Back from HK...

The Hong Kong trip was not part of my plans this year.

All I had in mind was Singapore in December for the Standard Chartered Marathon and that's it.

A colleague who was feeling down on one regular work day afternoon became the reason for the Hong Kong trip. That colleague came into my cubicle and said,"I'm feeling sad today. Let's go to Hong Kong." Cebu Pacific had a seat sale back then and the return fare was only P4,300.

The next thing I know, I was already booked for a flight to Hong Kong.

If not for the tragedy that happened last Monday, the same day that I arrived back in Manila, the Hong Kong trip would have been really perfect.

Like so many others, I am sad and furious with the outcome of that crisis. I feel extremely aweful because I had a fantab time in Hong Kong. Major, major. I didn't feel unsafe for a second, I had a good vacation, it was the perfect break from work that I needed. And then, here are these Hong Kong tourists, eight of whom lost their lives, having a vacation in my own country and the vacation turns into a nightmare because of a severely mismanaged situation. Hay.

I really hope that justice will be served. And like many others, I want to see a lot of heads rolling.

At the same time, I feel bad that international media portrays Manila as representative of the safety and security status in the country. It's not. I f-ing hate Manila. I would move to anywhere better in a heartbeat. It's only here that I feel unsafe. When I go to the countryside, I feel so much better and I know that there are so many things that our country has to offer to prospect tourists. I know because real work, volunteer work, vacation have brought me to so many fantab places from Luzon to Mindanao. It kinda sucks that what makes it to the evening news are tragedies like the one that recently happened.

Would it be insensitive of me if I still write about the good time I had in Hong Kong? I hope not. It's been a very good experience, as I have said and I definitely want to write it down so I can look back at it months, years from now.

My prayers go with the families of the victims. Hong Kong, I apologize for what happened.