More Good Food!

We stopped by the Grand Hyatt Macau Hotel for a late afternoon tea. Look at what we had! Fanciful tea names (to match the price!) and we shared the 2 lilliputian size cake which was delicate and light. Yes, feels like all gold and glittery. We slouched and had girls talk the whole time till we were energised enough to walk around some more.

We went to the Sofitel Macau at Pointe 16 to check out the Michael Jackson Gallery. His famous songs and MTV were featured, together with some of his personal items. If you are a big MJ fan, read all about it in this website: http://www.accortrade.info/press/detail.aspx?id=854

Next eating stop... the Lok Kei porridge and noodle place. This shop has been around since 1945. We ordered some of the shop's specialty: prawn roe springy noodles (extreme left), fish balls coated with skinny rice noodles and deep fried (yes, the hairy balls on the plate in front!), scrumptious braised chicken feet (it's so good you can taste the fragrant soy sauce and herbs that's been infused into the warm chicken feet, not too salty with a hint of sweetness - excellent!). At the top right hand corner is deep fried dumplings and the sweet dipping sauce in front (it has some fragments of pig's intestines, I spotted a slice of liver...). It was a satisfying dinner!

The Venetian Macao

No. We didn't do our casino rounds, wasting time gambling away when good food beckons. It was more to experience the atmosphere and enjoy what the casino have to offer! There are MANY casinoes in Macau!

We spent some time at the Venetian Macao because it has a very interesting feature! A man-made canal, the San Luca canal... complete with boatman/boatwoman rowing (or rather, assisted by motored gondola) for people who chose to belief that they are in Venice. I wonder how much they've got to pay for the ride. There are coins strewn all over the 'canal' floor. With the fake sky above, and the boatman singing 'O Sole Mio, one can really be lost in this illusionary space.

You might think that's all. We went to another casino that featured..... mermaids! To someone who is not aware of what's going on, you can really get a fright of your life if you are just innocently walking past an eeriely green screen and then suddenly a life-size mermaid emerged from among the 'seaweeds'. Then off she disappeared and another would made an appearance somewhere on the screen. Very bizarre!

Macau Food Adventure!

With anticipation, we boarded the Turbojet on a bright and sunny Saturday morning for a great day ahead! It was a happy reunion with J1, J2 and new friend A2. We enjoyed some pandan cake and chatted...


Our first eating stop... Seng Cheong crab porridge! Mmm... delicious, fragrant congee peppered with crab roe and crab meat. We also ordered fried fish balls and squid balls. I didn't try the preserved clam dip. The colour is not too appealing for me la! But I kept seeing it being served at other eating places. And we also ordered fried salt and pepper frogs legs. It is very succulent and has a nice texture.

Satisfied, we walked along the streets and also tried Mok Yi Kei's durian ice-cream. It is very flavourful, like eating real, iced durian pulp. It's a bit pricey though, for a very small cup of ice cream! We also made a mental note of what to buy when we are going home the next day...

What better way to aid digestion than to walk around the scenic 'European feel' vicinity. We stopped by the Taipa Houses Museum, walked around the lotus pond, and tried to get out of the way of wedding couples taking pictures among the beautiful blooms.

On to the next highlight of the day! The famous pork chop buns! Pork chops pan-fried to perfection and sandwiched between 2 pieces of warm, chewy, crusty bread. Heavenly! J1 also ordered her favourite curry cuttle fish and fried fishballs. I had a very strong cup of hot, silky milk tea. The whole small pot was filled with tea leaves. I wondered why I didn't get heart palpitation after that. Haha!

Hong Kong Day 2

A brought me to the Flower Market near the hotel on the first day. I love it very much! Rows and rows of roses welcome you everywhere... with a bunch of iris here, a cluster of lilies there, and also carnations, chrysanthemums of all hues and scents! I am in heaven! So I went to have a look at the flowers again before I embarked on the adventures for the day - visiting museums!

My first stop was the Hong Kong Museum of History. On the first floor, visitors are invited to sit and watch short documentary clips. For "Life in Frame", the series include: fashion, food and public transport. There is also a section on government documentaries featuring festivals of HK and housing in HK. I had fun at the natural environment exhibition area. The other permanent exhibition galleries include: prehistoric HK, the dynasties from Han to Qing, folk culture in HK, opium war and the cession of HK, birth and the early growth of the city, Japanese Occupation, modern metropolis and the return to China. I didn't suffer from claustrophobia as the galleries were spacious and many areas were brightly lit. It was a wonderful experience, not spooky at all.

I particularly enjoyed the exhibits on family life in the 60s & 70s, postwar education in HK, and below is one of my favourite exhibit. SO CUTE!

With the help of the Security Officer at the History Museum, I took a bus to my next museum - Hong Kong Museum of Art. But before that, I need to get some lunch as it was close to 1.30pm, way past my regular lunch time! I must say that the Museum Cafe served the best pork chops I've ever tasted! And you get a great view of the Victoria Harbour! After a big meal of pork chops, steamed veges and small portion of pasta in cream sauce, washed down with a perfect cup of coffee, I'm ready to explore the Art Museum.

There is a large collection of ceramics and a selection of paintings from the Xubaizhai Collection at the permanent exhibition galleries. Most of the areas were closed so the last place I went to was the feature exhibition on Wu Guanzhong's donated paintings. A lot of efforts have been made to enhance the visitors' experience... just look at the stain glass which replicates his painting of the HK skyline and 3 sides of walls replicating his other painting.

I ended the day with delicious Korean BBQ dinner with K. It was great to see her again! Also had a sip of Korean ginseng wine. I like the taste. Very nice!

Hong Kong Day 1

This is my second visit to Hong Kong since 2006. The only difference is that this time, I'm travelling alone but I wasn't alone the whole time. I managed to catch up with wonderful friends!


After more than a year of not having any holidays, I could finally feel relaxed when the plane took off and when I opened a packet of salted peanuts. No holiday is complete without that!


It was around evening time when I arrived. After checking in, I went for dinner with A at Wang Jia Sha, one of Shanghai's famous restaurant chains. Here's a picture of the entree dishes - my favourite was the one on the left! Cold, smooth white broad noodles (liang fen?), with fresh cucumber and ham slivers, and fragrant peanut sauce. YUM! We also had Shanghainese fried noodles, Chinese cabbage in cream sauce (dunno why it tasted a bit bitter), dessert... Oh, what a spread!

Malacca Day Trip II

After a simple and delicious lunch, we proceeded to explore nearby areas: Cheng Hoon Teng Temple (founded in the mid-1600s and restored in 2005), Kampung Kling Mosque, Sri Poyyatha Vinayagar Temple (oldest Hindu temple in Malacca), just to name a few.

Don't you think the Malacca River looks somewhat familiar to Singapore River??

We were given an hour to shop before heading home. I think my friend and I were the most efficient... we bought Aik Cheong coffee, freshly baked Heong Peang (they are really yummy!!), beaded shoes, gula melaka... and after a brief stop for ice-kachang (for my friend) and 100-plus (for me!), we managed to return to the assembly point on time with 2 big bags!

We'll definitely return to visit Malacca again. Apart for buying more Heong Peang, and the fragrant coffee, there are still places that we haven't explored yet.

Malacca Day Trip

This is my first trip to Malacca. We visited 54-56 Jalan Tan Cheng Lock, which was the main purpose why we were there. It used to be a Maternity Home but is now a Centre for the study of historical architecture and urban environments of Asia. The wooden door and the "window" below have very interesting gadgets.

To the untrained eyes, they were just bricks. However, some of the bricks (can't remember clearly now but I think it was those bricks on the left hand side) were produced during the VOC era around the 17th century. Woah...

My favourite places in the house: the spiral staircase and the stained glass windows!