NATAS Fair

Woo hoo! Happy that I've finally got my travel arrangements for both Shanghai and Hong Kong settled now. Without NATAS, hehe.

Went to make my payment for the Shanghai ticket last Saturday *yawn* couldn't sleep in but what to do ... the deadline was Mon, 22 Feb. I was also worried that the price might have changed since my booking because now, the same ticket would cost $760! I got it at $605. Phew ^___^*

And today, after a long wait (cuz neither Tiger nor Jetstar offered what I thought was fair price for budget airlines, and their fares kept increasing past $400!), yesterday, I found United Airlines for only $440! Cool! That'd add more points to my account, extending my mileage expiry beyond November this year. And if I made another trip to San Francisco at least next year before my US visa expires too, haha! I'll have another free trip to Japan, in time for fall ... ^___^* SUPER ENTICING!

I was quite set for that already but thought I'd wait for Cindy. We'd planned on going to NATAS to check out free and easy package pricings, but she was caught up in a meeting till 7 pm, and she must be quite tired by then. In the meantime, I scoured Zuji for F&E packages and found them quite reasonable at $600 plus per person (flight on UA + hotel). We can book right away online without battling the crowd at NATAS. No guarantee that it'll be cheaper there, though I must say we'll have to forgo the freebies in exchange for comfort.

But I couldn't shake off the nagging feeling of how much I could save if we just stayed in a hostel! So I browsed for hostels, shortlisted those I've stayed before at Mongkok again, bypassing those in Chungking Mansion cuz it does sound pretty sleazy. But I chanced upon one there that's owned by a German, has great reviews, and from the pictures, seems very new and clean. So, I showed Cindy my choices, and luckily we're on the same wavelength! ?Haha ... she said, it's quite a difference between hotel and hostel, I'd rather save the money for the good food we're going to have. Haha! My sentiments exactly! How cool is that?

So that's it. SETTLED. Now just waiting for April, and then May. I'm beginning to feel excited for HK now cuz for a couple of months, nothing was happening and I was beginning to fear if we're going to go at all. So, finally going! S90, here I come!!! Yee haa!!!!!

I went to check on NATAS anyway. Of course I didn't pay to go in. It's $4 entrance fee this year, for crying out loud! Thought the economy's bad! Well, I had wanted to get some brochures for reference, you know, maybe the family's gonna take a trip somewhere if there're some worthwhile deals. Previously, they'd give out flyers to the queue (and there's still a very long queue at 8PM) but no one gave out anything today. Perhaps it's too late already and they'd run out of today's flyers, or they can't be bothered to give anything today cuz they're expecting bigger crowds tomorrow and Sunday. So anyway, I made a wasted trip.

Not entirely wasted though, cuz I made an observation which I think is quite interesting. We can tell what sort of package people signed up for, and what type of credit cards they're using, just by looking at the size and quality of the free suitcases that people walk away with. The big and good ones, must be some pricey America or Europe packages. The small, cabin baggage style, popular Southeast Asia or China destinations.

Haha, suitcases as status symbols at the NATAS Fair. I couldn't help smiling.