The Best And The Rest 5

This was the first Top Ten we did after we came back from our trip to Hong Kong, so we thought it would be fun to do a topic on traveling, since we had quite a few stories ourselves.

January 22, 2008 – The Top Ten Travel Stories

1. Phambotsdad – The first time we went to Baguio, we learned that there was a coup ‘d etat back in Manila. Thus, our 6-hour travel back ended up being a 2-day ordeal. We slept in the car along the highways, and we did the stuff you’d normally do in the privacy of your home toilets, along the side of the roads.
2. Kangkong – It was a trip to CWC in Camarines. While wakeboarding, I lost control of the board and I hit the ramp and chipped my tooth off.
3. Billie – I remember Christmas of 2006 when we went to the US to finally experience sn0w. We didn’t. It turned out to be the 3rd hottest winter ever recorded in history. It only snowed after we left: in springtime.
4. No name – Traveling by train in Europe, there was a time when I had breakfast in Koln, Germany, then train again, had lunch in Brussels, Belgium, then train again, until we reached our final destination for the day, dinner in Lille, France.
5. No name – On our way to Baguio with my wife & 8 month old daughter, while cruising along the Pangasinan highway at 120 kph, our front left tire burst! I missed an oncoming bus by inches.
6. Carpe Diem – There’s a different kind of fulfillment when traveling alone. I didn’t speak Russian nor French, but I knew a little Spanish. Up until now I still w0nder how i survived. It was also the loneliest I ever felt, since there was no one to share the joy of seeing places like the Louvre or the Eiffel Tower with.
7. Lost in Hongkong – My friends and I spent an entire month walking around Macau and Hong Kong and we had this friend who had a tendency to walk faster than the rest of us, and often got lost among the throngs of Chinese people, and she didn’t have a cellphone! It came to the point that we took turns being her walking buddies to flank her everywhere we went.
8. Icepolo – When I was in South Africa, I left my passport and all my luggage in the taxicab. The driver returned it the next day. So nice and decent of him! I gave him 500 dollars as reward.
9. Kobe Kong – On my way h0me fr0m an O.B. trip in Singap0re, the immigrati0n official t0ld me that I might want to j0in their pr0mo for t0urists. I didn’t really care ab0ut the pr0mo but j0ined anyway just to indulge the official. 2 m0nths later, I g0t an email fr0m the Singap0re T0urism B0ard advising me that I had just w0n a 4-day stay at the famous Four Seas0ns H0tel, free return tickets on Singap0re Airlines f0r two, and tickets f0r 2 on a 3-day luxury cruise fr0m Singap0re to Malaysia!
10. No name – During a trip to Occidental Mindoro, we went out on our 2nd night hoping for some partying in a club or bar. We were told that people there sleep at 7 pm and that the only drink commonly available there was TUBA!
11. Sundowner – In 2002, during my kids’ 1st time in the U.S. East Coast, 5 of us were riding the jampacked New York subway. We were supposed to go to Ground Zero. Afraid that we might get separated w/ our kids when getting off, we told them to be ready. When the doors opened at the stop before ours, our skinny 15-year old daughter was carried by the crowd out of the train and we could do nothing but watch in horror as the doors shut. It took more than an hour for us to be able get back to her in that subway station. We found her scared out of her wits, biting her fingernails.
12. CBboating – On our Bangkok trip last weekend, we shopped at Chatuchak market (the largest tiangge in the world). Sa sobrang kakatawad namin, pinalayas kami sa isang stall.
13. Cate Blanket – I was in St. Peter’s Basilica for the 1st time, and as I was looking around, I noticed that one of the guards inside was herding people to go inside one area of the huge cathedral. Out of sheer curiosity, I just followed the line of people and when I got to the room, I realized it was for a mass w/ Pope John Paul II! Being a Catholic, I felt so lucky to have had that experience.
14. No name – When I went to this posh watch store in Singapore and I asked the saleslady if I could look at one of the Tag Heuer watches, she replied, “You can’t aff0rd that”. Up0n hearing this, I took out my platinum credit card and asked for the manager. I purchased 3 watches: The Tag, a Philip Stein and a Rolex.
15. Skimmer – Our office treated us to a trip to Australia. On our second day there, a drunk Aussie approached us asking for money. When we said we didn’t have any to give him, the guy screamed, “I HOPE YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH IMMIGRATION!”
16. No name – When we went to Hong Kong Disneyland 2 years ago, we had our picture taken with Pluto. We were shocked when he suddenly said, “Punta kayo kay Mickey, Pinoy din siya!“
17. Coolanie – Memorable talaga sa akin yung trip namin sa Hong Kong kasi may napaiyak akong friend kasi gusto niyang magpakuha ng solo. Eh singit ako ng singit parati. Ayun, umiyak!
18. Ness – My parents and I went to Israel in 1999. We were eating in a foodcourt in a mall when suddenly, soldiers barged in! They demanded that we vacate the premises. We barely understood them because they were speaking in Hebrew. Later we found out that there was a b0mb threat on the flo0r we were on. Luckily, there was no explosi0n.
19. Supernheng – I super LOVE Piolo Pascual. 2 years ago, I saw him at Ocean Park in Hong Kong, and we had our pics taken with him and he even told us which rides to try!
20. Tantantinin – I had major tummy ailments in Jakarta that I had to be transported to a hospital. On the way there, we had to take a 10 km. route to a hospital that’s only 1 km. away because some crazy people were rallying and hacking other people with machetes! At the emergency room, the doctor told me that they had to operate on me within 24 hrs. I insisted that they give me a special permit to travel home to get a 2nd opinion here. At St. Luke’s they diagnosed it as plain stomach cramps!
21. Chandler Bing – It was my first time to go abroad, and I didn’t know that you were supposed to board early before the flight. I ended up delaying the flight and everyone was staring at me and my friend as we got on the plane. I felt like a celebrity. . . a celebrity that everyone hated!
22. P1 – During a cruise in Halong Bay, Vietnam, we were served seafood for dinner. When we asked for lemon with salt as sawsawan for our squid, we were served lemonade…with salt, instead of sugar.
23. No name – While walking in the streets of Hong Kong, I was stopped by 2 HK police who mistook me for a wanted criminal. I am Chinese and easily mistaken a sa local in HK.
24. Mico – After hours of sightseeing in London, I needed to pee BADLY. We were in Queensway Road, rushed to the nearest Starbucks and found the toilet occupied. It was either pee in my pants or the trash bin. My wife covered me while I peed in the trash bin. Walked out like nothing happened.
25. Rye29 – I went to Geneva in 2002 and while there, I didn’t realize that my wallet fell from my back pack. 2 weeks later here in Manila, a letter arrived in my office from Geneva informing me that they found my wallet. My friends from the mission there got it back for me. 2 months after I lost it, I got back my wallet — only to lose it again on the very same day that I got it back.
26. No name – I was in Vienna in 2005. After getting off the subway, I saw a long queue of Caucasians leading to a Japanese looking stall. It had a funny name. Something like “Kamuradito”. I lined up myself thinking the food should be great. It was. The surprise was that all 5 cooks manning the food stall were Filipinos! No wonder the name sounded familiar. We all had a good laugh when they were “discovered” by a kabayan.
27. Lexi – My family was in Australia & we were waiting at d bus stop one morning when I heard my aunt scream. When i looked up, I saw a paper cup lying by my feet, w/my aunt’s clothes & hair soaked w/ juice. Apparently a car full of Aussie boys drove by, & threw the paper cup at us, as they videotaped it with a digicam.
28. No name – In the Philippines, my pants were slashed 3 times by pickpockets, but none of them succeed in getting my wallet. Ironically, it was only when I went to the Vatican, the seat of Catholicism, when a pickpocket finally got my wallet!
29. Dong & Lai – Midway on a connecting flight to Karachi from Thailand, we were asked to close the windows. Being the makulit passenger, I peaked and saw one engine on fire! The attendant asked me to keep quiet so as not to panic the other passengers.
30. Kristine – My lolo was in Australia when he passed by an old ornate establishment. He knelt down and prayed at the foot of the wide long stairs, only to find out that it was the post office.
31. No name – My officemate and I were sent to Singapore. One time we got into a cab who had an Indian driver. While inside the cab, my friend said, “Ang bahu-baho naman ng bumbay na ‘to, amoy anghit!” And to our shock, the cab driver suddenly said, “Pare, pasensya na, pagod lang sa trabaho.” Turned out he worked before in Manila and spoke Tagalog fluently. We apologized profusely.
32. Sexy Cool – My husband and I went to Eur0pe 0n our h0neym0on alm0st 14 years ago. Our h0tel in Nice, France was really disgusting. The room was musty, the carpet was filthy, and the bed c0ver was full of hair. When we t0ok off the c0ver, there was a big blood stain in the middle of the bed and pubic hair all over! My husband and I did n0t sleep the wh0le night and just went to a bar with our tour mates.
33. Trina – My friend Chad who looks Chinese went to an electronics shop in Hong Kong and put on a Chinese accent hoping that he’d get a cheaper price. The saleslady turned to her companion and shouted, “Linda, ikaw na nga dito, hindi naman guwapo!” Without missing a beat, Chad looked the saleslady in the eye and said, “At bakit, maganda ka ba?“
34. B.fly – My Aussie boss went to Manila and told me that I was the agent of the year, and that as a prize, I won an all-expense paid trip to Australia! When I got there — he proposed marriage.