BER Season Officially Begins!

Posted by wandergirl on September 1, 2011 None comments

Effective today, the BER season has officially started! And that could only mean two things for everyone: work harder and save more. I haven’t prepared my Christmas list yet, but I guess that has to come in a month time. If a non-Pinoy gets to read this entry, s/he’d probably think I’m crazy for thinking about Christmas this early. But that’s very Filipino, isn’t it?

Somehow I am already looking forward to non-stop bazaars and sales, here, there and everywhere. It’s not as if I am planning to splurge heavily on gifts but who knows! But to be honest, I am more excited this year than the previous years’ Christmases. For one, I don’t need to haggle for a vacation leave and beg my boss to allow me not to report for work on Christmas and New Year’s eves. Likewise, I won’t be compelled to sleep and wake up earlier. These are absolutely the wonders of working from home and I’m loving it.

So going back to the BER season, I bet – just like me – people are busy as a bee in their money-saving project. In my case, I’m not planning any out-of-town trip until after New Year. But I’m sure that could change depending on my mood…lolz. But seriously, there’s Christmas to look forward to so I’ll try to get motivated by that. In the meantime, let me just say…Merry Merry everyone :)

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Signs of Aging Or Is It Something Else?

Posted by wandergirl on August 31, 2011 None comments

One of my pet peeves is when I’m feeling something wrong with my body or health. When that happens it’s just so hard to draw a fine line between being worried and being paranoid. A few months ago my eyes started to blur…thanks to Odesk work, my eyes are no longer as good as they used to be. I decided to have my eyes checked in one of the optical centers in SM North EDSA and from there my suspicion was validated. I ended up buying eyeglasses with -50 lens on both eyes. Not contented, I decided to have my eyes checked by a specialist in UST Hospital and true to form, my eyes have been badly affected by too much computer use. Huh, that’s just so great! I was prescribed with vitamins for my eyes and eye drops, which after several weeks I stopped taking and using.

Fast forward to today, just a little over 4 months since my last check up I asked hubby to come with me to get a new eyeglasses because I feel the grade of my eyes just increased. We dropped by at  Ideal Vision in SM North and from there I found out that my left eye is now at -100 and my right is at -75. Wow, am I really experiencing this at 31?! I’m quite alarmed but I don’t want to set myself in panic mode. Of course, I’m having Myopia and I guess that’s better than having a Diabetes, right?

See, I want to pacify myself and good thing my health-conscious father has blood pressure monitors at home, as well as a digital blood monitor. I had my blood pressure taken just to be sure and also my glucose level checked to see if my blood sugar is fine or if I need to ditch drinking my ever-favorite Coke. Several minutes after, dyaraaaaaaaan…contrary to my earlier prediction that I might already suffering from hypertension and diabetes, my blood pressure is 95/63 which meant I have low blood pressure and my blood check showed my glucose level is within normal range.

Somehow I am relieved but it also makes me wonder if those are exactly what you feel when you’re getting older. Oh goodness, I see there’s really no escape to aging :)

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Hong Kong Shopping:Mong Kok, Disneyland, H & M, Giordano, and Bossini

Posted by wandergirl on July 25, 2011 None comments

Now, this is the fun part. I knew from as early as preparing for our itinerary that it’s almost impossible not to shop in Hong Kong. I really saved for it…lolz. In fact, I took heart of the places in Hong Kong where you can buy clothes and knick-knacks, such as Citygate Outlet Mall, Langham Place, Silvercord Mall, Bossini, Giordano, H&M, Uniqlo, Esprit etc.

On our 2nd night in Hong Kong, we’ve been to Harbour City Mall, and it’s filled with the swankiest brands like Burberry, Calvin Klein, Max Mara, Moschino, Ralph Lauren, Versace, Vivienne Tam, and so forth. In less than 15 minutes, we decided to storm out and head to Canton Road where we found H & M, just a few minutes walk past Hermès, and Louis Vuitton. I was in zest upon seeing the store because they have this mega-sale going on.

As soon as we entered, we were greeted by tons of other shoppers. But who cares, I need to get something…and luckily, I saw this white walk shorts and nice top, for HK$99 each. Despite the long queue on all fitting rooms my friend squeezed in…hahaha. I refused and instead found a mirror nearby and fitted the top. The walk shorts is ok by size so I didn’t bother.

On our 3rd night, we went to Mong Kok and strolled at the Ladies’ Market. And here’s where my favorite haggling sessions happened. First stall we saw has an awesome array of bags and my friend got interested in the Gucci bag. I immediately haggled for half the price.

Me: How much is this?

Vendor: HK$ 240

Me: We’ll buy it for 120.

Vendor: No, no

Me: Ok

At this point we started walking out; but seconds later the lady vendor is already running after us saying she’d give it to us for HK$120. One down! Then while she was packing my friend’s purchase, I saw this brown Butterfly Angel bag:

Me: How much?

Vendor: HK$ 400

Me: Ok i’ll buy it for $200.

Vendor: ah no, no money.

Me: Ok (then i stopped touching the bag)

Vendor: Give me more.

Me: No…no money also.

Vendor: Ok, 350.

Me: No, just 200…that’s my budget.

Vendor: Maganda yan (hahaha marunong pala ng konting tagalog)…300

Me: No it’s okay. I’ll just look somewhere.

Vendor: (di na nakatiis si ate)…cge cge…just for you HK$200.

We left the stall with 2 bags…and as we walked some more, we’ve seen t-shirts of nice quality being sold for 5 for HK$100. So, again we asked and touched some of it.

Me: This is 5 for HK$ 100?

Vendor: Yes, 5 for HK$100.

Me: Ok, we’ll buy 12 for HK$200.

At first, the lady vendor didn’t flinch and so we started walking out. But while just a few inches away from their stall, one of them followed us and said they’re giving us 12 t-shirts for $200. Fair enough. So, we picked our choices…lolz

Meanwhile, hubby wanted to buy some ref magnets for his co-workers. As we walked a little further we found this stall that have tons of key chains, mobile phone accessories, ref magnets, and other tiny souvenirs.

Me: How much? (referring to the ref magnets)

Vendor: ah HK$ 15 (ang mahal huh!)

Me: Last price?

Vendor: How much you buy?

Me: 15 pieces

Vendor: Ok, 13 each.

Me: ah expensive.

Vendor: Ok give me your price.

Me: HK$5 each.

Vendor: ah no…no…no

Me: ok

Same trick, we started walking past but the vendor wasn’t ready to let us go. So I said, 5 it is. The vendor demanded to give her more. I said that’s what we can afford. Then she snapped a bit.

Me: ah you’re mad.

Vendor: no no…cge na get 15 (ok marunong din ng konting tagalog)

At this point the vendor is smiling already. So we got 15 ref magnets for hubby for HK$75. So far, we’ve been to Mong Kok twice, H & M in TST once and H & M in Langham Place once. Below are some of the things we’ve hoarded.

MTR ride to Mong Kok

visiting Mong Kok on our 4th day

short and top from H&M; bag and yellow shirt from Mong Kok

t-shirts, mobile phone accessories, ref magnets, key chains

We’ve also bought some t-shirts at Giordano in TST (3 nice t-shirts for only HK$160…nice bargain, indeed),  and I got a capri pants for $HK99 from Bossini (Mong Kok branch). Hubby got an H & M t-shirt for only HK$79. My friend and I also bought a few original Elizabeth Arden Green Tea for only HK$ 75. Just imagine how much an Elizabeth Arden perfume would cost in Manila. I should have bought more and sold it here hahaha.

some cool tees from Giordano

Meanwhile, in Disneyland we’ve also splurged on some nice items. Compared if we’re going to have original Disneyland items here in Manila, the ones sold in Hong Kong are still comparably cheaper. Of course, it seems we’re not having Disneyland anytime soon, so I might as well buy something for myself, my nephews, and my daughter :)

that's my bag...hihihi

my Mickey Mouse watch

some for the little ones :)

July is the sale season in Hong Kong; thus explains the enormous sale offers in many shops around the city. Oh I can’t wait to be back in Hong Kong…lolz. But for now, I guess I have to start saving some more ;)

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Hong Kong 2011 Day 3: Disneyland (Where the Magic Begins!)

Posted by wandergirl on July 24, 2011 None comments

Alright, going to Disneyland is extra special because I made it a point to schedule it on my birthday…yipeeee. We started preparing for the day at 8 AM and had some instant noodles and bread for breakfast. (We found a Wellcome store in Mong Kok and bought some food; theirs are cheaper than 7-11).

The ride to Disneyland begins from Tsim Sha Tsui going to Sunny Bay. From Sunny Bay, we changed platform to Disney Resort Line and from there, we took the Disney train going to the park.

Surprisingly, even if it’s a Monday, there were soooooo many people at the park. Disneyland Hong Kong tickets range fro HK$ 350 (one-day ticket) to HK$ 499 (2-day ticket) to HK$ 2, 400 for the Platinum Magic Access. Luckily we bought our single-entry ticket for only HK$ 320/pax at Golden Crown Guest House; so we didn’t have to line up to the ticketing booth.

cute Disney train hand grips

people just can't seem to get enough of Disneyland

we're finally at our destination...yipeeeeee

Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad

We failed to ride the Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad which takes you on a grand tour of Hong Kong Disneyland aboard an excursion-style train. Why? Because we we’re fascinated upon seeing Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse so we lined up to take our photos with them…hahaha. After the picture-taking, we walked some more and ended up in some of the souvenir boutiques and we can’t help splurging a bit. I’ll create a different post with our shopping at Disney together with our Mong Kok Ladie’s Market experience.

the birthday girl (that's me) with Mickey and Minnie.

group shot

Disneyland Hong Kong has four main attractions – Main Street, U.S.A, Adventureland, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland.

Jungle River Cruise at Main Street, U.S.A

Crocodiles at the Jungle River

some giraffe and elephants along the mysterious Rivers of Adventure

at Tarzan's Treehouse

The Jungle River Cruise and the Tarzan’s Treehouse were among our first stops at Main Street, U.S.A; afterwhich, we had to take our lunch first coz we’re already feeling famished. But boy, food at Disneyland is really expensive – a bottle of soda costs HK$22 and a meal of lemongrass chicken is already HK$ 65. See our food breakdown for the complete cost.

And oh, how can we forget the Mickey’s Phiharmagic – a 3-D magical adventure that left us extremely ecstatic. As in super wow…and add to that is the Flights of Fantasy Parade…I swear, I am in awe even at 31 hahaha.

Flights of Fantasy Parade

cutie Tinker Bell

my daughter's favorite Disney character...Winnie the Pooh

magical showdown

Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear

Happily-Ever-After princesses

Another exciting feature of Disneyland Hong Kong is It’s A Small World. It is found at Fantasyland and takes you to the happiest cruise…very much children-friendly.

the Middle Eastern room

small, fun world

North America room

Finale room

Oh yes, the Philippines was featured in this exciting journey :)

way to go Philippines!

Goodbye = Paalam signage in the finale room

Then there’s The Golden Mickeys, a musical celebration of Disney’s films and characters.

opening appearance of Mickey Mouse

Mickey and Stitch

merry musical

closing parade

It was already 8 PM when we finished The Golden Mickeys and then we started looking for the best spot to watch The Illumination of Tinker Bell’s Castle. It was soooo beautiful, but unfortunately it started raining while we’re waiting for the 9 PM fireworks display. But who says we’re going home…right, we braved the rain just to witness the fireworks display. Although we no longer able to take photos of it.

Tinker Bell Castle

the illumination begins

We haven’t really rummaged through the nook and corners of Disneyland Hong Kong. One day isn’t really enough to try out everything. Last I heard, Disneyland Hong Kong will have their tickets price increase effective August 1, 2011. But I don’t think this will stop tourists and locals from visiting this popular theme park :)

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Hong Kong 2011 Day 2: Ocean Park and Mong Kok

Posted by wandergirl on July 22, 2011 None comments

It’s already 7:30 AM when we woke up, and fortunately, the weather is friendlier. We had breakfast at Cafe de Coral once again because I was craving for a steaming noodle soup…only to find out that the one I’ve wanted to order was not available.

Cafe de Coral's rice noodle soup + hot milk tea

my breakfast

Our itinerary for the day was Ocean Park and Mong Kok. From Tsim Sha Tsui, we took the MTR going to Admiralty. We’re already getting familiar with the sequence of MTR stops and we’re learning how to read a map (kudos to us…lolz). From Admiralty station, we took Exit B and found the queue of City Bus 629. Because it’s a Sunday, there were so many locals and other tourists heading to Ocean Park. We chose to board the upper deck to get a better view of the city.

aboard City Bus 629

luckily we still got seats...hubby got one in front of us

When at last we reached Ocean Park, the first thing that caught my attention was the cable car. I didn’t know they’ve got dozens of cable cars and at first we didn’t pay attention to it, thinking that it’s just one of the rides. We wanted to try the Sky Star right away, but when we approached the queue, the sign posted 75 minutes waiting. Wow, we can’t afford to wait that long or else we might missed a lot. We took some photos on the SkyFair area and then went to line up in the cable car.

wooohooooo we're finally in...

Ocean Park maps are available at the entrance

trying to squeeze in

@the SkyFair

cable car ride to The Summit

what a view?!?

arriving at The Summit

The thing is, I didn’t expect the cable car ride to be quite scary. Now, I’m not sure whether I have the fear of heights or I’m just being paranoid. The cable cars will take you to the other side of Ocean Park, that’s The Summit, where you’ll find extreme rides, the Ocean Theater, and the Chinese Acquarium Yangtze Exploration.

When I say extreme rides, I really mean that. The Ocean Park Tower serves as a primer and gives you a gorgeous view of South China Sea. So to speak, this is the gentlest we’ve experienced. Other rides we tried include:

  • The Dragon – a scary twist and turn with corkscrews and full 360° rotations.

The Dragon

  • Flying Swing – a.k.a Flying Fiest of Enchanted Kingdom
  • Crazy Galleon – the craziest vessel that will swing you at a nearly 45° angle, reaching 20m above ground!
  • The Eagle – a ride with a central rotation speed of 8 revolutions per minute, and a shocking gyro drive speed of 22 revolutions per minute. This is where I got extremely dizzy and screamed my lungs out…lolz

The Eagle

  • Ferris Wheel – our breaker hahaha

It's a date @ the Ferris Wheel

  • Raging River – a log boat that splashes past calm channels and plunges down a high vertical drop. I was seated in front,  so it really  scared the hell out of me.
  • The Rapids – a fun river ride.

Okay, much as I want to try The Abyss Turbo Drop, I don’t have the heart for it. We lined up but my friend and I chickened out at the last minute, so hubby was left alone trying it for himself. We also didn’t have the nerve to try The Flash – a ride that will whiz you around so fast to a full circle. Huh, no way.

The Flash...I hope I have the nerve to try this ride

The Abyss Turbo Drop is equivalent to 20 floors

dinner @ Ocean Park

One day is really not enough to explore the entire Ocean Park. We left at around 8 PM coz’ we’re already dead tired with all those rides. Besides, we still want to go to Mong Kok to shop. I’ll create a separate post for the Mong Kok experience because it’s an entirely exciting experience, too :)

P.S.

Ticket price for Ocean Park is HK$ 250; but we got ours for only HK$ 220 from Golden Crown Guest House. I think other accommodations in Hong Kong are offering Ocean Park tickets and Disneyland tickets for a better discount. So, if you’re on a budget and don’t want to line up, check with your accommodation hotel/hostels if they offer discounted tickets for these theme parks.

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Hong Kong 2011 Day 1: Avenue of Stars, The Peak, Madame Tussauds and more!

Posted by wandergirl on July 21, 2011 1 comments

Our first day in Hong Kong officially started the following day. Even though it was slightly raining on the 16th of July, we were overwhelmed with the Hong Kong scene; thus, after breakfast at Cafe de Coral in Tsim Sha Tsui, we headed straight to the Star Ferry Pier and towards the Avenue of Stars along the Victoria Harbour waterfront. We’ve had pictures with the plaques of Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Chow Yun-fat, and Michelle Yeoh. Of course, we also took pictures of the Hong Kong skyline which is truly breathtaking.

crossing Tsim Sha Tsui

Hong Kong skyline during the day

Bruce Lee plaque

Jackie Chan plaque

From the Avenue of Stars, our next stop was The Peak. From Tsim Sha Tsui, we took the MTR going to Central. Original plan was to avail the round trip The Peak Tram + Sky Terrace + Madame Tussauds. But because it was way too foggy, the staff at the ticketing booth informed us that there might not be good enough view from the Sky Terrace; plus I read from Mav’s blog that it’s better to take the bus going down  for a better view, we ended buying the single journey tram ride + Madame Tussauds. Sadly, because it started raining heavily and the fog became even thicker, we decided to take the tram again going down since we’re not going to see any good view anymore if we ever take a bus.

To be honest, I was somewhat freaking out as soon as the tram started its engine. I was silent while checking out the views around. We seated on the right side of the tram and darn, the scenery is absolutely breathtaking.

at The Peak facade

waiting for the tram ride going up

the tram that's going to take us up The Peak

Three's a crowd hahaha

Still beautiful despite the thick fog

arriving at last!

There were so many souvenir stores at The Peak and we were actually overwhelmed with what to buy. And since it’s already past 2 PM when we reached The Peak, we decided to have lunch first at Burger King. Afterwards, we trekked Victoria Peak Garden and again, very thick fog is all over the place.

crazy shots at the Victoria Peak Garden

the jump shot

poster shot hahaha

w/Pirates of the Carribean hottie

w/Brangelina

can't get enough the Twilight sensation...lolz

w/the people's princess :)

It was already around 6 PM when we got down and headed back to Golden Crown Guest House to take some rest before the Symphony of Lights show at 8 PM.

the awesome Symphony of Lights

Wowwwwwwwww

I was really mesmerized with the Symphony of Lights show and I was silently hoping we could have something like this in the Philippines, too. It attracts so many tourists and locals. In fact, even if it was raining the entire day, we were never held back from visiting Tsim Sha Tsui district, The Peak, and standing for over 30 minutes along the side of Victoria Harbour waterfront just to witness the dancing lights!

For dinner we had our meal at Liang Liang Noodles Shop, near the Lacoste shop in Tsim Sha Tsui. We had chicken curry and sweet n’ sour pork and some rice. At 11 PM we decided to call it a day!

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Hong Kong 2011 Vacation: Settling at Golden Crown Guest House

Posted by wandergirl on July 20, 2011 2 comments

Since we arrived pretty late in the evening, there wasn’t enough energy to roam around after checking in at Golden Crown Guest House.

The room given to us was on the 5th floor,  one with inner window. It had three beds, but we only used two. It was a pretty decent room, but I was confused because they have bigger rooms inside their office and some more pretty nice ones on the 6th floor. Perhaps, those were the newer rooms but we didn’t bother to ask anymore because we don’t want to spoil our stay. Besides, our room is maintained daily, so I guess it’s forgivable.

Ken was the one who accommodated us and led us to our room. There were some clean towels, a bottle of body wash, three cups, and a flat screen TV – which we didn’t get to enjoy since most of the shows were foreign to us.

Just like what the people from Pinoyexchange and Femalenetwork GIRLTALK suggested, Golden Crown Guest House is a nice location for first-time Hong Kong visitors. It’s cheap and well-maintained. And best of all, it’s only a few minutes walk to Avenue of Stars, Clock Tower, Star Ferry Pier, Harbour City, and Canton Road where H & M, Esprit, Hermès, and Louis Vuitton are found. Additionally, it’s also just across the city buses to the airport, plus MTR exits are everywhere so you can go from point A to point B with only a few, enjoyable minutes of walk. In all, it’s very convenient especially for budget travelers like us…lolz.

Below are the breakdown of expenses we’ve incurred for our 4 days/4 nights getaway. Obviously, a huge chunk of our pocket money was spent for buying souvenirs and some personal stuff hahaha. The computation is based on 2 pax…that’s me and my hubby :)

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Hong Kong 2011 Vacation: Arrival at Hong Kong

Posted by wandergirl on July 20, 2011 None comments

First, I was extremely wowed at the sight of Hong Kong as we approached our landing. Second, I was all the more speechless at how huge their airport is that we had to take a train to get to the Immigration area.

We arrived 9:10 PM and after seeing the long Visitors queue, I somehow freaked out if we’ll ever make it to Golden Crown Guest House before 12 midnight. Reaching the Immigration officer, my friend was asked how long will she be staying in Hong Kong; but when it was my turn, the officer just looked at me and gave me back my passport – the same thing happened with my hubby. At 10:30 PM we were already in the baggage area to claim our things and headed straight to the Nothing to Declare door. At this point, I decided to send an SMS to Golden Crown to let them know we’re on our way.

We looked for the customer service booth to buy our Octopus card (HK$ 150/pax) and took some more photos of ourselves before heading to the gate where the buses to the city are stationed. Although it’s already quite late we didn’t feel obliged to hurry and instead we were all relishing every moment of the experience. It was raining the night we arrived but we were ready with our umbrella.

We rode the A21 bus and alighted at bus stop # 13 and walked less than 5 minutes to Golden Crown Guest House, which is between CITI bank and Standard Chartered bank.

w/hubby

w/my friend

walking towards the buses to the city

at the city buses stations looking for A21 bus

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Hong Kong 2011 Vacation: Departure to Hong Kong

Posted by wandergirl on July 20, 2011 None comments

Philtranco’s pick up point going to DMIA Clark was at the back of Megamall Bldg. A. My husband and I decided not to bring a lot of clothes since it’s Hong Kong’s SALE season and I was pretty sure we’re buying some apparels, anyway.

Traffic was extremely horrendous so we had to take the MRT from Quezon City to Shaw. We arrived at Megamall nearly 5 minutes before 12 noon, and Philtranco bus came past 12:30 pm. There were only quite a few passengers and in less than 2 hours we were already at DMIA.

Since we’re early, we had to wait for 3 hours before check-in. Too bad DMIA’s WIFI connection is only accessible inside the immigration area, so had to content ourselves chatting with each other before we checked-in at 5:15 PM. But once inside, everything goes faster already. We paid for our travel tax (PHP 1, 620/pax) and the terminal fee (PHP 600/pax) and then lined up at the Immigration. Funny because I was asked about my occupation and when I said I’m a home based content writer I was asked for my employment ID. Duh, it’s home based! I brought my SSS ID though and when I reiterated it’s home based and told the Immigration officer that I only have my SSS ID, he finally decided to leave me alone :)

After Immigration, waiting for the next 1 hour for our 7:15 flight was already peanuts. Besides we’ve got reasons to get busy already – thanks to WIFI and roaming activation.

Prepping up while aboard the Philtranco bus going to DMIA

Before boarding SEAIR

Settling down...

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Hong Kong 2011 Vacation: Making the Itinerary

Posted by wandergirl on July 4, 2011 1 comments

For Hong Kong first-timers like me, it helps to read forums to get ideas from people who’ve already explored the country. PinoyExchange and Femalenetwork GIRLTALK have useful forums dedicated for this topic.

For a comprehensive coverage, PinoyExchange’s Hong Kong for Dummies has a wealth of information on where to go, what to do, where to eat, where to stay in Hongkong and everything else you need to know before you hop in. Femalenetwork’s Hong Kong Guide practically gives you additional ideas to enjoy your trip. As soon as we have completed our flight booking with Tigerairways I was in full spirit in finalizing our itinerary, and both PinoyExchange and Femalenetwork made that task a lot easier for me. So, I am sharing below our itinerary and hopefully we can get to visit all of them with the beautiful summer weather of Hong Kong:

July 15

Arrival at Hong Kong International Airport
Buy Octopus card
Go to bus terminal and ride A21 double decker
Get some sleep

July 16

Breakfast
Exchange currency in Wing Hoi (Optional)
Tsim Sha Tsui District & Nan Lian Garden
Lunch
Peak Tram + Sky Terrace
Madame Tussauds
The Peak Nature Walk
Symphony of Lights
Dinner

July 17

Breakfast
Ocean Park
Lunch
Mongkok Shopping District (late afternoon)

July 18

Breakfast
Ngong Ping 360 + Village + Giant Buddha
CityGate
Lunch
Disneyland

July 19

Breakfast
Causeway Bay
Ride the HK Island Tram

Check out for more posts to come…

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