Moving Soon.. and American Idol

Hi guys! I’m still here! I’m just in the process of moving my blog to my own site as I’m getting sick and tired of the GREAT FIREWALL OF CHINA.

In any case, I’ll be moving my blog to http://clompy.com. Catch the latest happenings there! I’m also planning to create a sub-domain for my travels and latest starbucks news.

On other news.. I’m quite happy with Danny Gokey out of the running on American Idol.  He’s becoming boring and doesn’t leave a lasting impression.   It will be very difficult to choose between the two finalists.  I look forward to next week’s performance.  I’m rooting for the underdog.. Kris Allen!

 

Love From Seoul!!!

Hello everyone!  I’m here at an internet cafe, relaxing and waiting for my friend to come back from his date.  In any case, Korea is pretty nice.  Well, I haven’t been to all places yet.  We went to Dongdaemun twice already and spent a lot of money.  I’m quite happy with the pieces I’ve bought and I’m pretty sure I’ll be wearing it for quite some time.  It’s not really cheap if you compare it to China but the quality and the design is much better. 

Our hotel is located at Itaewon which is a tourist district with a lot of foreigners.  Just outside the hotel, we have Coldstone Creamery!  Sweet!  It’s even cheaper than in the US.  We also have two Starbucks coffee shop (Don & Gold got your Seoul & Korea Tumblers!), KFC, Mcdonalds, shopping area and bars.  We’re in a pretty good location as both the airport bus and subway stop is just in front of the hotel.  I haven’t seen any stars yet but we haven’t been to their Rodeo Drive.

We didn’t go to Lotte World yet as it’s quite far and pretty pricey.  Also, we need the whole day there which we don’t have as we prefer to shop.  Tomorrow, we’ll be going to Myaeong-dong, a palace, Seoul Tower and a Korean village.  We haven’t had the chance to eat at a good Korean place so it’s a shame.    Well.. I’m off for now.   I’ll be writing from Beijing next time.

 

Off to Seoul!

Well.. just to let you know I’m still here but won’t be writing much for the next couple of days as I’m heading to Seoul with Marco.  I’m excited as this will be my first out of China trip this year.

I’m planning to do some shopping probably try some massage and maybe get a facial!  Koreans have pretty good skin.  Hmm.. maybe I should do some plastic surgery and end up being questioned by immigration when I return as I don’t look the same anymore.  Hahahaha!

Marco and I are still contemplating if we will be doing the Jewel in the Palace tour.  We’ll see.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will enjoy it.  I exchanged some money yesterday and I’m not happy with it.  Their highest denomination is 10,000 won and 3,600 rmb is roughly 698000 won.  Doh!  that’s a thick wad of cash..

In any case, have a good Labor Day weekend everyone!  Cheers!

 

Philippine Airlines “The Real Deal”

Manila outbound travellers are in for a treat as Philippine Airlines introduced a new promo which slash their prices by more than half.  Tickets must be purchased online and issued on April 27 and 28, 2009 and travel to be started and completed between June 1, 2009 to October 15, 2009.

In any case, I’m based in Beijing and the only fares I can avail right now is the Econolight.  So, last night after confirming with my friend that she really was planning to go home, I tried to purchase the ticket.  After several error messages, I reached the payment page.  My only problem was I forgot my securecode password and the credit card agent can’t speak English!  Argghh.. I tried purchasing it this morning but got frustrated with the slow processing pace and the neverending request for the passenger details.

I tried again this afternoon as my friend wants to purchase tickets for her children and sister, after  clicking the “Book the Itinerary” several times, I was able to reach the payment page.  However, when they processed the payment, there was a “Payment Flow Page” error.  AAAAHHHHH!!!!  What is wrong with PAL’s website!

My friend who works for PAL here said the best option now is go to the ticket office but cautioned me that the line is as long as the line auditioning for American Idol.  hahahahaa!  oh well.. I washed my hands on this.

PS.  As of 11pm tonight, my friend’s sister is still in the queue waiting for their turn.  Apparently, the airport’s system’s ticket office went down.  She said there were 2000+ people waiting.

 

House – Season 5, Episode 20

I know this is a week late but I feel that the message should be sent out to everyone.  This episode of House is truly a shocking one, not just for the characters but also for the viewers.  It really put a twist to the season and made me realize something about life.  The patient which usually comes first becomes last in this episode.

The Patient

The show started with a scene of a guy who has only a few weeks to live and his wife saying their last goodbyes.  However, in a twist of fate, the wife suddenly had difficulty breathing.  Next scene, the team were discussing about the case and the patient wishing to be released to be with her husband.  Taub, with his brilliant idea, brought the husband to her side.  As she found out that they were releasing her, she faked a symptom, which House later found out.   However, when House confronted her, she had a real attack which hit her liver and needs her to have a transplant.  The husband was willing to donate a part of his liver to prolong her life and give enough time to the doctors to find out what’s wrong with her but when they did, it was too late.  The disease was caused by sandflies from her secret trip to Rio.  While conducting the test to check if they’re compatible, they were able to find out a cure to her husband’s sickness.