So back to the story, the group finally lands in the Hong Kong International Airport. It took us quite some time re-grouping before we got to immigration, because some went to the toilet, some smoked ciggies, and some just got lost. Everyone was creaming their panties (except the boys who wore boxers), because each one had a devious evil plan to spend wantonly and irresponsibly on fleeting superficial material belongings as if we had no future to worry about!
But one thing was clear: everyone was raring to go!
The sizzling RX ladies plus “The Truth Behind The Booth”
Then we stood in a looooong line at immigration. This is what it looked like before it was deluged by tourists (like us):
Then we boarded the bus that would take us to the hotel and we saw pieces of the Hong Kong cityscape:
Our mantra for the trip:
“Change Money!
Go Shopping!
Change Money!
Go Shopping!”
Finally we get to the hotel and we paired up with our buddies for the trip (my buddy was Jude) and we were given just about 10 minutes to fix our stuff, freshen up a bit, then we were to meet again downstairs for a group lunch at the nearest – what else? – Chinese restaurant. Wow, we had roast goose, jumbo shrimps with broccoli, braised pork, the works! We were stuffed like turkeys on Thanksgiving!
The food was barely past our esophagi (esophaguses?) when we hit the MTR (the Hong Kong subway) and wasted no time so we could start throwing away money we slaved for all year!
We hopped and skipped from stop to stop, running around like headless chickens, buying stuff that we probably could purchase in the tiangges of Greenhills (and at a much cheaper price), but we indulged ourselves anyway, since retail therapy infuses our systems with endorphins and adrenalin that pumps much needed joy into our tired, atrophied and pertified hearts (whew, talk about rationalizing impulsive buying).
And a shot of 2 PLATONIC friends in a somewhat kinda medyo semi-sweet pose:
After lunch, the whole group splintered into sub-groups, going to different places, depending on who wants to go where to buy what. When darkness fell, we agreed to meet up again as a big group, before we ate dinner, at Victoria Harbour to watch the Guiness World Record holder of, “World’s Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show”, wherein 44 of Hong Kong’s most famous skyscrapers put up one hell of a spectacle (it’s like Hong Kong in drag). Actually, the novelty wore of quite quickly, and the music was a bit on the cheesy side (think Holiday On Ice, only on crack), but we all did enjoy the FREEZING cold that enveloped the whole area. The wind felt like ice sabres, slashing at your insides. It was painful, but being from a tropical country like ours, we welcomed the change.
And the light show money shot:
Okay, okay, it’s a crappy shot compared to the millions of shots of this view by way better photographers. Just you wait till I learn how to use my spankin’ brand new DSLR! Once I’m better equipped and more skilled as a lensman, I promise to return to Victoria Harbour and take another shot of the same view and post it here!
(To Be Continued…)