Ready for momentary abatement

I only have three nights left before leaving for Israel. It'll be approximately 17 hours of flight and slack period, Manila being connected to Tel Aviv via Hong Kong.

My preparations aren't halfway through; My luggage's not yet filled with my necessities; My brain's not yet trained for technicalities... Instead of being excited about this trip, I am more of anxious on what work environment I will have to deal with. This will be my first business trip... another "first" for me after some previous firsts I just encountered in the past couple of fortnights.

I've just received my bon voyages from my loved-ones... Gosh, those gave me the bad feelings of goodbyes. And I certainly didn't like it. I could actually empathize now to the emotions drenching our OFWs when leaving the country.

I am now in hiatus with sporadic attention to Drake's Ragbag....

¡Hasta la vez próxima!

Hong Kong, here I come!

Yes, tomorrow is the most awaited day of recent time - my sojourn to Hong Kong. Everything in my mind now is just plain preoccupation on what I'll bring, what I'll buy, and what I'll do in the three-day trip. Of course I have a tentative itinerary; But still, a lot of surprises await me there. It'll be my first time in a foreign world and my first time to be a stranger to most.

On this trip:
- I'll be with my 3 college friends.
- We'll be staying in a cheap hostel in the notorious downtown Kowloon.
- Disneyland and Ocean Park are the main treats! (at least for me, but not for one of my friends 'cause he's more into shopping).
- Of course, the dim sum eating doesn't get far from these two, as far as enthusiasm is concerned.
- I'll just be bringing exactly 448 US dollars and 2000 pesos (But when emergency happens, my credit card will save. Haha! Just kidding!).

I am tremendously excited! Wish me well on this trip, and my other friends too. =D

Three sunrises to pass and off I go to Hong Kong

I can't believe I only have three nights left before I embark into the islands of Hong Kong. The more I am anticipating now our (my friends and I) adventures on this Chinese territory - Disneyland, Ocean Park, the food!, The Peak, the airport, the infamous hostel where we're about to lodge in, the food!, the MTR, the people, the shops... did I mention food already? All the more I should get excited since this will be my first international flight, hopefully (With fingers crossed).

Personally, this vacation is a budget trip as I do not plan to expend a lot in shopping. I'm more into the sights and feel of the places we're going to. Of course, the food, especially the dim sums, are a given to my "to experience list". I just hope we'd get good food choices for affordable prices. I've read a number of articles that Hong Kong restaurants' menu prices can go from dirt-poor ranges to socialite levels. Anyway, the restos are a less of a concern, the street food is what I am after food. I just hope I don't get ill after binging all those buns and glistening dumplings. ^_^

Are those Hong Kong banknotes in the picture still in circulation? My maternal grandmother gave them to me from her last HK trip, which is more than a decade ago. Hehe.

At the pool, the Internet, and Hong Kong

Today's one of those boring days when I get do nothing significant on my desk, and I just fiddled on my laptop's keys trying to suffice my drying wetware's insatiable need for input (LOLz!). Surfing aimlessly and whimsically the web was a common reflex of my antsy psyche, trying to focus itself into something worthwhile and somewhat productive task.

Browsing the multifarious dimensions of the Internet, I bumped into quite a number of web sites that merely tempted my mercurial appetite. For a while, everything just seemed to be futile. So, I thought of doing something a little less non-productive then. Since my Hong Kong trip is fast approaching, I decided to check out some travel guides and travelogues regarding this Chinese territory.

Below is a rundown of the sites I bumped into (Some of these I have already browsed months ago). You might also find them helpful if you are planning to sojourn to HK. :)

1. Discover Hong Kong - The Hong Kong Tourism Guide
   
2. Hong Kong Food Guide - It has a good collection of food shops and restaurants ranging from the budget type to the high-ends.
3. MTR Customer Website - Everything you would want to know regarding the MTR's operation through the HK Islands. This offers some helpful maps, travel tips for tourists, and other relevant and useful infos. I myself prefer to use the MTR extensively during my stay there. It's seemingly practical and cost-efficient, pretty like how the MRT is.
4. Octopus Card Website - Anything you want to know about the Octopus Card, the ubiquitous monetary transaction medium of most services in Hong Kong, is found here.
5. Hong Kong Disney - Hong Kong Disney's English Website. You may reserve tickets here.
6. Ocean Park - This is the English portal to the largest aquarium in the world. A lot of tourist information is available here e.g. how to get here?, rates.
7. Lonely Planet Hong Kong - It has a number of tourist tips concisely written for a common traveler. You might find the hotel/hostels review here reputable

Aside from these websites, I knocked into a couple other interesting ones, though not HK-related.

1. Hug Nation - This is an advocacy about the significance of hugging and what it can do to other people's lives. People needs hug, and so do I (It's just too bad my parents are not very touchy. Hence, I do not receive hugs. Huhuhu... Can someone hug me? [LOLz!])
2. Logue It! - It's BootsnAll's network of online travel guides. If you travel a lot and loves to write about your sojourns, you might be interested to apply to this website as an author. Yes, they accept writers who has the passion to transcribe their travelogues on the web. And yes again, you get paid for writing.
   

Apparently, that's what had transpired in my 9-hour stay in this cold office....
I get paid to do my own stuff here, who gets the luxury of that? (LOLz!) Kidding aside, it doesn't feel good and it's not always nice to be like this. Next time, I'll do something more productive. Hehe. (By the way, I actually did some "work", if I'd say, just an hour ago. Hehe.)

---<<--- Before the start of my day in the office, I went swimming again! Woohoo! It was a fine morning at the pool, with cloudy, shady skies and intermittent rain fall. There were pleasantly few people, with no kids around. In the dressing room, there was this weird guy who seemed to be looking at me for most of the time. I don't know why but he seemed to assimilate the gestures the voyeur had when I encountered the latter.

I was pretty much successful refining my freestyle this morning. The body twisting and balance problems I had last Saturday were gone, and I had determined the causes of my difficulties then. Also, it was my first time to do a 30-meter fly without ever panting. It seemed that my body undulation was improving.

I just can't wait for my next swim! :)
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