Manila

Work continues at the beach property: digging a new well for our water, getting our electricity connected (just needs the paperwork done), have someone build temporary huts to rent out during the busy surf days, plan for the water connection lay-out, and, of course, landscape the place. Then, we will need to find a reliable, good and trustworthy caretaker.

While the men work at the beach, I, on the other hand, helped clean, organize and rearrange my grandma's little house. I also was able to finally correct the previous carpenter's mistake with the french doors and grilled gate - the french doors wouldn't not open fully because the gate, instead of being placed outside, was inside blocking the french doors. We just couldn't figure out what the carpenter thought when he put the gate there. He didn't even test the doors after he installed them. So for eight years the french doors remained closed for most of the time, only opened when I visited because it just felt like a sauna in the house, no ventilation at all. Now I had a couple of guys remove the gate and put it outside where the doors open outward and the french doors can be fully opened inward. Screens were also attached to the gate so we can keep the french doors open without having mosquitoes and flies inside the house. At the same time I had them put a cement barrier, about 4 inches high, to block any rain water that flows from the outside. My grandma and her helper would always dread having to mop up the floor everytime it rained as water would easily flow inside the house. It has taken this long to finally correct it. Now the house is so much cooler with all the doors open during the day providing enough ventilation for air to circulate. And, when it finally rains hard, no water will come in.

My next project will be to landscape the vacant lot in front of my grandma's house, where she planted lots of trees including the 3 Narra trees (the seedlings we have given away at our wedding 13 yrs ago). We have put up a rope hammock and had someone build a bamboo platform/bed where we can hang out during the day. After we have done that my nieces and nephews (6 yrs. and below) decided that it was going to be their own little place. :-) It was really interesting that they were all outdoors, under the shade of the Narra trees and enjoying the hammock and just playing around the area - this is wonderful, gets them away from sitting in front of the TV.

Yesterday my youngest nephew, Matthew, only 2 months old was baptised and his parents had a grand party held at our compound. There were lots of visitors and relatives. It was a good day for a get-together with family.

Today we left La Union, leaving Peter to supervise the work at the beach. Got back to a rainy Quezon City after 5 1/2 hours drive south. (La Union is now under a state of calamity due to the absence of rain.)

We will return to LU next week. Need to spend time with my mom, who's busy teaching post-graduate students after office hours. Also, need to spend time with friends.

Work at the beach property has begun this week. The electric post for the electric meter was installed on Tuesday. Hired the same four boys to clear the overgrown weeds in the property. The electrician and the plumber came today. A temporary shed for the pressure tank has been built. Even at my grandma's house we are going to improve the doors going out to the garden (the previous carpenter didn't do a good job, the doors wouldn't open fully as they are blocked by the grilled gate that's inside, supposed to be outside), also, put a small barrier to keep the rain waters out and not in the house. There's still lots of work to be done to put in the infrastructure but at least now there's something happening.

We realized, Peter and I, that my relatives need someone to push them to do something about the property, meaning us. When we left last year they have not maintained what we have done so the weeds were really not controlled. Hopefully, now that there will be electricity and a water tank they'll be able to maintain the property.

As for the weather, it still hasn't rained hard here. Just a drizzle and only for a short time. In the news the rice farmers are sad that their crops aren't getting the water it needs, the grounds have cracked and dried. Let's hope for much needed rain.

Anyway, we're all trying to keep cool, drinking lots of cold water, having the fans on almost 24 hours, and taking showers at least 3 times a day to not feel the heat and humidity.

Am enjoying the company of my grandma (who's had a hip replacement surgery and needs help with her walker - she's doing really well) and my adorable niece, Marianne, while all the men work. I get the easy job. :-P

Quezon City

I believe the weather (seasons) has shifted. It really is quite unusual at this time of the year for the Philippine islands to experience hot weather without too much rain. The Angat Dam has reached its critical level for quite some time now due to no rainfall activity in the watershed area. The typhoon that was supposed to hit the archipelago veered and hit Japan instead. Hopefully, the rains will soon come so the dam will be replenished.

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The choir at CRL did a good job singing at the wake of Col. "Tatay" Carreon last night. We sang three "oldies": Jesus Never Fails, Inibig and The Highest Praise. I am pretty sure Tita Gay sang with us as she used to be a long-time member of the choir.

The wake service was also a reunion of sorts. Old Church members and choir members were there like Tito Joe and Tita Ann Baradi, Tito Steve and Tita Girlie Salonga, Tito Reg and Tita Vicky Cabote, and of course, Tita Gay and Tita Glo (the Carreon sisters). We still remember those days when they were still members of CRL. It was, for me, the best time in the CRL choir's history (I'm just biased, because I was part of it). Anyway, we hope to meet up again before we return to Hawaii to talk about the good old days and to talk story about out current lives.

~~~
The choir, again, outdid themselves this morning. We sang Draw Me Close (which got a reprise during the Closing Hymn, as requested by the Pastor) and In Majesty He Will Come - almost everyone belted out this song, especially the Sopranos when they hit that high B flat.

After the service, my family invited the choir and some friends for lunch at the Church kiosk to celebrate our birthdays. We had pancit, lechon (crispy roasted pig), broiled fish, green salad, assorted fruits. The CRL choir (inspite of the change in membership all through the years) loved/s to eat! They can really spend so much time eating and talking story - wherever they may be. Fortunately, there was enough food to feed these (always) hungry people, but not enough forks/spoons and plates and glasses - though that didn't stop others from eating. We're just happy to see their satisfied faces after our lunch.

~~~
Tomorrow we leave for La Union again with the hopes of starting the work at the beach property: setting up the electricity, the water pump and tank, building a temporary hut for the caretaker, fixing the area where water accumulates and clearing all the overgrown weeds. It's a lot of work but we'll try to do what we can within the time that we are there. Most likely, if work there progresses Peter might want to return earlier to continue the work while I will stay in Maui - I have a job there which I love (and am grateful they were gracious and generous enough to grant me this leave of absence this year).

Anyway, it'll be a really wonderful project. My brother has designed a beautiful, native hut which makes use of compost toilets and a natural, loose tiled shower stall. His idea of bringing nature inside the hut is in line with what we really want to see - sustainable, eco-friendly, and close to nature. We just need to find a caretaker whom we can trust to really watch over the property when it's still in its beginning stages of development. Well, if they do build a hut there, Peter might want to live there full time - and live like a king!

Quezon City

We have spent this week in Lingsat, San Fernando City, La Union, hoping to begin work at the beach property. On Tuesday we went to see it and found lots of overgrowth. I started to survey the property when I started to get attacked by mosquitos. They went straight for my legs and immediately I started to feel really itchy. It's "dengue" season here so I didn't want to take any chances, I quickly returned to my dad's truck and sat there bathing my legs in rubbing alcohol.

Peter, on the other hand, went to check out the shoreline, talk to the next door neighbor and Aki, the local japanese surfer. They have voiced their concerns about the municipal's plans to build a concrete boardwalk there: it will only bring unwanted people at night, cause the surf to disappear or be changed, and the sand will most likely never come back.

Meanwhile, my dad tried to tackle some of the overgrowth only to stop after a few minutes due to the hot weather.

My Uncle Apit arrived an hour later so we can all talk about putting some water pump and tank and setting up electrical lines. Fortunately, with the new municipal road next door, electrical lines have been put up so it will now be easy for us to hook up our own line and then upgrade to commercial line in the near future.

Wednesday we went to buy a weed whacker and a tree pruner for the beach property. It wasn't until Thursday when they were able to try both. The problem of doing some work at this time of the year is that the weather makes it difficult to work non-stop, it's just too hot, too muggy, to do hard labor at this time. So doing one thing less than a day is actually achievable.

This weekend is reserved for my family, so we can celebrate both mine and my mom's birthday. I think my dad got some of his friends to contribute food for Sunday lunch. I look forward to this celebration as it has been years since I've celebrated it here with my family.

BTW, on a sad note, our old family and Church friend, Tatay "Col." Godofredo Carreon passed away at the age of 88 a couple of days ago.

Lingsat, San Fernando, La Union

Saw the beach property this morning: overgrown weeds all over. The new road that the municipality built right next to our fence stretches from the main highway to the beach. they wanted to put a concrete boardwalk along the shore but most of the beach property owners it is better left as is so that the sand will return, otherwise, they might simply ruin the shoreline and the surf. some officials were actually looking for one of our family members that time they had the surf competition and the battle of the bands right outside our property, they wanted to request that we give them an extra 6 feet for the road. my uncle heard about it and avoided them the whole time. thank you uncle third!

there's lots of work to do. need a weed whacker and chain saw but both of these are not sold in the philippines, and the chain saw is illegal unless registered with the government (to prevent illegal logging). we will probably hire workers to remove the weeds. need some gravel and dirt for landscaping. probably this weekend we will get some things done.

we will return to manila this weekend though to celebrate both mine and my mom's birthday at the church. (i have been "ageless" for years now and haven't really celebrated my birthday but since i am with my family i can make an exception.)

my relatives here in the province are actually preparing something but it's also going to some kind of a "despedida" party for my auntie marilen and uncle renato who are leaving for the US to immigrate - after such a long wait, more than 20 years, for the petition, by uncle's twin brother, to be approved; and, also, Auntie Esther's birthday this coming saturday - please send healing thoughts for her, she is battling bone cancer.

anyway, the weather here is utterly humid and hot!!! not too much rain yet. it seems that the monsoon season has been delayed. we hope for cool weather soon.

Quezon City

Been here for 3 days now. Met up with our good friends, Verne and Gia, on Saturday. We met them at the College of Music. Both of them (and their kids) are Croc-ies too! Just like Peter and I (and my family). It's the new thing now - everyone loves to wear their Crocs for its comfort. I understand my niece and nephews in the province wear them too.

Anyway, we were treated to a Pakistani lunch at the old Drive-In in front of our church, UP CRL, and next to the UP Pool. They had so many choices with lots of vegetarian options (my friend Gia has turned vegetarian for health reasons). The price was very reasonable. And the food, good!

Afterwards, rain started to pour, apparently since Summer ended the rains haven't been pouring, only about 2-3 days since then. An unusual weather they are having. Well, we wanted to drive to the new mall across from SM City, Trinoma, but due to the heavy downpour we turned back and had coffee at a popular Singaporean cafe, Kopi Roti, which offers regular Singaporean coffee with condensed milk or tea with condensed milk or hot cocoa along with a sweet crusted bun or toast with sweet cream or assorted topping french toast, all with or without soft boiled egg in special soy sauce. Very simple, yet quite popular with the regular folk.

Then we went to do some errands afterwhich they dropped us off at the church where we waited for my parents to finish with the choir practice.

Today, we went to Church and Peter and I got recruited to sing with the Filipino and English service choirs. The church has two new pastors, the Rev. PJ Bote (quite young) and Pastor Cao (also a lawyer).

Lunch was at Tom Yang Hot Pot in Quezon Avenue. Peter and I weren't able to try the hot pot in China so my brother invited us to eat there. The restaurant is quite bit, lots of huge tables with big round hot plates where in the middle is a small round pot filled with either a spicy broth or chicken broth. There were 7 of us: my parents, my brother and his girlfriend, Heidi, Tito Manny, old family friend, then Peter and I. Right in the center of the restaurant is a huge buffet full of raw sliced meats, seafood, vegetables, mushrooms, prepared dumplings, uncooked noodles or pasta, etc. We got whatever we wanted cooked at the hot pot or at the hot plate. We had thin slices of raw lamb, angus beef, chicken, salmon belly, and other interesting meats along with lots of veggies, sides and seasoned crab. A buffet desset was also offered: 3 flavours of ice cream and halo-halo (Filipino dessert). The food was pretty good, tasty, but too much. My Dad was the first to give up, followed by Peter, and the rest of us. We were completely full and sleepy afterwards. It was a good time.

I know I have posted that Peter wants to have time to post his commentary on our trip, but he needs to get his thoughts together again as he kind of forgot what he wanted to write. So, it will probably be awhile until he gets to post. So for now it will just be me and my daily blog (if there's anything interesting).

Have a good week ahead!

Quezon City, Philippines

Left our hostel early this morning, around 7 a.m., walked to the nearby Holiday Inn Golden Mile to catch the K3 Airport Express Shuttle Bus to the Kowloon Station of the Airport Express. As was always our good fortune, with regard to weather, the rains stopped when we left our hostel and began to pour when we were already in the train. Thank you, Universe.

Got to the airport early enough to be the first in line for check-in at the Cebu Pacific counter. Took our time, had some breakfast at Pacific Coffee Company and checked the internet, before going through immigration and to the gate.

The flight took only 2 hours. BTW, most of the passengers in this flight were Filipinas working as helpers in Hong Kong. The Cebu Pacific air fare was the cheapest, besides Tiger Airways (from Macao), to the Philippines. In exchange for the cheap fares, food and beverage (including water) weren't free. If I knew that I would have brought some food to eat (flight time was 11 a.m. - 1 p.m., lunch time). Oh, well...now we know.

Went through immigration, baggage claim and customs rather quickly. Found my Dad waiting for us at the outside waiting area.

The weather is surprisingly less humid than we expected due to the previous night's rain. The traffic in the highways and streets were still chaotic, especially around the Katipunan area. I kept thinking of ways to ease traffic congestion around this area - like building an elevated road turning left from Katipunan to UP Math area, widening the road from UPIS toTandang Sora ("imminent domain"), prohibit trucks/semis to drive on highways and roads only at night until early morning not during the day, prohibit tricycles/pedicabs from driving on main roads and highways, teach pedestrians to cross at overpasses , etc. If it were that easy.

Along the drive we've seen so many vehicles cut in, overtake, swerve, etc. I've even took a picture of this car, a gray mitsubishi lancer that was so rude as to drive on the opposite lane then cut in front of my dad's pick-up. This person, who is probably educated and a professional, do not know the rules of the road. Truly sad and disappointing. (I am thinking of putting that picture on the internet...hmmm...still maybe not....) Even one policeman was directing traffic without following the traffic signals himself - he simply could just turn off the signal lights and direct traffic, instead, he just made drivers irate by making the traffic worse.

After being in China/Hong Kong for a month, we have not seen this chaos in the roads, except maybe when there's a spectacle happening in the middle of the street, which is quite seldom. The drivers are pretty much obedient to the rules of the road, especially the public transportation buses. And, pedestrians know where to catch the bus (although they cross anytime they want at crosswalks - at least they know where to cross).

Hopefully, somewhere in the future, the Filipinos will learn to clean up their act and start behaving more civilised like their other Asian neighbors.

Anyway, am glad we are now in the Philippines and with my family.

Peter, after some thought, will be posting his commentary now that we have access to free internet.

Hong Kong

Left the cloudy Shenzhen around 9:40 a.m. Took the Metro to the Luohu station where the Immigrations building of both the Chinese and Hong Kong border is located. It took us less than an hour, 50 minutes to be exact, to go through Chinese immigration, Chinese Customs, Hong Kong immigration and Hong Kong Customs. At exactly an hour later we were already seated on the KCRC train bound for East Tsim Sha Tsui (46 minutes - with several stops in between, at the New Territories).

Peter and I must be the only ones who have visited Shenzhen and not buy anything! I wasn't even able to buy a postcard for this city because we couldn't find one in the malls, forgot to get them at the tourist attraction places.

We simply did the "bird's eye view" thing at the Meridian View Center in the Diwang Da Sha building, the tourist attractions at Splendidi China and China Folk Villages. We got tired of going outdoors because of the humidity, it was too much to handle. So we opted for relaxing at the Mall.

Which is what we are doing in Hong Kong, too. It's quite humid plus every now and then rains pours heavily on the streets. We will be hanging out at the Mall or go and watch "Shrek 3" at Pacific Palace cinemas in Admiralty.

So, this is our last day in Hong Kong and our last day of our Northeast Asian tour. It has been truly a marvelous experience with a number of pleasant surprises along the way. The numerous times we've been blessed with great weather and serendipitous moments are incredible blessings throughout our journey. Our impressions have been corrected and we have a much better view of how the people in Japan, Seoul, China and Hong Kong live. There were times when I felt totally uncomfortable, basically in places where I don't understand what I hear or what I read and we're left feeling quite vulnerable. But, most of the time, we felt like we belonged and were part of the community.

The hostels in China and the one in Seoul, were completely different from the hostels we have been to in Europe. These are more like hotels in terms of their quality service, most of the time above and beyond the call, and with cheap room rates. We were very impressed.

The people, overall, were very helpful, friendly and hospitable. Only a couple of them surly and rude.

Everything is changing here, especially in China, that we definitely will return to see the amazing new developments. At least we got to see some of the "old" places before they are all demolished and replaced by huge, modern high-rises.

Thank you everyone for your prayers for our safety on our month and a half journey through Northeast Asia.

Signing off from Hong Kong....

Shenzhen

Just came back from watching the movie, "Nanking." It was a documentary with narrations by actors who read in the first person the letters of the foreigners who helped the Chinese in Nanking in the Safety Zone, as well as interviews of people who witnessed this horrifying invasion of their city and ultimately the killing of their loved ones. We didn't get to see the Museum in Nanjing, so watching this movie was indeed an opportunity to learn about what had happened then.

This movie reminded me, also, of what the Philippines had to endure at that time. War is a terrible, aweful thing. No one should experience this in their lifetime, if we all could accept each other and live in peace.

Shenzhen

The reason why people on Hong Kong and the mainlanders come to Shenzhen is because it is a shopper's paradise. Lots of places to buy clothes, shoes, bags, watches, electronics, etc.

Peter and I went to the Dongmen area where there are several buildings full of vendors selling their stuff for cheap. Most of the buildings simply house these vendor stalls and is not fully enclosed like a regular department store. After our experience yesterday of Shenzhen's summer weather, we went around the Dongmen area following the shade - meaning, wherever we find shaded areas or walkways that's where we'd go. So, we basically just went around and around.

We went inside one of the Mall's to have a cool drink but later on decided to just go back to the MixC mall and hang out there. We haven't explored this Mall yet until today. Turns out there are 5 levels full of shops, a Delicity food court, and movie theaters. We decided to watch "Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End" to cool off from the heat outside.

The theaters are really classy. We had to choose our seats for the movie. The cost was 40 yuan per person (about $6). The theater we were in was medium-sized with Stadium seating and very comfy chairs. It wasn't filled up, only about 20 people or so. The movie was in English (thank goodness) with Chinese subtitles. After the movie we were directed to an exit door that leads to the mall area different from the entrance door. A good idea.

After the movie, we had a late lunch at the Delicity, choosing fried rice and pancit. We had too much of the oily food and meats already.

We are now back at the hotel to rest a bit before going back to the MixC to watch another movie, "Nanking", about the 1937 massacre of 300,000 Nanking men and women. It's in English too. I am intrigued by this, but I know it's going to be quite explicit - I hope I'll be prepared to watch it.

Anyway, tomorrow we take the train back to Hong Kong.

Shenzhen

Before anything else, I would like to greet our good friend, Lynne, and our niece, Neala, a very happy birthday today in the US! Hope you both have an incredible and amazing year full of great opportunities to achieve whatever it is you want. God bless you both!

The weather cleared up this morning after last night's thunderstorm. We took advantage of the free breakfast here in the hotel before heading out to do some sightseeing.

Today we saw the Splendid China and China Cultural Folk Villages - Epcot-type attractions. For 120 yuan per person we got to see both, well, they're both connectede so either way you still have to see both to make the entrance fee worth it.

We started with the Villages. Took our time to meander around the huge park. Rain would pour every now and then so we'd duck under a building to get some shelter. There are so many villages represented at the park, including this one minority culture which uses the roman alphabet rather than the chinese script. We finished this side of the park in 4 hours.

Went to find a place to eat where it's cool but turns out the only place that had A/C was a tea house. So we ended up downstairs at the coffee shop which sells expensive sandwiches and drinks. The Chinese tourists were smart to bring their own picnic lunch bought from Wal-Mart (as evidenced by their bags).

Next we went around the Splendid China, miniature versions of the natural attractions all over the Mainland. There were so many to see but because of the heat we tried to just pick and choose, somehow though we kind of seen most of it: summer palace, the ming tombs, the great wall, marco polo bridge, etc.

It was so hot and muggy throughout the day that both Peter and I developed headaches due to heat stroke. At least the aches held off until we had our early dinner at 4 p.m. at Taco Bell Grande restaurant (not fast food) which offers really good meals like the Almondigas with fried rice and the Chicken Quesadilla with sauteed mushrooms and bean/corn salad. Really good. We wondered how come they have the better kind of Taco Bell and Pizza Hut restaurants here - more classy and a full-fledged restaurant. Even the servers at Taco Bell Grande wears a sombrero and a Mexican outfit. How cute is that!

Bought some much needed bottled water and some groceries before going back to the hotel. Then went straight for a cold shower (after being so sweaty the entire day) followed by a long nap (until 9:30 p.m.).

Headache is almost gone (still waiting for the rain to pour so this will go away - it's really like a weather forecaster this sinus of mine, he, he....).

Well, I am going to let Peter post his thoughts after this. Goodnight, then!

Shenzhen

This has to be to most convenient travel we had: Walked from the Tsim Sha Tsui metro station (underground) to connect to the East Tsim Sha Tsui station where the KCR (Kowloon-Canton Railway) starts for its daily, 4-minute apart, trips to Lo Wu (the station near the border to Shenzhen, China) - took about 45-50 minutes (compared to the 2 hours by boat).

We got to see the New Territories along the way, lots of high-rises but with more space in between.

Rain was pouring when we arrived at Lo Wu station. Fortunately, the station is directly connected to the Hong Kong and China immigrations building. We had to turn in our departure card (which we filled out when we arrived in Hong Kong) to the immigration officer, then walked across the border (more like a passageway between buildings) to fill out another form (entry/health card) to submit to the Chinese immigration officer. We had a double-entry visa (which allows us to stay up to 30 days per entry) because we stopped by Hong Kong first before going to Shenzhen. We could have stayed another 30 days but we didn't plan for this and we need to start the developments in our beach property in San Juan.

The Immigrations building is connected to the main shopping center everyone who comes to Shenzhen goes to, Luohu Shopping Center, and to the Metro station as well as the Coach station.

We followed the signs to the Metro station. Got a trans card (same as the Octopus and Traffica cards) for ease in taking the Metro. They have 2 Metro Lines (for now). Line A begins right there at the railway station. We asked the Info lady where the nearest stop to the tallest building in Shenzhen, she said "Garden Theater" stop. Got down to where the trains area and looked at the sign saying "Garden Theater" only to find out that there are only Chinese and Pinyin on the route plan. At least one of the maps which had the English name had the Chinese characters on them too, we simply looked for the character that is the same. Found it later - Da Ju Yuan station.

Arrived at Da ju Yuan station and both Peter and I were caught by surprise when all the signs and maps only had Chinese characters in them - no pinyin! We only knew the pinyin (romanized version of the Chinese words), even then the way they say it is totally different. Peter asked the ticket officer to show in the map where Yan He Dong lu was, he pointed to the railway station. We tried to keep calm and decided to just get out of the station and find that tallest building.

We got out through the nearest exit and found ourselves diagonally across the tallest building, Diwang Da Sha, right at the main road - it was nice and sunny by this time. Our hotel's direction was simply "just one street opposite of the tallest building." Now this could mean anywhere. At least the street signs had pinyin, thank God! So we crossed the street (the same block as the Diwang Da Sha) via the subway then asked the newspaper stand girl where Yan He Dong Lu was. No luck. She couldn't understand at all. Next, Peter asked the street cleaning lady and she kind of understood him and directed us to go straight up (using her raised palm motioning to go there) then slightly right and somewere there. Okay, at least we got a direction. So we crossed back to the same side of the road we were one earlier but on the opposite side. Went to the next block up and through a smaller road in between the buildings. Asked another guard there and he sort of knew where it was and directed us to go cross the river and over there somewhere. As luck would have it, right where we were I saw the huge sign in the building across the river, He Dong Hotel. Yipee! We found it! It is located right along the river next to the World Finance Center.

This hotel is pretty cheap, probably 2-3 stars. For a three day stay in a twin room we paid about 640 yuan (compared to Hong Kong's 450 yuan/night). We also get to borrow a computer here in our room for only 30 yuan per day - now that's really cheap (amounts to less than 2 yuan/hour). Plus, we are right here in the center of the city.

We had brunch at the nearby The MixC mall before going up to the tallest building (connected via the subway with the mall) and saw how huge Shenzhen was. It was a good way of orienting ourselves with the city's areas. Now we know that where we are now is just north/west of the railway station. We were also to see the areas of the Hong Kong side.

Back at The MixC mall, we went to Honeymoon Dessert for my usual Snow White Sago while Peter had the glutinous rice and durian in coconut milk ice. Yum!

Next, we took the Metro back to Luohu Shopping Center to see why everyone (like the Filipinas in Hong Kong) comes here to shop. It is simply like a better version of Greenhills Mall in Quezon City. Clothes, bags, shoes, food, electronics, manicure, massage, tailoring, etc. are found here. No price on items so you will have to haggle to get a very good deal. Unfortunately, I am not the shopping-for-deals-type of person. Maybe, if it's something I really really want, I will haggle to get a good deal. But I will not buy items I do not need because it is cheap. So, we simply went around the 5 floors (pretty big) and came back down straight to the Metro station.

Went back to The MixC mall to buy some groceries at Ole then returned to the hotel to get some rest.

Later we will check out the other mall at Dongmen.

Hong Kong

Tomorrow we will take the train to Lowu then cross the border to Shenzhen. We will be there for 3 nights then return to Hong Kong for a day before catching the next day flight to Manila.

I will be posting from Shenzhen (hopefully our hostel will have internet).

Till then....Zai jien!

Hong Kong, on the 10th year anniversary of the hand over to China

Woke up early this morning to see the flag raising ceremony at the Golden Bauhinia, HK Convention Center grounds in Wan Chai.

The prediction for today's weather was thunderstorms and lots of rain. Well, the sky was clear and the Sun even shined. Thank God for that. (Also, the cumulative thoughts of the people in Hong Kong for better weather could have also manifested it.)

Took the Metro to Wan Chai and walked on the sky way along with hundreds of locals and tourists on their way to see the ceremony. At one of the junctions in the sky way, we were all stopped from going down the stairs (the building also closed its doors for the time being) due to some spectacle that occured in the sidewalk near the stairs. Hundreds of police officers were there encircling something they covered so we couldn't see what was going on. A few minutes later we were all allowed to go down and walk swiftly towards the Convention Center.

We neared the block leading to the Convention Center only the police and security guards barred the entire road. Not knowing what was happening, we simply staked a good place to watch whatever it is they were blocking the road for. We were there for more than 20 minutes when some people began to cross the street to where the barricade was, only to have the police tell us to go back.

We didn't see the ceremony at all. It was more of a private affair for the dignitaries and special guests. The early birds were able to get in before the police put up the barricade. Peter and I went to Pacific Coffee Company, and had our breakfast, read the newspaper and magazines, checked the computer there, until around 11:30 a.m. (we were there about 3 hours)

Since we were already in the area we returned to the Convention Center to see the raised flags and the Bauhinia. Took some pictures then rain started to pour. We ducked into the Convention Center and walked straight through via the connecting passageways to the Renaissance Harbor View hotel through to the next building via the sky way. We nearing the Wan Chai metro station when we crossed the sky way and saw that people were waiting there for the parade. We weren't quite sure what the parade was or their route so we were pretty happy that we were there at that time. Saw some cool old mini coopers, classic cars and cool scooters in the parade.

Next stop was the nearby post office (yes, they are open on Sundays here in HK, China, and Japan) to mail my post card with the newly released commemorative stamp of the HKSAR 10th anniversary. On the way to the post office we walked through the Wan Chai street market full of vendors selling clothes, food stuff, bags, shoes, etc. We walked around that area after the post office errand.

Next stop was Causeway Bay station to Times Square mall. We had our lunch there at the City Super food court. Both Peter and I chose a lunch set from Chilies and Spice (Thai cuisine): 1) curry chicken with veggies, stick of chicken satay, dessert and drink; 2) pork with the same extra stuff. Each plate was HKD$44 (about $6.25), and the plate was huge, the serving enormous. The food was great and the dessert, half maja-blanca half tapioca with macapuno, coconut and taro - really delicious!

After lunch we went around the mall and discovered more places we haven't seen since our last visit here. It really interesting how much we have not seen in the place.

We realized that most of the streets near the Time Square mall was empty of cars, public buses and trucks. Only the trams were allowed and some taxi. People were walking along the streets and we followed some of them to Victoria Park where an annual demonstration for the HK people who are pro-democracy was being staged. Also in the Park were all the Filipina and Indonesian maids on their usual Sunday day off where they picnic, talk story, and just spend the entire day together. We weren't able to walk around the park on our first visit because it was very humid and we didn't feel like checking it out. This time, the weather was cooler and the clouds provided shade, so we were able to see part of the park and where these Filipinas and Indonesian women hang out.

After the park, around 4 p.m., we took the metro back to Tsim Sha Tsui and returned to our hostel. Got some rest before heading back out to watch the fireworks display.

By 6:30 p.m. we were near the Harbor. We had a quick dessert at Peter's favorite place, Hui Lao Shan - mango is the main staple. Ordered 1) the pomelo sago coconut milk, mango and mango ice cream, and 2) red bean, coconut milk, sticky rice balls, and crystal jelly. Both were good. The turn over at this place is really fast. We're wondering if something like this will work in the Philippines. Hmmmm....

Anyway, right outside, by the harbor the main promenade was closed (because it might collapse due to the sheer number of people wanting to get a better view of the fireworks). People started to stand up right next to the elevated promenade and just waited there for more than an hour. Peter and I found a place in the back where we could still see but not be to crowded - right at the edge of the sidewalk away from the harbor. Unfortunately, 2 guys from behind us kept coughing without bothering to cover their mouths, so we moved to the middle of the street were some people began to sit.

We sat there for about 45 minutes before the fireworks. Ate the snacks we bought from the Das Gute bakery. When the "Symphony of Lights" show (permanent light show shown everyday at 8 p.m.) began, people began to stand up. So we stood up and watched the show (which also was enhanced with pyrotechnics) for 12 minutes then the main fireworks display started for 24 minutes. We could hear everyone "ooh" and "aah", especially the kids. But 15 minutes into it the kids grew tired of it. The display was spectacular. Lots of shapes and colors. Awesome.

We were glad to be here at this time. Happy 10th Anniversary, HKSAR!