Miss Cebu in Hong Kong

CEBU, Philippines - Three months after her victory in the Miss Cebu 2010 pageant, Reena Elena Malinao together with her court Blinky de Leon, Roj Catacutan, Liza Zosa and Gresa Lugo traveled to Hong Kong last week on board the Cathay Pacific flight 921 for a four-day, five-night vacation. They were joined on the trip by Cebu’s premier director-choreographer Junjet Primor, Cebu City Tourism Commission’s Cinbeth Orellano, Cathay Pacific Airways’ Connie Cimafranca and this writer.

FIRST TIME TRAVELLERS. It was the first time for most of the girls to travel abroad so we served as the tour guides for them. From Hong Kong International Airport, we decided to have a little adventure and opted to ride an S1 bus that took us to the Tung Chung Mass Transit Railway (MTR) Station. “This is really an adventure for me,” enthused Reena. The girls had so much fun despite the long walk required, as we transferred from one vehicle to another.

NO TIME WASTED. After two bus rides and two train rides, we finally arrived at the very beautiful Disney’s Hollywood Hotel. The girls seemed to have regained their energy after checking in. We were also treated to a sumptuous early dinner at Disney Café courtesy of Mr. Junjet Primor. All five of them wanted to go shopping. So, I brought the girls to Mongkok, a very famous shopping district for tourists, which literally means “busy corner” in English. True enough, it lives up to its name. Every corner truly spells S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G.

Being sold here at Mongkok are women’s clothing, accessories, cosmetics, shoes, bags and everything you can think of for pasalubong. Despite the temptation, it came as a surprise to me that most of our Miss Cebu beauties are wise shoppers.

I was expecting they would grab anything that would catch their fancy but I was wrong. I saw them haggling for the lowest prices possible. They didn’t buy the items they wanted not until they were sold to them at half the original price. I myself tried their haggling tactic and it worked. “Masuko na gud namo ang mga tindera gud kay amo man gyud hangyoon og maayo,” Reena and Roj said.

CATHAY PACIFIC CITY TOUR. Cathay Pacific’s Passenger Sales Supervisor Connie Cimafranca traveled to Hong Kong with us and arranged a very exciting tour. This current Miss Cebu batch is so lucky because all of them, and not just the winner, got to experience the tour. I was told that it was only Miss Cebu 2008 Sian Maynard who had this opportunity.

Adding further excitement to the tour was the chance to meet Cebuano flight attendants who are now based in Hong Kong and who have worked for Cathay Pacific Airways for quite some time now. Unfortunately, the airline company has already stopped hiring Filipino flight attendants, unless one applies in Hong Kong and has a good command of the Chinese language.

The girls also had the chance to have a personality development session with Cathay Pacific Airways Assistant Manager - Uniform Project Iris Lim, a Chinese national, who used to order clothes from CCTC Commissioner and Miss Cebu Project Chairman Philip Rodriguez.

HONG KONG DISNEYLAND. I had already pre-arranged free entrance passes to Disneyland Park for the girls courtesy of Cebuana Divas Jing Fegi and Maria Donna, who have been working for Hong Kong Disneyland for several years now.

Every season, every cast member has an allotment of free tickets for their guests who attend their shows. “We are always thrilled everytime our Kababayans watch us either in Golden Mickeys or in Lion King,” said Jing Fegi, who was part of the opening cast of the show Golden Mickeys when the HK Disneyland opened five years ago.

Too bad the girls missed the Golden Mickey’s (GM) show where Jing and Maria Donna alternate as the Tarzan singer; though we were able to catch the two of them in separate shows performing as Nala in Liong King. After hours of shopping, endless picture-taking, breathtaking rides, fabulous performances of the cast members, our day at Hong Kong Disneyland was capped with the amazing Disney fireworks show that left us in awe.

THE PEAK. A day before leaving this charming city, I brought the girls to The Peak to have spectacular views of central Hong Kong. While doing spiels for a segment in “MagTV na!” that will be aired soon on ABS-CBN, I can’t help but be overwhelmed at the magnificent view of this vibrant city and the tranquility of the surrounding greenery through my videocam. While touring the girls, I was producing and writing for a “MagTV na!” segment, not to mention I also served as the videographer. Who says multi-tasking is not fun?

To be continued. Please watch “MagTV na!” for more updates of the Hong Kong experience of Miss Cebu 2010 Reena Malinao and her court.

Editor’s note: The author is the executive producer of ABS-CBN Cebu’s “MagTV na!”.