Post-Hong Kong

Well! I still cannot believe that I did NOT scrap while in Hong Kong!!! That's 4 days, plus yesterday because I was SO tired! Needless to say, a LOT of things happened in Hong Kong. A LOT! We have dubbed it as quite a stressful trip. No, not a whole lot of details will go on this blog....but suffice it to say that all's well that end's well. :)

{March 11, Sunday}

The first batch -- Japa, Bang, Lai, Zhar, Marivic and myself -- are at the airport at 6 am for a flight at 8 am. Didn't sleep the night before, unless you call a 15-minute nap sleep! It was a pretty uneventful flight, since Japa and I just slept through the 2-hour trip. However, we did hear Bang and Elizza laughing the whole 2 hours :)

When we got to Hong Kong, we didn't bother with the transfer from the airport to the hotel. We knew that it was going to take TOO long, despite it being a free service. We instead took the Airport Express and it took us less than half an hour to get from the airport to the hotel.

We checked in and decided to upgrade all 7 of our rooms to the Executive Floor. It was cheaper than doing it through a travel agency, that's for sure! Plus, we had breakfast everyday of our stay, so that was a nice option to have.

We finally got our rooms at 1 pm, just in time for Mom, Dad, Lola and Aguila. For lunch, we went to Fat Angelo's which was very near the hotel. Yes, Italian food in Hong Kong. I LOVE this place!

After lunch, while Mom and Dad rested, the rest of us went to Ocean Terminal. Dad usually takes a nap after a meal or a trip, and Mom HAD to rest because it seems she pulled a muscle in her lower back.

At Ocean Terminal, we just went to Toys R Us. It was a Sunday, we had limited Hong Kong dollars, and the Ocean Terminal stores accepted credit cards. Whew! We were saved, hehehe. Besides, based on our itinerary, we barely had time for shopping as it is. So Toys R Us it was, and we got the kids a few toys.

For dinner, we went to Mongkok to have a Korean BBQ Buffet. This is where you cook food in front of you, right on the table. This is ALWAYS a good place to dine! However, since it was Lent, I didn't enjoy as much and I could only look on as Rondic (who was in front of me) dined hungrily on chicken and beef!

Speaking of the boys, they arrived in Hong Kong at 830 pm. They took the Airport Express and went straight into the MTR to Mongkok. Their bags were already in Hong Kong as we brought them on the first flight out. So in the middle of dinner, they arrived at the restaurant and we had our first meal together.

After dinner, Japa and I went home. We were too tired to go with my brothers and their partners to the night market.

{March 12 - Monday}

We woke up bright and early to have breakfast. By 830 am, Rodney and I were on our way to Citibank to get some Hong Kong dollars. Everyone else had a nice leisurely breakfast until 10 am, when our guide for Macau would pick us up at the hotel. Rodney and I arrived at the hotel lobby 2 minutes before 10 am :)

We rode the tour bus to the harbor where we took the Hydrofoil to Macau. It was an hour-long trip and only in the beginning did we get a little bit seasick. It was nice and foggy in Macau, which meant almost NO sun, and therefore NO heat during our tour.

The first order of business when we got to Macau was lunch. Hehehe. Trust our family to do the important things first! We had lunch at this small, quaint and not-so-cheap Portuguese restaurant. But most everything we had was totally delish! The french onion soup, the pasta, the crab, the shrimp, the paella. The only thing I didn't like was the bakalaw; it was smelly and gross.

After lunch we had our tour proper. We drove around the little city and went to a Chinese temple, the St. Paul's ruins, a bakery where they make yummy cookies, the Lady of Mercy, the Lotus Flower, and the wall where we could see China across a body of water. It was a cool tour, and this was when we took TONS and TONS of photos!

Between all of us, we had 6 (SIX!) cameras and everyone was in a shutter-happy mood. Japa is still compiling all the photos so that we can all have copies of all the photos everyone took :)

Dinner was at the famous Spring Deer restaurant. We never leave Hong Kong without dining at the Spring Deer. The highlight of the meal was the couple of Peking Ducks and the President's fish, which was so succulent and yummy!

After dinner, we went to Granville Road to walk off what we ate at dinner and to shop. I stayed with Mom close to midnight as everyone else went to the hotel to get a cake and a bouquet of flowers for Mom to greet her at the strike of midnight.

We couldn't really sing out loud or even talk out loud since Dad was in the connecting room already asleep, and we were on the Executive Floor, which meant a lot of the hotel residents were already asleep at midnight. Hehehe. But it was fun to be all together to greet Mom for her 61st birthday.

{March 13 - Tuesday - Mom's Birthday}

You'd think we'd have a day to sleep in..but nope. We all woke up bright and early to go to mass with Mom at 8 am at the Rosary Church on Chatham Road. Except Dad, who was really tired from our trip to Macau yesterday.

After mass, we all trooped back to the hotel to have breakfast at the lounge. A nice, leisurely breakfast. Actually, it was the second breakfast of sorts for Japa and me, since we were already having some coffee and fruits before meeting everyone at the lobby at 745 am. :)

And it as Family Drama time. It was a literal Soap Opera, I kid you not. Again, NO details will be going on this blog. All of us know what happened. All of us know how it was resolved.

I am lucky to count myself as part of this close, stable, loving family. Yes, we're nosy. Yes, we talk a lot. But it is this way of communicating that has time and time again helped our family become stronger, closer. We're not afraid to ask for help when we need help. We're not shy of offering advice ---fine, PUSHING advice--- when we see it is needed. Can you tell I'm talking from experience? Hehehehe.

That's the way of big sisters I guess. I can sense when someone needs help, needs to talk. Sometimes I wait, sometimes I push. But one thing is clear: when there is trouble, issues must come out so that we can quickly resolve it. And when we say resolve, it means that everything is fixed or will be on its way to being fixed.

We each have our strenghts and weaknesses. We become strong where the other is weak. We offer our strength when it is needed. We are there whether a person knows we are needed or not. Heck, we are there before a person even realizes we are needed! That's what a family is, and that's what we have.

Lunch was at Yoong Luen, at the basement of the hotel, where they serve yummy dimsum. Of course, too much food was ordered yet again. Sigh!

Shopping some more, which basically consisted of going back to Toys R Us to get the girls the Littlest Pet Shop theme sets, Rogan some Pokemon action figures, and Ranger some Thomas the train characters.

My BEST purchase of the entire trip was at Facess, where Elizza and I spent a lot of time putting on some make up and finally buying make up at the Benefit Cosmetics counter. I got the awesome Dr. Feel Good base, Oh-so-Gorgeous foundation, and Get Even powder. I got Mom her birthday gift here as well. It was money WELL SPENT!!!!

Dinner was at the pricey Lei Garden at the IFC Mall. Good food, well served. Pretty fancy for Chinese Food, but it was good :)

We then hurry home because we all have to pack for our trip back home to Manila.

{March 14 - Wednesday}

I guess this trip never meant for us to get a complete night's sleep! We were up early because our goal was to leave the hotel between 830 am to 9 am. And of course, Japa and I wanted to get a good morning's breakfast in us before we started for the airport. We were in the lounge dipping into our fruit, muesli and coffee a little bit past 7 am. As expected, Dic and Elizza were the only ones who showed up at the lounge to do the same thing as us.

We were off to the airport a little bit past 9. We checked in no problem....until we were about to leave the In-Town Check in counters for the Airport Express to take us to the airport. Rodney's handcarry roller was missing. Ummmmm.......could that have been bag #14 checked in when I had counted about 4 times 13 bags?!?!

Hehehe. As it turned out, Miss Zharmayne was playing around with the roller and had inadvertently left it near the other bags lined up for check in. So Japa and Boydee unknowingly loaded the roller onto the luggage belt. Hehehe. The rest of us were freaking out more than Rodney was, especially when we learned that the roller was UNlocked and had a brand new wristwatch, his DSLR camera AND his laptop in it!!! He couldn't very well start screaming his head off at his girlfriend now, could he? So he played it cool and asked whether he could get his roller off the conveyor belt. (I think at this point Zhar loved him even more, hehehe).

To make a long story short, the roller had left Kowloon and was on its way to the airport. The best bet was for us to rush to the airport and have the airline personnel intercept it there. Rodney was lucky, as always. When we got to the airport, some guy approached him and told him that he couldn't get his roller as it was already checked in; however, he could GET his things FROM the roller!!! How lucky is that!!!

Again, all's well that end's well! Hahahaha!

We get back to Manila at 330 pm. Tired. Pooped. Exhausted.

{March 15 - Thursday}

Busy day still. I swear, at this point, the question is, will I EVER get a good night's sleep!?!?!?

We woke up early as we had a 9 am Yoga session at La Vista. Zhar was able to get an instructor who was willing to do home service for us. At P300 a pop, there were 9 of us in her little "class", so that netter her P2,700 for 1.5 hours of Hatha Yoga. Not bad eh?

Funny thing during yoga...during the meditative part, Mom actually went to sleep and even SNORED!!! Hahahahaha!

I had to rush rush rush as I had 3 PTCs to attend right after our yoga session. I got the kids' report cards; it was a proud-mama moment for me as all 3 kids got straight A's yet again! Whoohoo! Even in Filipino. Go figure, hehehe.

Got done at about 2 pm, then went to the derma with Mom, Bang and Lai. Had my Diamond Peel done. Ahhhhhh..... had myself a nice little nap while on the derma bed, too!