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Wednesday, 5 April 2017

6 Days in Macao and Hong Kong - Day 3



This post is a continuation from HERE.


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Destination:  2 days Macao and 4 days Hong Kong

Duration: 14 - 19 Dec 2015 (6 days)

Companion: Family trip with hubby and 2 teen boys

Mode of travel: Free and Easy, air tickets and accommodation in Macao booked with Chan Brothers Travel

Accommodation:  Macao - The Venetian Macao Resort, HongKong - Airbnb

Flight: United Airlines

Ferry: TurboJet

Damage: S$2571 + $617 (Airbnb) for 4 pax

Currency: SGD1.00 = HKD5.41 (same exchange rate for HKD and MOP, so HKD can be used in Macao)

Time Difference:  Same as Singapore

Weather: 13 ~ 20 in Macao, around 24 degree in Hong Kong


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16.12.2016


The pain at my right ankle was coming back slowly after all the walking for the pass few days.  Of all times why during travelling?

Anyway, it's colder on the 2nd day but soon not too glad as it was very windy at the coastal line >.<


On this 3rd day, we covered a small part of Coloane Island (路环), visited:
* Coloane Village
Seak Pai Van Park (石排弯郊野公园)
Macao Giant Panda Pavailion ( 澳门大熊猫馆 )
A-Ma Culture Village

In Hong Kong:
Old Master Q Cafe (老夫子餐馆)
* Sino Center
* Nathan Road/Women's Street (女人街)

Told the cab to drop us at Coloane Village, he asked which part, we said any part with food lolxx.. 
So here we were, we found this Lord Stow's and  thought it was the only one here.

Only take-away was available, so we bought 2 egg tarts and this egg white cake, stood in the wind, freezing and ate in agony lolxx...

No fantastic beaches here but it was still a refreshing sight for a typical urban Singaporean.


A contrasting sight of stilt houses against modern tall buildings.

As we walked along, we found it's cafe!
 Without hesitating, we entered, finally sheltered from the wind.

The cafe was very tiny, cramped with 5 or 6 tiny tables.  We had a table behind the door, as in one of us opened the door and sat down without an extra step.  Not too comfortable but made do...

Bailey's Latte HKD32.00
Whisky with coffee!  It didn't get me drunk though, the taste of liquor was very very mild.

We ordered more egg tarts lolxx.... HKD9.00 each.

Macanese Capella HKD70.00
Capella + Baked Potato with Bacon & Cheese + Salad and sour cream.  The chinese here referred Capella as Portuguese Luncheon meat.  It tasted nothing like ours.  It's tasted more like bread with assorted nuts with very little portion of meat.  The cheese on the bake potato was freaking nice.

I asked my son to take a pic for us pulling cheese and it was quite a disaster.  I was hoping for this:

What I gotten:
.
.
.
Both of us looked so fugly and unwilling.  Sigh.... Never mind.   You all must be laughing like shit now I know.

Spanish Omelette  HKD60.00
Omelette wrap with some onions, green peas and potatos.

After a good breakfast fix, we continued exploring around walking down the lane.  It was a bit too late to discover Lord Stow's Garden Cafe which was just a few units way.  Just that it was hidden away from the main road tucked at a corner.
It's less crowded with a more spacious and better ambience, but I am not too sure of the pricing.

Only PokemonGo players know this was a leaping joy, yes we caught it again!

This place very quiet, may be it's consider early at 10.30am?  Or most visitors rather stay in casinos?



Pone Cais De Coloane (路环码头)





Nothing much around the beach, took a 5 mins cabby ride to:

Seak Pai Van Park 石排弯郊野公园
Estrada de Seac Pai Van, Macao
(west of Coloane Island)
Seak Pai Van used to be a farm, in 1981 the land was converted into a park.  Admission is free.

Within was Macao Giant Panda Pavailion ( 澳门大熊猫馆 ), with a unbelievable low admission fee of HKD10.00.


The park kept flamingos.


Parrots.

This huge colorful is called a Macaw Hybrid.

Sika Deer which didn't want to see us.


Here's the souvenir shop that sells tickets for panda viewing as well.



Entrance.

It's a family of 4!

No sight of panda.

屎就有 Only sight of their poo poo.

Finally saw a lazy one which refused to wake up at 11am.  And it hardly moved an inch -___-|||


Next was a close encounter with a racoon.

The poor thing's hind leg was injured, the caregiver brought it out for some sun.



This used to be a public water well.  All fenced in a pretty way cos unlike other wells I had seen, this doesn't have a "wall", it's literally a big hole on the ground.

They also have a newly build exhibition hall which didn't attract much visitors yet.

Before leaving, a pic with cute panda.

Besides Seac Pai Van Park is A-Ma Culture Village.
Estrada do Alto de Coloane, Estr. do Alto de Coloane, Macao.

It's a very misleading name where the "Village" is actually a Temple.  No "Village" but A-Ma Temple.
But the Temple is not behind this arch.

Free shuttle buses were available behind it to drive visitors up hill to visit the temple.
When we asked the driver if the bus was going to the temple, he refused to answer us.  I took it as an yes and hand signal my family to hop up and drove off.  It's about 10mins drive up hill, we thanked him before alight but he still ignored us with a super black face.  Maybe he had a bad day lolxx... Never mind.

The temple was huge and elaborate but failed to impress me as it's relatively new with no history.

Ang mo who never been to China will love this though.





Public washrooms.






Kitty having sun bathe.

The view from the temple.



After which we were looking for the direction to the Statue of the Goddes A-Ma.  Not knowing how long it would take and the slightly up hill made us or rather me gave up after a few steps.  My leg was feeling more and more painful, the up hill was unbearable.  Also we were running out of time.  While waiting for the shuttle bus to drive us back to the foot of the mountain, we spoke to a native and found out that it's only a 5 mins walk to the statue.  It's really a pity that we missed it.

Gotten this pic online.  From what I know it's a 19.99m tall white marble statue.
I am so sad to miss it  T__T

Last pic of The Venetian when the cab passed by.  Leaving Macao...

On the way to the ferry terminal.

Ferry Terminal in Macao Peninsular.
Not very big in area, with 3 levels.

We didn't realise that the tour agency missed out a confirmation slip for one pax ferry ticket.  The ticketing crew at the counter was plain rude and walked off after issuing us 3 tickets.  He didn't not offer any help or any alternative.  I stood at the counter completely lost and helpless until I managed to stop another worker to help us.  We bought another ticket on the spot.  When we came back to Singapore, the tour agent admitted the overlook and we claimed back the money for the ferry ticket.

So my piece of advice - just go to the ferry terminal, purchase the earliest ticket available there.  No pre-purchase is necessary as the ferry intervals are very frequent, and sure got seats. 

We weren't hungry, just needed to find a place to rest while waiting for the ferry.

We had some shaker fries, ice lemon tea, chicken wings combi of spicy, honey and fried I think.

Ordered this cos' it's not available in Singapore.

These are the shops and restaurants in the ferry terminal.

Baggage deposit, about 40mins before departure time.

We reached Hong Kong safely.  It's familiar yet foreign.  Our previous visit was about 10 years ago.

We queued for more than an 1 hour for the taxi.

Our AirBnb accommodation was in Kenwood Mansion located diagonally opposite to Prince Edward MTR.  The host was out of town the day we arrived, he gotten his helper to bring us to the apartment.
 And yes, we were supposed to have One Dim Sum anytime we like!  But some screw up and drama happened, haiz..... the full story will come later.


Even numbers only lolxx..


It was cozy and comfortable.  It's our temporary HOME in Hong Kong!

The host provide us a portable wifi and 2 local mobile phones, we used them as a "backup".  There were other little extras which made us felt so welcome!

The kitchen area shared the area with the living room.


The kitchen was compact but were more than enough for us.

The host had prepared some mineral water, biscuits, coffee and tea mix for us, so 贴心 😊

Shower, bathtub and washing machine.


My 2 sons' room.

Hubby and mine.
And we found condoms in the writing desk's drawer lolxx....

It's our first experience with Airbnb and we love it more than hotels!

Recommended accommodation for families and friends of 4 to 6 pax.
For those who are interested in JJ-Home, click HERE.

Dinner at:
Old Master Q Cafe 老夫子餐馆
1/F Amber House, 777-781, Nathan Road, Prince Edward, Hong Kong.
This was only 5mins walk from our apartment, but hubby's perfect sense of direction vanished when he was overseas.  We followed him for half an hour before reaching, which speeded up the deterioration of my ankle.

The cafe was freaking CUTE!!  Every wall, every corner!






The fixtures and cutlery were very impressive.




Vanilla Milk Shake  HKD35.00 and Ice Lemon Tea HKD32.00

Yam with grass jelly (紫薯黑钻石) HKD38.00

Curry Chicken Rice HKD78.00

Curry Chicken Chop HKD78.00
The curry was weird.... like puree??  Culture difference, not our liking.  I think it's best to avoid curry here.  Both were ordered by my kids, but most eaten by me.

Pork Chop with garlic sauce HKD148.00.
My order, yummy, so most of it were eaten by my kids.

 Pumpkin Soup HKD48.00
Creamy and rather tasty.  I think the western food were more acceptable for us.

Portuguese Chicken Bake Rice HKD108.00
The mustard yellow color was a turn off, luckily the taste was average.

The crowd at the entrance lobby when we finished and left around 7pm.

Overall, no wow factor on the food, but it's still worth a visit for the unique ambience and especially if you like Old Master Q.

After dinner was my kids' shopping time in Sino Centre.
 Mong Kok, 彌敦道582-592號
Though I wasn't a big fan of figurines and toys, it was quite an eye opening.  According to my kids, you can find a lot of items here which are not available in Singapore.  Some are cheap while some are not so.  So you have to be an expert or do plenty of "homework" before you can ensure what you purchase is worth it.

Nathan Road was bustling with both locals and tourists.  There so many street food here that I wished I am a cow with 4 stomachs.  Unfortunately I am just a pig with limited stomach space, heeheehee....



Hubby found his love - Stingky Tofu.
Smelled very much like his 8hrs worn socks.  I ate a bite, it's very soft inside but.... the smelly socks made me cringe >.<

Looked like a famous stall here with queue.  Sells spare parts in skewers.

We dropped the kids at a card shop for game tournament, hubby and I loiter aimlessly about along Nathan Road.
 By this time, I was as good as crippled already.  Every step I walked was painful.  I needed to sit down really badly, so this dessert house was it.

Gotten nourishing drinks.

Papaya with Coconut and Pear with Red Dates, both at HKD23.50 each.
We drank as slowly as possible.

We also bought these at HKD45.76 each.

Awesome packaging.


When we finally finished our drinks....

Never know this brand but never mind, happily limping into for some Gutedama here!
Holika Holika
Shop 2R, Sai Yeung Choi Street South, Mongkok, Kowloon.

BB Cushion with refill HKD248.00
3 Steps Pig Nose Clear Kit HKD25.00 each
Cleansing Sheet and Mask HKD38.00 each

Other than the cute packaging, I am not too sure how's are the products, haven't open up to use till today >.<

Walking on slowly, we found a shop selling only ang baos.

They had all sorts like Pokemon, Hello Kitty etc..  But what interest us most were chinese surnames.  Some surnames were so rare that we didn't know they exist and some we couldn't recognize or pronounce lolxx..

And this, is ours.  Coincidentally my maiden surname 黄 was behind.
邬 is semi-rare like Snorlax, but since we never seen it in Singapore, we bought it anyway at HKD138, about 100 or 150pcs in a box.

Women's Street (女人街) which we just walked through without buying anything.  It started to close around mid night.
Didn't manage to get a cab, we walked home.  It was just a km or 2 but I was dying in pain.

I feel like giving up blogging about the rest of the trip, but I think since I started with the "head", must end with a proper tail.  It's going to take sometime but I'll get it done.






1 comment:

  1. Wow, I wish I can have life like yours, so much adventure in just 3 days. Thank you for sharing your experience with us and keep posting more such posts with us

    ReplyDelete