initial impression of manila, the philippines

actually this is the 2nd time for me to visit manila, but since i didn’t go much places so i think it’s best to call it “initial” impression 😛

places i have stayed

last oct is the first time i went there and stayed in pasay area and been to tagaytay which is a place to see the volcano inside a lake. hun drove 2 hours from the city but pity that we didnt spend much time there. i think it’s recommended to stay a night there to admire the view more.

and for this time i picked to stay in makati area since hun’s office and different malls nearby 😛 i can go walking around while waiting for his lunch hour or off duty.

construction

manila is the capital of the philippines and you can see that there are lots of construction, a common thing for the developing country. so you can imagine the growth of this place after 5-10 years.

traffic

i’m also wondered if the government could solve the traffic jam issue later, which hun is very frustrated on it everyday, he needa take double or even triple time to reach office or home!

eco-friendly

i remember last time when i went to supermarket, the staff gave us plastic bag even we just bought 2 bottles of drinks. but this time hun told me no straws and plastic bags (or maybe even more plastic stuff) after the regulation. not sure if this is a newly developed laws but i’m sure it’s a good beginning!

beg for money

there are some children who bare their foot to beg for money, i have experienced during the 2 visits.

smile

if you visit the philippines once, you could find the locals here always smile and could show the passion to life. not sure if this is due to their religion, nationality or located near the tropical region… i’m quite surprised the lady who was sweeping the bridge floor would say “morning” to me, which you could seldom/never find in hk… therefore i could say their service quality is outstanding.

of course, you have to be caution to the stranger when you are in the foreign country to prevent any unhappiness happened on your journey.

next visit will be decided upon hun’s business trip confirmation, so my next stop would probably be perth, sydney or singapore. stay tuned!

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hand writing stuff

doubtlessly, technology really does provide us a convenient way to handle daily life, but somehow the oldest way could touch people’s heart, and that’s why handmade product is still existence & valuable. i’m not sure if you guys still send postcards to friends while travelling, for the previous 3 travels last year i didn’t send out any ’cause i was hurt by one of x-besties and reluctant to get closer to friends.

but life goes on, time really could heal the wound though the scar is obviously could be seen, i’m so blessed for those who are still staying around me. i sent the xmas card last month to 4 ladies, hehee they are glad to receive that (1 of them even uploaded to fb!) i bet that is the power of the tangible, hand writing thing, ’cause it means you spend some times & good intention on them! all the good intention doesn’t need to be costly & high end. something back to basic is enough for people to feel your real heart, who else couldn’t afford oneself to satisfy their wants ? <- it only refers to those living in hdc.

i also tried to send a parcel with full of food to hun, each of them stuck a memo and he told me he always reads them again & again… ❤ one week later i’m heading to manila to meet him, i think a warm & tight hug could express how much i do miss him.

 

matcha paradise

my sister is obsessed in matcha, she always goes to ‘little matcha girl’, a cafe in perth to enjoy her afternoon. before she came back to hk on last august, she said she would like to find matcha stuff here, which scared parents a bit lol… and under her influence, i would usually prefer matcha more, and here’s some of my record:

in hk

there is a cafe selling tea dessert, and of course matcha is famous. And my colleagues and i went there to have our dessert time:

in seoul

i really love the combination of matcha / green tea with red bean! it could well balance the sweet and bitter. hope that it isn’t a late night when you read this… hahaa otherwise better to sleep now and find some matcha food in your city! and, you could search online about the different between matcha and green tea. ciao.

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foreign language matters?

i have already graduated from the university for 3 years and that won’t make me stop learning new stuff. last year, i took TOPIK 1 (korean exam in elementary level) after self-studying for 2 years.

and on this april i took a driving test (for auto car). driving is so much fun and i could get an international license starting from next april that gimme a chance to drive in aussie, with an experienced driver (that would be my sister or hun) sitting next to me.

and my next target would be german. the first lesson is started today and obviously there is so much more difficult gramma or words i needa memorize (self-study on german isn’t possible to me that’s why i needa pay for it). i think i have enough incentive to learn well on this language because most of my beloved footballers are german haha! one day i could fully understand what they are talking about in the interviews, like the one that others left birthday msg to mesut özil! of course, germany would be my #1 country to travel (probably would go to there for honeymoon as well haha 😛 ), so best to study hard.

undoubtedly, when you go travelling to a place and you know their language that would be the perfect way to avoid any troubles come across, like korean, these are not even in alphabet, which would definitely make tourists feeling tired to figure out what is what, so you have to prepare well before you go. and since i know some of them and i have been there twice, so the trip on last august i didn’t plan… haha but of course you know that language doesn’t mean the trip would be perfect. i think the best experience would be meeting the nice locals and could make me feel the humanity, simply just smile to me would be ok 🙂 so after i back from manila, i realized why hun would say the flight attendant of that flight didn’t smile (even i told him that airline is rated 5-star, stupid me, that doesn’t mean anything at all).

of course i can’t learn all the language or study the foreign language before going that place, but i just can’t let myself have a routine living pattern which is work, eat, sleep and then back to work again. time is another form of treasure and try to put down the mobile and do something productive to your life and the society.

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starting my long distance relationship

just back from my paradise for 2 days, it’s the best time to have some throwback. remember what i mentioned i will have an impromptu trip to manila? yea there’s a special man living there so he’s the only reason i went there (of course who i met there are nice and helpful, however the government needa improves the traffic and environment). i took a half day off from work and then went directly to the airport, and i thought he waited for an hour because the custom was so slow… and i couldn’t connect the wifi while waiting.

here he was, met at the burger king, a kiss to my ear, hmm actually to my iphone earphone , and then all the way to the carpark, met his car (or i shld say his wife? he spent a lot on it) while interlocking fingers. ok, this is our first date since we met on june.

the view of manila, it’s stunning. honestly i didn’t expect the philippines could amaze me.

i think next time i should bring my swimsuit so i don’t waste time to wait his coming in the morning, argh! the hotel i stayed called 88 courtyard in pasay, which near ninoy airport terminal 3. the staff is nice 🙂 and there are restaurants and convenient stores nearby. recommend!

tagaytay, few hours drive from manila, thank him so much! so he remembered i wanna see volcano!! i didn’t search up any tourist spots and he did it wow. during the driving time, we listened to music with some singing and weird dance haha.

and he said he might come over hk on december… hmm seriously no expectation, no disappointment. he needa save hard for his living…. ah shld be his wife.

he kept asking me if i’m hungry all the time and i kept saying “no”. probably he’s the one to be hungry haha! so finally he took me to eat chinese food… and actually i didn’t try these combination in hk before! dumplings with lime? that bread called saobao but doesn’t have its traditional appearance haha. but still delicious.

of course, being a gemini-cancer girl, i’m fucking missing him and cried in front of him because the time we spent together is fucking limited, what he told me is to keep myself busy and then look at the instant pics we took -.- alright, that’s how cruel long distance relationship is and we shld be mature enough to face our challenge in our own city and support each other mentally. ok…. no more crying baby and overthinking, that’s suck. women shld be confident enough not to afraid men would treat, what a meant-to-be one never makes you feel that sick.

just wanna grow old with you, j.

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mom’s murmuring MMMMMMM

i have been graduated from university for 3 years, which means i have worked for 3 years and should have enough saving to finance myself to do something i want (of course i ain’t rich to do EVERYTHING i want). in this 2016, i broke my best personal record, that is to travel thrice within a year haha. when i told mom i will go to manila on next friday, she freaked out a bit and started murmuring i had spent too much and should save more to buy a flat later. argh! but mom, sometimes travelling is not just for fun! i won’t tell you it’s all because i stressed out and nearly blowed up and of course, there’s someone who is worthwhile enough for me to spending money and time to meet 🙂  i’m in burning red, i hope he feel the same.

when you were in classroom listening to those lectures, you only know the history or fact by reading papers, but if you can go to that exact place to feel, like what had happened in germany, poland and somewhere else during the WW2, when you go to those historical spots, you could feel the horror of conquering and war. what you can really stamped in your mind is just at that moment, you could finally realize a certain concept. why i would raise this example is because i’m longing for germany for ages haha, first is its history, then is beer and bundesliga. i have applied an elementary german course and will start a week after coming back from manila. a busy but fruitful life is soon to begin, and that’s why a short trip is vital as my final rest.

i haven’t read/watched ‘eat, pray, love’, and i believe most of the people would go abroad is for getting some refreshment (wish i go travelling only for a good cause, forever and ever!!)

some are for business trip, here’s only counting for those lucky people they could have holiday on weekends haha.

sunset captured through windows, flight from hk to singapore, by singapore airlines.

so what i could response to mom is, shut up and ask her to sleep.

 

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this is what you came for.

in the past, travelling is just a mean to unwind and explore. but my next trip, would be helping me to re-develop a relationship or probably find an answer to leave that relationship. i didn’t search any tour spots in that place, just exchanged the currency and arranged the roaming service in order to contact that man.

he is the man i met nearly 4 months ago and had a 4-hour chat on the plane and then we haven’t seen each other again. usually we communicate by email (had 2-3 times video chat so far). and now i’m spending hkd 2k to meet up… in a certain extent, i’m attracted by this wildest dream.

the dream will be realized next week, what i can do now is to keep my health condition well (i was stressed out last week and lost appetite, you know, i love eating so much and it’s a great impact for me not to eat!).

this is perth airport where we said goodbye 😦

i’m listening out of the wood while typing this blog, and i’m really hope that we could face those wood together (i’m worrying him not showing up eventually which would definitely disappointed me aaaaaaaa lot and promise i won’t find him any more).

wish me luck, will come back to you mid of oct.

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the impromptu trip!

seriously anxiety attacked me on last sunday which made me super emotional and couldn’t fall asleep until 2:30am (i had only 8-hour sleep on friday and saturday night in total, which supposed to be easy to get tired and sleep). arghhh and then i dropped some tears when i back to office, it’s so harsh for me, my brain kept running & thinking all those trouble stuff, part of it from work (but i won’t tell u what’s the another part haha!).

i really need a break, and escape from here.

sounds coward? but in order to make my life longer, this is the only way to not blow up in front of family and colleagues and then scared them out. as perviously mentioned, i have met a man in the plane when i’m heading to perth, i was going to visit my lil sister and he was going for a business trip. after we said goodbye at the perth airport, we have never seen again since we are not living in the same country… and then now i think it’s really a good opportunity to meet, wish we could have a coffee date or hang out in the pub 🙂 . mom was a bit angry because it will be my 3rd trip in this year!!! perth, seoul and then now manila! i won’t explain to her much to make her worry, so better to just let her angry.

how impromptu this trip is? i booked the package in expedia yesterday (sep 19), for the flights on oct 7. just 2 more weeks to go, it is the soonest trip i’ve ever made! and i think this is the best reason for solo travelling because i like doing and settling things fast, so here’s the result.

actually, i’m going to find an answer from this trip. if there’s something you want the most, you can’t just wait and then let the thing happen by itself, right? even i might fail, i tried, and everything i experienced i would always consider as a lesson, very personal and tailor-made lesson. wish me luck, dudes! will further update here.

i took the above pic when i was going to head to perth from hk taking singapore airlines, a romantic sunset moment.

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type of traveller you belong!

hey i admit i am an energetic person who doesn’t really need to sleep for long (that’s why i can always wake up at 2am to watch the football match, even i went swimming the night before), so actually i don’t want my travelling partner would wake up late and then i still have to wait her to finish all the makeup, when it is already at 10:30am or even 11am, that’s… almost wasted for an hour at least. and a good example is my lil sister.

i went seoul with her on august and i usually woke up latest at 9am, i would slightly pull the curtain so as to let the sunshine come in through, and open the tv to make some noise.  during this period of time i would go preparing myself in the toilet. hey i think i’m so humane!

on the contrary, my sis would claim that travelling isn’t like this, but to enjoy, relax, and no need to rush. she wouldn’t plan for travelling as well, just to decide where to go in the next morning (or last night, better).

well, i think it is just because of the difference of personality, and the attitude towards travelling, i don’t think i am a bad traveller as i wanna see as much as i can because i don’t have a long holiday and my work doesn’t allow me to have more holiday though (even i accept no-pay leave, huh…). tell me i am not demanding…

if finding a partner is that difficult (travelling partner and lifelong partner…), if i don’t need to seek for any partners… go anywhere with a free soul and mind. sigh, i am thinking of someone…

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too shy to have selfie?

i like taking picture especially while travelling, i would carry my dslr over shoulders or neck, to avoid missing any special moment. when we were in seoul, we saw a quite ancient scene, a man (not solider!) is riding a horse to bypass one of the tourist spots. such a nice butt, right?

i don’t know if there is anyone same as me, i don’t really like people taking pic on me when i’m the main of the pic. it’s ok to have  picture with others together but somehow it makes me feel uncomfortable. weird. there are lots of lots of lots of girls like taking selfie and even upload into instagram, and i really admire them, they are so confident haha!

but sometimes i wanna record where i have been to, thats how i take my own selfie (without showing my face haha).

snap the sneakers and the ground

it was taken in seoul, south korea, and this artificial river is famous in the city centre and i remember the weather is so hot to make me sweat, you can see the sun shine indirectly from the ground and the water. of course i wanna jump into the water to cool down…

snap the shadow on the ground / the inverted image from the glasses

ok i admit sometimes i just wanna let people know i’m carrying a backpack to travel (a kind of travelling spirit/vibe) not a brand name leather tiny shoulder bag for decoration (my sis carried one when we went to seoul, gosh she couldn’t help even a set of hotel/air ticket confirmation…). and! the inverted image could show your outfit haha 🙂

or you can ask your partner to take pic on your back only, but if you are in sole travelling…

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