maya birds

Maya bird was the Philippines' national bird until 1995. They are very common here, but also, are so elusive. So I was a bit puzzled when I saw a flock inside Hong Kong Disneyland that were friendly enough to be photographed in proximity without them flying away at a blink of an eye.

hong kong: yau ma tei community centre rest garden

Had a few minutes to kill before our airport pick-up arrives, so I crossed the street from our hotel and walked around this rest garden with huge trees. I wanted to get closer to the people to take photos of how normal this day was for them, but fear of being shoo-ed got the best of me (as always, bleh).

hong kong: disneyland i

Even as a child, it was never my dream to be able to set foot on the happiest place on Earth. As an adult who's always looking after interesting sights and beauty, I still enjoyed Disneyland :) We arrived around 2 PM, with a heavy rain welcoming us. Luckily, it did not stay for long and we were able to roam and try some of the rides (e.g., It's a Small World haha) until the fireworks display at 9 PM.

I'll probably sound exaggerated, but my gosh, the evening fireworks spectacular has to be one of my amazing experiences! Hahaha. I was sooooo enamored by it! Something really swelled inside of me by this super overwhelming feeling of delight, love and absolute enchantment. I will never forget the sound of the little kids' voice singing A Whole New World. I fought so hard to avoid choking myself up from resisting the tears :D

where to buy film in hong kong: filme

I wouldn't say the supply of film in Manila is scarce, because there's a bunch of people popping up in Facebook groups selling films, a handful of online stores and probably one or two actual stores available for the ones looking. However, the disadvantage is that, there's not so many kinds of films to choose from. So before I left for Hong Kong, I made sure I've done a research on where I can buy film there. 

Most people who've been to Hong Kong would tell you to go to Dot-Well -- which I've also been, and will try a separate post for it -- but I also tried to search other film/camera stores just in case schedule would not permit me to go to Tsim Sha Tsui (but really, this is kind of impossible for anyone going to HK haha).

Anyway, it was our last day, last few hours before we fly back to Manila, and by this time I've already bought "enough" film from Dot-Well and a local photo shop near our hotel. We could have gone to other places, but I kind of maneuvered my folks (hehe) to go to Times Square in Causeway Bay, just so I could try to look for this quirky film store based on my research. 

It was 12 noon when we arrived in Times Square, and we all agreed that we split in going around the mall to save time. But of course, I wasn't there to do clothes shopping?? I had a map to the store printed, so I quickly head out the shopping center and looked for Yiu Wa Street, which was only a street away. I didn't have a hard time looking for Redana Center, so before 12:30 PM, I found myself at the door of Filme. I figured that they're still closed so I just opted to sit and wait there.. right beside some wooden crates haha. I remember being fidgety while waiting because of excitement, I guess? and also because no one has still arrived to open the store at quarter to 1 PM -- and I had to head back to Times Square by 1:30 PM. So, gah.

A little more of fidgeting, and I finally heard the elevator open for these two girls who went straight to the door. I got up at once because I don't want them to know that I've been lurking there for some time hehe. Then, they saw me and were a little bit embarrassed for making me wait, but I told them that it was nothing.. because by the moment they opened the door and let me in, it was like being sucked in by a space warp. I was in GEEK MODE x 1000.

OMG. To see an entire wall of films in different kinds made me feel so happy! I scanned everything in the shelf, just touching a couple of boxes very gingerly -- as if they were gems. You have to know that by this time, it's harrowing to realize that I'd never get to buy a piece of everything, that is why it really took me so long to decide just which pieces to buy. And they must have noticed the length of time I spent in there, because they started talking to me, and were kind enough to show me albums of photos taken by each film -- really, like Katie's Film Guide :) It probably was so evident how torn I was so they thought they had to step in and help me in the decision-making :D

After taking photos of the shop, I really wanted to take a photo of them too because they've been so nice! I was sooo shy to ask, but also thought that I'd feel really bad if I didn't and just left. So I finally asked, and they said sure, then gathered together without qualms. Then the young guy (in the back) asked me if I wanted a photo of myself taken? I really wanted to say "no, it's fine" but I thought it would be rude, so I said okayyy and posed awkwardly as shown in the photo below.

My runway forehead says hello! And I don't know why I look like a school kid in here?! This was still back in September, and I believe I don't look like this anymore hahaha.

I left this quirky home satisfied, happy and accomplished! I recommend visiting them if by chance you will be in Hong Kong :)

FILMe

Flat 14B, Redana Centre,

25 Yiu Wa Street

Bowrington, Hong Kong

hong kong: the streets

hong kong: at night

hong kong: tian tan buddha

Because our guided tour will not yet start until the second day of stay in Hong Kong, I decided that we first make a trip to Ngong Ping Village while we were on our own. Since I was the one who booked this trip (who else) blindly for my parents (I booked them without them knowing, not as a surprise, but because I had to catch an airfare promo quickly haha), I racked my brain on the whole planning stage.

It was my first out-of-country trip with the two of them, so the pressure to keep things on the itinerary tidy was ON. And to make it a bit easier for me, I booked the cable car trip online, days before our departure. Thanks to my traveling gods and angels, I have managed to bring us from the hotel to the MTR, to the cable car, and finally to this village smoothly (you can see here that I can't help but to feed the pressure of making my parents see that they have nurtured an awkward but decent [still questionable] human being who can travel outside the comforts of her own country.).

One of the Offering of Six Devas

One thing that I've liked about Hong Kong, as most people did I guess, is you can have the best of both worlds -- the bustling side, and the calm side. These sides, and the transition between them were both apparent in our MTR ride from our hotel in Yau Ma Tei to Tung Chung station, which is the end point of the orange line.

We went on the 268-step climb to the Tian Tan Buddha (aka Giant Buddha) slowly -- because I did not see any other option than doing so haha (a wobbly non-athletic person can come up with many excuses as you know), and also because the trees and plants on the way to and from the top are also worth the attention as the giant destination was.

The Po Lin Monastery viewed from the steps of Tian Tan Buddha