DAY 5



CHOCOLATES GALORE
August 5, 2007 10 AM
CAUSEWAY BAY, HONG KONG


The next morning was time for last-minute purchases. Mine was simple. I only planned to buy Royce Chocolates, possibly the yummiest and most distinctive-tasting chocolates I’ve ever had the fortune of eating. Our preferred Royce are the Nama Chocolates which come in five variants-white, champagne, au lait, bitter, and mild cacao. Royce is from Japan where they can be bought at half the price. Melissa told me that Shu Uemura, which is also from Japan, costs more expensive there than in HK. I wonder why that is so. Isn’t it usual that goods are cheaper in their home country? Unless it’s manufactured there, labeled elsewhere and then imported back. Or Japanese are crazy over makeup that the Shu Uemura people decided to mark their products up since no one would care anyway. Whatever. I’m rambling.

Nikki was off early to go to Mongkok. Camie, Mel and I couldn’t wait for Franz to finish taking his bath so we decided to meet up later instead. Royce is great for bringing home since they put in the chocolates in an insulated pack with dry ice inside. The dry ice proved to be useful when I hit my head on the office floor a month later. I used it on my head instead of an ice pack.

We were greeted by an amazing site outside our hotel when we were on our way to Times Square. There were Indonesians everywhere! Apparently, we were living near Indonesia-town. They set themselves up in the streets, on the walkways, basically every place where they could congregate. I think it’s the same with Pinoys only they do it in Central. CWB was so crowded and the worst part was that it was raining. (So glad I brought an umbrella) I suppose we’re already quite lucky since it only rained on this last day. Gene tells me that after we left, the rains started to pour hard and in earnest. I loathe walking in the rain, especially in crowded places where the concept of personal space is null and void.

The rain dampened our moods. F got soaked since he didn’t have an umbrella. We met up with him in the Esprit Lee Theatre Plaza where Mel and Camie bought Muji marshmallows for home. I love Muji. They carry so many items in different categories in the most functional minimalist fashion while having that unique and elusive Japanese cuteness. F and I just sat in the benches, too tired to even browse. The salespeople didn’t bother us either. I don’t where we would’ve gone and how we could’ve carried all the chocolates if they shooed us away,

We except Camie who bought beef in the SOGO supermarket went back to the hotel and decided to have lunch. We walked around the area around Excelsior looking for some yum cha to no avail. We ended up in a restaurant serving rice toppings. HK is so tourist-friendly. All the menus have English translations and almost everyone speaks good English. The food was good. We’ll get our taste of yum cha some other time.

Nikki caught up with us here carrying her purchases galore. We all trooped back to the hotel and hung out at the place they call the lobby while finishing our packing. The Regal Hongkong Hotel is situated across Victoria Park in CWB. It is a hotel with grand aspirations, décor-wise. One will be marveling at the gilded and ornate furniture and trimmings. The excessive Victorian era and society country living seemed their inspirations. The yellow lighting only further impressed one with the shine and shimmer of the hotel. Get your sunglasses out. Apart from interior design, the hotel was more than sufficient for our needs. I’m already happy with clean washrooms, hot and cold water, and a working air-conditioner. The lenient staff and accommodating service are perks. The accessibility and affordability of the hotel (Only 98USD per night divided by 5) were tops.

LAST-MINUTE SHOPPING
August 5, 2007 10 AM
MONGKOK, HONG KONG


Nikki's Morning
Determined to bring home tons of goodies, I ventured to Mongkok alone on our last day. It was drizzling lightly and I didn’t bring an umbrella, but still I wasn’t deterred. It was fortunate that there were a throng of Filipinos and Thais crowding the way to the MRT that I was able to sneak under one umbrella to another. By the time I got off the station, it was raining heavily but I didn't want to wait alone under a shed and waste my last few hours. There were some signs pointing to the Ladies’ Market and I knew I was near the place (Last night, we went to the Ladies’ Market via taxi.) With renewed vigor, I braved the rain, ran across the street, and eventually got to my destination. Sanrio and butingting galore! But surprise!! The tiangges were all closed and it was already past 11am! I saw some vendors who seemed to be packing their stuff and I thought they were closing because of the heavy rain! Boohoo! I went to the inner areas in search of some stores which might still be open. Luckily, there was a stall selling Mario Bros. abubots and I immediately bought lots of Nintendo Mario stylus and keychains, thinking it was the only store open. Basic conversation in Mandarin with the lady told me that it was still opening hours and they usually open stores at about 12pm. Apparently, heavy rains don’t stop them from opening shop unless it was the kind that that will blow away their makeshift stalls. What a relief!

The rest of my shopping trip was uneventful and I was able to buy lots of Sanrio photo albums, boxes, passport holders, id holders etc. These items were being sold for 4x the price at Gift City, here in Binondo!

I only went back to Causeway Bay to meet the rest when I couldn’t bear to carry any more goodies.

BACK TO REALITY
August 5, 2007 4 PM
HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, LANTAU ISLAND, HONG KONG


We’re also lucky Regal is one of the first stops of the Airport Express. The same bus picks up and drops off passengers. Our bellboy was kind enough to haul our entire luggage into the bus while we were sitting pretty in the bus. The people living in the Park Lane waiting to board weren’t as lucky. Not only were they standing in the street outside the hotel, they also had to haul their own luggage in. The worst part was that since there were quite a number of people checking into Excelsior, they had no room to sit in. They had to wait wait wait for a long time until the next bus comes along. The Excelsior doorman was very distinctive. He was an Indian with a turban, very old-school and elite.


I noticed there were a lot of car shops all next to each other dotting the main avenue we took towards the Central station where would take the Airport Express to the airport. There was Lamborghini, Mini Cooper, Buick, Jaguar, Volkswagen, etc. An arresting sight was the congregation of OFWs in a park in Central. Rizal Park transplanted to HK.

The bus driver didn’t help us unload our luggage which was annoying. With barely enough time left, we weren’t able to go to the IFC Mall just upstairs. We dragged ourselves to the baggage check-in counter where yes, this is it we were finally leaving. I called up Gene to thank her for accompanying us gamely throughout the trip. We checked in as a group where my luggage was predictably overweight. I was also hauling a really heavy carryon filled with Royce and Teuscher Chocolates and the Gucci, my most precious buy.

On the train, Camie asked us what our best buys were. I would have to say my 30HKD (Less than P180!!!) H&M bag which I used all throughout the trip. To think I didn’t want to buy it at first.

We had some time to spare in the airport so Nikki, Camie and I went to check out the shops. Nikki needed to have something exchanged so it was quite frustrating to discover that the Duty Free she was supposed to have exchanged her compact was not the Airport Duty free but the Duty Free Galleria which was in TST.
Philippine Airlines did not disappoint as Plane Always Late. Our 6PM flight started boarding by 6:15. We circled the tarmac for quite a while before takeoff. Nikki was hungry so she ordered another meal. Apparently if one orders a second meal, they sometimes give one a first class meal. Not this time though.

We landed at around 8:30 PM where I got a text from someone at work asking if I were back. So endeth our reprieve.

HOME SWEET HOME
August 5, 2007 10 PM
METRO MANILA, PHILIPPINES


Hello to our sad little airport which actually tops the NAIA. We had to take a flight of stairs immigration. How bloody inconvenient and dangerous. Immigration was relatively fast enough. We were able to get our luggage pretty quickly.

On the way out, I was saved from having to be interrogated by customs as someone in front was caught with DBDs. All the officers were preoccupied with him. “Baka pwede naman natin pag-usapan ito,” I heard him say. I didn’t bother sticking around for the officer’s reply. I was just glad to be out of there. I rode home with Mel who was fetched by Erica, her sister. In a way I was glad that she had to pickup her parents in Greenhills since being in a car maintained an illusion that I was still travelling not going home.

I was greeted by a celebrity sighting in the form of JV Ejercito and Cindy Lotuaco, his beautiful wife at Gloria Maris. Nice Hummer they had.

At home, I unpacked all the treats I had for everyone before I set off for bed. No Nintendo DS for my siblings though which disappointed them. Incidentally, everyone in HK seemed to have one. In the MTR and streets especially, one gets to see all these people hooked on their DS.

So after all the excitement, it was time to get some good sleep in my bed.