after coming back from Hong Kong on Friday, i had to wake really early for a basic life support and CPR training with my sister, my two cousins and two officemates - Elma and Vyke. it was held in ospital ng maynila and it was a 16-hour training course. at first, i was so sleepy and was thinking if i made the right choice saying "yes" to my sister who asked me if i wanted to go with her on this training. but as the lecture went on and the speaker was funny naman, i enjoyed a lot and learned so many stuff. it was really a harrassing weekend because you're pressured at the same time to pass the course. there's a written exam and a practical exam as well. we were so nervous that my sister and i had to practice til 12pm that Saturday! ;) but i got a good grade in my exam. 43/50. The passing was 38. i had 20.50/24 on the practical exam and that was good too because you have to have a grade of at least 75% to pass the course. in the end, there were 4 people who didn't pass... kakaawa nga kasi super haba ng training... but we all passed... my sis, my two cousins and Elma and Vyke! There's a next course which I also plan to take. It's the First Responder Course. It's going to be more detailed this time, and stricter. They'll be teaching you about more life saving, how to operate stuff, oxygen and more. The final exam is that they'll stage a scene where you'll see a lot of unconscious people and an emergency scene and they'll grade you on how well you respond to that. Although I know it's more harder to pass this one, I'll still take it cause I know i will be learning a lot! ;)

I met a lot of great people in this training, too. as well as learning more about my sis and Elma and Vyke. we had fun and we were all grateful we attended and that kina-reer namin! ;)

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i really had so much fun in hong kong. i actually went because of work. but i got there on saturday first. i stayed with apple's place. it was so great to catch up with her. when i touched down from the plane, i took the bus to go to Kowloon Tong like a local. the only problem was i didn't know where to take off! i tried talking to the driver but he won't let me. so i called my friend and we had to find a passenger who knew where i'd get off! ;) haha. but it was cool. i met apple there and had dinner with her uncle, jerwynn and serene at a university chinese restaurant. after, we went to apple's apartment and browsed the internet for wedding ideas. we watched kim sam soon also. the first two episodes. kakabitin! the audio was in chinese and they had a chinese subtitle to follow! ;) the next morning, my friend joanna (who i met in my Samsonite days) picked me up at prince edward and we left for Kwun Tong for chinese dimsum brunch with her family and offie, their Filipina maid! ;) after, i took the bus and got off at my friend's place in Prince edward. I'm really proud to go around hong kong like a locale. we went to mong kok, temple street then to Tsim Sha Tsui where I got a lot of good stuff for myself and my family. i love that esprit has now an outlet store! ;) anyway, we went to mass at around 6 and visited Sogo, Mango and Zara after. had our japanese dinner at city super. it was actually a set meal in time for valentines! haha. we got udon noodle soup, beef gyudon and tonkatsu. we ordered octopus balls (like takoyaki - is that right) too. it's good apple has improved her appetite. ;) she got to eat a lot na. ;) anyway, we bonded there with our stories, thoughts and talked generally about life. it was so nice to bond with her after a long, long time!

next day, has to go to airport and met with my boss for work. we arrived at dongguan city and checked in at a five-star hotel in the city. ang ganda ng hotel. may free internet pa! haha. ;) stayed there until thursday the finally went back to hk. Apple and I met at her work in Central. Super ganda na ng Hong Kong side. Parang I didn't see that before. it's gonna be in my agenda next visit! We went back to their apartment cause my luggage was so heavy. then we went out for dinner. we went to this chinese restaurant where apple and i didn't know how to order cause everything was in chinese!!! hehe. but we managed to order quite delectable dishes... starting with our roast geese (which we wanted but we ordered wrongly... however what we ordered was out of stock so they recommended another and we said yes... and then we ended up with what we wanted!), beancurd with fish filling, spareribs hotpot and rice. yum yum! on the way home, we bought a bottle of Guiness beer. I tasted one with my boss in the hotel where we stayed and it was so good!!! but we drank it and it wasn't cold so it didn't quite taste as good. but apple and i enjoyed our sips. ;) hehe. Jerwynn even asked Apple when she learned how to drink! ;) anyway, the next day - the day i go back to manila by 6pm, apple and i exchanged our goodbyes and i was left in the apartment. i went by myself to tsim Sha Tsui in the morning. i tried looking for more great finds but they were offering the spring collection na so no sale ;) but i found a cool jacket for HK $99, pink corduroy with lining pa! i ate at happy garden in canton road and bought dried oysters for my mom in a store where my mandarin was practiced! it was good to speak in Mandarin and be understood! ;) anyway, after I took the MTR to Kwun Tong to meet Offie and we went around a bit in APM (a high end dept store). After that, we went back to Prince Edward and she helped me carry my luggage until i reach the bus going to the airport. Galing talaga this trip. had so much fun talaga! oh, one thing, as i got into the MTR to Kwun Tong, there was this cute guy! he's caucasian, long hair, rugged looking but was in long sleeves and tie, and was really cute! pero our eyes didn't meet... pity! haha.

so over all, it was really a great trip and one of my highlights this february!!! i'm going back to HK on the last week of March! I hope I'll get to go to Disneyland to celebrate my birthday!!! ;)