Haven't had a good blog as of late. Early this semester, I went AWOL to be able to submit papers for a conference and an academic journal. That's writing in between my lecture preparation, plates checking, and thesis proposal bashing (the severity of the bashing is purely academic, no pun intended). This month culminated one of my sought after trip to a nearby megacity -- Hong Kong!I We attended a conference to present our research papers infront of an international audience. It was also my first time to see Hong Kong so imagine the excitement when I went aboard that plane to see the urbanscapes i am still unfamiliar of. It started with a thud. Our flight got rescheduled a couple of hours (was it 5 hours?) just because the typhoon that recently left the PAR (Philippine Area of Responsibility) actually moved towards China on the same day, affecting Hong Kong weather intensely. It was Signal no. 8!!! We were beyond scared to think about it so it was a relief to know that our flight was rescheduled (nevermind the Roomorama reservation!!!!). Then after a few naps in the morning we realized that regardless of that warning, our plane was still leaving 5 hours later! We eventually rushed to the airport to finally continue with this trip (Thank you Cathay Pacific for the food, the accommodating staff, and the inflight entertainment to veer away my thoughts from that turbulent and exhilarating ride!!!). We arrived a little past 3pm, later than what we really planned. After the immigration and baggage claim-related activities, we eventually moved out of the comfy airport interiors, bought our airport express train tickets, and had the longest scenic train ride ever. It was so different from the usual train ride, we were able to sit at comfy seats, didn't notice how expensive that train ride really was till I compared it to the other train rides I ever tried. I guess it was every penny's worth. I loved the views of HK while aboard the train. We rented an apartment owned by Nicole and Lun. I searched for a place at Roomorama, hoping I'd find one that is proximate to the bustling Nathan Road just because our other colleagues (who attended the same conference like us) chose a hotel somewhere near the area, ergo, a strategic spot for possible meet-ups and train ride. The Hong Kong apartment we chose was just right for the four of us (we also rented another room from the same owners in the same apartment, for the male delegation). It was even designed to accommodate more people, but given the availability of just one rest room, 4 pax is definitely just right for our unit (given we take a bath roughly 30 minutes each!:P). It was living with the locals that I find different for this trip. There were no special treatment from a hotel lobby receptionist. It was fun, very practical, and exciting. Plus, the unit was equipped with WIFI, our own kitchen, our own TV, and a view of the busy Jordan Street, running perpendicular to the Nathan Road.:) The first day was laid back. Due to the typhoon, most of the shops and destination places were not operational that day. We had to just relax and cancel our plans. Given the dinner at the university is still a go that night, we saw CUHK (Chinese University of Hong Kong) a day before the conference and experienced the longer train ride we were facing for the next few days. Hong Kong is captivating in photos. Below are more images of Hong Kong and me. So far the most laid back day out-of-the-country. Posting the next travel "kwento" soon!
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Lifeisatravelogue by CDSNadal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. |