Friday, March 25, 2011
Take two
Will this year be a year of second chances, take two's and yet new experiences? Then again, does that include THAT area? If it does, then technically pretty much nothing will happen... I'd pin my hope on Him and chance though because... You'll never know... You just never know...
Monday, March 14, 2011
HK Revisited: Staying in Kowloon Island
When my mom coaxed me into treating her with a trip abroad, I gave in for several reasons:
1. I finally get to travel abroad again without the hassles of false hopes and failed plans.
2. Countless failed attempts in looking for a group who wanted to travel (with me).
3. I get to choose the destination and I wanted to go somewhere cold.
Thus, even though my mom has been to HK twice and Macau once, since I was the one paying and I had the excuse of never being in Macau, the destination was set.
When I first set foot in HK, we ended up staying in Hong Kong Island at The Wesley Hotel. I don't have much memory of it except that it was decent enough and didn't serve breakfast but was on the small side. In addition, the walk from the hotel to the closer MTR station: admiralty was pretty taxing eventually the longer you stay (assuming you are mostly out during the day exploring HK). So this time around, I decided that we should be staying at Kowloon Island preferably at Tsim Sha Tsui.
all things considered especially the economics of price, location aka proximity to MTR and shops as well as the airport bus, Hotel Benito became the hotel of choice although I had to stretch my budget a little. If I probably booked it say maybe 2-3 months in advance the rate could have been lower. Options included: Imperial Hotel, Salisbury YMCA, Shamrock Hotel, etc. I came close to booking a hostel room at Golden Crown guest house but that was scrimping too much (especially as a treat for a mother) just so I would have more shopping money. Scrutinizing details and reading reviews delayed the booking as well but I guess you could say it was a good decision. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of their rooms but I didn't look under the bed to see if it was well dusted. It's got space enough for two people I must say. I guess what we liked about it compared to The Wesley was: location! Even my mom had to comment on it. It was almost close to everything.
1. It's just a few walks to the TST station.
2. There are familiar food stalls/fast foods (MCDO, KFC, Burger King, Yoshinoya, etc.) nearby for those who end up eating unplanned meals at off-the-usual hours.
3. The airport bus stop at Nathan Road is close by (A21).
4. Silvercord mall (which is one of the locations of H&M), Harbour View, outlet shops such as Esprit, Giordano, Bossini etc are just a few minutes walk.
5. the ferry station is again a few minutes walk (day trip to Macau shouldn't be a bother).
6. As a plus, we got to sample some of the pastries from this bakery right across the hotel:
7. There is a ForEx stall across the street that buys US Dollars at a higher rate than most we saw. It seems it is still better to bring with you US Dollars if have some or if you can buy them from someone and not from a bank. That way, you would still get better value for your money. You can then exchange a few of them at the airport then the rest at downtown areas. Airport rates are usually lower. Of course, be wary of possible scammers. I had my doubts in this particular stall but we didn't run into any issues during our stay there.
8. Surprisingly Arashi had an ad plastered in the TST station (or was it somewhere else?) which I didn't expect. Oh yeah! Big Plus! hahaha
1. I finally get to travel abroad again without the hassles of false hopes and failed plans.
2. Countless failed attempts in looking for a group who wanted to travel (with me).
3. I get to choose the destination and I wanted to go somewhere cold.
Thus, even though my mom has been to HK twice and Macau once, since I was the one paying and I had the excuse of never being in Macau, the destination was set.
When I first set foot in HK, we ended up staying in Hong Kong Island at The Wesley Hotel. I don't have much memory of it except that it was decent enough and didn't serve breakfast but was on the small side. In addition, the walk from the hotel to the closer MTR station: admiralty was pretty taxing eventually the longer you stay (assuming you are mostly out during the day exploring HK). So this time around, I decided that we should be staying at Kowloon Island preferably at Tsim Sha Tsui.
all things considered especially the economics of price, location aka proximity to MTR and shops as well as the airport bus, Hotel Benito became the hotel of choice although I had to stretch my budget a little. If I probably booked it say maybe 2-3 months in advance the rate could have been lower. Options included: Imperial Hotel, Salisbury YMCA, Shamrock Hotel, etc. I came close to booking a hostel room at Golden Crown guest house but that was scrimping too much (especially as a treat for a mother) just so I would have more shopping money. Scrutinizing details and reading reviews delayed the booking as well but I guess you could say it was a good decision. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of their rooms but I didn't look under the bed to see if it was well dusted. It's got space enough for two people I must say. I guess what we liked about it compared to The Wesley was: location! Even my mom had to comment on it. It was almost close to everything.
1. It's just a few walks to the TST station.
2. There are familiar food stalls/fast foods (MCDO, KFC, Burger King, Yoshinoya, etc.) nearby for those who end up eating unplanned meals at off-the-usual hours.
3. The airport bus stop at Nathan Road is close by (A21).
4. Silvercord mall (which is one of the locations of H&M), Harbour View, outlet shops such as Esprit, Giordano, Bossini etc are just a few minutes walk.
5. the ferry station is again a few minutes walk (day trip to Macau shouldn't be a bother).
6. As a plus, we got to sample some of the pastries from this bakery right across the hotel:
7. There is a ForEx stall across the street that buys US Dollars at a higher rate than most we saw. It seems it is still better to bring with you US Dollars if have some or if you can buy them from someone and not from a bank. That way, you would still get better value for your money. You can then exchange a few of them at the airport then the rest at downtown areas. Airport rates are usually lower. Of course, be wary of possible scammers. I had my doubts in this particular stall but we didn't run into any issues during our stay there.
8. Surprisingly Arashi had an ad plastered in the TST station (or was it somewhere else?) which I didn't expect. Oh yeah! Big Plus! hahaha
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Iphone is love and so are pictures
ever since I bought Itouch as a replacement for my Ipod Video I was sold on the touch screen of Apple. Of course, there were the apps as well that you can probably say were a lot and getting, accessing them was I guess you could say dumb-friendly. For the geeks out there, they probably prefer Winmo or android over Apple but at that time I already started regretting choosing Omnia over the iphone. But then again, Iphone's features were nothing compared really to Omnia's. However, I was not able to maximize it and the touch screen was somewhat on the resistive side as what my brother referred it to be. And so the itouch was amazing, I had an omnia, I wanted to get an iphone but didn't sound practical and was too redundant so I had to bear with it until I felt my phone was too old. Then a blessing in disguise, my itouch went swimming and I was forced to buy an iphone. Yeah forced haha. Then I had to wait another few months for the official release of the iphone 4 through Globe then I find out I have a bad record due to a business account under my name etc. etc. Good thing Singapore (and Hong Kong) offers officially unlocked iphones so I got mine from there instead through friends and by December I've been inseparable with my iphone. many apps later, I'm still enjoying it particularly the camera and add-on apps for it. If only, there'd be a decent app for blogger I wouldn't probably contemplate of ditching this and moving to tumblr. Or I might probably open one still to cater to my addiction for pictures (not that I'm good at it). The album below sounds like a good tumblr banner or something as well... thinking thinking :D
Oh Snap!
These apps are my favorites (probably must-haves or I got tricked into buying them but I like them anyway.):
1. Lomolomo
2. hipstamatic
3. instagram
4. photoshop express
5. montager
6. facebook, twitter, yahoo messenger
7. Plants vs Zombies
8. Bejeweled
9. Fruit Ninja
10. Stanza
11. Merriam and Webster
12. PhotoShare
13. Spot the difference
14. restaurant story, bakery story
and a whole lot of others but these are good enough for me as of the moment. Possibly tumblr soon.
Oh Snap!
These apps are my favorites (probably must-haves or I got tricked into buying them but I like them anyway.):
1. Lomolomo
2. hipstamatic
3. instagram
4. photoshop express
5. montager
6. facebook, twitter, yahoo messenger
7. Plants vs Zombies
8. Bejeweled
9. Fruit Ninja
10. Stanza
11. Merriam and Webster
12. PhotoShare
13. Spot the difference
14. restaurant story, bakery story
and a whole lot of others but these are good enough for me as of the moment. Possibly tumblr soon.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Online tribute to a Mentor
I just sent out a short note to my previous manager to thank her for her positive impact probably her legacy to me.
In the 5 years that I've been a corporate rat, I've interacted directly with 4 direct supervisors. 3 of those in just a span of 13 months. But time is irrelevant when leaving a lasting positive impact. Sometimes, all it takes is probably one well-handled situation that tells you and shows you the management skill of a person without any pretense. It neither has to be in your favor but the fact that she can convince you, win you over, turn you around without resorting to politician tactics makes you admire the person all the more. A genuine person able to feel but uses her intellect well: well-balanced and well-grounded. A human-being probably who is well aware of Maslow's hierarchy of needs and a whole gamut of others. It is a skill honed and developed allowing her to respond to a whole gamut of situations. Possibly, I was not under her care long enough to see her faults and flaws magnified, exaggerated by others. To me however, what matters is that I left her supervision with an arm full of learnings that continue to inspire me.
I'll say it again, Doms, though I wish you could have mentored me for longer
I'm glad our paths crossed. Thank You!
Sent from my iPhone
In the 5 years that I've been a corporate rat, I've interacted directly with 4 direct supervisors. 3 of those in just a span of 13 months. But time is irrelevant when leaving a lasting positive impact. Sometimes, all it takes is probably one well-handled situation that tells you and shows you the management skill of a person without any pretense. It neither has to be in your favor but the fact that she can convince you, win you over, turn you around without resorting to politician tactics makes you admire the person all the more. A genuine person able to feel but uses her intellect well: well-balanced and well-grounded. A human-being probably who is well aware of Maslow's hierarchy of needs and a whole gamut of others. It is a skill honed and developed allowing her to respond to a whole gamut of situations. Possibly, I was not under her care long enough to see her faults and flaws magnified, exaggerated by others. To me however, what matters is that I left her supervision with an arm full of learnings that continue to inspire me.
I'll say it again, Doms, though I wish you could have mentored me for longer
I'm glad our paths crossed. Thank You!
Sent from my iPhone
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