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1. I left Australia after I got married in August 2015.
2. I went for a family trip with my brother-in-law's family to Pangkor Laut Resort, which was the best resort I've visited by far. That was in August.
3. Then in September, I went to Singapore to meet my husband and we spent 6 weeks there before we went back to where we belong.
4. I spent about just a little bit over 1 month in my hometown, Medan where I grew some moss due to boredom. Ok, this statement is idiomatic. There is a saying in Hokkien that you sit for too long to a point where your butts start growing a pool of "moss". Well, excuse my graphic explanation but you get my drift. I even started my French lesson which I haven't had a chance to finish it yet. Or rather, this is me procrastinating.
5. One random afternoon, my mum suggested me spend some time in Hong Kong and stay with my uncle. That was the most brilliant idea ever came out from my mum. I considered her suggestion and after going through it with my husband, I decided I should! So I booked my tickets and off I went to HK.
6. After spending about 20 days in HK, I went to Singapore to meet my in-laws and spent X'mas and NYE there.
7. Just a couple of weeks ago, I went to Malaysia to celebrate my nephew's birthday and I only spent 2 nights there.
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So, there you go.... I had been busy for quite some time. Hence why I only have time now to sit down equipped with my iPad and start typing away. As a start, I have been to Hong Kong once 4 years ago but at that time, I only spent 4 days there and didn't get a chance to meet my uncle in Hong Kong, as well as my cousins. I have met my uncle on a number of occasions growing up but staying with him for 20 days was never an idea I was accustomed to because in general, I can be an introvert and because I didn't know my uncle very well, I didn't know how it would be like and I had never met his wife or if I did, that would be when I was a baby and I don't remember a thing about her. I also know I have a few cousins there and they are all much older than me but I also had never met any of them.
According to my mum, Stanley, one of my cousins came to Indonesia for a visit when he was 9 years old but afterwards, he never came anymore. I think I have 4 cousins in Hong Kong and all of them have kids of their own now.
I didn't know what to expect and this is the first time I ever lodged at a relative's house overseas. I'd be a lot less nervous if I were to stay in a hotel by myself. My flight was pretty late and the arrival time was also later than scheduled. I felt bad for letting my aunt and uncle wait for so long. I arrived at Hong Kong International Airport at 8.30 pm and my aunt and uncle took me out to eat some late supper. I think we got home after 11 pm and I unpacked a little bit before I crashed in bed at 12 am.
I had to wake up very early the next day because my aunt and uncle have a babysit schedule twice a week. Mondays and Wednesdays and because of that, they need to wake up early to walk my cousins' kids to school and pick them up from school in the afternoon. They didn't trust me enough to leave me by myself in the apartment initially. So I had to go with them although I would love to sleep more!!
My cousin and his wife were working at the time when I was there and they have this Indonesian maid who looks after their apartment and they recently just moved to a new apartment. I took a short tour in the apartment. The apartment is overlooking the harbour and just opposite Tsuen Wan in Tsing Yi area. The view was beautiful and uninterrupted by other skyscrapers. I stayed until my uncle picked up my cousin's sons from school and I met them for the first time. Oddly enough, I didn't feel like a fish out of the water. I immediately felt the connection with the kids and we got along!!! This is a rarity for me because I don't usually get along with kids during the first meeting. It usually takes me a long time to warm up to children because I am simply not a children person! After more chit chats and dinner prepared by the maid, we then took the train back to my uncle's.
The next day, my uncle and I went for a walk around the town. My aunt at her mature age now, feels tired quite easily, so she didn't come out with me and uncle a lot. Only when we went to certain landmarks that she would come along. Other than that, usually there were only me and my uncle bonding away. It was closing to Christmas at the time and everywhere we went, the buildings (mainly shopping centres), were decorated with Christmas ornaments and Christmasy theme.
To be honest, after going to tons and tons of shopping centres in Hong Kong and the list is endless as we know, i really stopped tracking where I went etc. Hence, I don't remember the name of this building. Sorry guys but this shopping centre seriously has the longest escalator in between floors that I know of and I think it's a hotel too!
We then took the train to Tsim Sha Tsui or popularly known as TST area and we walked along the harbour. During the night, this area becomes an extremely crowded and popular area for tourists to capture the night city skyline. I failed miserably to capture the beautiful city skyline at night because I couldn't be bothered squeeing in between aggressive people just to take some amazing photos. As I am writing this, I am still regretting I didn't try to elbow in between people to get the best spot. I gave up too easily!
As a comparison, TST is like walking along the harbour near Sydney Opera House or Southbank in Melbourne. It's the same kind of vibe and in TST you have some unknown artists basking on the street as well. Kinda like Australia. I love this kind of vibe. A relaxing one despite hundreds of people pushing each other to get the first row view of the city skyline. Other than taking the train, you can also opt to take the ferry too from Hong Kong Island to TST and vice versa. The cost is pretty cheap and you can mesmerise yourself with the night skyline view from the ferry. Be sure to sit near the water side so you could get uninterrupted view. I didn't take my tripod for this trip. So, taking a photo at night in a moving ferry was proven to be rather difficult. I did the best I could. In Hong Kong, you have to squeeze through the crowd in order to get the best of everything. A skill I had forgotten since I started living in Australia but I then quickly gained back when I was in Hong Kong and Singapore. That's where the term 'kia su' comes from. In a society where everything is scarce and in order to get the best of everything, you have to beat everyone else and fight for the first place. That's Asian mentality for you.
So that's Hong Kong Island. Well, for those who might be confused about Hong Kong, Hong Kong is divided into three territories and of course there is a lengthy history behind it but I'm not the best person to discuss history with. All I know is, there is Hong Kong Island where the infamous party area called Lan Kwai Fong (LKF) is and then there is Kowloon where TST is, and then there is also a newly developed area called New Territories. The area where my uncle lives used to be Kowloon but now is part of New Territories.
Any photographers would know it's very tricky to take a photo with sunlight directly blaring into your camera and it makes the subject looks like it's covered by shadow but I think these photos are still decent regardless of the colour wash effect. Oh and I was stupid enough to only carry my portrait lens because I wanted to do some experiments but I didn't realise we were coming here. Hence why the photos are very zoomed in.
This is the same view I took at night. You can see the same tall building in the middle and that ferris wheel on the left. This was taken during my ride on the ferry but out of so many attempts, this one is the most decent one to post. If you want to look at the ferris wheel close up, I happened to take a photo of it while I was on a bridge to the ferry dock in Hong Kong Island.
There you go!!! I still think this Ferris Wheel is oddly situated. Anyhow, I think it's meant for people to look at Kowloon view..... Maybe?? This is my second trip to Hong Kong and the first time I had a closer look at the ferris wheel.
I think I still love this photo the most. Although the yellow tone is quite overpowering but it makes the Kowloon area looks like the city of gold!! I took this view from my uncle's apartment. My Olympus camera takes some pretty good snaps at night and you don't even need much skill to take this photo and I am the living proof. An absolutely know-nothing-amateur-photographer.
My aunt and uncle organised a day trip to "The Peak". The Peak or "Shan Ding" is a popular tourists spot to see the entire city skyline of Hong Kong from the highest spot. It was breathtaking and you can visit it either during the day or night. We decided to go during the day because my uncle told me at night, we would have to wait for hours in order to get to the top because the queue starts from the foot of the hill. There are two ways to go up, one is by bus and the other is by tram. The ride by bus was quite fun actually. We decided to go by bus and on the way down, we took the tram. At the top, there are some free spots where you can take some photos but there is an exclusive area located within a small shopping centre at The Peak where you have to pay to go in but apparently, you get the best view uninterrupted by trees etc and the ground is even higher. I managed to take a pretty good shot I thought but maybe if I had paid to get in, I would've gotten a better shot? Maybe?
You see what I mean when I said my shot is not the best angle because you can still see the trees. I had to queue to get to this spot because there were too many people trying to take selfies.
See how most people would queue their lives to get some night shots at this view. I think it would be quite incredible. If I were with some friends on this trip, that would be something I would do. I was very thankful that my aunt and uncle were willing to spare their time and energy to entertain me and take me to beautiful places like this one. We didn't spend much time here because it was getting pretty chilly. We made a beeline to the tram stop and queue was already pretty long when we joined in. Hong Kong has one of the most efficient transport systems I know of. They have this travel card called Octopus (in Australia, we have Myki), but Octopus exceeds Myki in so many ways!
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First of all, you can use it to travel on the train, bus, ferry and in this case, tram. What's even better is that you can use the credits in Octopus to purchase things too! Mostly at the convenient stores and restaurants. How cool is that?? When will Myki catch up?? Never....
Oh look! The tram had arrived!! Well, the journey down was...... very steep! If you're afraid of height, this is not an option for you. You wouldn't even come to this place to begin with. It was pretty daunting because it was extremely steep that no one was allowed to stand in the tram. it was as if you're riding a roller coaster in slow motion. Slowly dangling you down with so much pressure when you're sitting with your back against the chair downhill. All the while during our ride, I couldn't help thinking what would happen if whatever suspending the gravity pressure ever snaps and the tram rolls downhill in the speed of light. Then we're really on a roller coaster ride down, not to mention, without seat belts on!
Despite the busy and super densely populated that is city of Hong Kong, I was awed to find some beautiful parks that I happened to walk past. I discovered this park near the foot of the hill of The Peak. I thought it gives Hong Kong a sense of warmth and nature despite being surrounded by skyscrapers.
On the weekend, my uncle asked one of my cousin's out to spend the day with us and my cousin, Stephen agreed to it. I was excited that I finally got to meet him for the first time in 27 years of my life! My uncle moved to Hong Kong in his late teen years and then he got married and he has two boys born and raised in Hong Kong. They never come to Indonesia to visit our family except for my older cousin, who came once with my aunt but I wasn't born yet. so maybe he met my sister when she was little. He had to work half day and then we met in the late afternoon at the train station. He resembles my uncle and I'd seen their photos at my uncle's. So I was kinda familiar with how he looked like. He is a very warm and caring person, oh and did I mention he was also very friendly too.
We chatted along the way to Stanley and we tried to catch up about where we were in life. The ride to Stanley was quite long and we took the bus. After a long week at work, he was pretty tired and he fell asleep in the bus. Likewise with my uncle. So I enjoyed the view of the coastline from the window.
After we arrived, we had some snacks at McDonald's and off we went for a walk along the beach.
Stanley gave me this vibe as if I was back in Australia. Shops along the beach and people walking their dogs as well as some western restaurants with colourful buildings. it was very summery despite the cold weather with winter soon approaching. It reminded me a little bit of South Australia or Hobart in Tasmania.
I love the small colourful boats are floating scattered on the water. Admiring my own photo composition and I thought, hey it's not bad at all!!
The sun was setting and the reflection of the sun made the buildings looked bright and gold-ish. It was an incredible view!
There was also a small stretch of local handcraft market near the beach. Just a short stroll up the hill and you can find yourself some souvenirs from the local shops.
See how colourful the buildings are! I think this bright yellow shop is either an Italian Pizza house or Mexican. My memory failed me since this trip was 5 months ago now....
I think the market I was telling you about is somewhere up the street next to this Italian Pizza House. Then take a turn right I believe. If I am wrong, ooppss.. Sorry....
We headed back to the bus stop after taking a stroll around the area. It was getting darker anyway. So, we got onto the double decker bus and we sat at the top deck. My cousin again, fell asleep during the journey as well as my uncle. I held on the opportunity to stay awake amidst feeling tired. The night scene of the ocean had its own beauty. Although as I looked ahead it was just darkness but I know that down below, it's the sea and I could see the water glittering shone by the moonlight. Across the sea was some houses with streetlights sparsely lit in between houses and created a stretch of diamonds from afar. It was beautiful despite maybe just a little spooky. As we reached the town, we got off LKF area and we walked to get some dinner at a Thai restaurant owned by my cousin's friend. The owner did give me his name card but I forgot where it is. So I can't tell you guys where this Thai restaurant is. Leave a comment down below if you want to know and I'll find out but this restaurant is one of the best Thai restaurants I've ever had in all the countries I've been so far! The coconut fried rice is a must-try dish! Rich with coconut milk that is not too overpowering and stuffed with fresh seafood presented in a coconut shell!
So unhealthy yet so mouth-watering. I will sure devour it anytime you present this to me.
So after dinner, uncle and I went straight home while my cousin had a birthday party to attend. So we parted ways afterwards.
The following weekend, I went to kids' paradise with my other cousin and his family (wife and kids). Let me present you........
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DISNEYLAND HONG KONG
Who doesn't love Disneyland? From children to adults to maybe a certain extent, the elderly people. Well, although I must admit this Disneyland compared to maybe like the one in Japan or LA is actually much smaller but it was still very fun and lots of activities to do. We went by car because my cousin came to pick me up by car but usually Disneyland is accessible via the MTR and there is a station dedicated to Disneyland and the resort. I've passed through the station before when I went to Da Yi San and the journey along the way is wonderful with the view of the ocean as well and mountains. There are varieties of rides and animation exhibitions in Disneyland and they also have a night show ended by fireworks at 8 pm every day. Maybe not so good for the environment. There is also a parade going on at night before the fireworks. Not sure if it's daily or just on certain days. My cousin's kids were happy to be my guide for the day and they were so excited to show me the behind the scene engineer work in order to put an animation film together in one of the Disneyland's animation exhibition. I was quite impressed.
There are really not many photos of me that I'm posting for this trip. Getting less and less narcissistic as I age. There's also something else I found as I become older. I found that my fear of rides is growing! I was never an extreme fan of rides but then I was fine with it most of the time. Anything involving 180 degrees ride, I am still okay but anything involving more than 180 degrees, especially 360 degrees ride, it's a no-go zone for me. No way in my precious lifetime I'll ever get onto one. I feel like my heart has weakened and I'm becoming acrophobic (fear of height) over time. I used to hike the mountains etc but I'm becoming a bit scared lately when I'm at a higher ground but it's only mild. I still hike and I still enjoy rides once I actually sit on it and strap myself safely with the safety belt.
Mini Disneyland Castle...
We also went to see a 4D show. I saw once when I was at Universal Studio in Singapore and that was interesting but my verdict is that the 4D show in Disneyland HK is better than the one in Singapore. The storyline and the 4D effect were better somehow. It was quite memorable for me. The kids loved it too. I think the show went on for 20 minutes and I felt like it was longer than the one in Universal Studio Singapore.
and then there was the toy story ride. Remember back in the 90s where one of the most popular rides was that pirate ship that goes 180 degrees and it goes back and forth vertically? Well, this toy story ride is kind of like one of those, except I think it goes higher than 180 degrees. One of my cousin's sons wanted to get on it and my cousin wanted me to go with him as both him and his wife didn't want to go on it. Their excuse was that they go to Disneyland very often. They had a point. So, I agreed. boy that was quite a ride. I felt like at any point, my heart was about to jump out and dance mid air. Little O even asked me to throw my hands in the air like I was in a club. I missed my childhood.
I love this theme the most out of anything else in Disneyland. Or maybe I just love Toy Story.
I must give credit to my cousin because he took this shot and it was quite nice. My cousin's son and I were somewhere at the back with me probably screaming with my mouth wide open. The little O probably had his hands up.
There was another cool ride in Disneyland. It is very similar to the Mummy ride in Universal Studio. If you're asking ok, what's that Mummy ride. It's like a roller coaster, except you're in the dark and then the train goes forward up and down and sideways slowly and progressing to quickly. Then it will stop after one round and then ever so slowly it starts moving backwards! Yep, backwards. The speed then increases to quicker and quicker while still moving backwards. They're quite similar except the Mummy theme is spookier although this one is also in the dark. I can't remember which ride this one is though. I'll never forget the Mummy ride but for the life of me, I can't remember which theme is this one in Disneyland.
After we got off, my cousin and his wife were laughing at my green face. We then went on to catch a glimpse of the parade. It just started not too long ago. I managed to snap some videos and photos. They were some pretty cool stuff.
I hope we know this one, it's Monster University. I love the movie. Would love to see Mike Wazowski character in the parade too. Maybe he's dangling somewhere from the truck and I just missed him.
This is probably one of the most popular Disney movies that I haven't actually seen yet. Cars. He's cute.
and then we have our old friends, Donald Duck and Goofy. My favourite characters back in my childhood days. Different from the kids nowadays with their favourite characters from Cars.
and of course, a Disneyland parade is not a Disney parade without a character from Toy Story! My favourite!!
This winter in Disneyland Hong Kong, they also set up the theme for Winter Wonderland and what is better than every girl's favourite Disney movie of 2015 to make up for the theme. FROZEN!! So they played the soundtrack hit "Let It Go" by Idina Menzel and there was a lightshow lighting up some of the Disneyland themed houses including the castle. At the end of the soundtrack, the audience on the street was showered with artificial snow. It was beautiful! While the soundtrack was playing, the lights on the Christmas tree blinked all over the rainbow coloured fairly lights in milliseconds.
The fireworks spot was different. It was near the castle. The fireworks was ok but not great. I haven't perfected my skill in taking fireworks shots. So I failed to take a good photo that could eliminate the smoke. So all my photos were rather smokey. After the fireworks, then everyone went home. My cousin dropped me back to my uncle's and we had such a great time. First impression on my cousin, he was like a big brother to me and he treated me like I was his little sister. I liked that. Moreover, I always wanted an older brother. His wife and kids were very nice to me too. They made me feel welcome and were very warm hearted people. It did feel like family to me although they were all strangers to me before I arrived.
I took a break from spending time with my cousin and I went back to spending time with my uncle. My uncle took me to Lantau Island, which I visited before on another trip few years back. Lantau island is well known for the Buddhist temple, which has since become one of the most popular tourist attractions. On my other trip, I took the cable car with my friend, whereas on this trip, we took the coach that took longer but a lot cheaper. Both means of transport give you two different views. If you're afraid of height, cable car is definitely not recommendable as it is a fairly long journey to exercise your heart.
The coach took longer (approximately 45 minutes). It was a cold foggy day when we arrived. All we could see was thick fog covering the top of Buddha statue but after a while, the fog thinned out. There is a small tourist village where you could stock up some souvenirs before you leave and you could also grab something to eat. There is even a Starbucks too. You'll need some carbs before you could climb those thousands of stairs to see the Big Buddha at the top of the hill.
See that Big Buddha at the top? You think that was not too far to climb? Well, you're wrong....
See how thick the fog is?
Good luck climbing those stairs. I huffed and puffed all the way through but I did get all the way to the top.
This is the second time I climbed to the top and took this photo. It was an excruciating journey to climb all the way up through the stairs but it was worth it.
You can visit the pagoda and donate to have some vegan meals as well and buy more souvenirs. The ambience was very serene. I did my prayers before descending down the stairs.
The view from the top was absolutely magnificent. It made me feel really small. I felt very at peace when I was at the top but also make sure you wear enough clothes.
This is the small tourist village I was referring to where you could find food, Starbucks and Buddha related souvenirs. This is also the pathway towards the stop for cable cars.
We took the coach back to town before taking the train back to my uncle's place. It was a very tiring day and we all just fell asleep very quickly as soon as we arrived back home.
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OCEAN PARK
I met my cousin again later in the week on a Saturday where they agreed to take me to Ocean Park with their kids. Ocean Park in my experience, is better and more entertaining than Disneyland. Just because it is a lot bigger than Disneyland and there are more things to do. From rides to seeing the penguins to Dolphin show. It really takes your entire day whereas Disneyland only takes about half a day. Well, you can choose to spend the entire day but for me, it's not necessary.
My cousin came to pick me up with his wife and kids and we jetted to Ocean Park. Literally, he sped all the way as if he was an F1 driver. His son was not kidding when he told me his dad drives very fast. I mean, very . very fast! Very fast is understatement. I think the entry fee is about HKD580. I think! Not cheap according to HK standard.
More cable car rides. How do people with fear of height live, really!
I look so fat in this photo, especially since I was wearing a puffy jacket too.
We took a wet ride with my cousin's wife and their eldest son but we didn't bring a raincoat because we would need them. Wet ride, remember? Duh! So, my cousin's wife bought the raincoats for us and guess what? The freaking raincoat costed HKD28 each! What a rip off?? It's AUD4.8! With Ocean Park printed on it. Who wants that? What happened to $2 raincoat??? Raincoat is really overrated but I must admit we came out dry because we had the raincoat on.
My cousin said I looked boring with the same standing smiling pose so I decided to do something a little crazy. I used to do this with my friends.
We took the cable car to see the dolphin show and there are more rides on this side too and if you see that roller coaster ride on the right, guess what? They're fake.
There's a cafe as well with an amazing view. So while your partner or parents taking the kids for some rides, you could chill here if you're the grandparents or the partner.
My cousin took a lot of hidden photos in my camera, This is one of the few he took.
I was told that they've done some expansion with the theme park and this was the first original theme park built in Ocean Park and now the size has doubled.
We missed half of the show but we still managed to catch some good shows. I didn't bring my zoom lens and it was hard to capture the moving dolphins. It would've been a much better photo otherwise.
After the show finished, we made our way back down via cable car and we went to see some sea life.
It was feeding time for these little guys when we got in. So most of the penguins were flocking towards the keeper guy who were feeding them. Who can tell me how to kidnap one of these guys home with me. Just kidding*
This gigantic stingray freaked me out just like when I went to one of the zoos (I can't remember where) and I saw an Anaconda for the first time and they tied this goat to one of the trees but the Anaconda wasn't hungry. So many people waited to see when would the goat be devoured but I guess the Anaconda wasn't hungry at that time. Poor goat waiting for its fate.
And we can't call it sea life before seeing a form of shark right? Flathead shark.
Christmas tree display was everywhere. I miss Xmas already but it's July now anyway.
LITTLE VEGAS, MACAU
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My uncle and aunt took me to Macau and we took the ferry from Hong Kong Island to Macau. The journey is about 1 hour and return journey is about HKD400 return and when we went, it was public holiday I think, that's why it was more expensive. So that's about AUD68 return. Quite expensive for about 2 hours journey back and forth. We departed from the jetty at about 8 am, so we woke up pretty early. We bought the return tickets for 8 pm but we came back earlier than that because my aunt gets tired pretty quickly. I was staying in HK for about 20 days. It was a lengthy stay and I should've applied for a Chinese visa before I left Indonesia just because it was harder for me to apply in HK as they couldn't process my application unless I am on a temporary visa that allows me to stay in HK for more than one month, which is not possible because as an Indonesian passport holder, I am only allowed to stay in most countries as a visitor for maximum 1 month. I should've prepared myself better because it would've been more fun if I was able to visit ShenZhen.
We weren't planning to stay overnight in Macau just because around December, hotels are very expensive in Macau. I just wanted to have the "been there done that" experience, especially to visit the infamous The Venetian hotel. This signature luxury hotel is also located at other parts of the world. As soon as we arrived at the jetty, there are various free coaches to take you to various destinations. Usually coaches that take you to hotels are also free. The whole purpose is that because Macau is like little Vegas and there is a casino in every hotel, they encourage you to gamble and since transport is free, who would say no? That's also part of the reason why there's no visa requirement for tourists to visit Macau. Yay! More gamble! *Disclaimer: Please gamble responsibly.
We weren't planning to stay overnight in Macau just because around December, hotels are very expensive in Macau. I just wanted to have the "been there done that" experience, especially to visit the infamous The Venetian hotel. This signature luxury hotel is also located at other parts of the world. As soon as we arrived at the jetty, there are various free coaches to take you to various destinations. Usually coaches that take you to hotels are also free. The whole purpose is that because Macau is like little Vegas and there is a casino in every hotel, they encourage you to gamble and since transport is free, who would say no? That's also part of the reason why there's no visa requirement for tourists to visit Macau. Yay! More gamble! *Disclaimer: Please gamble responsibly.
THE VENETIAN (There's also one in Las Vegas)
Since The Venetian, there are more impressive hotels in Macau now like Galaxy Hotel (which apparently has theme park inside) and the new Lisbon Hotel. All these hotels and casinos are located in the new part of Macau, not the old city.
I remember seeing all this first time in Asian drama series when I was a lot younger and I thought to myself, I want to see them one day. Now that I have seen it, it felt good! That's why they say be careful of what you're wishing for because they might just come true!
More Christmas tree! The interior design just blew my mind! It really made me feel like I was in Venice.
I don't think the Swarovski ornaments on the Xmas tree is real. Well I was told so.
Galaxy Hotel I mentioned before. We did hotel hopping and when we were on our way to Lisbon hotel, we passed by Galaxy hotel.
There's old and new Lisbon and this one is the new one. You will be able to tell just from the architectural point of view as the old one, well looks really old.
The main foyer inside Lisbon Hotel
This piece of art is made of really gold by the way. Just the coating I'm sure.
After enough of hotel hopping experience, we also visited the oldest temple in Macau and I prayed there. Apparently there is a copper basin in the temple and if you rub you palm against the rim and rub in a quick motion and there's a squeaky sound, it means you'll be rich. Apparently for some people, the sound doesn't appear and for some other, the sound is very loud and the louder it is, the richer you'll be. I tried and it wasn't very loud but at least it made a sound lol
A-Ma Temple
If you can speak Portuguese, then I guess you can understand this.
It's one of the oldest municipal buildings as well as one of the popular landmarks in Macau.
There's another popular landmark in Macau and I first saw it in one of the Hong Kong movies back when I was a teenager and finally I was able to see it myself. It was none other than The Ruins of St Paul's. The route towards the ruins has been commercialised. Heaps of tourists from all over the world flock towards this popular landmark and throughout the entire stretch of street leading up to the ruins, there are countless of shops selling variety of Macau's popular snacks and street foods, such as beef/pork 'Bak Kwa' or what we all know as jerky. Their jerkies are so tasty and whichever shop you choose, they're all superb! You can even try for free and my uncle and I tried so many different ones to the point that it was not necessary for us to have lunch because we just tested all the street snacks for free! All of the shops provide samples for free because the competition is very high as there are countless of shops selling the same thing with little difference in terms of price. So, please don't confuse yourself!
Another famous snack in Macau is their freshly packed almond biscuits. I immediately regretted my decision to buy a few packs of them because when I arrived in Singapore, which was my next destination after Hong Kong. Why? Because they sell the exact same brand in Singapore and they're more or less the same price! Some would argue that the taste is different because if you get them in Macau, they're meant to taste "fresher" as they pack them immediately and sell them in the store, whereas the overseas ones would've been stored in the shelves for ages. Well, I haven't tried the one I saw in Singapore, so I can't vouch for anything but I was very curious. The ones I bought in Macau taste really good, especially the black sesame one (if you like black sesame). We tried so many cookies from all sorts of shops that I was so full by the time we reached the ruins.
*More snacks popular in Macau, such as their ginger sweets or dried ginger coated with crystal sugar. They're super delicious and you can get them anywhere in Macau. Also, who can resist Portuguese tarts while in Macau???!!!
Finally we arrived at The Ruins of St Paul's and it was packed with tourists!!
The church of St. Paul's was built in the 17th century and was destroyed by a fire caused by typhoon and now there's only the ruin left. There's nothing behind the ruin which is now a park.
This is the end of the street where they sell popular street snacks.
After climbing all the serious stairs.....
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The view from top of the ruins. There's really nothing behind the ruins but it's an amazing historical piece that is left from the 17th century and should be preserved as best as they could.
We had lunch at one of the most popular restaurants in Macau but for all I know, there's nothing really special about this restaurant but somehow it was really packed when we arrived. We had to take a number and queue.
After waiting for about 20 minutes, we finally got a seat and we had some noodles which was not bad but I wouldn't say it was amazing either. Well, I'm sure most of those people queuing up disagree with me if they see this.
After walking around a little bit more, we headed back to the jetty and made our way back to Hong Kong. I was completely exhausted by then. We all fell asleep on our way back in the ferry and we looked like zombies. During my 20 days of stay, I had grown attached to my uncle and I was incredibly sad when I left. One of my cousins dropped me off to the airport with my uncle and I was very thankful that he got up at 3 am just to take me to the airport. I left extremely early in the morning. I'm sure my uncle was sad that I had to leave too because we were like buddies because we went around Hong Kong exploring different things together most of the time as my uncle and aunt are retirees so they have all the time in the world and are only looking after their grandchildren.
I'd love to see them again some time soon as they had treated me really well during my stay and I wish to repay their kindness. I miss them a lot to this day. I'd also like to thank my cousins and their wives, who have been very accommodating and hospitable. Although I met them for the first time, they didn't make me uncomfortable or awkward. On the contrary, they made me feel like I was part of the family. Indeed we are one big family. I miss the little monsters too (their children) but because when I visited, they were still young, hopefully when they grow up, they will still remember me, aunty 'B'.
