Photos of Wanaka, NZ

As requested, I've uploaded more of my NZ photos. This time the photos are taken in the town of Wanaka, a town northeast of Queenstown right near the slopes of the Southern Alps. It has a strange attraction named Puzzling World. Quite funny, but yet quite expensive due to the horrible exchange rate with the HK$. I guess it is similar to Ontario's Science Centre back in Toronto but much smaller. Lots of scientific and holographic imageries. Wanaka is famous for its Lake Wanaka as shown in the photos. It offers lots of outdoor activities.

There does not seem to be any mood to work today. There's nobody taking the bus this morning. It was so empty. Much of the labourers and students are off today. The construction site is really silent today. Officially we get to leave at 3:00pm today. But, don't know if we can leave earlier?

Had a boisterous dinner last night in Fai Chi Kei (筷子基) neighbourhood. We had 22 people occupying two tables. Sorry, no photos. I was too hungry last night. We had lamb pot, fried squid, fried eggplant, etc. One of my colleagues whom rented a flat in Va Chui Garden has become the company's unofficial club house. He's even copied the keys to the flat to the receptionist! People go to his house to play mahjong just about every week. The flat is not too bad as the lobby is newly refurbished. The elevator is quite clean and the flat is brightly lit. What a farcry to my flat at Edificio Hoi Pan Garden. Areia Preta (黑沙環) is not known for cleanliness in Macau. But I figured it is not the dirtiest either. I noticed the areas in Iao Hon(祐漢), Toi San (台山) and Portas do Cerco (關閘) is the worst of the lot.

Working as a Macau Government official is like heaven. The husband of the receptionist tells us how his supervisors are pretty useless and actually takes the afternoon off to go do a facial in Zhuhai, China. Haha. The husband works in the Immigration Dept. at Portas do Cerco. He said the government workers are lazy, stupid and downright morons! No point in working as they know nobody fires government workers. If that worker is useless, they'd rather not give him/her any work as it will create more hassles/problems on the supervisors. What kind of logic is that?

Pre-Lunar New Year Festivities in Macau

Since there's only 2 days left till the Lunar New Year (Year of the Dog), I took a few photos of the famed Largo do Senado (議事亭前地) - opposite of the IACM building(民政總署大樓). The tourists have come to Macau early as the square is packed with people now. This place is along Rua de Almeida Ribeiro (新馬路). If coming from the HK-Macau Ferry Terminal, take Transmac Bus no. 3 (towards Portas do Cerco).

Here's a really local restaurant located along Rua do Almirante Sergio (河邊新街), no. 189 (near the A-Ma Temple in Lourenco neighbourhood). It offers very tasty Cantonese-style dishes at affordable prices. We had 4 people at a cost of MOP184 (inclusive of bowls of rice and Haizhu beer). The sizzling pan is fried eel! It was a boisterous restaurant with loud chatting. Take any Transmac or TCM bus towards Barra and you'll pass by the restaurant.

Hotpot Dinner along Rua de Cinco de Outubro, Macau

Here's the restaurant I had for a hotpot dinner last night on Rua de Cinco de Outubro, no. 59 (Patane neightbourhood). It is quite hidden as this street is dimly lit at night. This area of Macau offers really local food, especially the roadside foodstalls along street corners. You cannot miss it here as it is the only area where people mill around. The dinner costs us MOP102 for two persons which included 2 bowls of rice, 2 glass bottles of pop, a lamb pot (as shown in the photo), an order of beef slices and an order of fish balls. It got quite crowded after we settled in on our food.

I didn't win the Mark Six lottery last night. Someone won the $59 million jackpot! Wow.

Pictures of Queenstown and surrounding areas, NZ

Here are some shots of Queenstown and the surrounding areas, including a sheep shearing demonstration and herding sheep in the countryside. I'll continue to upload NZ photos throughout the week. So stay tuned!

Tonight's Mark Six jackpot is $60 million inclusive of Chinese New Year snowball jackpot. I'm sure there will be a lot of activity in the Jockey Club's stalls all over HK. The last draw had one winner of $25 million!

I've already pre-paid my Turobjet Ferry ticket back to HK for this Friday (27 Jan 2006) last night. I am worried that if I go to the counter on 27 Jan 2006, all the seats will be filled up and may end up leaving for HK late. Prior to my purchase, I had dinner at New Yaohan Department Store (food court). I waited at least 15min for my Japanese curry/ramen set meal to be prepared. There seems to be a shortage of staff and the lack of speed by the current staff. The set meal of MOP35 consists of a soft drink, a bowl of ramen, curry rice, a potato patty and two fried dumplings. This is called expensive in local terms, but with a clean atmosphere. What can you complain?

Photos of Milford Sound, NZ

Nothing new to report in Macau after spending my weekend in HK. So, I'm sharing some more photos from my NZ trip. This time it is in Milford Sound and Fiordland National Park, located near the southwestern edge of South Island. It is a beautiful place much like Norwegian fjords, steep cliffs, waterfalls and snow peaked mountains. During the boat cruise, we witnessed some dolphins and seals. In the winter time, it is difficult to reach here due to heavy snowfall and avalanches. But in the summer, it is a pleasant get-away! It is reached by a narrow and winding road from Te Anau. Many opt to take local tours originating from Queenstown. But, we instead drove the entire length. Yes, it is quite steep in some places and need to watch out for one-lane bridges (popular in NZ) and sightseeing buses! It takes about 2 hours one-way to/from Te Anau. The cruise is a "must" for anyone visiting the Queenstown area.

We will have a 4-day holiday for the Lunar New Year break. Fortunately, we get to leave at 3:00pm on 27 Jan 2006. So, hopefully will be in HK by 5:00pm. We got our bonus pay this morning (one month) and this month's salary! So, this month's pay will be bigger than the norm.

Annual dinner Aftermath

What a happy lot! We had our annual dinner last night at the Beverly Plaza Hotel Seafood Restaurant. In Chinese tradition, a roast suckling pig is offered as the first dish. Looks delicious! Unfortunately, there seemed to be a lack of prizes for the lucky draw which drew some attention. Rumoured that some of the prizes were given to the client for their own personal annual party! How unfair to us employees! In my opinion, the dinner was not as glamourous as last year's. There wasn't any 'excitement' in the air so to speak.

On other notes, Macau's tap water supply should be back to normal by next Monday (23 Jan 2006) as freshwater is being pumped to the water supply all the way from Western Guangdong province. The tap water is not as salty as before. It was so bad, that you cannot drink the Chinese tea served in restaurants. It tasted like saltwater.

Annual Dinner

Here are some photos taken at Lake Tekapo, New Zealand. It is located between Queenstown and Christchurch. The lake is extremely blue due to the silt being reflected from the sunrays. Lord of the Rings was shot here for people whom have watched the movie before. I still haven't watched it yet. This little church is built beside the lake itself. Will upload other famous destinations in the next few days so you can grasp what New Zealand is like. Had nice Chinese food in the only Chinese restaurant in this quaint little town.

On the local front, our company will hold the annual dinner at Beverly Plaza Hotel (beside Hotel Lisboa). It is rumoured that there will be a lucky draw for prizes tonight. Hope to get a prize and bring it back to HK! Will report on what the food is like. On a side note, this hotel was recently in the news due to food poisoning in 2005!

Last night, I had Thai food in the so-called 'Little Thailand' neighbourhood near the Tap Seac Sports Hall. This area is quite hidden from the hustle and bustle of Rua do Campo and is locally famous for many authentic Thai food opened by local Thais. Oddly enough, the restaurant was filled with many local Portuguese. All you hear is Portuguese being spoken! Food wise, we had curry shrimp, tom yam soup, stir-fried vegetables, etc. The restaurant (which I do not know of the name) is opposite of the more famous Restaurante Thai.

I saw a convenient way of withdrawing cash from an ATM. Mopeds/scooters are a way of life in Macau. On this occasion at a BCM bank at Edificio Kin Wa in Areia Preta (neightbourhood which I live in Macau), the driver drove the moped right up to the ATM. Mind you, he drives on the pedestrian sidewalk to get to the ATM. He does all the transactions while sitting on the moped. How convenient! Nobody cares how the mopeds are driven here. So, you must always be alert for oncoming mopeds.

Grand Emperor Hotel

I've finally visited the Grand Emperor Hotel located a few blocks from the Hotel Lisboa last night after work. Sorry, no photos! This hotel had just opened a few weeks ago with many local HK celebrities including Jacky Chan. The entrance is grand with its pure gold bars placed on the lobby floor. However, it has not attracted much people entering its multi-floored casino. I think there were 4 floors catering to gambling. One floor was for slot machines or automated gambling tables (roulette). The other 2-3 floors are tables manned by dealers. But not much happening inside! There seemed to be more dealers than customers. I grabbed a free bottle of distilled water. We are still in the middle of the salinity crisis for tap water.

But what amazes me is the fact that mainland Chinese are still quite far away from being respected. I saw one mainland man (wearing a suit mind you) using a toothpick picking his teeth in front of one of the stud poker tables. He started to spit out the 'debris' from his mouth to the carpeted floor. Once he finished his duty, he threw the toothpick on to the floor as well. Remember this is a 4-star hotel with a brand new casino.

If you want to visit this casino, it is located next door to Hotel Sintra. You cannot miss it with is large LCD monitor advertising the hotel on the facade. However, it is quite a farcry from the boisterous casino at Hotel Lisboa.

On other notes, I've been awaken at night by various nuisances. The last one by the door bell of my Macau flat. Some twit rang the doorbell in the middle of the night for two minutes! Does this person know if nobody answers the door, it means nobody's home or no one in their right mind opens the door for them. The other two nuisances include loud arguments on the carpark underneath my flat and lighting of firecrackers! It's no wonder nobody pays their management fees at this apartment complex. Where's the security guards?

Points to ponder (Versao Macau = Macau Version in Portuguese)
1) Why do people still insist in spitting or spewing phlegm on the streets? Do they not know of the fine of MOP300?
2) Why do people not move to the back of the bus when people are trying to get on the public buses? They all insist of clogging up the entrance of the vehicles.
3) Why do mainland Chinese in their new business suits intent on squatting while smoking a cigarette?
4) Why are bus drivers rude to paying passengers? They occur both on TCM and Transmac buses (the two private companies that ply Macau).

Portuguese words of the day: Bom Ano Novo! (Happy New Year!)

Photos of Queenstown, NZ from Bob's Peak (Skyline Gondola)

I've seem to uploaded a picture file, but doesn't get displayed here. Anyone know why?

Queenstown from Bob's Peak, NZ

Note: Done! This is a beautiful overview of Queenstown, NZ from Bob's Peak. These pictures were taken in my recent 12-day trip to New Zealand and Singapore (16-27 Dec 2005). You can take a gondola ride up to the top and enjoy a buffet meal and an alpine luge ride.

First Posting!

I have finally opened a blog for myself. As this is my first posting, please be patient as I get used to writing.