Aug 25 2014 - Monday
Japan here we come!
It was a dream come true. I was going to Japan with my family! We were so excited - Amanda, Samuel, Tim and me. Amanda's friend came along too. The other friend pulled out the last minute and her mother (Jo) took her place.
Our flight was 3 pm in the afternoon. The tour agency assigned Ben Lum to accompany us.
At that time Amanda was having fever at about 38%. We thought it was only viral fever. The doctor just gave her some medication. Dengue was definitely not in our minds at that time!
Anyway Amanda passed the strict temperature test at Kansai airport in Osaka.
As for me, I had a bad left knee. I felt that my knee bones literally moving while walking. It felt that I had a locked left knee! Every time I sat down and got up, the pain was excruciating. Seeing me with crutches, the super friendly, super efficient ground staff at Kansai airport assigned Kumiko Marukami to me. Kumiko pushed me in a wheel-chair past the long queues and took me through special check-out lanes!
I realized that the knee got worse after my two trips to Penang and JB. Both flights were from Subang. The walk to the tarmac was long and the climb up the steep steel staircase was simply excruciating!
The awful thing was that when Jo collected her luggage, she found the locks missing and the luggage bag open! We realized that someone had attempted to open the bag. Thank goodness nothing was taken from her suitcase.
I tried to take a photo of Kansai airport. Suddenly the ground staff rushed to me and said to me "No photo. Delete. Delete!" Goodness me! I did not know they were so strict. Anyway Kansai was nothing to shout about as compared to our beautiful KLIA 2. Our tour guide Allan from Macau came to study in Japan and ended up getting married. He could speak fluent Cantonese and Japanese!
We were taken to Kansai Washington Hotel to spend the night. Our hotel room was pretty big and comfortable with pink bed-spreads and really soft beds! Water could be drunk straight from the taps.
No dustbins were found anywhere except in the toilets. We were told that the Japanese carried their rubbish home to be put into 4 recycled bins. We were also told that for cooking oil recycling, they would have to buy a certain powder to be put into the cooking oil before they dispose of the oil in the recycle bins! Everything in Japan is recyclable.
Japan is like a sanitized country. Simply squeaky clean! Rivers are greenish-clean. Roads were devoid of rubbish. Hotel rooms smell fresh. REFRESHING!
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Investing wisely in property
My eldest daughter was asking me some advice about investing in property. She was looking at some property out of KL and wanted my views on it.
I told her that I expect the property market to go on a downward slide when GST kicks in next year. At 6% there will be be another round of rise in GST to 10% in 2016.
At a recent talk in GST, this accountant who claimed to have connections with some top people told us that Japan's economy went on a downward slide after GST came into force. His prediction was that our country would also experience a recession when the GST is imposed next year just like what happened to the economy of Japan.
Now I wish to put in a proviso here i.e. I am no property expert as I do not have in my stable any property other than the one I am staying in.
Even this property was bought with God's blessing. We did not have money for a down payment back in the 1980s. God just brought to us a seller who desperately wanted to migrate. It ended up that we got the property for RM20k less than the market value as the money was given to us (on paper) by the seller.
However I do have a piece of agri land in Bentong which I bought with my friend but that purchase was a failure from day one. I prefer to put this land far at the back of my mind and can only pray for a compulsory acquisition to take me out of this bad investment.
I gave my daughter a caution - I am no property expert as I have no experience whatsoever in property investment save for the Bentong land which I consider a flop.
My daughter says she intends to buy property for rental income and capital appreciation. She says she will read and research the property market before making any decision.
Well, I told her that it is good if she has excess money. As for me even if I wanted to buy property, I could not possibly afford to do so as I have no excess funds due to my heavy financial commitments. Even if I have, I think I would prefer to spend it on holidays and missions and other church-related activities.
Life is short. My desire is to live it glorifying God and bringing others closer to Him!
Anyway I remember a property investment which my father made years ago when he was alive.
His bungalow in Tanjung Bungah, Penang was sold for a very small sum of RM120k during the 1980s economic recession when Anwar was the Finance Minister and Soros was meddling in currencies. At that time, I had just started work but could not afford to give him more than RM500 a month as my pay was RM1,600 gross and I had just got married.
My father had to sell the house as he wanted the funds to support my younger siblings to pay for their tertiary education. At that time the property market was on a downward slide and foreclosures were the norm. The price he sold the house for was considered a good price as house prices were depressed during the economic crisis.
My late father decided to sell the house as he needed the money. I wonder....if he had not sold it, the value of the house would have been RM1 million now (30 years later)!
I have come to realize this that a property should only be bought when we have the power to hold it long term.
If we need to sell it to help others then we should like what my father did.
Property, assets and other possessions should be held lightly. When our loved ones need us to sell the property to help them out for a noble and essential cause like funding their higher education then we should do so.....
Never regret the decision to sell.
Would I still invest in property during slow times? I don't know and will have to wait and see whether the economic experts will be proven right or wrong.
I told her that I expect the property market to go on a downward slide when GST kicks in next year. At 6% there will be be another round of rise in GST to 10% in 2016.
At a recent talk in GST, this accountant who claimed to have connections with some top people told us that Japan's economy went on a downward slide after GST came into force. His prediction was that our country would also experience a recession when the GST is imposed next year just like what happened to the economy of Japan.
Now I wish to put in a proviso here i.e. I am no property expert as I do not have in my stable any property other than the one I am staying in.
Even this property was bought with God's blessing. We did not have money for a down payment back in the 1980s. God just brought to us a seller who desperately wanted to migrate. It ended up that we got the property for RM20k less than the market value as the money was given to us (on paper) by the seller.
However I do have a piece of agri land in Bentong which I bought with my friend but that purchase was a failure from day one. I prefer to put this land far at the back of my mind and can only pray for a compulsory acquisition to take me out of this bad investment.
I gave my daughter a caution - I am no property expert as I have no experience whatsoever in property investment save for the Bentong land which I consider a flop.
My daughter says she intends to buy property for rental income and capital appreciation. She says she will read and research the property market before making any decision.
Well, I told her that it is good if she has excess money. As for me even if I wanted to buy property, I could not possibly afford to do so as I have no excess funds due to my heavy financial commitments. Even if I have, I think I would prefer to spend it on holidays and missions and other church-related activities.
Life is short. My desire is to live it glorifying God and bringing others closer to Him!
Anyway I remember a property investment which my father made years ago when he was alive.
His bungalow in Tanjung Bungah, Penang was sold for a very small sum of RM120k during the 1980s economic recession when Anwar was the Finance Minister and Soros was meddling in currencies. At that time, I had just started work but could not afford to give him more than RM500 a month as my pay was RM1,600 gross and I had just got married.
My father had to sell the house as he wanted the funds to support my younger siblings to pay for their tertiary education. At that time the property market was on a downward slide and foreclosures were the norm. The price he sold the house for was considered a good price as house prices were depressed during the economic crisis.
My late father decided to sell the house as he needed the money. I wonder....if he had not sold it, the value of the house would have been RM1 million now (30 years later)!
I have come to realize this that a property should only be bought when we have the power to hold it long term.
If we need to sell it to help others then we should like what my father did.
Property, assets and other possessions should be held lightly. When our loved ones need us to sell the property to help them out for a noble and essential cause like funding their higher education then we should do so.....
Never regret the decision to sell.
Would I still invest in property during slow times? I don't know and will have to wait and see whether the economic experts will be proven right or wrong.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Tim's seafood porridge & others.....
Tim is really good in making fah sang, pumpkin, sweet potato and seafood porridge. We can eat it for days and not grow tired of it...
This blog entry is Tim's story....
The other day he mentioned to me that perhaps he gained his love and skill for making porridge from his mother. His late mother was one of the most famous porridge maker in Penang. She first sold her yee sang kai chok in Chowrasta market. Then she later moved to the Island kopitiam (now re-named).
Everyday she would wake up early at about 4 am in the morning to boil the chicken. The white meat succulent chicken would be plunged into the boiling water to boil and simmer for an hour or so. The chicken essence left behind in the soup would then be used to boil the rice thus giving rise to a delicious nutritious rice with a golden yellowish hue. The rest of the chicken essence will be boiled with a little less rice to make smooth chicken porridge that was simply fragrant.
Fluffy and tasty chicken rice boiled and cooked in the chicken essence tasted simply scrumptious. Smooth and silky chicken porridge tasted simply exquisite when made with love and sacrifice!
To be sure, we were never short of food whenever we were back in Penang. We had the best yee sang kai chok porridge for free! Sadly the trade was only carried on for a while by Tim's second brother, Kin which he later abandoned for something more lucrative which he called "turning rubbish into gold" (more about that next time)......
The chicken still in its skin would then be prepared for sale to be eaten together with the porridge and chicken rice. The chicken entrails will also be prepared to be sold together with the porridge (though I don't really eat the innards and stuff like that!)
As an option for those not keen on chicken, his mother would also prepare the fish (sek pan) to make fish porridge for sale in her little stall.
I still remember the small kitchen in their rent control house where cauldrons of chicken soup and porridge were prepared in the wee hours of the morning.
She was the sole breadwinner as Tim's father was very miserly, like scrooge. He liked to hoard money. In fact when he died, the legend was that his mother found a stash of money under his bed which was used to finance his funeral. His habit was to take out the money, count and re-count it before putting it back into the hiding place. He later suffered a stroke and left his printing job to push trishaws. Being miserly, he left the financial support of the family totally on the shoulders of Tim's mother. I used to give him tracts to read when he was alive. We were later told by Tim's grandma that before he died, he was calling on Jesus which, according to the grandma, was something good.
The grandma herself was brought to Church by Marcus, the Pastor of the Penang First Assembly of God, a growing and thriving church in Penang. Marcus was a close friend of the family who stayed with the grandma before he became a pastor. He was actually taken care of by Tim's grandma. To this day whenever we visit the Penang First Assembly of God, Ps Marcus would always extend us the warmest welcome. Although she was never baptized or made a clear commitment for Christ, she was a kindly lady who had only good words to say about people. She died at 90 years old of old age with no major sickness.
In view of the eccentricity of his father, Tim's mother had no alternative but to do a business in order to support the family.
The sales must have been reasonably good in her younger days if not she would not have used the proceeds to support her family. Although Tim received a bank scholarship to study business administration in UM with a 7 year bond to his scholarship-giver, his mother was still instrumental in meeting his daily needs and supporting the other 2 sons - Danny and Kin.
In addition she was also supporting the adopted sister and her 90-year-old mother in law.
His mother was a friendly and humble lady who insisted that I call her lai lai (Cantonese word for mother in law) although I gave up soon after that as I found the language too formal...which was something she did not mind. I called her mama (mother in Cantonese).
Being a smoker and later a gambler-host i.e. one who host gambling sessions and earn a commission from the winnings, she died of lung cancer as she was a chain smoker (like her late husband).
However before she died she prayed the sinner's prayer and accepted Jesus into her life.
What can we learn from her life - no matter how tough our financial situation is, do not give up. Do not look down on hawkers or poor people who open humble food stalls to make a living.
Treasure our parents for their sacrifice. Support them financially when they are alive because when they die there will be no more opportunity for us to make them happy with our giving. Nothing makes our parents more happy than to receive money from us every month. In doing so they can be assured that we will not abandon them to the streets or the old folks home.
In fact Tim bought a house in Ayer Itam at her request. However it was later sold at a loss at the height of the financial crisis as his younger brother needed the funds to start his hair styling business - however this will be fodder for another story of Tim's family.....
This blog entry is Tim's story....
The other day he mentioned to me that perhaps he gained his love and skill for making porridge from his mother. His late mother was one of the most famous porridge maker in Penang. She first sold her yee sang kai chok in Chowrasta market. Then she later moved to the Island kopitiam (now re-named).
Everyday she would wake up early at about 4 am in the morning to boil the chicken. The white meat succulent chicken would be plunged into the boiling water to boil and simmer for an hour or so. The chicken essence left behind in the soup would then be used to boil the rice thus giving rise to a delicious nutritious rice with a golden yellowish hue. The rest of the chicken essence will be boiled with a little less rice to make smooth chicken porridge that was simply fragrant.
Fluffy and tasty chicken rice boiled and cooked in the chicken essence tasted simply scrumptious. Smooth and silky chicken porridge tasted simply exquisite when made with love and sacrifice!
To be sure, we were never short of food whenever we were back in Penang. We had the best yee sang kai chok porridge for free! Sadly the trade was only carried on for a while by Tim's second brother, Kin which he later abandoned for something more lucrative which he called "turning rubbish into gold" (more about that next time)......
The chicken still in its skin would then be prepared for sale to be eaten together with the porridge and chicken rice. The chicken entrails will also be prepared to be sold together with the porridge (though I don't really eat the innards and stuff like that!)
As an option for those not keen on chicken, his mother would also prepare the fish (sek pan) to make fish porridge for sale in her little stall.
I still remember the small kitchen in their rent control house where cauldrons of chicken soup and porridge were prepared in the wee hours of the morning.
She was the sole breadwinner as Tim's father was very miserly, like scrooge. He liked to hoard money. In fact when he died, the legend was that his mother found a stash of money under his bed which was used to finance his funeral. His habit was to take out the money, count and re-count it before putting it back into the hiding place. He later suffered a stroke and left his printing job to push trishaws. Being miserly, he left the financial support of the family totally on the shoulders of Tim's mother. I used to give him tracts to read when he was alive. We were later told by Tim's grandma that before he died, he was calling on Jesus which, according to the grandma, was something good.
The grandma herself was brought to Church by Marcus, the Pastor of the Penang First Assembly of God, a growing and thriving church in Penang. Marcus was a close friend of the family who stayed with the grandma before he became a pastor. He was actually taken care of by Tim's grandma. To this day whenever we visit the Penang First Assembly of God, Ps Marcus would always extend us the warmest welcome. Although she was never baptized or made a clear commitment for Christ, she was a kindly lady who had only good words to say about people. She died at 90 years old of old age with no major sickness.
In view of the eccentricity of his father, Tim's mother had no alternative but to do a business in order to support the family.
The sales must have been reasonably good in her younger days if not she would not have used the proceeds to support her family. Although Tim received a bank scholarship to study business administration in UM with a 7 year bond to his scholarship-giver, his mother was still instrumental in meeting his daily needs and supporting the other 2 sons - Danny and Kin.
In addition she was also supporting the adopted sister and her 90-year-old mother in law.
His mother was a friendly and humble lady who insisted that I call her lai lai (Cantonese word for mother in law) although I gave up soon after that as I found the language too formal...which was something she did not mind. I called her mama (mother in Cantonese).
Being a smoker and later a gambler-host i.e. one who host gambling sessions and earn a commission from the winnings, she died of lung cancer as she was a chain smoker (like her late husband).
However before she died she prayed the sinner's prayer and accepted Jesus into her life.
What can we learn from her life - no matter how tough our financial situation is, do not give up. Do not look down on hawkers or poor people who open humble food stalls to make a living.
Treasure our parents for their sacrifice. Support them financially when they are alive because when they die there will be no more opportunity for us to make them happy with our giving. Nothing makes our parents more happy than to receive money from us every month. In doing so they can be assured that we will not abandon them to the streets or the old folks home.
In fact Tim bought a house in Ayer Itam at her request. However it was later sold at a loss at the height of the financial crisis as his younger brother needed the funds to start his hair styling business - however this will be fodder for another story of Tim's family.....
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Knocking down a policeman
While we were in Macau, Sam got involved in an accident!
He was talking with his friend while driving on the highway and the car in front of him suddenly stopped. He could not brake in time or the brakes failed. To avoid hitting the car in front in the fast lane, he swerved to the right and hit a policeman on a motorbike on the left lane! The motorbike was not too badly damaged but my Honda was with the left side heavily indented and the mirror bent downwards.
Thank goodness that no car ran over the policeman otherwise this would have been very serious. My son did not run away from the scene of the accident but instead was responsible to take the policeman to the clinic and paid for his medical treatment. Cost Sam about RM138 for the medical treatment. He then lodged a report. Sam later told me that it never came to his mind to hit and run from the scene. He felt responsible for the accident.
However as the policeman did not want to put Sam in the lock-up (apparently knocking down a policeman is a serious offence) he lodged a report taking responsibility for the accident.
When I met the policeman later to sort out the amount to pay him for the repairs on the bike, he told us that he did not want to put Sam behind bars (remand) as going to the lock-up is a curse. Even the Chinese do not want to be locked up or hand-cuffed. Once you are locked up, apparently you will end up in the lock up again!
He said that his report was lodged to protect Sam as he was only a student and his driving licence would be suspended since he knocked down a policeman.
We managed to negotiate RM1,500 as settlement (which was by no means a small amount) which money would have to come out from Sam's monthly allowance of RM200 per month.
I want to give thanks for this incident as Sam was emotionally affected by it and cried while I was scolding him (quite badly) on this matter. He cried and said that he just wanted to die.
All things worked out for good to those who love the Lord and to those who are called according to His purpose:
1. Tim's good friend got a car repair job repairing our Honda. If the accident had not happened Tim's good friend would have no business and according to the car repair man, jobs have been hard to come by and business is slow. This seems to be the case as I spoke to different people over this past week or so. A lawyer told me yesterday that his work has slowed down and bills were not being paid.
2. The policeman was able to give a warning to Sam not to drive fast in future. I did asked the policeman "what do you think was the cause of the accident?" He said that he was driving too fast in the fast lane. If his speed was slower he could have slowed down in time to avoid knocking into his motorbike.
3. My son promised to drive safe and to drive slow next time.
All in the following people benefited from the accident:
1. Wah Chai who repaired the car and who was grateful for the business as his business has slowed down considerably (yes, strange as it may be there are people earning an honest living from the misfortunes of others)
2. The policeman who would have got some extra cash from me for his spending money which is something that I would never know for sure although he said that his repairs will cost about RM3k plus.
"Never mind" I told Sam "We just bless him as his pay is not very high". Apparently the policeman said his pay is about RM1k plus only! I believe this is his basic pay not his pay plus allowance.
3. Samuel - who has learnt precious lessons on driving from me especially on defensive driving.
A few days after this Karpal Singh (Tiger of Jelutong) died in a car accident. His driver who had many speeding summonses crashed into a slow moving lorry in front and caused the car to careen to the divider. Karpal and his personal assistant died in the accident. If the driver had not been driving fast he would have stopped in time to avoid hitting the lorry.
Speed does not pay. Speed kills. May all my children and all my grandchildren learn something from this entry in the family blog.
He was talking with his friend while driving on the highway and the car in front of him suddenly stopped. He could not brake in time or the brakes failed. To avoid hitting the car in front in the fast lane, he swerved to the right and hit a policeman on a motorbike on the left lane! The motorbike was not too badly damaged but my Honda was with the left side heavily indented and the mirror bent downwards.
Thank goodness that no car ran over the policeman otherwise this would have been very serious. My son did not run away from the scene of the accident but instead was responsible to take the policeman to the clinic and paid for his medical treatment. Cost Sam about RM138 for the medical treatment. He then lodged a report. Sam later told me that it never came to his mind to hit and run from the scene. He felt responsible for the accident.
However as the policeman did not want to put Sam in the lock-up (apparently knocking down a policeman is a serious offence) he lodged a report taking responsibility for the accident.
When I met the policeman later to sort out the amount to pay him for the repairs on the bike, he told us that he did not want to put Sam behind bars (remand) as going to the lock-up is a curse. Even the Chinese do not want to be locked up or hand-cuffed. Once you are locked up, apparently you will end up in the lock up again!
He said that his report was lodged to protect Sam as he was only a student and his driving licence would be suspended since he knocked down a policeman.
We managed to negotiate RM1,500 as settlement (which was by no means a small amount) which money would have to come out from Sam's monthly allowance of RM200 per month.
I want to give thanks for this incident as Sam was emotionally affected by it and cried while I was scolding him (quite badly) on this matter. He cried and said that he just wanted to die.
All things worked out for good to those who love the Lord and to those who are called according to His purpose:
1. Tim's good friend got a car repair job repairing our Honda. If the accident had not happened Tim's good friend would have no business and according to the car repair man, jobs have been hard to come by and business is slow. This seems to be the case as I spoke to different people over this past week or so. A lawyer told me yesterday that his work has slowed down and bills were not being paid.
2. The policeman was able to give a warning to Sam not to drive fast in future. I did asked the policeman "what do you think was the cause of the accident?" He said that he was driving too fast in the fast lane. If his speed was slower he could have slowed down in time to avoid knocking into his motorbike.
3. My son promised to drive safe and to drive slow next time.
All in the following people benefited from the accident:
1. Wah Chai who repaired the car and who was grateful for the business as his business has slowed down considerably (yes, strange as it may be there are people earning an honest living from the misfortunes of others)
2. The policeman who would have got some extra cash from me for his spending money which is something that I would never know for sure although he said that his repairs will cost about RM3k plus.
"Never mind" I told Sam "We just bless him as his pay is not very high". Apparently the policeman said his pay is about RM1k plus only! I believe this is his basic pay not his pay plus allowance.
3. Samuel - who has learnt precious lessons on driving from me especially on defensive driving.
A few days after this Karpal Singh (Tiger of Jelutong) died in a car accident. His driver who had many speeding summonses crashed into a slow moving lorry in front and caused the car to careen to the divider. Karpal and his personal assistant died in the accident. If the driver had not been driving fast he would have stopped in time to avoid hitting the lorry.
Speed does not pay. Speed kills. May all my children and all my grandchildren learn something from this entry in the family blog.
Monday, April 21, 2014
Venice in Macau
On the last day we wanted to go to the Venetian as we heard on TV that there was a gondola ride in the Venetian.
We were delighted to learn that Hotel Royal had a bus going to Macau Tower and from Macau Tower we were informed that we could board another bus to the City of Dreams and thereafter the Venetian. God planned everything for us as we had also planned a visit to Macau Tower in our program!
After a breakfast of the famous Macau pork chop bun and curry fish bread with 2 cups of delicious lai cha (milk tea) just a few shops away from the Hotel, we hopped onto the bus to Macau Tower. Incidentally Tim had planned to go to Tai Lei Loi Kei, the famous Macau pork chop self service kiosk but it turned out that we ended up eating at the TLLK in Pandan Indah as we could not make it to the Macau outlet!
Nothing much at Macau Tower except photo taking and watching people moving down from the Tower on harness!
Another bus took us to the City of Dreams, a 5 star shopping center with a lovely mermaid backdrop. However the branded items selling at the City of Dreams were way beyond our budget.
Next stop - the Venetian. One of the loveliest shopping complex in Macau must be the Venetian. Walking into the complex, you could check in your luggage at one entrance and check them out at the other entrance. I understood why...right smack in the center of the complex is a huge casino...one cannot avoid walking right into the casino as it was designed in this manner! Perhaps people spend night and day gambling in the casino without sleep.
Indeed in every shopping complex in Macau there is a casino. Not only casinos, there are horse racing and dog racing centers as well!
However the second floor of the Venetian is the most beautiful part of the shopping complex (in my view). It was amazing to step into a different world, a different city! One could see a beautiful artificial sky painted on the ceiling with artificial lights as though we were in an open city. The lights could dim to reflect different times of the day. There was a lady dressed like a 15th century Venetian court singer singing a lovely soprano song. There were musicians playing the harp and other instruments. Facades of buildings looking like houses in Venice and Florence surrounded us. I felt transported to Venice - one of the most beautiful cities in the world!
Right in the center of the Venetian (it is very long and very big) runs a canal with many gondolas. Gondoliers dressed their part call out to visitors to take a ride in their gondolas. It was amazing!
We walked and walked and took photos of bridges over the canals. We stopped at the famous Lord Stow bakery and had egg tarts, carrot drink and ginger juice to accompany our meals.
From the Venetian we boarded a bus to the airport.
Farewell Macau!
We were delighted to learn that Hotel Royal had a bus going to Macau Tower and from Macau Tower we were informed that we could board another bus to the City of Dreams and thereafter the Venetian. God planned everything for us as we had also planned a visit to Macau Tower in our program!
After a breakfast of the famous Macau pork chop bun and curry fish bread with 2 cups of delicious lai cha (milk tea) just a few shops away from the Hotel, we hopped onto the bus to Macau Tower. Incidentally Tim had planned to go to Tai Lei Loi Kei, the famous Macau pork chop self service kiosk but it turned out that we ended up eating at the TLLK in Pandan Indah as we could not make it to the Macau outlet!
Nothing much at Macau Tower except photo taking and watching people moving down from the Tower on harness!
Another bus took us to the City of Dreams, a 5 star shopping center with a lovely mermaid backdrop. However the branded items selling at the City of Dreams were way beyond our budget.
Next stop - the Venetian. One of the loveliest shopping complex in Macau must be the Venetian. Walking into the complex, you could check in your luggage at one entrance and check them out at the other entrance. I understood why...right smack in the center of the complex is a huge casino...one cannot avoid walking right into the casino as it was designed in this manner! Perhaps people spend night and day gambling in the casino without sleep.
Indeed in every shopping complex in Macau there is a casino. Not only casinos, there are horse racing and dog racing centers as well!
However the second floor of the Venetian is the most beautiful part of the shopping complex (in my view). It was amazing to step into a different world, a different city! One could see a beautiful artificial sky painted on the ceiling with artificial lights as though we were in an open city. The lights could dim to reflect different times of the day. There was a lady dressed like a 15th century Venetian court singer singing a lovely soprano song. There were musicians playing the harp and other instruments. Facades of buildings looking like houses in Venice and Florence surrounded us. I felt transported to Venice - one of the most beautiful cities in the world!
Right in the center of the Venetian (it is very long and very big) runs a canal with many gondolas. Gondoliers dressed their part call out to visitors to take a ride in their gondolas. It was amazing!
We walked and walked and took photos of bridges over the canals. We stopped at the famous Lord Stow bakery and had egg tarts, carrot drink and ginger juice to accompany our meals.
From the Venetian we boarded a bus to the airport.
Farewell Macau!
Sunday, April 20, 2014
58th birthday
Today is Tim's 58th birthday. It is also Easter Sunday.
For the first time he did something meaningful for his birthday....he blessed one of the church pastors with a hotel stay for the whole family!
It was a blessing to be able to bless God's servants with a comfortable 3 day 2 night stay in a 5-star hotel and an ang pow for their spending money...
I asked Tim how he felt, he said he felt good!
It was a joy to see the Pastor's children enjoying themselves in the hotel, taking pictures!
What a different kind of birthday.....
Samuel also bought his daddy an oreo cheese cake and our whole family went for a simple steamboat meal.....
For the first time he did something meaningful for his birthday....he blessed one of the church pastors with a hotel stay for the whole family!
It was a blessing to be able to bless God's servants with a comfortable 3 day 2 night stay in a 5-star hotel and an ang pow for their spending money...
I asked Tim how he felt, he said he felt good!
It was a joy to see the Pastor's children enjoying themselves in the hotel, taking pictures!
What a different kind of birthday.....
Samuel also bought his daddy an oreo cheese cake and our whole family went for a simple steamboat meal.....
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Crab porridge, Macoa famous egg tart and duck rice
What else to do but eat, eat, eat...
Macao is a gastronomical paradise of food, food, food. However food is pricey and more of a standard genre. I mean you talk about pork chop bun and you find it everywhere. You talk about egg tart and you also find it everywhere.
We began our morning by walking slowly to the ruins of St Paul's Cathedral. I stopped at a pharmacy to buy a cream for my knees.
We then passed a small eatery where the owner invited us to sample her crab porridge. I was intrigued. There was a Michelin star on the windows of the eatery. This would mean that this place has been rated and graded. So why not...
The friendly owners recommended the crab porridge and noodles with prawn powder/crab roe powder (not very sure). When the food came the porridge tasted so much better than the noodles. All over the tiled walls, we see pictures of actors and actresses who had sampled their food and given them a thumbs up. The noodles were kind of springy but rather plain.
After a good meal we made our way to the ruins of St Paul. The cathedral is only a facade. The interior has all broken down. In fact only a scaffold held it up.
All the way to the cathedral were many shops selling the same thing - flat barbeque meat, sesame biscuits, almond biscuits, egg rolls, walnut biscuits and whatever sweet stuff that Macao was famous for. The good thing was they shops were generous with their samples. You could literally eat your lunch while walking through the busy shopping area. At every shop you are offered samples!
I could not climb up the staircase to the cathedral due to the pain in my knees so I stayed down and bought bottles of mineral water for RM4!
Later we made our way to the Macao Museum which was located on a hill. I like the Macao Museum cos the grounds were a picture of tranquility. Up in the Museum grounds we got a very good view of the city of Macao.
Coming down from the hill, we walked slowly to Senado Square. Lots and lots of people mingled in the Square. We went searching for the famous Margaret egg tarts. There were many selling egg tarts but our target was only this shop...
We had many wrong instructions and made some wrong turning but a kind Macao lady showed us where the shop was. Lo and behold the queue was so long. Tim lined up to buy the tarts while I sat down on the stools in the open air cafe.
The egg tarts were lovely. Slightly burnt on the surface with very flaky pastry, the filling was the piece de resistance. It was simply delicious. I think I know the ingredient - fresh cream, milk and egg yolk. Lovely....
While walking back to Senado Square, we found another shop packed with people. They were selling the famous double steamed milk. Don't ask me how milk is double steamed but it looks like pudding with the texture and taste of milk. Milk is not my favorite drink so I could not finish my mango double steamed milk...
Finally for dinner we packed the famous duck rice and took a cab back to Hotel Royal.
Macao is a gastronomical paradise of food, food, food. However food is pricey and more of a standard genre. I mean you talk about pork chop bun and you find it everywhere. You talk about egg tart and you also find it everywhere.
We began our morning by walking slowly to the ruins of St Paul's Cathedral. I stopped at a pharmacy to buy a cream for my knees.
We then passed a small eatery where the owner invited us to sample her crab porridge. I was intrigued. There was a Michelin star on the windows of the eatery. This would mean that this place has been rated and graded. So why not...
The friendly owners recommended the crab porridge and noodles with prawn powder/crab roe powder (not very sure). When the food came the porridge tasted so much better than the noodles. All over the tiled walls, we see pictures of actors and actresses who had sampled their food and given them a thumbs up. The noodles were kind of springy but rather plain.
After a good meal we made our way to the ruins of St Paul. The cathedral is only a facade. The interior has all broken down. In fact only a scaffold held it up.
All the way to the cathedral were many shops selling the same thing - flat barbeque meat, sesame biscuits, almond biscuits, egg rolls, walnut biscuits and whatever sweet stuff that Macao was famous for. The good thing was they shops were generous with their samples. You could literally eat your lunch while walking through the busy shopping area. At every shop you are offered samples!
I could not climb up the staircase to the cathedral due to the pain in my knees so I stayed down and bought bottles of mineral water for RM4!
Later we made our way to the Macao Museum which was located on a hill. I like the Macao Museum cos the grounds were a picture of tranquility. Up in the Museum grounds we got a very good view of the city of Macao.
Coming down from the hill, we walked slowly to Senado Square. Lots and lots of people mingled in the Square. We went searching for the famous Margaret egg tarts. There were many selling egg tarts but our target was only this shop...
We had many wrong instructions and made some wrong turning but a kind Macao lady showed us where the shop was. Lo and behold the queue was so long. Tim lined up to buy the tarts while I sat down on the stools in the open air cafe.
The egg tarts were lovely. Slightly burnt on the surface with very flaky pastry, the filling was the piece de resistance. It was simply delicious. I think I know the ingredient - fresh cream, milk and egg yolk. Lovely....
While walking back to Senado Square, we found another shop packed with people. They were selling the famous double steamed milk. Don't ask me how milk is double steamed but it looks like pudding with the texture and taste of milk. Milk is not my favorite drink so I could not finish my mango double steamed milk...
Finally for dinner we packed the famous duck rice and took a cab back to Hotel Royal.
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