Posted Sep 18, 2007, 1:05 am
Posted Sep 18, 2007, 1:06 am
Posted Oct 9, 2007, 3:30 am
As we weren't on an actual sail boat we were on a boat that hooked up to four others and partied from one day to the next.
It was very windy and rained during the night, but during the day it was nice and very sunny.
My pal Snegovik kept me in good company.
Posted Oct 9, 2007, 4:42 am
Posted Oct 25, 2007, 4:53 pm
Posted Nov 15, 2007, 7:41 pm
We volunteered at a booth called PaperBackSwap. We had a competition who gave away the most flyers. I think I did pretty good.
Posted Nov 15, 2007, 7:45 pm
We had to sort the donations and put them into boxes nicely. I am too small to lift the books, but I helped make sure all the books go in with the spines reading the same direction and that they are put in the correct categories.
Posted Dec 12, 2007, 2:11 pm
Look at this pretty flower just like a star!
And this is a mini banana tree!
I watched the woodturners at their craft.
Wow, some sprouting coconuts!!
Posted Dec 13, 2007, 3:06 pm
First of all, a TVer arrived from Russia. His name is Mister Right. His mommy thought that he and I really look like twins. But he is more like a baby cousin. He is really cute and shy, I like him a lot. Though he doesn't speak a lot of English we are best of friends already.
Mister Right was about to unpack his bags but we told him not to bother, as we are leaving for China in a few hours!! Actually he is very lucky to have made it in time!
So here we are, in the airplane.
This is the plane we are taking.
Yum... Ice cream and pizza for in flight snack!
Yay, we finally arrived! Welcome to Hong Kong! First, let's pick up some tourist guide.
Don't forget our lugguages!
Posted Dec 14, 2007, 2:19 am
The funny looking building to the left is the Bank of China building.
And this is the Headquarters of HSBC, another big bank.
Landmark is a famous shopping arcade. Seeing the Christmas tree makes me miss my family back in Florida. I hope you are all doing well!
Posted Dec 14, 2007, 2:22 am
Posted Dec 20, 2007, 3:51 pm
The soup in the front is made with shark's fin.
This is how the shark's fin looks like, when it is dry.
We bought some tofu in a little bamboo basket.
This is called takoyaki - made with octopus. It's a popular street snack from Japan.
This thing looks like a cocoon but it's called Dragon Beard Candy. It's finely spun flour wrapped around some coconut, sesame, peanut and sugar.
And this dumplings look like little fishes. They are almost too cute to eat!
Posted Dec 20, 2007, 4:01 pm
The shops here are open till 11pm or so and the streets don't get quiet till after midnight. We went to a street nicknamed Women's Street, for it sells a lot of things like accessories and clothes for a low price.
They even have fake name brand stuff, like Rolex watches and Gucci handbags.
Posted Jan 3, 2008, 7:58 pm
So here we are on the jetfoil. We passed by lots of little islands. I wonder if we are the first TVs to visit Macau?
This is the most famous landmark of Macau, ruins of the St Paul Cathedral (Ruínas de São Paulo). It was built in the 16th century but destroyed in a fire in 1835 but was burnt down. Only the front entrance and the foundation remained. It is an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
See, this is the back!! It's almost like a movie set.
Macau was a Portuguese colony for over 400 years so it has an interesting mix of Chinese and Portuguese culture. Like the decoration in this little teashop here.
These are the canons at the fort, Fortaleza do Monte, that overlooks the Cathedral (or what's left of it). It was built also in the 16th century and another UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This is St. Dominic's Church (Igreja de São Domingos) on Senado Square.
We get a little hungry, so it's time to taste some Macanese snacks. I am so excited. This is the Pastel de nata, a sweet egg tart with a very flaky crust. Yummy!!!
We went to a pastry shop where we watched them make egg rolls. In Asia, the egg rolls are really made with egg and flour and is a light, flute-like pastry.
They make them right there in the shop and then pack them in boxes to sell.
And here they are making peanut candies. They roll the peanut with sugar into long tubes, then cut them into bite size pieces and toss in more peanuts.
They also have many varieties of pork and beef jerkies.
These looks like brown furry balls but are meat shreds.
Hmm, I want to buy some of everything!!
Posted Jan 3, 2008, 8:27 pm
First, we see this terra cotta warrior at the entrance. Our host tells us that the real thing is in Xian, but I want a photo with him anyway!!
This tablet shows how letters like moon, field and water evolved from pictographs into characters.
These are how coins look like hundreds of years ago.
These are how typical Portuguese style buildings look in Macau.
And these are houses built in the Chinese style.
A mail drop.
This is the set up of a traditional tea house in the olden days.
And this is a shop where they make little god statues so people can put in their homes.
A traditional medicine shop. There is a big chopper for chopping up herbal roots and a grinder for grounding the herbs.
And this is a traditional wedding chamber. Red is the lucky color. How pretty it is!
Puppets for Chinese opera.
And this is a picture of the Macau Tower. You can do the world's tallest commercial bungie jump from it. Well, not me!
And this little temple is called Na Tcha Temple. It worships a little god who is a boy that killed the dragon.
We had Macanese food for lunch. This is Portuguese style chicken and balcahua pancake.
Posted Jan 11, 2008, 4:08 am
Behind us is the jetfoil we took to come to Macau.
Now we really feel like we are in China!
And now we are in Potala Palace in Tibet!
We have crossed the continent!
And here we are in New Orleans!
Posted Jan 11, 2008, 5:19 am
What a beautiful place it is! We are too young to gamble but we walked around their indoor plaza.
They even have canals and a boat called gondola inside the building. The steerman sings as the gondola floats down the canal. The ceiling is painted to look like the sky.
Posted Jan 14, 2008, 10:42 pm
"Hey is that SaruMaru?" I ask.
"Hurry up and open the box!" screams someone and when we finally get it opened, a really wild cat jumps out at us and really startles MaraJoy. Turns out it's Budd.
We are really happy that all of us gather together.
Posted Jan 22, 2008, 2:13 am
We take the newcomers on a walk on the promenade by the harbour. We can see the buildings on Hong Kong island.
We are now on Avenue of Stars.
A statue of Bruce Lee.
We find the handprint for John Woo, the movie director.
We decide to take a group picture to celebrate our get together.
Posted Feb 5, 2008, 4:07 am
While the Chilan Nunnery is a relatively new building, it used architectural technique from the Tang Dynasty, around the 7th century. It is an all wooden structure built without using one nail. As Tang Dynasty is the period with heavy cultural exchange between China and Japan, this style of architecture is commonly found in Japanese Zen Buddhism temples.
This is the entrance (West Gate).
A watermill useful for grinding flour, though they are not really using it now.
This is a really beautiful lake with a lot of koi fishes in it.
Posted Feb 6, 2008, 1:19 am
Look! A big scarecrow!
I am determined to help Tarepanda pick the best tomato.
Now on to some grape tomatoes for our salad.
After picking enough tomatoes, we go on to pick some strawberries.
This one looks delicious!! Well it is indeed nice and juicy!
Wow, little Mister_Right finds a whole bunch hiding under the leaves!
Look how many tomatoes we pick!
And the red, plump strawberries. We eat a lot and make smoothie out of the rest.
Posted Feb 6, 2008, 2:26 am
After the meeting, I bide farewell to my dear friends and go home with mommy Ppagano. I have travelled quite a bit so I am really happy to see her again and get a bit of rest at home.