Capture the Tiara

Shopping + Camwhoring = Hong Kong | 26 – 30 May 2008
I’m not a jet setter but I’ve travelled around. The first time I took a flight alone was when I was 16, but it never really felt “independent” because I find my way through organised organisers, parents, pseudo-parents and basically a group of people that will make your trip run smoothly. I’m 21, and this is the first time I’ll be travelling with the barest of all essentials: an e-ticket, a hostel booking, pocket money + credit card, a digital camera and my younger sister. No 12-day conferences or week-long debate tourneys. No OFW parent or home-staying with a distant relative.

It was a rather spontaneous trip really, just triggered because my dad had expiring mileage, but not so much, so a short-trip for me and my sister was most appropriate. My sister wanted to go back to Hong Kong as badly as I did since super bitin the first time we were there (although that time, we weren’t together).

Since we had the barest of arrangements and a delayed flight, we arrived at our hostel on 26 May at approximately 10:30 in the evening. I thought it was going to be scary since we took a bus from the airport to our hostel and that we’ll be going through dodgy streets with Indian drug hustlers and women with sunglasses and raincoats. But instead, we saw… two cops. And no, none of them looked like Tony Leung, or the cuter cop in the first part of Chungking Express. One was super thin and tall, and the other with a typical policeman beer-belly, and they were in the reception of our hostel before we even checked in. At first I thought, WOW, security. But no! When we got in, there was a panicking Korean woman.

Here are the facts: The Korean Girl checked in at 2 PM. She went around, got back to the hostel at 10. She checked her luggage, and the lock seemed to have been open.

“Do you still have all your belongings?” the thin Hong-Kong-cop-who-disappointingly-did-not-look-like-Tony-Leung asked.

“I don’t think I lost anything. But my lock was open! Hold on, let me check.” [They were all saying this in a very amusing East Asian accent]

“Okay, laptop? Laptop is here… *checks her bag* Okay, *goes on opening her luggage in public* Okay, *opens a small box that had earring thingies inside* Okay, … Nothing. Nothing is missing. But I definitely do not want to stay here anymore.”

At this point, the speech balloon that’s shaped like a cloud in my head is saying “Dude, this girl is just paranoid.” Meanwhile, the receptionist, who resembles like a Chinese WWF substitute says, “You’re checking in *checks the list* Ce-lee-ni?”

“Yup, that’s me.” [At this point, my sister and I are staring at each other in uncertainty]

“Hold on.” *goes and talks to his mobile in furious Cantonese*

My sister and I just lounged around, and three sophisticated-yet-stylish looking Chinese girls strode in and used the Internet terminals located in the tiny reception room. The WWF substitute then talks to the cops in Cantonese, and finally asked me, “Passport niyo?”

I was taken aback. Is he talking to me? Was that Tagalog or universal na ba ang “niyo” ngayon? So I handed him my passport as well as my sister’s. And then I asked him “Do we pay the maintaining balance now or when we check out po?” [siyempre, nag-English ako, but I have a po verbal clutch], and then he said “Magbayad na kayo ngayon na.”

Aba, marunong ngang mag-Tagalog si WWF substitute! Apparently, he had a name, and it was Rocky. He spent his whole life in Hong Kong but they spoke Tagalog and Ilonggo at home, strictly, because his lolo is Fukien. Coolness. So even if there was the paranoid Korean Girl, I kinda felt more secure.

I’ll kwento a bit more, but now, I’ll just give isolated commentaries on the salient points of our trip.

The Shopping
Hong Kong is such a shoppers’ paradise. If you’re looking for rock-bottom prices, you don’t really go here, you go to mainland China or Bangkok, pero if you’re looking for variety and personality but don’t have enough Won (Korea) or Yen (Japan), go here. Best parts of the shopping experience:

• Mall Hours: on a regular basis, malls close after midnight. As in my sister and I have a favourite mall called Argyle Centre and New Town Mall, the mall hours are from 1 PM until 2 AM. Yun nga lang, wag ka ng mag-effort gumising ng maaga kung mag-sh-shop ka lang. =P

• H&M! The cheapest European clothing (move-over Zara, Topshop!). Liz Diaz tells me there are a lot of flagship requirements, that’s why it might be close to impossible to have it in Manila. The flagship in HK was soooo … nakaka-drop-jaw. I super love the summer dress I got, even if it’s un-summer here anymore. Hehehehehe.


• Teen Malls - honestly, one of the best things ever is that they have malls especially for teens here. It gives the youth more avenue for expression! I mean we lived in the Kowloon area, and it’s so vibrant especially from 4 in the afternoon to past midnight. The streets are crowded with glamorous, funky-casual people who are clad with layered clothing, leggings/shorts/minis (rarely jeans talaga), and designer handbags (if not designer, really cool totes). The girls are always made up, and even their schoolgirl uniforms are just super adorable! Argh.


This annoying looking bee seems to be in the entrance of teen malls.


Argyle Centre in Kowloon

• Hawker-style shopping: Ladies’ Market, et al. - apparently, the first time I went to Hong Kong, I hit the famous Ladies’ Market na pala noon, while waiting for my dad from buying gun parts. But that was really just a teaser to the entire stretch of Ladies’ market. It is a cultural experience of merely being there. You can’t todo-haggle like you could in [mainland] China, but haggling is just soo… fun! I didn’t get a lot, but I did a lot of haggling for my sister, complete with the theatrics of leaving, and you being called back. I super love it.
  
  “You give me discount, since I’ll get two.”
  “No, no, not twenty, thirty, for two.” [Originally at forty]
  “Too high. Thank you anyway.”
  
  Before I could get past the next stall, they’ll call you back. Hehehehehe. Pero masaya rin yung mag-canvass and then when you find a steal, talagang don’t haggle na. Others, fixed price na talaga.

• The Store Staples - Of course, there’s the store staples in Hong Kong: Esprit, Giordano, Sasa [for cosmetics]. Practically at every street corner. But it will be wise to purchase stuff from Outlet stores. Sa Esprit Outlet kami nag-cram ng souvenir gifts for all our pocket-money sponsors. Hehehehehe.


• Maple! - there are a lot of stores like Maple in Hong Kong, but I feel like it deserves a special mention since they offered a 12% discount card if you purchase HKD 200 or higher (that’s about US$ 25, and about PhP 1100). And it’s valid until next year pa! Kaya alavet, alavet, alavet.


• HMV - bilang ultimate violator ng intellectual property rights, I don’t have high appreciation for HMV (CDs, DVDs), I just felt that I should mention it because I had to go to them a couple of times for Kriz Gazmen, who loves Hong Kong very much.

Food
I don’t like the food very much. Although I ate at Modern Toilet, a Taiwanese restaurant that was all over email, but the food was just single-tasting and horrid. But for the camwhoring, it made it a little worth it.

There was also that mandatory expensive meal, the one my sister and I had to take by-the-sea (wouldn’t that be smashing?), but it was pretty good.

I’m also happy that their Starbucks still had black tea latte.

And they had cool chocolate varieties like Kit Kat black and M&Ms Mint.

But the best thing Hong Kong had?


Ahhhhhhhhhk!!! Remember how one of my handle is whitegrapesoda? It’s because I had Qoo’s White Grape Soda in Singapore and I’ve been looking for it ever since 2005. And I found Qoo again, this time non-carbonated, and by God, I still love it. If I weren’t on a shopping budget, I would have treated it like Watson’s Water. But I bought a box of six and imported it, although my brother discovered it at nag-agawan kami dun sa last pieces. It even coerced me to write to Coca-Cola (since it is a Coca-Cola brand) through their website. They have a very efficient feedback system ha, after one day, Greg, from Industry and Consumer Affairs, emailed me back (although it does sound template-y):

Thank you for contacting The Coca-Cola Company, Ms. Guinto. We appreciate your interest in Qoo.

As you may know, The Coca-Cola Company markets almost 400 brands in more than 200 countries. Taste and preferences vary around the world. For this reason, some Coca-Cola brand products are only available in certain countries or areas. However, please be assured that your comments about Qoo have been shared with the appropriate management within the Company.

Maybe I should bribe the market research people for Coca-cola Bottlers here. But I’m glad to be heard, even tokenistically. =P Grabe, full-swing digression.

The Octopus Card
This is the last thing I want to kwento before I go talk about something else. This is like the greatest practical invention I have familiarised myself in my 3-5 days in Hong Kong.

The Octopus Card was designed for the MTR. It’s a debit card, somewhat like a prepaid card for your mobile phone, only instead of SMS and phonecalls, you could ride the bus and the MTR (their subway).

But wait, unlike say, the Oyster card for the London public transport, this card also allows for you to purchase things in convenient stores and even fast food! I love it so much! So yes, you can go around cashless in Hong Kong. Plus I don’t have to hassle myself familiarising with their strange coins. And the cards are also cute.

So with the Octopus card, my sister and I were able to go to


It became easier to buy stuff at 7-11 (for my Qoo fix), Mannings, Watsons, McDonald’s, KFC, everything with a tap of the card, and you can easily reload it at any MTR station.

But where the MTR or buses can’t go to, we have to walk. And we did a LOT of walking. One place I had to not miss? The longest covered escalator in the world, connecting Central to Mid-level in Hong Kong.


The only reason why I was so obsessed with them is because it’s such an icon in my head thanks to Faye Wong . I had no idea where it lead to, dahil wala ng markings dun sa map on the end point of the escalators. But I didn’t care. There’s nowhere you can go to that you can’t get back from.

But I was soooo wrong. Apparently, one-way lang yung escalator, and the direction reverses much later into the night. So we kept on climbing the escalator (it’s not one straight thing naman, it’s segmented), and when we got to the end, it was a RESIDENTIAL area. And it’s not as bustling anymore. It’s hard to go back the way we came from, because it will mean STAIRS, so I told my sister to go back following our directional instincts. And while my directions were still in tune, soon, we were the only ones walking, and there are no cars or public transport passing by. Then there was this tall and steep pa-ikot-ikot sidewalk (imagine the carpark in SM, only for pedestrians), and we went through it. Then we landed in a jungle-like park and my sister was in tears already. We ran into two Filipina dog-walkers who were taking a break and snacking, and to appease my sister, I asked them the way back, and yes, we were on the right way. When we got back to a more civilised area, the first thing we see? A Church. Not just an ordinary Church, but a Catholic Cathedral. WAZ.


My mom, who goes to mass everyday, said, in a phone call on our way back in a bus leading towards the nearest MTR station, said “Ayan kasi, hindi kayo nag-sa-sadya sa simbahan kaya nawala tuloy kayo para mapunta kayo sa simbahan.” In short, divine intervention, in the rawest sense.

[And I emphasise, I did not get lost, my sister just panicked. Sheesh.]

So that’s pretty much it. We got back to Manila in one piece, and with an efficiently packed luggage. We arrived the same day as our Lolo Butch and Lola Thelma, who lives in South Carolina but who got back from Cebu. So in our super late luncheon at Serendra, my sister took this adorable picture of me that I cannot fail to blog. CHOZ.


Lolo Teddy & Lola Cely’s 50th Anniversary | 1 -2 June 2008
My paternal grandparents got married in Dagupan on 1 June 1958. Well, they met in Zambales, and my lola’s really from Pangasinan, but my lolo’s from Vinzons in Camarines Norte, and my dad grew up in Zambales and Manila. My mom’s really just from Bulacan all her life until college, so that’s easy, but then I don’t really know what to respond when people ask which province I’m from. Next time nga Tawi-Tawi na lang sasabihin ko.

But that’s beside the point. 50th Anniversaries is like MMiML (Major Milestone in Married Life), and I don’t want to dwell in the concept of marriage since that’s what my Persons and Family Relations course under Prof. Beth Pangalangan is for [infernez, memorise ko na ang definition ng marriage after choking on the defintion during recit: Marriage is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman, entered into in accordance to law for the establishment of conjugal and family life. It is the foundation of the family and an inviolable social institution, whose nature, consequences and incidences are governed by law, except that marriage settlements may fix property relations during marriage within the limits provided by this Code. - oh diba, without looking at the family code!]. MOVING ON, I need to talk about this as a memorable moment for the family, in terms of the preparation stress, the family fun times, oh and of course, the inevitable drama (that I’ll probably skip in the course of the presentation of the event).

So morning of June 1, when my cousins and I (with my mom and my great-aunt a.k.a. Lola Thelma who’s an Anabelle Rama deadringer) got in the beauty parlour, there were only two customers: my Lola (who’s getting her nails done) and Angelika dela Cruz (who’s learning how to do her own make-up, so she’s like doing her make-up while the stylist, Red, was helping her). My Lola’s maiden name is also dela Cruz, but it’s probably like, the most common last name in the Philippines, but the point is, I can name-face identify Angelika dela Cruz, but ever since she moved to Channel 7, I really don’t care much about her career. But she was really pretty. And nice, when we started asking her about which shows she appeared in which we cannot identify until we remembered that she was in Bituing Walang Ningning.

Sir George was like a make-up machine, and was fast, but it was also Red who did my make-up.


And Lani did my hair.


I just wanted to give credit to where credit is due, because they did a better job than any of my hair/make-up in my graduation weekend. =P Oh, and we saw Pia Guaño on our way out! At dahil may camera na kami, celebrity pic!!!


So after the preparation, it was the Church.

I guess the highlight of the Church ceremonies was my Lola Lou, my Lola’s sister from Cali, went by surprise. When she was invited, she said she was broke, and that disappointed my Lola because Lola Lou was her maid-of-honour in her 1958 wedding (when my Lola Lou was just a fresh high school grad!). So my aunt took the task of tucking her away from my grandparents’ radar (as well as their other siblings), and surprise! She gave it away right when my grandparents approached the altar. Super Kodak moment. Of course, it is Canon and Nikon who rocks the photography world now, but whatever, you get what I mean.


Oh, wait, I forgot to be self-indulgent. I did the first reading, almost flawlessly, which is good, since I always make mistakes when it’s just regular masses, but the bad part is, it wasn’t caught on tape (blast, oh well, let’s just say I’m uh… doing it for God).



I also co-hosted with the MC of the caterer. I wasn’t really charmed as I wanted to be and I did mess up the programme, but they were all forgiveable. Then there were the speeches, toasts, dinner, special numbers, you know, the works.


Instead of staying in Manila for the night, my sister and I decided to sleep-over at our cousins’ house in Pampanga since we had a family day-trip the day after. And it was off to Anvaya Cove. Near Subic, so it's not quite far. I hate beaches in general, but I love Anvaya Cove! And my cousins! Hehehehe.


Registration | 3 June 2008
Immediately after the Anvaya outing, it was already *gasp* registration! I got in at 10:10 AM, and luckily, I was done in a little bit over an hour, and I reserved payment for the next day. But while that part was easily over and done with, we received our cases for mock recitation for the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. And it was thick. The kind na readings ko na for a month in a regular econs course. WAZ!

School | 10 June to present
How do you even define starting law school? The way they overwhelm us with coursework (note, not the coursework itself YET), is already, overwhelming! But I don’t want to speculate. Yes, there will be some serious studying that will be done. Pero walang hindi naaaral ng mabuti, kung gusto mo naman yung pinag-aaralan. And so far, the readings, as voluminous as they are, are not nosebleed naman. Or maybe I this is a speculation. NOOOOOOOOOO. But as mentioned in the previous blog entries, such is law school life, and I must admit I'm really getting the hang of it. Anyway, I should go. Study. Yuck. Hahahahaha.