Second Day in Hong Kong-Disneyland and Mongkok

The family started the day bright and early to meet for breakfast. Hubby and I prepped them the night before by telling them explicitly that we have to be in Disneyland before the gates open so that we can have more time to see all the attractions.

Breakfast was at Delifrance located along Peking road, just a few minutes' walk from our hotel. We had typical French breakfast fare of croissants, sausages, eggs and fruit. The kids started having fun by taking turns playing with Jay-jay's toy laptop.



Fortified with a heavy breakfast, we made our way to Disneyland. We opted to take the MTR so that kids can experience the Mickey Mouse train. It took three train transfers to transport all 14 of us. From Tsim Sha Tsui MTR, transfer trains at Lai King (Tung Chung Line), alight at Sunny Bay Station and transfer to the Disneyland Mickey Mouse train. It was a bit nerve wracking for me because we had five children with us and I was constantly counting them to make sure every single one was accounted for.





The kids were pretty excited about the Mickey Mouse MTR and had tons of pictures taken.











We arrived about half an hour earlier to Disneyland. The weather was cloudy, which was perfect for us. Our early arrival gave us time to browse through the Disney Map and plot where we want to go first.



The kids also had a blast playing around the huge fountain. Here I am, "surfing" :-)









Hong Kong Disneyland is not as vast as its American and European counterparts. You will still have a great time there nonetheless. A Disney experience will never be complete without posing with the Disney princesses and the rest of the gang.





Terno si hubby at si Timon, he he he ;-)

Our group decided to explore the park separately. Hubby and I took Tim and Nica with us to ride the Buzz Lighyear attraction and the Autopia. Both were equally fun and interactive. Tim got his Disney license and Nica got a cute sticker from the staff.





We were extremely disappointed that the Space Mountain attraction was closed for maintenance. That attraction is a unanimous favorite for those of us who've been there in the previous year. We were happily telling the kids the day before that they will enjoy that ride and the look on their faces when they realized that the attraction was closed was hearbreaking.

However, there are other attractions that needed to be discovered. The rest of the clan made their way through the rest attractions. If you're in Disneyland, never ever miss The Lion King Show. It's got great special effects and the actors sing the songs live. My nephew Jay-jay and niece Ashley were enthralled with all the special effects, moving stage, huge puppets and the pyrothechnics.



Another favorite is the Philharmagic attraction, a 3D cinema complete with special "water" effects and opera glasses. My niece Daniele enjoyed it so much, she went in twice.




By mid-afternoon, my feet were already killing me. Hubby and I decided to take it easy for a while and I promptly fell asleep leaning on hubby in one of the benches. I only woke up when I heard my godson Tim exclaimed "Ayun sila ninang O!"

After waking up, we were hungry, hubby and I tried the Bakery along Main Street USA and ordered egg tart, cheesecake and black forest cakes. They were all rich and quite good. Hubby liked the black forest better. I liked the cheesecake better (my cheesecake tastes better though, he he he)



The parade was right along the Bakery and we moved closer to get a better view.



One of the highlights of our Disney trip was the fireworks. My mom and Tita Honey already saved a bench near the castle so that we all could get a better view of the fireworks. We all wowed and were all amazed with the show. If you're in Disneyland, never miss the fireworks. Come December, there's even fake snow (made of bubbles) after the fireworks along Main Street USA.



It was a very happy day for everyone. My Mom and Tita Honey, had several bags' worth of shopping in Disneyland.

After Disney, half of the family decided to dine in Spaghetti House again since it's located right at the hotel. The rest, decided to explore Mongkok instead of going back to the hotel to have dinner.

After dinner, my brother Jake and his wife Angel, Hubby and myself made our way to Mongkok for more shopping. Mongkok stores are open until midnight, some extend up to 1a.m. Mongkok is famous for it's Ladies' Market, Street Market and electronic goods. I was too tired to fully explore Mongkok's streets, after hubby bought a spare battery for the camera, we decided to go home. Jake and Angel stayed a few hours more and bought some clothing for them and the kids.

Oh my feet, why did you give up on me?

First Day in Hong Kong With the Family

Woo hoo! Hong Kong, finally. All 14 members of the family were eagerly anticipating this scheduled vacation for months. Everyone was a bit concerned that I may not be able to join them because of my recent bout with Dengue. I spent three whole days prior to our departure doing absolutely nothing so that I can get my strength back. I took refuge in LP and let the maids pamper and spoil me like crazy :-) I felt like a donya for three days :-)

Anyway, our family flew via Cebu Pacific. This time, we had excellent service and hubby and I were seated on the exit row so leg room was great. We flew in two batches for safety reasons. Cebu Pacific offers three flights daily to Hong Kong,7:30am, 4:30p.m. and 7:30pm. The 7:30 am flight is more expensive but you get to be in HK earlier. Ergo, more time for shopping!

After safely landing in Hong Kong International Airport with none of us getting sick on the plane, we made our way to the immigration. The lines were very long and it took almost an hour to get through.



We booked months in advance in Imperial Hotel located along Nathan Road, excellent location. Their rooms are a bit small and cramped, specially the one shared by hubby and me with barely enough room (I mean that in the literal sense) for a queen-sized bed, dresser, small refrigerator, TV and a teeny tiny closet. If you're booking in Imperial Hotel, remember to always get a room with two single beds for they allow a bit more room to move, you can always put the beds together like what my brother did in their room. Imperial hotel is 3-star hotel with just the basic amenities but the rooms are clean, great shower pressure and the towels are replaced every single day. The rooms are old and not very fresh looking but the location is what you're paying for. There are subway stations (called MTR) located beside and in front of the hotel, commuting is very easy and convenient.

After checking in, we all immediately plowed through the streets of Nathan Road to get a bite to eat. We settled for KFC since it was quite near to the hotel and we were all starving.

After being fortified with chicken, we go our separate ways to roam the streets of Nathan Road to look for bargains. Tita Socky, hubby and I made a beeline to Causway Bay to shop at Ikea (Causway Bay MTR station, Parklane Exit). We all bought a lot of stuff that will surely guarantee an overload in our suitcases. We bought a slew of lamps, weighing scale and implements. I couldn't resist posing at one of the kitchen showcases there.



After Ikea, we made our way back to the hotel to drop off our purchases because they're quite heavy to lug around.

Back to the streets of Nathan Road to shop some more! Hubby was the first one to score with an all-weather bright yellow jacket with a separate gray jacket ideal for Asian winters (we don't have winters in Manila, but hubby travels a lot within Asia) bought on sale from Bossini and I bought a shirt as well.

The beauty of Hong Kong is that you can spend the whole day getting lost along its side streets and yet discover a lot of amazing things and bargains. I'm not much of a shopaholic, since I'm way to practical but I really love walking around Hong Kong, every year is a new experience. I don't think I'll ever get tired of it.

When it was time for the second group to arrive, we all met at the Spaghetti House located at the second floor of our hotel. We had lasagna, spaghetti with bacon and sausages, onion rings, pizza, ribs and a whole slew of Italian dishes. I particularly love the spaghetti with bacon and sausages.





No rest for the weary, even though we were all very tired from the walking and the waiting in line in immigration (for the second group), we decided to still walk around Nathan Road and show the sights to the first timers in the group. Tita Honey was particularly mesmerized with how bright the streets are. It practically looks like daytime! We all oohhed and ahhhhed and took pictures.







My brother and hubby did not waste time looking for some electronics. My brother Jake was looking for a video camera and had asked for hubby's opinion on some of the stuff that he's looking at. We found a store that offered a too good a deal for a video cam, the price was only HK$2,000 for a JVC, 20 gig video cam. Very cheap. When the price is too good to be true, remember, it probably is. We waited and waited for the stock, in the meantime, hubby was browsing through the still camera section and a particular once caught his eye. A 12.1 megapixel, Full HD Sony Cybershot. The price was reasonably haggled at HK$3,000 (from HK$3,500). We eventually bought the Cybershot. And this is the very first picture taken from the camera, my nephew Jay-jay. Isn't he cute?



My brother didn't get his video cam. Beware of this modus operandi...the clerks will give you a low price and will tell you that they're getting the stock or the stock will be made available in a few hours, in the meantime, they will ask you to pay or will try sell you a higher model. Don't give your money unless the stock is in your hands. Browse around first and compare prices. If one store is giving a much lower price from the other stores (in the video cam's case it was HK$1,800 lower than the rest), you're being cheated. Fortunately, the Cybershot that we bought was just the right price across other shops that we looked at.

My brother was sawi with his quest for the video cam. Tomorrow's another day, more excuse to browse the stores!

Back in Manila!

We're home! Safe and sound from our five-day family vacation in Hong Kong. I will tell you all about our fabulous time there in the coming days. I just need to keep my house in order first :-)

Man, back to reality! Darn.

My (mis)Adventures with Dengue

It was Sunday when I started feeling feverish. Hubby took me to the emergency room at Asian Hospital. My fever was at 38.9C, was feeling cold, clammy and was shaking the entire time.

I was given a CBC (complete blood count). The doctors sent me home and gave me some antibiotics to combat the infection.

Monday, my fever was at 40C and was feeling really lousy. I bite the bullet and had a cold compress. My fever went down and I felt fine.

Tuesday, hubby stayed home with me to keep me company. I was feeling worse than ever. Aside from fever, joint pains and unceasing headache, I was also constantly vomiting. Hubby immediately took me to the emergency room again. I was given another CBC and an IV to hydrate me. We stayed in the ER for almost 5 hours. Hubby was extremely exhausted and stressed.

For the first time in my life, in the emergency room, I had a panic attack. I felt impending doom was to come upon me, I felt like there were steel bands constricting my every movement. Most of all, I felt trapped, extremely sad and felt that I was about to die. I am very thankful that hubby was there to calm me down and assure me that I'm not about to die. It took me quite a while to convince my brain that I'm going to be OK but I did it. It took every ounce of willpower not to succumb to the morbid thoughts playing in my mind. I never want to experience that ever again. It was the single most frightening experience of my life. I sympathize with those who experience panic attacks on a daily basis.

The doctor sent me home but had asked me to get another CBC in a few hours, my platelets have dropped dramatically from my previous CBC and they suspect that I may be having Dengue.

Two days and two CBCs later, I was finally confirmed of having Dengue. My mom had accompanied me to the hospital. By the time I was admitted, I was already feeling better and had no more fever. But I was told by my doctor that I still had Dengue and had to be hospitalized nonetheless.




My spirits were high and was a bit excited about being pampered and catered to my every need :-) he he he. My elation was short lived :-( Little did I know, that Dengue comes with a very nasty and itchy rash.

On my first night at the hospital, my nurse, found me crying in bed and hubby desperately rubbing my hands and legs. I couldn't sleep because of the persistent itch. I haven't had much sleep since the onset of my fever last Sunday and to say that I'm exhausted is an understatement. I was at my wit's end. My nurse took pity on me and gave me a double dose of Benadryl. I immediately felt relaxed....for two minutes and then I started having tremors! I was extremely paranoid that the tremors will become permanent due to an allergic reaction. I had to wait for a few hours for my body to metabolize the Benadryl. Long story short...no sleep! My doctor assured me that sleeplessness is my body's way of coping with the disease.

Funny thing is, despite being sleepless and exhausted, I had high energy the entire time. The human body is a fascinating thing.

My CBC is taken every 12 hours the entire time I was confined to the hospital (total of 4 days). It wasn't a pleasant experience but it wasn't too bad. The worst was really the itching. Nothing helped...not the ointments...not the anti histamines..not even the cold compress. There was no choice but to let the disease run its course.





I was most thankful about the quality of care that I got from my doctor, Dr. Gloria, the wonderful and well trained nurses of Asian Hospital and most of all, from the constant loving care that I got from my mother and hubby. I was also extremely cheered by family and friends who came to visit me, sent text messages and called me to wish me the best.

I urge everyone reading this, please always go to a doctor when you're not feeling well, having fever often is a sign of infection. Always apply insect repellant lotion when you are going to be outdoors. It could save your life.

Huwag baliwalain ang lagnat!

Lunch with My BFF

My birthday weekend continues. I spent Sunday lunch with my BFF of 24 years. Jhon-ann. I know, very unusual name.

We started being friends in 1984 when my family moved from Quezon City to BF Homes Paranaque. It was the middle of the school year and I was uprooted from my previous alma mater. This girl, Jhon-ann, who sat beside me, befriended me immediately. We were inseprable up to our senior year in high school when we had a falling out. Up to this day, for the life of us, we couldn't remember why. We just laugh about it and blame it on our youth. But we quickly kiss and made up before graduation and our friendship became stronger than ever.

Over the years, we have kept in touch in letters, emails, phonecalls, Yahoo Messenger and we would occassionally see each other. We have a type of friendship that no matter how many months we don't see each other, we remain very close. When either one of us is in dire need of a shoulder to cry on, we're there for each other. When one of use experienced triumph over adversity, we cheer each other on. There is no jealousy nor competetion between us, unlike most friendships among women. I guess, it's due to the fact that we're bruttaly honest with each other. We have no qualms about saying constructive cristicisms and neither one of use will take offense.



Long before Paris Hilton coined the phrase "BFF", Jhon-ann and I already had countless letters and trinkets incribed with "Best Friends Forever". So far, the catch phrase remains true to this day.

If one had a soulmate for a friend, I have found mine.

Merienda Cena In LP

This weekend, the family had our almost weekly get-together at LP. We scheduled in the afternoon at 4:00 pm for merienda (mid afternoon snack) but knowing our family, it will extend way into dinner time. My mom was in charge of the meal as usual so she made a lot of ulam for dinner as well.

She was a bit inspired with the meal. Aside from steaming huge crabs (which seem to be the staple in our get-togethers) she made guinataang kuhol, adobong adidas (chicken feet)roast pork (not pictured) and a dessert dish inspired by Kusina Salud, guinataang ube.







My mom's guinataang ube tastes better and less sweet than Kusina Salud's. I think this will be one of the most requested desserts in our future get-togethers.



Our Merienda Cena lasted 'till 10"00 p.m. Time really flies, when you're having fun.

My Birthday Dinner with Hubby

First of all, thank to everyone who sent emails, phone calls, text messages and personal greetings for my birthday. I'm so touched that you remembered :-) My cellphone was beeping 'till midnight!

I'm so happy, hubby's finally home from his week-long business trip.

Prior to his arrival, he mentioned that he bought three gifts for me and hinted that they were for our home. The idea of him buying anything for the house, scared me. His track record for buying such things is let's say, something to be desired. I love hubby dearly but when it comes to choosing home accessories, he's absolutely useless.

The minute I saw him, he had a big bag from Ikea, one of my most favorite stores. I said to myself that maybe this time hubby hit it right on the mark. And he did! he bought me stainless steel sauce pan, casserole and a platinum teflon frying pan. I was very happy! I was looking at similar things at the mall the other day but decided not to purchase them yet. Hubby even bought a ton of dark chocolates for me to use for my icing recipes. I'm so happy, happy, happy. Happy that hubby's home safely, happy that he made it just in time for my birthday and happy that he bought me gifts that I loved :-)



For dinner, we dined at Hula-Hula Hawaiian Restaurant . It's a small Hawaiian fusion restaurant located in Westgate, Alabang. They serve mostly Asian and American dishes with a Hawaiian twist.

For starters, we ordered the Mussels Wasabi Salsa. It's six pieces of baked mussels with chunky tomato salsa topped with cheese. This was not very good for one simple reason, there's hardly any wasabi in the salsa. It's also overpriced at P200++ per order.



Next, the Pomelo Salad. It's a combination of pomelos, mangoes, iceberg lettuce, fried wonton wrapper with a Thai dressing (lime, patis, sugar, pepper etc) and generously sprinkled with sesame seeds. This salad is so wrong on so many levels. One, the salad was served warm. Two, the mangoes are over riped. Three there's just way too much sesame seeds. Lastly, the dressing is weak, it just tasted like water with a squirt of calamansi. Way overpriced for P200++ per order.



For our main course, we had Mess of Steaks with Smoked Manila Basting and sidings of Baked Beans and Macaroni Salad. The steaks themselves are very good, light and just have the right amount of smoky taste to it. The baked beans has cumin in it and not too bad, a different twist to your usual baked beans. The macaroni salad is also good (but not as good as mine or my mom's). A good buy at P275++. The Mess of Stakes is cravable and it's the best selling entree on the menu.



For dessert we had Coco Pannacota Mango Rum and Buko Lychee Sherbet. As you can see from the photo below, the Buko Lychee was served with a fork. What are we supposed to do, spear the sherbet?





The Coco Pannacota is served with a meringue on top. The custard itself is just maja blanca but without the corn. An ordinary dessert, dressed up to look like something special.

I'm not sure if we'll eat here again. The Mess of Steaks is good but the rest of the stuff that we ordered were duds. The jury's still out.

After dinner, we make our way around the next curb, a five-minute moonlit walk through a small park with a cute little fountain to Bali Blends Cafe. A restaurant and coffee shop that serves Asian dishes and Asian inspired coffees and teas. I ordered the Spiced Chai Latte. Chai is traditionally prepared by boiling loose tea in milk and water. I've never had this before and I was game to try it. I liked it, it's like drinking a cappuccino but with tea and cinnamon.





Hubby had the Minty Caramel Mocha Iced Coffee. This one is also good with just a hint of mint. Not too overpowering.

Hubby was also intrigued by their Banana Parcel. A steamed dessert of glutenous rice and bananas with a drizzling chocolate sauce. It's their version of "suman". Light and not too sweet.



Despite the misadventure in Hula-Hula, our date was very happy, filled with love, laughter and meaningful conversations.



I got the best gift when we got home, an hour-long massage from hubby! I wish it was my birthday every single day :-)