All's Fair in Blog and War (NOVELLA EXCERPT)

#DidYouSayAllExpensePaid

Everything starts somewhere. In my case, it was with an email from the Macau Tourism Board.

To: Five Cuevas <five@fivearoundtheworld.com>

From: Gail Chua <gchua@ph.mtb.com>

Subj: Macau Familiarization Trip

Ms. Ma. Mercedes Cuevas

www.fivearoundtheworld.com

Dear Ms. Cuevas,

The Macau Tourism Board is pleased to invite you to a Familiarization Trip to Macau. To be held on January 18 to 21, the trip aims to introduce a few selected bloggers to Macau's diverse tourist attractions, cuisine, culture and entertainment. In exchange, we would like you to consider featuring these experiences on your blog. 

The tourism board will shoulder the roundtrip airfare (Manila - Macau - Manila), hotel accommodations, meals, tours, entrance fees, and local transportation, following the trip's itinerary.

We would appreciate receiving your response by Thursday, December 20. Should you choose to join us on this familiarization trip, please attach a scanned copy of your valid passport.

For questions and clarifications, please don't hesitate to contact us at this email address.

Thank you very much. We look forward to hearing favorably from you.

Yours,

Abigail Chua

Online Liaisons Officer

Macau Tourism Board – Philippines

That email had to be the best ever email I've received in my life. It was like those 'You've won the lottery!', 'A Nigerian Prince wants to Marry You!' and 'Lose weight fast!' emails you get on a daily basis. Only, this one was absofreakingtasticalutely real. And it was happening to me. Was I lucky or what?

I've heard about these press junkets. In fact, I fantasized about being invited to them. Imagine, going to a foreign country, being toured around to experience the best that the country has to offer for free? In exchange for what? Writing about travel, which I absolutely love doing. It's totally a win-win situation in my book. 

In the two years that I've been blogging about my travels, that was the first time I received an offer to visit from overseas. I have gotten invitations from local resorts and provincial tourism boards, but it was never anything as grand as that. So, what's a girl to do? I go on Twitter, of course.

Five Cuevas @5travels

Three guesses to where I'm going next. Starts with an M. Ends with a U. Has a lechon named after it. #travel

Of course, I should've known better than to tweet. Because first, I hadn't even confirmed with the tourism board yet. Second, I hadn't talked to my boss about taking a vacation. And third, it brought my Skype account to life with a video call request from my sister, Libby.

"Hey, Five. What's up with your latest tweet? You didn't tell me you were planning to go to Macau." Trust my elder sister Libby to be online at that godforsaken hour. Libby was just a year older than me. She's the third of four daughters. I was the fourth. 

"Hey, Libs! Graveyard?" I could tell that she was at work. She was the sort who lives in sweats and a messy ponytail, not the crisp uniform and sleek chignon she was required to wear while manning the switchboard at the fancy schmancy Taiwanese hotel she worked in. 

"Yeah, graveyard for the rest of the month. When are you flying to Macau? I thought you were saving up for Europe?" Her tone was accusatory. But it's understandable since my reason for not visiting her in Taiwan was because I was holding off on visiting nearby Asian countries so I could save up for Europe instead, then she hears that I'm making plans to visit Macau. 

"I still am. Get this, Libs. The Macau trip? All-expense paid, to be covered by the Macau Tourism Board, in exchange for blogging about it. Aren't you proud of your fantastic little sister?" I preen in front of the webcam, dropping all pretense and just being myself. "I'm going in mid-January." 

"You already!" she squealed, dropping her polished hotelier demeanor to tease me. "Mid-Jan, huh? You'll need winter clothes then. It's awfully cold that time of the year, especially in the evenings. And you'll want to explore during the evenings. One side is all sparkly lights and casinos, while the other's all old buildings and quaint little herbalist shops. Such a marked contrast, that country. Bring your tripod along, you'll enjoy taking photos at night. You'll need to go shopping for food pasalubong, too. I'm sure mom will love the bacalhau, Portuguese sardines and chorizos.  I demand bakkwa and Phoenix egg rolls. And egg tarts! They're the best. I love the one on—Oh shoot, break time's over. I need to get back to my station. Send my love to Mom and the rest, okay? Love you."

If there's anyone who knows Macau, it's Libby. Her first overseas posting was in Macau. She was so excited about finally getting to leave home that she explored every nook and cranny of that region. She was always bugging me to visit her but I hadn't been bitten by the travel bug then yet. I grinned to myself before logging off Skype. Knowing Libby, she'll be sending me a gajillion homemade travel guides. I'll probably be the most knowledgeable tourist to visit Macau.