I never thought travelling would be my thing when I was growing up. The travel exposure I have back then was mostly going to the province with family every chance we get - summer vacation, birthday of my grandma, some relative's wedding, some aunt or uncle needs a company and I was picked to be the one to join them, long holiday when my dad can be away, etcetera.

It was not until my first job that I got bitten by the travel bug. The weird, messed-up way that I got there was a real blessing in disguise. I remember getting excited to finally get a job. It was that ticket to finally be not under the rule of "you don't like the rules under my roof, get out of the house". Hahah. Or so I thought. I guess God has His way of honoring your dreams but not exactly when you are rebelling. At least not yet. The first job was one of the many breaking of the ideals. I got plans. I had things set in my mind. But hey, He works differently.

See these people up there.. go see their works! The Fantabulous people !

Anyway, so we have this project offshore. I was not part of the team who would originally go there. I was on probation, anyway but I did have my hopes up of getting picked in the rotation and fantasizing about the time that I may be joining that teammate who I like. That did not happen, though. He resigned.

Almost a week or so before they were set to leave for Hong Kong, he resigns. Who does that? Well, someone who has plans to fulfill a promise to his loved one - I think he was getting married then hahaha. I was bewildered, not heart broken but bewildered because the whole project was almost his design. He knows the ins and outs and I cannot imagine finishing the project without him. I asked him if he really was sure about resigning. He cheerfully encouraged me, "Take it this way. The spot I left leaves you a gateway of opportunity." Next thing I know, I was processing my travel documents.

Fast forward, HK was the cleanest place I've been in then so far. Comparing it to Manila was crazy. Then we had this opportunity to cross the border - Shenzhen for a time. Crossing the border was like zapping me back to Manila. Shenzhen shopping was fun, though. I was told that shopping at the border gives you chance to haggle for insane prices. I had a knack of collecting sidewalk watches then - specially with Mickey in it. So I got good use of my friendly charms and the three Chinese words I learned from college friends. The locals were laughing at me I guess I said it wrongly.

We also had a chance to visit this one place - Windows of the World - a theme park. If we had the Nayong Pilipino in Manila showing all the beautiful places in the country, they have that theme park showing the wonderful places of the world.

They had the replica of a lot of dream places. I suddenly started a mental bucket list then. I suddenly prayed to see the whole world after it.

They have the Eiffel Tower which we were able to climb.

Somewhere near that Eiffel is also their version of Arc de Triomphe. It was a fun experience to be in one place at this time and in a few steps I am elsewhere.

They even have the Stonehenge. The view of this brought me back to a conversation about aliens with a semi-obsessed friend about Roswell, Egyptian pyramids and the Stonehenge.

Speaking of pyramids, they have it there. It was just a little odd seeing the buildings behind the pyramids.

They have the windmills of Holland, even the Golden Gate bridge, the Washington Monument, the four heads on mount Rushmore.

It was all there! The child in me was overwhelmed and over happy. I was with three other older folks from the office then. They had to keep up with my energy. The place is huge considering they were showcasing replicas of places from Asia, Europe, Oceania, Africa, America, etcetera. I don't think we were able to really cover the whole park.

It was indeed an experience. And one of the many things that got me overwhelmed with the truth that God's ways always lead to better outcome.

Hello everyone and good evening ... yet it should be "good morning"! Just happened to rummage through my weird stash of photos from the past when I stumbled upon this and got a flash back.

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