july 28 ~ macau part 1

first of all... this trip is in honor of mary... its her b-day weekend!!! yay!!!!
happy birthday to her!!! and for that we go to macau!
on the boat.... look at us.. friday after work... sooo happy :)

the first thing we did was check into hotel.. and then hop over across the street to this new harbour place... i think its like.. "fisherman's wharf"... its like.... uh??? what??? ancient greece/rome in macau???!!?? (ya... very hilarious)
looks somewhat nice at night... i cannot imagine in the day... (it will look fake)
then.. after dinner... we browsed some new hotels... this is pic taken outside wynn...looking at lisboa... lots of fancy lights at night... pretty!!!!... then after a few casino visits.. we settled at a bar to toast mary on her big day... then...back to hotel golden dragon... to bed!!!!

after a good night sleep... waking up for lunch... we head to taipa (i think thats the english name).. for some crab congee.. yum!

july 28 ~ macau part 2

while in taipa... some old villas and water lily pond we visited:

here.. it overlooks the new hotel (venetian: same as the one in las vegas)... the poor water lilies.. dying in the drying up pond.. and probably from all the construction pollution... :(

i like this pic
and this one
and this one.. is just interesting... somehow the whole scene fits.. yet is odd at the same time? what do u think? and opinion? haha.. mary, curtis, edward... outside some temple

then... after taipa... we took a taxi.. to another island (dunno name)
but.. its beautiful there... very calm/quiet/relaxing.. as u can see: reminds me of "tai o" in hk...

a colorful church there
with lots of water lilies... (i love)

july 28 ~ macau part 3

after a lot of sun... we went inside this famous egg tart cafe for a drink and a tart!!!
it is really really good... love the puff pastry... yum!!!!
taken from inside the cafe looking at the entry door... very small cafe... cute little space... timid.. yet cozy...
and... us :) .... mary, kariiiin, silly

outside the cafe!!!!

then ... taking the bus back.. we landed in the new lisboa hotel:
haha.. felt like we landed in outer space!!!.. planet saturn!!! hahaha
a reflecting pool inside the new lisboa hotel...
the chandelier about the reflecting pool... crazy!!!!
and.. the crystal lights.. and mirror.... and glass.. and gold.. and sparkles.. and too much shiny stuff!!!! (but i like this photo)

july 28 ~ macau part 4

then.. after hotel lisboa... after the hot afternoon sun... we headed out.. to the famous tourist area... and sightsee... and buy some almond cookies for relatives :P
us on the main street... plaza..... then from here.. mary took us for a journey.. loooong.. hoooot hike... weeeeee... to the fort!!! (we were dehydrated!)
and.. up here... u get the canons.. shooting at the new hotel lisboa tower.. still under construction... the bottom ball/casino area that we visited is open... but.. the tower... i hate it..looks so odd in the skyline... but.. i like this photo... it totally expresses my feelings towards the tower.. muahahah... (the hotel owner mr.ho ... will kill me)
now.. some architecture... (not fancy.. but... caught my eye).. its the famous church that burned down leaving on the stone facade... these pics are the church and its museum...
the crypt of the church...

where the church used to be... now turned into a museum (open air, with some enclosed areas like the crypt pic above)
the front side of the church...
i have taken a pic here everytime i come to macau.. i must have a least 10 pics... through out the ages...it would be interesting to compile them together..
a nice pic~
crabby for dinner :P yum... after this dinner... we took boat back to hk... and

THE END!

link updates

i have updated a few links to the left -->
(if you enjoy photography and interesting travel stories.... have a look)

Maddy in China: about her exchange experience in beijing, china

Zach in China: also another beijing, china travel experience (lots of good photos and interesting outtings)

Sean Regatta Quest: a sailing adventure photo blog (i would love to be doing the same)

Robannz Photos: a flickr site, lots of amazing photos from around the globe (always a pleasure to look at)

Enjoy!!!!

飛

dedicated to mabel (i think of u everytime i listen to him):

昨日依稀　還未捨得你　今天的我　仍讓你歡喜　
竟發現　共你分開時期　而你仍會吶喊為我衷心打氣　
多麼多麼想著你　多麼感謝你　讓我闖一闖　無後顧地　

獨自遠飛　天涯或遠地　透過這清風擁著你　
獨自遠飛　怎能沒顧忌　原來從離別想著你

(i always have deep thoughts listening to this song)

update... and more hainan!!!!

recap weekend... its been a while...
have been really busy for some reason..... yet another weekend is just passing by...sunday night is always go home. rest/blog night...

sat: went to the art gallery at 8:30am!!! to line up for tickets to see exhibit... kinda insane... but thats the way it is here.. timed tickets.. only available the day of...(nuts if u ask me)... and even though its timed ticket for that hour... the piece we are there to see is limited to only 5 minutes, in groups of 20 ppl...

what was i looking at?... well.. its an exhibit called treasures of china... where the most exciting piece is a 5m long scroll painting done around the 1100AD -1200.... its a piece that depicts the northern song dynasty and its capital city at the time.. showing sits prosperity during the chinese holiday "qingming" (kinda like.. first day of spring type holiday)... the painting depicts lifestyle,commerce,trade,merchants,boats,architecture, pretty much like a snapshot of life back then...

so... was it worht seeing?... i think its a piece of art work learning of... studying... but to see the real thing.. um... 5 min/with 20 ppl.. is useless... haha

anyways... there were other pieces of art there... i guess i did enjoy myself to some extent... not entirely... i hate the rush of ppl there... too many... too loud... its like.. talking.. and not gazing...

so.. at around 11:30.. i left to go home... took a nap in the afternoon... (lately.. hk has been really hot... afternoon is best to stay indoors)... so by 6:00.... i headed out again to meet up with karin, don, waidy for dinner... celebrating waidy's b-day...!!! yah !

then.. the best was drinks at sheraton hotel in tst... on the 18th floor sky lounge... haha... it has the best view overlooking the hk harbour!!! wa wawa.... we had a bottle of red (pinot noir, from new zealand)... interesting wine... and.. some snacks.. the free peanuts were so good :P

and.. sunday (today) was harry potter day!!! yah yah.... it was a good movie... shorter than i thought... but i guess what needs to be told was told... there are a lot of details in this book that really cannot be told nicely in a movie without being boring i guess?... haha... so... not to spoil it for all... its exciting... very dark though... makes u scared of what the last book.. (7)... that comes out next weekend will be!!! ... (its too bad i wont be reading it till end of summer probably)

then.. after movie... went shopping ... and... i bought yet another pair of shoes... oops.. haha
i love shoes in hk... its the best... so many kinds/style/colour... just adore!!!

ok... i dunno where to store my shoes when i get back to toronto.. haha
and... tonight went to grandmas... she's gonna knit me a scarf... i personally ordered for it... colour and style.. haha... :) .. i cant wait

and...more hainan:
hehe... i did not go back again...
just some pics i finally had time to post after getting them off of karin's camera...
pics from our first meal:
a classic hainan meal... with the chicken.. and cocount rice... and veggies... i love the rice!!!! the chicken is a little skinny....
haha.. then... the fishies ended up feasting on me.... see the big big one... that one scared me....
here is a crazier pic.... i cant even count how many are there.... 30?... 40?... haha

Part 1 ~ Hainan ~ Adventure begins

for the long weekend... it was off to the beach we go...
karin and i went to hainan for 3 days...

day 1: off to sanya, hainan... taking a taxi... who thinks he's funny by telling us his back looks like jacky cheung... and... his name is "mark gor"... like chow yuen fat...in the old hk movie... anyways... he's not funny... but we managed to bargain our way to from $100 rmb from airport to hotel... to $100 rmb including a drive to the hot spring and back... which means we hired him for the entire day... plus about 2 hours of driving... (its a good deal i think... considering he started at $200 rmb... ).. of course he earned commission from all the places he took us to... but either way.. we would have to pay the same for the admissions ... so.. we got ourselves a deal...

i think he was thinking he had us on his hook for driving us around the next two days... but of course... we ditched him after the first day.. muahahhaa....

so... day 2/3... were spent at the hotel... it was so relaxing... the room was amazing... the hotel was peaceful... just what we wanted... and.. excellent service... on par/on time... no complains...
the place we enjoyed most... would probably be the cafe by the pool... its quiet... relaxing... a light breeze always comes in... and sitting there.. waiting for the sun to set... some how time slows down at such a place... u have time to enjoy every cloud that passes by... hear the breeze...

so... although time slows down... very quickly 3 days went by... :(

here are some pics of us:
only pic we got someone to take for us
this one... set on timer.... which is why we had to get down.. haha
this... haha.. u can see the camera
our room service dinner... camera set up on the tv...
taken with my wide angle lens.... (good lens)
hehe... shadow... go to next pics la...

Part 2 ~ Hainan ~ Its better with two

hehe.... our flip flops like to have fun:

our glasses....
having too much fun!!!! sand covered!
watermelon and papaya
hehe.... hiding?

Part 3 ~ Hainan ~ hotel

we stayed at a very lovely hotel 5*.... *****
the cafe/pool/palm trees
just outside our room... overlooking the back/front entry of hotel....
cute huh?

our room... (i love the bed)
view from the bathroom window.... woooooa
from the cafe we loved!!!! (day)
(night)... the fire torches light up...