After a week on vacation, I'm so back, Dear Readers. :)
Sorry for the absence but the Panadero had to take a much needed break from his Panaderia so as to spend much longed for quality time in Hong Kong with the love of this humble baker's life. (Naks!)
Anyway, it was a great and fun trip, to say the least. Yes, more pictures will be published on this blog once they pass review by the Chinese Government's Board of Censors. To prevent this blog from getting unduly flagged for obscenity, the pictures to be published will focus on just the sights, ok? :D
Special Someone and yours truly got to ride on a cable car, toured the Hong Kong island's city streets on board a tram, saw some world famous animated cartoon characters, and took a ferry to the Asian casino mecca of Macau. As for dining, we agreed to totally avoid the fastfood chains (both Western and HK-based) and opted instead to dine at local eateries or "hole in the walls". This was to get a true taste of traditional native cuisine.
We came away very impressed with what the people of Hong Kong have achieved. Signs of economic achievement and wealth were everywhere. Hong Kong was a very nice mix of the old and new. Old sections of Hong Kong with its old residential apartment and commercial buildings, small shops, and eateries were reminiscent of the Binondo and Santa Cruz districts of Manila, areas with a large Chinese populace. Modern high rises and skyscrapers in the Admiralty and Central districts remind one of New York City in the US and Makati City in the Philippines.
Thus, the old section of HK gave one an idea of the entrepreneurial spirit and drive that led to the place's economic success. The shining skyscrapers in the newer sections of HK and modern and efficient public infrastructures such as the MTR (Mass Transit Railway, picture on the left) and impressive highways and bridges provide the perceptive observer with what the Chinese entrepreneurial spirit achieved.
The former Crown Colony's government is also a picture of financial health. In the week that we were there, the government's Finance Secretary reported a record budget surplus of about 115 billion HK dollars. This surplus resulted from robust economic growth and tax revenues last year.
We also found the people to be quite helpful and tourist-friendly. English version of menus were available in all the eateries we visited. Asking for guidance and directions were never problems. Walking the streets at night was never a concern too. Safety was never an issue in any of the places we visited, even the very crowded ones such as street markets.
It was the first HK visit for both of us. The trip was so enjoyable and the experience so pleasant that we both long to come back someday.
Photo credits: Wikipedia.org and hktramways.com
Sunday, March 2, 2008
The Baker's Back!
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28 responses:
Hey pards, glad to know you both enjoyed your first trip to the former crown colony. I love HK, my only problem with the place is that I always max out my credit cards, haha. :-D Anyways, at least tipid naman ako sa board and lodging since we have plenty of relatives na matutuluyan.
Hi Rudy,
I loved that trip. Thanks, Pards. Just got home earlier today actually. Hehe The place was truly impressive. Bilib ako so much so that I want to come back soon. Plus, we never even got to see Kowloon. Except for a day trip to Macau, we stayed within Hong Kong island much of the time.
HK is the only place i've been to so far where i truly felt like an alien. all those chinese characters in billboards and signages! made worse by the fact that i was on my own. :( unlike you, i stayed in kowloon for most of the time hehehehe
Miki,
Alam mo, we had a blast noting down the number of signs (and there were quite a number of them) that had misspelled words.
In a lot of the eateries we went to, we went by the pictures of the dishes because the signages outside those places were all in Chinese. The prevalence of all those signages in Chinese made me remark to my gf that they gave me an idea on how it feels like to be illiterate. Hahaha
looks like you really had a good time with your special someone.
I wished i joined my wife when she went to HK last year to take the NCLEX. I should say I really missed a lot.
just for today, do not worry.
just for today, do not anger.
:D
We also found the people to be quite helpful and tourist-friendly.
wow, nagbago na mga Hongkongers? it wasn't my experience when we went there in 1995. oh my gawd! pag ituro mo, balot agad! ganyan tsila. :)
then when we went back five years ago, di na ako takot. kasi mas maraming Mandarin mga anak ko. hahahaha...naka bargain na ako sa bali-baliko kong Mandarin refined by my children. :)
hey, that's a good respite!
kaya nga e, mukha talaga akong engot dun kasi wala akong maintindihan. tapos nabiktima pa ako sa MRT hehehe. ito post ko about it
http://mikimonster.blogspot.com/2005/08/side-trip-28-promdi-in-hong-kong.html
What? No dancing with The One?
Welcome back to the both of you.
Hong Kong is indeed an amazing place! Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip there!
You forgot your camera at home?
Lazarus,
Yeah, she and I did have fun being tourists and spending time together. Without her there, it would not have been a nice and memorable trip. Thanks. :)
Mari,
I find the second line of that quote quite funny. Hehehe Where did you get that? :P
Ipanema,
You know, that's why I was pleasantly surprised because I was not expecting the treatment we got when we were there. Prior to my HK trip, I heard a lot of not-so-nice comments about HK people, even from my Chinese friends back in Manila. I was truly surprised. I guess it also helped that they mistook me for one of them. Hahaha A lot of times, they came up to me and talked to me in Chinese.
We found some good deals there shopping for shoes and shirts. :)
Miki,
I checked your blog entry out and boy, what a funny experience you did have at that MTR station! Haha Fear not for I would have made the same mistake if my gf was not there to help me out. Hehehe
Talking about those MTR stations, I was truly impressed with the infrastructure. The US could learn a thing or two from the Chinese in designing clean and efficient subway systems.
Em,
We did "dance". I did try to wiggle it just a little bit. I did some Michael Jackson impersonations for her too. Hehe
Thanks for the greet. Glad to be back! :)
Hi Sidney,
We had a camera with us. Unfortunately, we failed to bring the USB cable with us and thus were not able to load copies of the pictures onto my laptop. Don't worry for I'll post pictures here in the next few days. :)
Great vacation pal :) You had a great time I'm sure :)
They now say that the sprawling new Hongkong airport that was built not too long ago needs to be expanded ! That's a barometer of economic health I wuld think :)
Hi bw,
Thanks, Pards. The new Hong Kong airport does need to be expanded. There were basically two terminals and based on what I observed, each terminal already supports quite a number of airlines. I agree with your assessment that it is indeed a very good barometer of their economic health. Coming from and to the airport, we also passed by their port. Man, the huge number of containers was a sight to behold. Goes to show that a lot of business and trade pass through those islands. Very impressive.
And speaking of MRTs, I always get confused with the Wan Chai and Chai Wan stations... several times I made a mistake of getting off at the wrong station.
Oh btw, the MRT was built and designed and managed by the then British masters, not the Chinese.
Rudy,
Yeah, people can easily confuse the two stations. The hotel we stayed in was within walking distance of the Wan Chai station and just a block away from the closest tram stop. Very convenient.
Thanks for the correction regarding the MTR. The stations were very clean and some were quite large and were several levels underground.
The Brits really do a very good job with developing their colonies. Imperialists, yes. But they were surely very competent ones.
talaga surprising. i just remembered, they were still under British colony way back then. ngayon marami ng mga taga Mainland. medyo mabait ng kunti...di pasigaw. :)
Hi Ipanema,
You may be right there. There has been an influx of people from the mainland and that could have contributed to a "kinder and gentler" HK. Maybe. If so, it will only help boost their tourism. :)
While looking at the photos,my 2-yr-old son came to me abd said 'Ayan na! Bago! pointing to the last photo...the newer trams here in Vienna look the same even the colors, and he said it because whenver we are waiting for the tram, my older kids would always say the same thing...my 2-yr-old thought thats how its called...=D
So that's were you were, nice! I remember what happened to Senor about the bahay chinoy (tama ba ito?) so good you did precautions hehe. Weebee!
Hi Gizelle,
Those trains did look very nice, were brightly lit, and were very clean too.
Yup, I was in HK and Macau last week. It was fun and I hope to be back there in the near future. Thanks. :)
wow, if RP can have that 115 billion budget suplus that would be awesome, andaming pera nun para sa pinas (at sa bulsa ng iba hmp!)
glad you enjoyed your HK trip. :)
Zherwin,
What the HK government did and announced was that they would take 40 billion HKD of the surplus and return the money to the people in the form of one-time power subsidies for every resident, a reduction in the tax rate, and assistance to senior citizens, among a host of other measures.
oh I miss hong kong. haven't been there in a while. I love evrything about it - the people, the fast-paced life, the food (especially the those sold by ambulant vendors in the side streets) and the shopping of course. I grew up there, spent 12 years of my life in the colony. went to grade school and part of high school (La Salle pa rin syempre!) there too..
Mon,
Wow, 12 years in Hong Kong! I'm jealous! Hahaha We did enjoy the food in the various eateries and bakeshops there. La Salle has a branch there? Where? :)
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