After the supposedly free Hong Kong City Tour, the guide asked where the group wanted to be dropped off. Luckily, a group is scheduled to tour The Peak Tower so Tutubi requested to be there also.

At The Peak, it was still raining and Tutubi never got to see, even photograph, the famous postcard view of Hong Kong's city lights.

Later explored the mall for various finds and decided to visit the Hong Kong branch of famous London attraction: Madame Tussauds wax museum.

at the museum, Tutubi was able to meet Jacky Chan, other Hong Kong and Chinese stars, sports luminaries, famous people and even the British royal family's wax sculptures

Just a few sample pictures for your viewing:




Get acquainted with Nelson Mandela of South Africa famous for eliminating apartheid



get art lessons from Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter, sculptor and co-founder of Cubism



become a superspy with Pierce Brosnan as James Bond or simply the new Bond girl



get the facts right from Princess Diana on what really transpired on the day of her death (recently her 10th year death anniversary)



be the goalie and foil David Beckham attempt



see for yourself that the King of Rock n Roll is not yet dead (elvis presley)



lambast George W. Bush and his warmongering ways



confer with Mahatma Gandhi and his civil disobedience of India and congratulate him on India's 60th year of independence, again, from the oppressive British



hug or strangle the self-proclaimed king of pop (michael jackson)



ask Adolf Hitler why he committed suicide or if it's really true that he's the son of Jose Rizal (a historical rumor/hoax still circulating)



remind Albert Einstein to comb his hair :)



pose with the glamorous princess of J-Pop, Ayu, Ayumi Hamasaki (浜崎あゆみ), very big in Japan (Tutubi loves J-Pop, btw)



hug and kiss Brad Pitt since Angelina Jolie's not around



tee off with Tiger Woods on the fairway

The great part of the museum is that, unlike others Tutubi's seen, you may actually touch the exhibits and pose for pictures



Mock Saddam Hussein whom the American war machine brought down in Iraq



play around with the exhibit e.g. be part of Rembrandt's famous painting "The Syndics of the Clothmakers' Guild"



Be the 5th member of the Beatles besides John Lennon, Paul MacCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison



Be part of the British royal family



or play basketball one-on-one with the giant Yao Ming (姚明)

Other Personalities:

Jacky Chan, Michelle Yeoh, Mikhail Gorbachev, Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Cher, Bruce Lee, Macaulay Culkin, Pres. Bill Clinton, Luciano Pavarotti, Eddie Murphy, Harrison Ford, Hugh Grant et al, was also hoping to see Maria Sharapova but a bit disappointed she's not there

Madame Tussauds New York now has on display the hotel heiress Paris Hilton (House of Wax) in prison garb :)

Sad thing about it is that Madame Tussauds probably haven't heard of Jose Rizal, whose life and works, fueled Asia's first republic :(

Tips on visiting Madame Tussauds:

Photographers are there to take your picture that you can order prints on your way out at, again, touristy prices.

Bring your own camera and tripod so you can take your own picture with your favorite personality. Tutubi didn't use flash on any picture and the museum has low light condition.

Madame Tussauds is located at Level P1 The Peak Tower

How to get there: From MTR Central terminal, walk to the Peak Tram Terminus and ride the famous The Peak Tram service to the Peak Tower or take CityBus routes 15 or 15A.

Wax museum operating hoursis open from 10am to 10pm


Madame Tussauds Hong Kong entrance fee/admission prices/rates:
HK$215 per adult
HK$145 per child (ages 3-11)
HK$145 senior citizen

discounts if you buy tickets online

Other branches of Madame Tussauds are in London, New York, and Berlin (Germany)

special packages available at Madame Tussauds Hong Kong Official Websitehere


See also:

Backpacking Hong Kong
Hong Kong Shopping Guide and Tips
Hong Kong City Tour
Hong Kong Disneyland
Jose Rizal in Hong Kong
Hong Kong in Philippine History
OFWs in Hong Kong
Duk Ling: A Free Tour of Victoria Harbour
Victoria Harbour Cruise
A Symphony of Lights
Ngong Ping 360, Big Buddha, Po Lin Monastery, Wisdom Path

Labels: Hong Kong

It was raining the day Tutubi arrived in Hong Kong and the city, as expected is what photographers will always dismiss as not so suitable to their craft owing to the poor lighting.

The Hong Kong International Airport is modern and cavernous with its own train ferrying passengers to their terminals or baggage claim counters (but still Tutubi loves Singapore's Changi airport. He's seen airports of Mumbai (India), KL (Malaysia) and Bangkok, by the way).

Immigration was a breeze but the airport transfer to the hotel where Tutubi was billeted at Newton Kowloon Hotel in Mong Kok, used a coach (mini-bus), but had to wait for the others booked by the travel agency to arrive add that to the time the coach had to drop off every passenger to their respective hotel. (lesson learned: the airport express is much faster)

Since the "free" city tour was part of the hotel package (booked flights himself via Cebu Pacific to save on costs), Tutubi availed it to see firsthand what the city has to offer; except the tour was just a ploy by the travel agency to squeeze money out of their guests

anyway, no more talk; just show you the pictures:



Golden Bauhinia Square

The Golden Bauhinia Square near the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on the waterfront of Wan Chai marks the most significant occasion in Hong Kong's history - the return of the former British Colony to the People's Republic of China PRC), and the establishment of the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong in 1997. There's a flag-raising ceremony at 8am daily.

Aberdeen Fish Village

An old fishing village in Aberdeen with Stanley Ho's Jumbo Floating restaurant (incidentally, there's also one near the CCP complex in Manila). They will charge you $50 for a few minutes boat ride.


A visit to a jewelry shop and lunch again with touristy prices inserted here but will not disclose details



Repulse Bay and temple

Repulse Bay: Hong Kong Island's most popular beach. The Life Guard Club's terraces are noteworthy for a pair of large statues of two goddesses, Kwun Yum (Goddess of Eternity & Serenity), and Tin Hau (Goddess of the Sea). Behind in big black letters, it says " Number one bay under the sky". This follows the Ancient Chinese mentality that Imperial China was the middle kingdom, and therefore the best in the world. (simply because ancient Chinese didn't know the world yet while the rest of the world, particularly Europe and central asians, also knew the world was flat bordered by India)





Kwun Yum

After the tour, the tour guide made a melodramatic ad misericordiam appeal for tip, already stated in the contact sheet to be customary fifty dollars, after telling stories that they receive such low wages that had to be shared with their families (as if Filipinos wages are too high and that Filipinos also share their meager incomes with families. Tutubi found this uncalled for since gratuity is expected of many people. Talking about salaries with other people is unethical)


Things not to do during "free" Hong Kong city tour:

1. eat at your friendly tour guide recommended restaurants; they're just too pricey (since your tour guide/agency gets a commission). Many nearby restaurants offer much lesser price
2. buy souvenirs or jewelry from their itinerary; again tour operators get a commission and the place sells touristy prices bordering on rip-off. Cham Pui they're selling is seedless alright but the ones Tutubi bought at the night market in Mong Kok tastes better at a third of the price
3. The'll have photographers take pictures of you that you have to pay. Shell out $150 for your picture on a plate that you can get elsewhere at much lesser price.

Now, tell Tutubi, was the "free" Hong Kong city tour really free?

another warning, there are ads in newspapers of $99 tour of HK. Tutubi's advice: DON'T. The "cheap" tour will take you to many places where you're required to buy something, you'll end up spending more than you expected!

For a truly free tour of Hong Kong, try the Duk Ling or various tours organized by the Hong Kong Tourism Board

See also:

Backpacking Hong Kong
Madame Tussauds Hong Kong
Hong Kong Disneyland
Jose Rizal in Hong Kong
Hong Kong in Philippine History
OFWs in Hong Kong
Duk Ling: A Free Tour of Victoria Harbour
Victoria Harbour Cruise
A Symphony of Lights
Ngong Ping 360, Big Buddha, Po Lin Monastery, Wisdom Path

Tags: 金紫荊廣場, 香港, 홍콩

Labels: Hong Kong

Yes, Tutubi went to Hong Kong a few moons ago and will be blogging about the trip that took him to Newton Kowloon in Mongkok, took pictures at the historic square of the Golden Bauhimia, danced with Mickey Mouse and friends in Hong Kong Disneyland (even if he's not really into it), posed with Jacky Chan, mingled with famous denizens of the city, took the peak tram to Victoria, marveled at the wonderful Hong Kong skyline, made a pilgrimage to and ancient village of Ngong Ping 360, meditated at Po Lin Monastery, traced the trail of the Wisdom Path, cruised the passed by an old fishing village, went shopping for surprisingly cheap signature goods at Citygate Outlets, Ladies and Flower market, met pinoy OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) congregating, Little Quiapo, and made a journey dubbed by National Geographic as one of the 50 places of a lifetime.



What made the trip different from the usual Hong Kong trip was that Tutubi, having an insatiable thirst for history and anything historic, visited the place where Jose Rizal lived in Hong Kong, where the Philippine national hero held his clinic, the street where Jose Maria Basa lived in exile and the hill where Marcela Agoncillo sewed the first Philippine flag to be unfurled by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo later in Kawit, Cavite during the Philippine Declaration of Independence




Join Tutubi in his journey as he tours modern Hong Kong, brought under British rule in an ignominious war for opium, now reverted to China. He will present his tour as if you were with him, with the usual travel tips and warnings so you will not fall into the same tourist traps, share his budget and ways to maximize your hard-earned money for it not to go into the hands of short-changing tour operators Hong Kong is notorious of.

To be continued...

See also:

Hong Kong City Tour
Madame Tussauds Hong Kong
Hong Kong Disneyland
Jose Rizal in Hong Kong
Hong Kong in Philippine History
OFWs in Hong Kong
Duk Ling: A Free Tour of Victoria Harbour
Victoria Harbour Cruise
A Symphony of Lights
Ngong Ping 360, Big Buddha, Po Lin Monastery, Wisdom Path

Labels: Hong Kong

Paete's townsfolk re-invented themselves from wood carvers to carving butter, vegetables, chocolate, and ice years ago due to the dearth of wood to support the industry, fueled by the growing demand for kitchen artists and chefs by hotels and restaurants here and abroad.

It is by this reason there's a Paetenian in (almost) every hotel and restaurant in the Philippines working as kitchen artists. (wonder why paetenians have yet to discover food styling as a profession very close to vegetable carving)

Every 24th of July, a day before the town fiesta in honor of St. James the Apostle, Paetenians (or Paeteños) hold the annual Culinary Arts Festival: a competition of vegetable carving, ice and bar tending at the town plaza.

Vegetable Carving Competition at 10am July 24, Paete town plaza


Recognized this gifted lad as Tutubi's nephew :)

birds from pineapple, onions, cucumber, grapes, oranges, carrots et alii
a flower carved from a bell pepper

Ice Carving Competition at 1pm





Tools of the trade: saws, ice clamps, pang-ukit (chisels) of various kinds: paet (straight-edged chisel from where Paete town got its name), landay (slightly arched chisel), lukob (arched or U-shaped chisel), tres pico (V-shaped chisel). (Yes, the word paet is actually a kind of chisel and not the generic word for it. Tutubi knows how to hold, use and sharpen one but is not adept at it)



After almost an hour of chipping away the block of ice, the blocks of ice morphed into different works of ice-cold art that'll melt away in a few minutes



An ice sculpture made from several blocks of ice joined together (in physics, this process is called ice sintering) to create the larger block required for the ice structure. This is not an entry in the competition as it's sculpted by professionals. Notice also the Emperador bottles, one of the sponsors of this annual event.


The red and white canopy provided some relief from the heat of the searing sun and acted as diffuser from the harsh lighting available.




The winners of the contest were awarded trophies and training/employment opportunities in some Manila hotels.

Wasn't able to take pictures of the bartending contest held later. Went instead to Kape Kesada, Wawa Park and nearby Exotikk Restaurant.

The 2006 edition of Ice Age in Paete is availablehere

Pictures taken using Canon EOS 300D either with the super kit lens or the nifty fifty

If ever any of the readers is looking for an ice carver for weddings and other events, just drop a comment and Tutubi may be able to find someone to render the service for you.

Labels: Art, Calabarzon, Laguna, Paete

Talk about the right place at the right time, Tutubi had a rare chance to hone his rusty photojournalism skills when he chanced upon the heavily-guarded launch of eSKWELA Project Launching in Quezon City. Knowing the right people, he was also able to secure a pass that allowed him to enter through an alley with numerous Presidential Security Group (PSG) personnel with their usual cynical looks. (One of them notived he brought along his camera that didn't have a security clerance from EOD-PSG so he had to proceed to the main entrance to have it checked and tagged.)



PGMA flanked by Cong. Bingbong Crisologo and QC Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista as Pres. Arroyo announced the launch of eSKWELA, something like e-learning badly needed in these islands called the Philippines to bridge deficits in education.


The president also announced the increase in P1B budget allocation for education, much needed to build more classrooms to service the bludgeoning population.

A demo of the Balik eSKWELA project with computers and multimedia was made to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo under media frenzy typical of presidential sorties.

After the brief ceremony, the president went to the nearby baranggay chapel for a dialogue with officials of five barangays. (Tutubi wasn't able to follow since those PSG personnel informed him he can no longer go back there. Also that soldier needs to be re-trained on basic courtesy)

eSkwela Project allows out-of-school youth and dropouts to enroll in the DepEd's Alternative Learning System (ALS) so they can get a high school diploma, the way Manny Pacquiao acquired his high school diploma. It uses non-formal education, computers, freeware (open source?), multimedia projectors and free Internet connectivity in four pilot sites: Quezon City, San Jose del Monte, Cebu City and Cagayan de Oro City.

Songs you usually hear from NBN and other government channels rule the airwaves, posters of the president envelope the whole covered basketball court, and people for various outreach services were present particularly the People's Government Mobile Action (PGMA) offered free medical checkups, job search, free medicines and other things Tutubi didn't check out.



There was only a slight drizzle even of typhoon Chedeng was still in Batanes and Dodong's making his presence felt.

What's so unusual with the place was that the place lost its dugyot image and put on a false sense of kalinisan.

How I wish the president would pass by the place every single day so people would do away with the dugyot ways.

Labels: Photojournalism

A faster way to commute to Cavite City from Mall of Asia just went live recently using fast twin-hulled Philippine-made ferries over Manila Bay that cuts trips from 3 hours to 30-45 minutes.

UPDATE: This ferry service from SM Mall of Asia (MOA) to Cavite City was discontinued in July 2010

Metrostar Ferry Details and Information:

TERMINALS:

Mall of Asia
Lot2, Blk1, Coral Way
SM Mall of Asia
Telephone Number: +63.2.407.8825 to 26
Cel: +63.928.677.4221

Cavite City
Samonte Park (back of City Hall)
Telephone Number: +63.46.431.6356
Cel: +63.928.677.4469

FERRY SCHEDULE OF TRIPS

Mall of Asia (MOA) TO Cavite City

LEAVING ARRIVAL
7:45am 8:15 - 8:30am
11:00am 11:30 - 11:45am
3:00pm 3:30 - 3:45pm
6:00pm 6:30 - 6:45pm


Cavite City TO MOA (Mall of Asia)

LEAVING ARRIVAL
6:30am 7:00 - 7:15am
9:30am 10:00 - 10:15am
1:30pm 2:00 - 2:15pm
4:00pm 4:30 - 4:45pm


FARES

Adults PhP 75.00
Senior Citizens PhP 60.00
Students PhP 60.00

MetroStar Ferry also operates the Manila Bay Cruise (popularly known as Manila Bay Sunset Cruise) that costs PhP120 at 5pm plus the evening cruise at 630pm every friday/saturday/sunday in time for the fireworks of Mall of Asia.

looking for these?
Manila Bay Cruise and Manila Bay Sunset Cruise are operated near SM Mall of Asia

Labels: Ferries, Public Transportation

Tutubi knows that this has been the subject of numerous blogs already, but here's Tutubi's own perspective of this award-winning building in a nondescript and congested part of Manila where Tutubi used to pass by during his college days (Tutubi lived 10 years in Sampaloc, by the way)

After the FEU tour, the group went, on Tutubi's suggestion, to Gota de Leche by crossing Nicanor Reyes St (formerly Morayta) passed by FEU gym and right turn to SH Loyola.

Gota de Leche, which means "drop of milk," was modeled after the Ospedale degli Innocenti, an orphanage in Florence created by Brunelleschi, a renowned Renaissance architect. Constructed in 1917, the building has been the home of La Proteccion de la Infancia, a charitable organization providing free pediatric care and food to poor "people in the neighborhood" of which Manila has so many of.





The building has an adjacent arcade with windows that shields the windows, with capiz (mother of pearl) shells, the hot tropical sun. Its architects, Arcadio and Juan Arellano, thus successfully adapted a Italian Renaissance architecture to a tropical setting.(The use of capiz was preferred then to allow light to enter the room, glass was hard and expensive to acquire that time, while the Japanese used paper for the same purpose.)

On the facade of the building are two relief carvings of angels and the words Salus Populi Supremo Lex, familiar Latin words from Cicero's De Legibus meaning "the health of the people is the supreme law"



this says "charitable prject of La Proteccion de la Infancia giving milk to babies. Inaugurated on San Pedro St., now Evangelista in Quiapo, 1907. Built a new building in Sampaloc, 1914. Designed by Arcadio and Juan Areallano based on Ospedale Degli Innocenti by Brunelleschi in Florence, Italy. Opened, 1915. Restored, 2002"




It's for this outstanding work of restoration and adaptive re-use that UNESCO awarded Gota de Leche the prestigious Asia-Pacific Heritage Conservation award in 2003. Other winners of this award were Far Eastern University and Nielson Tower (now Filipinas Heritage Library).

Gota De Leche
Address: 859 S. H. Loyola Street, Sampaloc, Manila
(ask the canteen people beside the place for assistance)

Tutubi's Note:
* unlike present modern buildings in Makati and Ortigas that look like transplanted buildings from New York, made of glass and steel, but not designed for tropical Philippines. Those buildings suffer from high power consumption due to the amount of air-conditioning required. Most buildings here were designed by foreigners not used to designing buildings for hot countries; contracted by Filipinos afflicted either with "National Inferiority Complex" or the debilitating disease called colonial mentality)

Labels: Architecture, Manila, Metro Manila, National Capital Region, UNESCO