Away For Half A Decade

October 6, 2022

The 21st of September marked my half-decade abroad, and I didn't expect it to last this long. My first plan was only to work for two years for experience purposes. Who would have thought I would enjoy this place and stay longer? It's just quite saddening though, thinking about my failed goals while in this country, and I seem to have achieved less than expected. If not because of traveling, I wouldn't mind extending my contract here.

This is still a continuation of the series of questions about Ask A Traveler. If you haven't read the first part, don't hesitate to click the link above. Some questions have been omitted, and for today, I chose the questions below.

• What's been your scariest moment?

While remembering my travel experiences this year, I couldn't think of one that has been my scariest, most exhausting yes there is 😅. I did have a scary moment, but I can't consider it as scariest. I sat at the edges of different cliffs but I never felt scared at all, rather amused by more capabilities I never thought I have.

If there's one thing that made me scared while on travel was when we encountered a snake while hiking one of the most arduous and steep trails in Hong Kong, Violet Hill, and The Twin Peak.

My travel buddy accidentally stepped on it, and when it moved, that was only the moment she recognized that it was a snake. I was scared by her scream, not by the snake. Looking at the shape of the head, I know it wasn't venomous so we have nothing to worry about. Of course, anyone would be scared by the thought of seeing a snake in real life. My buddy even cried, but to give her reassurance, I searched about it online to prove that it wasn't venomous. That's when she felt relieved.

If you missed my travel blogs on this trail, check them here:

Passing Through Trails Of Endless Stairs To Violet Hill And Tai Tam Reservoir

Our Exhilarating Hike To Twin Peak a.k.a. Terrible Twins

• What was your most embarrassing moment?

Embarrassing moment? Well, it's not literally associated with something embarrassing, and that happened during our last hike. We met a guy during our last hike, he's a Chinese guy and ahm kind've cute 🙈. When he asked our group for a favor to take photos of him (because he's alone), they recommended me to be his photographer. Why me? I complained.

I felt like my face was red and I felt hotter (because of my jacket, lol). His smile was too contagious that anyone would smile as well. I felt like my hair was too long (although it is) when he smiled at me and I blushed 🤭. After taking some photos of him, the two Filipinas we met were teasing us and told him "she is single." They were referring to me. And if I want a photographer, I can accompany him. WTH! It seemed like they were deciding for me, lol.

I was embarrassed because some Indonesians and Chinese were also there and looking at us. But anyway, he's cute, so it was fine, and I just forgave them for embarrassing me 🤣.

You can check our last hike here:

Exploring The Kam Sui Shek Teng of High Island Reservoir Hong Kong

• How many foreign words have you learned so far?

I've been staying here for 5 years, but honestly, I still don't know Cantonese or Chinese. I know some words, but if you put them into a sentence, okay I'll just say "yes" even if I don't understand 🤣.

Kidding aside. I understand some Cantonese but not Chinese. These two are different, and Chinese is much harder to learn than Cantonese. I know the basics and I will only understand the meaning of the sentence if I know a few words in it. It's hard to talk using Cantonese, but I do understand some. It's the same sense in understanding the "Bisaya" dialect, but hard to say it in words, lol.

Here are some Cantonese words:

Ngo (pronounce as O) - me

Oi - love

Lei - you

Ngo Oi Lei - I love you 😜 (Rearranged right? You'll be crazy with the sentence arrangement here)

If you visited here and some oldies called you "chi sin," which means you did something wrong to them, they got annoyed, and call you "crazy." Haha. In Chinese, it's din dian. There are other terms for crazy too depending on the usage.

• How many different currencies are you carrying?

I only have two here, Hong Kong dollars and Philippine Money. Should I add cryptocurrencies? Never mind, haha.

• What have you brought that you haven't used?

When traveling or hiking, apart from my phone and money, I usually bring water, food, extra clothes, tissue, alcohol, chewing candy, and sunglasses (my eyes are sensitive to light).

When traveling solo, I usually bring my tripod. But there are times that I don't want to use it, especially when the place is too crowded. So instead of using my tripod, I would just ask a favor from anyone in the place to take photos of me 😅. So the tripod became useless.

• What has been the most useful item you've brought?

The most useful item I brought is probably the chewing candy. Sometimes when we are hiking, we can't find a good place to eat our lunch, and we would sometimes feel hungry along the trail. That easily drains our energy. Candy can help delay the onset of hunger, so I always carry it when traveling. I prefer chewing candy so it would last longer in my mouth.

• What's the best piece of travel advice you've received?

There's one piece of advice that I will never forget, and that's from PVM.

"Live a life you will remember."

That's exactly the point why I am making my life worth remembering. It's not just about doing the right thing, inspiring others, and helping my beloved ones, it's about doing what I love, which is traveling.

The time will come that I'll get old and incapable of achieving what I want. So while I am young and capable, I want to travel, capture beautiful places, and store unforgettable memories in my mind. Something that I could retrieve and reminisce about when I get old.

• What's the worst piece of travel advice you've received?

So far, I have received none, except that some of my friends want me to find an AFAM, or a foreign man so that I won't be alone on my journey anymore. It's not the worst, though, but funny. It's not really in my vocab right now. I just want to live the life that I want without any commitments and pressure. In God's due time, I believe he'll come. If we are meant to be, then why not consider it? But again, not now or sooner.

If someone still likes and courts me at the age of 40, then I might probably say yes to him, lol.

• Would you rather be rich and ugly or poor and pretty?

I don't consider myself pretty, but rather ugly, so I'll go with rich but ugly. Why not? I have the money if I am rich, then I might just use it to become pretty, lol. Which is important, beauty or money? D*mn. Money of course. I don't need beauty if I already have money. I don't need to apply anymore to those companies who only accept applicants with pleasing personality standards, but they actually meant is beautiful appearance, lol. I could just put up my own business and be my own boss.

• What's the longest you've been away from home?

As the title says, away for half a decade. That's the longest time I've been away from home. It's actually very long for me as many things have changed while I am away. Some of my younger siblings have their families now, and I have one new niece from my sister and one new nephew from my brother. The other one is still in the womb and would come out soon.

Who doesn't like to see these cutie patooties? I want to hug and cuddle them. My niece was baptized on the 8th day of October, and her mother said she'll be big by the time I return home. That saddened me. I wouldn't be able to see their baby figures, just in photos.

And I'll only be a few years away from my real life by then. Life starts at 40 anyway. That sucks.

I do like traveling, but I also like to see my family. And if possible, travel with them too. I want my parents to experience what I am experiencing now when traveling. I hope I could make it come true. That would be my best gift to them.

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