I mentioned last time that I was going to Hong Kong with my High School friends. We went late last month and I am glad we did that because the trip gave us the chance to talk and catch up.  Before hitting HK with them though, I went to Singapore again last month.

SG again

I went to Singapore to cover the presentation of a paper on the D-20 or the 20 countries  seen to have the next wave of growth in the telecommunications industry. I stayed there for only two days and I did not really get to shop since I was tired. I took part in a sports fest the day before my 7 am flight to Singapore so you can just picture how exhausted I was. Anyhow, I still liked the trip because I was able to feel what it was like to be an MBA student for a day at Insead School of Business. I attended a class on macroeconomics with another journalist covering the event.  I was expecting that I wouldn't be able to keep up during the discussion, but surprisingly, what was tackled in class were  just the basics and things I already knew. Then again, it was the first day of the term so that's probably why the discussion did not cover the difficult stuff yet.

 

 

I was alone most of the time during the trip by the way, so I was a bit lonely. I don't usually mind going around by myself especially when I want to shop. During my past overseas trips for work, I would usually go shopping by myself and I liked it because all I had to think about was what I wanted to buy and the stores I needed to visit. There was no need to rush because I had no companions waiting for me. During this trip though, I was not in the mood to go shopping by myself.  Walking along Orchard Road by myself just made me feel really lonely.

 

 

HK

I never felt lonely during my HK trip however even if I was on my own on the way there.( My friends opted to get a morning flight while I chose the evening flight since I still had to go to work earlier.) I slept during the entire flight and when I arrived at the airport, I saw someone I knew. She was traveling by herself so we decided to ride the airport express together.

When I arrived at the hotel, my friends Belle, Christel, Martha and Vero all had stories to tell about what they had done so far. They had already gone to the stores I wanted to visit but I did not mind because they promised that we'd go to those places the following day. They also asked me what I wanted to do during the trip and told them that I just wanted to visit H&M, Cotton On and a store selling DMs since I was not able to shop the last time I was in HK. I got my wish because we went to all three stores the following day. Oh. And, I finally got a pair of DMs.

 

While I really enjoyed shopping during the trip, it was not the best part.  The best part was when our flight going back to Manila was delayed by a little over five hours. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 9:40 p.m, but it was moved to 2:50 a.m. Anyone in the same situation would've been upset but I consider it the best part of the trip because it allowed me and my friends to talk and catch up.  We don't always get to see each other so we used the time to wait for the plane to talk and give each other advice. One of us is having some trouble in the love department and while I am no expert, I listened and gave my two cents worth. It was just fun talking to them like that. It felt just like the old days.

 

 

 

You can say that my friends and I chose to look at the bright side of the delayed flight. However, that doesn't mean we did not care about being on a delayed flight. All we wanted was an apology and an explanation at least and we only got that in the middle of the flight when Vero asked a flight attendant the reason for the delay. Some five minutes after Vero raised her concern, the pilot apologized and cited aircraft maintenance as the reason for the delay. Why did we have to ask them the reason? They should have apologized and provided an explanation early on. Since I'm focusing on the bright side, I am letting it go. I am not buying tickets again from that airline though.

 Overall, the trip was fun and I look forward to traveling with my friends again.

 

 

Checked my Multiply account after several months. The last time I  logged in to that site was in September. Before Facebook became a hit, most of my friends were sharing the relevant things about their lives through that website.

I checked my Multiply account to post some photos from last year. I decided to post some photos of my trips last year on my Multiply account to be consistent since I've always been posting photos I took using that account. I am doing it also for easier reference since I know one day, I would want to check some old photos and it would be more convenient to be viewing all of it through just one site.

I wonder how many people are still checking their Multiply site. Do you still check yours?