Hong Kong: day 3 - shopping in unfamiliar territory

As usual, I woke up early - but unlike the Disneyland Hotel, there did not seem to be any place for me to explore, so I just relaxed myself by dipping in a hot tub - and boy, did I need this, since my leg muscles were acheing from all the walk we did thepast two days. I also boiled some drinking water then sat on a comfortable chair - with nothing but my bathrobe on, while sipping some tea as I watched the sun rise higher by our hotel window's view of the harbor. For a brief moment, I felt like a Taipan.

I also watched CNN to Scan the the news; there were snipets showing China's minutes of silence in remembrance of the quake... then I read a few chapters from the book I brought along with me, in case of such situations. I was just waiting for 8 A.M. before calling Barbie's room to wake them up, then I'd wake Bryce up to get him to do his usual morning rituals, as we prepared for breakfast.

Lucky for us, our accomodation included breakfast at the 40th floor's lounge, and we proceeded to enjoy a buffet made of cereals, poached eggs, bacon, toast and orange juice; while the kids had the same, with exception to hot chocolate instead of the juice - Barbie had the same, but with coffee.

With breakfast done by 9:30, we could plan for the day's shopping. Slight problem... most shops open around 11 A.M.; so no matter how early we wanted to go - there was nowhere to go to at that time. Anoehr slight problem, it was still raining. Still we took this opportunity to ask our friendly concierge where we could go to find great places to shop. Armed with a map, he marked a few locations and, once again, using the same card he used yesterday to mark Ocean Park, he marked the place we were going to... so we could show this to the cab's driver. We were also able to borrow a pair of umbrellas - courtesy of the hotel

As mentioned, we went to one place, but had to just walk around since the stores were still closed - or still busy openning. We looked for Toys R Us (and found it eventually - after trying to decipher where we were in the map), so the kids could buy something.

Me? What I wanted to get in Hong Kong was too expensive for my curent budget (a Digital SLR Canon camera - maybe, next time...), so I just went around without any expectations of what to search for... or what to buy. Apparently, this was not the place Barbie wanted to go to either - but since Hong Kong was not that familiar a place to her as well, she wsa at a loss to where we should go as well.

We went back to the hotel, checked-out but left our luggage while we were planning to explore H.K further. We, of course, inquired once again with our friendly concierge, and discovered that there was a shoping place just across the harbor - accessible either by a long cab ride, or better yet, by ferry ride. We opted to take the ferry - an added experience, waiting for us to try

Good thing too, since the ferry ride was very reasonable, and it did not take too long to cross the harbor from Wan Chai station to Tsim Sha Tsui (the place Barbie recognized as familar in sound regarding shopping), either. It was also the first ferry ride of the kids - at least, I think so.

So upon arriving at Tsim Sha Tsui (boy, these names are hard to spell), we entered one mall, which seemed interconnected to other malls. Again Barbie recognized the place - alas, she also has a 'not too keen' sense of direction (even here at home). So it felt like the blind leading the blind - far as looiing for the bargain places were concerned.

We went around, up down left and right - took lunch in a place we at least were familar with (Pizza Hut)- only after a long walk at that... which was ironic since we were near said place earlier, when they did not think to have lunch... All the while, we were wasting time. This was the irony, since we were not privy to the place, we did not know if we were near, far or way way far from wehre we wanted to go. All the while, Barbie was complaining that we were not going where we wanted to go - but could not tell us where we needed to go. All she said ws that we had entered from the back, and she had shopped here before - arriving at the front. So... back and front, not too hard to decipher right? Nope.

Finally, after almost two hours of walking, Barbie mentions soemthing crucial - that where she went was the opposite of the water (harbor), as opposed to our going parallel to it (which was most of the time). This made me realize that we needed to move one direction - away from the water. had I known this earlier, we would have found what Barbie meant to find a whole lot sooner. Apparently, she did not enter from the front (meaning opposite of where we came from), but rather from the side.


This discovery happened after we were basically frustrated and tired of walking. I personally wanted to just go back to the hotel and rest. Still, we just decided to buy at least one thing - so as not to make the trip a total waste. I got a 1 gig memory card for my camera - that's it. Bryce got a PSP game, Bernice just looked for something cute - and Barbie? Nada. She could find nothing to buy.

We finally went back to the ferry - just to make sure we were in the right side of the harbor as time came close to our pick-up schedule. We then rested in Starbucks (and may I say that the price of a frapuchino in H.K. was really much higher than compared to that in the Philippines - and we make our fraps smoother too).

By 5:30 P.M., we went back to the hotel, and just waited at the lower lobby. I just took a picture of the kids by the upper-lobby, as a reminder that we had been here. Our ride arrived - a bit late, due to traffic caused by the H.K. rush hour and the rains. This resulted in our rather later than hoped check-in, thus not being able to have selective seats on the plane ride back. Barbie and Bernice got to sit beside each other, Bryce was just behind them and I was about a few seats away from them (center seat, center isle). A small sacrifice to pay, I thought, as it was just an hour and a half trip - one that I could pass the time away with either a book or watching a T.V. program.

We then proceeded to the airport's waiting lobby, and on the way, checked out the Duty Free shops as we moved along. This is where Barbie bought something for herself, and I got some 'pasalubong' for my office-mates and my mom. We thought about geting more, but decided that we'd rather go Duty Free shopping when we got home.

While waiting, someone approached me with a note (definitely not written by her) explaining that she did not speak English and needed assistance in knowing her flight departure gate. As I tried helping, suddenly two more people apporached wiht the same problem. I was wondering why this was happening. Was I that apporachable?

I tried getting airport personnel to help them, as I was too tired to try helping... even if I could. Just to show you how tired I was, I could not get my dates straight. I forgot that looking at the flight schedule might help - but I also was not too familar with their ticket design to decipher certain data. I believe the ticket of the first woman that approached me, had to be either too late or too early for said flight. Her fligth was not on the screen, so I could not help in showing her where to go - what gate to proceed to. I wished I could help further, but the best I could do was let airport personnel assist them. It was frustrating to want to help, but not be able to.

We eventually boarded our plane; the flight was not eventful or memorable, we rached Philippine shores, disembarked, got an airport taxi and arrived home around 1:30 A.M.. and I had to work the next day. Man, there were times I wondered why we had too hectic a schedule - but as hectic as things were, as frustrating as it seemed at times, this trip was still memorable and enjoyable.

Sure, there would be things I would do differently next time. For one, we were not able to go the the Duty Free anymore - since work got in the way. But that's okay. We still got a lot of great memories... we enjoyed the Dsiney and Ocean park experience as a family... and this was the main point o fhte trip. Will we co this again? Not immediately, and not as hectic next time, and I would get into more research about what to do - oh yeah, and make sure we do our internet check-in in time for having a comfortable flight back home.

So there you have it... our Hong Kong experience. Lessons learned and all. Hope reading it gives anyone planning to go to H.K. a better idea of what to do and what not to do.

If I were to summarize:
a) confirm travel schedule early - ues the inernet for this, and make sure it happens both ways;
b) plan for 'Kairos' time, make things memorable and enjoyable;
c) if no one is familar with the place, it might be prudent to ask friends what to do, where to go - or maybe, a guide may be useful - being adventurous is fine, but not with kids along.

Hmmm... I should suggest a bullet-list option for blogs.