Off to Macau 澳門 I went departing Hong Kong. I
was pondering where to go after Macau. I originally was thinking about Taiwan
instead of going back to Thailand. I have been to Taipei in my business travel.
I didn't feel that I had explore the city and that was my wanting to return.
However I am aware food in Taiwan tends to be quite blend to my taste and I
have been reevaluating going there. While I was in Hong Kong I checked in with
a travel agency for a self tour package which including visiting Taipei as well
as so other places of the island nation. I struck up a conversation with the
clerk and he too commented that the Chinese food there looks good when you
watch on youtube, but is too blend to his taste. That was enough to put a nail
to the not visiting Taiwan coffin for me. I made travel arrangements to go to
Bangkok after Macau. This including booking the flight, hotel, and exchanging
enough Thai baht (you get better rate once you arrive and exchange with USD)
until I checked into the hotel.
I have some relatives in Macau. My plan was to go meet
one of my closest and which his help I would find a hotel in Zhuhai 珠海
side. Hotels in Macau is much more expensive so I never stay in them except
once. While in Macau I traverse the border daily. We always dine in the Chinese
mainland side (i.e. Zhuhai 珠海). The district of Zhuhai 珠海
bordering with Macau is more precisely referred to as Guang Bei 港北.
this is the hong kong's victoria harbor view from the macau ferry pier
a bit of relaxation in the 1 hour turbojet ride from Hong Kong to Macau
i didn't expect to see a Toto showroom in macau
One of the nice thing about visiting Macau is you get too see the old neighboor, building, shops, and residences in the bygone era which you can no longer see. Similarly with Bangkok's Chinatown. If you want to see what Hong Kong is like 30+ years ago you can still see glimpses.
the most powerful magnetic resonance burner i have ever seen - this is a commercial one for wok
this is the old main street - or one of the old main streets; it was early morning
i visited this street only 2 years ago and many shops has changed - cursed by the tourism
hungry for a bite i went to have dimsum in a nearby restaurant - i gave up waiting in line and instead went to the one next doors; it turned out it was quite decent and the reason for not having to wait is it has slightly higher prices
rolex watches
this building is kind of like a musium for the old pawn shop - it is private so they charge you a fee to go in
a panoramic view of the main street early morning
they are either filming a commercial spot, or a documentary - pretty heavy equipment for either
my cousin has a shoe shop in
Guang Bei 港北 which is undergoing renovation; this is the scene of the section of the mall being renovated
mottoes to remind the employees how to conduct their business
while the services are shrink-wrapped you cannot count on their cleanliness - the common practice is to rinse them in hot water
for dinner we have this huge urn of white liquor that holds approximately 5 litres
no, that is not a glass of water
morning glory with shrimp paste
these peanuts is flavored with garlic - the meat is very dense and full of flavor
a steamed fish
this is the first time i tried
hairy crab 大閘蟹
he man-handled the crab like a pro
chinese prize the hairy crabs for their tomalley
the burner is for the old duck dish
the old duck is braised with some root vegetable and herbs foreign to me
as a courtesy to me being a visitor they gave me the head with the bills - in retrospect i should have eaten the tongue
chinese prizes old duck and goose for their more intense flavors
the length of the filter on this chinese cigarette caught my eyes - most of my cousin's friends smoke
after dinner we went to a karaoke a few miles away; my cousin and i rode this tricycle for hire - an idea that i thought was suicidal.
the traffic was just a blur
still i was ready to jump off the tricycle in case of impending doom
we made it
The next morning I shopped for a prepaid sim card for my phone. I bought one from China Mobile.
this is the tool to cut the sim card into a micro-sim
this is in a fresh food market building; a lot of ladies are here making long distance phone call back home in the mainland by paying this private service because of the extreme low cost
this is the government scale station you can weight the fresh food you just bought in the market to see if you have been cheated (by weight), and lodge a complaint; i scaled my backpack to see what is my daily burden on my back
the electronic scale used by the vendors in the market
these vendors are taking a nap after the morning busy session in preparation for the onslaught of the pre-dinner rush
chickens cooked in seasalt
this is a vegetable that looks like bamboo shoot but it is really not bamboo
how often do you see white eggplant?
the spiny mushroom is called tea mushroom
this is my favorite restaurant in Zhuhai - you have to have a car to get to it as it is very far away from the Macau border
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