Hong Kong | July 2014

Hong Kong, Baby!

It was a long planned trip with a friend and my cousin. It took us almost a year to book everything, from flight, to hotel, to tours. Yet, due to school and some events, they backed out. But, i was saved by my office buddies. Good thing, it was easy booking their flight same as mine.

The flight that we booked was going to Macau (MFM) then we took a ferry going to HK. I was in Hongkong for 4 days. My friends and I stayed in Mongkok, the Divisoria of Hongkong. A lot of people, cheap goods, always busy. Be careful though because some vendors were raising their prices. Try to check different stores first before buying anything.

Hongkong has a very good transport system. Their train station is very clean and accessible. You can get around Hongkong by train. They also have the Double Decker buses. It's not really hard to roam around HK   and if you get lost, there are Filipinos everywhere and you can ask for directions. :)

We went to Avenue of the Stars, took pictures, pictures, and pictures. C'mon, what to do? We're tourists! LOL! Avenue of the stars was a long walk. You won't mind time cause the view is very beautiful. Right after Avenue of the Stars, we headed to Temple Street for the night Market. We ate dinner at Temple Street. You can find a lot of local restaurants and shops.

Went to Ocean park, the day after. I enjoyed this place so muchhh! Not just huge aquariums but there were a lot of attractions and rides. Actually, Ocean Park offers a 2-day Ticket. If you have more time in HK, I suggest to take advantage of that cause one day in Ocean Park won't be enough. We weren't able to squeeze in other tourist spots to go to that day because we're so tired. Dead tired.

We, of course, went to the happiest place on earth, Disneyland. The rides in Disneyland were not as intense as the rides in Ocean Park. Well, maybe because Disneyland is for kids and kids at heart. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it too. I love the fireworks and the parade.

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Le Familia went to Bora

We, almost the whole family, went to Boracay last July. We were 18 pax including kids. It was the first time for some family members to ride a plane. Everyone was excited. It was a long planned travel since we needed to arrange work leaves, made sure that we all filed for leave on the same dates. Since we're bringing the grade school fellas with us, some needed to ask permission from the school first. Our flights were in 3 batches. Me and my cousins flew before noon, then the second group flew after lunch time, and the PBB tens (college students) flew around 5PM. We flew from Manila to Kalibo so there was still a Van ride of about 2 hours. We rented 2 family rooms and each accommodated 10 persons.

Boracay is beautiful. The sand felt like polvoron. LOL! Everyone was excited to swim and check out the stretch of the island. When everyone arrived, we had to look for a place to eat that can accommodate our group, our big group. There are a lot of choices when in boracay. You can check out hotel's menu, local restaurants, paluto, fast food chains, and D' Mall. We had dinner at Shakey's. Of course, the love for fried chicken can be brought anywhere in the planet. We chose to seat outside the restaurant, by the shore, so we can feel the breeze and for us to run around. Boracay offers a lot of activities. You will never get bored in the island as long as you have more than enough dough cause honey, I tell you, it's freakin' expensive. We would like to try extreme water activities but since we have "grade schoolers" with us, youngest is 6 yo, we weren't able to do so. We did snorkeling instead. I don't know but there's not much to see while we're snorkeling. Maybe the bangkero didn't bring us in the right spot or something.. I don't know.. We also tried the famous Shake of Jonah's. It was a blast! A very fun-filled weekend. :)

A Battle Well Fought

Early 2014, we lost a family member to cancer. Tutang had been fighting cancer for quite some time. She was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. She had several cycles of chemo, radiation, and an operation. Everything seemed okay. She was fine. Yet, 2 years after diagnosis, a nightmare came. The cancer had metastases to the lungs. That time, it was already at stage 4. Later as we knew it, breast cancer cells crawled to her brain. Her eyes started to cross and her body weakened. The doctor said she has a month to live. Our family had been tested through tough times, to the moon and back. We usually do not give up life battles.

Through continuous chemo cycles and radiation therapy, she lasted for almost a year. She was able to spend the last Christmas, New Year, and Birthday with her family. Life is short. Live it.