I so grudgingly covered the company Christmas party after being given only two hours notice of the assignment. In any case, I ditched the event last Friday.
I wanted my byline (to appear at the employees-only website) to read this:
"Bah, humbug" is Tanya's perennial holiday motto. She reserves December 23 for "Suicide Night," an evening of destructive Christmas partying and last-minute shopping with her college buddies.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
passport stamps
Got three passport stamps at the start of the month when my mum took me and my sisters to Macau, Hong Kong and Shenzhen. My polar bear Blow came along.
Since we were able to check into our hotel at past 7pm, we gave up hope of trying any AJ Hackett adventures at Macau Tower. Instead, we ate a hearty Chinese & Portugese dinner at a diner in Taipa. The cheesy sole fillet, the portugese baked porkchops, the bacon and tuna fried rice, the crysanthemum honey tea and the soy milk were great. We headed next to a playground where Blow rode a panda rocker and we swung on those "exercise machines" for old people.
After meeting some Pinoys who told us how to get to Senado, we boarded a bus to Macau's main plaza. The European architecture was beautiful! And people were absolutely gorgeously dressed; I felt like a slob in jeans, shirt, bomber jacket and Chuck Taylors.
The next day we had a horrible breakfast of pansit canton at the hotel before boarding a ferry to Hong Kong. Upon arriving there, we visited the Avenue of Stars at the New World Center, followed by Jackie Chan's jewelry company. The industrialized cityscape was amazing as well. After lunch at the KCR station (where Maxim's had great rice toppings!), we drove to Disneyland in Lantau. The rides suck and the property was so huge and tiring, but the Philharmagic show and the fireworks were very romantic.
After checking into a hotel in Mongkok, we headed downtown to Nathan, Granville Road and Cameron Street to check out the hip albeit expensive shops. We even saw a designer boutique that had a great matador blazer, fully lined. I bought a nice printed shift. Kiara went ballistic that all the Tom Lee shops were closed. She took the subway alone to Kowloon Tong to get guitar strings, and gave us a heart attack not showing up on time.
We headed to Shenzhen via KCR the next day then visited mineral, tea, pearl and silk factories (my mum busted the budget on a pearl jewelry set) and a local delicacy shop where i bought sesame roll-ups. We then proceeded to Windows of the World where the bear got a really good photo at Stonehenge. After that, we went back to the Lo Wu station to shop for really cheap shit.
Thoughts include: People are really stylish, especially in Macau and Hong Kong. The locals generally have bad hygiene, no sense of personal space and lack friendliness expected in the service industry. The latrines at Shenzhen are appalling. The servings are huge in McDonalds. KFC doesn't taste like KFC here. Chinese Laureat meals in Shenzhen always smell like a particular pungent herb. Lychee tea tastes good.
Since we were able to check into our hotel at past 7pm, we gave up hope of trying any AJ Hackett adventures at Macau Tower. Instead, we ate a hearty Chinese & Portugese dinner at a diner in Taipa. The cheesy sole fillet, the portugese baked porkchops, the bacon and tuna fried rice, the crysanthemum honey tea and the soy milk were great. We headed next to a playground where Blow rode a panda rocker and we swung on those "exercise machines" for old people.
After meeting some Pinoys who told us how to get to Senado, we boarded a bus to Macau's main plaza. The European architecture was beautiful! And people were absolutely gorgeously dressed; I felt like a slob in jeans, shirt, bomber jacket and Chuck Taylors.
The next day we had a horrible breakfast of pansit canton at the hotel before boarding a ferry to Hong Kong. Upon arriving there, we visited the Avenue of Stars at the New World Center, followed by Jackie Chan's jewelry company. The industrialized cityscape was amazing as well. After lunch at the KCR station (where Maxim's had great rice toppings!), we drove to Disneyland in Lantau. The rides suck and the property was so huge and tiring, but the Philharmagic show and the fireworks were very romantic.
After checking into a hotel in Mongkok, we headed downtown to Nathan, Granville Road and Cameron Street to check out the hip albeit expensive shops. We even saw a designer boutique that had a great matador blazer, fully lined. I bought a nice printed shift. Kiara went ballistic that all the Tom Lee shops were closed. She took the subway alone to Kowloon Tong to get guitar strings, and gave us a heart attack not showing up on time.
We headed to Shenzhen via KCR the next day then visited mineral, tea, pearl and silk factories (my mum busted the budget on a pearl jewelry set) and a local delicacy shop where i bought sesame roll-ups. We then proceeded to Windows of the World where the bear got a really good photo at Stonehenge. After that, we went back to the Lo Wu station to shop for really cheap shit.
Thoughts include: People are really stylish, especially in Macau and Hong Kong. The locals generally have bad hygiene, no sense of personal space and lack friendliness expected in the service industry. The latrines at Shenzhen are appalling. The servings are huge in McDonalds. KFC doesn't taste like KFC here. Chinese Laureat meals in Shenzhen always smell like a particular pungent herb. Lychee tea tastes good.
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