See Hong Kong on a tram [YQrtw Day 127 Aug 15]

Location: Hong Kong

[I was sleepy with jetlag on both the nights of August 15 and 16 so I wasn’t able to update the day’s blog post before midnight. Maybe nobody noticed… Anyway, here it is!]

I was fully awake at 7am even though I drifted to sleep well past midnight. It seems like it will take a lot more days before my jetlag goes away and for me to be familiar with GMT+8.

I took the chance to go to the common room to surf the internet. Wi-Fi on the fourth floor was non-existent, despite the sign outside giving the password for Wi-Fi.

The hostel that I was staying is a rather strange place. For one thing, they advertised themselves as at least 5 different hostels on booking sites. When the tourists get there, they are directed to the reception area on the third floor and then given a room or bed on another floor or at an entirely different building.

I was supposed to move out today because the bed in the 3-person room was booked. I asked the guy at the reception (who I think is the boss) about check out time and when I could move in. He was rather rude and replied me as if I’m trying to cheat him of a room even though I’ve made the booking online.

When he gave me back my change, I noticed that he gave me HK$100 less so I thought that he kept the HK$100 as the key deposit. Then I asked if I could have yesterday’s deposit back, he replied, “Of course not.”

So I pointed out that there as HK$100 less in the change, he said, “Oh.” and gave me a HK$100 note. No apology! He then asked one of the girls working there to bring me to my room.

The both of us had an awkward conversation about my travels as she spoke Mandarin with a Cantonese accent. I don’t know if in cases like these, I should step in and speak with my bad Cantonese or let her continue in a dialect she’s not very familiar with. In the end, I stuck with Mandarin.

My new room was any much better. It had a bed, a small table and enough space for my luggage to stand up straight. If I need anything from the luggage, I have to toss it up onto the bed.

Gundam character in front of Time Square

Sightseeing in Hong Kong

After changing my accommodation, it was time to see Hong Kong. Thankfully typhoon day was over so the shops are open and the public buses are running.

I was excited to se e a lot of people on the streets. First stop on my to-see list was actually one of the Apple Stores. Using Google Maps in offline mode, I finally saw the place. It wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be.

Views of Hong Kong from the tram

Since the sky was still pretty gray, I decided to take the tram to see Hong Kong. Unlike the trams in San Francisco, the trams in Hong Kong are double decker trams. The second level has open windows so it’s very breezy and is a great place to sightsee.

At HK$2.30 per ride, this is probably the cheapest way to get around, apart from walking.

Upper level of a double decker tram in Hong Kong

Entering dried seafood street. This guy must be hungry.

End of the line for this tram in Hong Kong

I have 3G, finally!!!

After the tram ended at Kennedy Town, I gathered my courage and went into a convenience store to buy a local SIM card. I am never sure if I should speak Cantonese or Mandarin and my Cantonese is so bad that I am embarrased to say it out loud.

It turns out, they did have the SIM card for tourist that I was looking for. For HK$69 (SG$11.50), I get 5 days of 3G internet and HK$25 credit for calls and SMS.

I plugged the SIM card into my phone and was delirious with joy when the 3G sign came on. For the past 2 months, I was in South and Central America where the 3G spectrum does not fit my phone. I’ve forgotten how useful it is to have constant internet.

I felt like I have grown a third eye that allowed me to see where I am, plan my journey and constantly report my every move to everyone on the internet. [Find me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.]

With 3G, I figured out where exactly I was and where the nearest cinema was. I made my way to IFC Mall but discovered that the movie ticket was HK$90. The miserly part of me refused to pay that much money for a movie so I looked for lunch.

Foursquare told me that there is a Tim Ho Wan branch at Hong Kong station so I went off to find the famous dimsum place. The directions were a bit confusing but I made it.

It was slightly before lunch time but there was already an unorderly queue. You pick up an order form where the lady scribbles a number. You order your food and wait for your number.

I ordered enough food for 1.5 people because I was too embarrassed to order only two dishes.

A feast for 1? Dimsum at Tim Ho Wan Hong Kong station branch.

After the feast, I decided to check out a second hand bookstore, Book Attic. I walked from IFC Mall to the bookstore and passed by lanes that I didn’t know existed in Hong Kong (aka I’ve not seen in Hong Kong shows).

These were medium-sized stone paths on a sloppy hill. The sides of the slopes are little stalls selling odd things. One stall was selling electrical plus, another selling colorful Chinese threads and one selling tacky for-tourist souvenirs.

At the bookstore, I browsed for a long time and finally bought one book. For a used book, HK$60 (SG$10) is kind of expensive.

While at the bookstore, I found a note left by a high school friend who’s now working in Hong Kong on my Instagram account. We arranged to meet for dinner so I had about 4-5 hours before the meet up.

I decided to take the tram again. This time to the eastern end of the tram tracks. The journey was long but it was very comfortable sitting on the upper level.

The end of the line of Shau Kei Wan is the residential area. I walked around taking a few photos before I got on another tram to the hostel.

Back at the hostel, I napped. I wasn’t ready to get up when my alarm rang 30 minutes before the meeting time. Thankfully, my classmate sent a message saying that he would be delayed for one hour. That means more napping for me!

After the quick nap, it was finally time to get out and face the world. My classmate, Lane* (not his real name), brought me to an “OK Hong Kong restaurant” as there were any spectacular ones around. The food was still good. I ate wanton noodles and beef horfun then some desserts at another place.

Lane gave many food recommendations which I saved into my Foursquare app so I wouldn’t be hungry for good food.

After dinner, I was sleepy again and went back to the hostel where I fell asleep.

#FoodFriday Make Argentinian hot chocolate ‘Submarino’ in 4 easy steps

Welcome to YQtravelling’s FoodFriday. The day of the week when I show off some of the lovely eats I had while travelling.

Today we’re making our own hot chocolate, Argentinian style.

I was introduced to the submarino–a winter Argentinian drink–in my Spanish class in Buenos Aires. Out teacher asked our class of 3 if we knew what a submarino was.

Being the smart ass (although truthfully more ass than smart) that I am, I said that it was a sandwich, thinking that it was a quirky nickname for Subway.

Then the teacher explained that it was a drink. In a tall glass of hot milk, a bar of chocolate is submerged, giving it its name “submarino” (submarine).

One day, I tried the drink at a Buenos Aires cafe. The waitress came with a glass of milk and TWO bars of chocolate. The chocolate’s label indicated that it was for submarinos. However, I took a nibble and discovered that it tasted the same as regular dark chocolate.

Instead of flying to Buenos Aires during winter to try the submarino, I will share my recipe for making a submarino in 4 simple steps.

Step 1: Prepare the ingredients

For this recipe, you will need:

Milk
A bar of chocolate, preferably dark
Microwave-friendly heat-resistant mug
A spoon

Step 2: Heat the milk

Pour out your milk into your mug. Put the mug of milk into the microwave and heat it up in 20-30 seconds intervals, test the temperature of the milk and you are ready when the the milk is steaming hot.

Step 3: Submerge your chocolate and stir

Break off a row of chocolate and drown it in milk. Stir vigorously with your spoon.

Once most of the chocolate has turned to liquid, you are ready to…

Step 4: Serve

Drink the whole mug in a go.

Oh, you might need to bathroom afterwards because even people who are not usually lactose intolerant will have some of its symptoms when finishing a large glass of milk. (Or maybe it’s just me.)

Have you tried the recipe? How do you like it?

A storm is coming to Hong Kong [YQrtw Day 126 Aug 14]

Location: Hong Kong

According to the directions by the hostel, I could take a bus from the airport to the hostel for HK$40. Unfortunately, due to the typhoon, no buses on my route was going.

Dude, where's my bus? — Dude, where’s my bus?

I didn’t know about the no-bus thing and was waiting at the bus stop. Then a taxi man told me about the situation and proposed driving me to Hong Kong Island for about HK$200. I told him that I was on a budget and would prefer taking the train instead.

The Airport Express into Hong Kong island was HK$100. I paid and extra HK$5 to get to Causeway Bay where my hostel is.

There was eerily few people out in the streets when I got there at about 8:30am.

Checking in a rather dodgy hostel

At check-in, I was told to wait a while for the room to be prepared. I waited a long while and had to ask again for my bed before I was shown to my room.

My hostel is fortunately not in the Chungking Mansion area. Still, it wasn’t a proper hostel area. Several units in the residential building were turned into tiny rooms/storage space packed to the brim with beds.

When the hostel person and I got into my room, one of the girls on the top bunk woke up and screamed. She only saw the man and didn’t see me. I would scream too when a strange Chinese man comes into my room while I was sleeping.

After a shower, I head out into the streets for some food and to see what happens on Typhoon Day.

Typhoon day in Hong Kong

Well, nothing much happens on Typhoon Day. Only about 2 percent of shops were open. I ended up eating egg tarts for breakfast at a posh hotel. The Portugese/Macanese egg tarts were so good.

Awesome egg tarts with good Italian coffee

Lunch was a very expensive takeaway from the supermarket. HK$290 for rice, a bit of chicken, roasted meat and one half of a salted egg.

I explored the empty streets with an umbrella before I got the takeaway and went back to the hostel.

The wind was pretty strong and the rain was heavy. Almost everyone on the streets were tourists, specifically Mainland Chinese tourists. I think we’re the only fools going out into the typhoon.

It's raining water, sadly not men — It’s raining water, sadly not men

After I had my lunch, it was about 1pm. My head was aching from jet lag and I decided to take a nap. My nap turned out into a 5-hour sleepathon. I’m awake now and typing but I think I might go back to bed after I send this off to you.

Until tomorrow! Let’s hope the typhoon goes away and I can have some real food. Oh, I also need to figure out where I’ll be sleeping tomorrow because my bed has been booked up.

Literally the shortest day of my life [YQrtw Day 125 Aug 13]

Location: Pacific Ocean

My flight from Los Angeles to Hong Kong left around August 13 midnight and reached on August 14 at about 6am. The flight was about 14 hours long.

so if we do a bit of subtraction, we can deduce that August 13 lasted about 6 hours for me. That’s the shortest day of my life!

Of course this does not take into consideration that one other time I flew from San Francisco to SIngapore. But then I’ve forgotten how long that flight was so we’ll just take it that August 13 was the shortest day of my live.

Happy to blend in

Being on the Cathay Pacific flight from LAX to HKG was the first time in many months that I was around so many East Asian people. It was a weird feeling being one of the faces that blended into the crow,

I was expecting people to holler, “Chino!” as they did in South and Central America and the crowd to riot but Latin American stranger said that so all was calm and peaceful.

The 14-hour flight didn’t feel that long. I’ve been travelling so much on this trip that the process of getting from one place to another doesn’t seem very significant now. As long as I get there without vomiting, I’m happy.

Watching ‘Library Wars’

I did watch quite a lot of shows on the plane.

My very favorite movie among all that I’ve watched was Library Wars. It’s a Japanese movie adapted from a manga (Japanese comic) series. I have a friend who’s a fan of the comic so I thought I should give it a try. Plus, the male lead actors are all damn hot. Seriously.

Within the first 10 minutes of the movie, tears streamed down my face. I’ve forgotten how much Japanese films and manga make me cry happy/sad tears. There was quite a lot of book burning going on in the movie. Those scene make me cry silently. I think there would be less of an effect if they burnt Kindles. (Coincidentally, sales of e-readers have dropped so low in the period of the movie that they were mentioned once in a news program.)

The premise of the movie is that the Japanese government have set up a Media Betterment Unit (aka Bastards Who Burn Books) which censors unhealthy media in the public by deleting files off the internet and burning books. There is another much less funded unit against this censorship. It’s the “Library Protection Unit”” (or something like that) which helps preserve these so-called “unhealthy media” by gathering the materials in their library.

The public is free to use resources from The Library. The Library will also protect the privacy of the readers and not reveal what they have been reading.

Back to the plot, our gutsy Heroine signed up to be one of the Protection Team (PT) in the Library Unit because a member of the PT saved her from a jerk from the Media Betterment Unit. She even nicknamed this mysterious unknown person as her Prince (they do a lot of that in Japanese comics).

By 20 minutes of the movie, we–the audience–guessed that the hero (or her “prince) is actually our heroine’s rather nasty Higher-Up. He is supposed to be a lot shorter than her but the guy who played the role did a lot of Dreamy Prince roles that we cannot help associate him with Dreaminess.

There’s also the Sidekick to Higher-Up played by the guy who usually plays the leading man when he’s in his own movie. Sidekick and Higher-Up have a very strong bromance going on. But we know that they are straight because they do a lot of action-related training.

There’s also the Handsome-Smart-Well-Pedigreed-but-Snobbish-Boy and the Beautiful-Smart-Friend-of-Heroine. Even though Snobbish Boy confessed his confused love to Heroine, by the end of the movie, we all hope that the two Beautiful non-leading characters end up together because they are so smart and good looking.

I’m glad I watched the movie because reading the comic or else I might get the The Book is Much Better than The Movie syndrome.

Other shows I’ve watched were many of The Big Bang Theory episodes from Season 6. It’s funny how I started following this series in South America and not back in Singapore.

Bumpy landing

There’s a typhoon coming to Hong Kong about the same time as my arrival. Luckily, the typhoon was still in Guangdong when the place was landing.

It wasn’t a smooth landing as the pilot had to pull up the plane back into the air once.

There were a few crying kids. I’m not sure why they are dry crying with lots of crying noises but no tears. Is it because their ears hurt or that they are afraid to die? I wasn’t sitting near a kid so I couldn’t ask him.

I would tell the kid, “Hey, you should be crying when the adults are crying. Not now. Nothing bad is happening now.” Then I’ll point to a random corner of the screen and say that I think I saw a UFO.

Still, we manage to land safely and the kids stopped making loud noises.

It’s time to formally meet Hong Kong.

Welcome to Weekend Traveller series: Pros & cons of weekend travel

Do you complain about the lack of annual leave at your work place?
Do you want something more from your weekend than sleeping in till noon?
Do you ask yourself, “What did I do during the weekend?” as the days were too unmemorable?

If you’ve answered “YES” to all three questions, perhaps it is time you try travelling during the weekend.

Travel more by travelling during the weekend.

[Photo credit: Duane Mendoza]

Before I quit my job for this round-the-world trip, I was travelling quite a lot despite only having 20 days of annual leave. I wanted to get away from the busy life in Singapore so I was plotting at least one trip each month.

Many of these trips did not require me to take days off my annual leave because I chose to travel during the weekend.

Welcome to the start of the “Weekend Traveller” series where I share my tips on why you should travel more during the weekends, how to choose a weekend destination, how to prepare for a weekend trip and other related information.

The Weekend Traveller will appear every 2nd and 4th Tuesday. Here are some of the topics I have in mind:

Should you be a weekend traveller? Pros and cons of weekend travel
How to choose a destination (time, cost)
How to pack for a weekend
Research to make every second count
Making your personal guidebook
What to do when travelling
What to do when you are back
Useful sites for booking and useful smartphone apps

If you think there are more that I can touch on, feel free to leave it in the comments.

Let’s start this week’s discussion with the pros and cons of weekend travel.

Pros of travelling during the weekend

Travel more: There are 52 weekends in a year so you get to travel beyond the days you have in your annual leave.
Use less annual leave: Annual leaves are best used in chunks so you can travel to further destinations and spend more time there.
Weekends will be more interesting: No more weekends filled with sleeping in until noon and Youtube watching. You get to go out and smell different air.
Less luggage: A backpack of clothes is sufficient for a weekend trip which cuts down on luggage cost on budget airlines.

Cons of travelling during the weekend

Short time: Even if you travel during Friday night and reach your home early Monday morning, weekend trips are really short.
More expensive: When you consider that your air ticket is split into only 2 days of expenses, it can be more expensive than a week’s trip.
Tiring: Trying to pack loads of sights and things-to-do into 2 days can drain your energy.

Are you convinced that being a Weekend Traveller is for you? If so, join me in 2 weeks when I discuss how to choose a location for a weekend trip.

If you are not yet convinced, read on and see if you change your mind.

Are you a Weekend Traveller? Which places have you visited during the weekends? What related topics do you want me to cover?

Check out the rest of the series:

Part 1: Pros & cons of weekend travel
Part 2: Where to go for Weekend Travel?
Part 3: Choosing transportation for weekend travel
Part 4: Travel planning for weekend trips
Part 5: Make your own travel guide for a weekend trip
Part 6: How to pack for a weekend trip
Part 7: How to use Foursquare to plan a day’s travel
Part 8: Why a weekend trip is the best time to start solo travelling
Part 9: I’m going to Melaka for a weekend trip

Onwards to LA for my transit to Hong Kong [YQrtw Day 124 Aug 12]

Location: San Salvador, El Salvador to Los Angeles, USA

After two months in Spanish-speaking countries, I’m finally leaving for Asia. But first, I need to head to LA for a transit.

In the morning, I was surfing Facebook and I realized that Cathay Pacific had a typhoon warning for the 13th and 14th on its Facebook page. The airline added that we’re allowed to change our flights for free.

I thought that it would be a great chance to extend my visit in the US and BUY ALL THE THINGS WITH MY CREDIT CARD.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get anyone from Cathay Pacific on the phone. In the end, I decided that I would wing it at the check in counter,

After checking out my hostel at 10am, I headed out to the post office and for breakfast. The weather was hot and I was sweating like nobody’s business as I walked around.

When I got back to the hostel, I waited patiently for my taxi at 12 noon. No car came during that time so I had to remind the hostel owner about the cab. She hurriedly made a call and a cab came after 5 minutes.

The ride from the hostel to the airport was US$30. It’s kind of expensive for El Salvador but the airport was 37km away from the city and about 45 minutes drive away.

When the cab sped to the airport, I admired the landscape. El Salvador’s hills and random jungles by the road reminded me a lot of home. I was glad to come and visit since it was a good buffer from the harsh Peruvian landscapes.

Felt up by airport agents TWICE!

I reached the airport around 1pm and checkin was smooth. What wasn’t smooth was when I got to my gate.

Turns out, passengers to the US require strict inspection. There were rows of table to inspect the contents of our carry ons. My purse, laptop case and electronic cases were zipped open and closed.

Next up was the body check where the officers felt everyone once in the front and once in the back.

The last inspection was the most ridiculous. There were several chairs and everyone had to take off their shoes. The shoes were then felt up. Luckily, I was wearing my most horrible pair of flip flops. The airport agent wasn’t too happy when she bended my flip flops around.

The flight from San Salvador to Los Angeles was alright. I watched Iron Man 3 and a couple of sitcoms during the 5-hour flight.

Thank Hermes for USB chargers on planes.

At LAX, I had to grab my luggage from the carousel and check in at the other terminal. The custom officers were lenient since I was only doing a transit.

However, at the luggage check for flights, I was singled out again when the metal detector flashed. Seriously, the only metal objects on me were my glasses screws and my teeth filling.

The TSA officer asked me to put out one foot. She felt up my leg and asked me to put out the other foot to feel. Do they think I was Resident Evil’s Ada Wong with some metal strapped to my thigh? I was wearing a maxi dress and look positively pregnant with my flabby stomach.

Anyway, I think it’s funny that I had to go through the legs check ups. I can now tick [] Felt up by TSA officers off my list of “Things I Do Not Want to Happen to Me”.

No shopping in LAX?

Now I’m in my LAX terminal. I’m a bit disappointed by the duty free shopping here (almost non-existent). Where are the Coach and LeSportSac shops? I have a shopping list for my family and myself. Tsk.

OK, I have about three hours to go before my flight. I’ll look for things to amuse myself before my flight.

Here’s something interesting about my flight. I will be flying around midnight of August 13 but arrive in the early morning of August 14 because I’m crossing the international date line. This means my flight is about two-day long and my August 13 only lasts about 7 hours. That’ll be fun!

I’m very excited about Hong Kong

While on the plane. I read Wikitravel entries on Hong Kong and I realized that I really really really want to be there for the food.

If this was a regular straight-to-Hong-Kong trip, I might not have been as excited. But I’ve been away from good Asian food for so long that I think I might cry when I eat the first siewmai that I meet.

A bus’s life in El Salvador [YQrtw Day 123 Aug 11]

Location: Santa Ana -> San Salvador, El Salvador

Today I returned to San Salvador after three nights in Santa Ana. I still have my cold but the runny nose has shifted from the left side of the nose to the right. Equal opportunity virus!

I took the bus from Santa Ana to San Salvador. Since the day was rather dull, I’ll share something interesting about buses in El Salvador.

Here in El Salvador (and many parts of the world, actually), there are vendors who sell their products in the bus. Not that the buses have canteens on them but roadside vendors would bring their things onto the bus.

Roadside vendors' stalls — Roadside vendors’ stalls

I’ve seen people selling chocolate mix, soft drinks, fresh cut fruits, fried banana crackers and many more.

The vendors hop on the bus when it stops to collect more passengers and get off while the bus is leaving.

Sometimes, the vendors would still be on the bus when the vehicle has left the station. At the next stop, they would get off. I wonder if they walk back to their old stop or take another bus back.

Also, do the bus driver/conductor charge these vendors? If they do, how much “rent” do the vendors pay and do they make enough money in the end?

Rather cute statue in the middle of the fork of the road.

PS My newsletter was out today! Have you seen it yet?

PPS I’m leaving El Salvador for a transit in Los Angeles and I will be in Hong Kong in 2 days’ time. That’s right, my flight is actually two days long, I’ll update in a

Catching a cold and recovering in Santa Ana [YQrtw Day 122 Aug 10]

Location: Santa Ana, El Salvador

I woke up today with stuffy nose and phlegm. This is the second day in which I have such symptoms. I’ve caught a cold at almost the end of my trip.

I think it’s from the two times I’ve soaked in the little swimming pool. Even though the day is really hot, the water is cold and it takes a while to get used to.

Having a cold gives me a very good excuse to not explore Santa Ana. The sun, the heat and the racist cat calls are some things I do not enjoy but are thrown in bundles at me here in this little town.

At first I thought my symptoms were not as serious and that I would be alright after drinking litres of water. But when mom asked me on the phone (LINE is amazing for free calls) if I had headaches, I started feeling dizzing. (It could be that I didn’t have a real dinner and only two eggs for breakfast.)

I did a bit of work on the laptop in the public area and decided to nap. Sleep never came so off I went for lunch at a cafe recommended by the hostel. The cafe/restaurant was lovely and served snack-like meals instead of full meals. I think I’ll head here tomorrow for breakfast.

Chicken feet soup for the sick

I went shopping for something to cook since the hostel kitchen is too amazing to be left alone.

Hostal Casa Verde's awesome kitchen — Hostal Casa Verde’s awesome kitchen

I bought some chicken feet and neck, celery, tomato and celery. This will make good comfort food and they cost about US$3.50.

When I was cleaning my ingredients for the soup, I was horrified to find out that the heads of the chicken were still hanging on. Fortunately, I didn’t need a knife to tear off the head. (Someone call PETA!)

The chicken feet soup was a success. I like how Chinese soup is mostly about throwing everything you have into a pot. I had some soup and macaroni for my afternoon tea and more for dinner.

The rest of the day was spent more on the laptop and less on the hammock. [My newsletter is coming out tomorrow! Subscribe now, please.]

Hong Kong travel tips appreciated!

By the way, I’m going to Hong Kong in a few day’s time. I’m quite clueless about the city so I welcome your travel advice and tips for it. Thanks!

Caturday: Assassin cat in Miraflores, Lima

Cat inner monologue:

I knew that this assignment won’t be easy but I need the money for catnip. Why did I even touch that drug in the first place.

I’ve been following the target since this morning but strangely, I think somecat is following me too. I keep looking over my shoulders but I only see humans. I think I’m losing my touch.

The target has stopped to lean against this wall. He can’t hear me because I’m a silent assassin. Maybe if I pounce now, I can eliminate the target immediately. Here goes nothing.

Year: 2013