Breakfast in HK

As I was walking back home last night, I saw a new ad from McDonalds and I was agog about this new product. I'm not really a fastfood fan (not anymore, especially since Nunu cooks really well!) but their marketing strategies amaze me. They adapt to the culture of any country and they're really good in doing so.

Just look at this meal from McDonald's HongKong:




Ham and egg with noodles!!!

From HK to Shenzen, China

Take the KCR East Rail from Hung Hom in Kowloon to Lo Wu, the last station at the border of Hong Kong and China. The KCR ride takes roughly half an hour.



At Lo Wu, you would have to stand in long lines at Hong Kong immigration counters. After crossing the Hong Kong immigration counters, you have to walk towards the Chinese immigration counters (few meters). However, to enter China, you need a visa. A five-day visa for Shenzhen is easily obtained for 150 HKD (for Filipinos) at the China Visa office in the same building.

The visa office opens at 8am. Obtaining a visa takes 15-30 minutes (depends on how long the line is) and you need to stand in another line to cross the Chinese immigration counter. Expect a total of 1.0 to 1.5 hours to cross the Hong Kong and Chinese immigration counters.

There is a big shopping complex right in front of Lo Wu train station (where Nunu and I got stuck).



You could either shop, eat, or go to tourist attractions like Windows of the World and Chinese Folk Culture Villages. These attractions are next to each other and are around 15 km away from Lo Wu. You can hail a cab to reach these destinations; just make sure that you have the name and address written in a piece of paper. They don't speak English there and the few people who do (guides) ask for payment.


Nunu is sad that we are leaving China already


Next: Off to Saigon(Ho Chi Minh), Vietnam!

5 Annoying Things about Nunu (A modified version of Livi’s tag)

This is in response to Livi and Ruy's tag

It’s true; you get to discover a lot about the person you travel with. I learned the value of this statement when Nunu and I went to Macau and Hong Kong a few months ago. It was our first out-of-the-country trip as a couple and it was the week of my birthday too (so you can just imagine how I was sooo looking forward to the trip…).

Well, here are some of the not-so-good (read: ANNOYING!) experiences and discoveries I had to endure because of him:

1.Nunu likes to walk. He likes to explore the city by foot and he can walk for miles without getting tired. Now, I like to explore and walk as well but I can hardly keep up with his long strides. I like to walk leisurely while he likes to rush. He is also 6’3 tall and I’m only 5’2 so - go figure! Anyway, I ended up getting calluses and corns (ewww) in my feet because of too much walking. That was the most annoying thing that ever happened to me in a foreign country.

2.Nunu doesn’t have good memory. We arrived in Macau the day before my big day. Guess what? The following day, he almost forgot it was my birthday! We were on our way to the ferry terminal (en route to HK), when he stopped dead on his tracks to say: Oh my, it’s your birthday today!

3.Nunu doesn’t like following instructions. We decided to go to Shenzhen, China from HK and we took the train to the border. We didn’t know where to get our visas so I asked one of the guards. The guard (who doesn’t speak English) pointed to the immigration counter and told me to fall in line. I told Nunu to do the same but he mumbled something about “what he read in a magazine” and started going around the place looking for something. I didn’t really have a choice so I followed him, the whole time asking him about why we are doing such a thing. Anyway, to make the long story short, we ended up going about in circles, only to realize (after 30 minutes) that the place he was looking for is on the other side of the border.

4. Nunu is a bitch! =P When we arrived in Shenzhen (after paying 150 HK dollars for the visa), we didn’t know where to go. Everything was in Chinese! But we already prepared for this eventuality so I made sure that I had with me a cut-out from a magazine – giving instructions on where to go. Nunu had this cut-out on his pocket and lost it. You heard that right, he LOST it. So, we ended up staying in one mall and going back to HK after a few hours. Isn’t that a great way to visit another country?

5.Nunu is a hard-headed fatcat. On our way back to Manila, we had to go back to Macau from HK. We rode the ferry again and from the Macau terminal, planned to get the bus to the Macau Airport. Our ferry got delayed so when we arrived in the Macau terminal, I told Nunu to just get the cab. He said no, insisting that we can take the bus instead. I told him that we can’t risk it because we don’t know where the bus stop is exactly or what time it will arrive. He said we can just wait right there (where all the buses stops) and wait for the AP1 bus (that’s the bus to the airport). I told him: “Are you sure this is where the bus stops?” He said: “Yes.” I said, “Are you sure this is a good idea?” He said, with all certainty: “Yes.” OK. So we waited. And waited. Finally, the AP1 bus came and just when we were ready to ride it, the driver asked where we are going and said “No, this is not the bus” in his broken English. We waited for another bus just to get a stupid stare from the driver when we said: “Airport?” Apparently, the driver doesn’t speak English at all. Ending: We lined up for a taxi and ran to the departure area of the Macau Airport. We made it there 10 minutes before it closed. We were lucky.


I’m supposed to write about the annoying things about myself but Nunu and I decided to write about the annoying things about each other while traveling instead. So, wait for his reply (he will write his version) and let’s see how annoying that could be – for me! Ha! =PPP