At 9pm, Hongkong streets sizzle with lights, vendors and shoppers.
At The Peak Gallery. A date with Bruce Lee, nah! You're next, Brad Pitt!I was in HK for four days - July 18-21 - and was overwhelmed by HK Lifestyle. Not that I want to live there, because to be honest I would not, but those tall buildings (HK is 75% rock so they're pretty confident for high-rise buildings), the astounding lights at night, the hordes and hordes of people in shopping districts at 11 pm, and the way strangers would drop a pick-up line just to know you more...Hongkong is, to me, an unfamiliar ground yet also familiar in a way that you'll see Filipinos there, especially on Sunday (hundreds and hundreds are around on Worldwide in Central).
I met my friend Cathy and her family on the 18th, and after that I was pretty much on my own. I managed to take the MTR (train) on my own from downtown shopping districts to my hotel (Newton Hotel in Ngau Tau Kok, I was on the 23rd floor...really fantastic view of the city) which I really enjoyed though it was so confusing at first because of the many interconnections. Bargaining was fun, I have learned how to dramatized bargaining in Tianjin and Beijing so it wasnt that hard in Hongkong. When I asked a price and the vendor would give a price, say 300, I bargain the half price - 150. Then when the vendor wrestles and would not agree, I would then turn away, at that ti
me the vendor would call me again and we would arrive at a very agreable price. Quite cheeky, right? Heheheh!Hongkong, as everybody knows, is a shopping haven; and a busy city fused with different nationalities. It could very well be a city that never sleeps, what with hundreds of people still "chilling" at 1 or 2 am. I would say it is a real adventure that I had in Hongkong because like many people, I could not help but walk fast. And for one who is a stranger to this city, I walked wherever my feet takes me. I looked for the MTR or the subway whenever I felt like I need to go back to my hotel.
On my second day, for lunch, I find it strange that an old guy joined me in my table. I know that with Chinese, they really don't mind people joining - it's in their culture. But to me that time, I was taken aback because there were 6 other tables that were vacant. Why wouldn't he go there?
I could not, for the life of me, understand that until this time. I guess it takes a Chinese to understand such actuation.
Also, I'm sure that many travelers (especially Filipinos) in Hongkong would love Cafe De Coral. Oh, I love the food there...yummy! (sorry, the food that we ordered escaped me already so I could no longer remember)
With my friend Cathy and her son in Central the day I arrived in Hongkong.
And oh, I should say that I soooo love the subway in Hongkong. It's very convenient and though at first you get confused with how it works, but later on as you get used to it - you would absolutely love it!That and with so many stories to add to my single life's adventures. Each and every journey, every travel, I always ended up being enriched, knowing a little more about life and God, about human behaviors and the beauty of everything around me and facing many other stuffs that lies within my heart. Thus, it's more of a spiritual journey to me.
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captions (for pics without caps above): The IF Tower, the highest in HK with 88 floors.../Yummy adventure at Cafe de Coral.
Places, places, places!
Mongkok - shopping to death!
Central - Hoarded with Filipinos every Sunday
The Peak - best place to go at night
Avenue of the Stars - best place to go at night, too (although I went there in the morning, well, next time)
Aberleen - interesting
Victoria Harbour - take the boat ride!
Yu Mai Tai - a place I walked just to kill time
Tsim Cha Tsui - countless shops (there are many expensive ones) and hotels
Postscript: I need to share this story, I hope we could learn a thing or two from this.
I was in a cosmetic shop called Sasa in Central when I can't help but listen to the conversation of the two ladies next to me. They are Filipinos, I could tell (by their looks and the strong Filipino accent in their English).
Okay, I forgave their uber-loud voice, and I forgave how they acted as if they are rich (cos maybe they are). What I couldn't stand was how they have to pretend like they are native English speakers! Can't they talk to each other in Tagalog? They are both Filipinos, for crying out loud! I noticed the other girl even had a hard time talking and had to pause and think for like 5-10 seconds before saying the next word.
A Filipino proverb kept ringing on my ears, I felt like any minute Jose Rizal would awoke out from his grave..."Ang hindi marunong magmahal sa sariling wika, ay mahigit pa sa mabaho at malansang isda." (One who doesn't know how to love her own mother language is worst than a stinky, rotten fish.)
How can I be so sure that they're Filipinos?
Because later, as they tried to describe something in English but found it hard...they started speaking in Tagalog.
Hay, pastilan!
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