Showing posts with label HK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HK. Show all posts

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Kristine Le Voyageur: Hong Kong 2015: Day 2


Day 2: October 13, 2015


Our second day in Hong Kong started off with a bit of a commotion. You see, when we booked our trip with GJM International they informed us that the package we paid for was inclusive of free breakfasts for two mornings. So naturally, we went to the front desk to ask for our breakfast stubs. But hey ho hey, the front desk officer told us that there isn't any free breakfast included in our package. Believe me, it is quite difficult to argue with someone whose language is different from yours. So we just checked out how much hotel food would cost and after some thinking, decided to go out and just eat breakfast outside.

However, we were on a hurry to eat then because we didn't quite expect that we would have to go out and find food elsewhere. We thought that we will just wake up, shower, dress up, go downstairs and eat breakfast. We weren't quite prepared to go searching for food. That said, we just decided to eat at *drumroll please* McDonald's! As you may have seen in my previous post, McDonald's was almost right in front of our hotel.

It is what you think it is: macaroni soup with sausage (or burger patty for us pinoys) and an egg. 

After breakfast, we went back to the hotel and waited for our tour guide to pick us up for our city tour that morning. At exactly 8:30am, our tour guide arrived and quickly apologized for not having informed us about the free breakfasts we were supposed to have at *drumroll please* McDonald's!!! He gave us our money back and gave our McDonald's vouchers for breakfast the next day. Ergo, the mystery of the missing free breakfasts was solved. 

After that it was a blur of activities. We went around the city on a tour bus while our guide, Frank, told us important stuff about Hong Kong like how different Hong Kong locals are to Chinese people and where to go shopping for the right stuff. 

Frank, our tour guide, and the other passengers from Singapore and Malaysia. 


Our first stop was at the Golden Bauhinia Square



"Say cheese!" This photo was taken by the other tour guide, Mr. SorryIforgothisname. He later on charged us for a print-out of this photo that we didn't ask for! 


Our next stop was at Aberdeen Fishing Village, home to the boat-dwelling Tanka people.


At a jewelry store somewhere in Kowloon (sorry, I didn't listen attentively) where Manny Pacquiao and other Filipino celebrities apparently buy lucky charms and whatnots.

Our tour bus was late for picking us up from the jewelry store so who am I to resist taking an OOTD photo in front of this picturesque wall? 

I could be a "Lonesome Georgina" you know...

In all honesty, I wouldn't recommend GJM International to anyone because I was a bit disappointed about the city tour that we had. However, our Hong Kong trip wasn't really about becoming tourists in Hong Kong. One of our goals was to meet Papa's sibling and his family, and then meet with our Mama too. In some ways, the tour that we had was probably better because they took us to places where we were able to experience authentic Hong Kong life. And maybe that's what that tour was all about...

What is a Hong Kong trip without a visit to Disneyland? 






















For more photos, you can just visit instagram.com/krissstrawberry

There aren't enough words to describe our Disneyland experience. I could say that I felt like a little girl who has found a huge room full of toys and spent her whole day in there, but that won't be enough. I could also say that I felt like a wish has truly been granted by some fairy godmother and that I truly felt like dreams do come true in Disneyland, but that still wouldn't be enough. There simply isn't any word that could describe a Disneyland experience except MAGICAL. Hopefully, I could go back and rekindle that feeling. It won't be the same though. There are things that are truly more special when done for the first time.

Cheers to dreaming and believing and to amazing first times!

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Kristine Le Voyageur: Hong Kong 2015: The Night Before

It has always been my dream to travel and see the world. Tomorrow, I will be taking a baby step towards that dream, for tomorrow I shall see outside my world on a three-day trip to Hong Kong with my sister, April. And I'm not gonna lie, tomorrow's flight would be my first airplane ride!

I've read somewhere that Hong Kong, like love, is a mystery. It is the city of beautiful glass towers, stellar restaurants, and is a go-to place for fashionistas and shopaholics to find #OOTD worthy stuff. It is also home to enigmatic crumbling villages, a late Jurassic volcano as well as peaceful beaches teeming with fish and luxury yachts.

Hong Kong was also a huge part of my childhood. Growing up, people would ask me where my real mother was and I would always answer, "Nasa Hong Kong!" (She's in Hong Kong!) I always looked forward to Christmases and New Years because our Mama would be sending toys and stuff from Hong Kong. I never really got close to her because she was in Hong Kong for half of my life. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to meeting her and spending the day with her on our third day there.

Our flight tomorrow is at 6pm but we will be leaving the house at 9am because you know how Manila traffic is such a bad bad bitch. I should be sleeping now but I feel like a little girl excited for her first trip to the zoo! (Not that I support zoos now that I'm a grownup though...)


Bon voyage!