Tokio Hotel on being fashionable against AIDS

Tokio Hotel, along with other awesome artists and celebs like Katy Perry, N.E.R.D-oh Cj, your idol...-,  Dita Von Teese, Yoko Ono,  Cyndi Lauper and such collaborated with clothing store H&M in a campaign against AIDS called "Fashion against AIDS" by designing shirts, dresses and other clothes. I read from a magazine that artists like Rihanna, MCR and Maroon 5 joined the campaign last year and did the same thing TH and the others did. 

All the materials are made of organic cotton and 25% of the profit will go to AIDS/HIV prevention groups.  the designs will be on over 1000 H&M stores worldwide on may 28.

Tokio Hotel's collaboration with the store is a tshirt with a skull design with the text "Rock hard... F*** safe"(the asterisks are TH logos) 

Thanks to Tokio Hotel America fans club for making me know that....

The next time i'll travel abroad...(or just in Hong Kong)

The next time i'll travel abroad, the dos and the don'ts that i should mind before i'll leave the Philippines, when im not there for a period of time and when im back in the country.

Before:

- The moment you discovered you'll be going out of the country, don't tell everyone that you'll be travelling. if you want to open up to a friend, just tell it to an online friend or someone who is not a pasalubong whore. That way, you don't have to buy souvenirs to friends who would just throw it away. btw, a pasalubong is basically a small gift that someone gives to his family and friends when he come from abroad or somewhere, e.g my sister's Lacoste tshirt that me and dad brought in Hong Kong and my Ed Hardy Love and Luck perfume from my sister who brought it in Osaka, Japan.

Gosh, buying those pasalubongs for (not so close)friends when im abroad is the most tedious and time consuming of all the things i have to do when im on vacation, even small trips somewhere in the Philippines. If for family and close friends, then the hardships are all worth it and it's easier since you know their preferences and all.
- make a detailed itinenary of the whole trip
- make a checklist of random things in a notebook and see if you can see or experience them in the place you're going.

- Activate your "roaming mode" a day or two before you leave the country. That way, you'll avoid the hassle of limited communication back home.

- Don't wear headwear in Hong Kong International Airport.

- Learn about the weather of the place you'll be heading to. If you got to know it was rainy there, bring an umbrella and jacket. If sunny, light clothes will do. Surf the internet a few days before leaving to know about the upcoming weather on the next 10 days.
- Bring only necessary things. As much as possible, just travel lightly. Hope that you'll end up in a hotel that got shampoo, conditioner, bath gel, hair dryer, towels, good bed, cable tv, jacuzzi, free Heineken beer, complimentary BVLGARI toiletries, a personal masseuse and a lot of amenities so the only things you'll be bringing are clothes, travel documents and a few chosen things like a book, ipod, psp, cellphone, adaptor and Harry Potter.

Things to bring:

- passport

-important travel documents
-Harry Potter

- lots of money. tip: exchange your money in where the exchange rates are lower. It was Holy Week back then and there are a lot of Filipinos vacationing there so a Hong Kong dollar costs PHP7.00 while when i exchanged my money in the Philippines before embarking to Hong Kong, a HKD costs PHP 6.30

Last year, i went there on may so there are a fewer Filipinos than it was on an april. In the Philippines a HKD costs PHP5.60 while in Hong Kong, it costs only PHP5.00

- medicine. bonamin chewables for me since the first time i rode an airplane, i felt super dizzy when i got off and that dizziness lasted for three days so it sucks. Then before i left the Philippines, i took a tablet and after i got out of the plane i felt better than last time.

- bring only one book(a travel book about the place is the best)
- a pen and notebook
- your itinenary

- bring only three gadgets like ipod, cellphone and psp. The only gadget that you can add in the three is a digicam.

- small toilettries like shampoo, soap, bath gel, black nail polish, conditioner and spa salts- all contained in a tight plastic bag.

- chargers of cellphone, ipod and psp( to be put in the luggage along with clothes and toilettries)

reminder: the only things that should be handcarried are your passport, important documents, Harry Potter, money, pen, notebook, gadgets and itinerary. Bring a slightly huge shoulder bag(like the vans bag) and a big luggage.

In the airplane: (both ways)

- put your ipod and psp in your pockets and stow the cellphone away in your hand carried bag.

- take a picture of yourself and your mates before take off.

- nick out the inflight magazines as well as spoons, forks, tissues and such.

While being there:

- visit the recommended "sights"...

-Take a picture of a lot of things. like:

• The streets (like Canton road, Haiphong road, Nathan road, Ashley street, Hankow road in Tsimshatsui) capture the normal scenery of the place
  
• the recommended pictures. like the Hong Kong skyline at night time (gosh, i wish i brought my camera to take a picture of that!!!! grr...) and the Symphony of lights
  
• your relatives, if you got the chance to meet them
• the cemetery(especially the thingymagegers)
• Candid photos of yourself, random people, plants, trees, animals and superheros.
  

- Try a lot of foods. Best place to visit for a quick taster is a supermarket or 7-eleven, you might want to try:

• ice creams
• affordable fruits (like strawberry, apples and such... whatever's cheap there)
  
• chips
  
• cookies, sweets, breads and cakes
  
• what's common to eat there. Like in Hong Kong, it's a wonderful experience to try Cantonese seafood, Peking duck, dum sum and noodles.

- Play I-Spy (with the list of random things previously mentioned)
good things to spy:

• A Nokia N series phone
  
• a guy reading a history book on the subway
  
• Hersheys Chocolate
  
• Bill Kaulitz (only applies in: himself or his wax statue= Germany or any other countries he could be in, lookalikes= Russia- in the person of Mike Muller- or commonly Japan- where his style started-. In fact anywhere else in the world except for Nepal, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Dominican Republic)
• A Nimbus 2000 broomstick
  
• Wasabi flavored ice cream (only applies in Japan)
  
• A Gangsta ghetto
• An old library

- Make a video of yourself lipsynching a song... (Example: Schrei by Tokio Hotel, a Lady Gaga song, Virtues of harmony II theme song, Alapaap by Eraserheads, etc... ) things you'll need: phone, camera man and psp.

- try to surf the internet as much as possible

- visit a museum or gallery. History or Science museum

- Also, make some candid videos of random stuffs like you walking around the streets dressed up as Bill Kaulitz, kuya RC making news report, some British dudes on the MTR, Aunty Shirley dancing Pokerface, Filipinos roaming around Central, your uncle drinking heineken again, etc. Make it ala documentary- Howie Severino style or news report- Mike Enriquez style. ( like " 'Tangina, kuhang kuha sa video, si uncle Rocky po umiinom nanaman ng Heineken kasama naman si kuya RC!!")

- If given a chance to go on a Theme Park, ride a rollercoaster, go on a few rides that are utterly famous and pick up a nice souvenir or remembrance.

- tell your relatives "i love you" and hug them... Awww

- tell your crush "i love you"

- shop a lot but buy only reasonable stuffs and make sure you won't reget buying(or not buying) it. When shopping for clothes, find the exact size you want.

- before you'll leave the place, make a video of yourself saying goodbye to that place. and then when you are about to enter the plane, say a heartfelt goodbye to the boarding pass people.

When you got home:

- sleep/rest for one day or half

- upload/print your photos

- don't try to get into a fight with someone whom you're close with

- go to duty free and buy some chocolate for some well chosen and good friends as well as cosmetics, bags and perfume for yourself.

Once upon a time in Hong Kong (part 3)

Tuesday-the fourth day of our trip.

We got out of the hotel early to check out the hotel and eat outside in Ashley road for the last time. We got up earlier than usual coz our tourguide will take us early to Disneyland. We ate our free breakfast at Fairwood (Ham and Eggs with coke or coffee). It was kinda packed with people eating breakfast there so it was a nice people watching opportunity at that time. When we got back to the hotel, the concierge told us that our tourguide has just left shortly before we arrived. Oh my gosh, all our efforts to wake up early and hasten our breakfast has been nothing so dad was furious when he called our tourguide Ray. Then the concierge told us that we can either take a bus or taxi to Disneyland. Then me and dad thought about taking the MTR there since taking a bus or taxi from Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon to Disneyland in Lantau Island is expensive so we asked the concierge guy of we can take the MTR there, he said yes so we carried our bags out of Marco Polo Gateway in Canton Road to the Tsim Sha Tsui station in Nathan Road where we took a last step of our dear Tsim Sha Tsui and into one exciting subway train adventure to (as some people say) the Chinese equivalent of the happiest place on earth- Hong Kong Disneyland - awaits us as me and dad swiped our Octopus Cards on the MTR turnstiles.

This is the inside of the MTR train that will take us from Sunny Bay Station to Disneyland... It's full of Mickey Mouse's and other Disney characters' thingymagegers. -lol


When we arrived at Hong Kong Disneyland, we went straight to Hollywood Hotel via Disney shuttle to Hollywood Hotel. When we arrived at Hollywood Hotel, we noticed that our tour guide Ray and the others haven't arrived yet so we checked in for a smoking floor(as always) room to rest and then go to Disneyland to find Mickey Mouse, Frollo, Mulan and such.
After we took a rest, we got out of our hotel room and in the lobby we saw our fellow tourmates checking in the reception. Seems like the MTR is faster than the tourbus- dad thought.
When we arrived at the Disneyland park itself, it was just in time for the Disney characters' parade. I took out my phone and took a lot of pictures of funny Disney characters- like Alice(of Alice in Wonderland) throwing off a "Sig Heil" and the toy soldiers (of Toy Story) walking like crazy. After the Disney parade, me and dad ran off to the Disney train that tours around the whole Hong Kong Disneyland. After that we went off to the Main street shops to buy gifts and things for our relatives and took a picture with my fave Disney Princess Mulan, then at Tomorrow Land to eat some burgers at the Diner while i saw Buzz Lightyear running away from his crazy fans. After that me and dad went to Fantasyland where we rode the "It's a small world after all" ride, where we went around the world in just 6-10 minutes. We even got back to the Philippines for one second(i don't want to go home yet!!!)
Seeing a Bahay Kubo(a traditional Filipino house made of palm fronds and bamboo) and a mutated Tarsier hanging around a bamboo stem.
After going on that boat ride, we went off to the "Golden Mickeys" show which is one of my things to do when im in Disney since my all time fave character Quasimodo was there as well as Mulan(again). Beast's transformation was so spectacular that there are fireworks when he transformed back to a man.
After seeing Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Lilo speak in Cantonese as well as seeing a lot of characters singing the songs they're famous for, we went back to Tomorrowland where dad smoked a bit while i took a ride on the infamous rollercoaster Space Mountain. The last thing i said before the ride began was "I love you Bill Kaulitz....". Good thing no one sat beside me but there are Chinese people in the front and back of me, i have no idea if they understand me or have any idea who Bill Kaulitz was. The ride on the Space Mountain was so unforgettable that it reminds me of one part of the video of "1000 meere" (coz of the stars and such) and i cussed out in Filipino most of the time out of anxiety.
When i got out, i was amazed. Then i rode the Cinderella Carousel on Fantasyland before i went to Sleeping Beauty's castle to watch the very fantabulous Disney on the stars fireworks. Yeah, i never get to watch the Symphony of Lights back in Tsim Sha Tsui or maybe in Hong Kong Island but watching the Disney fireworks was well worth it since i plan not to go back to Hong Kong Disney the next time i go back to Hong Kong.
After the fireworks display, we went back to our hotel and then we slept in our last night in Hong Kong. As i spent my last night there, i took one last bubble bath in the bathroom and while i was soaking up in the bubbles, i told myself "I love Bill... as my crush." randomly.

Fifth day- Der Letzte Tag...

When i woke up from a long slumber, i felt sad and realized that this will be the last day that im here in Hong Kong, when i ride the airplane tonight i'll leave Hong Kong for a while(more than a year later). Dad told me he wants to meet up with tita Cherry-who works in Central- and also he wants to give back "Grandpa lookalike"'s jacket that he wore on the night we went out eating with my relatives and gave Jamie a gift (HK$1000).
After we fixed ourselves, we went to the MTR station of Disneyland and there we took a very long MTR ride all the way to the end of the Tung Chung line: Hong Kong station in Central. Although it was long, i enjoyed it. I hear Bill's voice frequently on the MTR while hangin' out with those Hong Kongers *sings"Der muessen nur noch 1000 meere weit..."* and dad with the British guys who reads business newspapers(in English of course). I remember the time when the MTR stopped in the middle of the ride from Lai King to Nam Cheong. Well it was kinda sudden and pretty weird, with hearing Bill sings at the same time being stuck on a crowded train that stopped for a minute and half.
When we finally arrived in Hong Kong station, it took us more than 30 minutes to realize where tita Cherry was- in the Central station. So we walked from Hong Kong station to Central (thus deducting $3 from our Octopus cards)
When we got to meet tita Cherry, we went out to eat at the Hong Kong version of Jollibee, which is in a small alleyway on Des Voeux street. Wow, we went all the way to Hong Kong just to eat something we always eat back home in the Philippines!!! -lol
After eating breakfast, me and my dad and tita Cherry went to ride on the Island Line of the MTR to Wan Chai- where uncle David works. Tita Cherry told him to meet us on Wan Chai station so he'll receive "Grandpa Lookalike"'s jacket and our gift to Jamie. Well uncle David was kinda in a hurry coz he still got work to do so we never got to hang around much in Wan Chai so we went back to Central and did a little shopping until tita Cherry parted with us and we went on to ride in the Tung Chung line of the MTR to the end of the line- Tung Chung.

Then we ate lunch (backgammon ham and cheese sandwich with coke) in Delifrance in the mall near Ngong Ping 360-the place we're heading after lunch.- After lunch we went off to Tung Chung and was shocked at the sudden price hike of the 2-way journey of the cable car ride there. The last time i went there, a 2 way ride was for HK$ 88. Now it went up to the super insane price of HK$158!!! Imagine that, it was almost a year's difference(the last time i went there in Tung Chung was may 21,2008 and it was april 8,2009 when i came back)...

so me and dad thought of going back to our hotel to take a rest before we go to the airport and say bye-bye to Hong Kong.

When i rode the MTR to Sunnybay, i took a moment of reflecting all about what happened during the whole trip- all the good things i brought, all the fun shenanigans i did, all the bad things that happened and most of all, all of the people i met there particularly my Chinese relatives whom i really wanted to meet ever since i was a kid. And i never expected that my relatives would be so impressed with me knowing my way around in Hong Kong. What they didn't know was that it was all because of the last time i went there that they didn't know. I enjoyed my last trip a little but not so much and i was full of regret of all what happened. Well for starters i was so depressed back then and i don't know much about Hong Kong. I wasn't aware of all the fun things to do there and the interesting stuffs to see. After i got over my depression months later back in the Philippines, i read my sister's Hong Kong book and was amazed at all the sights and things to see and do there- most are things i never got to do or see. So i felt guilty and regretted my depression but how can i get over about it just for one minute? How would you feel if people you love and have lots of faith on betrayed you? and you found out that the reason you never got to go to places like Hong Kong was because of those so called "loving relatives" who gives you false security and companionship all for money?? and what's worse they claim they love mom very much but when she was younger and poor back then they treat her very badly and like a worthless scum worth beating up most of the time. But she still loves them though. and then when she got rich, they leech her off all the time and they poison out our minds so we never get to go out and indulge because of them who can't indulge because they're poor. those "relatives" i refer to was my mom's mom, brothers, sisters and other maternal relatives. They're not worth my love anyway so i would rather lose them than keep them because they would just ruin my life and make it more miserable like what they did to mom when she was still alive.

And then there's Bill Kaulitz... whom i heard from a certain "tokiohotelmistress" some days before i embarked for Hong Kong that Bill isn't like who he was when he's on stage, got a lot of personal problems, hates his fans, is with an ugly looking bitch(THmistress)-Bill, you're so tasteless...never mind- and many more depressing stuffs that made me cry most of the time. I was so upset and angry at him and Tom(for hooking up with her in the first place) that i never got to enjoy my first trip abroad much. But when things got clear and Audrie saved me from hell, i finally forgave them coz if Audrie never told me the truth, i would never forgive Tokio Hotel for all the things they made me done for them that i thought would let me know that there are people too who understands what i feel about my current life- like instead of listening to the current hits here in the Philippines, i listen to German songs, and singing in German, etc...- but instead not only i get nothing for being their fan, i was being deceived into thinking Bill understands and had been through what i've felt but what's worse was that secretly i was stabbed in the back by humiliating me and all their faithful fans by laughing at all our "naiveness" about them.
So i was miserable on my first trip there. But exactly a month later, Bill talked to a certain Hong Konger who tipped off his cousin about THmistress and her lies. He thanked the Hong Kongian for telling that to his cousin. Then a month afterwards, ate Gie walked out and left us for good. I still love her for being a sister but it was she who pressurize and make things heavy for the family. After that, i begin to hear some bad news about my maternal cousins, titos, titas and lola Minday. All made me quite happy and light, but how would i make up for the spoiled Hong Kong trip? It could have been a trip of a lifetime and i don't know if i can make up for it so i feel so bad. But when ate Gie left us, she left me not only the responsibilities that i now manage and liable of but also the benefits she could have got when she was still staying with us. A month after we went to Hong Kong, dad told ate Gie to go to Hong Kong next year with kuya Rex and Robbie. But she left last july and then her supposed Hong Kong trip was to become mine. Time to redeem myself... i thought, but how?
I just thought, if im so familiarized about Hong Kong, then i would have still enjoyed myself there even if im heartbroken. So i read a lot, studied and asked. in the process, got hooked with that modern and wonderful city that i got so excited when im about to come back there. Even though Bill never broke my heart after that, it was all fun and well worth the troubles i've been since not only i was so happy being there but also i made a good and lasting impression with my Chinese relatives.
It was all well.