My First Ever Trip Out of the Country

   It was in 2008 when I went to Hongkong with my daughter, Cham, my first ever trip out of the country and (please don't laugh at me) my first time to ride an airplane. The whole trip was a gift from my loving sister and because Tommy was not so keen yet on traveling, my daughter volunteered to accompany me. Her savings from her salaries proved very useful. It was also her first time to travel abroad. You can just imagine how fun it was for the two of us.

This is Cham, while waiting aboard at NAIA2
and me
with my newly-bought suitcase

and Cham's

   Unlike my children, I am not an adventurous person but I have my dreams. Just like everybody, I also want to travel but the reason why it took me this long to finally get to ride an airplane is simply because I just didn't have this in mind - to travel at a young age. My mind was occupied with first working my way to success. The early years of my married life was dedicated to work, work, and work.

The clouds were awesome, it just amazed me how wonderful God's creation is.

Sun is beginning to rise
My heart can't contain the joy I feel inside.

Cham fell asleep but woke up when breakfast was served.
My breakfast..Cham took photo of her breakfast in her camera.
We are finally in Hongkong!

While waiting for our tour guide...



...at HK airport
inside our bus


Excited to go to Disneyland, our first destination
    Our tour guide suggested we go first to Disneyland because this is near the airport. Our luggage were brought to our hotel in Yau Ma Tei so that we wouldn't be carrying them around.





Entrance to Disneyland

Fountain near the entrance

Cham: uber happy!

Disneyland here we come!



 Along the main street







At the Jungle River Cruise




 

Tarzan's Tree House



Fantasyland

Disneyland Story

Tomorrow Land

Lion King Stage Play
 

Golden Mickeys



Buzz Light Year

Disney Taxi

with Minnie Mouse

with Alice in Wonderland

with Sleeping Beauty and Belle of Beauty and the Beast

with Merlin
 
 inside the train

Art Animation

Fireworks at Sleeping Beauty's Castle to end our Disneyland journey 

Goodbye, Disney!

     We proceeded to our hotel after Disneyland to freshen-up and off we went to night market.
     We bought pasalubongs and I remember the black scarf that I will wear the following day.
     We enjoyed so much that we decided to return the next day. We called it a day and slept soundly that night.

DAY 2:  We had free breakfast at McDonald's located a few blocks from our hotel. It was a cold and breezy morning and walking from our hotel to McDonald's was a pleasant experience. We saw schoolchildren wearing cute uniforms with their grandmothers, students and office workers having breakfast at McDonald's. After breakfast, we went back to our hotel and waited for our tour guide.

    Here are the different places we visited in one whole day.

Avenue of Stars



My mom took a photo of my dad at exactly the same spot several years ago.

Sampan Ride at Aberdeen Harbour

Jackie Chan's Jewelery Shop





Mid Victoria Peak, with view of the whole city
Entrance to Ocean Park
Dolphin Show

inside the shark aquarium
jellies in purple

one of the many beautiful tropical fish exhibits
cable cars going to the other side of ocean park


Cham at the mine train
We tried the Star Ferry without the tour guide

afterwards, we watched the Symphony of Lights at the Avenue of Stars

we rode the tram in going back to our hotel

Hongkong at night
we had our dinner here at yoshinoya
 
shopped around before going back to hotel



inside our hotel

DAY 3: We had breakfast again at McDonald's, took photos this time. It was our 3rd and last day.




    This time we were on our own, meaning no tour guide, no transports. Cham made our itineraries for this day and our first destination was Repulse Bay. 

inside MTR (Mass Transit Railways)

    We rode an MTR going to where we would get a double decker bus going to Repulse Bay. 

inside MTR station

inside the top of a double decker bus


at Repulse Bay wearing my new shoes

Cham wearing her new boots
    We went to Causeway Bay via mini bus and we found this vendor selling sugar cane juice. We bought and drank with gusto. Yum.

    We explored the place and looked for cameras requested by my son, Cham's kuya. As soon as we found the camera, we immediately went back to Yau Ma Tei and decided to have our lunch somewhere near our hotel.



  

tram on the left, double decker on the right
inside Times Square in Causeway Bay

we saw this poster with Kelly Misa (Cham's cousin) posted inside the elevator at Times Square
        
 Back to Yau Ma Tei

    We found an authentic Chinese noodle house and this woman making dumpling near the entrance caught my attention.




Cham ordered pumpkin noodles with beef

I ordered dumpling soup because I wanted to taste the dumpling that the woman was making. It was good.

Buying pasalubongs


    Our transport picked us up 3:00 pm in the hotel, we were not yet there. Good thing they were kind enough to come back to see if we were there already. If not, we would be going to the airport all by ourselves and that would be so much of a hassle for us. Lesson learned, next time we should be aware of the time and have regard for other people's time and feelings.
while waiting to board at HK airport
I couldn't find my reading eye glasses which I purchased just before this trip.

Cham's new boots
my new shoes
Goodbye, Hongkong:(
When the airplane was airborne, I took this shot of the sunset
beginning to get dark
How wonderful God's creation is.

Cham's dinner: chicken with vegetables, salad, bread,sans rival, sprite and complimentary red wine
my dinner: fish with pesto pasta,salad,bread and sans rival,orange juice and complimentary red wine
     That was a fulfilling experience for Cham and me. Could not believe that it was the start of more countries to see and enjoy.  God is good :)



Psalm 84:10-12

Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the
house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor,
no good thing does He withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.

O Lord Almighty,
blessed is the man who trusts in you.

Comments

  1. walkwithchamApril 7, 2013 at 11:54 PM

    Aaaaw!!! The best trip ever! :) I love you Mama!!! May we have more out of the country trips.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. luvyApril 19, 2013 at 12:40 PM

      Thanks, nak. Yes, we will have a lot more, with God's provision. Love you!!!

      Delete

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