Shopping!

Last day in Hong Kong! What to do? Shopping, of course! I took less photos since my attention was you know, more focused on stalls, price tags, etc 

Stolen photo. Ha! Caught-in the act. You know what was running on my mind the whole shopping time I had? CONVERSION to php. Daaayum, almost same price with pieces in GH and Landmark that I end up buying food/snacks instead of spending it on clothes. Hoard Pocky and other candies! Happy kid.

Bought some goodies in Sasa instead; perfume, make-up, etc

Some Pinoy goodies we found along the streets!

Spot Pinoy tabloid here! Lol, I have no idea why they have those in their stalls.

After a lot of walking plus it suddenly rained so hard, we tried the nearest Mcdonald’s … because we can’t get enough of it! Daily dose of Cheese burgers in HongKong, lol.

Check out their  Vanilla Sundae cone,

Cool beans! So yummy that I started craving for it 48 hours after. Why don’t we have this kind of ice cream goodness in Manila? :(

After having our lunch, we went back to the hotel to gather our luggage and dropped by at Sky100 before heading to the airport.

Easter Season. Hurrr those pink bunnies are way too cute!

And my last purchase in Hong Kong before I go back to Manila! I love this mag to bits! Compared to our usual fashion magazines here in Manila, this Japanese magazine has MORE photos and LESS text. So its really a perfect style bible since it caters a lot ot style in just one mag!Will stock some mags everytime I went on an out of the country trip! It seems like a good investment instead of key chains, etc. 

‘til my next travel post! :) My whole trip to Hong Kong was beyond amazing since we get to visit a lot of tourist destinations in less than a week. Planning ahead really does magic, I hope you’ll enjoy your summer destinations as well! xx

Ocean Park

My Hong Kong Trip PhotoDiary will not be complete without my Ocean Park Entry, so here I am now typing in real-time to pull-off a productive holiday.

(Instagram (@thesabrinablog) photo I posted weeks ago. These four highlights my whole Ocean park adventure)

FUN FACT : Extreme rides will forever be in my to-do list everytime we (siblings) visit theme parks.. So expect the usual words such as ; cool! , awesome! , amazing! , aaaahhhh!. The same words I used countless times in my Universal Studios SG and Island Adventure Florida entries. lol.

The name speaks for itself, FOR REAL. If I could only show you the photo taken during the ride,.it would have been perfect for a legit shampoo commercial. Like really, my hair was literally standing on top of my head, like a black cloth above my head. Gondo ng hair ko eh. Ha Ha! Lol.

Plus, its my first time to ride a roller coster with HUGE loops on it and on the side of the mountain, so scary but it feels awesome after the ride! So proud of myself! 

Second ride I tried!
Being with guy siblings means taking you to extreme rides on a theme park. AAAhhh awesome feeling! Costers with multiple loops are now my favorite!

Heh. Theme-park friendly slippers! Had to switch to theez pairs because my flats are killing mee  :(

Friendly reminder to those who plan to visit Ocean Park, wear comfy footwear! You’ll be surprised when you realize how big the park is .It involves a lot of walking from one ride to another. :( We didn’t even finish the whole park though we got plenty of time and considering the lines on each ride were not that long too.. Boo :(
But atleast we have the reason to come back anytime soon.

Flash

Abyss

Two rides that are both extreme but the best! Wooohooo. I can still remember the feeling on top and the view of the island/park! 

Pacific Walrus! So cute in this photo but…

A bit gross when close up -_- 

Cool photo I took :) 

Look at this baby, looks like its wearing Prada sunglasses!

And this one looks like its has orange (as in the fruit) as its head.Yum! 

Aww, this cutie patootie Panda toy I want to take home! But apparently I have one similar to this but bigger.. I hadn’t realize some things smaller are way way much cuter! 

And cutie patootie ones are even cooler when real. Lol, KAMUSTA NAMAN. The only legit and ‘okay’ photo we’ve taken with the Panda. We should’ve visited him earlier/morning :(

We ended the day with a cool and powerful light/fire/dancing fountain show. The whole day was tiring but fun after all. Worth it! :)

Victoria Peak / The Peak Tower

Huzzah! Finally got the time to blog again just because… Labor day means a day-off from my internship! Hello fellow UniLab interns, miss you guys owredi. Chos! 

Okay, on to a more serious note.. time for my Photo Diary entry.

Hitting two birds with one stone.

Before heading off to Ocean Park we visited The Peak tower since the Bus terminal going to Park was close to The Peak.

Travel tip : Plan ahead, go to (atleast) two places in one day. Look for cheap transpo alternatives.. Walking? Why not, if it means exploring the streets and discovering the beauty of the country.

Will never get tired of saying how amazing the works of architecture in Hong Kong is!

Family Picture! :)

Had to try Peak tram to visit The Peak and view some of Hong Kong’s skycrapers!

Foggy, so serene, I love!

The Peak Tower.

Victoria Peak (Chinese: 太平山, or previously Chinese: 扯旗山) is a mountain in Hong Kong. It is also known as Mount Austin, and locally as The Peak. The mountain is located in the western half of Hong Kong Island. With an altitude of 552 m (1,811 ft), it is the highest mountain on the island proper. It is a major tourist attraction which offers views over Central,Victoria Harbour, Lamma Island and the surrounding islands.

(via wikipedia)

Victoria Harbour by Night (Photodiary)

After Macau, we decided to watch Symphony Of Lights at Victoria Harbour since the terminal was only a walking distance to the Harbour and thankfully, the show starts not before 8pm!

What I love about travelling by foot is that it gives you the opportunity to explore the city and take good pictures, instead of by riding a tourist bus where the shots result to blurred ones.

Here are some of the photos I took using my tired hands and tired feet (for wearing heels all day). 

Can’t believe Nathan road was even more amazing at night! Street lights at its best! 

My favorite was Dior! posh! 

And here is where the Symphony of Lights happen. According to wiki:
A Symphony of Lights (Traditional Chinese: 幻彩詠香江) is a synchronised building exterior decorative light and laser multimedia display, featuring 44 buildings on both sides of the Victoria Harbour of Hong Kong accompanied by music.

But Symphony of Lights in Ayala Triangle is way way much better! <3

The clock tower at night

The Heritage at night

And my last photo of the night. :) Heh. I never imagined myself, wearing something floral until now.. I just bought this pants because I thought its obligatory for Spring but it instantly became my favorite after reviewing my photos wearing it and after I found out it was the same pants Laida Magtalas wore on the best part of It takes a man and a woman. Have you watched it already? I heard its great, because everyone in Unilab (where I’m currently having my internship) talked about it for 3-days, and thats even the day BEFORE they watched in the Cinemas. Haha. 

Anyways, Day 3 next! With Ocean Park and Victoria Peak photos! :D

Macau 2013 Photodiary

Ferries are the only practical source of transport between Hong Kong and Macau..Turbojet was one of the finest ferry that takes tourist from Hong Kong to Macau.  Our trip took 1 hour or so from Hong kong Ferry Terminal (which was only a walking distance from our hotel)  to Macau Terminal.

Hihi. That is me and my younger brother. I was.. tired from last night’s Disneyland adventure. 

Upon arriving at Macau, we decided to take our late lunch at Mcdonalds.. because again, I don’t eat chinese foods. Weird, as you can see in this photo that this is a legit Mcdo chain without chairs and tables in it! 

My kuya and his bestfriend. =)) For this whole Hongkong-Macau Trip, he has been our tour guide ‘coz he is really really good (expert) at Maps and directions.

Our first stop : The Venetian

Travelling around Macau couldn’t be easier- with free shuttle buses around and taxis readily available.
Travel-wise, we chose shuttle buses instead of taxis for a cost-free travel. We enjoyed much of Macau without spending anything on transportation.

The Venetian was too good to be true. I can’t quite believe I’m in place I’ve only seen on magazines years back!
Its beauty was literally jaw-dropping .. Take that ceiling above me as an example, it wasn’t a legit sky at all. It was a painting designed to make the place look so beautiful and serene just like the original Veniece! 
(You have no idea how hard it was raining outside at the moment we took these photos)

Ahhhh I want to go back ;__;

Such a romantic moment.

This is what they call a gondola, wherein tourists can enjoy a ride as the gondolier serenades them with an opera piece. Surprisingly, there was one gondolier smiled in delight when he knew we were from the Philippines and told us, he visited our beautiful country once. 

On a related note, worry not my friends! Soon, a condo/hotel in Taguig (Mckinley Hill) will open their own rendition of Veniece Grand canal! And by that time, I hope I can experience a gondola ride. :) 

Wonderful Architecture <3 

There are more amazing themed-ceilings inside The Venetian but we didn’t have much time to take a look at the others :( 

Outside the Venetian.

Raining so hard again! Reason why we failed to visit Senado square and Ruins of St. Paul’s cathedral.. sad. :(
Quite ironic.. because i’m smiling in this photo. /weird

Next bus, to Sands!

Where we spotted this Limousine and their grand ceiling! 
Everything in Macau was grrrraaand!! 

We didn;t stay for long in this hotel/casino since we’re not allowed to go inside, unless we’ll play casino or we have reservations.

So we took a shuttle bus again to go to Wynn hotel,

Raining and sorely depending on my hat again! :)) 

Macau:Former Portuguese Colony

During the trip, I noticed that the streets of Macau were lined with buildings painted in pastel shades of pink, green and cream—making me want to stay here! Furthermore, according to my research;
these pastel structures in Macau makes it very reminiscent of the Mediterranean and nowhere else in the world can you see old European neo-classical structures juxtaposed against Asian influences. In fact, so historically significant is Macau that it received World Heritage listing by UNESCO in 2005. 

AMAZEBALLSS.

MGM grand. 

Star World Casino

Macau has been known as the Vegas of Asia, with Casinos built in every corner. 

What’s with all the beautiful ceiling and grand chandeliers? 

Hotel lobbies with Gold accents are always sosyal!

Less photos of me since I was the one holding the camera when we were here in Wynn. We just stopped by some shops inside like Louis Vuitton, Prada and Versace .. just to check the price if its the same as here in Manila. SAME. 
Failed to wait for the dragon lightshow inside Wynn :(

at 5pm we called it a day and went back to the Ferry terminal. 
The cost of the trip back to Hong Kong raises its price with respect to time. Late night being the most expensive—that’s why we left a little early than expected and because it was raining hard and we’re worried our trip might be delayed when the rain gets worst.

There are too many pictures but of course, I cannot upload it all here but I hope you guys can visit Macau anytime soon! Macau is place where every corner is picture-perfect and too good to be true!

FIN.

Stay tuned for my next Hong Kong travel post! :)

Disneyland 2013

The happiest place on earth!

Back in 2008, I got the chance to visit Disneyland with my mom. This time, its the whole family who get to visit! But momdecided not to enter the park (on last minute) though, because she wouldn;t take the rides either. 

Mehehe! I planned my outfit to be in Pink and happy colors, to match the colors of Disneyland! The original plan was without the leggings, but the weather was unexpected. :( I thought it would be just the same as here in Manila. Good thing, I have those leggings intended cold nights and for emergency cases.. such as this. I hope it didn;t ruin much of my look. *-* (In my Ocean Park adventure, I was wearing leggings too. hu hu hu  boooo)

Pretty balloons! I was debating with my younger brother that the face of minnie is shaped like Phineas’ head. lol :D

Panoramic view of the people waiting for the Flight of Fantasy Parade.
It was one of the things I missed the first time I went here, so I was really excited and lined up with the crowd.

The crowd consists of Kindergarten adorb kiddos, i’m guessing because it was their field trip! :)

Lion King.

Lilo and Stitch.

AMAZING 20-MINUTE SOMETHING OF MY LIFE. It was so beaaautiful! Any tourist who visits Hong Kong Disneyland shall not miss the opportunity to watch Disney characters! Not posting all the photos here, its better if you’ll try to visit and see it for yourself. The moment will be priceless, believe me.

And this is tigger saying Hi to me while I’m recording a video of the whole parade. Yes, I recorded it! I had to, for my younger cousins. My pasalubong  to them. hehe. 

They say almost more than a half of the disneyland workers in HK are Filipinos! I knew this because the last time I was here, the pinoy workers talked to me when they heard I spoke in Filipino. But this year’s visit, wherever side of the park you go, you’ll always hear someone speaking in Filipino! Pinoys everywhere, indeed!

Heee. Had to include this photo because I’m matchy matchy with the pastel castle and that kid behind me is so adorbs with her minnie mouse ears headband.

The iconic Disneyland’s castle! Matchy matchy again because I’m in pink. Hehe, the plan worked! 

I was on the verge of looking for my old photo similar to this angle of the castle. Will post it on instagram soon when I found it. Follow my instagram, yes? It’s @thesabrinablog . hurrr shameless plug. =))

Here is HK Disneyland’s newest attraction, the Toy Story Land! :) 
We were so excited because the three of us are loyal fans of the movie and wooodddyyyy!

Tried this parachute drop, which was soo good! I love rides with free-fall because it makes me feel like flying!! 

I also dragged my brothers to this ride, Space Mountain because it was the most awesome roller coaster ride ever. I rode this back in 2008 and I highly recommend this to everyone! If you’re afraid of roller coaster rides, Fear not! You’ll enjoy this.

We were also lucky to be just in time for the Musical play of Lion King. So amaze with the voices of the casts, it makes me wonder if one of them was atleast a Filipino?

And the second best part - the Disney on the stars fireworks display! It’s breathtaking, I watched this teary eyed! Pyromusical you shouldn’t miss.

After the fireworks, we joined everyone as they leave the park and went home safely. We slept right away because the next day will be another fun-filled day… Macau! :)

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