Friday, October 29, 2010

Hong Kong Series: Ocean Park, Shopping and Our Flight Back Home!

It has been three months since my trip to Hong Kong, but I have yet to finish my series of Hong Kong posts. I procrastinate like there are a million tomorrows  (a little something I mastered while at school), but I digress.


Ocean Park is a marine themed attraction dubbed as one of Hong Kong's most popular tourist destinations. It was incredulously hot and humid the day we visited Ocean Park so we deliberately avoided the outdoor rides (except the Ocean Tower) and enjoyed the air conditioned indoor attractions instead. I don't think we missed out on a lot though, as the rides were not at all that unique if you have gone to say, Enchanted Kingdom or some other theme park in the US.




Ocean Park Hong Kong is literally HUGE (I think they have seven themed lands) and getting from one part of the Park to another can be quite taxing. They have long elevators that go on forever, scaring the shit out of acrophobics like the boyfriend. Haha.




We started out at the Tai Shue Wan entrance, as this was the drop off point for the public buses. There was not much to see there but the Flamingo Pond, which was quite a disappointment. The flamingos were not as vibrantly colored as the ones I saw in Sea World, San Diego. You can see a photo of that here.




From Tai Shue Wan, we walked a ridiculous distance to get to Marine Land, which houses some of my favorite attractions. There are one too many Dolphin shows in this planet, but these adorable creatures never fail to get my attention no matter how repetitive all the tricks are. I'm a terrible swimmer, but I wish to swim with the dolphins some day like these two lucky fellas.



Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Going High School at Johnny Rockets!

My high school days were not spent in local diners, celebrating victories of the school's football team (because duh, we did not have a football team in Masci!), but for some reason, I have come to associate diners with high school.

I love diners not only because I love the burger + fries + milkshake combo, but also because I can never get enough of the laid back ambiance, the 50's feel and the iconic juke box that you can only find in a number of diners these days. It's not surprising therefore, that out of the many food establishments in Eastwood, I would pick Johnny Rockets for a relaxing, rainy Friday night dinner date.




Those who know me will definitely guess what caught my fancy first and foremost though: UNLIMITED FRIES! Yes, you heard (read) me right! For fellow fries lovers out there, this place is carbs and cholesterol wonderland!




There were other items available in the menu, but a burger + fries + milkshake combo girl like myself wouldn't settle for something other than a juicy burger + fries + milkshake combo . I'm being redundant and all, but you get the drift! Look at the juicy something I had! (Sorry for the bad photo, though. I didn't bring my trusty canon as this was a totally unplanned rendezvous.)



The burger was perfectly crispy around the edges, big, juicy and beefy, but after tasting Charlie's Angus Beef Burger, this kind of paled in comparison. The malt milkshake, however, was the bomb! It was thick, creamy and sweet, the kind you want to slurp like a seven year old before you go to bed. 



They boyfriend had a burger too, but with some salad, because he likes to pretend that he is a healthy eater for my sake even though we both know that he is not! Haha. 



Expect to spend around 600Php (approximately $13) per person for a good meal and some dancing waiters. Yep, the waiters at Johnny Rockets goof around and dance to oldies music as you eat.

Johnny Rockets is located at the Ground floor Veranda, Eastwood Mall, Eastwood City.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Another Impulse Buy

For someone without a pretty penny to her name, I can be such a ridiculous impulse buyer.


Serious impulse shopper.


My recent Hong Kong - Macau trip did put a huge dent on my wallet, and yet three months later, I find myself booking a totally unplanned trip to Singapore. I blame it on Cebu Pacific's 10-10-10 promo. Php 1010 (less than $30) for an international flight sounds pretty awesome, but we mustn't forget about accommodations, food, tickets for attractions and of course, shopping money!  I'm too old to ask for money from my good, old folks (hello, financial independence!) and I'm really terrible at managing my finances. What a lethal combination these two! The fact that my job does not pay well at all doesn't help my case either.


Singapore (just like Hong Kong) is not a place for travelers on a shoestring budget (really,couldn't we have booked a flight to somewhere else, like Thailand for instance?), but for some reason, I find joy in the challenge of planning trips on a budget. Back during the days when my parentals did the spending and money was not much of an issue, finding a good deal was not as rewarding as it is now. Of course, the saving for the trip part isn't that awesome(must not make impulse buys!), but hey, as the good, old and gasgas saying goes, "pag walang tiyaga, walang nilaga!"


Credits here.
Oh joy, another trip to plan! Nothing else gives me such a high as the prospect of traveling. Merlion, see you soonest!

Monday, October 4, 2010

I Had an Awesome Week!

Here are some of the things that made my week awesome:


1. A pint of Ben and Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream (on sale!), SnR barbeque chicken pizza and french fries shared with good friends after a tiring shift.
3. Johnny Rockets malt milkshake, unlimited fries and a hefty burger with the boyfriend at Eastwood, where we attended a nonexistent birthday celebration. We went through oh-my-God-EDSA-traffic-on-a-Friday-night only to find out that he got the venue wrong. Still, it was a happy and filling Friday night!
4. Cheese enchilada, California Berry's frozen yogurt and Despicable me in 3d before night shift.
5. An actual date with the boyfriend! (He is free during the weekends, while I have odd days off here and there.)
5. Dad coming home at midnight with oreo cheesecake and black midnight cake in tow.
6. Three days off! Oh, a rarity!
7. Jacqui's birthday celeb at Healthy Shabu-shabu and Golden Spoon, Shang. We haven't seen each other in more than a year. Hurray, hurray!
8. New clothes and other new stuff!
9. Plum nail polish on my toes.
10. Mockingjay and Mini Shopaholic. I haven't gotten around to reading just yet, but hey, I  have copies already!
11. Lunch date with the boyfriend at Legend of India.
12. Iroh, our beloved SLR got some new kicks.


Stay tuned for food reviews and photos of this week's happy, happy days!
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