敲敲澳门的门 Part III

There is something that both of us wont miss out when we go Macau.  It is a very cozy small cafe hidden out of the streets and casinos. Our favourite Cafe Nata - the superb Macau Egg Tarts.

I still rem the first time I went to Macau with my parents - we were told that there were nice Portugese egg tarts in Macau - something "Must-Try". We didnt manage to find one outlet as we were rushing to and fro. Second time, my parents, uncle and sister went and they chanced upon Cafe Nata. And the sweet and delicious story of the Egg Tarts continues...continues in our trip too.

My dear realised that when we said we wanna packet dozens of the egg tarts, the tarts packed would not be as hot as dining in. Didnt know about that and I wanted to order a few more to eat de. In fact, we finished one box of 6 tarts and we went back to q for packet home. The sale assistant took the empty box and opened it for QC Checks! Dunno whether it was the egg tarts - the yummy egg tarts - that kept me from being "fierce" that I didnt react negatively to her rudeness.... 

It is a place - a cozy place that my dear and I like to go. I have never tried their kopi and this time round we did. Didnt know expresso so small cup de - really blur sotong me. I acted cool cool to order expresso while my dear got nice coffee... quite funny when I shared it with dear.  I hope it can be a tradition for our family to visit the Cafe every time we go Macau. And on the bigger note, the backpacking tradition should continue... big backpacks and cute little backpacks...

敲敲澳门的门 Part II

It was a sweet surprise when you went to a place which you didnt expect. We chanced upon a flower exhibition - actually more like a garden of tulips exhibition when we wanted to visit a photography exhibition in Taipa. It was drizzling and yet there were still many visitors. We felt like "trapping" in a sea of tulips. 

Honestly speaking, when it comes to flowers, I am always lost - I can recognise rose, sunflower, lilies and a few others only. Not that I dun buy flowers for dear, just that I got "poor floral recognition skills" always. I almost wanted to tell my dear that there was a rose exhibition :S.

After taking some couple shots in the garden, I wanted to do some big aperture shots on the tulips. 

Lonely Tulip

Focused on one with greenish background. Dear mentioned that it looked so lonely, and I kinda like agreed with her. So, I decided to try to take a bunch instead. Seemed that she could visualise the shots better this trip. And I really thought it was a gd idea. Maybe I was too focused on taking photos - forgot the importance of composition liao. Suddenly thot of waking up early in the morning and tried to catch the morning sunlight on all these tulips - it would be nice too =).

Tulips in group

It was really good to have dear with me. Besides our flexi tripod, we could help each other take posed shots - flexing our "photography muscles" to compose and shoot. Some were "cool" photos while others were "artistic photos". This garden of sweet surprise made me like Taipa even more. Must intro to friends when they visit Macau next time - dun always stuck in Macau itself - there are other things to explore as well.

I think in general, it was a switch in the view of our trip in Macau. We didnt expect to chance upon the garden and well, it really freshened our views and mind - kinda of immersed into the botany. The whole garden actually blended in with the environment - trees behind, a big lake with Hard Rock Hotel in sight, colonial buildings =). Very romantic feeling too.

Dear asked if we wanna go to the Hard Rock Hotel to check out the T-shirts. I tend to collect a typical localised T-shirt if available. But the Hotel seemed quite far and me also a bit lazy to try to hunt for the building. So, decided to give it a miss. Dun rem seeing any tees with Hard Rock Macau though :P. Next time bah. Next time when we go there again. Of cos, when we need not walk from a distance, and it is within 100 m. Knock knock Macau's door and see different perspectives of Macau it can offer...

敲敲澳门的门 Part I

Christmas 09 @ Macau

Macau is always part of the journey for many friends that I know - however, Macau is a place that I love to go as well. There are always sweet surprises.

We didnt realise that 新马路 still got Christmas Tree deco. We spotted the nice blue tree while we did our simple shopping for our families. The feel of the place was nice - simple yet elegant. At times, I did feel a bit amazed by my "travelling memory" - I still could rem the name of the place and roughly where to alight when taking the public buses. Well, this made me the natural guide for my dear.  The Christmas decoration was really very nice and the lights stretched from Christmas all the way to New Year Eve. Lucky the deco was still on when I decided to bring my heavier tripod to take photos.... my spider tripod could not do the job... Though I brought my wide-angle out, I didnt even see that I could capture the nice white colonial building together with the Christmas Tree until my dear reminded me. Really at times, things so overwhelming that we tend to be lost in the jungle, in deep thoughts until we cant see or spot clearer pictures.  That's why its better to travel in pair, do things together.

I love to go to Macau, I think we love to travel to Macau.  There are always some things that both of us must eat.  We love to eat the egg tarts and 鱼蛋 there - there are also cute memories behind each type of food. We learnt a key lesson this round though. Things that we want to do or eat, if given the time, we should go for it. One of our favourite "hangouts" in Macau was closed, so we did not manage to "packet" the egg tarts back to our guesthouse for a feast. Well, lucky there is always a second chance or opportunity.

Margaret Cafe Nana Egg Tarts 

我们应该敲敲澳门的门, 看看她能给我们多大的惊喜.

长洲不算长 - Part 4

Trishaw ride @ Cheung Chau 

I really cant believe it that I could not balance myself on the trishaw at Cheung Chau Island ;O.  We saw these trishaws during our first visit to Cheung Chau in 2008 and this time round I decided to ferry my dear. I rem she "complaining" that I didnt ferry her while other male travellers did ferry their dear ones around the island.

We selected a shop by the sea - in fact - all the shops renting the trishaw were by the sea. It costed about HK30 per hour and the stall owner asked me to try cycle first. I could not believe it that I could not balance the trishaw. After several attempts, the owner suggested for my dear to try and she did it without difficulty. Now we understood why sometimes we did see female riders while the males were seated in the trishaw.  The "ego" me of cos wont give up so we decided to try out in the streets further up that wont "injure" anyone when I took the wheels.  I nearly bumped into the gates or benches or trees during the first few trials...and of cos, my dear was so happee that she could master it without any sweat while I sweat....

It was fun though despite losing face. Actually, I didnt realise I was a "man of pride" - like to "perfect" things. I started to learn more about myself through my dear. Even for this trishaw episode, I could sense my "never give up" kind of spirit. Perhaps, even in tough times, we can persevere becos of such inborn spirit in us, pushing us to go on. Or maybe it was just my ego - pushing me to try my best to ride a trishaw to prove a point... I admit that riding a trishaw is really not as easy as riding a bicycle. Well, it was fun experience and at least the trishaw story would be part of the fun and sweet memory that we have.  We certainly not only left our footprints on the trails in Cheung Chau, but also trishaw marks on the island. Well, next time will try again. Maybe book for 2 hours and we can go further up and round the island...

长洲不算长, 但骑三轮车也不容易.

长洲不算长 - Part 3

After a fun time resting and playing at a playground at the island, the trail continued and we passed by some rocky formation. Very nice feeling and we saw a couple seated at one of the boulders. Well, as photographers with the tripod, we quickly set up the equipment and I had to dash across to the boulder to prepare for the timed shots. As the path was "rocky", I nearly "fell" if not for dear to hold onto me Xp. Hee, the fishing guy and the boatman nearby might be wondering what were we doing and what so great about the scene - running to and fro and posing for pictures. It was really our desire to take photos together.

Dear commented a few times that I didnt take enuff photographs this trip. Hee, her words still ring in my ears. Cheung Chau Island actually has another unique and colourful form of advertisement. There were even wedding notices put up high high at the street where everyone would get to see. I wondered how grand would the wedding be - since everyone should know one another in the island?

Just a thought for us - we wondered if we were to grow up on the island, would we have the opportunity to put up such notices as well? I wondered if this was indeed a tradition - an old tradition - practised by the islanders only. There were also other interesting notices or ads - some talked about promotional makan.  Very colorful and interesting.

Some things I like best about travelling is to understand or get to know the local customs and tradition. Rather than go around shopping, it is fun for me and my dear to feel and if possible even taste the "life" of local islanders.  In fact, we followed "blindly" some locals who stood at the pier for bumboats which will ferry them to their boats. We got the attention of one boatman when we purposely stood at the pier - we got a bit paisay when the boatman shouted to us in cantonese, asking us if we were to take his boat.... to where? I didnt know.... But it was sure the mischievous part of me... Oops.

长洲不算长, 但乐趣却不少, 好希望时间能停一下, 让累了的人有时间放慢脚步, 听听十二月的长洲海风. 

长洲不算长 - Part 2

We woke up early to start our trekking on the island. We were still stuck initially without any local map but bingo - the BB house we stayed got a very nice colored map. My dear has earlier done some homework and we would explore the mini great wall trail this time cos the other side of the island might have strong waves and wind during winter season. The morning breakfast was nice and enuff to pump the necessary energy for us to start our trail. We passed the expensive hotel on the island and also passed the helicopter pad. There were directional signs along the way so easy to trek. However, it was different from the Dragon Trail where there were many markings along the trek telling you each kilometre you have conquered :P. 

Very interestingly, there were many rock formations along the trail. More than those indicated on the colorful map. There were local signboards, describing in poems different rock formation. Famous ones included "human head" rock, "vase" rock and "elephant" rock. I could not figure out one rock that resembled a cat crouching ~ so decided to take a photo to ask my dear to "interpret" for me.
长洲不算长, 但乐趣却不少. The mini great wall was quite well-maintained. Easy to walk and it should take much efforts to construct it. Wonder why was it constructed? We were the only couple trekking at that point of time - me forgot to bring a whistle in case of emergency =S. I used to attach one on my backpack (just like army days) - dunno why forgot to bring this time round. Nevermind, I got my heavy 3kg tripod with me - enuff to fend off any snakes or dogs I supposed :P.

The trail was really manageable. We took our pace and explored different parts of the trail. Sometimes, we got more adventurous and went to take some shots near some cliffs. Sometimes, we passed by old buildings and quickly scurried off - cos got fierce dogs barking at us. Along the trails, we did bump into some people - a family, a group of students and two guys. I like walking in cool cool weather - not much sweat. But must be careful though as it could be quite cold if it rained. Thank God for us that it was perfect weather as compared to previous day.

We passed by some local landed property along the way. Some looked deserted while others were very well-maintained. Likely that some Kowlooners bought the land here and would visit the island for holidays. WoW - if our Pulau Ubin could be developed like that, it would help many locals revive childhood fun and peaceful getaway? We reached a playground where we could hear some camping activities (Salvation Army)nearby. Hee, it was good to hear some noises so that we would not be lost in the forests mah :P.

We played some "wedding shots" at the playground and maybe we would select some to show our guests. Maybe. My dear too "yaya" for some shots le :P. I saw someone jogging along the way and I wonder if I would follow his jogging routine if I were to stay in Cheung Chau? Hard to say. Too lazy me but I do like to lead a healthy lifestyle. Actually, there is no need to wake up early in the morning to watch sunrise or watch fishermen loading and unloading their harvests into the Cheung Chau Market. 只要有你, 一起畅游, 一起漫步, 也一样好玩. 长洲不算长, 但乐趣却不少.

长洲不算长 - Part 1

We expected the weather to be cooler in Cheung Chau compared to Kowloon. Really, it is a fishing village and an island. Without the shelter of tall buildings, it was really cooling on the first night @ the island. It was also raining when we went for dinner and many shops had to close early due to the change in weather. But, definitely no "typhoon", not like Taiwan in 2008 Xp.

Seafood @ Cheung Chau (Opp cake shop)

We searched around looking for hot claypot to warm ourselves and we decided to try those stalls with more people. More people likely to imply better food :P. We were allocated a BIG ROUND table - other tables were full with big big grp. I recalled there was an elderly ah ma seated in the table besides us - asking and reminding the young ones to study hard and work in civil service. Hmmm....could not rem when I last heard such advice in cantonese liao...long long time ago.
Dear dear likes to eat "shh shh prawns" so we ordered a plate. I thought they would come in big ones so I asked an innocent qn how many would we be expecting. No wonder the waiter didnt say much as we were served with smaller versions one. Ouch, quite hard to peel but at least we still managed to finish the "shh shh prawns" :P.  At least, the place kept us warm during the rainy period.
We wanted to order claypot toufu but dunno why we ordered the wrong ones. We got toufu soup with other ingredients - not bad though for the cold weather. I rem the last round when we were in Cheung Chau - we didnt try many of the food. So, this time round, we, or at least me, wanted to have a feast! Hee.
I am not a good fish eater - not a born Garfield. So, could not really feast on fish :P. I like to peel and de-shell for dear, so that she could eat it without using her hands. However, she is always much skilful than me. In fact, her family or my family-in-laws are all good sea food eaters, I am no match for them. So, rather than being a "hindrance", I will wait patiently to be served instead :P. No choice, cos not a Garfield lah.

新界 - 新天地 (New Territory)

This is the second time that we have decided to tread the "not-so-touristy" place.  This time, we went to Lung Yeuk Tua Heritage Trail - even the name sound "ulu" to many of us right? The place is at Fanling and we need to take a mini bus there too.  There supposed to be several walled villages and ancestral halls dated 1700s.  Didnt know Hong Kong still has such places.
The journey to the Heritage Trail was quite smooth but we went on Boxing Day - supposed to be holiday for Hong Kong. So no crowd, quite quiet. The first walled city we saw was guarded by a big fierce dog - we have to retreat instead of moving into the city. There was also a warning sign on the wall alerting visitors not to enter and disturb the local habitants.  We chanced upon a pair of friends who also came to visit the place - they informed us that during weekdays, there would be tour guide who could allow us in. Next time bah, they said.
Hmm... the Tung Ching Ling Ancestral Hall was also closed when we were there. So, we decided to wander around following 2 caucasians ahead of us. Fierce dogs barking along the way - as usual my tripod would be a "shield" to protect against any risk :P.  Hee, I was amazed by my "spider tripod" though - so happy to have bought it as it was really handy and flexible. Dear said it caught the attention of many when I used it to take pics.

We strolled slowly along the rural areas of Hong Kong - quite peaceful feeling without noisy traffic, horns, skyscapers... I enjoyed the stroll with my dear especially during the cool cool weather. We occassionally saw some country folks passing by and wondered if they realised we were foreigners or just city dwellers coming back to home town for holidays hee. 
I was told that I didnt take "photographs" this trip ... the kind of photographs that we used to take. One reason was my dear's D80 was on medical leave - dunno what happened.  Actually, I was putting on the hat of a wedding photographer, trying to capture some nice shots for our wedding mah. Well, I did feel a bit "lost" when my Canon D400 was unable to partner my dear's Nikon D80...
At the turning point of the path where we chanced upon a group of letter boxes, I started to appreciate our own letter boxes. Hee. We saw another walled village and I wanted to follow a group of people into the village but dear dear said they were the local inhabitants. Well, must listen to dear dear and also obey the rules stated on the walled village.
Dunno when I started to enjoy looking at old heritage stuff - a different aspect of modern life. Maybe the old buildings and old way of enjoying life can slow down the busy pace of modern life, giving us a sense of real rest and real peace. Hee, I do hope next time we can bring our kids to backpack and trek the old routes as well... and hopefully I can be a competent tour guide then *grin grin*