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Hong Kong no Phooey TR (Apr 2012)! The Yee's have it....TR finish #1101, 07/09
Yat, Yee, Sam, Say…..Say phat in Cantonese? It’s my Hong Kong PTR!
In the wee hours of one October morning, http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/z...ullMoon009.jpg …before I even had my first caffeine fix…. http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/z...gerHunt018.jpg I found myself in front of a screen staring at an email. I might not have been rather awake…but even I could string together the words Q-A-N-T-A-S-S-A-L-E. Yessiree…a Qantas Sale. Qantas, the ever UNreliable Aussie National Airline Carrier, was advertising a 3 day or 72 hour sale. I looked at the fares to LA.... http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/z...ary2011382.jpg ...and the fares to Orlando...... http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/z...2010WDW285.jpg And sadly moved away from the American continent….towards Asia. (Give yourselves full marks for guessing that I settled on……..) Hong Kong .......Here I Come! It was those magic 8’s that did it for me. The advertised sale fare was $888. The number 8 (‘phat’ pronounced like ‘but’ but with a soft ‘b’), in Cantonese is a spoken pun very similar to prosper or wealthy. How could I resist? I booked for end of March 2012 for a 10 day vacay, coinciding with school holidays in Melbourne. http://bestsmileys.com/welcome/1.gif Welcome to another one of my PTR/TR threads! For those of you who are repeat offenders, get yourself into therapy pronto! For those of you that are newbies to one of my ramblings, don’t despair. With luck, you’ll be in therapy pronto too. :scratchin I wonder how many people come trawling in here looking to lurk on a PTR/TR??? But first things first. That most important task requiring paramount attention above all else has been taken care of. Anyone notice the bright new ticker? Oh….and Introductions. This trip will be undertaken by me and mine…. http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/z...ary2011391.jpg Me: I’ll be your tour guide….I hang out with the Gamers, Lasters, Photographers and lurk on the CB. I’m sure you’ll find me in any of those spots. If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m the shy and retiring kind. DS: He is 11 and I’m proud to say that he shows every sign of being a Disnophile, providing rollercoaster rides are included. DH: He is not 11. He understands my love of Disney and happy to let me plan Disney vacays providing we pepper it with other activities. So….let’s recap….PTR commenced; ticker created; introductions……oh yes….disclaimers. Disclaimers.
I hope you stick around for this PTR/TR – as always – no seat belts required, feel free to keep your hands, feet and head or any other part of you outside the car – and remember….no liability will be assumed by the writer at any time! princess::upsidedow |
I am here, I am here... Better late than never right!
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I'm in! :teeth:
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Hooray, I made it for the first page this time! :cheer2::dance3:
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I am here for the fun!
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Count me in! :thumbsup2
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Woohoo! Page one!
popcorn:: |
Hong Kong! Sounds fun!
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I'm in!!!!!
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Are you taking bets on how many times Qantas will cancel and reschedule your flight?
I'm waiting simply on the when...how soon they notify you...and how they will scatter you and yours throughout the aircraft. Even if you pay for allocated seats I also wonder how many times they change the aircraft type...and 'accidentally' move you to the rear of the aircraft. Finally...will customs or the baggage handlers be working that day? :lmao: Ahhhhh....aren't you glad little miss positive is here :teeth: |
:woohoo:
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Hmmmm. Wonder what that make everyone else???? :rolleyes: Quote:
:hippie: Glad you're in! Quote:
Page 1 is always good. Quote:
Fun? I'm sure it was for the deviation and deviant factor! Oh...yes.... FUN! :thumbsup2 Quote:
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Another vote for FUN! (Refer to disclaimer and previous response about deviation and deviants!) Quote:
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Little miss positive? You're practically the DIVA! And in response to your perfectly valid comments about our ever UNreliable national carrier....DH told me to make sure we have a BULLET PROOF travel insurance plan! :rotfl: As to Qantas getting any more money out of me for early allocation of seats....well....see if you need to ask me that after my next update!!! :headache: Quote:
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Brushing up on my Cantonese means finding out that $‘phat phat phat’ is 3 x $20 fat!
Brushing up on my Cantonese means finding out that $‘phat phat phat’ is 3 x $20 fat!
On the first two days that Qantas, the ever UNreliable Aussie National Airline Carrier, advertised a 3 day or 72 hour sale, I learnt two things about myself: 1. NEVER hit the submit button before my morning coffee…..and by extension…NEVER do ANYTHING before my morning coffee. I was so mesmerized by that S-A-L-E word that in my rush to give away my money, I forgot one very important ‘phact’. I’d forgotten that we have rather close family friends that are travel agents. Normally, I would ring them and give them the business and commission fees…..but you have to remember that I had not had my caffeine fix yet. I … um….. forgot. :blush: (Yes, Santa….this year for Christmas, please include a large bottle of gingko biloba pills…and please feel free to wrap them in that pack of Depends!) Any way….as is the case, I only remembered after I hit the submit button and consoled myself by thinking that this could have been an internet only sale. So later that night, when DH and I were doing our happy dance at home….DS wanted to know what was going on. Conversation went something like this: DS: Mum, Dad….why are you both talking about Hong Kong (and ignoring me)? Me: Well….that would be because we’ve decided that we’re going to go to Hong Kong next year during the 1st term holidays. DH: Yes…we get to meditate and do Tai Chi in the parks….and have conversations with Buddha….. DS: Do they speak English there? Will I have to learn a different language? DH: They speak Cantonese. It’s okay. We’ll just get Mum to translate for us. {DH and DS both turn and look expectantly at Me.} Me: http://www.myemoticons.com/images/em...ed/shocked.gif Phat-the??? Er….yes…..Cantonese. That language that I used to pretend to speak when I was a child…that language with 5 different intonations where the slightest pitch change could be the difference between ordering crabs and getting shoes instead or possibly asking to see the frontal view of the bahookie. (This might sound funny...but believe it or not...a change in intonation on the same 'word' will yield those 3 possibilities!) Me. In. A. Country. Where. The. Local. Are. BRUTAL. To. Others. Not. Worthy. Of. Pure. Perfect. Cantonese. Speak. http://www.myemoticons.com/emoticons...cons/loser.gif I was definitely going to have to brush up on my Cantonese in order to keep the respect of my DH and DS. Oh yes….most definitely have to brush up on my Cantonese. And for those of you that haven’t realized it yet…that jumble of words in the title for my TR? It translates to: Yat = 1 Yee = 2 Sam = 3 Say = 4 Yup. Most definitely have to brush up on my Cantonese! OR…. Plan – sneaky – B was required. I decided I needed to call in the cavalry! Later that night, after a quick discussion with DH…I set plan B into motion. Granted…DH might have been asleep whilst I held this pow-wow…but I figured he snored in agreement. On day 2 out of the 3 day advertised Qantas Sale, I headed over to my parents for dinner. I got there early….so early that my mum asked me what was up! :sad1: No one understands me at all. I told her about the sale and that we’d booked a trip to HK. With no more that just that simple statement, mum immediately walked to where dad was and was back before you could say Jack Skellington! And within 2 minutes, she was on the phone to her friend, the TA. Within 5 minutes, my parents were booked on the same flights as we were; thus disproving my consolation that it was an internet only sale. It was during this 5 minutes, that I learnt the second thing about myself: 2. NEVER hit the submit button before my morning coffee…..and by extension…NEVER do ANYTHING before my morning coffee. My parents were quoted $860-something for the same flight. http://www.myemoticons.com/images/em.../perturbed.gif So, by brushing up on my Cantonese….those magic 8’s that did it for me yesterday with an advertised sale fare of $888…..or… $‘phat phat phat’ pronounced like ‘but’ but with a soft ‘b’? Today, it sure sounded like “phart what butt” in the different Cantonese intonations (NOT a spoken pun very similar to prosper or wealthy)…..but loosely translates to Qantas 3 x $20 FAT to me!!!! But hey, it’s all good. Afterall, $60 is a cheap fee to pay for two translators who have been to HK at least 3 times before and speak much better Cantonese than me. Way to go for brushing up my Cantonese! princess::upsidedow ps. For those Aussies reading this and wanting to point out that Qantas has introduced a price matching or money back policy…I’ve read the fine print. Price matching and money back only applies to COMPETITIVE websites offering a cheaper price for exactly the same flight. Last time I looked, our family friend TA did NOT have a “dot au” after her name. |
So what did you learn? :rolleyes1
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