Curious Cat

Day #1 in Japan: Upon arriving, we took the JR Yamanote line to Shinagawa from Ueno.. the first time I ever wore heels - and 5 inch platform booties, at that - for travel. Usually I’m much more pragmatic.

*if there’s a Japanese song you know, it’s probably this one: “First Love” by Utada Hikaru

PS. That’s not me wearing a shirt and leggings, I thought you should know (I hate it when people do that..) I’m wearing a black skirt!

Macau 澳門

7 August 2011

Two Sundays ago, I had to leave Hong Kong as a tourist and return as a pseudo-resident by stamping my training visa at the HK Immigration upon returning. Like most others in my situation, I opted for the easiest way to do it, which was to take a ferry to Macau and back. I went with my default companion, the flatmate and best-friend-by-convenience, Angus, at half past four in the afternoon. (Honestly though, I don’t know what I’m going to do when he flies back to England on August 30. Both he and Paul are leaving me behind in our flat in Cheung Sha Wan! It’s beyond depressing…)

We started at the pier in Central after eating the staple Subway sandwiches found at the terminal. The ferries to Macau, however, were quite out of the way from the Central/Hong Kong Stations. We realized too late that we should’ve taken the MTR to Sheung Wan instead of to Central. Nevertheless, we arrived, and saw that we could opt to take the helicopter to Macau:

I didn’t even bother checking the price, which I was convinced I couldn’t afford anyway. 

And without further ado, let the photodump commence!

Angus’ Passport. It’s so unfair, when we got to Macau, he was given 6 months to stay for free, while I had to leave by September. Or face deportation.

On Largo do Senado, the square with pavements made of hand-laid limestone pieces.

Largo de Sao Domingos

Sto. Domingo is a baroque Filipino style church built by the Spanish Dominican friars in the mid 16th century. That’s me standing tall and proud of the fact… although I didn’t know it then.

(http://www.olamacauguide.com/stdominic.html)

Ruinas de São Paulo

Built from 1582 to 1602 by the Jesuit Order, the Ruins of St. Paul’s Cathedral is Macau’s most famous landmark and is regarded as the greatest monument to Christianity in the East. The only thing left of the Church, burnt down in 1835, is the imposing facade. We climbed 66 steps up to get past the landmark and into the battlements…

We turned right, of course…

We then headed back to Senado Square to get the bus to The Venetian. We found out which bus to take after I heard two Filipinos walking - I just called out, “ate, ate!” and they turned to me. I asked them which bus to take to the Venetian, and they helpfully gave me options on how to get there from where we were.

One of the Filipinos, a tall, pretty ladyboy (aka bakla, hehe), said, “Ate, may tanong ako sa yo!”

I said, “ano?”

He/she said, “artista ka ba?! May kamukha ka eh!” Grabe, nakaka-flatter naman, ate! Haha!

So we crossed the bridge from the Macau Peninsula to Taipa, where the new big casinos are located:

City of Dreams (新濠天地)

at the Venetian, finally! I look amazing here (HAHA) but in real life I was perspiring like hell ‘cause we got off in the wrong bus stop, and had to walk around Cotai Strip to get to the actual entrance…

We were so disoriented because it looked like this inside:

…at past 10 in the evening.

by the San Luca Canal (I think it was this one, there were 2 canals inside the casino…)

And finally, after getting back into Hong Kong, the validation of my training visa:

Angus was led into an interrogation room at the Immigration of HK (and not me, ironically, haha!) because he overstayed his 90 days in Hong Kong, and made the mistake of telling the immigration officers that he was “living and working” in the city (I almost slapped my forehead when I heard this come out of his mouth…).

That was all resolved in a matter of several minutes, though, since Hong Kong would be nothing without its’ British colonizers, Angus being one of them. :))

Let me end by posting a picture of myself being ridiculously vain in the loo of the Venetian:

xx,

Yeni

Highway Robbery Pt. II

Just got back from a weekend trip to Hong Kong with my cousins, and almost made the customs richer yet again due to the sketchy “luxury good” tax!!!!

My dad asked my sister to buy him a handy, light travel bag at Longchamp during her stay in Europe this summer, but he let her know too late (she was already en route to Qatar by the time he mentioned it) for her to get him one.

So during our trip to Hong Kong, we chanced upon their store in Central HK Island and found the perfect bag for him:

And in orange (or brick, to be more precise), to boot! (he prefers uniquely colored luggage so that there’s no mistaking what’s his and what isn’t - think the classic airport switcheroos) 

Anyway, my sister and I stupidly preserved its packaging and handcarried it all the way back to Manila where the customs people seized the chance to charge us with an exorbitant fee. I even under-declared the item at HK$1000 and pretended that the receipt was with my cousin who was coming from the other flight, but they still computed almost a thousand pesos in fees. 

Now, after my horrible experience with customs (see this blog entry) in which I had to pay over P5,000.00 in taxes (1/3 the price of the bag), I was ready to fight this one out  (I had sworn never to pay a single cent to these people unless it was 100% legal and necessary). 

The customs lady confiscated my sister’s passport in a very underhanded way (she just wrote my sister a bill to be paid and refused to return the passport until she was paid, Makati Police style), and moved on to the next person in line. I was resolute not to pay a single more cent to this useless bureau.

1. Other people with luxury items weren’t charged.

I loudly pointed out that she had let other people with luxury items in paper bags pass without charging them. The customs guy said “eh huwag na tayong magturuan” - somebody please tell me the logic in this statement.  

My sister’s friend coming home from Spain last week had with her 3 luxury items all purchased in Europe and did not have to pay anything at customs.

2. Fake items weren’t apprehended

You will fine the person who has an original and let all those OBVIOUSLY FAKE Guccis by without even a glance?!! Isn’t the possession of FAKES more of a crime than the purchase of an original?!

3. The item is not in commercial quantity

ONE BAG. Not a sample. Not for resale.

4. Personal item

Intended as a gift

5. They failed to provide us with a clear basis / policy for fining us.

The paper she made me read had no clear policy regarding luxury items. And the only things that were taxable are supposed to be over P10,000.00. I declared it to be around P7,000.00

Anyway, at the end of the day we didn’t pay because my dad stepped in and where reason failed (for really, they are incapable of comprehending reason), intimidation (or pestering) succeeded.

So that’s all for the night, since I’m SUPER SLEEPY.

More on Hong Kong next time.

xxx,

Yeni

biking in Siem Reap with Mej and the SEAn gang. Rediscovered recently; some of the best moments of my life.

I’ve been wanting to dye my hair, but my natural raven black hair here looks too cool it’s making me think twice. Oh, and yes, I refuse to travel in sneakers and a knapsack! :| I hate sporty attire. Hiking backpacks are okay, and sneakers if we’re really going hiking, but that’s where it ends.

the journey home

to answer a question, and to rewrite the awkward CNNGo write up previously published:

My most favorite holiday in Asia, without a doubt, would be backpacking throughout Indochina exactly this time last year. I, along with six of my friends, began our journey in Ho Chi Minh City, and then traveled by foot, bus, bike, and boat through Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Bangkok, Ko Pha Ngan, and back to Manila. The journey was not only a discovery of the Southeast Asia previously known to me only in history books, it was also a discovery of my identity. It was my first time to travel around my neighboring countries (I had been everywhere - Oceania, Europe, North America, Africa), but never around Southeast Asia before. I found it extremely ironic, given that I knew so little of my neighbors, much closer to me physically than those from Western civilizations, and yet I felt I had more in common with Americans or British folks (or so I thought). Going through Southeast Asia woke me up to the realization that Thais, Cambodians, and Vietnamese are not only my neighbors, but my cousins as well - we’re related by blood and heritage. I never knew Filipino architecture had so much in common with the Cambodian way of building. I was surprised I could barely tell the difference between the faces of Thais and the faces of Pinoys back home. As for other discoveries, I wept in the killing fields at Phnom Penh, never having known the reality and scope of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge; I felt enlightened at the Angkor Wat for the unity of faith despite religious differences; and, on a lighter note, went crazy over the fantastic fashion finds at Bangkok! Who wouldn’t have the time of their lives with such a trip like that? But what made it all the more special, at least for me, was that it didn’t even feel like a vacation, it felt like a homecoming.

Photo credit: lovewesay

I have to go to Guilin. I want to just let everything go and then see the world. I WANT TO SEE THE WORLD. I can’t say that enough. For a so-called borderless world, this world has way too many borders nowadays.

theworldwelivein:

Guilin, Guangxi, China
© Francisco Javier Ruiz