Dec. 30, 2014: Ocean Park (Part One)

The last time we visited Ocean Park was in February 2009. It was just a short visit to celebrate my parents 41st wedding anniversary. It is memorable because it was the first ever airplane trip for D (yes! imagine that!), it was also our first trip abroad as a married couple and naturally it was my parents' anniversary.

Coincidentally, today February 5 marks my parents' 47th wedding anniversary. They are the best parents, I could ever hope for and I wish them all the blessings and good wishes for more wedded bliss. 

6 years is a long time so we decided to revisit Ocean Park. Plus my sister was able to redeem her credit card points for discounted tickets so off we went to visit the pandas, the penguins, the jelly fishes, the sharks and the different species of fishes. 

First stop - the Panda Enclosure

The above animal is known as a red panda!

An otter playing tricks

Souvenir shop

This section depicts Old Hong Kong 

where the charms of the past are on display

These bowls of soup were our lunch for the day

Then it was time to ride the cable car to get to the other side of Ocean Park for more adventure and loads of fun

This is taking longer than I anticipated as there are a ton of pictures to choose from and I haven't sorted them out. So let me end here and continue it some other day.

To be continued ...

Macau Part Two: Food choices

Certainly for an entertainment mecca like Macau, you would not starve as there are several types of restaurants (fast food, food court, casual dining and fine dining) to satisfy your cravings.The numerous hotels/casinos have their own food court where different cuisine are guaranteed to satisfy your hunger pangs. At the Venetian Macau where we stayed, their food court offers a wide variety of cuisine, the only trouble is finding a vacant table especially during lunch and dinner time.

We found an alternative by simply hopping on the free shuttle bus service to head to the nearby Galaxy Hotel and eat at the wider spaced food court which also offered numerous choices.

Singapore cuisine - a big heaping bowl of Prawn Mee (Prawn Noodle Soup) and Bah Ku Teh (Pork Ribs with herbs soup) for my sister.

But a visit to Macau is surely not complete without sampling the famous egg tarts from Lord's Stow Bakery as well as dining on Portuguese fare. Lucky for us, there is a branch of Lord's Stow located in the shoppes of the Venetian so we always had ample supply for breakfast, snack and even midnight snacks!

We had our first Portuguese fare for dinner at Madeira Portuguese Restaurant. A fancy restaurant located at The Venetian itself. We were exhausted after a long day exploring the sights and decided to just head back to the hotel for dinner before returning to the suite.  

The main "star" of most Portuguese meals is the Bacalao or salty cod fish. It can be cooked in a wide variety of ways. It is also imperative to try the Portuguese sausage which is pretty much like the Spanish chorizo but has a saltier flavor.

Sliced Portuguese Sausage

Bacalao Balls

Clams Soup and French Onion Soup

Baked Chicken Stew

Bacalao with Cabbage

Bacalao Fried Rice

Steamed Clams

Strawberry Short Cake for dessert

After we checked out of the Venetian Macau, we headed to the city proper. By the time we got there, we were beset with hunger pangs. Our original choice to have lunch in was unfortunately closed for inventory. After walking along a few steps, we chanced upon a quaint looking restaurant named Boa Mesa which also serves Portuguese food. 

Flaming Portuguese Sausage

Here it is all sliced up - yum yum

 Seafood Fried Rice

Bacalao Balls

Bacalao Fried Rice

Grilled Portuguese Sardines

Grilled Bacalao

Apple Pudding for dessert

I end by saying Macau is an enchanting place to visit and having a wide variety of restaurants which offer different cuisine is a big factor and part of the charm of this place. Just don't complain if you need to loosen your belt as the pounds are bound to add up! 

Macau: Part One

It is already the 27th day of the first month of 2015?  Time flies ha? I've been keeping my mind busy, writing reviews of all the films I've watched since September last year on my other blog. I am still in the month of October so I have a long way to go. But I'm happy because I get to write again as opposed to just posting pictures and adding captions to them.

Physically, I have not done anything to get healthy as I sit on my fat butt all day writing entries. I should probably stop wondering why my waist line is still as bloated as a blow fish when I don't make any effort to slim down, no? Although sometimes, I get too engrossed in composing reviews, I just eat a small bowl of soup with rice. You'd think that would help in my effort to trim my waist line?

So enough whining about doing nothing 'healthy', let's get on with the ubiquitous post about Macau. You are probably wondering why we always have a side trip to this tiny state when we visit Hong Kong. Philippine passport holders can enter HK visa free for 14 days. This means upon entry they automatically give you 14 days regardless of the length of your stay. They advise travelers who plan to stay beyond 14 days to go to their nearest consulate and apply for a visa. 

Magastos po yun at matagal ang processing, tapos marami pang documento ang kailangan. Minsan pa hindi nila i-aaprove so bakit ka pa magpapakahirap, di ba? 

Kaya ang ginagawa namin at ginagawa na rin ng madlang pipol ay lumalakbay kami sa kalapit na bayan na ngayon po ay sakop na rin ng malaking lupa ng bansa may isang sanggol policy. Doon ang binibigay nila ay 30 araw na visa upon arrival din po.

Nakakapamasyal ka na sa magagandang tanawin, mag eenjoy ka rin sa mga casino (paborito ni Ma!) at pagkatapos ay makakabalik ka ulit sa pamamagitan ng ferry na isang oras lang biyahe at ipatatak ulit sa passport mo na 14 days. Ayos, di ba?? Kaso halatang halata po yun kaya ang ginagawa namin ay nag checheck in sa isang hotel ng isa o dalawang gabi (depende po sa budget) dahil sa totoo lang ay kulang ang isang buong araw sa dami ng magagawa doon. 

Now allow me to regale you with some sights and sites of Enchanting Macau.

The Galaxy Macau

Galaxy Macau at night

Lobby of City of Dreams Macau

The Venetian Macau

Sands Cotai Shoppes

St. Francis Xavier Church in Coloane, Macau

Coloane City - a fishing village

The Combatting Pirates Monument is dedicated to the "Coloane Incident". In 1910 pirates took a dozen pupils hostage and were held for ransom. Portuguese soldiers launched a military operation to free the hostages.

Sands Cotai

Swarovski Store in Senado Square

Post Office

Senado Square

St. Dominic Church

Cathedral de Se

Manger at the Plaza de Se

Road Signs

The Archbishop Palace

Peek a boo with Grand Lisboa Casino

West Lobby of The Venetian Macau