I only had five hours to do HK, no thanks to a delayed flight by Vietnam Airlines that made me miss my connecting flight and, consequently, missed the chance to stay overnight in the Chinese SAR.

So, what can an ordinary Pinoy (slang for Filipino) do for five hours in HK? Tinatanong pa ba yun? (Do you need to ask?) What else but shop like mad, wahehe!

Good that their mass transport system is super efficient. Double-deckers leave the airport every few minutes. With limited time, I could only go as far as Kowloon, taking in the beauty of bridges linking the outer islands from the airport to the city. The airport itself is built on reclaimed land.

Along the way, tall residential buildings dominated the landscape. There was no traffic, except for a slight build up when we reached Nathan Road. Kowloon.

Boom! I truly felt like a foreigner then. Must be all those Chinese characters in neon signs everywhere. Nakaka-alienate (It is alienating).

Heading to the side streets, I immediately joined the melee at the night market. Cheap imitations everywhere! Fake Nikes. Fake D&Gs. Fake Louis Vuittons. Fake anything. Aaaargh! Didn't want those. Guess the most precious thing I got was a cheap anime doll (sort of like Polly Pocket but Jap-looking) that my daughter adored and whom she named Michiko.

All the rest, you can easily get at Tutuban (a flea market in Manila). No need to go to HK.

Zhu ni yi tian guo de yu kuai!