Hong Kong: Speed Shopping, Street food and Shnappuccino

After a more nauseating-than-usual ferry trip, we started milling out of immigration at around 4pm. I went to the ladies room and when I got out, my entire family was gone and I found myself a little lost. Thankfully I remembered we were staying at the Marco Polo Gateway. I was glad I remembered that because apparently there were THREE Marco Polos in Kowloon. I think I went through all of them before I found where we were booked.

So we finally settled in our (tiny) suite, and hit the streets for some serious rush shopping.

Stop 1: Camera Stuff at Suntek, Haiphong Road
First stop was at at camera store where I finally got a decent lens cap and camera bag for my brother’s Canon EOS. Yes, my friends, I was carrying the camera in a Parker giveaway handbag WITHOUT a lens cap. It could get pretty freaky at times. The salesman was just so good, and the cool thing was, my credit card receipt had a direct conversion to Philippine pesos.

Card charged at 6:18pm

Stop 2: Many many shoe stores at Haiphong and Cameron

Via and I scoured through all the shoe stores we passed by in 2 hours. I was looking for a bargain (less than HK1700), but couldn’t find one that suited my taste. I finally accepted that good looking boots would cost at least HK1700 and anything less would look too slutty or look like they would fall apart in a heartbeat. When I finally accepted this, I realized 2 things:

1) I could have shopped for boots in Macau

2) Suddenly, there were just too many great looking boots to choose from, it was a struggle to narrow down my choices to fit a reasonable budget.

We decided to make sure we checked out H&M before we bought anything.

Card not charged, we just spent 2 hours of fitting and window shopping

Stop 3: Leather jackets from 3 Concepts, Haiphong Road

On our way to H&M, we checked 3 Concepts and picked up these super cute cropped leather jackets. Via got the black one, but I loved the brown. We’ll be exchanging anyway 🙂 It was a good thing they were in free size.

The adorable, geeky sales assistant who sold us the jackets was fun. She called us Visa (Wisa?) and Mastercard because she found our names too difficult to pronounce.

Card charged at 8:35pm

 

Stop 5: Breadtalk/Toastbox

The streetfood didn’t quite cut it and I was getting hungry. Via and I had a light (?) dinner at Breadtalk/Toastbox where I had milk tea (I was getting sleepy) and a pork floss slice.

Fully charged, we were ready to hit H&M.

Card charged at 8:48

Stop 4: H&M

H&M at Kowloon was pretty huge – and packed! It was crazy. It seemed like every female in Hong Kong was shopping here. But of course, we couldn leave HK without taking home something from H&M.

So I finally picked up a cropped and shiny motorcycle jacket-inspired jacket (that made sense, didn’t it?). Very glam. These are one of those items that add instant oomph to any outfit. It was so funky I wore it the same night. The best part was, I got it at 20% off!

I was looking for the leather tights I saw online under the Jimmy Choo line, but it wasn’t available and I wasn’t crazy enough to buy HK68 for regular tights that I know I could find here.

Via happily picked up a pair of HK399 boots (a super steal!) she believed was destined to hers, since they were the last pair in black that was her size. She found the lone pair lying under a pile of shoes.

Card charged at 10:06pm

As the 10pm store closing time was approaching, I had to decide on what boots to buy. Turns out I really wanted the most expensive ones I saw (!) – and just HAD to buy TWO pairs – one in black, and one in brown. So classic Patricia. So I took a deep breath, accepted that Ill have to pay for the relatively large amount I was about to spend,  and ran back to the two stores that sold these babies 🙂 I was going to be the proud owner of not one, but two, fierce pairs of boots. I loveeet.

Stop 5: Brown Boots from Mirabell

After much debate with the chinese boyband-looking sales guys an hour before, I ran into Mirabell and picked up the pair of brown boots I instantly fell in love with. They looked like wellies but were in worn-out leather that looked so warm. The silver accessory added just the right detail. They were flat and had rubber soles – perfect for long walks exploring a cold country.

Card charged at 10:24pm

Stop 6: Black Boots from Joy & Peace

Im now wondering whether what made me buy at Joy and Peace was the perky sales lady or the gorgeous boots. I’m thinking both. But goodness the sales woman who handled me could sell anyone air if she wanted to. She was just so funny, accomodating and made me feel at home so well, I was chatting with her like we knew each other for years. If I had more time I’d probably go out with her.

But I was very happy with my new black boots too. They have kitten heels and sleek, understated details. Very rock and roll – attitude all over the place.  Love them love them love them.

Card charged at 10:32pm

Stop 7: Hong Kong Streetfood

Of course we wouldn’t leave without tasting the street food we heard so much about! So this is what we had for post-shopping dinner – crab-balls, meat balls, bacon covered sausages, mango sago, freshly squeezed orange juice (squeezed right there on the street!), and a strange (but yummy) water chestnut drink. In spite of seeing the cook hold the food with her bare hands, we decided it was all just part of the experience. Via and I were full,  happy and well-dressed. Hehe.

Stop 8: Lan Kwai Fong

And of course we had to use what we bought – immediately! Via and I got a feel of our leather jackets and I couldn’t help but use my new boots. I was alread feeling a bit sorry for myself for being in socks and ballerina flats (I looked like a lola) in the midst of Hong Kong high fashion. We had to get our pictures taken ala SATC, with big shopping bags and the bright cityscape in the background.

Our outfits would go to waste if we did not check out the night life. We were knocking on all the hotel suites we booked and bugged my cousins to get dressed, because we were. All five of us squeezed into a taxi cab to Lan Kwai Fong, where my cousin and lifestyle expert Paulo showed us what the “real Hong Kong” was like.

We hit what looked like a street party, where the place was lined up with bars filled by expats. We settled at a relatively empty bar because the noisiest bar in front of it was just way too packed. We contented ourselves with watching the crowd. I ordered a Mojito, which was a bit weak.

It got a little boring so we transfrerred to another bar that played hiphop music. I treated everyone for a round of drinks. I tried the Schnanppuccino, which was a cappucino flavored margarita. It was pretty good. We danced a bit to something by Pit Bull (“you sexy bitch” – Paulo’s favorite song for the night), and people-watched. We felt a little sorry for a woman who didn’t get picked up that night. I think she was a little disappointed too.

Card charged at 2:15am

Stop 9: Back to Marco Polo Gateway

It was a long trip back to Kowloon, and we got back to the hotel around 3am. I had to clean up and finish packing. Via and I had move to my Titas’  suite because ours was just way too small. Unfortunately, even if my titas kept the doors open for us, apparently hotel security went around and locked them again. So there we were at 330am at my tita’s door with all our luggage, knocking and waiting for them to open up. We finally relented and I went to the front desk and called their suites from the housephone. It took us a while to do this because we didn’t want to get caught being additional people in the suites, since only two were allowed.

So anyway, I remember lying down at around 330am, with exactly only ONE HOUR left for sleeping. I was up again at 430am, dressing up for the airport to leave at 5am. My flight was at 8am, which meant I had to be at the airport by 6am.

I was going home with two strollers, so moving to the airport alone took quite an effort. I lugged my bags out of the hotel in the freezing dawn and hailed a cab. Paulo instructed me to go to the Airport Express Station and take the MTR from there. That way, I save around HK100 that I would rake up in cab fare if I went there straight. However, the cab guy argued that the express wasn’t open until 6am. If I waited, I’d be late for my airport call time.

I was too tired to argue so I decided to take the cab straight anyway. The only problem was, I had no more HK$s anymore. Thank god for the exchange service at the concierge. Cab fare set me back about HK$200.

Stop 10: Hong Kong International Airport

My mind was afloat as I went through the usual boarding process. I didn’t feel a thing even when one of the officials made me go out again to check in the shampoo and conditioner they found in my hand carry luggage. I moved veeery slowly.

At 730pm I got myself some Starbucks and waited at the boarding area. The 8am flight was full of pinoy OFWs. One of my seatmates was on a connecting flight from Dubai, where she visited her relatives. Of course she wanted to work in Dubai as soon as she graduates. In fact, her relatives are petitioning for her to live there. My other seatmate seemed a little too serious and was reading Being Happy in Hard Times the entire flight. Anyone could tell what their lives must be like even without talking.

Last Stop: Manila
I knew I was home when I had to remove my jacket. The temperature in Manila was higher by 20 degrees, and the heat was undeniable. I suddenly remembered by leather jackets and boots weren’t worn in Manila, and for a while I wondered if the items I bought were worth it. But I felt good in my boots anyway, so I smiled and let it go.

Till next time, Hong Kong!

Wow Macau

November 19, 2009 on Day 1 in Macau

I am writing this in our suite, in view of the The Venetian’s mini-golf course and the glass behemoths of Crown, The Hard Rock Hotel and Hyatt. Crown and The Hard Rock Hotel looked like neon billboards last night, with strips of colored light streaming intermittently through the length of the buildings. This morning, they look  forlorn as their man made light-streaks compete with the coming sunlight.

We arrived yesterday after a 6-hour sojourn from Manila. My tita was complaining that the trip was beginning to feel like a tour of airports, and an immigration line marathon. We left Manila at around 11am on Cathay Pacific and arrived in Hong Kong at around 1245pm. We took our time moving around the airport and getting our ferry tickets. So we missed the 215 ferry trip to Macau. We took the 330pm trip instead.

While lining up for ferry tickets, my lolo spotted a nearby restaurant that served chinese white chicken and invited everyone to eat there. We all started laughing when we realized that nobody wanted to order for themselves because everyone started to eat from a SINGLE BOWL of wanton noodle soup. Nobody wanted to spend because the food was relatively expensive. It was hilarious. All 17 of us ate from about 4 individual orders. So classic Filipino.

As we made our way out to the ferry station, we finally understood what 10 degrees felt like. The cold was BITING, and we had to brace ourselves whenever we had to get out enclosed spaces (buildings, vehicles, etc). Our faces took the worst as the titas scrambled to get bonnets and scarves out of their luggage to warm everybody up.

The ferry trip was a comfortable 50 minute ride through sometimes choppy water. I finally got some sleep beside my lolo, and woke up to even colder weather.

We finally got our luggage and made it across the street to wait for the shuttle buses to take us to The Venetian. Waiting for three buses before boarding wouldn’t have been so bad if it wasn’t so terribly cold. My fingers were getting numb. I never thought I’d ever get this excited about getting into a shuttle bus. Anything to get out of the cold! We piled in and the bus made its way to the other island where our hotel was located.

On the bus I understood why people go nuts about Casino Capitals like Macau and Las Vegas. I was in awe of all the magnificent buildings, enormous structures made in the most unusual shapes. But the most breathtaking was the SHEER SIZE of these buildings. I have never seen anything like it.

By 6pm we were at the front desk checking in. Our hotel is named The Venetian, and rightly so – the entire Venice can fit inside the hotel (or so it seemed). Upon entering through the Hotel West Lobby, I underestimated the breadth of the structure (I only found later on that the hotel was so huge it has 4 front desks!). Consider some facts:

• The 10.5 million-square-foot Venetian — twice the size of the Las Vegas original — is the largest building in Asia and the second-largest in the world. The largest building is a Boeing Co. plant in Washington.
• Large enough to hold 90 Boeing 747 jumbo jets
• The Venetian houses 3,400 slot machines — with room to expand to 6,000 — and more than 800 gambling tables.
• 3 indoor canals, 1 lagoon, 51 gondolas
• It has 3,000 rooms,
• 15,000-seat sports arena
• 330 stores
• 1.2 million square feet of convention space, fine dining and a Cirque du Soleil-produced show.

Then there were the suites. I’ve been to nice hotel rooms before, but this, so far, takes the cake. I’ve never seen so many Italian Renaissance-inspired pieces in one room, and the period is not exactly my taste. But our suite was GORGEOUS, with every piece of furniture tasteful and well chosen. I may have said once that luxury travel was not for me, but today it changed – because it feels good to feel like a princess 🙂 And for this trip, I certainly felt that way.

Dinner was another experience. The Festivita Foodcourt boasts of what looked like about 40 concessionaires. But what was peculiar is the entire foodcourt is al fresco – except that the sky was painted on the ceiling. The food here, however, I relatively more expensive, but not as satisfying as I expected. For dinner I had Teppanyaki Udon with Seafood, which set me back about HK$65. Food here ranges from HK$50-150, but usually they would be good for sharing. And if you’re in my family, then sharing is the only way to go.

After dinner, I went my own way and roamed around until my feet hurt – and I still wasn’t able to cover the entire hotel. The place was too huge for words. As one blog described it – even getting to your room is challenging, since it takes 15 minutes to get there from any point in the hotel.

I thought the venetian canals were just there for display until I saw gondolas parked along them. Later on, I saw a costumed gondolier row guests – as he serenaded them with Besa Me Mucho on the top of his voice. He saw me and gamely posed for the camera.

I shopped for pasalubong at Kee bakery where they sold all these cute looking snacks. I did not know if they were really authentic chinese/macau, but they were worth taking home to friends.

I got a little fed up with the shops (there were 330 of them) and found myself at the main lobby admiring the architecture again. I knew they weren’t really authentic Venetian, but the whole grandiosity of it all was just worth immersing myself into. I was surrounded by luxury, and I enjoyed it.

I braved the cold outside and got my picture taken in front of the hotel. The entire facade wouldn’t fit into the frame.

I plopped into bed around 10pm. My sister arrived at around 11pm and still had the strength to explore Macau nightlife. She told me about the bar she went to that night where they would stop the dance music for what looked like “intermission numbers” performed on stage. I imagined it to be hilarious. She said it was.

November 19 – Day 2 at Macau

Breakfast was again at Festivita. Since i spent a small fortune on dinner the night before, I tried the MOP39 offer by one of the cheaper concessionnaires. For that price, I got a plateful of sauteed noodles, congee, and some pork dish. It was huge, oily, and bland. It really was just something to fill my empty stomach.

First stop for the morning was The Ruins at Senado for standard photo ops, second hand luxury bag shopping, beef jerky and portuguese tart.

En route to Senado, we had to go to the other side of Macau and got dropped off at the shuttle terminal. We heard cars zooming by, only to find out there was a grand prix that day. Very exciting.

I saw more of Macau by walking around – the street art, public transportation, design and architecture. There was no doubt that the place was clean and progressive. Remnants of their history were preserved, but most of the country was covered in building and hotel. The “backstage” of Macau looked like Binondo, but cleaner.

I loved the porcelain street signs and the cobblestone streets of Senado. The building architecture was preserved and modern restaurants such as McDonald’s had to go along with that. Walking further, we were met by vendors hawking all sorts of jerkified meat – beef jerky, pork jerky, chicken jerky, even baboy damo jerky. The great thing was they were giving free bits of jerky to taste. There were so many free samples some of us ate our breakfast in jerky. Haha.

As soon as my titas were pried out of Milan Station (second hand luxury brand bags), we headed out to The Ruins for photo ops. After picture taking we ended up having snacks of corn and squid balls.

As lunchtime neared, my mom asked a pinay who seemed to be living in Macau where the best place to find Macanese food was. She was referred to building by the entrance of Senado where McDonald’s was located.

We headed there as instructed but couldn’t find the restaurant we were referred to. We went up to a chinese restaurant at the second floor, sat down and prepared to order. As my parents (family official designated orderers) went through the menu, they decided it was way to expensive for something we could experience at home, and recommended that we transferred. So all 17 of us stood and went for the elevator. The disappointed head waiter charged us MOP30 for the nuts and hot tea they plunked on our table. It was a little embarrassing, if not funny, but it was better than regretting we didn’t make the most of Macau by settling for an over-priced chinese restaurant.

With several of us starving and a little cranky, we all headed to MGM by foot, since my lolo wanted to see the casino. Thank god for the jerky my dad and some titas bought that tided our hunger. If not for that, there would have been some major freaking out.

On our way to the hotel/casino district, we passed through tunnels where we found flyers of prostitutes selling their wares! I found it quite interesting. I just hope the girls are as pretty as their flyers say they are.

Hotel district interesting sights include the Grand Lisboa, MGM and Wynn. The building was art in itself.

The first thing that strikes you when entering the Wynn Macau are the brown Rolls Royce limousines. Steve Wynn’s extravagant taste is evident in his choice of a giant blood-red chandelier that greeted at the lobby. Straight ahead are serene pools of water line by exotic-looking camel statues. Very sensual. Makes for beautiful pictures too.

We made our way to the the hotel coffee shop Cafe Esplanade to rest. Surprisingly, the menu was not as pricey as we expected (almost same price as Festivita, with WAY better ambience), AND had the Macanese dishes we were looking for. We finally decided to have lunch there.

Macanese offers included Deep -fried Bacalhau, Pan-Seared Sea-bass, Stir-fried Minchi. The best was the sea-bass. The minchi was similar to our giniling, and the much-hyped bacalhau came as rolls of cheese, potatoes and touches of bacalhau. Something tells me that what we tried wasn’t exactly traditional.

Happy and full, we headed home in a taxi after some more picture taking.

At the hotel, we picked up tickets for ZAIA! of Cirque du Soleil. I was sooo excited to see another Cirque production. I’m glad we didn’t pass up on this one. Zaia was all dreamy and beautiful. I was brought to tears. Oh and the remarkable thing? That’s right, the theatre is INSIDE the Venetian as well!

Tip: We got a good discount by signing up for Cotai Rewards for FREE. Just register at the Cotai Rewards booths scattered all over the hotel (a lot of them at the casino floor). We saved MOP88 per ticket. We bought 4.

After the show, we sampled more noodles at the restaurant located in front of the Zaia theatre. The restaurant offered discounts for Zaia ticket holders. At the restaurant, we watched this cosmopolitan looking gay guy play pool with another white guy. Gay guy was making sure we were served. We spent most of the time there figuring out if he was Pinoy or not because he already looked so polished and almost mediterranean. We figured he was Pinoy. A band was playing really good music. Of course, THEY were pinoy.

Since moving 19 people (with my sister Via and my cousin Paolo with us) was just taking waaaay too long, I was contemplating going to HK ahead of all of them just to make sure I get my shopping done. But I decided against it, thinking I’d miss the fun. I’m glad I decided that way.

Back at the hotel room, we started packing for a quick check out the next day.

Next day for HK and the Search for the Elusive Portugese Steak

The following day, I found out through my sister my other cousins checked out the meat market (prostitutes) hanging out all over the hotel. They didn’t get anywhere, but I heard the bargaining was fun 🙂

As expected, checking out just took waaaay too long, and I tided my hunger with Milo and rolled cookies with pork floss (which was supposed to be pasalubong). While waiting, we also tried the taiwanese pepper sausages being sold outside the hotel. They were yummy 🙂

We took a quick peek and took pictures at the Four Seasons Hotel which was adjoining The Venetian. The place was beautiful and manicured and…quiet. The Venetian was much more fun.

When everyone was finally assembled, we all headed out to a Portugese restaurant at Taipa, recommended by one of the hotel staff (taxi driver? pinoy?) to my lolo. Apparently the place was recommended for their Portuguese steak. The directions were scribbled in a small piece of paper in chinese characters and we were supposed to show that to the taxi drivers and they would know. It was a bit of a challenge getting the right taxi drivers. But we got there.

And when we did, surprise, surprise, the restaurant (O Santos), was closed for lunch! Apparently, we visited on their 20th anniversary and they restaurant was closed for they day for private guests. Oh joy. But thankfully the Filipina maitre d (not sure if she was the wife or co-owner) directed us to another Portugese restaurant nearby. The Filipino staff (more Filipinos!) were having lunch when we barraged inside. But we all got served pretty well.

A Petisqueira offers wonderful choices including portugese paella, clams in garlic butter, portuguese fried chicken (a MUST-TRY), portugese rice, ribs, fish, and of course, portugese steak. I forgot the exact names of the selections but everything was good.

After a very satisfying lunch, we made our way back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and headed to the terminal and caught the 3pm ferry to Hong Kong for another adventure. 🙂

Confessions of a Hong Kong Virgin, Day 1

I feel that everyone has been to HK but me. But in a few hours that will all change. In a whirlwind decision made two weeks ago, my mom’s dad and siblings and their families are all going on a 5-day Macau-HK Vacay by 11am today.

It’s 2:46am and I’m about to finish packing. I thought it would be easy since I was dead set on being in shorts the entire trip. Until I checked the weather forecast and my jaw dropped: temp at Macau this morning is 10C.

How cold is 10C? Well, right now with my AC off, its 25C in Manila — and that’s nice, cool, Christmas weather. It’s 18C in Baguio — and Macau is 8 whole degrees lower. Via’s friend based in the said country YMed her and confirmed that the weather is so cold he couldn’t get out of his house.

This is why it took me 2 hours to rethink my packing list and opt for pants, long sleeved shirts and knits. Intelligence (care of Via’s Macau-based YMing friend) disclosed that Wednesday night is Ladies night in Macau, and the center of it all will be at The Venetian, where we are booked. Now my only concern is how to look hot in cold weather, since being in something sleeveless now seems to be a bit foolish in that climate. As of now, I’m settling for shiny black pants and satin heels for the nights out.

I was advised (by good friend and traveller extraordinaire Aira Franco) to be in comfy shoes for the day since I planned on walking around and experiencing the place. I just hope I don’t freeze to death. Borrowed my brother’s Canon E05 for photo ops.

Here’s my packing list for the trip

• Daywear: 2 long sleeved knit shirts
• Evening: 2 knit cowl-neck shirts
• Sleepwear: jazz pants and 2 shirts
• heavy Corduroy jacket
• 1 pair gray Crocs (ballerina flats)
• 1 pair suede flats (very preppy)
• 1 pair black satin stilettos (peep-toe maryjanes)
• Mac
• Canon E05
• old reliable Puma shoulder bag
• underwear and toiletries (duh)
• Pocket money
• Credit cards

I’m so attached to my everyday workbag I’m actually still bringing it with me to the trip. I do, however, plan to change all that and get myself a nice new one on this trip. Incidentally, here’s what I plan to buy:

• new bag
• fierce boots
• pasalubong

I hope I get the time to do all this and still check the place out. I’ll be going home ahead of the group (Saturday morning), which means I’ll only be able to spend 2 days in Macau and 1 day in HK. Which honestly feels a little cut short :(.

I hope to do a little more research on the must-sees in HK. Via mentioned about the outrageous Jimmy Choo shoe sale at H&M. Let’s see if I can check it out.

Update later 🙂