch at this place called Brazil! Brazil! It was an all-you-can-eat thing that closed at 3pm, so we made like P.G.'s and filled our plates like craaaazy. As in we hoarded food, it was actually very embarassing. I felt like I wouldn't be able to finish everything on my plate, but I was wrong. Very, very wrong. ;p Hee.
After lunch, we headed to Granville, and went in and out of the many shops that lined the street. I couldn't decide on whether I should get this fab white jacket or not, but after a few more stores, I finally decided to purchase the damn thing. Hah. And its tag says "to be a princess". How very chichi. Haha. We went back to the hotel to rest our precious feet for about an hour, and then took the MTR to Causeway Bay. It was getting late, but we didn't want to waste time, so. ;p While purchasing tickets to Causeway, this Chinese couple approached me and Paula and started asking us questions. In Chinese. They thought we were locals! Haha! That was strike 2 for me. I was amused about how I'm being mistaken for as a local. Hee. Anyway, at Causeway Bay, we posed with a man-eating meat slab, window shopped (because the prices of the stuff they sold were twice as high as the ones in Tsim Sha Tsui, damn it), and had dinner at another local eatery. It was pretty fun walking around, but unfortunately for us, we had to return to the hotel right away, due to my stupid tummyache.
On the way back, we saw this Insta-photo machine, and squeezed ourselves inside the booth. That was fun! Liz's legs were wobbly right after, because I had to "sit" on them. Haha. Sorry, Liz. ;p Before we headed to the hotel, Bia and I bought a box of antacids from a local drugstore. I loved how they wrapped the box in this Chinese-print paper. Astig. :D
Day 3: We woke up a tad late than Day 2. This was Disneyland Day. After breakfast at McDonald's, we took the MTR (pretty addictive mode of transportation, by the way) to Happy Land. The train to Disney was so cute, we couldn't resist camwhoring again. In fact, we looked so excited that two locals even helped out with the photo op. What nice people! Hehe.
Disneyland was fun! Fun! Fun! Though there weren't any thriller rides (no loopy roller coasters, nor 40ft-drop rides), the place was fantastic. There were so many Pinoys in Disneyland! Hehe. We had lunch at the Banquet Hall (or something), much thanks to Bia. ;p We were able to camwhore again--this time with Mickey, Minnie and Pluto! Liz and I got addicted with this coin-press machine. Strike 3 actually happened near one of these coin-pressing machine! Haha. Funny, funny. :) Anyway, we stayed there until around 9, I think. We waited for the fireworks at Cinderella's castle. It was the perfect way to end our Disney visit.
After D-Land, we stopped at Mongkok for the Ladies' Market. The Ladies' Market was a bit like Manila tiangges, especially because most of the things being sold there are also available in Manila. Bia found some fantastic watch necklaces, though. Very, very pretty. :) It was funny how the vendors would make us come back to buy their stuff, too. They'd drop the prices when you try to leave their stalls. Hehe.
We went back to our hotel before the MTR closed. We were all so exhausted, and my right toe actually went numb from all the walking, but I didn't really want to go home yet. Technically, that was our last night, so I wanted to make the most out of it. Back in the hotel, Bia and I hung out for a while at Liz, Grid and Paula's room. Some of us had dinner, while the others soaked their feet in hot water to relax. Bia and I were already sleepy, though, so we went back to our room and rested for Day 4.
Day 4: We woke up a bit late, but Bia and I managed to have breakfast at Cafe de Coral. One of my officemates suggested that we try this place because of the good food that they had, so we did. Then we got Mc Donald's food for the three girls. We checked out on time, and left our bags with the hotel people, because we still wanted to check out Central. Central was a pretty interesting place: most of the people walking around wore black and looked so damn sleek. One of them even reminded me of Jude Law. Hot. Haha. The five of us splurged on some Ben & Jerry's at Lan Kwai Fong, then walked up in search for a park. Sadly, we had to go back to Tsim Sha Tsui before we found a park. Back in TST, we visited some more shops along Granville. I scored another fab jacket, while Bia bought a shirt, and Liz got a cardi. A few strides took us to a shoe store. I wanted to buy a pair of boots, but didn't. Bia bought a great-looking green pair, though. Niiice. We stopped with the shopping because it was already 3:30. The shuttle was supposed to pick us up at 4, so we hurried back to the hotel.
The shuttle ride to the airport seemed longer. Anyway, we got to the airport at around 5:30. After immigration and baggage, we spent the rest of our time (and Hong Kong dollars) at the shops and restos inside the airport. Paula and I treated ourselves to a box of Godiva. Plus another cup of ice cream. Haha. Then we hurried to the train thing, and waited for boarding, which was around 7:30.
Fun, fun trip. :)