j a n s e n. i. s. m.

10.01.08-10.06.08

It’s Time I Fly

I have this recurring dream when I was younger of floating on air like Peter Pan.

In reality, I’m slightly acrophobic.

My father is an OFW and has more experience than any relative I know on flying.

He rides the plane about 4 times a year. We always make it a point to meet him in the arrival area of NAIA for his annual vacation in his home country. How ironic.

This was my first time in the airport on a departure area.

In fact, this was my first time to ride a plane on my first out the country trip. The first time I will be away from home in 5 days.

Breathe in. Breathe out. HONGKONG here I come.

10×12/6

The worries faded and the excitement heightened the moment the Cebu Pacific plane had landed in the Hong Kong International Airport. Minutes later, we found the bus station and hopped in to a double decker bus on our way to Johnston Road, Wan Chai– our adopted address for the next 5days. My eyes lit up with the initial view of what HK has to offer–skyscrapers here and there, well-lit highways, clean and organized transportation system. Soon, we reached the bus stop and met Ate Remy– Sarita’s contact person and  our fairy godmother  here in HK. She owns the apartment we will be staying in . Our room, a humble 10×12 feet space in my approximation (with two double deck beds, an air-condition unit, a stool, sets of drawers) was simple and inexpensive at only $HK50 per night per person. We were 6 on this trip (supposedly 7 but Jerwin– Sarita’s beau had a soon-to-expire passport that’s why he wasn’t able to join us). This left me in the company of 5 women: There’s Sarits (the one who invited me to join them in this trip and the most experienced overseas traveler among us), her amiable and thoughtful sister Bing, Sarita’s two friends since high school, Melanie and Louie Anne (who brought with them some serious cameras for this trip) and lastly, Mitch (Melanie’s sister who was my schoolmate in college but I’ve only talked to here).

Spending my first night in Hong Kong, I realized how lucky I was to join this trip. I consider myself as the extra, but my travelmates never really made me feel like one (esp Sarits and Bing). I was unsure of what time I fell asleep, but all I knew is that I was excited of the morning and of what’s coming ahead.

Mickey, Minnie & Me (Minus 20 Years)

When I was four, I probably didn’t have any idea who Mickey and Minnie Mouse are. Then if I grew up to be an idiot, I probably did think before that Disneyland was a member of the United Nations. Twenty years delayed, I found myself standing on the grounds of a Disneyland and finally meeting the world’s most famous mice. Sandwiched between them for a photo op, I felt like i was back being four years old. Any kid will find them really nice and adorable but as an adult, I couldn’t help but wonder that the people inside these mascots are just doing their job.

Dimsum (The Food Trips) 

• If you’re lucky, the Chinese restaurant you will have lunch at will have English subtitles on their menu. Otherwise, you would have to depend on pictures, body language and broken English because the waitress could already be suffering a mild stroke before she understands that what you just want is a Coke in can.

• We only had breakfast once in the five days we were in HKG and as a preventive measure we didn’t drink any milk. Most of the time, we had brunch and dinner only. Our bill seemed cheap until we start to multiply it by 6. We enjoyed the steamed barbecued pork bun in Wei Wah which ridiculously is better than any local ’siopao’ we have here. In another restaurant, we asked the waitress if they have any ‘dimsum’ on their menu (which by the way was in pure Chinese characters and had limited pictures in it). She was having a hard time figuring out what we were trying to order until she made us realize that we are pronouncing ‘dimsum’ differently. She corrected “dim-some” and she politely “acted” that they don’t serve them.

• The most expensive meal we had was dinner in Tien Yi, one of the restaurants  located atop the Victoria Peak. The place has a zen zest feel to it. The waiters are dapper, look more expensive and seem like they can speak better English than us. The assigned server to our table put the napkins on our laps and willingly accepted the chore of taking our pictures. The food we shared was good, nothing fancy though but as aforementioned, was expensive that we had to charge it to Melanie’s credit card and pay at a later time.

Photo Ops in HK

It would a huge mistake to travel without a camera and a charger because with the number of interesting and breathtaking sights in Hong Kong ,you’ll be thankful that digital photography was invented because rolls of camera could be very expensive.

Macau-Cooked

From Hong Kong, you can simply take a 1-hour ferry boat ride and with no need for a visa, your passport will be stamped with proof that you’ve also been to Macau. There’s also so much to see there, but we only spent a day there so we had to make the most of our time.

• Macau used to be a colony of Portugal, that’s why most subtitles (example building and street names) are not in English but rather in Portuguese. Noticeable as well is the widespread Catholic-influence in Macau. We almost got lost finding the Ruins of St. Paul and had to pass a crowded street to reach the site.

• You can use Hong Kong dollars (1 HK$ = 1 MOP) to pay in Macau. However they don’t accept Macanese Pataca back in Hong Kong.

• Take advantage of the complimentary rides of the hotels and casinos from the port. We took the free ride of Sands Hotel to reach the Fisherman’s Wharf, which offers various restaurants, shops and a chance to bump into OFWs working there. We also went to The Venetian Macao, which as wikipedia describes “a Renaissance Venice-themed luxury hotel and casino resort … and is the largest single structure hotel building in Asia and the third-largest building in the world”. We wish we had a lot of money to spend overnight in The Venetian but we could only afford dinner at The Venetian Food Court which interestingly has a man-made sky painted on its ceiling.

What’s Hong Kong w/o Shopping

• Hong Kong without shopping is like Philippines without corruption.  We made it a point to check the souvenir shops at all places we visited. The initial shopping happened in Citygate outlet on our way to Tian Tan Buddha. The next happened on our last night in Hong Kong. We went to the night market in Mong Kok, it was raining heavily and I was wearing sneakers. This could be in the list of my worst shopping ever, but in utter desperation to buy some inexpensive and local stuffs, we braved the storms and left Kowloon/Mong Kok with some items bought like t-shirts that say “I Love HK” and “I Got Lost In Hong Kong”

• On the next and last morning, we were desperate to find an H&M retail store. It’s a Swedish brand of stylish clothes for men and women more like Marks&Spencer and Zara but the prices are more reasonable. After asking a few ‘kababayans’ around, we were able to locate the store along Queen’s road, Central. I was able to shop a few clothes for myself, items for mom, dad and EJ as well as for a couple officemates who approved my VL.

• Sarita, Bing and I did our last minute shopping at the airport (or were we at a mall?) and spent the last few HK dollars left on food/pasalubongs from Aji-Ichiban.

It’s Time I Go Home

Part of me misses home and worries work waiting on the next day.

My feet are damn tired and my wallet is thinner.

But my experience is richer.

I made it happen and I survived.

Welcome me back. Welcome home.