Day 2: Outlet shopping in Bicester Village

Our second day in the UK was spent in Bicester Village.  It was overwhelming and we didn't really come prepared.  Clothes, shoes and bags were 30-70%, everything was hard to resist.  There's also a lot of dining options where you could rest from all the shopping.  We enjoyed dining at Villandry Grand Cafe so we ate there twice, breakfast and late lunch.  Had to try the Fish and Chips!

Also had snacks at itsu to keep our minds off more shopping or we would be bankrupt on our second day!

Hongkong August 2014 - Day 2: Day in Central

Our second day started nicely with breakfast at the Continental Club Lounge.  As usual, loved the service there and the food was good and filling, I could eat all the smoked salmon I want.  This is also where we indulge in cheese and honey.

We took the Star Ferry to Central. The terminal was just a few steps from the hotel and this was a more convenient way of going to  Central than the MTR, and cheaper too.

Saw the Jollibee branch in Central and couldn't resist a photo.

We had lunch at La Vache! because I read about how the steak was really good.  But we had such a hard time finding the place.  We had to walk up the mid-levels to soho that by the time we got to the place, we were so tired and sweaty.  The food was good but the service was bad so we wouldn't be going back there.

They had only one item on the menu, which was the steak.

The fries were good, fried supposedly in beef fat!

It was an experience that we could talk about, but our conclusion was that it wasn't really worth the effort...

After lunch, we went to my favorite store COS and I was not disappointed!  Also went to Landmark to look at all the shops until we got so tired that we had to sit at a Starbucks Coffeeshop to rest our feet until we had the energy to go back to Tsim Sha Tsui, before the rush hour starts.

We did a lot of walking around at the Harbour City, until finally we couldn't walk anymore that we went back to the hotel in time for the evening cocktails at the lounge.  That was our dinner for the day!

15th Anniversary in Hong Kong: Day 2

On our second day, we were determined to get all errands out of the way, but we of course  checked all bargains along the way. All designer stores were on sale including Gucci, Prada, YSL, Mulberry and Tod's.  Twist, which also sells designer handbags including Proenza Schouler, Bottega, Hermes, Balenciaga and other designer brands was also on sale offering up to 70% discount.

Photo Op at Harbour City at the YSL boutique.

All errands (bilins) were  in Causeway Bay, starting with SOGO Department Store and ending at the Ikea Store. We picked up our usual colored paper napkins but we  paid careful attention to the displays which will be very useful to us when we plan for own "small space".  From Causeway Bay, we went to Central to check out the sales.  Landmark had this magnificent Christmas display:

We made a stop at the Canteen at the Prince's Building for a snack  in the middle of checking out the stores.

Dinner was at Hip Katsu back in Tsim Sha Tsui where Eric had the steak bento box.

H&M was also on sale, but mostly winter clothes.

Hong Kong January 2010 - Days 1 and 2

E and I used our Asiamiles mileage points for this trip and arrived in Hong Kong around 1:40 PM , but Mom and Dad's Cebu Pacific flight arrives around 6:40PM, so we had about 5 hours to spare. We decided to go to the nearby Citygate Outlet Mall to scout out bargains. Unfortunately, we didn't find anything to buy. We had fun making "tambay" though. I was telling E that we should relish those moments since our life in Manila was always hectic.

Here we are at the courtyard of the mall, having coffee:



Dad loves Chinese food and so we started on our Chinese food trip right there at the airport. It was a choice between Crystal Jade and Maxim's Roasts. Crystal Jade was full, so it was Maxim's for us. Their Hainanese Chicken rice is good!



Since there were four of us, we decided to take the taxi to our hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui. If we had taken the Airport Express it would have cost us HKD90 per person, while the taxi ride cost us only HKD250.

The next day, we decided to go to Causeway Bay for Uniqlo, Muji and Ikea. We had lunch at Rice Paper, a vietnamese restaurant at the World Trade Center where Uniqlo and Muji had branches. Mom shopped for clothes because she "lost" her luggage. Well, someone mistakenly got her luggage at the airport, while she in turn got that person's luggage. Lesson: make sure that you get the correct luggage! Rice Paper was quiet and calm, and had good food too.

After going through our "list" at the stores, we went back to TST so that my parents can rest. We took the MTR this time:

While Mom and Dad rested, E and I walked around TST. We saw Hullett House which was one of the newest developments in the area where all the expensive jewelry and watch stores were. There was also a hotel. The courtyard was a favorite background of newly married couples for their portraits. We saw at least three couples while we were there.

The following picture I had to ask E to take, it is a picture of all the people outside Chanel waiting for their turn to go in. It is the same scenario outside the Louis Vuitton store. There is no recession there, people had money to spend!

Happy Birthday Sweetie - Part 1

E's birthday fell on a Tuesday, and the day after he returned from Tokyo. Given these, we decided to spend the day together and plan for the big family get-together on the weekend. For the birthday itself, we had this bright idea of renewing our driver's licenses since both of us will be on leave. Not really a bright idea as we spent the whole morning at the LTO office, finishing just in time before the office declared a lunch break. Needless to say, what a waste of birthday time:-(

We had a nice and quiet birthday lunch with E's parents at La Nuovo Pasteleria, followed by coffee at UCC Vienna Cafe in Greenbelt 5. We heard Holy Mass in Greenbelt for Mother Mary's birthday as well as E's birthday. I think he is fortunate to have the same birthday as Mother Mary.

One of E's birthday wishes was a shopping spree at Adidas, and so we spent some time there, but I was disappointed that all he wanted was the Jawpaw -- similar to Nike's aquasock but way cooler. He says perfect for their bike trips which involve crossing bodies of water. Oh well, we are still set to get another birthday wish one of these days. (He gets to receive an x number of birthday wishes depending on the budget).

Dinner, still with his parents, was at one of our favorite restaurants. Which one is your guess?

My Hong Kong

I am by no means an expert of Hong Kong, but I do love the place and would like to share some of my favorite places. This is for my dear friend SC who will be going to Hong Kong soon.

1. Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, where the Giordano and Bossini outlet stores are located. Also nearby is an Esprit outlet store.

2. Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui for the big H&M store across the Marco Polo Hotel. At the Ocean Terminal, Chanel, Bottega Veneta, Gucci, Tod's and Louis Vuitton. Loved shopping at H&M because surprise surprise, they have the size XL which fits me, and loved window shopping at the other stores. Chanel sales associates are the best, very helpful and accommodating even if it was so obvious that I was just an uzi. Louis Vuitton sales associates are the worst. Not sure if this is true for all LV branches in Hong Kong or just this branch.

Also at the Ocean Terminal are City Super for food items, Fortress for electronics and Muji, a Japanese store containing almost everything -- clothes, things for the home, linen and food items.

3. Citygate Outlet Mall in Tung Chung. My favorite stores are Puma, Nike, Esprit, Samsonite and Polo Ralph Lauren. Outlets of Kate Spade, Burberry and Bally can also be found there as well as Fortress for electronics.

4. Festival Walk at Kowloon Tong where Uniqlo and H&M are my favorites. Check out the sleepwear in Uniqlo, they're so cute.

5. World Trade Center in Causeway Bay beside the Excelsior Hotel where Uniqlo and Muji can be found.

6. IFC Mall where there is a Lane Crawford and Zara. I loved their rooftop which was like a park with comfortable lounging chairs and tables where one can just bring food to eat, relax with friends and family or just rest from all the shopping. The view is also amazing.

Hope you found this helpful. Please feel free to add to the list!

Friends and Our Last Day in San Francisco (and the US!)

We stayed in San Francisco 3 days and two nights and managed to see most of the city in a day. The best part of our stay was actually seeing friends and spending time with them.


We saw LCN and family on our 2nd day and our only full day. We spent time with the family the whole afternoon (see previous entry):



In the evening we met up with BB, E's ex-officemate who is now based in Vallejo, and her family. We had dinner at this pizza place in Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf where E and BB updated each other about their lives. E also updated BB about people and events in his Company. They reconnected through me, BB found me on Facebook!:

The next morning, we had coffee at the Union Square with my friend from Grade School CPD and her husband SD. We counted the years, and it was 27 years since we last saw each other. She looked great by the way, and I think she even looks prettier now! Does she look like a mother of a seventeen year-old?
After our coffee date with CPD and SD, E and I did some last minute shopping at the Westfield Shopping Center. Here, I did some last minute shopping at Bath and Body Works. Also scored a hoodie at USD12 and another pajama at USD9 from Victoria's Secret. There were also a lot of sportswear on sale -- didn't know Victoria's Secret carried a sportswear line-- and scored several items at 50% off.

LCN took a day off from her very busy schedule with the kids to finally see us off. We had lunch at this popular Thai food chain and then had coffee and dessert at Cheesecake Factory at the topmost floor of Macy's Union Square.

And soon enough, it was time to go...

It was another sad day for me... we have officially ended our grand vacation. Back to reality. Of course, reality isn't so bad. We have to go back to work eventually... how else could we pay our bills? To look at it the positive way: It's now time to plan the next vacation!

San Francisco in a Day

In San Francisco, we stayed at the Adante Hotel located on Geary St., walking distance from Union Square. Although the hotel was modest, the central location more than made up for it. And for about USD70 per night, including taxes (which was more than 10%), it was well worth it. An added plus would be the Filipino front-desk personnel Leo, who was so helpful. We felt right at home. Special thanks to my friend JDV who made this hotel booking possible.

We only had two nights in San Francisco and really just one full day, so we planned that day well. Leo offered us a city tour package that cost around USD40 each.

On the Tour Bus, everyone stayed on the upper deck, except E and me. We had the lower deck all to ourselves, and so it felt like we had our own limo service, hahaha!


The Tour Bus basically went around the city so we saw Lombard Street, or the world's crookedest street... but our tour guide said that it's not Lombard anymore, it's Wall Street !:-D We also saw the financial district, City Hall, Castro Street (and all the rainbow flags hanging on residential and commercial buildings),Chinatown and Little Italy.

Our first major stop was at the Mission Dolores, the oldest structure in the city.

Second stop was on Twin Peaks, supposedly the highest point of the city, and the view was breathtaking!


Golden Gate Park was next, where we saw the Japanese Garden where some parts of "Memoirs of a Geisha" were shot.



And then of course, the highlight of the tour was to cross the Golden Gate Bridge and take pictures!


After the tour, we had a few hours before we were to meet my good friend and high school barkada LCN and her family . We had lunch first at Jack in the Box because we saw one near Union Square, and they had this steak and rice dish. We were so hungry after the tour, and it was way past lunch time. After that E and I went on our separate ways. I went to Victoria's Secret where I saw pajamas on 75% off. Got two worth USD7 each! Here's a picture of E at Union Square.



LCN and family picked us up at the hotel and brought us to the Cable Car Museum first before taking us on a ride at a Cable Car! LCN's kids are soooo cute!


We rode the Cable Car to Fisherman's Wharf where we had a Clam Chowder snack!

All of those in one day! We had such a full and fun day.:-)

Other Southern California Highlights

We love Southern California primarily because we have family and friends there. But in addition, (window) shopping is great. We came at the right time, all stores were on sale, whether it was Ikea and South Coast Plaza (love this mall!All the designer boutiques were there, Chanel, Bottega, Tory Burch, Louis Vuitton...you name it, it's there -- it was really nice to LOOK around, yup, that was all we did, look around) in Costa Mesa, Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga or Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.

It was indeed great to have spent time with the T family (again) who were such thoughtful and generous hosts. We always look forward to time with them. I also caught up with high school good friend HF and friend from grade school MH.

Lunch at Ikea Costa Mesa with RT. Had the famous swedish meatballs.

Dinner with HF at Claim Jumper in South Coast Plaza

Dinner with MH at Kabuki in Victoria Gardens, Rancho Cucamonga

Bonding with the T family

Santa Monica and Long Beach

We were wonderfully suprised that even if it is not our first time in this part of the States, there is still so much more to discover. I loved everything about Santa Monica. The way they have developed their beaches with the walkways, the ferris wheel, the food and souvenir stalls, the restaurants, everything. Not to forget Third Street Promenade, which is now one of my favorite shopping malls. Two blouses from Zara at USD9.99 each. Jackpot! The Apple, H&M, Forever 21 stores were also nice.

Third Street Promenade

After Santa Monica, the T family brought us to Long Beach for dinner. We had dinner at Yard House, where we had that very spicy Tuna Sashimi Salad, pizza, pasta, giant onion rings, and others I don't remember now. We had a great time!!!

Pasalubong Shopping

December 29, 2008. Since MS (my cousin KS' wife) was off from work, we tagged along with her for grocery shopping. This was the best time to buy all the "bilins" so that we can fill up a balikbayan box before we leave New Jersey. We went to Costco for my parents' medicines and vitamins, chocolates, a year's supply of batteries in all sizes (yup, a lot cheaper there) and a lot of other things. I had to stop myself from buying additional bath and bed linen... we haven't used more that half of what we purchased last year. Next on the list was Wal-Mart for Hormel Chili con Carne (E's family's favorite snack) and cosmetics and toiletries that were mostly "bilins".

In the evening, we finally decided to buy the Roomba (been obsessing about it since last year)from Kohl's. Am really excited for it to finally arrive. We also went to Bridgewater Commons, the nearest mall to buy Bath and Body Works products for pasalubong and our own consumption. Luckily, BBW was already in the middle of its semi-annual sale. I bought my year's supply of home fragrance oils (I hope I got enough), hand sanitizers and liquid hand soaps. At day's end, we were able to fill up the Balikbayan Box.

Hoodies

I love hoodies, they help me look young and keep me really warm! So, in a span of 2 days, I have bought for myself 2 hoodies, one in purple/violet from Kohl's at USD12, and one in off-white from an H&M outlet for USD15. From then on, I knew I couldn't spend more than USD15 for a hoodie!