Nuninu

Kev and I finally had the chance to go on that much awaited vacation. In our 6 years together, we never had been fortunate enough to go on a holiday by ourselves. And so we were super duper excited about our HK trip, especially our visit to HK Disneyland - the child in us wanted to see this resort so bad and we finally had that wish come true last weekend. More on this later...


A lot of time wasted upon arrival at HKIA last Friday...

I was a bit absent-minded upon my arrival at HKIA. As soon as the plane stopped moving, I turned my ipod on. I was happily mouthing the words to a song, while making my way towards the immigration counter. The line to the counter was long, but then again, it was the busiest time of the day.

I was already the 3rd person from the front when I suddenly realized that I didn't fill out an arrival card. And so I had to go all the way back to fill that out and had to fall in line again - which, by the way, is a very long line - at a different counter this time to save face... =P

If you want comfort, don't go stringent on your budget

To cut costs, Kev and I decided to reserve a room at a hostel. You see, we only need a room to sleep in, as we expect to be spending most of our time outdoors. So the hostel we chose did not require us to pay deposit - just the confirmation number should've sufficed.

I went to the hostel's admin office, and was expecting to be greeted by a pleasant lady, whom I've spoken on the phone with. So I was a bit surprised to be greeted in halting English by one of the Chinese staff. I explained that I was not able to print out my confirmation email but I have my reference number. But it appeared they didn't understand a word I said. This Chinese guy talked to me in Cantonese and using a calculator quoted a room rate, which is a bit more expensive than the rate confirmed to me. I had to explain several times that the rate confirmed to me was lower, but they could not seem to understand.

I pointed my finger to the computer monitor, gestured typing motions with my fingers, as I said, "I'll show you email."

I opened my inbox, showed them the confirmation email I received from them, before they finally agreed to the rate I was insisting and the room type that I booked. I checked the facilities as soon as I was showed the room, and the flush to the toilet is not working!!! No biggie, I'll insist with Kev that we spend the night at his hotel room instead, where he is confirmed for check-out on Saturday. But how are we supposed to survive on Saturday and Sunday with a toilet that won't flush? We ended up using the common facilities at the hostel, which is right across the hallway from our room.


I got lost in Causeway Bay

It has been a while since my last HK trip. I know my way around Central very much, but the only time I ventured Causeway Bay on my own, I got lost. And then last Friday, I got lost again...


I never had a problem reading maps before, but for some reason, I couldn't navigate my way around Causeway Bay that day. I was on my mobile talking to Kev as I was supposed to be going to his hotel. He ended up telling me to stay put and to identify the nearest landmarks and he'll go to me instead. Hahaha... talk about bloopers in HK man!!!

We planned to go shopping before meeting up with old colleagues for dinner - but it was not meant to be. Kev and I finally met at around 7pm, and we only had 30 minutes left before we had to meet up with them. And so, we quickly made our way back to his hotel to meet with the group.


Dinner was so expensive!!!

Erm...okay...

So we met with former colleagues, and not everyone had that much money to spare. We didn't have a say as to what food should be ordered, none of us even had a look at the menu, ergo, none of us had any idea how much the food cost at that resto.

But food was great, so who am I to complain?

So finally it was time to pay the bill, and we all had to pay HK$ 170 each!!! Converted to Peso, that would be about PHP1020!!! And I didn't even get to eat that much!!!


My slight adventure with HK street food

The last time I saw Zarah was in Greenbelt early this year... and so I was very much looking forward to seeing her in HK again. Since she was also a former colleague, she was invited to join us for dinner. But when she finally arrived, all the food are gone. So we decided to walk around the city and go shopping while some of the shops are still open.

But in the midst of our shopping, this girl made me eat HK isaw!!! HK fish balls, that is way better than pinas fish balls, and HK ox tripes, smothered with mustard a la wasabi... weird combination, but it was very good!

Labels: bloopers, fun, HK Disneyland, nuninus, vacation

No spoilers here... I promise!!! ;-)

Kev and I watched The Transformers last Friday. I wasn't expecting to enjoy the movie. I thought it was going to be 2 hours and 10 minutes of continuous action that only boys would enjoy.

I wasn't a follower of the Transformers when I was a kid. Occasionally, I would catch an episode on tv, just because kuya is watching, and he wouldn't allow me to switch channels. The only character I recognize is Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, both protagonists in the story. The only lines in the theme song I can recall is "The transformers, more than meets the eye." That was about the extent of my Transformers knowledge, of course in addition to the fact that they transform from robots to jets, choppers, guns, trucks, cars, etc. and vice versa.

The minute I saw the galaxy on the screen, I was hooked. Halfway through the movie, I wanted to visit the lady's room, but I couldn't get off my seat. Hehehe... Uhm... I wanted to share what scenes in the movie I like best, but I know that some of you haven't seen the movie yet. I don't want to post anything that would spoil anyone's fun.

So there... I just wanted to say TRANSFORMERS IS KEWL!!! I want to watch it again! For those of you who haven't seen it, go to the nearest movie house and watch it - NOW!!! Hehehe... I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

Labels: fun, nuninus, transformers

Last Friday, I hit the big 3-0. Just a few minutes before 12 midnight, my mom came barging in my room, singing happy birthday at the top of her lungs - that was so cute! Hehehe... Kuya started arguing that it wasn't even 12 yet so it wasn't my birthday yet. My sister soon joined in, saying that my birthday is several minutes yet to come and that the clock in my mom's room is advanced, so she better hold her horses. Nonetheless, my mom gave me a kiss and a big hug. Soon after, text messages from friends and loved ones started coming in.

Just like any ordinary day, I planned to come to work extra early this day. As usual, I hit the snooze button as soon as my alarm clock went off. Its a good thing that a couple of my colleagues, who are on the same trip together with their loved ones decided to ring me at 7:30am. Otherwise, I would have been late coming to work that day.

Just like any ordinary day, my sister was running late, and so she was singing her favorite tune, "Hurry up ate and let's share a cab to work. I'm running late." Ever the giving ate as I always am, I hurried dressing up and finished preparing in record time. When we were about to leave, we teasingly asked kuya to bring us to work, since its my birthday and all. He agreed! So we got a free ride to work that day! I wish everyday is natal day...

Just like any ordinary day, I was on budget mode. I wasn't planning to treat anyone for lunch or merienda for that matter, because I didn't want to leave anyone out. To save the day, Leigh arrived with a big birthday cake that was meant to be shared by all my friends in the office. Instant birthday party! Instant celebration! So thanks Zimmies for sharing it with me. Thanks to my portfolio team for printing out a personalized birthday card, and having people sign it. I was touched by the message - "wag ka na sad ha!" I assure you dear teammates, I am not sad anymore. That was just a real bad case of birthday blues.

Just like any other birthday celebration, I was on my way home to have dinner with my family. However, my sister asked if we could celebrate both our birthdays this weekend instead. So unlike other birthdays I celebrated, Kev and I had a nice dinner somewhere and watched a kewl movie after. The movie was great!

All in all, I'd say my day has been perfect - ordinary somewhat, and yet not so much! :)

Labels: fun, life, nuninus