a freeloader's trip to HKG

my HKG adventure photoblog

28 Aug 2008, on my way to HKG, meet my seatmates!

welcome to HKG

while waiting for my tour guide, nelly. what else to do?! take photos...



after 5 hours, hanging out and people watching at Tung Chung, nelly arrived!

first stop, symphony of lights!

gaiLie at HongKong Harbor

crossing HongKong Harbor via Star Ferry

Bar hopping at Lan Kwai Fong

somewhere in Mong Kok

29 Aug 2008, day 2 kowloon park

early morning tai-chi

sweating and dehydrated under scorching sun at ocean park

inside Ocean Park Tower

happy kids playing

another kid playing.... wehehe!

shhh! my tour guide got tired and needs to doze off.
(sorry nelly, i feel i need to post this picture! wehehe!)

next stop, The Peak

welcome to the peak!

view from the Peak at night

30 August 2008, day 3, pretending to be a shopaholic

am i in beijing?! nope, just saw this poster at Kowloon Park

still in Kowloon Park, doing last minute errands

last minute packing

on our way to the airport, i saw this cutie sitting alone...

gail: nelly, see that cutie?! get your camera and take our photo.

gaiLie and the cutie



gaiLie and nelly's adventure ends here... just for now

good bye, nelly! till our next adventure! lookin forward to our Australia Trip!

one last look at Hong Kong

looooosers in KL

a loosers travel journal

26th August

looser moment #1

* 4 hrs flight with nothing to do. we did everything we could to get some sleep but we can't fall asleep. looosers, GaiLie and Josh took photos of themselves doing nothing.

happy losers

looser moment # 2

* upon arrival in KL, we went to the booth where we usually get information about our transfers. we didn't know that we no longer have a tie-up with the bus/van company. so went to our head office and asked about our transfer. the girl in-charge gave the plate number of the van. so we waited, waited and waited. while waiting, we took some photos again! i didn't know if we were too busy taking photos or what... but i noticed a van passed by, i looked at the plate number, and lo and behold, its our service! ugh! too late...it left without us!

tired of waiting, we just took a cab. hopefully, the company will reimburse what we paid for. its kinda expensive, 58myr. we should have took the cab in the first place rather than waiting for the van! looser!

looser moment # 3

* GaiLie and Josh ate dinner at the bistro. I think we ordered alot, prompting the owner asked how many persons are eating! We answered 2! She was really curious!

now you see it...

*gailie - fried kway teow *josh - fish and chips *gail and josh -kampung rice

now you don't....

looser moment # 4

* after a hearty meal, we agreed to take a dip at the pool. so, i went to my room and change. when i got back, Josh was already swimming. not wanting to be outbeaten by Josh, i immediately took a dip. i didn't know that the water was freezing cold. nevertheless, we continued our swimming session even if its just the 2 of us enduring the cold water. after an hour or so, Josh and I were freezing to death. what a looser!

27th August

loooser moment # 5

*the night before the training, i told my roomates that the bus will pick us at 8am but we need to be at the lobby by 730am. the following morning, by 730, i'm all set and ready to go. but my roomates are still preparing. then Josh sent a text message saying, he's at the lobby and the bus is already there. i told my roomates that the bus is at the parking area waiting for trainees. 5minutes had passed, i told them that we need to hurry up because the bus might leave any moment. Josh was inside the bus reserving my seat. as we were waiting for the lift, Josh sent another SMS saying that the bus had left and he wasn't able to stop it. ugh! no more bus! again?!

trainee #1

good thing, my roomate knew the mobile number of 1 of the van drivers. so, they called the driver and we had a service going to the academy. thankfully, the rest of the day went smoothly. FYI, i aced my exam! yahoo!!!

trainee #2

looser moment # 6

*dinnertime! we ate at the bistro again. ( coz we were too lazy to get out of the condo and walk for a few blocks to eat.) the owner immediately recognized us. she went to our table and told us that when she saw the orders, she asked the server who ordered those foods. when she learned that it was us, she wasn't surprised. (hmmm...i wonder, what does she think about us?!) wehehe!

*gail - veggie rice and nuggets & fries *josh - sirloin steak and thai rice

whoa! what an appetite!

28th August

looser moment #7

* 0545, at the airport, Josh and I went to our designated counters to check-in for our flight. he'll be going back to Philippines and as for me, i'm off to see Nelly in HongKong. i bought a couple of canned goods and i asked Josh to bring it to Philippines and i'll just get from him when i arrived. he asked the counter agent if can bring it on board in his cabin baggage. they didn't understand each other well, so Josh decided to have it as hand carry. at the final x-ray, he was stopped by the security. his bag was re-scanned and they asked him to check in the canned goods. (sorry, Josh!)

before my boarding call Josh got back from the counter. we said our goodbyes, he was kinda sad. he was supposed to go with to HK but his vacation leave was not approved. poor Josh, next time,we'll plan it carefully.

KL snapshots (bye,KL till next time!)

KL with nelly

goodbye Kota Kinabalu

08.13.08

> oh no! <

From Kota Kinabalu, Nelly and I continued our adventure in Kuala Lumpur. At Kota Kinabalu airport, flights to KL were all full. And the bad news is I'm on standby, 5th from the standby list! Good thing, I made it to the flight or else, nelly will have to wait for me in KL for 4 hours. The next flight to KL will be in 2 hours (which is also fully booked) plus another 2 hours flying time.

> welcome to KL <

Upon arrival in KL, we decided to go KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) to take the KL Express train, normal fare is around 30MYR but since we have our airline ID we can get it at 15MYR. Bus to the city costs 9MYR its cheaper but travel time is about 1hr and 15mins compared to 30mins travel time via KL Express. Paying a small difference to save time I think is a good choice.

>resisting temptation<

We arrived at the city around 2pm and after checking in at the hotel, we immediately head to Plaza Low Yat to buy camera for my mom's friend. I also scout for my dream camera, Canon 450d. The Canon booth at ground floor was on sale. I was tempted to buy my dream camera but I had just enough cash to spend during my stay in KL and besides I'm saving up for my trip to HongKong which is in 2 weeks.

The guy at the counter said that I can pay using my credit card. Thankfully, I mastered the art of self-control. And I declined the guy's offer, telling him, I'll be in KL again in 2weeks time.

By the way, Nelly had a brand new450d, my dream cam! He brought it along in KK and in KL. So, it was really difficult for me to restrain myself from buying the 450d because I can see Nelly using it. And I can see the difference in quality, not that my camera is no good ( i looooove my Canon ixus75) but i also want a DSLR cam for my photography lesson.

> the tourist and the tour guide <

After buying the camera for my mom's friend. I brought Nelly to KLCC to see the world-renowned Petronas Tower. He had his photo op and I was his photographer/tour guide.

nelly at KLCC (hirap kunin ng shot na 'to ha, nakaluhod na ko sa sahig!)

> Nelly's treat <

To capped the night, we ate dinner at Nando's, a famous restaurant in KL. As it turns out, it's Nelly's favorite restaurant in Australia. And he was surprised to know that they have Nando's in KL.

tickle your taste buds,Nelly!

08.14.08

> souvenir hunting <

had a quick breakfast at the hotel, then we head to Petaling Street (Chinatown) to buy some souvenirs for his colleagues and staff. But we were too early as most of the stalls were still close. so, I decided to bring him to Central Market since it's very near to Petaling Street.

pasar seni station (on our way to Chinatown)

>Genting Experience< Genting here we come!

gondola ride, indoor theme park

our next stop is Genting Highlands. It was foggy and we cannot see anything from our cable car. when we arrived in Genting, it rained and we didn't get to enjoy the outdoor theme park. we just roam around indoor themepark and check out some shops that are on sale. then we took some photos and ate lunch. after which, we decided to cut short our Genting experience.

>so near yet so far!<

on our way back, the cable car stopped for a minute but for me it seemed like eternity. I was kinda scared because it was my first time to experience such thing. and it was raining! from where we stopped, I can see the cable car station. I recorded the whole experience, hopefully, I can upload it here. I was telling Nelly that, that moment was the perfect description of 'so near yet so far!' Nelly was just laughing at me the whole time, bad nelly! wehehe! after a minute, the cable car started to move again. what a relief!

> last minute shopping <

since i barely had the energy to walk to show Nelly around KL. i decided to take him to Sungei Wang and the nearby malls at Bukit Bintang since it's quite near our hotel.

i let him shop but he didn't get to buy anything. as for me, i just bought some coffee (Old Town Coffee, my family's favorite). i am really really exhaustedso we decided to order some food and just eat it at our room.

late night dinner at the hotel

08.15.08

>the adventure ends<

my return flight is 0720 so i need to be at the airport around 5am. the travel time from city to the airport is about 1 hr and 15mins. with just 2 hours of sleep, I left the hotel at 0330 to catch the 4am bus going to the airport. I gave last minute directions to Nelly coz it's his first time in KL and he'll be left alone. his flight is at 12noon. I arrived at the bus station at exactly 0350, just in time before the 4am bus leaves.

solo flight home

END OF ADVENTURE

de-stress or distress

after a stressful flight, we decided to eat out and de-stress. most of the time, our way of coping with stress is to talk about anything. topics ranging from difficult passengers to work scheds to future and uncertainty.

this time the topic is our favorite subject; boys, love and hapiness.

g1: ever had that someone who you can be with and do nothing but still feel so happy whenever you're with that person?

g2: yeah, i had this boy once, we woud just go to McDonald's eat quarter pounder and sit for a couple of hours to chat, after he would drive me home and it feels like we had the best day of our lives.

g1: i also knew someone like that, we would just sit there and laugh till our stomach hurts. and it feels like we had a blast!

g2: its nice to have someone like that... it feels great when you're with that person.

g1: yep, i agree but where are they right now?!

g2: mine's just around the corner, i get to see him almost everyday but we can't do what we used to do because of some complications.

g1: me?! i haven't seen him for years but i know someday we'll see each other and maybe pick up where we left off.

g2: now it's getting more stressful. wahaha!