Cloverfield...

We watched Cloverfield last week. It was a dreadful experience. The film was presented as a recording from a hand-held video camera, which made us terribly dizzy. I had to contend with an awful headache after the movie ended as well! :(

I was hoping the shaky camerawork would last only a couple of minutes or so, but alas, it was not to be. Halfway through the film I was hoping that the character holding the camera would get shot, or better still- eaten by the monster, so that I could watch the rest of the film without shutting my eyes every now and then to ward off the queasiness.

The last time I saw a movie that induced motion sickness was an Iranian film called 'The Blackboard'. Fimed in the desolate highlands of the Kurdistan region of Iran, and probably on a tiny budget as well, I could understand why the camerawork wasn't top quality.

But Cloverfield, from Hollywood? Sheesh...

Party for the January babies!

A group of friends got together to celebrate the birthdays of the January babies; one of whom is dear hubby!

The food was nice, but it was the company that made all the difference. We tried out Zan's PlayStation 2- and we had so much fun playing a game called Tekken (something like Street Fighter). There was a lot of laughing and screaming (especially from Mickey Fan), and it was hilarious to watch the different Tekken fighters in action. Some of the more unusual fighters included a boxing kangaroo (with joey in pouch, no less), a panda and a wooden scarecrow-looking thing! It was all rather bizarre... Haha!

Roasted potatoes; delicious with the caramelised onions...

So much seafood!

TA also brought along a box of 'Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans'- and we had a great time checking out the interesting (or rather, disgusting) flavours! I tried 2 beans; one turned out to be Black Pepper, and the other was Earthworm. Hmmm. Well, at least I didn't get the Booger, Vomit, or the Rotten Egg- now those would have been N-A-S-T-Y!!

Here's a pose with hubby's gifts!

A BIG thank you to the gracious host- Zan, who kindly opened her house to the whole bunch of us :)

Happy birthday again to darling hubby, TA and Mickey Fan!!

Bibiwok, Bandar Puteri Puchong

I love Nyonya food, so when mum-in-law suggested Bibiwok, I was more than game to try it out. We found out later that Bibiwok serves Thai cuisine as well- excellent! :)

Here are some of the dishes we ordered. The Thai Chili and Garlic Squid was delicious- the tender slices of squid was swimming (!) in a super-yummy broth. Perfect eaten with white rice. There was also another beancurd dish (the house specialty)- featuring Japanese beancurd with lots of mincemeat, in a tasty sauce.

Beef with basil leaves

We also tried the Chicken Pongteh- one my favourite Nyonya dishes, but that turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. Somehow, the flavours just didn't seem right, and the potatoes were a little hard. Oh well :p

Here's the address; you might like to try it out if you're ever in the area:
Bibiwok – Nyonya Thai Cuisine
No. 16, Jalan Persiaran Puteri 1, Bandar Puteri Puchong

Dim Sum Buffet, Quality Hotel

It was Madame AAL's birthday recently (okay, maybe not so recent given this rather late post) and a few of us caught up over a dim sum buffet at Quality Hotel on Jalan Raja Laut. It was nice just to hang out and chit-chat; think we were there for more than 2 hours!

Mmmm...

Sago with ice-cream (or rather, melted ice-cream)...

The food wasn't too bad; some of the fried items were quite nice as well. We certainly stuffed ourselves silly! :p

Here's wishing dear Madame AAL the very best for the year ahead! :)

Macanese Munchies

Here's a separate post for the food we had in Macau.. We tried out the famous pork bun at a little diner near our hotel; it was just so-so. The one we had the next morning (near the Ruins of St Paul) was so much better! :)

Pork bun, Pork chop in tomato sauce, and a spicy fish omelette

(which hubby said tasted really weird)

And of course, the Portuguese Egg Tart is a must-have in Macau! We got this at the foot of the grand staircase leading to the Ruins of St Paul.

Yummy!

Here's where we bought those famous Macanese Almond Cookies. This shop was just packed with tourists buying loads of snacks (not just almond cookies) and barbequed meat, which came in all sorts of flavours. Everything tasted so nice, it was hard to decide what and how much to buy!

Almond cookies :)

We had lunch near the Senado Square, at this nice restaurant named Vela Latina. It was a little touristy I suppose, being so near the main square, but at least it had a menu with English on it! Food was decent as well.

Cod in creamed something (the name escapes me now)

I even ate a bit of the bread bowl! :)

More of Macau

Our first stop the next morning was Macau's most famous landmark- the Ruins of St Paul. I heard that getting there meant having to contend with an uphill walk, so we took a taxi instead. :p

The place was so crowded and everyone was clamouring to pose for pictures. It was rather amusing to watch, really. We saw loads of churches in Eastern Europe but none of them elicited as much excitement as this single church facade! :)

1/4 of a church (or 1/5 maybe, if you count the roof)...

Next, we climbed up the stairs to Mount Fortress (right next to the Ruins), where you can find the Museum of Macau. I would have loved to visit the museum, but we didn't think there was enough time. We wandered around a bit and then made our way back down. That was when we discovered there were escalators! O_o

So, if you're going to visit Mount Fortress, take the left route up the hill (as you cross the road from the Ruins) and you will see the escalators taking you up. No need for all that huffing and puffing!

We wandered around the narrow streets and found ourselves at St Dominic's Church; a baroque Filipino-style church built by Spanish Dominican friars in the mid 16th-century. We also took a look at the various exhibits on display in the upper floors of the church.

St Dominic's Church

Leal Senado Square; with its interesting wave-patterened mosaics

After lunch and a wee bit of shopping (we each bought a light jacket), it was time to make our way back to the hotel. That's all the time we had for Macau!

Snapped this from the back of a moving taxi-what an interesting building! :)

Venetian Macao Resort

We left Hong Kong and got to Macau late in the afternoon, and we were so tired we just collapsed into bed and slept until it was time for dinner. Guess all the late nights in Hong Kong really took a toll on us. We were exhausted, and I was even feeling quite ill... :(

The plan that night was to check out the latest tourist attraction- the Venetian Macao Resort. Getting there was super-easy. Our hotel had a free shuttle service to the Macau Ferry Terminal, and from there we took one of the many shuttle buses lined up to usher tourists to the Venetian Macao.

It was an interesting experience indeed. Of course, it was a tad strange to see 'Venice' complete with canals, gondolas, singing gondoliers and other legendary Venetian landmarks in a casino-cum-shopping mall setting. We were amazed that the casino had such an 'open' concept, and we didn't even realise that we had stumbled onto the gaming area! There were tables and slot machines as far as the eye could see, and people were concentrating hard on their cards and chips, puffing away as they did so.

Here are some pictures- sorry, none of the gaming area though (that wasn't allowed)...

And oh wow... the shops! There were a few that sold such lovely things- beaded jewellery, the famous Murano glass, those amazing Venetian masks; not that we bought anything (they cost a fortune)! :p

Shops lining the canal, with 'Venetian' facades and balconies :)

It's not Venice, of course, but it's certainly well worth a visit!

Wan Chai & Tsim Sha Tsui

We got up early in the morning to meet Y&A for breakfast at their hotel. It was really lovely to spend some time catching up and enjoying the great view of the harbour. After that, we strolled around the Wan Chai area a little bit, taking photos and enjoying the sea breeze. Tourists were arriving by the bus loads, and we had to wait a while to take this....

Golden Bauhinia Square

Catching the Star Ferry over to the Tsim Sha Tsui side, we took a leisurely stroll along the Avenue of Stars. Looks like I really don't know the HK celebrities well- at every other star I was going 'Who?' Hahahahah :p

The Hong Kong Cultural Centre and Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower

We met up with CM for a quick lunch (more yummy desserts- yeay!) and then spent the rest of the afternoon at the Hong Kong Space Museum. We had quite a lot of fun in the museum- there were these interactive stuff like moonwalking and hang-gliding, which hubby tried out. The only disappointment was the Omnimax Show; Dinosaurs- Giants of Patagonia. Now I'm a huge fan of dinosaurs, but the show was soooo boring, I was struggling to stay awake! Cheh :p

We wanted to get some night shots of the harbour, so we had to hang around the area until it was dark enough. We were so cold and tired; I have to say, night photography can sometimes be a real pain! Thankfully the photos we've had so far- whether it was Prague, Budapest or Hong Kong Disneyland, has been worth the while (or at least we console ourselves so, heh).

We stayed until 8 p.m. to catch the 'Symphony of Lights' - named the 'World’s Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show' by Guinness World Records, featuring 44 buildings on both sides of Victoria Harbour. The show was nice, but I didn't think it was THAT spectacular. The most interesting building by far was the Bank of China Tower- at least their lights came on in various cute and funny patterns :)

Later, we met up with a whole bunch of my ex-colleagues and we had a great meal together- Shanghainese food, I think it was. The food was nice, but the company was even better. What a wonderful way to end the day!

Deep Fried Souffle Ball with Mashed Red Bean

The Peak, Hong Kong

I suppose no trip to Hong Kong would be complete without a visit to the Peak. We took a nice ride up on the Peak Tram (it was so steep *yikes*); the view was lovely, although it was a tad hazy...

View from the Sky Terrace

We decided to visit Madame Tussauds as well. It wasn't too bad, but I think the one in London is much better. Besides, I don't really know the Asian celebrities all that well... heh :p

We met up with dimsuminthecity for dim sum (!); at this restaurant named Zen at Pacific Place. The roasted goose was DELICIOUS- I sigh at the thought of how those divine slices melted in my mouth. Sorry, no pictures from the meal- guess we were too busy enjoying the food; somehow the pictures were quite blurred! :p

Men at work- building the scaffolding from bamboo

(according to hubby you don't get to see that much anymore...)

We thought we would do some shopping in Causeway Bay before going home to get ready for Y&A's wedding dinner. In the end, we felt so tired, we went back home to catch some sleep instead. Holidays are tiring- I tell you!

Y&A's wedding dinner was held at the Hong Kong Convention Centre. The hall we were in had a spectacular view of the harbour, and it was lovely to see all the beautiful lights in the comfort of the indoors.

Attending a wedding dinner in Hong Kong is quite an interesting experience. Yup, there WERE people playing mahjong before the dinner started (we could hear the 'clacking' of the mahjong tiles, but we didn't go near to take a picture... :p). A table seated 12 guests, and there were 14 dishes on the menu! Some of the dishes were rather unusual compared to the ones we see at Malaysian wedding dinners.

Baked Sea Conch something

(the filling reminded me of a curry puff's filling- potatoes and minced meat)
In case you're wondering- yup, they DO recycle the shell!

It was great to catch up with old friends at the wedding dinner. And finally, I got to meet Fi's special someone :)

And of course, it was wonderful to celebrate with the lovely couple!

Hong Kong Disneyland!

I was so excited at the thought of visiting Disneyland- even though it was panned left, right and centre by almost everyone. Harry Potter even told me to go in the afternoon or else I'd die of boredom! Hmmph.

Well I'm so glad I listened to the one or two sane people who told me to go in the morning when it opens! We didn't manage to get there at 10 a.m. sharp though, since we left the house rather late. It was slightly past 11 a.m. when we managed to purchase our tickets and enter the 'happiest place on earth'! :)

We checked out the showtimes and tried to plan our itinerary around them. Once that was sorted, we made a beeline for Tomorrowland; our first stop- Space Mountain! The queue wasn't too bad and I quite enjoyed the ride- I was screaming all the way! I have to confess that I'm a bit of a chicken so it didn't really bother me that Space Mountain was the only scary ride in the whole of Hong Kong Disneyland! Heh.

We watched 'The Golden Mickeys' next; it was lovely to sing along with all the Disney songs, and our favourite bit was the 'Under the Sea' scene from 'The Little Mermaid'! We moved on to the spinning teacups *chuckle* followed by lunch and a mad dash to catch the Christmas Parade...

Truth be told, by the time you watch all the shows (which I do recommend), there really isn't enough time to do everything there. We didn't manage to see everything, but I do hope we got to see all the good ones! Philharmagic (the 3D show) was really great- that shouldn't be missed; and the Jungle Cruise was really fun too!

One ride that I did regret waiting in line for was the silly 'Autopia'. That basically involved driving an electrical car (on a designated track, cheh) so you can imagine how FUN that was. Even the pedal was in the middle- for the parent to step on while the kid pretended that he actually did have control over the car. I was whining about having to queue for a car ride- surely being stuck in KL traffic jams is enough? Guess hubby was just taken in by those 3 magic words- 'Powered by Honda'... Hmm.

Evening was upon us soon enough, and the beautiful Christmas lights came on. It was a magical sight, and once again, hubby's trusty tripod was put to good use.

Isn't this beautiful?

They have the cutest things everywhere!

All in all, we had a wonderful day. Would I recommend Hong Kong Disneyland then? Most definitely!

Kuala Lumpur-Macau-Hong Kong...

We started the day early since we were advised to allow 1.5 hours to make our way from KL Sentral to the LCCT. In the end, the bus ride only took about 50 minutes (thanks to the new KL-Putrajaya highway) so we got there super-early... only to find that our AirAsia flight to Macau was delayed by an hour! *groan*

We ended up plonking ourselves down at Coffee Bean (the LCCT was SO crowded and there are never enough seats for everyone).

Our flight touched down in Macau at 6 p.m. and we made our way to the Macau Ferry Terminal. We managed to get on an earlier sailing; after a fair bit of drama trying to figure out the correct gate, which queue to stand in line, and running like mad to the ferry itself! It was a bit difficult working out what to do, since we didn't really understand the Cantonese spoken there. :p

We finally got to Hong Kong after a long, long day. CSL met us at the ferry terminal, and we took a taxi back to her place.

Well, at least the day ended with a lovely dinner... we had hotpot, and even at 10 p.m. we had to queue to get a table! We were quite surprised to find people having dinner so late on a weekday, but we soon found out that it seemed to be a norm in Hong Kong. People were just everywhere, all the time! :p

The dip was delicious- soya sauce, fried garlic, and chilli :)

Yummy hotpot- great for a cold day!

J.Co Donuts, Pavilion KL

The doughnut craze has hit KL! Was in Pavilion for the first time the other day, and we scoffed at the silly people queueing up for the doughnuts... and then on our way back to the car, we ended up being one of them! Heh.

They are quite yummy though- my favourite was the white one with the almonds on top. Yummy! :)