stuff from hong kong

1 - H&M White Long sleeve Polo

2 - Giordono socks for friends and teammates - around 15 pairs

3 - H&M Beanie

4 - H&M Green Plaid Long sleeve Polo

5 - Giordano Black, Gray and White Polo shirt

6 - H&M Black Plaid Polo for the twins

7 - Western Digital 1 TB Desktop Harddrive

8 - DLink Wireless Router

9 - H&M Slim Fit Gray Denim Pants

10 - Giordano WWS Shirts for some friends

11 - H&M Socks

12 - Bossini Gray Pants

13 - 32gb iPhone 4

the iphone 4 saga

ever since the iphone 4 was announce, i have been drooling to have one or to even touch one; and since the us iphone won't be sold as unlock units, the only chance i have was to wait for globe telecoms to bring it here or i get one from gray market. i made reservations already with globe, but my frustration for globe's not getting back to me took its toll; and i decided to just risk it and get a unit from hong kong if i can get one given the scarcity of units all over the world.

i searched around on how to scout for an iphone 4 from authorized apple resellers via blogs and forums. i printed out a 2-page list of stores and their addresses - this is how i prepared to this calvary to find that elusive jesus-phone.

oct 16 - 1st day in hong kong. even though we have strict schedule, i took every chance i get to check out the stores i have in the. i have checked out different fortress stores (around 5 i guess) to no avail. we carried on to what we were supposed to do in the city - that is to visit disneyland. seeing lotsa people around playing with their iphone 4 made me feel sad and frustrated. even my brothers know how affected i am. that's how serious i was about getting an iphone there. day 1 done with no iphone and i slept with sadness within me.

oct 17 - day 2 and we really have dedicated the morning for shopping and my search for the iphone. my brothers were really supportive, and i appreciate them on cheering me up. the whole morning, while we were shopping i was checking out around if there were fortress or broadway or any apple store around. I believed we were able to check out around 20 authorized apple reseller just for that elusive phone. I gave up already and and prepared myself to go home empty handed until my brother checked out 1 store and he asked him to go back after 3 hours, they are waiting for the shipment. i rejoiced, really, that time. and even if the shipment won't happen, i held to that string of hope. we decided to go to mongkok to check out that computer center and the sneaker street. went back before 6 pm (before that 3 hours we spared) and viola, the very kind chinese guy reserved a 32gb unit for me! i was really thankful to him and also to my brother who checked out that store.

hong kong trip with the brothers

there are lotsa stories to tell about this hong kong trip with my brothers ; so i'll start on how it happened. but if you wan't to learn my calvary on the search for that iphone 4, hit the link now for no iphone 4 story will be told on this post.

one early morning, i was shaken up from sleep by my brother to book a promo flight to hong kong. i was like hypnotized by his command and took my credit card without hesitations; and booked the flight in minutes.

with very little planning, we found ourselves in the airport come oct. 15. we arrived in the city at around 11:00pm; roamed around and searched for 30 mins for that inn I booked online; roamed around at midnight to see what's around the hotel then back to the room to rest and prepare for Day 1.

day 1 - the plan: big buddha via cable car and disneyland hong kong. what carried out: city outlet, disneyland and night market. well, due to that 1.5 hour queue to ride the cable car + 20 mins travel to big buddha, we decided to just check out that city outlet mall - the first mall in hk we have visited. i bought nothing while my brothers shop to death (ok, that one was exaggerated). ate at this japanese restaurant that made us smell like fried meat in olive oil. planning to take a shot; but i was told it is not allowed.

the disneyland - the major, well 2nd major, reason why i decided to go to hong kong. great experience. tiring. caters to kids and kids at heart. lotsa people there, and when i say lotsa i mean LOTSA. the most exciting part was the halloween parade. still, it'll be the best halloween celebration i had so far, and the best kuya geno's birthday celebration he had so far.

day 2 - the plan: shopping in the morning and the peak in the evening. what carried out: shopping in the morning, mongkok in the afternoon and the peak in the evening. the shopping was very tiring not for me or my younger brother, ken, but for the eldest brother. shopping around hong kong is really fun - the place to be! mongkok on the other hand was too much crowded for me; but hey, was able to score a 1tb hardrive and wireless routers for a bargain price. then the victoria peak was.. i dunno. we just enjoyed the madame tussaud's wax museum, while the peak itself was too cold and we decided to go back to the inn.

it was basically a short stint in hk; 2-day-trip packed with amazing race adventure since 'twas our first time there. but hey, i survived it and had a good wekend bonding with the siblings.

[late post] mt. pinatubo x-perience

May 1, 2010 - i know, it's super late!!

Meet up the night before to spend the night at alvin’s place somewhere in marilao, bulacan since we are planning to be on time for the scheduled adventure to the peak of mt. Pinatubo somewhere in tarlac. Behold! We were there on the dot! And we were first there like we were the most excited!

We waited for around 2 more hours from the foot of the mountain for authorization to go to trek to the crated since the weather is kinda obscure. When memo was released, around 30 4x4 trucks and 100 people gathered on the ground, getting ready for the quick adventure since everyone was advised to start climbing down before 1:00 pm.

The only thing I can say is that the view up there is majestic! it is like a foreign land out there!

cioccolo - clark, pampanga

cioccolo is a gem hidden somewhere in clark, pampanga - a coffee shop / restaurant standing in the secluded royal palazzo, offerring great tasting cakes and frappucino.

very spacious with welcoming ambiance, cioccolo was able to wow our taste buds by offerring extra-ordinary tasting drinks and cakes. you will really notice the more natural flavors compared to the infamous ice blended coffees from starbucks, cbtl and gloria jean's. they also server cocktail drinks, coffee-cocktail drinks, pasta and picka foods -> the variety in the menu is like ucc's.

cioccolo is a must visit coffee shop / restaurant when you are around clark, pampanga. 5 stars!

tacsiyapo , tarlac

the plan: to south, what carried out: to north; the plan: to batangas, what carried out: to tarlac; the plan: to wakeboard, what carried out: to tacsiyapo; the plan to tacsiyapo, what carried out: no tacsiyapo.

to cheer up my friends who cancelled their flight to Hong Kong this weekend due to the recent HK tourist bus hostage crisis, we decided to go out of town. as stated above, the original plan to wakeboard did not push through. Instead, we drove hundred miles to tarlac to experience tacsiyapo (stress reliever by throwing ceramics to the wall of anger) just to find out that the tacsiyapo is close. devastating! but we had fun making fun and pleading to the staff of the restaurant.

MOCKINGJAY: 3rd Installment of Hunger Games

Last August 10, I went to National Bookstore, Glorietta 5 branch to pre-order the 3rd book of The Hunger Games Trilogy. I think I was the 36th from those who pre-listed since August 10 - that number is so lame. Despite the good marketing of NB about the first two books (and of course the Mockingjay that already has radio ads airing), me thinks that this series has very little followings here in the Philippines.

Good maketing? Yes, because this is the first ever book I finished. The Hunger Games is the reason why started reading books.

Why Pre-order? ‘Coz I am just too excited I want to be one of the firsts to have the book on August 25 (worldwide release). And mostly, the pre-order will only cost you around Php 540 - that is more than Php 200 off from the regular price of the first two books.

Lastly, I do not have plans of re-reading the first books. I am too much pre-occupied with work and work and work that i can’t even find time for myself. But I tell you, these books (referring to The Hunger Games and Catching Fire) are HIGLY RECOMMENDED. If you wanna know the plot, go toAmazon. (and WOW!!! that’s 825 five-star reviews)