All Good Things by Nelly Furtado
I went there with my agenda but came back with a completely different perspective.
The sickness was one thing, bearing the brunt of bitchy politics from insecure and immature female colleagues was another, not to mention falling head over heels in love. Travelling on my own for the first time, navigating the unfamiliar streets in a foreign land without a map or speaking their language, calling my friends in Singapore to gush and then to cry.
It was a liberating experience, but emotional in so many ways.
It has been almost two weeks since I came back but I have yet to settle back in. I haven't even fully unpack my suitcase from Hong Kong and I have to start packing for Tokyo today because I work Sunday - Thursday and then fly off.
One week to Tokyo. I am thankful the Peter is picking me up from the airport or I will certainly be lost in translation and end up in Chiba instead of Baba, hah! And excited to hang out with my girls and the gang from work.
Labels: holiday, hong kong, life, love, memories, tokyo, video, work
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We had our lunch somewhere near Argyle Centre and then decided to take another train to Wan Chai to continue our hunt. After we got the webcam, we wanted to walk down to Admiralty and somehow wandered to Pacific Plaza at Central and sat down at Starbucks again to hook up the gadget to Skype for his mum and watched movie trailers on his laptop.
It was almost 6 when we were done, so we took a cab back to Northpoint so I could change to something more clubby while he went to visit his grandmother at the nursing centre.
We then met up with Jeff and the rest for dinner at Crystal Jade IFC and walked to Lan Kwai Fong for dessert at Haagen Daaz. It was about midnight when we made our way to Hei Hei for our last major night out in Hong Kong.
The only thing was that the Peter and I were so tired out from our long day that we both fell asleep at the couch, much to the annoyance of Jeff who tried to wake us up but to no avail. He left at 4 with Toby and Kitty for supper while the Peter and I were concussed at the couch. We woke up around 430 and boogied a bit before heading back to the couch for a quick snooze again... and only awoke at near 6 to find that almost everyone had left.
We ended up walking in a drizzle trying to find an open Macdonald's to grab some brekkie before we head home.
Definitely a night to remember. ;)
More photos here
Labels: holiday, hong kong, memories, night, party, photo, travel
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AIA World Carnival at Admiralty, Hong Kong
Photos from the carnival here
Labels: holiday, hong kong, memories, photo, travel
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Needless to say, this Hong Kong trip was completely different from the last one. I got around on my own and experienced what life there is truly like- it's not all pretty.
I cried all the way in the cab from Edna's apartment in Northpoint to Central, and then in the express train to the airport. When I got on the plane, I threw my jacket over my face and sobbed for an hour.
Yes, something happened but we will work things out and I want to get well soon.
Labels: health, hong kong, love, memories, travel
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I was awoken by Jeff at noon today, and I got changed to meet him and Mich at Central for lunch. Edna wasn't feeling too good so I took the MTR downtown alone, and it felt amazing to be able to navigate around a foreign city on my own.
At my insistence, we had lunch at Watami before heading to the carnival near Admiralty. Celine came all the way down from her place at Taipo, and it was so good to see her again. It was slightly drizzling but the rides were still on and we figured we should go ahead anyways. It cost us HKD150 per person with unlimited rides and a big bag of games coupon.
Jeff did not want to get on any of the "scary" rides, so I only tried the Ferris wheel, the rollercoaster and the drop. I really wanted to get on the G-Force but didn't want to spend 2 hours queueing just to get on as well.
The saddest thing was that we used up all our tokens and never won a big prize- there were all these people walking around with human-sized stuffed toys won from the games booth and all I had were 3 tiny ones, one of which was purchased. I know. We're a joke.
We hung around till about 630 before going down to Causeway Bay for dinner. I wanted to try something ghetto, so we literally wandered around until we saw a bao zhai fan place and was ushered into the third storey of an old building, and the inside of the shop was so quiet it felt like we were in a funeral parlour. The food was really good though. The Peter, Maria and Mary joined us soon after.
Take 1 - "Smile nice!" I said 
The Peter's most normal face
Time is passing by too quickly- I wish I could freeze time to stay as the weekend forever.I'm excited to log on from a different location (with a spectecular view of the HK skyline from my window seat, no less) but I will miss my colleagues from home.
Will blog more- a luxury thanks to Edna who actually gave me her entire room to use. Bless her!
Labels: holiday, hong kong, memories, photo, travel
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My flight was at 345 but my mum had to run some errands so she dropped me off at the airport 1230, which left me with plenty of time wandering around with my luggage, and when check-in time finally came, the queue was incredible.
I slept most of the way in the plane, conserving energy for my night out with the Hong Kong folks.
I called Edna and told her to pick me up from Central station at 9 but I had the good fortune of selecting the slowest aisle in the entire airport- while the visitors in the other aisles were breezing through, it took me an incredulous 45 minutes before I got my passport stamped, luggage taken and Octopus travel card topped up.
Needless to say, poor Edna had to wait half an hour for me and we cabbed to her place at North Point. Poked around her room, saw some photos and made some phone calls before we headed back out to Central for a late dinner and a night out.
Jeff arrived fashionably late right after Edna and I ate our sandwiches and we decided to check out Club 9. It was too early for the party to begin and we hung around doing nothing much- I lounged on the beach chairs at the open air rooftop balcony.
Jeff and I hangin' at Club 9Meanwhile, plans to meet up the Peter seemed futile because he was stuck at this BU alumni dinner and eventually ended up at Hei Hei, this popular club notorious for their snotty bouncers and people queueing for hours dying to get in.
"Oh my God, T?" I heard someone exclaimed and lo and behold, the Peter was right before me and we hugged for the longest time, not quite believing we finally got to meet.
"You look exactly as you do on FON!" he remarked and laughed, at least there was no shock. For the record, he looks exactly the same as on IB Video too.
A very drunk Peter
Seeing him in the flesh was surreal but awesome- we connected immediately and were pretty much stuck like glue the whole night, dancing together, hanging out at the balcony, more dancing... He wanted me to stay with him till 6, but we left at 430 am when Edna finally pried herself apart from the bar counter. Took a cab back to her place and it's now 5 in the morning, which eats into my plan for tomorrow.
Jeff wanted to bring me to take a cable car ride and see the giant Buddha at Ngong Ping Village before we join the rest at the carnival, but it looks like that would have to be canned in sacrifice for more sleep.
So it's off to the massive Hong Kong carnival tomorrow and some good chow and night market shopping- I will take tons of photos too!
I love Hong Kong!
Labels: holiday, hong kong, night, party, photo, travel
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I put my life on hold for two weeks and everything else takes second place. I have been going places with Jeff and gang- MOS, Clarke Quay, Esplanade, Marina Square, Fullerton, St. James, Orchard, karaoke, midnight movie, Sentosa, Vivo, Night Safari, Balestier, Chijmes, New Asia Bar, after work drinks, lavish dinners, Ritz stayovers and boogie nights.
Labels: hong kong, life, party, travel, work
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The Hong Kongers really like to party.
Right after they arrived in Singapore and checked into fancy Ritz, I got a call from Jeff to meet them for Mexicana food at Clarke Quay.
"What's it called?" I asked, to which he replied "I don't know, you know the one along the river? I don't know the name." I was like "Well, they are all along the river..." but it's futile to discuss with someone who has never actually been there and the conversation ended with "Just look for the one with Mexican food okay?". My dorky Jeff.
I got there early and walked from one end to the other and ended up standing on the bridge and dialling his Hong Kong cell number to ask him where he was.
It turned out that he meant Cafe Iguana, but it was fully booked and we would have to wait an hour and a half for a table. So the whole gang of seven stumbled into Quayside Seafood Restaurant and ate up a 7-course feast amounting to $400++. Thankfully it was all chargeable as travel expense under the company Amex, so it was a guilt-free meal.
We were all so stuffed after dinner that we had to walk it off, so we wandered around The Cannery looking for an outdoor table but it seemed half of Singapore was there and we finally settled for Fashion Bar. Tres chic!
The DJ was spinning this dance track that sounded like "Bloomberg Anywhere" and we all had a laugh about how this should be our anthem every morning in the office. 4 rounds of drinks and it was only 10:30...
Next stop was MOS. Seriously overcrowded but one of them had booked a table and we were determined to have crazy fun and danced in oblivion. Jeff got a leeeetle tipsy and crashed out on one of the hanging chairs in 54, and we left him for over an hour while we hopped on to Pure.
It was past 2 when we decided to move on to The Clinic, which was disappointing and a waste of time. We spent all of 5 minutes on the dance floor looking around in bewilderment before making a quick exit. We then wandered into #1 Nite Stand and Forbidden City but didn't stay for long in both places either.
They (the Hong Kongers) decided to go back to MOS, and we (the Singaporeans) dutifully followed, although we were thoroughly exhausted and ready to call it a night, but this was payback time for the royal treatment they gave us in Hong Kong.
MOS was even more crowded than it was when we left. We walked into two parties on the verge of a fist fight, a girl who was so wasted she hung on the arms of her helpless boyfriend, lots of kids who looked too young to be out this late unsupervised... it was an ugly decadent mess. It was getting to the point of a lack of oxygen in the room, so we wisely left and headed for supper.
The final stop for the night was the famous Boon Tong Kee chicken rice stall at Balestier, and I suprised myself with how much I could still eat at 4 in the morning.
Needless to say, I was so worn out from the night out I spent my entire Sunday sleeping and reading my book.
What a night, what a night.
Labels: hong kong, memories, night, party, photo
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