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…