finally, dumating ang pinakaaantay nilang pizza. kaso naubos naman in 10 seconds.

for Alfie's birthday, a group of 8 shared a plate of salad. ang tagal kasi ng food. pakonti-konti ang dating.

Macau, Zhuhai (stop-over), Shenzhen, and Hongkong...

Our 4-hour trip... that's what my dad wants to call it. because we spent four hours in every part of the itinerary.

4 hours Macau City Tour.
4 hours Hong Kong City Tour.
4 hours at Hong Kong Disneyland.
4 hours Shenzhen, China City Tour.
4 hours at Windows of the World.
4 hours of sleep on the first and second night.

the remaining time was spent mostly for travelling, eating and falling in line at the immigration.

we rode the bus and the uber loooooooooong train for travelling. the train was maybe twice or even thrice as big as the MRT here. it takes 45mins to get from Lu Wo (near Shenzhen) to Hung Hom (a bridge away from Hong Kong). we even had 4 tour guides. wahahaha. Ester, Jackie, Andrew, and Poks. i wonder what 4 stands for in China.

China is uber big. well... i knew it was big. i didn't know it was THAT big. i mean, from Shenzhen, it takes you 3 hours to get to Beijing by plane and 25 hours by train. Come on! SUPER BIG!

on our second night (Hong Kong), we actually spent 2 and a half hours at the immigration on our way back to Shenzhen, China. we arrived there at about 9:25pm. "we" were a group of two: our family of seven and a group of eight FIlipinos that came from Marinduque, Canada and America. we used a group visa, a piece of paper that has a list of our names and genders, etc. so if one of us loses a passport, the whole group can't go pass the immigration. that wasn't the problem, though. the last in the list was KC, a guy. the first problem was, his gender in the paper was Female. and he's gay. "Natuluyan na. Baka 'female' nilagay niya sa form.", we laughed. the other problem was, the computer at the immigration doesn't have any information about KC. so we sat on the floor like squatters and an officer eventually shooed us to sit in a different place.

the head of the immigration gave us a deadline, if the tour guide's agency can't bring a new list to the immigration by 11:55pm (it was 11:25 then), the 14 of us can go back to our hotel in Shenzhen while KC has to return to Hong Kong and meet us in the morning. thankfully, the list made it! at exactly 11:55. and we were uber happy and the experience gave us something to laugh about. traumatized na raw si KC, at hindi na siya babalik ng China. hahaha.

it was fun. bitin nga lang yung trip. we didn't have the time or energy to roam around the streets. well, it's a given when you're in a tour.

we're planning to go to Singapore in three years time. Singapore-Malaysia-Indonesia is also an option. at least doon hindi kailangan ng visa when you cross the border.

it was a wonderful experience. the first time the whole family went out of the country, and we wanna do it again!

oh, and i'm sick of Chinese food. *blek!* even the Pepsi tastes Chinese.

just got home from Serendra. i watched Julianne's gig at Bonifacio High Street. my sister, Amanda, and I got there really early, at around 7pm. 'cause the news said it would start at 7pm. we were sitting in front when the announcer said that it would start by 8:30pm. so we decided to eat first. the initial plan was to buy food from Jollibee at Market!, then eat it at High Street. but on our way to Market!, our cousin Ailene, called Amanda. we met Ailene at Market!, and she said that since it's seldom that we get to meet out, we might as well eat in a decent place. we decided to eat at Gerry's Grill. libre niya! yey! (ang sarap ng Beef Casserole doon. you should try it.)

when we got back, there were people waiting for the gig to start. i approached Julianne, expecting she wouldn't remember me. but as soon as i introduced myself, her face lit up and she started reminiscing our playing-in-the-garden-when-we-were-kids days. i forgot about this, but she told me about a book i had that we used to play with. it had buttons that made sound effects. well... those kinds of books. i know i had books like those, but i can't recall playing it with her. i have a hard time remembering things, you see. and yes! Julianne, the new soul artist, was MY childhood playmate. our fathers were in a christian band/worship team that toured the Philippines for a mission trip. they were called The Living Psalms, i believe. it's really surreal that i know her, and she's popular. she has an album! and people love her. there was this guy in the audience, who took a lot of pictures of her. and nakatulala lang siya forever kay Julianne. grabe. haha.

i even saw a familiar face. Julianne's Flute Guy, Niño or "Fluffy" as she fondly calls him. i knew he looked familiar. couldn't recall where i first saw him until the middle of the show. when i approached him after the gig, he waved his hand and said "Hi!" i replied with, "did you go to Women's?" he said, "yes." then added, "nakita nga kita kanina. iniisip ko kung naaalala mo pa ko. kaya nga panay ngiti ko sayo. tapos naisip ko 'ay hindi ako naaalala nito.' binasa ko pa nga bibig mo eh, sabi mo 'kilala ko siya eh, pero hindi ko maalala kung saan.'" then he laughed. haha. funny. he was a friend of my classmate back in High School, we we're introduced and saw each other in the Quadrangle a few times. he was a College Student then. it surprises me that he still remembers me. that was six years ago, if i remember correctly. what's more surprising is that he's actually a part of Julianne's band. my childhood playmate. hahaha. to top if off, Ailene saw Niño before. in other gigs. he was like the Flute Guy of every band that needs a flute. haha. small world talaga. grabe.

anyways... it was fun watching Julianne on stage. and it feels different. unlike watching Sitti or any other artist. i'm not star struck and my heart wasn't pounding in my chest like when i watched the BSB. her voice was uber ganda. sarap pakinggan. taas din vocal range niya. and she's unique. i'm so proud of her. she's like family na. even if we're not close now, we still share childhood memories. i do hope she becomes successful in the career she chose. well... if hindi naman, she can still practice Interior Design.

the phone rang... it was my balikbayan aunt, Emma, on the other line...
she said "Adah, dalhin mo naman kami sa Mall of Asia. Wala kaming magawa dito, eh."
i wasn't in the mood to go out, but she left me with no choice. haha. Auntie Emma and my cousin, Angeline, went shopping while Euske, Amiel and I wandered off.
MoA is so big, it's overwhelming. you wouldn't know where to begin. it seemed like there were intersections everywhere... like a maze. and there were so many stores that it's hard to even remember what stores were there. and it's big! really big! at least from the outside. haha.
it's the type mall wherein you have to have a purpose to go there. because if you're just there to explore, tatamarin ka lang. kasi sobrang laki talaga at sobrang dami mong nakikita na di mo na alam kung paano mo sisimulan yung pag-explore mo. haay... kasi naman parang kalat-kalat yung mga stores doon. di katulad sa ibang mall na parang nakacategorize yung mga stores. tipong sama-sama yung stores ng shoes...yung tipong nasa isang hilera lang lahat. doon kasi hindi mo alam kung saan mo hahanapin yung mga store. haha. maybe i'm just saying this because i haven't really explored the place much. and most of the stores are still closed.
i'll have to go back there someday.