Travelog for: Genoveva

Today we cross the bridge to go over to Macau downtown.  You can see the Macau Tower here.  It houses the world's highest bungee jump, if you are brave enough to try that.



Hmmm, Macau street names always seem like a mouthful.



This is Casino Lisboa, the oldest (and used to be the only) casino in Macau.



This is its new wing.  If you stand in the right spot you can actually see your reflection in one of the mirrors.



We take a peek at the gambling hall as we go upstairs to the noodle restaurant.  We are too young to go into the gambling area.



The restaurant specializes in different type of noodles, freshly made.  We can watch them make it in the open kitchen.  The chef is now making ramen, meaning pulled noodles.  He starts with a ball of dough, stretch it, fold it, and keep doing so until he ends up with many strands of noodles.









She is making scissors noodle.  She uses a pair of scissors to snip off small thin pieces of dough.  The noodles are shorter and kind of look like the Italian capunti.



This style is called knife shaved noodles.  The chef has a ball of dough and uses a blade to shave off thin ribbon of noodles, one by one, into the boiling water.





Lunch is ready!  Enjoy!!

Today we are returning to Hong Kong.  Before we leave, first we have breakfast in the hotel.



We order some typical Hong Kong style breakfast.  There is a buttered toasted bun (which is from the West) and stir fried noodles with a bit of scallion and soy sauce.



Another very popular breakfast dish is the congee, a rice porridge. This one has eggs and meat in it. 



Afterwards we walk around the hotel a bit.  This is the lobby.  It is a Japanese hotel so the decoration looks a bit Japanese.



This is the outside of the hotel.



It has a man made beach with waves.



As the Mid Autumn Festival is nearing, there is an exhibition of lanterns.  The Festival is also known as Moon Festival, and the moon is supposed to be at its brightest and fullest of the year. This one is huge!



The Chinese believed that there was a rabbit in the moon, so rabbit is a popular theme for the lanterns at the Moon Festival.



This one is very intricate!



We pass by the almond cookie shop.  On display here are the tools used to make the cookies, such as the ingredients, the scales and the moulds.



Oh oh we are getting hungry again!

We are now boarding the ship to get back to Hong Kong.



There is another Hydrofoil going to Hong Kong.



We pass by the Sands casino.



We can see the Macau Tower and the tricolor MGM casino.



This is the bridge we have passed by several times.



Goodbye Macau!



We are out in the sea now!  It's kind of stormy!



Look, that's the hydrofoil we saw at the dock!



You can see how it's floating on the water.



We see some unhabitated island.



This is Lantau Island, one of the outlying islands in Hong Kong.  We are now back in Hong Kong.



You can see all the tall buildings now!



Hey the boat is now heading back to Macau.



Remember IFC, the tallest building?  and the convention center on left?



For our last night out we go to eat hot pot.  First we get a pot of broth.  We have selected the half-and-half, with half of it spicy and the other not.



We check the dishes we want to order.



Here are different seasonings that you can mix in your bowl for your favorite sauce. There are sesame sauce, soy sauce, chili, cilantro, scallion, ginger and more.



The food arrives.  We have beef, corn, oyster... but they are all raw!



We get fish and ribs too!  And they are raw too?



Oh!  We are supposed to cook it ourselves in the pot.  That is fun!

This morning we take the taxi to the airport.  We go onto the Tsing Ma Bridge.  It is the longest suspension bridge in the world carrying both road and rail traffic!



I have a good nap on the plane.  Then I wake up, and looks like we've landed somewhere and are inside an airport.  Wonder where we are?  We pass through this beautiful tunnel.



We are in Chicago!  We are on our way back to Miami.  What a fun trip it was to visit Asia!

Today we have a new visitor!



His name is Micky, a little mouse from Germany.  Big Foot and I are happy to have a baby cousin, and  Fidibus too very much enjoy the German chocolate Micky brings along.

We decide to take our new friend to try some Chinese food.



We have some hand made noodles with beef, and a steamed bun.



For dessert there is some sweet bean pancakes, and some sweet tofu pudding.

Today another box arrives!!  Hmmm, what is it?  Hello?  Anybody there?



Oh my gosh, it's a mouse!!  We are one big family here!  While the others complain that we are causing an infestation and they need to buy some mouse trap, I think they are just being jealous, ha ha.   



His name is Mozart, after the famous composer.  But he is not from Austria.  He is from Russia.  I like him already because he is a very friendly guy and brings us lots of candies! He he he...

Tonight we visit a pop-up library.  It's called Bookleggers and shows up once a month at different locations in Miami.  You can bring your books in and trade them with new books. 

Of course we BookCrossers are there!

This time it's inside a bar so it's kind of dark.





They have lots of interesting books.



Look what we get from the library!



Each book is stamped with the Bookleggers logo.

Our host bought this by mistake last week when she shopped for some beets.  We did not know what it is, but figured out that it is a rutabaga.  We decide to make a soup out of it.



First we cut it up into pieces.



We also cut some potatoes and carrots.



We brown some onion in the pot.



When it's ready we put the root vegetables in as well.  We throw in some herbs, bay leaves and pepper and some water.



Now it's time to put everything in the blender.



We put the puree back into the pot, add a bit of wine, salt and pepper to taste.



Let's a final touch, of scallion and shredded asiago.  Doesn't it look good?  It's very delicious!

Fibicus the giraffe is leaving for Japan, and we decide to take him somewhere special for a farewell party. It's a restaurant named Giraffe!  At first he thought it serves giraffe meat but when he finds out they don't he feels very happy and honored!



We go to the counter to place our order.  This is a Brazilian burger and steak place.



Then we find a table.  Look at all the giraffes on the wall!



We are number 73.  We first get our drinks and the cheese bread, which are round little balls.



This is the quinoa salad.  It's delicious!



There is also steak.  Like many South American cuisines, the meat comes with black bean and rice.  There is the chimichurri sauce, made from parsley and garlic, for dipping the steak in.



We have a good dinner together.  It's sad saying goodbye, but we promise to stay in touch. 

Wow looks like we have another TV joining us!  Who's he? Who's he?  I hope he's a rat too!



Oh it's a moose.  Mocha is very happy to finally see another moose friend.  He says there are too many rats and mice in the house.  He is joking of course.  Anyway, we give Jasper a good welcome party!



Mocha He proudly introduce Jasper  to his grandpapa, Cappuccino.  His Grandpapa is too old to travel but he loves having visitors.  Then he can tell his stories all over again. (Not that he doesn't repeat his stories with us...

 

Today we are very excited, as we are going to see one of our favorite authors. 



Yes, we are going to see Neil Gaiman!  As we wait, we check out his books.



I see Stardust!  And Coraline.



Mocha and I compare notes which ones we like.



We are allowed to get two books signed.  One is the new one, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, and my host's favorite, Stardust.



We sit a bit far back but can still see Neil Gaiman as he talks.



Afterwards we line up to get his signature.



We wait over two hours but looks like we are getting close!!



I am so excited to be standing right by the famous author!