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Macau Adventures: Day 3 - Ferry to Macau

Sunday, April 29, 2012 Category : , , , , 0




Screen cap of Google Map's street view of China Hong Kong City Building



     Yes, my friends and I decided to have an Amazing Race across China and its special administrative regions (SARs).  We visited, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Macau in our 4d3n tour last February.  It's a very crazy idea. I don't encourage anyone to do the same, especially for first-time travelers to those places.

     Throwing caution to the wind, we spent a night in Macau just to be able to say that we've been there.  Well, I've been there before, but the rest, except for one, have never been to HK, China and Macau.  

     So, from our hotel, we took a shuttle going to TST.  The stop was very near the China Ferry Terminal.  It's very easy to find.  Just go inside China Hong Kong City,where the huge Esprit outlet store is located at the ground floor.  Refer to the photo I screencapped from Google Maps.  Entrance is beside Esprit, just go up to the short escalators until you reach the third floor, I think, where the booking offices are located.  From there, you can take your pick of ferry service depending on the time you want to depart. Most services leave even every 30 minutes, except for Cotai Jet which departs late in the afternoon if I remember correctly.  This ferry station also services passengers to Mainland China such as Zhuhai.

This is the floor where the ticketing offices are located. 


Departure Area at the China Ferry Terminal Station


     After buying tickets and waiting for our ferry to depart, we ate lunch at Cafe de Coral, a fast food chain in Hong Kong which offers cheap meals, of course by Hong Kong standards.  The food there is quite tasty and they change their menus depending on the time.  After 2 p.m., no more lunch sets, for example.  Be sure to state clearly your choice of set meal and which beverage you want since not all cashiers understand English well.  You can point to the menu on the wall, then say if you want milk tea, or if you want cola (additional price).  You'll be given a printed receipt plus an order slip which you'll have to hand over to a staff at  a separate counter where roasted ducks are hung.  Wait for your order and hope that the cashier and helper got your orders right.


Well, what do you know?  Look at how dirty my cup was.  
Probably, the tea spilled, thus, there were droplets on my cup.
It was just surprising that the staff were unconcerned about the messy cup and did not even bother to replace it.   


This was my lunch.  It was an oven-baked pork chop with pineapples and sauce poured over the rice.
There was too much sauce. 



     We picked First Ferry/Turbo Jet as our service provider.  It was the same company we used when I went to Macau in 2009.  It leaves every 30 minutes from 7am to 10:30 pm everyday. Makes you wonder how many gamblers, tourists, businessmen and locals shuffle to and from Macau each day.  Hmm.

     Anyway, I think we paid around HKD 150+ per person since it was a weekend.  But the ferry was not packed and it was a pleasant ride so we were able to take a nap.  About an hour later, we reached Macau! Yay!

      Once in Macau, and after passing through the immigration, we took the underpass going to the other side of the street to catch a free shuttle bus to our hotel, the Venetian.



The Venetian Hotel's Mascot was at the Ferry Terminal to welcome Macau's visitors!  
So cute!




The Free Shuttle to Venetian.

Melaka Travel Adventures - Day 1: Jonker Walk

Sunday, February 5, 2012 Category : , , , , 0




     Jonker Walk is a street in Melaka flanked on each side with heritage houses turned into hotels, shops and restaurants.  There are temples, too.  On weekends, it becomes a night market and the streets are closed to traffic.  Apparently, Jonker Walk is famous for antiques but on weekends, clothes, souvenirs and food, among other stuff, are sold.  It has sort of a touristy feel but it is masked by rows and rows of beautiful heritage buildings.

     It is quite easy to reach Jonker Walk from the Dutch Square.  Just cross the street, walk along the small bridge over the river and you'll see the street island with a marker: Jonker Walk.  On its right, a huge red building with a restaurant and a souvenir shop selling local food items or "pasalubong," mostly sweets,  like the local dessert dodol, candied or dried this and that, biscuits, chips, etc.  I think the building's name is San Shu Gong.  It's usually packed with tourists on weekends buying just about everything they could carry back home.  Anyway, Jonker Walk is very hard to miss and it'll take less than 2 minutes to walk from the Clock Tower to the marker.




     We went to Melaka on a Sunday and apparently, the street market opens early during weekends, around lunch time.  See, the crowd is starting to build up.  It was taken just before 7:00 p.m.  I know, right?  It's not yet dark.  On a side note:  Do you know what is being sold on the left side of the photo?  The one with the colorful boxes laid out on the table?  They're facial masks from Taiwan, the famous My Beauty Diary.  Imagine that. Lol.


     An hour later and the street suddenly became congested with tourists.

 .
     And, the party had began.  There were some performers on stage.

     Hungry?  Don't worry.  There are a lot of restaurants, some with tables and chairs propped outside on the streets for open-air dining and for drinking booze.  Now I know why there were many people gathered around the stage.  Dining, drinking plus free entertainment.  You can't beat that.

    There are dining options for every budget.  This one below is street-side dining.


     
     This one, on the other hand, is a good-sized restaurant, The Geographer, and it's a hit with westerners.  They also provide al fresco dining.  I've bought some sandwiches and noodles to go earlier in the afternoon there.
   

     Speaking of food, here are some local delicacies sold on the streets, like cendol and dodol.  If I am not mistaken, dodol is like our own delicacy, the "calamay," and some are even packaged in coconut shells, or what we call, "bao."  I was not able to eat cendol but it's quite popular there, especially the durian cendol.  It's perfect for the humid temperature as it contains shaved ice.


     Remember the candied fruits popular in Beijing?  They're also being sold in Melaka.  Even Taiwanese sausage, although it is considerably smaller and pricier in Melaka.  See, Melaka is very international.



     There are several shops selling putuo (no idea but there are a couple of stores selling those) and tarts, and of course, a trip down to Jonker Walk would not be complete without eating the famed chicken rice ball.



     There are many restaurants serving chicken rice balls to choose from, and I was too hungry to seek out the more popular ones, like Chung Wah which I observed had people lining outside around just past lunch time.  So, it'll probably have people lining there, too, during dinner time.  Chung Wah, if you want to look for it, is directly in front of San Shu Gong as shown below (I've used this photo, too, above).  Can you see it in the far right side?  Kedai Kopi Chung Wah.


     We settled with this restaurant, Famosa Chicken Rice Balls, which we stumbled upon and which turned out to be quite well-known.  It has a website!  We got there just before 9:30 p.m. and they were almost closing.  Of course, I ordered chicken rice balls and hainese chicken rice.  What's the difference?  The rice balls were just hainese chicken-flavored rice rolled into tight little balls smaller than the size of ping pong balls.  The rice balls have been molded almost smoothly, and well, for me, it was nothing special, except for the novelty.  I'm sorry.  However, it's still a treat to eat it just because I got to taste it while I was in Melaka.  Maybe, I just had one too many hainese chicken rice since I've been eating it almost everyday while in Singapore and Malaysia.  The hainese chicken I separately ordered was just your regular hainese chicken you can probably eat anywhere in South East Asia.   There was nothing special, too, with the roast chicken which came with our chicken rice balls.


     Our chicken rice balls with roast chicken.  The rice balls are quite heavy, even if they look bite-sized.  I think, 5 rice balls amount to 2 cups of rice since they're tightly packed; perhaps, even more.  Some people says they won't be enough for people with good appetite.  I have good appetite but I still found it quite heavy.  I couldn't even finish 3 balls, and I was famished.

     We were the only diners left, anyway, it was almost ten.  The waitress told me if I'd like to make a final order since they're closing already.  I get the feeling though that they wanted us to finish eating quickly. 


     Our run-of-the-mill hainese chicken rice.  However, the plum drink is quite a treat.  My mom didn't like it, since it's sour, but I did.  I loved it.  And I ordered a coffee jelly of some sorts as dessert.  You have to put some sugar syrup to give it sweetness.  Again,  my mom didn't like it, since it couldn't get any sweeter, but I did.



     Aside from food, you'd find stalls selling shirts, slippers, stationery, trinkets, souvenirs, etc.  Not much different from other night markets in Asia.  In essence, Jonker Walk is fun, vibrant and touristy, especially on weekends.

   



   

   

     

Taiwan Travel Adventures 2011 - Day 3: NTU Education Tour, Part 2, and the Gongguan Night Market

Thursday, August 11, 2011 Category : , , 0


View of the Taipei 101 from the NTUgrounds.


     As I have said a couple of posts back, I had an impromptu snacks tour during my trip to NTU.  And rightly so, my guides ushered me to where the locals buy two (2) of the most popular snacks/treats inside NTU before leading me to the Gongguan Night Market.

     Me and my tour guides, Ms. Annick and Alice, walked towards the right side of the Main Library until we came to a small, cottage-like store packed with people.  The guides told me that NTU sells some produce from the NTU Farm and their by-products, including NTU's very own ice cream!  And they're selling like hotcakes!  When we got into the NTU store, the ice cream wafer/sandwich was sold-out and there were no more ice cream on cups left in the freezer.  Good thing we waited for a while because the staff restocked the ice cream on cups, about half a pint each, and they wiped out in mere minutes!

The NTU store.  
See how the locals spend their Sunday afternoons: outdoors!



     After buying the ice creams, we faced a little challenge finding an empty table where we could eat and chill.  There were tables and chairs outside, al fresco style, and a couple of picnic tables.  We found a vacant picnic table, and I had the opportunity to hang out as the locals do.  Not long thereafter, I met the cutest and the smartest Taiwanese I've ever met, pictured here:




      This boy's parents shared our table and the kid and I hit it off immediately.  All he did at first was to glare at me but after some time, he relaxed and even played with me.  He's just 2 years old but he can recite the English alphabet and can count in English.  So cute! And smart!

     While playing peek-a-boo with the toddler, I ate my ice cream, which was vanilla, and it was creamy and delish.  Then after an hour, I quickly forgot about the waffle my guides volunteered to buy.  Apparently, you buy it from a nearby store, if I remember correctly, or is it at the same store?  I forgot because I was buying the ice cream when the guides bought the waffle.  Anyway, our number was in the hundreds and it had a time for pick-up.  Yes, you buy the waffle then wait for an eternity because there are about a hundred people ahead of you.  It was worth the wait, though.  The waffle was perfectly done:  it was crisp outside and soft inside.  It almost melts in the mouth. 




     After we finished off our ice cream and waffles, my guides brought me food tripping at the Gongguan Night Market!  Yay!  

     Ms. Alice asked me if I have ever eaten any of the famous Taiwanese snacks.  I told her no, with the exception of the Hot Star Chicken and the waffle that we just had.  She was so shocked!  So, she and Ms. Annick dragged me to what they tell me is a very famous stall at the Gongguan Night Market selling a thick misua soup of some sorts and stinky tofu.  They swore to make me eat stinky tofu, which I did, and I even ordered the misua soup.  The stinky tofu was not so bad.  It was delicious but the odor is mildly off-putting.  I say mildly because apparently, the stinky tofu served at the stall was not as stinky as the ones I smelled at Jiufen.  I was not able to consume the soup because it was so heavy and the stinky tofu was filling by itself.


The popular stall selling stinky tofu.


The delightfully delicious stinky tofu and soup.

     After eating, for the second time in about two hours, we rounded up the streets of Gongguan Night Market and a lot of snacks along the way, including roasted duck heads:






     As the day went darker, the throng of people and cars got thicker.  And yes, there are a lot of young people at the market since it's so near NTU.



     Finally, we reached our ultimate destination, to a hugely popular bubble tea shop.  It's easy to spot.  Just look for rows of some more than 50 people and that'll be it.  There's even chalk marks on the ground to let people know where to line up.  Yes, if you see people lining up in Taipei, it's probably for some famous snacks.

     The guides told me that it's arguably the best bubble milk tea, and the secret? Brown sugar for the tapioca.  I was like, we've been doing that back home since like, forever.  So, the taste was way too familiar for my buds.  And the shop sign has a crazy long explanation why the written logo is long or something.. It's also on the plastic cups, like a logo. The guides told me that it's a strategy to deter copycats to copy the store's logo. Anyway, the bubble tea was yummy and worth the 30-minute wait.







My order being prepared.


My bubble tea.
    

     After finishing off our bubble teas, we went back to the Gongguan MRT station.  I had to board down a stop ahead since it's nearer my hostel.  And after saying my goodbyes and gratitude to Ms. Annick and Ms. Alice, I got off my station.  Sigh.  That officially ends my free Taipei city tours.


   

Taiwan Travel Adventures 2011: Day 2 - Ximending and Sophisca Candy Shop

Tuesday, June 28, 2011 Category : , , 0




     Since I came back early in Taipei from Jiufen, I took a short rest at the Hostel.  A shower with hot water came after that.  Then I went back to Zhongxiao Fuxing Station to buy some Jill Stuart cosmetics.  

     Anyway, for one reason or the other, I decided to dress up.  I bought a dress just for my Taiwan trip, and I wanted to use it that night.  I even curled my long hair.  Call me vain, and I won't take it against you.  Besides, I want to look great for my night out in Taipei, plus, I was hoping Eric from the hostel would see me in my kinda pretty state.  And, it never hurts to look presentable.  Who knows, I might meet someone.  Heehee.



This is me, all dressed up, with hair curled, and looking grotesque.

     So, I decided to go to Sogo first.  I know my way there and so I just took the blue line and alighted at Zhongxiao Fuxing Station.  I headed to the cosmetics department which took me a while to find.  I bought  some Jill Stuart cosmetics because I've almost emptied my compact.  And I found myself withdrawing cash at an atm.  Oh, well.  

     A Jill Stuart sales person helped me find a great lipstick, pinkish, which works best for me, and a very flattering blush.  However, the sales staff thought I won't be buying the lipstick and the blush, so they weren't added to my bill.  I guess, it was not really meant for me to buy those.  At least, I looked nice in the lipstick and blush I had on my face.

     So, I went to Ximending, a place I was not able to visit the first time I got to Taipei. It was easy enough to find.  It was on the blue line, too.  However, when I got to Ximending, I was like, "this is it?"  Well, let's just say that I was a bit disappointed.  I felt the place didn't appeal to me.  There were a lot of people, for one thing, and I think, I am just too old for the place.  It's hip and young, and I am not.  Heehee.  Besides, it was not bright and as colorful as I hoped it would be; not that I was hoping to see Rainbow Brite or anything.  It was even hard to take pictures using my point-and-shoot camera.  So, none of my photos turned out great.  They're either overblown or overexposed or blurred.  Well, I am partly to blame because I don't really know how to work a camera.





     I wandered around Ximending.  One thing's for sure, the place is alive, and there are a lot of cinemas!  They're everywhere.  And since I came around dinner time, the restaurants were packed and I saw a lot of food stalls with really long lines.  I wanted to line up, too, but I was not up to it.  I still needed to find a candy shop that I specifically intended to visit.





     And the shop is called SOPHISCA. They sell candies and chocolates in cute and novelty packages.  There's a condom choco, sanitary napkin marshmallows, jelly syringe, candy boobies and more.  There were a lot of people inside so I was only able to take a photo or two.   As to how I found Sophisca? I just walked till I got to the right alley and saw a white sheep against a pink background  (logo).  It was luck.

 Don't forget the logo!



      Inside the shop.


     I got these photos of Sophisca's products from their website:



      FYI, there are branches in Jiiufen and Danshui, too.  And these are the stuff I bought at Sophisca as treats and souvenirs for my friends and family:




     I couldn't remember if I ate dinner that night.  I don't think I did. I remember my feet burning because I had been walking with flat shoes since early morning.

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