X'mas Season in Hong Kong!

Hi everyone out there,

It has been ages since I last updated this blog. Well, it has been hectic for me recently, rushing to finish up my project for the year. Well, actually I went to Hong Kong and Shenzhen twice on 27th & 28th Nov and last week from 17th to 21th Dec. Both trips are on business matters, although I have some free time to do some window shopping :-)

On the last trip which is the X'mas season in Hong Kong, the festive atmosphere is everywhere from Royal Plaza Hotel, Mongkok which I stayed in to the streets and the shopping malls as well. Not forgetting, the weather is cooling between 19-20 degrees Celcius daily. The X'mas decorations are beautiful and unique.

I went to Grand Century Place next to my hotel, Harbour City at Tsimsatsui, Elements at Kowloon Airport Express Station, APM mall at Kwuntong and the Langham Place at Mongkok. The malls really spend on X'mas decorations as well as engaging foreign performers to entertain the shoppers.

This group of cute angels are performing at Harbour City.

The Blue Boys, they called themselves a living art installation, performing at the Elements. Check out which one of them is real!

There is an exhibition of 9 amazing X'mas trees created by well-known artists on display throughout the Elements as well. Check out some of them here! Aren't they interesting?

The APM mall at Kwuntong does not disappoint either, look at the colourful florals, trees and swan!

The Langham Place has its own Winter Wonderland completes with snow, deers and bears!

However what amazes me is the Xpresscalators which spans over 5 storeys high. The Langham Place has 2 Xpresscalators in place. When I took one ride up, I felt slightly wobbly in my knees, ha ha!

Overall, X'mas in Hong Kong is an eye-opening experiences for me. If you want to enjoy a cool and full of festive mood X'mas, you must visit Hong Kong ;-) Wishing everyone out there a Merry X'mas and a Happy New Year! Cheers!

Shenzhen Metro or Subway

Hi everyone,

I'm back to blog on Shenzhen this time. Shenzhen is very similar to Guangzhou or Hong Kong, highrise commercial buildings and apartments all over the city. Shenzhen is booming now with constructions ongoing at many places and the price of real estate has risen as well.

My friend who is living in Shenzhen told me that her friend made a good profit from selling one of her apartments over there. Well, if you have bought an apartment a few years ago, you will definitely make a nice profit if you sell it now.

Back to my topic on the city metro system, well, it is very advance and comparable to the Hong Kong metro. For those like myself who does not read or write Chinese, there are Hanyu Pinyin luckily. Every station name is labelled in Chinese and Hanyu Pinyin so you will know which station you want to go to. The trains are air-conditioned, clean and comfortable. If you do not want to be stuck in the traffic, the metro is a very good way of transportation within the city and it is very cheap as well. Cost of travelling to one station is only RMB 2.00!

One thing I must point out is the exit signage, they are all in Chinese! No English or Hanyu Pinyin! Same goes for the map signage in the station as well. So, you either ask around for which exit to use or in my case, I use my half-passed Chinese vocabulary figuring out the place which I want to go at the map signage! Ha! Ha! Lucky for me, I manage to find my way around! Very impressed with myself, actually!

Well, one thing for sure, I must really work on my Chinese or increase my Chinese vocabulary since I will be travelling to Shenzhen and Guangzhou frequently. Otherwise, I will definitely be 'LOST in TRANSLATION'!

Signing off now! Be back soon!

Churches and Cathedral in Macau

Greetings, everyone!

Well, still on the topic of historical buildings in Macau, I'll blog about the many churches and cathedrals over there. The most famous will be the St Paul's Ruins. All that remains of the greatest of Macau's churches is its magnificent stone facade and grand staircase. The church was built in 1602 adjoining the Jesuit College of St. Paul's, the first Western college in the Far East where missionaries such as Matteo Ricci and Adam Schall studied Chinese before serving at the Ming Court in Beijing as astronomers and mathematicians.

After the expulsion of the Jesuits, the college was used as an army barracks and in 1835 a fire started in the kitchens and destroyed the college and the body of the church. After restoration work, lasting from 1990 to 1995, the back side of the St. Paul's Ruins was turned into a museum. The ruins are regarded as the symbol of Macau and now offer visitors a new site where they can view the remains of the former Church of the Mother of God, visit a Crypt where the relics of the Martyrs of Japan and Vietnam rest, and a museum of Sacred Art where there are exhibits of paintings, sculptures and liturgical objects from churches and monasteries in the City.

Another famous church is the 'Cathedral', the present building stands on the site of several previous cathedrals. The original cathedral was the church of Our Lady of Hope of St. Lazarus, declared the mother church of the Macau territory which included the religious provinces of China, Japan, Korea and other islands adjacent to China. The first stone Cathedral, consecrated in 1850, was almost destroyed in a typhoon 24 years later and had to be extensively repaired.The Cathedral was completely rebuilt in 1937. It has two solid towers and massive doors. Inside, its chief beauty lies in its fine stained-glass windows.








Nearby the Cathedral, is the St. Dominic's Church dated back to the early 17th century. It has an imposing facade of cream-coloured stone with white stucco mouldings and green windows. I did not have the chance to take a look inside, due to time constraint. I understand that St. Dominic's Church was renovated in 1997 and opened to the public with a museum, on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floor. The museum shows paintings, sculptures and liturgical ornaments that illustrate the history of the Roman Catholic church in Asia.

Well, due to the passed Portugese settlements in Macau, churches and chapels are aplenty in Macau and still well preserved till today. Christianity is well embraced by the locals over there.

Signing off now! Will be back soon!

Acknowledgements:

Excepts from http://www.macautourism.gov.mo/

Lou Kau Mansion in Macau

Hi there,

I'm back again! This time, I'm going to blog about one of the many historical buildings in Macau. I must say, Macau has an interesting mix of the old and new. You can see the latest new buildings like the Wynn Macau, Venetian Macau as well as the historical churches and mansions still preserved in place.

The Lou Kau Mansion, located in Travessa de Se No. 7, near the Cathedral, is the former residence of the family of Lou Wa Sio (Lou Kau), a prominent merchant in Macau. According to the date written on a poem on the eaves of the courtyard to the left of the entrance, it was built in the 15th year of the reign of Qing Dynasty Emperor Guang Xu(1889).

Constructed in grey brick, the two-storey xiguan-style building is one of the best-preserved traditional Chinese house in Macau. Like many other xiguan houses, Lou Kau Mansion has detailed decorations such as brick relief, plaster ornamentation, decorative lattice carvings and mother-of-pearl windows, perforated ceilings to facilitate ventilation, iron railings, reflecting a combination of Chinese and Western architecture.

There is a narrow winding wooden staircase connecting the two-storey building. You must be very careful because the steps are really small, very 'olden times' instead!

When I was there visiting, they are having an umbrella making session with some students around. The umbrellas are very exquisite and traditional. There were two groups of students under the guidance of two teachers.

The Lou Kau Mansion is open only on Sat, Sun and Public Holidays and the admission is free. Opening hours is from 9am to 6pm. I am lucky to be able to visit it because that day was a Sunday, yeah! So, if you are into historical sites, this is one mansion that you must visit if you are in Macau.

That's all for now, please check back soon!

Acknowledgements:

Excepts from www.macautourism.gov.mo

Salted Fish, Anyone?

Hi everyone out there,

I'm back to blog on one of my favourite food, that is 'salted fish'! How do you cook it? Well, there are many ways, one of my favourites is minced pork steamed with salted fish which my mother cooks it the best! Yummy! My saliva drops when I think of it! Actually, in order to taste the best, the secret lies with the salted fish, it has to be 'mui hiong ham yu' according to my mother.

Salted fish is one of Macau's specialities, especially to the Hong Kong visitors as they claimed that the salted fish available for sale is the best in Asia. I've seen salted fish on sale at the shops on the narrow streets leading to St Paul's Ruins but the best shops selling those are located somewhere else instead!

I walked along the Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro, the main shopping street which the local Chinese called it 'San Ma Lou' all the way to the Inner Harbour to take the ferry to Shekou. I side-tracked a bit here, in case anyone wants to know about the ferry information to Shekou (Shenzhen). The Yuet Tung Shipping Co. Ltd offers a ferry service departing from Macau (at the end of Avenida Almeida Ribeiro, Rua das Lorchas, near the Master Hotel, Pier 14) at 10:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m and 8:15 p.m. Tickets cost MOP$129 for adults and MOP$78 for children. Passengers departing from Shekou (Shenzhen) can travel at 8:15 a.m., 11:45 a.m., 3:45 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The trip takes about one hour and twenty minutes. Tel: (853) 2857 4478 You do not have to make any booking, you can actually purchase the ticket over the counter.

Just before reaching the ferry terminal at the Inner Harbour, you will see a few shops selling Chinese delicacies for example, Chinese herbs and medicine, dried seafood like shark's fins, abalone, beef and pork jerky, Chinese and Macanese pastries and last of all, salted fish! Check out the photos! I even saw one shop just across the ticket office of the ferry terminal hanging all the salted fish at the ceiling in front of the shops! Amazing but I hope that those salted fish are not for sale and just for advertising purpose only.

This is the first time, I've seen salted fish being display this way! Unbelievable! This is one of the many reasons I have always enjoy travelling and sightseeing. You'll never know what you are going to see. The experience is irreplaceable! Well, I'm going to sleep now, more to blog soon!

Casinos or Integrated Resorts?

Hi everyone,




I'm back to blog on Macau again, there are lots to write about Macau. Of course, the most interesting topic will be the casinos or we called them integrated resorts in Singapore.


I visited the 3 new casinos, Grand Lisboa, Wynn Macau and the Venetian Macau. When you take the first look at the buildings, you can't help to notice the stark differences between the Chinese architechure and the American architechure. Though I must say that each has its own uniqueness and beauty.






The Grand Lisboa by Stanley Ho is situated right across the road from the original Casino Lisboa. It is shaped like a giant lotus flower with a sparkly round base. It houses a 430 room hotel which will open soon. The casino has 5 floors of gambling tables and slot machines. I took a walk inside the casino, well, it is well ventilated and not stuffy. Each of the tables are filled with people, no wonder Macau has surpassed the Las Vegas Strip as the world's most lucrative gambling center.

After Grand Lisboa, I strolled to Wynn Macau. Wow! I love the fountain in front. It really has the signature curved-tower look of the Las Vegas Wynn. The whole image is very neat, very Americanised. I took a rest at the Cafe Esplanada, ordered BLT sandwich, fish n chips and an iced-latte. I sat back and relax, really enjoy!








After I have finished my afternoon snacks, I walked around the resort, checking out the place. Wow, the resort has a shopping gallery that houses most of the high-end brands like Louis Vuitton, Prada, Channel, Tiffany, Rolex and many more. The swimming pool is fanstatic, very resort-feel. The gaming space in the casino is comparable to Grand Lisboa, more than 200 gaming tables and 300 slot machines.


As I walked out of the hotel, I found out that the musical fountain display was about to start. According to the bellman, it plays every 15mins. Wow, just in time to watch, I have recorded the last part of it. Click on the video above and check it out!



The last casino I visited is the Venetian Macau at the Cotai Strip, due to time constraint, I just had a quick look inside. Again, it is very impressive and really has the 'wow' factor. The resort is really huge with the largest casino of 3400 slot machines and 800 gambling tables. It also has a replica of the Grand Canal in Venice inside the resort with retail shops by the sides. The whole shopping street is modelled like the St. Mark's Square in Venice, completes with the Rialto Bridge where visitors can take the gondola rides with Italian opera singing! Check out the photos which I took.




I will definitely come back to the Venetian Macau again coz I have not really explore the resort yet. As I took the free shuttle bus back to the ferry terminal, I passed by the soon to be ready MGM Grand. The next time I'm back to Macau, a few more super casino resorts will be open by then, yeah! I will strongly recommend Macau to anyone who would like to spend a great weekend holiday.

Signing off for now!

My First Blog on Travelsightseeing!

Hi everyone out there,

This is my first public blog, and I would like to talk about one of my favourite subjects, which is travel and sightseeing.

When I was young, I always envisioned myself flying here and there travelling and sightseeing. I only manage to do so recently. I often do homework before travelling to a certain place because I do not like the feeling of being totally lost or blur in a new place. With the internet, I am able to get a lot of information about the place which I intend to travel to.

So now, I wish to contribute my travel experiences for the benefits of anyone who wish to travel to those places which I have been. This is one of my ways to pay back the society, I guess!

To start off, I will talk about Macau and Shenzhen which I just came back from a few days ago. The casinos in Macau are really an eye-opener! After you have been to Macau, you will never want to go to Genting Highlands which is in Malaysia. Compare to Macau, Genting is a total rip-off!

Most of the hotels in Macau have casinos in them, and the hotels provide free shuttle buses to the Hong Kong / Macau ferry terminal and Macau international airport. So transport is very convenient for tourists. All the major attractions are located within walking distance in the city center, for example the Senado Square and the Ruins of St. Paul. Macau still preserve the historical buildings and most of the pavements are in cobble-stones, very Portugese.

The street names are in Portugese, for example Avenida Almeida Ribeiro which is the main shopping street in Macau. In the narrow streets leading off the main square (Senado Square), inexpensively priced goods of all kinds can be found, with a good selection of local snacks conveniently located nearby. As you walk along the narrow streets leading to the Ruins of St. Paul, you will be offered free food tasting of the popular local snacks like peanut candies, almond cookies and pork jerky by the vendors. The candies and cookies are freshly made and laid out for free tasting. The cookies are very delicious, I bought peanut candies and almond cookies from Choi Heong Yuen Bakery, an old trademark brand of Macau. You can check out http://www.choi-heong-yuen.com/

My brother bought some pork jerky and Portugese egg-tarts as well. If you are wondering what is pork jerky, they are like those BBQ sliced pork from Bee Cheng Hiang of Singapore, Singaporeans call it 'bakkwa'. (http://www.bch.com.sg/) I find that the pork jerky from Macau tastes better than those from Singapore and Malaysia and cheaper as well! So if you are in Macau, must buy and try for yourself!

I will sign off for now, more on Macau soon!