i'm going to moscow!

yipee! the business trip that excites me the most.

russia! woohoo!

more stories when i get back.

here's my visa:

hiking - tai po market

i've experienced the shortest fling of my life. ever.

after all the stress from the mexico trip, my hikemates invited me to go to tai po market.

it was exhausting! we climbed like a total 20 hills! sheesh!

anyway, we met three chinese guys on the third hill (there were three of us girls).

and it happened - the usual set-up as in tv: we got a partner each. hehe! and i got the cutest, youngest and the most gorgeous one! waha!

though he can't speak much english, he made it up with actions. i can't remember his name - could be ao yeung, or something like that. we we're holding hands and getting touchy. wehe.



he's the one at the left.

then that's it - my shortest fling ever. 5 hrs to be exact.

wiki!!!

chronicles of my mexico trip - part 14: epilogue

i had two eleven hour flights on my way back, though i didn't have to wait for 18 hours at the frankfurt airport. i only waited two hours. and once again, coach seats. haayy...

i just took a shower at my flat and went straight to the office to get back to work.

still floating, i immediately reported to my direct manager (the daughter of the big boss) and updated her on what happened on our trip. of course i didn't mention about the sightseeing part.

she said she's going on a one week holiday the following week, and it's a good thing i had gone back to the office to take care of my accounts. they want me to sacrifice my meager vacation leaves, but they set off for vacay at a nanosecond notice.

good thing the mexico trip wasn't as hard as expected. if not, i'd be killing myself by now.

my realization after this trip: i've got so many potential. i may not be as intelligent or classy as what this job requires, but im starting to feel indispensable to the company.

im so dying to leave them next year. this is just the sweetest revenge. hehe.

for the meantime, ill go back to slaving myself. i've got a lot of things to do.

chronicles of my mexico trip - part 13: last day in mexico

we had a meeting with wal-mart. not so much fuss about it. the buyer is nice and eloquent. this is also my last day in my first trip to mexico, and we ended it with a blast by eating at villa maria's restaurant.


i love this restaurant. apart from the nice food, they have a lot of good lines written all over the place.

maybe only my spanish major friends can laugh at these witty signs:




and to my friend nins, hehe, i think you have to agree on this:


they are famous for their "magna margarita". and it is magna indeed! it's a very large serving! how about hoarding a few liters of margarita in broad daylight?

but i love it.

just what i want - a magna margarita, and my bossee.. yikee!!


enough, it's going to be another looong way back to hongkong.

chronicles of my mexico trip - part 12: touring the mexico city town proper

viva el mexico!


we're living up to being tourist-tourist!

right after our flight back to mexico city from acapulco, we had another day to ourselves!

what better way to do it than spend it snapping photos of the nice structures around the city?

this is the mexico city cathedral




fine arts museum, very lovely methinks



monument of benito juarez, a former mexican president


some european-style buildings




even western fastfood chains had to conform to the european style structures found along this strip



a frida kahlo exhibition



and this is my tribute to mexican street food: oh, i really miss pinas,

chronicles of my mexico trip - part 11: acapulco

yes, you read it right! acapulco! i remember the mexican soap operas when i was little. and they really venerate acapulco.

this is like pinas' cavite. the nearest beach from the city.

it's another one hour flight from mexico city. planes and airports are my bestfriends all throughout this trip.


we visited one of our existing clients' hotel/auditorium construction in acapulco.
it is freaking huge! the auditorium is supposed to be the largest in all of latin america, and they commissioned us to be one of the proponents of the crockeries to be used in the restaurant.

and dig this, all we did were take pictures of the construction, walked a little, had some lunch with the chef consultant and that's it! we had the whole afternoon and the next day's morning all to ourselves.

we were booked by that customer in the nicest hotel in the area. very good hotel! beach view! woot! woot!


these are my pics from the hotel during the day:





and these are my acapulco photos at night:







we got to the acapulco town proper and bought some souvenirs! we really felt like tourist-tourist.

finally, here are my assessments on acapulco:

ACAPULCO IS NO GOOD COMPARED TO BORA! what more if we compare it to camiguin, bohol or palawan.

but i was thankful having gone there. better than hk.

oh, i miss pinas.

chronicles of my mexico trip - part 10: dinner meetings

when you're meeting mexicans over dinner, expect a lot of bullshits. and it's usually at least three hours long.

and no talk about business at all! so i had to step up. they had gotten comfortable with me that they spoke spanish straight. whew! interpreter all throughout!

AND I HAPPILY CLAIM THAT I DID FINE!!! WOOT! WOOT!

i have never been prouder of myself as a spanish major, as a UP graduate, and as a daughter of my working class parents (well they're both unemployed now).

woot! woot!

come on, give me a tap on the shoulder.

chronicles of my mexico trip - part 9: the castle

the good thing about mexican's idleness is that they gave us some time to do sightseeing. hehe. how about cancelling meetings to the last minute?

anyway, we were able to go to emperor maximilian's castle and the mexico city museum.

and so stupid of me, i didn't charge my cam! boo! i only got shots of the castle from outside.

from what ive learned, maximilian was a king elsewhere, but he was commissioned by napoleon bonaparte to coordinate with him to conquer the "new world". his reign is shortlived though. he was eventually killed after staying in mexico for only a few years.





and being a spanish major, it was like heaven touring the museum! i saw actual copy of antonio nebrija's book as published in 1492! and all the other latin american writers in their first edition! oh, don't forget the different versions of the doctrina cristiana!

they're for real!

chronicles of my mexico trip - part 8: chedraui meeting

went for another meeting with the buyer of chedraui, a chain of lowend supermarkets and hypermarkets, the following day.

the lady isn't as fluent as the soriana buyer, but once again, i was spared. hehe.

i didn't mean to say that i was silent all throughout. of course i got my inputs, but i am not the "face" of the company. what's the use of my two bosses?

chronicles of my mexico trip - part 7: monterrey

come on, what do you really know about monterrey apart from the meat shop nearby?

nuthin!

it was nothing special. but we still had to go there for my first spanish business visit ever. as in my previous post, we had to meet at the airport lobby at 5:30am. we have a one hour flight to monterrey to catch. and boy, we were freezing! how about being half dead witha all the travel time plus the jet lag, and 5 hours later, im in the airport again. darn.

welcome to soriana, a chain of hypermarkets and supermarkets.

meeting went well. since i am still a "junior", i let my two bosses do the presentation. apart from close observation on what they're doing so i can go alone on my next trip, i was on standby just in case the buyer cannot say something eloquently in english.

good thing the buyers is fluent enough, and i am spared to flaunt my humble spanish. she asked me something in spanish after the meeting, i didn't understand it, but i guess it was just something to spark a conversation. my reply: bueno.. (well...)
nothing followed after that. i just smiled.

we went out for lunch in an international restaurant



and i got some photos of our desserts:



yummy. this is what you call sugar comatose!


oh, and one more thing: here's their astig washroom:


we're too exhausted on our way back to mexico city.

this is going to be a good night sleep.

chronicles of my mexico trip - part 6: my first night

the plane landed at 7:20. my crushee boss promised that he would try to pick me up at the airport. but that promise was made before all the mess up with the transit visa. they had a meeting with SEARS on the day of my arrival and i wasn't counting on it anymore.

shux.

imagine being exhausted from 40hr total time to get to mexico and being anxious with all the upcoming pressure. i couldn't walk. i was the last passenger to leave the plane, still wishing that i was elsewhere. i was hoping for a divine intervention, or at least an alien abduction to calm my nerves.

no miraculous light shone up, and i have no choice but to go on.

the immigration officer talked to me in spanish. i gathered all my strengths and silently repeated the line when i feel so dumb and helpless. blsm, di ka nagcum laude sa UP para magpatalo ng ganyan.blsm di ka nagcum laude sa UP para magpatalo ng ganyan. i answered all queries of the immigration officer in spanish. whew!

this is a brand new blsm, ready to conquer mexico.

and really, all it takes is little push, and good things don't cease to happen.

MY CRUSHEE BOSS PICKED ME UP. he was there!

he went straight to the airport after their meeting. he saw me at the currency shop and said, "there you are!".. those are the three most beautiful words i heard ever since i boarded the train to the hk airport. he said the traffic was bad and that his cab encountered some problem so it took him quite a while to get to the airport. he was relieved when he found me.

haay, true love. true love. and "that" is what you call destiny.

we're alone in the cab, and i inquired about his next job in macau. i didn't pretend anymore, and i said "it's so sad, you leaving" in my saddest tone. he said he was surprised since he doesn't expect any one from the office missing him since because he doesn't get along socially with the others.

i was really sad, not just because he's my crush. but i consider him one of my good colleagues, and that's one person less to help me cope with this job.

but hey, i don't have to think about that now, do i? i have the next 10 days with him, and i just have to make the most out of it.

we went straight to the hotel and we had our dinner. i checked in at my room, and woo! nice! lovely hotel! and i got it to all to myself! i was at bed at around 12midnight.

have to wake up at 4am since we're leaving for monterrey at 5:30am.

and darn jet lag! waaahhh! i couldn't sleep! sheeesh.

chronicles of my mexico trip - part 5: on the way to mexico city

my luck ran out as usual.

i don't have anything photo to post in this chapter since im too disappointed on the frustrating difference between the coach and business seats.

after 18hrs of waiting in the airport, the least you can hope for is a nice coach seat.

lufthansa seats are the worst!
uber cramped seats! it's like the seats are made for children.
no inflight tv!
food was blahblah.
male cabin attendants don't help you in putting your luggage in the overhead compartment even if they're just two feet away from you.
boo!

but apart from that, the fact that i am approaching a spanish-speaking country made me nervous right to every morsel of my fat bones.

the lady seated beside me speaks spanish. sorry! i got tongue twisted when she spoke to me! haha! i spoke to her in english when she asked me something in spanish. i panicked, and i just want to throw myself in the little coach seat window. waaaahhh!

what to do now? i should have learned spanish on my first flight.

chronicles of my mexico trip - part 4: frankfurt airport

with all the stress from the previous night and the 11 hour flight, i still needed to wait for 18 hours to catch the frankfurt-mexico flight. whew!

this is frankfurt seen on an aerial view:


and when you have 18 hours to spare while getting anxious on what awaits for you on your destination, you really can't help but notice everything around you to divert your attention.



planes, planes



i learned that the airport gets empty at around 3 in the morning.



i am not the one spending the night in the cramped benches.



this is how they wipe 'em planes



their clocks and lights

and the reliable venue when you're stuck in an airport - WASHROOMS!
i couldn't remember how many times i've gone there just to pass the time.

chronicles of my mexico trip - part 3: himalayas

no, i didn't really go to himalayas. i owe it all to the generous window area courtesy of my business class seat.

and dig this: i was reading a novel while flying about a lady who hiked himalayas and enjoyed every minute of it. she eventually gave up her stable city life to go back to himalayas and settle there for good.

lord, is this a sign?

anyway, here are my himalayas shots:

chronicles of my mexico trip - part 2: business class

due to the whole scandal that i did the night before, lufthansa was kind enough to upgrade me to business class. they said that they ran out of coach seats, so i was fortunate to be transferred to business class. haha! as if! im not stupid to fall for that. my hk-munich-frankfurt costs so much more than simply hk-frankfurt. of course they would want to make the courtesy so i didn't have to make an issue of any reimbursement of the discrepancy.

anyway, i wish i get business class seats everytime. the seat space is very generous, it's even got a massager, and you can lay down 180 degrees! the in-flight tv is so much bigger than usual, and the cabin attendants make you feel like you can control them at your fingertips. oh, and food was nice too.

a few more good points:

i got a window seat! and it's big, so i was able to get a few good shots.





these are some islands outside hk



the astig in-flight tv



you can even play with it. and being a geek, i resorted to the educational games. hehe. anyone, who wants to be a millionaire?



and you can also learn a foreign language along the way! this is as astig in every sense of the word!

since this is an 11-hour flight and we're actually battling the time difference in each places, it was sunny all throughout, but nonetheless, it was a relaxing flight. i love business class seats!

just one downside: the gentleman seated beside me has stinking body odor! yaiks! hey, something always had to go wrong.

i still love business class!

chronicles of my mexico trip - part 1: sept 2

after too much trouble with my mexican visa, i was finally set to go to mexico. due to the resignation of my crushee boss, we were flooded with too much work. i hadn't even started packing the day before my scheduled departure.

i also had to attend the agm of the upaa-hk on the night of the 1st. we left the venue at around 2am. when we were about to bid goodbyes, a stranger called leo and was asking him to pick up our drunk friend who was lying in one corner in central half dead. we rushed to get him. we called the police after too much trauma of everything. leo and dave were kind enough to let me go so i can pack my luggage. i was home at around 3am.

slept at 5am. woke up at 10am.

went straight to the office to clear my table and all the outstanding tasks that i needed to do before i leave. i had lunch with leo since he came over to pick up his camera that i brought home. i was back at the office at 6pm and left at 8pm.

i rushed to the train station to check in my luggage. my flight is at 11pm.

the lufthansa staff checked my ticket. i am going to munich-frankfurt-mexico.

she checked my papers. she was asking for a german transit visa. i said i don't need one. it was stated that i don't need a transit visa for my nationality.

she hesitated. she showed me the booklet where it says that i need to secure a transit visa if im passing through two german cities. munich-frankfurt is a domestic transfer, and that means i need to secure a visa. my charms did not work with sky legalities. i tried begging because i needed to be in mexico on the night of the 3rd so i can attend the meeting with SEARS on the 4th.

it was in vain. i spent the next two hours calling my boss, the travel agent, running through different airlines, and whoever else that can hear my rants about my neverending misfortunes.

we resolved that i should take next day flight to frankfurt (so i don't have to go to munich). that flight was 1:30pm on the 3rd. problem is i need to wait 18hrs to get to the frankfurt-mexico flight.

but i don't have much choice, do i?

i was crying at the terminal because of frustration with all these misfortunes.

i called all the people who are close to me. good thing they are experts in comforting a friend.

another night in hk.

tsing ma bridge photo shoot

this post is long overdue.

i did a photo session with some members of ppc-hk on the 25th of august.

due to my boss' request to postpone my vacay, i was free that saturday so i gave in to the therapy that works for me the best.

armed with my girly backpack, i set off to the mountains with the barako boys con giant dslr cameras. i am the only one using a handy cute digicam. hehe..



going there was no easy task. it took us one hour to get to the place where you can get a good view of the bridge. the photo above marks the start of the trail.

here are some of my photos of the bridge:

the bridge before darkness enveloped the area

tsing ma bridge is the largest suspension bridge in the world (if my facts are right) with two levels for different modes of transportation. i think the lower part of the bridge is where the train crosses. fact check please.


with bright lights

diagonal angle


this post may be about the bridge, but this has got to be my most favorite shot:



i call it moon almost full.
nice, eh?