#laagnitantong

People say that I have some birthmark in my feet soles. Well, I check them every day but I find none. That is actually a figurative way of saying that you are “fidgety”, that you can not sit still, you can not settle in one place. I guess I am in terms of travel. I love to travel a lot, I can not stay put or I get bored if I sit still in one place. Maybe this is why I am granted a job that requires me or that gives me opportunity to travel. My job that relates to traveling started when I worked with foreign-funded projects. First was in Department of Finance under its World Bank-funded Community Based Resource Management Project. Second was in Department of Agrarian Reform under its Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded Agrarian Reform Communities Project. Third was in Department of Agriculture under its ADB-funded Infrastructure for Rural Enhancement Sector Project. And currently I am with Development Alternatives, Inc. under its US Agency for International Development-funded Phi...

Day 5 Erick once mentioned to me the idea of working and living in Hong Kong. This may have risen after having enjoyed the country in many ways, other than the language. I found it a good proposition too. We thought of finding job vacancies in Hong Kong soon. As we checked in at the airport, we queued with fellow Filipinos. Speaking the same dialect, we find it easy to mingle and befriend others. Then I asked the lady next to me “How is it working in Hong Kong?” Without second thought, she replied, “HELL” with exclamation point. I was stunned. With that, I dared not ask her kind of work, or her age (coz she looked too young to be a househelp). Another gal who queued right after us, her name was later known to me as Rowena, has asked our excess free baggage privilege. This is to save her from paying the excess weight of her two large suitcases. Well, only if the cargo is clean, we dared her jokingly. Of course it’s clean, just clothes and all, she justified. Anyways, I overheard th...

Day 4 Our last day tour was in Ocean Park. Erick and I agreed to arrive there early at opening time in order to enjoy all the fun with fewer crowds. We rode the MTR to Admiralty station after another breakfast at same KFC. We found the Ocean Park bus station effortlessly. We arrived at the entrance few minutes ahead of opening time and found the crowd queuing at the Tai Shue Wan entrance. This is the other entrance of the park. Last year, this section was mostly under construction (well, some are still is), but the Ocean Express, the Panda Village and Giant Panda Habitat, and the Goldfish Treasures are open for public viewing. We took pictures of almost all sections of this side of the park, from Sky Fair to Whiskers Harbor, from the Pandas to the Goldfishes. We both were wowed by the life-sized replica of the Dreamworks’ How To Train Your Dragon movie characters. We enjoyed the movie more upon seeing them here, much more when we entered the maze and joined the game with the Mighty D...

You know friends, I experienced God's miracle since June 20. And a friend of mine said, “If I may, I would like to correct you. I think that you experience it everyday and just do not realize it. However I am sure there is one miracle in particular that you wish to share with me. Please do.” Mark Scheuerell, Chicago, Ill. USA YES! I believe everyday is God’s miracle for all of us. But I say, this is BIG time, a BIG one! June 20 was father's day, right? I greeted my father, Papa Tantong Sr., “Happy Father’s Day” through SMS that morning at 10 o’clock. Later in the afternoon we were informed, receiving a text message from my mother, Mama Dulcing, that our father was rushed to the hospital; Surigao Medical Center the nearest one. He was accommodated in the Emergency Room and the doctor, Dr. Go, declared that his heart is in coma. My sister dared to talk to the doctor over the phone. Me? I can’t, I just stared at her and the phone waiting and hoping for good news. I mean go...

Day 3 Macau was the destination for the third day. Joyriding was the main event. Language barrier was the bottleneck. New friendship was built. We rose early from bed to take another breakfast at the same KFC store. We planned to check in the Ferry Terminal early to arrive in Macau early. I remember last year that we walked a circuitous way to look for the Hong Kong Ferry Terminal where the fast crafts or vessels going to Macau were berthed. I pitied Dupong then so soaked with sweat from a long walk from the Mirador Mansion down to the Victoria harbor where we wrongly thought was where the Macau ferries stationed. Then we were told that Hong Kong Ferry was on the other side, just a walking distance from that point. So we walked and walked almost the whole stretch of the Canton Road. We did find it but we were already exhausted by the wandering. That was when I noticed that the said ferry terminal was located near a park, which I believe was the Kowloon Park. So this time, I led Eri...

Day 2 Our day two started with a breakfast at KFC, the nearest one from our Hostel. It lies along the Cameron Road, which is two blocks away from the Mirador Mansion. I climbed up the 13th floor right after meal to claim our Disneyland ticket. I was told yesterday that the ticket will be available at nine in the morning, the best time we to reach the Disneyland gate at opening time. I climbed up the USA Hostel reception desk twice for the ticket. Had it not because of the Filipino hostel crew that entertained me while waiting, I would stone there on a stool facing at the frowning Liza, the Chinese owner. Well, she can converse in English well but I doubt if she will spend time during this frenzy morning for her to reciprocate any point of discussion I will open with her. This once again irritated me. Putting me to wait is not really my cup of tea; “patience is not one of my virtues,” I used to tell my friends who used to be late at our agreed meeting time. Or maybe that was how she ...

"I have been - to my suprise after watching the film 2012 -keeping track of all the possible signs of the world's annihilation in the coming ages. Indeed, it's very likely that the world is coming to its end if we base it on the mere occasions of horror that we are experiencing these days due to climate: earthquakes here and there, the agonizing heat of the sun, the floods decimating the population of the earth. Well, it wouldn't hurt to always be prepared, right? :-o"

Day 1 I always believe in what people say, “there’s always a second time”. Yes. May 29 to June 2 was my second time to visit Hong Kong and Macau. When my friends asked me which place that I’ve been to would I like to go back, Hong Kong is basically one of them. Macau, however, is included in the visit since it is just a short trip away and can be enjoyed in just a day tour. Why go back to Hong Kong? Primarily because it is in Asia, no need of visa, and just a 2-hour airtrip away from the Philippines. It is not really the people that neither interest nor excite me but the variety of destinations to go back for, over and over again. Most especially the Ocean Park and the Disneyland, the two most interesting theme parks I would love to spend once in a while. Why not the people? It is because despite being colonized by the English, the Hong Kong populace never learned to speak English nor, shall I say, speak the way we Filipinos speak English. Well, some of them know how to speak E...