Macau Day 1 - part3

Although it was about 3pm or so when we touched down in Macau, we decided to go get something to eat before we check in at the Casa Real, our "home" for the duration of our stay in the city.

I'm accompanied on this trip by two friends who've been to Macau before. And it was they who suggested that we make our way to a small coffee-shop like place just around the corner from our hotel. On our way there, we get a nice view of the New Yaohan.

Ahhhhh.... Yaohan.... the sound of that name brings back many memories. I don't know about other people in other countries in Asia but in Singapore, the memories of Yaohan would most certainly would be one of the things that would tie all Singaporeans together. There were several Yaohans in Singapore in the 70s and 80s and almost everyone I know from my generation spent plenty of time in them. I loved the basement where they had counters selling all kinds of food, I love the fried curry buns and I'm sure my fondness for grocery shopping must have been born the moment I stepped into Yaohan's supermarket.

I remember the very long Japanese drama called Oshin which takes is based on the life of the mother of the founder of Yaohan. I know a lot of people who were hooked on this drama and I was one of them. Hey, I even read the abridged for children novels in Chinese no less. =)

These days, there are no more Yaohans in Singapore and I think even the one in LA, USA has shut it's doors. =( I remember being incredibly sad to see Yaohan leave Singapore. The photo above is of the New Yaohan which apparently has no connection with the family which founded Yaohan. Still, seeing that sign (and ignoring the New part of it =) ), I can't help but recall all the fun times I had in Yaohan and I really looked forward to shopping there when we were in Macau. We did go in the end but not to the one in the photo but that's a story for another post. =)

This is a test.

This is a test. Test test test.

Edit: I've been having trouble mobile blogging lately, even in Singapore. It was completely impossible to mobile blog from Macau for me. =( I don't know if I'll ever get around to putting up the photos shot in Macau because once I'm back in Singapore and back at work, I'm usually far too busy to do too much blogging these days.

Anyway, the above is a test post I did from my cell phone. I really can't remember where I shot it but it was shot in Singapore a day or two before I left for my short trip to Macau.

I'm not sure why but I kind of like that photo so I thought it would be nice to share it. =)

- This blog was updated through my M1 mobile phone.

Macau day 1 - part2

For some reason, i couldn't mobile blog from macau. The service provider just simple refused to let me do anything more than sms and call. Pity. Still, i took a couple of photos while i was there. All on my cell phone of course, as i had purposely left my usual arsenal of equipment behind. This is a shot of the fisherman's wharf, i think. I didn't go there but the stop that we got off to get to our hotel was right outside this place.

Macau day 1 - part1

Am at the budget terminal now waiting to take a tiger airways flight to macau. It's my first budget airline flight and first time to macau. Also, i really wanted to get away for a bit cuz work has been tiring and stressful. I didn't even bring my cameras on this trip, just my phone and my phone camera. Ok. Later. :-)

My favourite study spot.

Today i finally managed to get my weekly day off. I finally went back to my morning swim and had a rude awakening as to the level of my fitness. Terrible is the only word i can think of to describe my fitness now. That aside, it's been a really pleasant day. We had lunch at crystal jade gold, one of my favourite restaurants. We had teochew braise goose, teochew oyster omelette, amongst other dishes. Yummy. Now i'm at bakerzin having my favourite cuppa joe, studying japanese. Ah... Happiness. :-)

Gunma, Japan

Stitched this panoramic photo together using Photoshop CS3 sometime back but never uploaded it to the blog. Thought I would post it up today just for fun even though I don't really have anything insightful to say. =)

Been kinda tired this week as work has been busy and I've been trying to revise my Japanese and all. Term exams are in April.... yikes... I feel kinda unprepared.

Anyway, this panoramic photo was stitched together using something like 5-7 separate photos. I really don't remember now. This shot quite nicely illustrates just how mountainous Gunma is. If I remember correctly, I was shooting near Mt. Asama. We had stopped there to take photos of the still active volcano and I also took shots of the view with Mt. Asama behind me.

That's it for now... I'm going to go sleep now. Have a good week guys. =)

Marina Barrage 2nd trip

It rained for the greater part of the afternoon yesterday. The weather was still a little grumpy when we left the house, so we went back to the Old Airport Road Hawker Centre for an early dinner. I decided not to have my usual wanton noodles and opted to try a fishball noodle my mum had last week. Very yummy. We headed towards the barrage after dinner. If you're driving there, make sure you pay attention to the signs cuz we had to come back around for a second time when we accidentally entered the ecp expressway. Also, if you're driving there, don't be an idiot and park on the little bridge that's right before the entry to the barrage entrance. You'll change a two-lane two-way road into a one-lane two-way road which would cost a jam and endanger pedestrains. Anyway, enough of that. :-) we were really blessed yesterday as the clouds cleared and lightening retreated and we were treated to a beautiful end to the day. Although, next time, a little breeze would be nice too, God. :-D