My Trip and Arrival in the USA!

February 02, 2006

The date that I would never forget...the day I finally came to my second home, to where my husband lives.

My itinerary was MLA-HK-LAX-BWI.

It was a long trip, but at the same time excited to see our home in Maryland.

At HK International Airport, while waiting for my flight to LAX.

My first steps in America! I was at LA Int'l Airport.

Finally, although groggy and tired, I am now in Maryland. The first few hours after I arrived, I started to get runny nose. No, I wasn't crying!..weather was just too cold for me to bear. That was always easy to remember that time I came to the US...winter time! It was like a culture shock for me weatherwise LOL!

Hong Kong Trip Tour - DAY 2

Day 2 - 10-27-2004

Our first stop was Kowloon Waterfront. Kowloon is located on the edge of the mainland of China and just across the water from the central part of the city of Hong Kong. This section of the Hong Kong sprawls down to the Victoria Harbor - the promenade provides an impressive view of the Hong Kong skyline and the numerous ships gliding up the channel.

Down the harbor are some shops and museums. Since this is the tour's first itinerary for the day, we didn't have much time to go around some shops and see museums. They said catching a ferry boat ride is fun, but we didn't feel like doing it.

Next stop was TSL Jewelry Factory. They offer good prices, much more affordable than a typical jewelry store in the market.

Aside from the store, inside was where you can see the actual carving and polishing of diamonds.

While on our way to our next stop, we were able to take some shots of the typical way of living for many of the people working in HK...the ones they call lower middle class income people. This is one side of HK that seems to be hidden covered by the big skylines of the city.

The whole building are mostly apartments where people rent for an affordable or cheap rates. Still, much better than Philippines!

Factory Outlet was our 3rd stop. We didn't take shots, but we got a lot of things for "pasalubongs." Goods were cheap and tax-free, so we got all worth taking, hahaha!!!

The rest of the whole afternoon was a tour to Shenzhen City, but unluckily, we were not able to go with the group because currently at that time, it so happened they won't be accepting US citizens' passports going inside...we were wondering why?...our tour guide said it was politically motivated?! Instead, we were given an option to go Ocean Park and Middle kingdom. It was worth fun going there...no regrets! It was my first time seeing dolphin shows, large aquariums, Pandas, etc...

Our Ocean Park Adventure:
We were only given 4 hours to tour the park since our tour guide will be picking us up at a designated time and place outside the park entrance. So, off we go running inside the park. :)

Hong Kong Ocean Park is located on the south end of Hong Kong Island. With an area of 170 miles, it's one of the largest ocean parks in the world. The two entrances to Ocean Park (Tai Shue Wan Entrance and Main Entrance) are connected by cable-car.
And speaking of cable car, it just scared me to death riding in it. I have a phobia of high places, but going to the Middle Kingdom is only accessible by cable car. So, what the heck? Everybody's in there, so I joined the thrill!! I can't look up or down, close my eyes, whatever...I only opened my eyes when my husband was getting me a photo. Aside from that, hubby was able to take some shots while we were up there in the cable car.

Other trail photos going to the park:

I was so excited to see the dolphin show, so we proceeded to the Ocean theater. Ocean Theater is the most famous and popular spot in the whole Ocean Park. It is an open-air theater in which dolphins and sea lions stage a wonderful performance in a huge pond. Under the guidance of trainers, adorable dolphins and sea lions stand in a line or jump into water and raise theirs heads out of water. It was a good experience :)

I wasn't sure but we were in an underwater viewing tunnel where we viewed dolphins and other aquatic friends during their swimming fun :)

Hong Kong Trip Tour - DAY 1

DAY 1 - 10-26-2004:

Arrived in HK airport, and there we were met by our tour guide. Further instructions were given after which we were dropped by to our hotel. We were checked in at Shamrock Hotel.

Shamrock Hotel
#223 Nathan Road, HK

The tour is scheduled at 2pm, but we managed to have our late lunch at Kowloon Hotel, close by.

HK By Night Tour

The remarkable night tour started with a delicious dinner at Golden Delight Seafood Restaurant with the famous and delicious roasted duck and othe authentic savory dishes.

The food and our tour group.

Going up to Victoria Peak through a peak tram ride was really breathtaking. It's good it was night time. I seem to have a phobia with heights, so it wasn't too bad not seeing the heights during the night :)

I am inside the peak tram

Victoria peak at night is really awesome and colorful. The magnificent scenery reflects the whole city of HK. Atop, you can experience the magic while feasting your eyes with the unforgettable views of the city and the harbour. This was actually the highlight of our day tour.

Next stop was at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Replicas of famous people, including many Holywood actors and actresses were made of waxes...almost look like real ones. We got bunch of photos in here since cameras are allowed and you can take photos as many as you want.

The tour didn't end without giving us into the temptation of shopping. We spent the rest of the evening at the best local nigh market for our Nigh Market Shopping. Prices are cheap, and it's like highly comparable to "Baclaran" or "Divisoria" in the Philippines :)

We didn't stay long that night, since the market was crowded. We did chose to stay away from the crowd and got some stuffs in one of the stores just beside the streets which we felt it was much safer to do. Then we went back to our hotel after the shopping.

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