The Hong Kong Story and the Museum of History

On our first day in Hong Kong (April 6), we had lagged behind our schedule. Having arrived at 3 am from Macau, we had slept through practically the whole morning. I had scheduled for us to visit 2 museums on that day but we only had time to go to 1. Naturally, we chose to go where there would be a guided tour and one which would serve our main purpose for the trip - The Hong Kong Museum of History. There were only 2 days in a week that the museum had guided tours which were on saturdays and sundays and we couldn't pass it up.

My family wasn't so excited to go at first. What would we see there? Bones and relics? These weren't the kind of things you'd like to view on a holiday right? But the museum was far from just that and so far among all of the museums I have seen, it is by far among the best ones. The exhibit area was a wide, 3-storey building. The management had taken pains to paying attention to the minutest detail. The airconditioning was perfect, the lights went on a cycle of dim to bright to dim again. This, according to our guide, is because they had wanted to recreate a whole day for the visitor. The reception area is not so impressive as it was large and dim with just a single counter where a lady receptionist was to attend to visitor questions. From there, we went down to the basement. The museum observed a one way flow of traffic such that all exhibits will lead you to the exit.

The exhibits went from the prehistoric period, to the geological compositions of HK, to the time of the british occupation up until the reunification of China. There were at least 3 movies which were all free. Our guide, Eric, told us stories at each stop we made. The exhibits were fantastic. One of my favorites is that of a remake of a chinese village where a wedding was going to take place. According to their tradition, the bride is not allowed to see her groom until after the wedding. She would have to be fully covered lest some spirits play tricks on her and cause her to get ill, crazy or even die. Neither is she allowed to touch the ground before they are wed. Instead, she has to be carried on the matchmaker's back the whole time. Tough job huh? The matchmaker plays a vital role in every girl's wedding just like in Mulan. The matchmaker's job starts when she chooses among the girls who is worthy of being a bride. Then, she looks for a suitable husband for her. After that, she has to be in the wedding, attend to the bride until after they are wed. They didn't hear how much events planners are paid these days. hehehe

The museum had 3 floors and each floor had several themes. I had only alloted 4 hours for that visit. It turned out that it was so beautiful that the 4 hours was not enough. 6 hours wasn't either but we had to cut short the trip because they had to close the museum already.

Hong Kong on a Budget

Everyone who visits a new place and does not take a package tour will be jittery and a bit scared of getting lost and feeling really helpless. What more when going to a place where noone speaks english or your native tongue? I feel that way everytime we go on a trip abroad. I mean, I don't know the place nor does my husband. The worst part is that everyone in our party counts on me to know what to do and where to go, as if I was the tour guide and that adds to the jitters. But each time we come home from a trip, the feeling of being able to accomplish something for yourself and for your family is there, and it feels good.

Well, I always start with research,then book, then research, buy a map, then research, and more research. So yes, you got it right, the secret is to research. Start off with viewing websites such as virtuatourist and lonely planet. These two offer tips for going about your destination and you can book online with them. But I don't book with either one. With VT, I am able to save my travel guides to a certain folder which is exclusive for a particular destination. You'll have to be a member to do that. Anyway, membership is free. I read travel guides and ask questions in the forum. The guys at vt (I'm a member too you know) are really accommodating and will try to help in anyway they can.

After I have made my temporary IT, I try to check out the prices. I won't expound on this as I have written a blog about it so do read the other posts. the resources I have for booking flights include Trip Advisor, Booking.com, cheaperthanhotels.com, Expedia.com, Asiatravel, ctrip.com, and Hostelworld.com. Hostelworld and booking.com have hostels listed for the budget conscious travellers which we are.

Next, I read more on the places of interest. For Hong Kong, I found THKA and the Hong Kong tourism Board to be of so much use. THKA offers a local's way to go around hong kong, saving the traveller money from taking cabs and suggests walks that can be done by themselves. The Hong Kong Tourism Board gives you more options to include in your IT attractions that you can visit for free such as the museums that are free on wednesdays and tuesdays, heritage walks, free chinese junk ride, free visit to a theater, and the MTR-Ocean park package (which gives you a free ride).

I don't find Hong Kong cheap at all. So, because we have 8 days and 7 nights to spend for our holiday, I've decided to include both Macau and Zhuhai in our IT too. These two places are also interesting because they give another perspective of the modern China - Macau for the Portuguese-cantonese culture and Zhuhai for the beach, the chinese palace and shopping! Well, Shopping mainly because according to my sources, Zhuhai is the place where you can get cheap goods (mostly unbranded and imitations though). Cheaper than Shenzhen and way way lower than Hong Kong.

We need a visa to go to zhuhai. So, instead of getting a chinese visa from here which will cost us 1,500 php each, I've discovered that we can actually get them at either Macau or Hong Kong. It only takes a few hours to secure the visa and is good for single entry and exit at zhuhai only. This costs about 750 php which will save us 50%. Also, Zhuhai hotels cost only about 30 to 50% of the hotel prices in HK and Macau for the same hotel star rating. Jumbo Hotel costs only 30 USD per night and it's even a 4 star hotel (5 star even according to some).

If you've been following my blog you'd know that I gave myself a 25k challenge for the whole Macau, HK and Zhuhai trip. So far so good. I've still managed to keep the costs to 21k including the ferry trip which costs around 4,500 php for all 3 of us, and the chinese visa. It is a good thing that the main purpose of the trip is to orient my daughter with chinese history and culture so we can actually stay out of Disneyland. Well, quite frankly, she's not so interested in going because she says it's too small when compared to the disneyland parks she's been to. That saves me at least 180 USD. plus, the places she wants to see are either free or cheap with the exception of the Ocean park which is not that expensive either.

I guess that's that for now. I'll let you know my final IT before I leave. Check back in when you can.



Jane


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Rating afineplace.com - Just How Good Are They?

Always when I search for baguio accommodations, I never fail to see the listing of afineplace.com. I used to wonder whether these guys who operate the site were real or a hoax. But some friend of my husband recommended it to us after my hubby transferred from his former company (where accommodations in Baguio were had for a minimal price) to his present one which does not provide the baguio treat. So, far we've occupied 2 of their properties and we liked both thus far.
The houses are well kept, there are caretakers who can attend to your requests, there's enough space for the specified number of persons, we can cook and barbecue and , in unit A which we rented this year, we had a fireplace. the only thing though about both properties is that they are not in the middle of the action (which we actually prefer) so we need a car or take a cab going to and fro. But don't take me wrong, they're not too far from the center of the city either. Just not right at it.
Both properties are along Marcos highway just about 5 to 10 minutes away from SM on session Road. Unit A cost us about 2,200 per night for 5 persons for a house with 3 rooms. Unit A cost us 3000 per night for 5 persons. As far as I'm concerned, afineplace.com gets a grade of 8/10. One thing I didn't like with the unit I (or was it F, sorry I've forgotten) though is that it was a little noisy at night. It is a compound and there were about 2 other "houses" right below ours. Some foreigners were occupying the place and they would play in the middle of the night. The caretaker tried to tell them twice but they'd be back to it just the following night. But that's about all. Those guys, just like us, were transients too. That means, there will be other people there every week and not the same ones we were with. So, the next time you're planning a trip to Baguio, you may want to consider afineplace.com instead of a hotel. You contact them through their website at www.afineplace.com. Do tell them Jane Cajuguiran highly recommends them.

Palawan Day 2: St. Paul Underground River

This day we woke up late. We agreed with dad that we'd leave the pension house by 7 am. But dad texted that he was still having breakfast with a former Mayor-friend of his and we were all too tired to get up anyway. At least I got a little time left to charge my cam which I forgot to do the night before.

It was almost 10 am when we checked out of Lola Itang's. On our way to Sabang where the underground river was, we found this view deck and asked the driver to stop for some photo op. Little did we know that there would be several viewdecks before sabang. Of course we were running late so we just had one more stop for a photo op.

The road to Sabang is made up of 40% very good road and 60% really rough and brain-joggling, bone-breaking, muddy trail. But these were all worth the trip since the underground river is a beautiful, beautiful place. It is 1 of the 5 world heritage sites in the Philippines as declared by the UNESCO, along with the Banaue Rice Terraces, Vigan, Tubataha Reef (at the southern tip of Palawan), and some Churches.

It was almost 12 NN when we got to Sabang. There's a port in Sabang from where we bought tickets and took the boat ride to reach the other side of the coast. We could have reached it by land but we would need to walk for 2.5 hours through the jungle going there and another 2.5 hours coming back. Besides I don't think any of us were really fit to walk that far.

We ate lunch first. The Pier is full of small cafeteria that serve local fare most of which are seafood. There are several souvenir shops that sell mostly shirts, and shorts, and other beach items. Somehow I think these guys are more tame than their counterparts in the other beaches in the country. They just greet you with a smile but ask you what item you are looking for. I hate it so much when vendors practically drag you into their store just like they would drag their goods in after a delivery.

It took us 30 minutes to get to the beach just a few hundred meters away from the entrance of the underground river. From, there we were met by the regular inhabitants of the area - the monkeys and the monitor lizards. The people who were running the place didn't seem to mind them and in fact tried to warn us to keep our things and not to bring food with us because the monkeys would steal those anyway.

There was another 5-minute walk to get to another port where a smaller, non-motorized boat was waiting for us. Our boatman, Chris, welcomed us and gave us a brief orientation on our do's and don'ts, what we would see and expect to learn from the trip. We were told that the boats used to have engines. but the fumes would discolor the rock formations so these were discontinued. The river is subterranean and for a while I thought our "banca" (filipino for a mall boat) wouldn't fit and our heads would hit the ceiling. But I was proven wrong. there was enough room for 2 bancas at the entrance and even 3 or four could fit inside. The trip took us about 1.5 hours to finish. The stalactites and stalagmites took on different shapes that resembled several "everyday" things that we see - mushroom, candle, lrt, dog, corn, a sexy lady. It was very dark in the river you wouldn't see a single thing when the rechargeable light is put out. It was also surprisingly cool.

What added to the pleasure of seeing the beauty of the underground river was the fact that our boatman was really a humorous guy. At one point I asked him whether the water in the river was salty. He answered promptly and said that it was not so salty. Just to satisfy my curiosity, and since I knew noone would be seeing me in the dark anyway, I tasted the water. Of course I reported about what I had learned about it. Just as though he didn't quite hear what I said, he announced that the bats used the cave as it "batroom" to relieve themselves when nature called! Yuck! But of course we all laughed at my experience.

When we were on our way back, we saw a macaque. and another macaque. and more macaques... that the whole troop was there! The boatmen who had gathered to leave the place with us pointed at a particular one and said that it was the leader and the bossy one of all. Not that we didn't like seeing them (macaques) but we didn't want to lose any of our stuff. So we left them alone as they did us.

We went back to our service vehicle and proceeded to Port Barton where we would be staying on our third and last day since the fourth day would be the trip back home. It was nighttime when we reached our destination. There was hardly any light on the path to the Greenviews Resort. But I had not seen so many stars in all my life as I had in Port Barton that night. Awesome!

Palawan Day 1: City Tour at Puerto Princesa

The PAL plane that my husband, my daughter and I took left the Manila centennial airport at exactly 8 am and got to the Puerto Princesa airport at about 9:05 am. Daddy was there waiting for us and so were the staff from Lola Itang's Pension house. First stop was at the pension house where we checked in and unloaded our stuff. After this, we were off to the Iwahig Penal Colony.

Iwahig is a big place which is a prison but is basically the residence of the inmates and their families too. There we went around and purchased some souvenir items from the gift shop. I learned that when purchasing goods from this shop would mean helping the inmates earn. I suppose that if you have to buy something to remember anyone by, it might as well be something to help them. So, I bought some keychains, an arnis (mahogany wood) and some pens. From the way the goods have bee made, you'd deduce that the people who made them have been trained well. I just hope that there be some effort to market these goods to alleviate the living conditions of the families there. Some inmates recommended that we go check out the Balsahan natural pools which is just about 3 minutes away from the shop. So, off we went.

We were hungry when we got to Balsahan. At the gate, we were told that we'd have to rent a hut which cost 100 php. Also we had to order lunch right there. There was only 1 dish that they serve - broiled native chicken. Of course we didn't have a choice so we ordered two chickens and rice. They only had coconuts for beverages so we ordered these too. The chicken tasted really great despite the fact that it didn't have anything on it - not even salt! Why won't it be when these are killed and dressed only when there is an order. We asked for some soy sauce and red peppers to dip them in. It's funny how the lowly "tutong" turned out to be my daughter's favorite calling it "chips" which made it sound a little "sosyal".

While waiting for our orders, we proceeded to the hut assigned to us. This was the chance to go around the area. Balsahan is part of Iwahig and therefore proceeds from the use of this area would go to the inmates. It has several huts and gazillion trees that provided the cool and shady atmosphere to the resort. We were told that some inmates maintained the place. I should say they have done a pretty good job at maintaining it. The nice thing about Iwahig is that you can bring your own food to eat there or you can also bring raw food and have the inmates cook these at the resort for a fee. Such are the filipinos - ever so resilient and resourceful.

Our next stop was the Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center (formerly known as the Crocodile Farm). We got there at 1 pm. However we were told that there was a guided tour scheduled at 2 pm so we decided to stay. There was a fee of 50 pesos each (i'm not sure about the price really, could be more). The highlight of this activity was the opportunity to pet a crocodile but none of us wanted to do that. We left just after a few minutes of staying since we had to go to other places and there were plenty of mosquitoes there anyway.

Next we went to Mitra's ranch but this had been closed because there was an on-going renovation. On our way back we stopped for some water at the Baker's hill. I had heard from a friend that this bakeshop/bakery is originally from manila. The area had a small kiddie playground but the kid with us (my daughter) who is almost 12 years old was no longer interested in it so we went on our exploration of puerto.

Next stop was VietVille, the vietnamese village where the "boat people" were accomodated. Here you'd be proud to be a filipino because you know that we are indeed hospitable and warm having given these people a modest place to live in. There were but a few people left in the village though because most of them had migrated elsewhere. There is a restaurant that serves french-influenced-vietnamese food. But we were too full to try their fare. apart from the restaurant, there's a buddhist temple and a catholic church in the area. I heard there was a lagoon somewhere but did not get to see it.

After Vietville, as we were on our way back to the city, we noticed a hot spring resort and restaurant called Kim's. We checked it out and found that this place had about 6 or 7 huts with a small pool to dip in, kinda like a jacuzzi. The water gets really hot when the water is allowed to flow from the faucet sticking out from behind the pool. Apparently the owner had built a piping system from the hot spring to each cottage. There's a pool at the middle of the common area for those people who do not want to get their own cottage. The place is owned and run by a korean national so the restaurant serves both filipino and korean fare.

We had dinner at the Badjao Seafront Restaurant. My dad said that during the first few times he had gone to the restaurant, the mangroves that lined the entrance weren't there. Obviously these were planted in by the owners so now it looks like a restaurant amidst a mangrove plantation. This is very good for the marine life in the area and also contributes a lot to the ambiance of the place. You should try the steamed talakitok with the seaweed (lato) salad. But do dip the salad in some vinegar and onions so they don't smell like the sea.