leaving on a jet plane

Naaalala nyo pa b yung first time na nakasakay kayo ng eroplane? I still remember mine. :) It was last October 2002, going to Hongkong. Sobrang excited ko nun, it was my first time to leave the country and ride a plane. hehe.

It happened on a semestral break, 4th year college. It was just me and my tatay. Serious bonding ito. :) My father has a meeting in Guangzhou in China, (i'm not sure but i believe that SARS originated in that place). So anyway, my first 'plane experience, masaya! PAL kami sumakay, okey naman yung plane, pretty big. Naalala ko yung take off, hahah, parang Space Shuttle pero mas tame by a notch. So if you like to ride roller coasters, panis ang take off. Yung landing, wala naman masyado dating, magaling mga Pinoy na piloto eh. Naks.

I'm sure a lot have already been to Hongkong and China but I just have to tell my story. Kaya nga ko may blog eh. HongKong consists of 4 islands, i think. The airport was really far from the main Hongkong island. We have to take a bullet train. Mahal ng pamasahe, HK$90 yata. One way lang yun. Tapos sa Kowloon station kami bumaba. Para syang MRT, may card na ipapasok to get out. Our ferry ride to China was around 2 pm. Mga 12 p lang yata, so we ate lunch. Sa McDo kami kumain, most of the food were the same with us. I ordered Chicken Nuggets.

The ferry ride was nauseating. Nakakahilo talaga tapos ang tagal pa. 2 hours. Tapos ang iingay ng mga Chinese (no offense to any Chinese who might stumble upon this), ndi ako makatulog. It hard to visit China, even the hotel receptionist doesn't know how to speak English. And to think that the hotel rates 4 stars. Ewan ko ba. Buti n lang yung bellboy, marunong konting english. Sya yung translator namin, he's taking lessons ata. Yung hotel was in tradional China. There were no malls nearby, wala din fastfood chains.

So we're stuck. Or I'm stuck. At least yung tatay ko busy sa meeting, ako, nabato.We check nearby stores, no luck. I have spend the days (take note) reading two books that I got. I should have brought more. Malay ko ba. Twice ko nga nabasa yung books. The hotel has cable TV, pero chinese pa din. Sobrang saya ko na kapag english ang music video sa channel V. Chaka ang tagaaaaaal ko maligo. The bathroom has a tub so mga 1 hour ako dun. wehehe.

Buti na lang before we went to Hongkong, yung isang officemate ng tatay ko decided to take us out. I was able to visit the downtown, daming malls and hotels na tabi tabi, sana dun n lang kami nagstay. Tapos we ate dinner at this restaurant ( syempre chinese), they always serve tea pala before and after meals chaka they always give warm towelette. In China pala, the currency was RMB, more or less equal din sya sa HK$.

When we went to Hongkong, we're there overnyt lang, sa BP International Hotel kami nagstay. Sa kowloon side sya, andun yung Nathan Road kung san tabi-tabi yung mga stores. Nakapunta din kasi sa jade market. Ang tindi tumawad ng tatay ko, almost 70% off yung hinihingi. May ibang pumapayag, pero kapag buena mano, ayus! Tapos yung Ladies market sobrang daming tinda! Mga 4 blocks ng daan yung ginawang market. Bumili ako nung mini chinese dress na lalagayan ng cellphone. Ang cute!! Chaka we were able to visit the Kowloon Zoo and Aviary. My first time to see a flamingo! wehehe Katabi kasi namin yung aviary kaya namin pinunthan.

So that's my Hongkong experience, I hope to go back next year, around june if money permits. hehe Low season kasi chaka i really want to go to Ocean Park, nainggit ako kay Korina sa Rated K. hehehe

high school high

Last sunday, Oct 10 was Gem's birthday! (Happy Birthday Gemma Mae!) I thought it would just be an ordinary day, but hail hail, Gem texted us, inviting for a small salu-salo. Yipee! So me, Borgy, Eih and Chie met at Mcdo Dasma. We were the only ones available on that time. So we got to Gem's house. Goodness, we haven't been to Gem's for a loooong time.

Meeting high school friends allows you to reminisce about the old days. High school was such a great time for me and my friends. There were so many events that were so memorable. Just thinking about it makes me smile and laugh.

Blind Date. Oh my gosh! 2nd year HS. This was really funny. I remember, this was the time when most of the guys are courting girls in our class. Tambay sa

Waiting Shed. Our group(tropa was the term then), consist of girlash and boylets. haha. Most of the time, us girls would eat lunch at the elementary canteen (coz food was more decent there) and they sell the yummiest pastillas. Promise. I also remember the phase when we'll just eat Tivoli ice cream (Funwich) and have buko juice for lunch. haha. What a group of weirdos. Afterwards, we'll go to the waiting shed ("shade" according to Mark Jerold), the one near the preparatory dept. That was the official tambayan. Those days are really fun. You can see vandalisms on the walls (and floors!) with our names. Our exclusive Christmas exchange gifts are also celebrated there. When there were trouble within the group, that was the place to discuss it. We have tons of pictures taken.

Field trips. "Educational trips" are always a blast! We have them like twice every school year. The trip on Megamall( yes it was educational, wahahaha), was about the latest computers that time. And the one at Los Baños was really fun. We went to the IRRI, discussing the latest tech about rice planting. Afterwards we went hiking to the boiling mud, i forgot the exact term. haha Then a group of us went to hike on the nearest peak, which was so damn far! Ampusa! My feet hurt so bad, it literally was killing me.

Ballroom. This was the rave then. I remember swinging to Swing Out Sister's You On my Mind and Cardigan's New Cocoon. It was really fun although we had to endure long hours practicing the steps at the basketball court.

Balayong Bakery. This was the ultimate tambayan! After class, we go to the Balayong Bakery to buy cheese roll and ice water. We were so mababaw, it mean just eating cheese roll for P1.50 and a P1.00 ice water was enough for us. If we have extra cash, we go looking for the manong selling itlog ng pugo.

High school was definitely fun. We went to school to hang-out, tambay and make friends. Yes, we do study (haleer, we are the Cream of the Crop! Section 1, the Top section, or whatever term you want to call us) but we do know how to have fun. I feel that the friends that you have made in high school will stick for life. Sure we went to different colleges, made new friends, have new responsibilities, but nothing beats the bond that we have made.