Hong Kong Travelogue Pt. 1

Hello! We just got back from HK, well last Tuesday morning… so cut us some slack if we haven’t posted anything since our last entry. We’re not slacking off, I went straight to work and Joy went straight to sleeping! Hehehehe…

Give me a break, you know I’m still recuperating from my surgery!

That’s why they forgive you, right? Hehehe… So that’s what we’re going to talk about today. Days 1 and 2 of our Hong Kong escapade! Woohoo! Hong Kong rocks!... Well except for the B.O… Lufet!

Forgive Bob’s enthusiasm, it was his first time in HK, in fact it was his first time outside the country! Kulang na lang ipa-frame namin ang passport niya kasi sa wakas natatakan na rin! Hehehe…

Kasalanan ko bang di ako lumaki sa may kayang pamilya? Huhuhu… Oo na, promdi na… Hehehe… Okay lang, at least wala akong putok! Yahoy!

You’re so mean! I did warn you na summer sa kanila, kung winter nga may putok sila, eh di lalo na pag summer! Makes you appreciate the Pinoys more no? Anyhoo, we were in HK for a total of 4 days, pero we have so many experiences so we decided to talk about the first 2 days muna. Medyo hazy na sakin actually kung kelan ba ang alin… Be, a little help please? The first day, all I recall was that it rained…

Yes it did, Be, yes it did. Good memory. Umulan nung pumunta tayo sa ating first stop… TOM LEE Music, babeh! Yeah. This is me and my Kuya’s dreamland.

Ah yes, now I remember. Tom Lee. Argh. This is what I can tell all the ladies out there, I finally know the feeling guys get when we girls shop for clothes or shoes or makeup tapos they have no interest in what we are doing. Ganun ang naramdaman ko while we were at Tom Lee, alam niyo yun, tatayo-tayo lang for hours at nakatunganga, habang sila enjoy na enjoy…

At least di ko tinatanong kung “Bagay ba sa akin itong gitara na to? Kuha kaya ako in Brown and Pink?” Tapos, pag sinabihan ka pang hindi, nagalit ba ako? Nyaahahah… WHAPOINK! Heheh… Aray…

Uy hindi naman ako ganyan no! Ano lang ako, yung magtatanong ng opinion mo tapos ako pa rin ang masusunod hehehe…

Onga... parang minsan nga, tatanungin mo na lang sarili mo eh, “Tanga ba ko sumagot?” Kasi naman, alam naman gusto, magtatanong pa… Annyyyywaayyy, so HK, saya! TAGISH! Hehehehe… Peace Keeping Forces, PASOK! Hehehe… magkakagiyera dito, biliiiiisss! Hehehe…

O siya sige, baka nga mag-away pa tayo. Anyway, we stayed at Eaton Hotel along Nathan Road. One tip should you ever visit HK and you have enough cash, never get a hotel with a rating lower than a 4-star. Ang standard rooms kasi ng 4-star hotels are much smaller than the standard rooms of our 3-star hotels in the Philippines. My aunt had an experience where she stayed at a 3-star hotel and the room was so small, pati yung kama super liit nakalampas yung paa niya.

And she was 4’11”… hehehe…

No, she was not! Bebe!

Joke lang, Tita! Hehe… Anyway, the hotel was pretty decent naman. They refilled everything naman everyday, even the complimentary H2O. Yung ibang hotels dito sa atin, one-time lang ata yung ganun eh.

Anyway nung first day, the first order of business was supposedly Disneyland kaso as mentioned earlier umulan nga, so ang naging bagsak, Tom Lee. Be, ikaw na bahala magkuwento ng tungkol diyan.

Hwokey! Tom Lee, man! TOM LEE! YEAHHH! Hehe… sa mga musicians out there, this is our haven. The first one we visited was in Cameron Road, the main bi-atch, I mean branch ng music superstore na ito sa HK. I think it would equal to 2-3 in-mall Audiophiles sa laki. And you get to try the high-end stuff without any questions asked! Grabe, parang living a dream for 3 hours. I got to touch a Gibson Les Paul, a real American one; Strats, a YJM sig series, even the artist relics! Lufet! Talagang walang pipigil sa’yo! Just borrow a cable from the counter and shred away! Take your pick! Take no prisoners! ARRRRRGHHH!! Hehehe… Sorry, got carried away. The prices are lower at Tom Lee, just be sure to remember how you’ll take it home. Baka mag-excess baggage ka, pumareho din ang presyo. Grabe galing, Les Paul Standard, worth Php100k++ nakatugtog na ako, on a Mesa Boogie Lonestar worth around the same price. Now we, my Kuya and I, realized: HIGH END GEAR AIN’T ALL THAT! Nasa indian talaga, wala sa pana. Hehehe…

Akala ko mapagsasarahan na tayo dito sa Mocha Blends eh...

Hehe… onga no, okay! Moving on! Salamat nga pala sa mga pasensyosong waiters sa Mocha Blends dito sa Jose Abad Santos sa San Juan. Thanks, guys! Hehe. We’ll be staying here most of the time for this blog. Shet. Di pa pala tayo nagse-save. Saving…

Bebi nasosobrahan ka na yata sa kape… Anyway, after Tom Lee (which I don’t believe na 3 hours lang kami dun kasi it felt like forever :p )…

Wow, felt like forever… parang kanta… hmmm… san malapit music store dito? WATOINGGGGG!! Hehehe… Aray…

Ay, inaasar ako? Time out ha, mag-aaway lang muna kami…

AFTER 4 HOURS… Hehe… Joke. Di kami nagaaway nyan. Ambait ko kaya?!

Bebi sobra na nga talaga kape mo, tama na yan ok? Anyway nga, after Tom Lee, we went to HMV where original DVDs are sold. Kaso since kami ni Bob suki sa pirata (hi Vincent!), tumambay lang kami sa labas at either nanghula kung sino sa mga dumadaan ang Pinoy or namimintas sa fashion sense ng mga taga-HK. But Bob’s brother Mike and his girlfriend Rakel were able to purchase a copy of Infernal Affairs 1-3 (Rakel, pahiram after nyo ha? Walang pirated niyan eh hehe). Be paki explain what the movie is about...

Infernal Affairs, for those who don’t know yet, is a Chinese movie Scorsese based “The Departed” from. But the movie “The Departed” only covered the first Infernal Affairs installment. The other two parts were, one a prequel, and the other one, I dunno… duhh... Anyway, we’ll review them once we get to borrow the DVDs.

So after HMV, I think we had merienda at KFC, and let me tell you guys, they don’t serve gravy!

HUWAAAAT? NO GRAVYY? GRAVEEEEHHHH… Oo. Walang. Gravy.

Well actually meron but you have to pay for it, mga HK$5 yata. Otherwise, what they serve are small packets of… was that chili sauce or ketchup? Ok, chili sauce. But the good thing about the KFC in HK is that they have more offerings in their menu. Be, tell them about what you ordered... lahat ng inorder mo ha! :p

Patay… andami nun. Deh, di naman. I ordered Chicken and Cheese Muffin and a Ham and Cheese Wrap Sandwich. The funny thing about ordering there is you’ll tend to go turo-turo. Di kayo magkakaintindihan, magtututuro ka na lang kung ano yung gusto mo. “One this, 2 that… Extra this”. Hehehe… kinda odd to see KFCs with a handheld menu. At least, it makes things easier. The money is weird too. They’re in different sizes and different designs from different banks, HSBC and China Bank. Weird. Anyway, the sandwiches were good—and the coffee too! By this time, my feet were killing me. Lupet. Kailangan ko na talaga magpapayat… tapos hayop sa meryenda eh, no?

Food in HK is very expensive. So are the cabs which is why we preferred to walk kung within the city lang naman. Otherwise we take the MTR (mass transit rail) which is very, very efficient. Sa HK nga, kahit na first time mo, hindi ka maliligaw basta marunong ka lang magbasa. Everything is user-friendly, lahat may English translation. This is really a good place to go to for first-time travelers.

Aray.

No bebi, I wasn’t making parinig ☺ Anyway after KFC, we went to a bunch of other places like a supermarket and a Starbucks. For dinner we wanted to try authentic Hong Kong cuisine kasi baka puro fastfood lang ang kainan namin. We tried this place called Tak Kee Seafood Restaurant. Medyo seedy yung place but at least we were eating inside a real resto kasi yung ibang authentic HK cuisine, nasa kalye lang at sobrang dumi talaga. Medyo pwede-pwede na dito sa Tak Kee although yung server namin had this really bad BO, plus he kept putting his fingers inside the dishes he served. In fairness, super sarap ng food. Kaya siguro…

Although, to be clear, di naman nya dini-dip. Hehehe, nagkakataon lang talaga na napapasawsaw yung thumb niya pag hawak niya yung serving dish. Yari yun kung mahaba yung kuko. Anyway, we had beef with broccoli, fried squab (pigeon-like bird) and pork in sweet and sour sauce and fried rice. Tanong nga ni Kuya kung ano kakainin namin, sagot namin Chinese food, sabi nya, “Hinde, dito, tawag dun Food lang”. Parang pwede ipang-forward sa text no?

Sorry no pictures. Can I just share? Alam niyo ba, dati pa dapat namin naumpisahan ni Bob itong review-review ng food kaso everytime ise-serve samin yung food, kinakain na namin agad bago pa namin makunan ng picture. Which is exactly the same thing that happened to us here at Tak Kee. Sayang, napakita sana namin kung saan nakalubog yung thumb nung server dun sa rice bowl, as in nag-leave talaga ng dent dun sa kanin.

Nyahahaha! Astig. Dito, marereklamo mo na yun. Sa kinainan namin, parang it’s the way things are talaga. Pag walang daliri, kadiri! Hehehe… Pero para sa isang resto na parang karinderya, naka-aircon yung place ha? Saya.

Okay, after eating we walked a few paces tapos nasa night market na kami in Temple Street. This place (which is in Yau Ma Tei) is known for bargain clothes, souvenirs, electronics, jewelry… truly a shopping haven! Shempre parang biglang nawala pagod ko kasi shopping na to! Hehehe. The best find were some shirts for Bob…

Yeah!!!

Bebi share ko lang ha?

Yung?

Kung bakit tuwang-tuwa tayo makahanap ng shirts for you.

Just shoot me first. Deh sige, oks lang. Sus, para namang di kita sa pictures. Go…

Hehe... si Bob kasi hindi na, well hirap, makahanap ng sizes for him. We have to go all the way to Baguio’s ukay-ukay in order to find shirts that will fit him. Kaya super gulat namin na may shirts dun na pwede sa kanya kasi diba Asians are known for having small frames? Anyway, hayun, we bought mga 5 shirts na although a bit pricey were worth it naman kasi cute yung mga designs.

Oo, yung mga luma kong T-shirts, nag-aapply na ng pension plan. Hehehe… at least makakapahinga na sila kahit papaano. Pero itatapon ko na ba sila? NO WAY!!! Hahahaha… hanggang may manggas, may buhay.

Be maawa ka naman sa mga damit mo, literally hanging on by a thread na lang sila! Hehehehe just kidding. Anyway that ends our first day in HK. Grabe 1st day pa lang pero ang haba na nito. Pwede bang installment, next time na yung day 2?

Hehe… if we can stop typing! Saya kaya nung trip, kaya ang saya rin ikuwento eh. Anyway a few details here were left out pa dahil sa kakulangan sa oras at sa space. Pero, sige, sisingit-singit naman yun as we remember some of them. Jam-packed day lang talaga ang Day 1 namin. Saya talaga!

At super sakit sa paa!

Korak. Oww…

Dampalicious!

Hey, peeps! Here’s our first review for this blog. This falls under the restos category. As we’ve told you from the beginning, Joy and I are very fond of eating, so we try to discover new restos. Some rip us off of our hard-earned moolah, bwiset, hehehe, but most of them are pretty good naman. In fairness.

The resto we’ll be reviewing now is Sharmila. I’m pretty sure most of you are familiar with Dampa, the most famous is of course the original located in Las Pinas. But there are also other Dampa establishments such as the one in Macapagal, Libis, and Julia Vargas. Because it’s nearer us, well me actually hehe, we pretty much frequent the one in Julia Vargas known as Seaside.

The original Dampa actually is in Paranaque, near Air Force One. Hmmm… Ba’t di ba natin na-try yung Air Force One, Be? Alam ko may seafood din dun eh… Hehehe…

Ibang seafood yun no! Hmph! And besides we went there already, remember the launch of Maxim magazine? Kasalanan ko ba na hindi pagkain ang inatupag mo nung andun tayo?

Heheh… at least nag-window shopping lang ako, di ako nagpaluto! Hahaha! Heniwey…

This is the end of this blog.

Patay tayo diyan! Heheh… joke lang Be. Ang aga pa para magsign-off. Wala pa tayong narereview. Hehehe. So yung Seaside… hmmm… yung Seaside, okay ka lang ba Be? Wag mo ihampas sa akin yung laptop. Mahirap magtype. Anyway, Seaside. We frequent this joint kasi one-stop shop rin sya. Masarap yung seafood, fresh, in fairness, tapos may mga DVD stalls sa tabi! Rakenrol!

Like I was saying earlier, to those unfamiliar with the Dampa concept, there is a string of small restos within Dampa where you can have the food you bought in the market cooked. A variety of fresh fish, shrimps, crabs, oysters, and other seafood are available. There is also paihaw like liempo and inasal. Regardless of which Dampa we are at, we always go to Sharmila. In the case of this review, it is Sharmila of Seaside where we ate this afternoon.

Sumasakit pa nga yung joints ng kamay ko hanggang ngayon eh… Uric Acid tayo diyan! In Sharmila, we just order from the waitresses and they do the shopping for us, although you may opt to do it on your own, lalo na kung may particular na choices ka sa seafood. Kasi kami, hehe, hassle eh. Upo na lang kami, nood TV (Startalk, anyone?), tapos antay na lang ng lutong pagkain… ATTACK! Hehehe…

Wait, let’s put some order to this review. Since you already mentioned the TV, how about reviewing the place first before we go straight dun sa food?

Hokey, the place is not five star, but definitely, di naman tipong karinderya. Air conditioned naman, di mainit, pwera na lang syempre kung nasa labas ka… TOINK! Heheh… sorry Be. Hehehe… Yun… may TV…

Okayyyyy… Uhm, sige ganito. The place is fairly clean, that is if you don’t mind a few flies buzzing about whether indoors or out. You may choose to eat inside which is airconditioned and which Bob so fondly stresses, there is a colored TV. Or you can eat outdoors where at night an acoustic act usually performs. The servers are friendly enough and being regulars to the place, we get to enjoy a discount na hehehe. I think Bob is getting antsy, let’s go straight to the food na nga.

Ano yun? Nilalanggam? OO! Kasi sweet ako… NYERRK!

Nyerrk is correct Be.

Anyway, for discounts, look for Ivy. Heheheh… Pero you have to bring us with you. Nothing talks like face value in that place… Toink! Hehehe… I was talking about you, Be. Okay. The Food. We ordered 2 of the bestest best offerings they have in the place. As you can see in exhibit A: The Crab. Yummy.

I’m not really sure if we can call it the bestest best kasi ito lang naman talaga ang palagi nating ino-order. In fairness, masarap kasi talaga.

Kasi BOB knows BEST! Tsk. Wala nang iba sa Menu ang makaka-satisfy sa atin! Hehehe… onga, baka may ibang masarap, medyo mahal na kasi eh. Ehehehe. Pero yun, crab. In butter-garlic goodness. Sinasabaw pa ni Joy sa kanin. Ayun, tanggal yung Gall Bladder. Actually, celebration to of some sort. Ang pagbabalik loob ni Joy sa butter-garlic world. Hehehe…

And the aligue, omigod the aligue!

Gall Bladder RIP 1979-2007.

Naku no it was worth it! Especially with Haagen Dazs Macadamia Nut ice cream for dessert! But that’s a different review. I’m sorry, I digress. Ok, back to the butter-garlic crab. A little education for the uninitiated. There are three types (genders?) of crabs, there’s the female kind where the aligue is plentiful but it’s medyo matigas, yung dark orange yung color. Then there are male crabs with the least aligue of all. Then there’s our favorite, the BAKLA crab which has the right amount of aligue and is the tastiest and juiciest and creamiest of them all… hay naglalaway na naman ako…

Ako di na makatype. Letsugas na Uric Acid yan o. Anyway, sa crab talaga, yung mga nakatikwas ang sipit ang the best. Hehehe…Tama lang yung aligue (crab fat, para sa mga inglisaysing), texture-wise makinis. Di mahirap kainin… CHARING NA CHARING! Kasi dun naman sa Babaeng crab, malulunod ka nga sa aligue, tirik naman mata mo after maka dalawang takip ka. Sa lalaki naman, lugi! Halos, walang narating yung bayad mo. Sa Bakla, chot na chot! Hehehehe…

Si Bebi talaga, puro kalokohan. How are we gonna have any credibility niyan?

Bahala ka sa Mayaman, ako sa Jologs. Hehehe…

Hehehe… Anyway ingat lang sa mga mataas ang cholesterol and uric acid kasi eating this often will surely land you a visit to the hospital. But believe us when we tell you that this dish is something you really have to try. A kilo of crabs will amount to siguro mga 3 pieces, tapos they chop it and cook it in a mixture of butter, garlic, some soy sauce I think, probably a dash of calamansi, and other spices. Just look at the picture, diba itsura pa lang ang sarap na talaga?

Ika nga, picture pa lang, Ulam na… labo. Ulam naman talaga to eh. Hehe… Moving on to the shrimp! Galing Japan pa to! Hehe… Joke lang. Tempura yung trip namin kanina, and we’ve been patrons of this offering since we first tried it a few months ago. Actually, di naman namin sya talaga dapat susubukan, since we have all the Teriyaki Boys and Kimpuras for this, but we’re telling you, nung nasubukan namin (actually, nadala lang kami eh, daming umuorder) panalo rin pala. It can par up to the Teriyaki Boys out there. Panalo rin. Nga pala yan yung Exhibit B. Yum!

Ever since we started eating in Dampa, what we always ordered was sugpo na hinalabos sa Sprite…

Which is panalo rin in its own right…

That’s right, sobrang tasty. But then some time ago Bob and I gave in to our curiosity kasi nga like he said, we saw a lot of people ordering it. We were hesitant at first kasi feeling namin, sa Japanese resto ka na kumain ng tempura, at least alam nila yung pagluto talaga. But we decided to try it and ayun, mga converts na kami! We’ve been ordering it ever since kasi hindi lang kasing sarap (or maybe even better) ng mga ino-offer sa Japanese restos, you also get your money’s worth kasi if you compare the prices between Dampa and other Japanese restos, mas marami kang makakain na tempura shrimp sa Dampa.

Isa pa, one of our hesitations was if the batter was done right. Baka mamaya, arina at itlog lang, ano yun? Breaded shrimp? Manok lang ginaganun! Atsaka Porkchop… hmmm…

Are you hungry again Be? Hehehe...

Mej…

Hala, dibale may takeout pa tayong crab sa sasakyan hehehe… Anyway, speaking of the batter, our only criticism dun sa tempura shrimp ng Dampa is that, although the batter used to coat the shrimps is masarap talaga, medyo they have a tendency lang to put a lot of breading dun sa shrimps. Nakakauwa siya if you eat all of it, so what we would suggest you do should you try this dish is to remove some of the excess breading, after that, no more complaints! Okay na lahat!

Hehe, actually, kung marami kayo, pwede pang i-ulam yung excess na breading eh. Dami lang talaga. Pero, agree ako sa fact na na-point out kanina ni Joy. Sobrang value for money ang Tempura sa Dampa, well at least sa Sharmila. Sa price na yun, about P1200 lahat-lahat, di ka makakarami sa ibang restos diyan. Sobra pa yun, halos di na namin kaya nung bandang huli… Ubos ba yung pagkain? OO naman! Sayang yun kung iuuwi mo pa, baka masira sa transit. Excuses ba? Hehe… Oo na matakaw na ako! Hehe…

Now P1200 may sound like a lot for some of you but you have to take in consideration yung dami naming umorder ni Bob hehe. The breakdown is as follows: 1 kilo bakla crabs in butter-garlic sauce, ½ kilo sugpo tempura style, ¼ kilo inihaw na liempo, 1 bowl of rice, 3 cans of soda, and 1 bottled water. Kahiya man sabihin pero dalawa lang kami ni Bob na kumain kanina. So if you have smaller appetites, you will definitely, definitely, pay a smaller bill.

Truth be told, pang apat siguro, pwede tong inorder namin. O panlima pa raw. Depende kung kasama kami ni Joy. Hehe. So ayun, guys, you may want to check this joint out. Sharmila’s Ihaw Ihaw is the name of the place, inside Ortigas Home Depot compound along Julia Vargas, beside Metrowalk (although, if my memory serves me right, walang access from Metrowalk to this place.) You have to take J.Vargas talaga, if you’re going towards C-5, you have to make a U-turn at the first slot after Meralco Avenue intersection.

Thanks for giving the directions Be, you know how bad I am with that. Anyway, if you’re nearer the South area, there’s also a Sharmila in the Paranaque Dampa (where we also enjoy a discount hehe) as well as in the Macapagal branch. Hindi ako sure dun sa Libis kasi I think yun na lang yung Dampa na hindi pa namin nasusubukan ni Bob. We have this goal kasi of trying them all out hehehhe. Someday.

Til the next review. Happy Damping?! Huh?

ANG SIMULA NG LAHAT…

This will be our first entry in this Blog. I’ll light a cigarette first. Joy will take over… Ika nga, “Ladies First”. Heheheh…

Hayy yosi na naman. I was gonna ask you pa naman sana to ease me in kasi I’m new at this blogging thing. So what do I say? Welcome? Anyway, we’re here right now at Mocha Blends near Wilson.

She’s a little nervous right now…parang nagfe-first date…walang masabi. Hehe. Anyway, welcome, dear readers!

Naku no, sana nga first date na lang, I think I would be much more comfortable. Feeling ko kasi graded itong sinusulat ko eh hehehe. Besides I remember clearly nung first date natin ikaw ang tameme no! :p

Hahahah! Ako ba talaga ung tameme nun? Hmmmm….shingiling shingiling (flashback) Hehehhe…AKO NGA! Hehehe! Anyway, on to business.

Be, I told you not to make me laugh! I just came out of the hospital kasi, had my gall bladder removed about a week ago. Do you think we can show the stones removed from me or would that be too yucky?

Not if we’re gonna review food. Hehehe. Siguro when we review hospitals, perhaps? Hehe. Actually, she’s in pain right now, ganyan ang dedication ni Be sa blog na to. Before we get deeper into the woods, we’re gonna explain a few things here. “Be” is short for Bebe, a pet name we decided to call ourselves. It may refer to any one of us, syempre depending on who’s talking.

The “Be” might also have some variations. I sometimes call him Becky coz he looks like a pretty girl sometimes hehehe ☺ He sometimes calls me Bembemdillydally because he found it hilarious that I used the word dilly-dally one time. Weird huh?

I bet more of our readers out there have weirder pet names for their partners. Hehe. Medyo tame na yung sa atin. So, Be, would you like to introduce what this blog is all about? Aside from the semi-narcissistic, wanna-be-famous attempt natin to attract readers and hopefully influence their decisions with our piece of mind? Hehehe…

Well we initially wanted an outlet where we could share our thoughts with whoever would be willing to listen. I guess we’re getting tired with just bouncing off one another hehe so we wanted to include you guys out there. Part of the things Bob and I love to do is eat out (parang hindi obvious sa itsura namin no? hehe) and we’ve eaten in a lot of restos, some good, some bad. And we wanted to let you in on what we thought about each one of them. Same goes for movies we’ve watched, pirated DVDs we’ve bought, places we’ve been to… what else Be?

Even human behavior we’ve encountered. Yung mga quirks ng tao na baka sa comments nyo, e, maintindihan namin. Hehe.

Oh, and showbiz tsismis as well!!!

This is the blog’s genesis…heheh…interesting na ba agad? O hindi?
Tignan nyo ang una naming review, ang reason behind Joy’s Gall Bladder loss. Hehehe…buttered seafood! Ang first review namin, DAMPA! Hehe…Keep posted, guys!