hong kong ~ adventure!

talk about a huge change!

my first twip to hong kong was approximately 15 years ago... wow. now that i write that down, it really feels like a super long time! and as a matter of fact, there have been big changes since year 1991...

• the airport was be-a-u-tiful! what a welcome sight... i don't even wanna put in words why my appreciation for that is huge ~ coming from the Philippines and all...
• the hong kong-ers are a lot better in speaking English than they did years back
• ... and of course, hong kong DISNEYLAND!!!

the twip to hong kong was a purugganan family twip -- to which i tagged along. t.precy, arch & malen, adi and rafael, chie & myself... boarded the Cathay Pacific plane to hk at 6:00am on a Friday morning... arrived at the Hong Kong International Airport at around 9:30am and we headed off to the Royal Pacific Hotel at Tsim Tsa Tsui

>> yes, we planned to go shop-shop-shop!!! heehee ~ at least t.precy did! we juz wanted to tag along to check out what's new...

HONG KONG Tip #1: Best ForEx Rate is through Hang Seng Bank

after checking-in :: sneaking in on my part (to save some extra 'ka-chings') :P, we walked along the streets of Tsim Tsa Tsui to visit the oh-so-many! shops on the streets... stopping here and there to purchase some finds!

the weather was great! cool -- cold actually but we were ready enough for the chill... and it was nothing compared to the Macau Experience eniweiz...

by 6:30pm, we were ready for some munchies and guess what we found?? mcdonald's mcwings!!! yum!

>>reg, i really planned on bringing some home as our pasalubong for you... but we ran out of time to go to a mcdo before leaving! :c<<

after our 'dinner,' we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before continuing our shopping journey to the famous Mongkok...yes...we did try out the MTR as an adventure hehehe... and it was real easy and mucho fun! hehehe... down side was... Mongkok was practically empty when we got there...

HONG KONG Tip #2: If you plan to go to the flea markets (Mongkok), be there a tad early... they close at around 7 so it might be best to shop from 4:00pm

We got back to the hotel at almost 11:00pm already >> we did try to check out the little left open shops in the area that's why we got back so late!

Breakfast for day 2 was at this cafe inside the Gateway mall -- the mall that runs along Tsim Tsa Tsui's hotels including Marco Polo and Marco Polo Omni Hotels...

it was a rush since our bus was leaving by 8:30am for Lantau Island...

Arrived at Hong Kong Disneyland Hollywood Hotel by around 9:30am... without a room yet, we decided to leave our bags with the Concierge and head off to the Park to enjoy the rides and shows early that day. The Bus that brings tourists to and from the Park was available every 10mins. so it was definitley very convenient! The Hotel was be-a-u-tiful by the way! and we haven't even seen our rooms yet...not to mention the swimming pool!

here's our itinerary as we got to the Hong Kong Disneyland Park:

we rode the train from the entrance of Disneyland to go to: FANTASYLAND

1st stop was the BEST stop! we tried the 3D show called: PHILARMAGIC... it was great! it was not only 3D as it involved all our senses -- sight, sound, smell, touch! a-ma-zing! it was the first 3D show that was really 3D for me! young and old, you will definitely have the best time here!

HONG KONG Tip #3 ~ Disneyland: Start with Philarmagic!!!

we then went along to: TOMORROWLAND

beginning the journey through Buzz Lightyear's Ride >> ASTROBLASTERS! We g etto zapp up Buzz' enemies with our green electronic guns in our swivelly ride... i got to level 3 (if i remember right!) >> this was the fave ride of little paeng... he wanted to go back and go back to this ride the whole day!

soon after we finished with the ride, we all attempted probably the most exhillirating ride in the park: SPACE MOUNTAIN!

t. precy meant to skip this ride but decided to join in at the last minute... rafael was allowed to ride so it MUST be safe for all the rest of us... surprise~surprise! it was fast... furious... dark... twirly... definitely space-like. it was a ride with surprises as you didn't know the track of the rollercoaster! amazing! i would've wanted to ride again if i had someone to go with! hahahaha!

good thing was... we got a chance to rest our punding hearts when the anticipated Disney on Parade was almost coming in! we found our spots in the line and watched amazing floats pass by... pinoys!pinoys!pinoys! everywhere! greeting us with 'kamusta po?!' with their big pearly-whites shining on us... they surely looked like they were enjoying it a lot...

poor chie had to be the photographer and take all our pix... she has only 1 picture with the parade :c

hehehe... but she says she enjoyed takin them eniweiz! thanks, chie for the pix!

after all that, we headed off to: ADVENTURELAND

...where we saw: TARZAN'S TREEHOUSE ~ we had to cross the river on a raft to visit Tarzan's home... it was life-like... and it was just how it looked in the cartoon! loved it, mucho!

we were hung-gry after all that we've done! we found our way to the ballroom, got our lunch and munch-munch-munched! it was time to retire to the hotel... check in and enjoy the place Ü

HONGKONG Tip #4 ~ Disneyland: try out the cheesecake at the bakery!

i shall let the pictures show you how pretty the hotel was:

HONGKONG Tip #5 ~ Disney Hollywood Hotel: watch out for Disney characters ~ we saw goofy!

HONGKONG Tip #6 ~ Disney Hollywood Hotel: look for hidden Mickeys!!! i found some!

by 7:30pm, we headed back to the park to watch the spectacular fireworks... mind-blowing!

the park closes after the fireworks and by that time, you will definitely be exhausted... so we headed back to the hotel for a goodnight's rest...

morning after:

early morning swim at one of the best pools i've ever seen... it was shaped like a piano, heated, and was empty when we took our dip... super great!

pix will tell it all:

the best jacuzzi i've been to:

hot~hot~hot! bubbly~bubbly~bubbly! HUGE!

HONGKONG Tip #7 ~ Disney Hollywood Hotel: don't dare miss the chance to swim at the pool!

we then headed off to the city after we swam to do some final shopping sprees... unfortunately, zara (t.precy's target store) was still closed... i got to buy my tapa though! and chie got some pasalubongs for fwends too!

HONGKONG Tip #8: shopping in the city, especially in the malls, start at around 10:30am

HONGKONG Tip #9: take the MTR: such a convenience!

last stop: Spaghetti House

definitely nothing like The Old Spaghetti House (eeew~my personal opinion of course) of Manila... had a yum-yum but quick lunch! -- had to dash back to the hotel in time for our pick-up...

by 2pm... we were already at the airport... munching on our grapes and sipping our starbucks drinks... waiting for the airplane ride back home...

...sure wished it wouldn't end...

>> had a great time with you guys! muah!

me, in your eyes...

it's amazing how much of myself i didn't know -- thanks to all for sharing your thoughts Ü

Arena (known to self and others) accepting, caring, dependable, observant, responsive	Blind Spot (known only to others) able, adaptable, calm, cheerful, clever, confident, dignified, energetic, extroverted, friendly, giving, happy, helpful, independent, intelligent, kind, knowledgable, logical, loving, mature, modest, organised, patient, reflective, relaxed, sensible, sentimental, silly, trustworthy, warm, wise, witty
Façade (known only to self) self-assertive	Unknown (known to nobody) bold, brave, complex, idealistic, ingenious, introverted, nervous, powerful, proud, quiet, religious, searching, self-conscious, shy, spontaneous, sympathetic, tense

All Percentages

able (5%) accepting (5%) adaptable (11%) bold (0%) brave (0%) calm (5%) caring (23%) cheerful (23%) clever (11%) complex (0%) confident (41%) dependable (29%) dignified (5%) energetic (5%) extroverted (5%) friendly (35%) giving (5%) happy (23%) helpful (5%) idealistic (0%) independent (29%) ingenious (0%) intelligent (41%) introverted (0%) kind (11%) knowledgable (11%) logical (5%) loving (5%) mature (47%) modest (5%) nervous (0%) observant (5%) organised (23%) patient (5%) powerful (0%) proud (0%) quiet (0%) reflective (11%) relaxed (17%) religious (0%) responsive (5%) searching (0%) self-assertive (0%) self-conscious (0%) sensible (17%) sentimental (5%) shy (0%) silly (5%) spontaneous (0%) sympathetic (0%) tense (0%) trustworthy (11%) warm (23%) wise (5%) witty (5%)

Ochie thinks: clever, confident, dependable, organised, reflective.

seth thinks: , warm, trustworthy, able, caring, relaxed.

chettie thinks: reflective, independent, mature, intelligent, extroverted.

RINAH thinks: dependable, trustworthy, caring, confident, mature.

butch thinks: intelligent, loving, warm, independent, confident, dependable.

mia thinks: confident, friendly, silly, relaxed, intelligent, happy.

reg thinks: friendly, cheerful, happy, independent, confident, mature.

yu thinks: clever, confident, happy, knowledgable, adaptable.

Denise thinks: dignified, giving, intelligent, modest, organised, warm.

janina thinks: calm, helpful, warm, logical, happy, patient.

Nesty thinks: dependable, cheerful, witty, organised, responsive, kind.

mike thinks: kind, friendly, wise, accepting, sensible.

emg thinks: mature, dependable, confident, observant, sentimental, relaxed.

Jasmin thinks: friendly, energetic, intelligent, caring, mature, cheerful.

Dustin thinks: caring, intelligent, mature, knowledgable, friendly.

pat thinks: intelligent, independent, mature, organised, sensible.

Melissa Mercado thinks: cheerful, independent, friendly, sensible, mature, adaptable.

Created by the Interactive Johari Window on 16.2.2006, using data from 17 respondents.
You can make your own Johari Window, or view lids's full data.

::finally::

finally... little scooter is now a quiet lil pup at home... no more whining for this little doggie! Ü

finally... our redbox adventure pushed through...
despite the fact that there were only four of us in this adventure, we still had a grand time. 2 hours wasn't long enough to tire our vocal chords as we sang our hearts out [seth?]!!! we didn't even use up all the songs we listed down! hehehe! when's our next one gonna be? :þ

>Rave: The Macau Experience

Our Macau trip was really a relief from the heat of Manila and the hassle of the Tiger/Clark Experience.

We knew the weather was going to be cool… but who knew it was going to be freezing?! It was 6º~12º?! We had to get off from the plane and disembark through the tarmac and the snippy breeze greeted us “Hello!”
TRAVEL TIP #1 > Be prepared for any weather ~ bring a fan & a small towel (hot) and sweater (cool)

We were able to get a good deal with our FOREX… through the agents that were in the airport itself!
TRAVEL TIP #2 > Scout for a good exchange rate…
MACAU SPECIFIC > From the Airport you can get a better rate from the agents beside the stall with the lighted sign: FOREIGN EXCHANGE and in MACAU CENTRAL, the Bank of America has a good exchange rate – especially if you’re exchanging a large amount Ü

Took a Van to our hotel: NEW WORLD EMPEROR HOTEL… it was a pretty nice hotel, near the bus stop, senate square and a very nice supermarket around the corner.
TRAVEL TIP #3 > Chat with Pinoys and ask about the best places to visit & the best restos too!
TRAVEL TIP #4 > Visit the Supermarket – best buys!!!

Had dinner at a corner Cantonese Resto [suggested by 2 Pinoy acquaintances] yummy and super cheap!!! Authentic + Ambiance = Yumyum Experience

Visited the Supermarket where we got our first pasalubong ideas, our midnight snacks and of course our H2O supply

Breakfast was on the house c/o the hotel >> thanks to Reg’s charm, we got this for free through the agent!
Left the hotel a little past 9:00am to head off to the MACAU TOWER [to experience the talked-about SKYWALK!]
Found our way via bus… after almost getting off the wrong stop!
What an experience! As Tricia said, it was really the highlight of our Macau twip!

TRAVEL TIP #5 > Be adventurous! Try the public bus… and scary rides!
MACAU SPECIFIC > commuting is cheaper using the bus at 2.50 patacas per trip > to any stop!
The SKYWALK is definitely worth a try! Get a funny guide and the ride is worth the 220 patacas fee!

and check out the tiger cubs! not as baby as i expected!

We missed the buffet at the 360º café… our mouths watered while we were at the skywalk, watching the guests eat their lunch [while they took photos of our group!]

So we decided to eat at Senate Square instead… tried to scout for the Portuguese resto Tricia was talking about but we were too hungry to keep on looking! Decided on McDo instead!
TRAVEL TIP #6 > When at a different country, try their take on McDonald’s…they have country-specific foodies!
MACAU SPECIFIC > McWings was the greatest! And they had wraps as well!

Visited the most famous symbol of Macau > THE RUINS OF ST. PAUL
On the way there, we had our tast of Almond Cakes… yum!

Shopped till we dropped at Senate Square… let the pix do the talking:

Finally got the chance to taste the yumyum food at Restaurante Vela Latina Portuguese Cuisine just across Senate Square…
TRAVELTIP #7 > Try the country’s most popular dishes
MACAU SPECIFIC > Portuguese: Egg Tarts, African Roasted Chicken, BBQ Ribs!

Went home to get early snoozies as we planned to visit the Red Market the following day before heading home…

After breakfast of DAY 3, we headed for the Red Market… not much to our delight though… it was more of a Farmer’s Market than the Tiangge we expected…

Rushed back to the hotel to check-out on time… while Shierel and Reg decided to get lost first and give us heart attacks for just a few minutes :P

It was definitely a great experience… 3 days weren’t enough… the original 4-day plan would’ve been great…
But we were thankful eniweiz for the experience! I would’ve wanted to try more of Macau… experience more of what it can offer…

1. Eat more street food
2. Visit the casinos
3. Shop more at Senate Square
4. Check out Yaohan
5. Take more loads of pix!!!

Macau is such a colorful place! It has so much to offer...

…hope there will be a next time! ;)