Pup in Boots

Today marked a special milestone in QQ's book of achievement. He put on his nice little shoes for the first time. Despite the initial resistance, he relented and was taking very tentative steps. He was sauntering around like a clown and induced so much laughter in the family.

After warming up, we brought QQ out to the car porch and garden. Here, he received a kiss from sister, Puffy....awwwww isn't that sweet?

The next level was to walk out on public roads. After mastering the act of walking on shoes, QQ became his naughty self again and was pulling on the leash like a crazed monster.

Mama decided that ENOUGH was ENOUGH and promptly carried him home.

Alamak...holes in his new shoes! Mama fixed them by sewing the loose bits back. The family decided that QQ should only be wearing shoes in the garden and has been forbidden to go out ever again !

HK Adventure : The Waterfront

From our hotel, we could walk to the Waterfront Area in Kowloon. This is the clock tower, right at the fringe of Victoria Harbour. It is the only remnant of the original site of the former Kowloon Railway Station. It does seem a little out of place, surrounded by modern buildings but this gave the tower a special aura.

Walking down along the waterfront, you'll stumble upon the long stretch of Avenue of Stars, a rip-off of the Hollywood version, only that this one features Hong Kong celebrities.

I took so many photos of the stars, but this one of Anita Mui evoked some emotion in visitors. There was no palm print on her star because of her passing before she had the chance to do so.

Photo taken at 6 pm...sun going down.

Photo taken at 7 pm... sundown ( awaiting the laser show )

Photo taken at nightfall, after the laser show.

Hong Kong Chow-down Part 4

Upon our return from Macau, we had a blast trying the famous local brands and food of Hong Kong. It started right after we alighted from our Turbo Jet. Right after the HK immigration gate was a stall of 許留山 (Hui Lau Shan ), a famous dessert brand. This is a bowl of mixed fruit with mango ice shavings. The fruits came in generous portions and were very fresh. Instead of plain ice shavings, the ice shavings was actually mango shavings with a appetizing yellow hue.

This is their famous Mango and Pomelo Dessert. It was slightly sourish, with a tinge of sweetness. One of the praise-worthy traits of HK dessert is that they are not overly sweet. The mango and pomelo combined to complement each other very well.

This set was ordered by Soo Sun to share with Sixian. It is a combo set which comprise of a Mango Pudding, Mango & Pomelo Dessert, Chicken Wings and Mixed Fruit with Coconut Ice Shaving. They both downed everything in a matter of minutes...it must be really good~

After checking in back into our hotel, we headed to Miramar Shopping Centre to get my sister's figurines. On the way, Sixian had marked down this famous snack stall 利強記北角雞蛋仔, which is very highly recommended and boasts long queues.

I was dying to try the 雞蛋仔, which i had never tried before. Here i am, in the queue and observing how they make them.

Here are my 雞蛋仔!! They look like they're made of styrofoam huh? No matter, they are the best tasting item i had during my 6 long days in both HK and Macau. Must-try...but of course don't just buy it from any stall, you need to pick the better stalls. These freshly made 雞蛋仔s are crunchy, and they have hollow centres. They ought to be eaten while it's still warm , while the crisp is still intact.

After enjoying that, i joined the queue again but this time to sample their 咖里鱼蛋. All sorts of balls ( cuttle fish, prawn, fish, beef, pork balls) are all soaked in curry sauce, simmering in this pot. Once an order is placed, the lady strings them into a bunch and pours the thick curry sauce ( in the center two compartments) over the fishballs.

Yumminess~

That night, on our way back from the Waterfront, we walked into a eatery and placed an order for 2 grilled pigeons. We had them on the go, and brought back to our hotel for supper. Pigeons are small, one can be shared by two for supper. It tastes somewhat like duck meat, though.

Macau : World Heritage Site

Monday morning was a day for us to explore the Historic Centre of Macau, which was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, my third Heritage Site visit in the past year ( after Penang and Bern ). The first place to explore is the most recognisable facade in Macau : Ruins of St Paul's. We were there very early ( about 8 am+), and it was a wise choice. Just look at my photos! Not many people can boast about capturing a photo of almost all the steps leading to the wall without tourists crowding.

This famous door was what remained of Church of Mater Dei, built back in the 1500's. After surviving a few bombings and fires, a kitchen fire back in 1835 destroyed the entire building, saved for the facade, foundation and the front steps ( the 3 F's...haha).

Looking down from the facade, you will see the skyline of Macau.

This is the front door of the Lou Kau Mansion. The mansion used to be the residence of a prominent Chinese businessman. The interior of this mansion was designed with both eastern and western influence, and incorporates feng shui in the placement of furnitures.

Within walking distance from Lou Kau Mansion is The Cathedral, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and built in 1622.

From what i read from the travel brochures, apparently before the handover of Macau's sovereignty to China, every new Governor of Macau would traditionally come to the Cathedral and place his sceptre next to the image of Virgin Mary, making this a very important Catholic Church in Macau.

We made a brief stop at Sam Kai Vui Kun, also known as Kuan Tai Temple. This temple is situated in the middle of the Macau Bazaar,and is always bustling with activity around it.

Just across the street from Senado Square is 'Leal Senado' Building, originally built as the municipal building. It possesses a distinct Southern European architectural design.

The exterior of the building is very nicely decorated with colourful plants, which blends well with its blue mosaic tiles.

We visited the meeting room on the first floor, which is elaborately decorated like a castle. Unfortunately, it was a Monday and the library was closed. We would've liked to see its collection of foreign texts and Macau's first copy of the 'Bee Newspaper'.

Macau Chow-down Part 3

Rise and Shine early in Macau! This famous egg tart shop is just opposite our hotel. Somehow it has two names : Margaret's Cafe or Cafe e Nata. We were there so early there was barely a crowd yet.

Only one word describes the taste : PERFECT! This is, without doubt, the best egg tart i've had in my life. The crust was very crispy, very flaky and melts in your mouth. The custard was not too sweet, not too bland. Thumbs up!

After having the great egg tart, we walked back to Senado Square. There is a wet market in one of the back alleys, and in this market is this well-known coffee stall, 胜记咖啡 ( Seng Kei Coffee). They are renowned for their coffee, which is prepared in a Crock Pot.

We ordered a cup of coffee and a cup of Yin Yang to the shared among us. It didn't live up to my expectation of good coffee, though.

Believe it or not, our THIRD breakfast stop in a span of an hour is 义顺牛奶公司 ( Leitaria I Son). This place is a competitor of the Australian Dairy Company we had earlier in HK.

A butter toast to kick off our meal here. Never mind that a cockroach dashed across our table top 2 minutes before this picture was taken. The toast was crunchy and the butter very fragrant.

What's a trip to Macau without Pork Chop Bun? It is not too oily. Actually it was pretty good. Recommended to anyone who would like to visit Macau.

And lastly, their specialty is 红豆双皮炖奶 Double Layer Milk pudding topped with red beans. Their red bean tasted a little different. It was actually pasty and powdery, a great match for the pudding. If you look closely at the bowl nearest to the camera, you'll notice that it was two layers of pudding on the surface, hence the name.

Zoo Excursion

My favourite place for a day-trip in Singapore? The Zoo! I fell in love with this place the first time i set foot there back in 1998. Even the novelty of the Night Safari is not able to compete.

Here's the white tiger. There are the three of them, so near to us that only a small valley separates the cats and the tourists. I think they were hungry and wanted to eat us, cos they were pacing around just like Frosty does when he's ready to prance.

Look at this talented elephant, who happened to be completing a painting when we visited.

Ahhh...my best friends in the zoo : Inuka and Sheba!! Again and again the zookeeper has explained to us that polar bears are actually grey. They only appear white in photos of them due to the reflection of the snow. Well, that's what i learnt at the zoo, anyway.

This is a crazy new exhibit! They put a huge plexiglass between the visitors and about 80 baboons! 80!!!! Look at this photo and multiply by 10... all the baboons were so active, they were picking things up from the floor and putting them into their mouths...some were battling each other and some were staring at us.

This boat ride is a new attraction in the zoo, and started its operation in October 2008. Visitors are given a chance to float about on Seletar Reservoir and watch animal in the comforts of the boat.

I caught a few Orangutan feeding sessions. Here's one of my friends, enjoying a piece of watermelon perched on his favourite tree.

小草

Hello! As you all should know by now, my name is QQ. For some reasons, my owners were bored and decided to braid my EARS... My daddy said that i bore a strong resemblance to kingdom servants in the past, and so sis An An gave me a new name : 小草.

Heeheeheehee.... 小草 looked as if he was grinning at the camera....

Hmmm....when An An was young, her hair was tied up exactly the same way!

I bet QQ was trying to look cute to impress this cute girl, Baby! Baby stays in Melaka but if there's a chance they shall be introduced to each other. Imagine the cute babies they'll produce!

No Cookie Is 'SAFE' from Cookie Monster

Macau : The Sun Never Sets

After our long day, it was nightfall and boy oh boy, did Macau come alive?? We walked from our hotel to the casino area, and we were dazzled by the lights from the casinos.

This is one of the newer and more impressive ones - the Grand Lisboa. You can't tell from the pic, but the lights on the dome were actually moving and displaying different colours and images. It was so bright you practically feel like it's daylight.

Just a short walk away is Wynn. It's huge fountain in front of the building has a musical and fire show every half hour. Pretty impressive, with all the fireworks and the water being in-sync with music. Nice~

This is the lobby and it brings visitors to galleries and galleries of shops within. It has a long stretch of beautiful carpet just like this one all the way to the casino. I really wonder what's the obsession with all these casinos, they must be adorned so elaborately, sometimes to the point of being gaudy. Nevertheless, i must admit that Wynn is decorated with class.

The same cannot be said for this ceiling deep within Wynn. This golden ceiling depicts the 12 animals in the Chinese calendar. This ceiling is the main attraction in a show in Wynn. This celing opens up every 15 minutes, a needle comes out from on top. At the same time, a golden tree rises from below the floor and all the people watching this show will throw coins at the tree for good luck. What a cheap trick to earn money! Haha....