manila to macau! :)
i will never forget this day and the following days! it's my first international trip! wee. :) i believe this is my uncle's gift to me. haha. and to my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary. :)
at dinagdagan pa ng heartbreaking call ni roxanne. :(
ANYWAY. i vowed to myself to enjoy the succeeding days of my trip and deal with it when i get back.
airport:
- while waiting to board, saw some koreans who just arrived here in the Philippines. almost all the couples who arrived were wearing matching shoes or shirts or bags or sweatshirts. it's cute and weird at the same time. yun ata talaga ang uso sa kanila pag couple? haha.
- there was a male crew of the plane (steward ata) who is named ALBERT CONCEPCION. haha. almost similarly named to my dear friend. :)
plane:
- weird: the first song that i heard on the plane radio was SUGAR and ALREADY GONE! my gosh. nananadya?! hahaha.
HELLO MAAACAAAUUU! :)
- upon stepping out of the airport, iba talaga ang air compared here in the Philippines! walang amoy at di masakit sa ilong! hahaha.
- climate is cold, malamang. di rin kasi ako lamigin so tolerable cold siya for me.
- there was this rude woman na kasabay namin dumating and kasabay namin magtour for the next day. hmp. kala mo naman nag-antay ka ng matagal!
- i enjoyed taking stolen pictures of random people. pero medyo mahirap ah. haha.
- oh my gosh, no traffic! i love it! puro one way kasi ang roads and there's a lot of circling or looping roads kasi paikot-ikot ang mga sasakyan, one way e. very nice urban planning! :)
- verrryyy clean country! i love it. haha.
- road and street names and certain names of establishments are written both in portuguese and chinese.
- stayed at Hotel Sintra which is located at the center, city area kumbaga. hehe.
- I LOVED THE NIGHT LIGHTS!!! :) it makes me smile. :)
- buses are smaller compared to the ones we have here in the Philippines. cabs seem the same, only colorful.
- dinner time: may waiter dun sa kinainan namin na hawig ni james yap, only thinner. yung waitress naman na nagasikaso samin is cute! hahaha. di ako tibo ah!
- i thought only the Filipinos are disobedient when it comes to road signs, pati rin pala ang iba sa kanila. haha.
- ikot ikot sa casinos and hotels nearby our hotel.
- i saw two of my dream cars right in front of my very eyes! BENTLEY and LAMBORGHINI! :)
- went inside the Grand Lisboa and saw some interesting cultural and ancient things in their lobby -- gold peacocks, stone sculpture, their central treasure made of jade, more golden things, representation of China carved in ivory (i think that's what it is), crystals (the largest emerald and diamond is also displayed there and owned by the owner of Grand Lisboa and the richest man in Macau, Stanley Ho.)
I MISS YOUUUU! :(
*****
30 nov 2009, mon
macau and taipa! :)
TOUR TIME! :)
- finally, i was able to wear my boots with enough justification! :)
- sinundo pa namin yung mga tourists na galing China pati yung rude lady na yun. haha.
- passed by Macau Polytechnic University.
- passed by a Catholic cemetery (nakalimuan ko name. haha.)
- went to see up close and personal the Ruins of St. Paul's
- bought Macau treats like portuguese egg tart and pork jerky! and i gotta love the free taste! hahaha! and yung mga nagbebenta dun knows simple Filipino words! haha.
- i gotta love the boots of some ladiessss! hahaha! i want! :)
- dumaan kami sa road na ginagamit for Grand Prix kapag may Grand Prix. too bad, we were a week or two late for the Grand Prix. tapos na siya. haha.
- high school students there seem to go to school a little late than us (back when we were students) and they go home later than usual of course.
- went to a arts and crafts store wherein they sell jewelries and pang-display that are made of jade, gold, etc.
- went to the border area between Macau and China! :) it's like being in two countries at one time! :) and yung two colors of the sea is obvious: the brownish part is part of Macau, but the bluish part is part of China (if i remember correctly what Cheryl said. haha.)
- high-rise buildings there are cliche, reminds me of makati and ortigas. haha. i-compare daw ba? haha.
- mainly, Macau is an industrial or commercial city. Taipa (an island which is a part of Macau) is more of their residential area. (according to our tourist guide named Cheryl, if i remember the fact correctly. haha. our tour guide speaks little Tagalog which is cute. haha.)
- Macau is very much alive at night because of their lights but in the morning they are still very much alive because of their houses. Macau people like painting their houses in bright colors. there is an area there where all the houses are pink or shades of pink. these houses are owned by government officials so puro big time mga tao dun. :)
- may slum area din actually pero tago, parang downtown ata siya or medyo far from the central area.
- lunch at Riviera Hotel. buffet is love! :)
- went to see A-Ma Temple
- saw their Lady of Mercy landmark.
- Macau has 34 casinos, may 2 pang tinatayo as of now (The Galaxy ata yung isa, nakita ko yung construction site e. super big, but smaller than The Venetian definitely).
- Macau is an isthmus/peninsula that has half a million population and 23 million tourists.
- went to a Factory Outlet pero wala akong nabili. haha. only tito and my grandparents bought something-something. hehe.
- at night, we crossed the Friendship Bridge going to Taipa then went to CITY OF DREAMS and THE VENETIAN, baby! woohoo. that was the highlight of my Macau trip! i fell in love with that place! :)
- sayang, gusto ko pa naman sumakay ng Gondola! di naman kasi kami nagtanong how much! haha.
- passed by University of Macau. nice. :)
- superrrr bango ng Hard Rock Hotel! i looove.
- dare to self: have a picture with a stranger taken -- DONE! :)
- The Bubble Mall! :)
- dinner at Food Colosseum. had the yummiest burger in my entire life (zest peppercorn burger)! :) at kamukha pa ni Wilbur (nung maayos pa siya. haha.) yung waiter! nakakatawa nga kasi when my uncle asked what i want to eat for dinner, napalakas ako ng sabi ng 'peppercorn!' so napatingin siya sakin then he smiled at me at nabigla ako sa mukha niya. haha. i so want to take a stolen picture kaso pumunta na siya ng kitchen seconds after ko sabihin ang
peppercorn. boo. haha.
- FREE SHUTTLE BUS is love! :) that idea was fabulous! no problem kung late ka na makauwi and you don't have to rely on cabs all the time! :)
- so far, i only spotted 3-4 girls for you my dear bestfriend! haha. kaso di ko napicturan! they were so close to me, masyado namang obvious. haha.
HAY NAKO, I WONDER HOW YOU ARE... :(
*****
01 dec 2009, tues
macau to kowloon! :)
- buffet brunch! :) my gosh, wala nang silbi ang pagwoworkout ko sa bahay! hahaha. oh what the heck. yum yum yum! :)
- rode the ferry from macau to hooongkooong! :) my gosh, i never thought i was seasick! maalon! haha. as i fill up immigration papers, it hit me! minadali ko ang pagsulat, closed my eyes and tried to sleep. i feel like i was in an 'internal-organ-wracking' (whattaterm. haha.) ride! alam mo yung sumasakay ka sa mga bigating rides and it feels like lumulutang at naiiwan ang internal organs mo sa taas. nakakatuwa yung mga Europeans na nakasabay namin, sabi ni tita, they were sleeping kasi and nabibigla sila to the point na napatayo yung isang lolo sa sobrang gulat nya whenever the ferry hits a wave. hahaha!
- climate seems colder here.
- wasn't that impressed. feels like Philippines, only much better. traffic's not that bad pero may traffic. the place is busier than Macau, of course. definitely cleaner at mas mabango than Philippines! hahaha!
- i saw a double deckerrrr! :) i got excited! hahaha! dream ko sumakay dun, too bad i wasn't able to. boo. haha.
- stayed at Harbour Plaza Metropolis. :) the hotel's connected to a mall and a train station.
- haven't rode the train but i think their train's cool. ang daming station! :)
- upon seeing the pool in the hotel, i wanted to swim! (SWIMMM?! yeah! SWIMMM! hahaha!) kaso wala akong swimsuit! haha.
- had dinner at the mall's food court. my gosh, i didn't know that their serving is that BIG! pang-dalawang tao! kagulat! hahaha! buti na lang malakas ako kumain pero i gotta say, every meal time that had passed, unti-unti rin ako sumusuko! hahaha!
*****
02 dec 2009, wed
kowloon to hongkong island! :)
- went to the Avenue of Stars! :)
- went to Jewellery City (a jewelry store owned by Jackie Chan's family). grabe, gusto ko rin ng ganung business! hahaha! di naman panic-buying ang mga tao, marami lang talaga ang bumibili dun. my gosh, the jewelries are amazinggg. haha. kaya my grandparents bought a new set of wedding rings, uncle bought a bracelet, mom bought a watch, lola bought a necklace. :)
- saw Hongkong Polytechnic University. superrr big! :)
- dumaan kami sa Cross-Harbor Tunnel, which is actually an underwater tunnel connecting Kowloon to Hongkong. tapos may isa pa kaming tunnel na dinaanan, under mountain naman siya. cool. haha.
- went to ride a Sampan Ride in Aberdeen to check out the Jumbo Kingdom, the biggest floating seafood restaurant, but we didn't eat there. too pricey. hehe. naaliw ako dun sa mga other boats na parang bahay and mga cruises.
- went up the Victoria's Peak. cooooollllll! :) parang Baguio. haha. only there were high-rise condos (and i mean, HIGH-RISE na masakit sa leeg i-hyperextend sa kakatingala) sa gilid ng bundok, how scary is that?? oh well, wala naman daw earthquake dun (sabi ni tour guide).
- on the way to the peak, passed by South Island School which is the most expensive English school in Hongkong, where the elite students study! there are a lot of schools within the vicinity -- mga pang-French, pang-Singaporean, etc. it was the area of the very elite e, ang kabundukan. ironic huh? haha.
- i enjoyed the view in Victoria's Peak! seeing the Kowloon area on the other side, wee! :)
- went to OCEAN PARKKK! that's the highlight of my HK trip! :) didn't go to HK Disneyland because it would better if i'm with my brothers. :( so anyway, i had so much fun there! ang daming tao nga lang because may mga nag-fifield trip din. so ayun, we rode the cable car going to the other and far side, where the real cool side of the Ocean Park is. it was okay pa nung una but since i have fear of heights, wala pang gitna ng cable car trip, nanginig na
yung tuhod ko at kinakabog akooo! ahahahaha! my gosh, tawang-tawa yung mga kasama ko sakin! hahaha! kapit na kapit ako dun sa matabang pole sa gitna ng car. hahaha! then we had lunch at where else but McDo! wee. hahaha. then we rode the Ferris Wheel. ay naku, ang mga Chinese elderly! di ko kinaya! ang tanda-tanda na naninigit pa! anu baaa. tapos wala pang mga manners, nanunulak or nanghahawi ng mga tao! ay naku! then off we go to the Ocean Theatre to see the Dolphin and Sea Lion show. then we went to Atoll Reef to see different fishes. kaaliw, feels like field trip in elementary. :) at ang mga Chinese elderly ah, di ko na kinaya, ginigitgit ko na sila or binabangga kapag sinisingitan nila ako! haha. i wanted so bad to try The Abyss kaso too bad, di ako nakasakay!!! grr. ang haba ng pila and we haven't had much time left kasi darating na ang sundo namin. boo. hay naku, pagbalik ko ikaw uunahin koooo!
- went back to Kowloon and we ate dinner at some place in Guangdong? i forgot. basta yun na yun. haha.
- we were supposed to head to the Night Market and Ladies' Market kaso after dinner, nakakita si lolo ng luggage store agad so dun na siya bumili. napabili na din si lola ng bag (in fairness may free coin purse kami! hahaha!). tapos lakad-lakad, ayan nakakita ng electronics shop si tito so he bought a videocam. lolo bought radio for himself. then next thing we knew, 11pm na kaya umuwi na kami.
*****
03 dec 2009, thurskowloon to manila! :)
- breakfast at McDo. they seem to have a different menu than us, mas masarap sa kanila. haha. and i expected na malaki pa rin ang serving, boo. not! haha.
- ikot sa may Hunghom Station (the nearest train station to us), kala mo naman may iikutan talaga kami dun. wala lang, tinignan lang namin station nila. haha.
- checked out sa hotel.
- while waiting for our shuttle sundo to the airport, ikot sa The Metropolis Mall. wala rin masyadong naikutan kasi parang sarado pa ang karamihan ng stores? haha.
- dahil hindi ako nakapag-swimming, nagpapicture na lang ako sa pool. kaso yung entrance nila, may shower so that's the closest place to the pool i was able to get -- behind the glass. haha.
- then off we go to HKIA. it is surely the biggest airport!
- while waiting to board, ate at Burger King.
- naabutan kami ng Final Call sa plane kasi namili si mama ng pasalubong! hahaha!
- and then Hello Philippines! whew. feels good to be home pero the vacation feels bitin pero nasulit ko naman. abusada? hahaha! THANK YOU TO MY TITO! :) wee. haha.
eto na, i will deal with you. kung meron man...