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Some major changes are happening. Stay tuned.
Our church conducted two funeral services less than thirty-six hours apart. The first was for a sixty-six year old member who suffered from cancer. The second was for a forty-four year old guy, who was a “special person,” and who died from complications arising from a “depressed lung.”
Being reminded of one’s destination is very sobering indeed. Of course, it gives comfort to the Christian that the apparent destination–the coffin–is not the ulitmate destination.
Peace.
July 25, Saturday.
This was our last day in Hong Kong.
M and I had another tasty breakfast at the Hoi Keng place. This time, M had the Beef Rice Roll while I had the Century Egg Congee again. (If I find something I like, whether food or clothing brand, I stick with it.) Aside from the congee and the rice roll, we also had some “Fried Dough.” These looked like long bread rolls and were very tasty.
We spent the morning packing stuff and preparing stuff and last-minute shopping for gifts.
After lunch, we had dessert at an interesting place called Modern Toilet. I think the pictures below will best describe this place better than any words I use.
After a wait in the airport and a quick flight home, we were back in Manila a few hours before midnight. Bliss!
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- All taxis are red around here
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- Modern Toilet.
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- Flush flush!
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- M’s dessert–iced fruits on a ceramic bedpan.
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- My dessert–chocolate turd.
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- Stinks in here!
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- What’s a modern toilet without a few displays…?
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- …and its own toilet?
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- Hong Kong has a BIG airport!
“There is an old adage that says you can give a hungry man a fish, or better still, you can teach him how to fish. Jesus would add that you can teach a person how to fish, but the most successful fisherman has hungers [even] fish will not satisfy.” (Ravi Zacharias, Jesus Among Other Gods)
Last Saturday, Metro Manila and the surrounding environs experiences what many people called “the worst flood in history.” Government agencies described it as a month’s worth of rain falling in only six hours.
Cases of finger pointing among the different government agencies, and between government and private citizens continue, the latter being the more colorful of the two cases.
Private citizens lambasted the government for its slow response and irresponsible actions—one of which was opening two (some quarters say three) dams because of fear of overflow. The creeks and waterways, which were already flooded by the rains, couldn’t handle the added volume of water.
Government agencies likewise blamed the citizenry for indiscriminate dumping of garbage, which led to clogged drains and waterways, which in turn added to the flood.
“Same old, same old.“
July 24, Friday
We had a tasty breakfast at Hoi Keng Congee Specialist, a congee and noodle house a few doors away from the hostel. I had Century Egg Congee (a favorite of mine) while M had Pork Rice Roll. It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that we were both stuffed afterwards.
M and I were supposed to go to HK Disneyland, which was after we decided not to go, which was after we decided to go, and then not go, again. In the end, we spent the morning and the afternoon touring the Noah’s Ark exhibit in Ma Wan. M missed a good deal of the tour—you can’t go back in if you break the tour to go to the restroom. And there were no restrooms inside, along the tour route. Bad.
Still, aside from the display of the animals, the Noah’s Ark tour was mildly OK for me. The tour ended with a pitch against global warming, which I don’t really find all that useful. Mixing global warming with the message of Noah’s Ark doesn’t really mesh with me.
Because we were separated, I spent over half an hour looking for M outside the Ark. Even rode a Segway so I could rest my feet while looking. (They’re for rent at around HK$ 50.00, but the guy manning the booth let me ride for free, for a few minutes, when I told him I was getting worried about M missing. He may have felt sorry for me.)
I was too tired after all the day’s activities that I just rested in our room. M went shopping in the nearby night market.
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- M next to the entrance to the famous tourist attaction
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- Replica of animals coming out of the replica of the Ark.
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- M walking in the manner of toilet signages…
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- This is the boat we took to and from Noah’s Ark.
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- This is the police station in Ma Wan.
Last Saturday, portions of Metro Manila and the surrounding areas were literally swept away by floods brought about by Typhoon Katsena. Pictures provided by inquirer.net and philstar.com show a metropolis whose citizens are reduced to wading chest-deep in flood waters. (As of this writing, almost eighty people have died and hundreds of thousands have been severely affected by the storm–nearly fifty thousand had to be evacuated to schools and other civic centers.)
A few thoughts:
- While some may doubt God’s goodness in a time like this, I will reiterate it here: God is good. We may not see the full extent of God’s goodness, but we know it’s there–he could have caused it to continue to rain (which would have meant more floods and more deaths) but he didn’t.
- Losing nearly everything you own makes you realize the true value of life over material things. Some survivors of the flood remarked how glad they were to be alive, even though they lost houses, cars, clothing, etc.
- Somebody, somewhere is sure to blame our president, Gloria Arroyo, for this.
- Trying to catch up on sleep is nigh impossible.
July 23 (Thursday)
Our first breakfast together in Hong Kong was at a local McDonald’s. We met a Korean-American named Kim at the front desk of the hostel (she was making arrangements for further stay) and we invited her to breakfast.
The whole day was spent in Ocean Park. M and I got to see the sea lions and the dolphin show. Again, being vacation time, the whole place was packed. I remember a particular thought going through my head at the time: “These people live here and they still keep coming back? Don’t they have any thing else to do or anywhere else to go?”
There was a magnificent three-level fish tank which yours truly adored. I really wish I had one of those. (In your dreams.–M) The fish tank building also housed the jellyfish display, which M really liked. The day was stiflingly hot. Aside from water, M and I finished a small bottle of coke that cost us HK$25 (that’s roughly P 180 here in the Philippines!).
Lunch was at the Middle Kingdom Restaurant. Price was on the uhm… pricey side but the food was OK. We had a lot of fun on the side, taking pictures of the décor. Instead of table cloths, they covered the dining tables with layers of huge plastic sheets. After each set of customers are done with their meal, the waiters just peel off the top layer and voila! a clean table for the next batch of eaters.
Afterwards, we road the cable car from one end of the park to the other. Amazing!
We spent the evening having dinner at the Peak, specifically Spaghetti House, where M had pasta and I had lamb chops (my second favorite dish, after salpicao). The tram ride to and from the Peak was an experience in itself. The track runs so steep that the nearby buildings seem to have been erected at an angle!
After dinner, M and I headed for Madam Tussaud’s Wax Museum. We both had fun interacting with the various “celebrities.” My favorite is the one with Tiger Woods. This is probably the closest I will ever get to playing golf. (See the pictures below.)
We got back to the hostel around ten in the evening. Needless to say, there was no preamble to our sleeping soundly that night.
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- M makes a new friend in the form of an oriental caveman.
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- M riding the cable car. The ground was about a hundred feet below us at this point.
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- A modern and surreal version (partly) of Malakas and Maganda.
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- Dennis meets his long lost twin brother.
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- Part of the three-level tank at Ocean Park.
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- M and Dennis squeezing the Panda
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- Dennis drooling in front of the three-level tank.
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- M with the former president.
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- “Trust me! Do as I say, and you’ll get the birdie!”
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- Agent M with Dr. Lecter.
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- M and the other M.
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- “Trust me, Bill. Make Romeo and Juliet die in the last act. People will love it!”
July 22.
My beloved M and I stepped out of Chek Lap Kok Airport around ten in the morning (time of arrival was ~ 9:30), officially starting our HK vacation. Some friendly guys from mainland China were looking at a map of HK and they happily pointed out to me all the spots I should go to.
We road the A21 bus to Dragon Hostel in Mongkok. (Google it for pics.) Incidentally, I’ve never felt this before and I hope never to feel it again, but we literally looked like tourists–luggage, camera, confused look while searching for a particular place, people knowing you’re foreigners and gawking at you–you know what I’m talking about.
After storing our luggage, we decided to have lunch at Café de Coral, which was near the hostel. The Coral restaurant, which was located in a basement, shared space with Spaghetti House and KFC. The food was good, the ambiance was very HK–loud people and everything.
We had a quick nap after lunch, then headed off to the Hong Kong Science and the Historical Museums. The two museums are only a stone’s throw from each other, although being July, and classes not being formally opened yet, both institutions were packed with kids and parents. My Nikes broke during the tour, though I didn’t notice them until we got back to the hostel.
The science museum was more activity oriented and “colorful.” I guess they planned things for kids to enjoy. The historical museum was very informative and I preferred this one over its science counterpart.
Dinner was with some of M’s friends over at UCC Cafe.
Prior to dinner, we ran (literally) all over the place trying to look for the scenic Victoria Harbour Light Show, which was touted the “World’s Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show” by Guinness World Records. We found the place with seconds to spare. I’m not sure if there was a glitch in the program presentation, or if we were at the wrong place, but this was very disappointing to us. (You can see this light show on Youtube: just type the necessary information in the search box.)
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- This is my beloved M walking on ahead towards Cafe de Coral Restaurant.
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- Part of the display at the History Museum, showing HK’s earliest settlers.
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- Me, beside a rickshaw display at the History Museum.
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- M in front of food display. Ancestor offerings, guess.
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- M in front of statues of traditional Chinese opera performers.
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- Me. On a table. With mirrors, obviously.
A few observations:
- HK is fast, and I mean that literally. People are fast–they talk fast, they walk fast, they eat fast–and they really go places. You have the distinct feeling that they’re always late for something. Even the escalators were fast! M found out the hard way.
- HK is efficient. The buses are almost always on time. Same with the MTR subway, and almost everything else. Coming from the Philippines where everything is not as efficient (but we’re improving, mind you) it was like living in another planet. My first words to M upon getting off the bus was: “I’m going to live here!”
- This wasn’t quite apparent given the above observation, but HK is crowded. You bump into people more often than you want. Oh well. Still, when everything else is fast and efficient, who’s going to complain.
Next: The Hong Kong Adventure (Day 2)
My beloved M and I spent four wonderful days in Hong Kong last July. This was a long overdue vacation for my wife and I, and we made the most out of it. We got the tickets as early as April (which was an adventure in itself), and right smack on my birthday, too!
We chose the third week in July for our trip. (Most of our church activities took place after the first Sunday of July and there is usually a lull of activities till about the middle of August.)
It was my first time to go to Hong Kong (second for my beloved M). Needless to say, I was a bit more worried about riding the plane than anything else–I mentioned elsewhere how terrified I am (was) of planes. The picture to left shows me and M doing the “Korean thing” as we waited to board the plane to Hong Kong. (I’m still not sure why we’re not looking directly at the camera.) I really love that hat!
Instead of chronicling everything in one post, I’ve decided to split the story into four posts for easy reading.
Next: The Hong Kong Adventure (Day 1)
