Macau

Woo~! Happy Chinese New Year!!
Heh, I hope you had a good break during the new year celebrations. Well, I just got back this morning from Macau, but being the dedicated blogger that I am, you guys are in for a long nice read today.

Must read ah, uploading so many pictures during class takes effort and commitment leh.
Alright.

Tower of Macau from a distance

Well, I left in the wee hours of friday morning on a budget flight with my family on our annual family trip. Cauz my grandfather being the traditional boss- he only takes leave during the CNYs.
So must spend properly.

Metro Park Hotel, the place we lodged at

A few days before the trip, my mom heard from a friend that the weather in Macau, Hong Kong, was "pleasant cool, aircon, 20 degrees" so being the slip-shod beachwear guy. I brought shorts and thin layered clothing.

OMG. CONNED.

I stepped off the plane, into 9-15 degree weather conditions :O
First few steps, I act cool. I shuffled between the plane and my grandma, then the wind blew. *jaw drops*
... ... I hurried into the airport freezing/ shivering/ but still acting cool.

Fake Pork-rib bun which is a famous delicacy in Macau (We bought the real one the 2nd day)


Right, so the first day, we simply went for lunch and explored the area. Unfortunately, my dad, sister, and I acted cool. We insisted on going without extra clothing. But the wind eventually won.

Ma-po tofu. Nice ok, I think its also a delicacy haha. It looked like one of the hills I saw :X

That night, after dinner and rest, we went to explore the area and buy clothes. Macau being the casino area, was quite pretty.

At this point let me give you some basic information about Macau:

People in Macau speak Cantonese, which means Mark will probably fit in like a glove. I resorted to my low grade vietnamese english accent.
SG$1 = M$5, and its slightly expensive there, because the whole island is a tourist attraction. But there are also good buys.
The hotel we lodged at did not have a casino, and I didnt gamble. And would'nt.



Right, so we were walking around, this picture is not for my face, its just the buildings I wanted to show. (I'm wearing double layer, and still shivering, so much for "air-con" weather ==)

The hotel by the richest man in Macau - He literally owns half of Macau

Got my clothes :D

And that's all for day 1. We were all knocked out. Seriously, lack of sleep. Super good weather. You'd just want to sleep. And thats what we did. We had an early night's rest.





The next day, after a pleasant breakfast, the first tourist attraction we visited was St. Paul's cathedral. The more famous ruin on Macau, it was partially destroyed by fire, and what remains now is the exterior, and the cemetery.

And, I saw the moon, in the morning. I suspect, it's because of the eclispe or something liddat. I lazy confirm the date and stuff but yes, i'm serious I saw the moon in the day.





Later on, we proceeded to a nearby building, another attraction for some reasons I dunno, but we went to the rooftop where the cannons were. It was windy, and fun.

The world before me!

Failed jumpshot

Being ever-righteous, I commanded an attack on the casino nearby

A picture I know I will use in photoshop edits for new and chio-er pics. I just know it!

After that, we went to "The Vatician" - A huge huge casino/ hotel/ theme park to look-see. The place, is famous for its ceiling design that looks like the sky. An indoor outdoor experience. ahahaha. I think i'm confusing us. But yeah. Think painted ceiling.




















Its the first time I see an escalator that curves. So I just had to take it :D
Overall, I like the place, but like the rest of Macau, the only gripe I have about it is the abundant smokers in the city. Its like their past-time, ritual, morning tea..





That night, being chinese new year eve, we went to the sandy area off Macau. And there. People were putting off fireworks!~!

We. Bought. Some. Too

Since pictures cannot fully show what we do not experience in Singapore. I have uploaded some lower quality videos for your viewing pleasure.

Above, first few tries at the fireworks. I have one of me, with a first person perspective, but i think too boring for you guys la, so didnt put :D

My dad, and uncle starting up firecrackers, its long, but its worth it to see them run away at the end, very funny ahaha.

As we left the area, suddenly, a bombardment of fireworks shot to the sky! continously, spammingly, unstoppable, beautiful. but i lazy film, so only film last part ahaha. If I did the whole thing, it would be 97 mb (refered to my bro's video) and I lazy post.

7 eleven on the way back home. Sashimi-flavoured chips!?!? takoyaki-flavoured chips?!?

Day 3: Fisherman's Wharf. Some theme park area. *shrugs* sounds boring right. ahaha.




but no~! my uber-cool grandmother goes on the bumper cars with my sister haha!
The place was quite big la, then right, I saw the pond below, then, I know, I just had to have a picture taken.








So I jumped twice, got some nice shots, got a bruised hip from the lack of exercise, and a nice banner :D yeshsshshs.

Ice cream in cold weather, we are some crazy people


Now, perhaps the most memorable session of the day comes now. We played "War Games".

OMG, briefing room in some de_dust setting, sandy, we were shown a clip, in two options, "Chinese" or "English". As there was some other chinese people in the room, we voted for chinese.

The clip played in Cantonese ==....
We asked to replay in english ahahaha.

So my 2 uncles, father, brother and sister, as well as me played a 3v3 15 minutes match.

My Uncles and Dad in the green team. cool right.

My siblings and I in black team looking shabby, since we were facing off against grown-ups with NS training. And we realised we were playing with pellets, painful pellets not laser.




I tried filming a video, it would have been awesome, but its was hard to do so and play, and try to hide a camera in my vest. I would have desired to have a good video but :((

So yeah, we got owned, because the green team had NS-training, sniper training, 2 consistent marksman, high ranked officers. And we...ok, and I was the only one wearing white, in an all brown terrain, making me the easiest target to spot ==.

mann, sneaking up on my dad and uncle when they have those ns camping tactics, I got lured, and shot at by my own father qq.

Quite pain la the bullets, especially when my uncle backstabbed me close ranged. ouch.



So yes, the last day was spent walking around buying clothes, food, soaking in the atmosphere before taking the plane back home, and yes, it had been fun, the weather was awesome, and I hope you had a great time reading this post.

Cheers.