Travelogue around Asia Pacific

Macau - Today's conference agenda was half a day. Immediately after lunch, at 1pm we had arranged for a city tour for the delegates. The tour includes the various sites: The 1st tourist site was to view the Lotus flower in full bloom,The coach then drove to the 2nd location, drop us off a distance and we had to walk up to the Ruins of St Paul , Na Tchaa Temple , Section of the old city and Mt Fortress From the famous Ruins of St Paul, we took a walking tour to Senado Square (this is the main city square), situated at one end is the Leal Senado Building , Sam Kai Vai Kun, Kuan Tai Temple, Holy House of Mercy Cathedral, Lou Kau Mansion (visited a typical Chinese courtyard house compound), St Dominic Church, Then off to A-Ma Temple, many people had offerings, seek blessings and gifts to the gods.... The last location was on the island of Taipai, crossing the bridge from Macau to Taipai was great as it was a clear sky - we stop by Taipai House museum and then to the ...

Macau - After a hearty breakfast, it was a pack full day of conference at Vitoria Room III on level 2 of the Hotel Royal. After the conference was over, it was free and easy for the conference delegates. Some partners wanted to join us, so we went to Fat Siu Lau Restaurant @ Rua da Felicidade No.64. They currently have 2 restaurants, the other opposite of Kun Ian Statue. Since 1903, many celebrities and politicians have frequented this infamous Macau dining spot. The atmosphere of this European-style venue is appropriate for business gatherings. Fat Siu Lau restaurant is in the oldest restaurant in Macau. The food is good and delicious but pricy compared to similiar menus. We tried their famous grilled king prawns, curry crab (the crabs were so small compared to Singapore chilli crabs - furthermore they charged twice as much). They were able to charge a higher price due to the restaurant ambiance.

Macau - For lunch, we went to Restaurante Platao , a nice Portuguese restaurant in Senado Square (Central). This restaurant is very quaint and located off the busy street of Senado Square walking towards St. Paul's Ruins. Today's weather was great around 15 degrees Celsius, so we decided to have lunch outside in the open-air. The food coupled with the ambiance was great. We had chicken, stewed lamb shank, baked rice and Sangria for drinks. What is Sangria? Sangria, is a wine "punch" with its traditional heritage well rooted in Spain. Typically, Sangria is made with red wine, fresh, seasonal fruit and a bit of bubbly water or citrus flavored soda. While Spain is heralded as the creator of Sangria, countries all over the globe have adapted the recipe to make a fruit-filled wine beverage that is refreshing and easy to drink with a wide variety of foods. The welcome dinner was held at Macau Tower, 180 Lounge & Grill restaurant - there were 25 people attended th...

Macau - After making sure that everything at the technical conference was 'clock work'. Tania, Donny and I went to settle the payment for the coach services. The tour agency was Grayline Tours and the office was just a walking distance from where we are staying. They are very professional and ensured us that there will be a English speaking guide since many from our conference do not speak Mandarin or Cantonese. We were hankering for food and ask Grayline where to find good Macauese food and was told to go to Senado Square. We walked up and down the street but found no restaurant. I later realized that many of the good restaurants are in the lanes off the main street. A lady was standing at a cross junction handing out flyers of her resturant, since we were hungry we took the flyer and followed her. The restaurant was downstairs and had to take a flight of stairs down and looking around there weren't many patrons on that day. Well, surprisingly the food was good a...

Macau - Early in the morning Tania, Chee Chien and I set off to find the best Portuguese restaurant in Macau. We visited the 2 best restaurant and fortunately were located near by each other. Both restaurants are near the famous A-Ma Temple. We were outside Litoral Restaurant contemplating which restaurant to choose and here in an instant a lion dance performance right in front of our eyes. Some Chinese would invite the lion dance troupe to officiate the opening of the restaurant or office just after Chinese New Year. Whilst we were looking earnestly at the performance - one of the troupe boys started to light the fire crackers and throw. While in a instance, we ran far away from the scene - it was a loud crackling and paper were sprewed everywhere. Fire crackers have been banned in Singapore for many many years, so seeing this was surreal. Restaurant # 1 - Litoral Restaurant @ 853-2896-7878 - the grandeur of this stylist restaurant made us choose this for our awards dinner on 28 ...

Macau - I was considering flying directly to Macau International Airport or to HK International Airport and then having to take a jet foil to Macau. Taking the former is much easier with no hassle of a ferry across to Macau. The adventure 'streaker' chose to fly to HK International Airport. Since I am just passing through to Macau - the process was seamless and smooth. HK and Macau had work out the process perfectly. Upon my exit from the plane at HK International Airport - there was sign for Fly/Sea transit passengers with no need to pass HK immigration at all. I had purchased the turbojet tickets on line - it took me a while to get the booking complete because the booking process was not very clear. The jet foil to Macau was choppy and very foggy - so the captain had to slow down the jet foil twice. It was so foggy that you could not see pass 1 metre. Upon arrival at Macau Ferry Terminal - passed through Macau immigration (which was a breeze) -you had to pick up your lu...

Singapore - The inaugural Youth Olympics Games (YOG) to be held in 2010 boiled down to 2 countries - Singapore and Moscow, Russia. This YOG will features athletes from ages 14 to 18 and will be held once every 4 years. Today, is an exciting day because the 105 IOC (International Olympic Committee) members will vote on who will get to host the inaugural YOG in 2010. I was up watching the live news announcement by the IOC President Jacques Rogge in the evening and when they announced the Singapore won the right to host this event in 2010 - I was so happy and proud. Singapore epitomises Youthfulness as we are a small and young nation. Congratualations to Singapore on winning the first Youth Olympics Games 2010 to be held on 14-26 August 2010.

Singapore - As of February 5, 2008 - 13 probable cases of chikungunya fever have been reported. Of the 13, 11 were from the Indian sub-continent. All 13 live or work around the clive street - Little India vicinity. There were admitted to isolation and management at the CDC. What is it? Chikungunya fever is an acute viral disease caused by the chikungunya virus and is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito, usually the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same dengue causing culprit. In most cases, it takes up to seven day (sometimes up to 12 days) for a person infected by the virus to fall ill. This is characterised by the sudden onset of fever, chills, headache, nausea, vomiting, joint pain with or without swelling and lower back pain. Occasionally, a rash may affect the trunk and limbs. These symptoms can last for between 3 to 10 days but it is not uncommon for the joint pain to persist for weeks or months. Since there is no cure for chikungunya, treatment involves m...

Singapore - What is Reunion Dinner? At Chinese New Year, a reunion dinner is held on New Year's Eve where members of the immediate family get together for celebration. It is customary for the married sons will go back to their parents home to celebrate the Reunion Dinner. My friend, Yudi - an Indonesian Chinese living in Jakarta will be driving back to his father home in Palembang for reunion dinner - that is about 12-14 hrs drive. Wow! what patience he has... Around this time in China, it will be the biggest migration of people the world has ever seen -around more than 10 million people are going back home for their reunion dinner. Because of this year's bad winter storm in China, many travellers are stranded at train and bus stations. This happen to be China's worst winter storms in 50 years. At Guangzhou station alone, more than 200,000 travellers are stranded with no hope in sight of making the audous journey back home for the reunion dinner. In Singapore, 2007 ha...

Singapore/Malaysia - Arguably Singapore and Malaysia invention of tossing and mixing up the yusheng (raw fish salad). You will toss the dish as high as possible which shouting "Lo Hei" and other auspicius phrases at the same time. It is a Singapore's urban legend that four "Heavenly Chef" of Singapore restaurant - Chef Sin Leong, Chef Hooi Kok Wai, late Chef Tham Yui Kai and late Chef Lau Yoki Pui created the Lo Hei which is now enjoyed and a must have for many families in Singpore and Malaysi during the Chinese New Year. The 4 Chefs met each other and became friends at the old Cathay Restaurant and introduce the dish in 1963. Lo Hei yusheng was traditionally eaten on the seventh day of the Chinese New Year, which is known a "ren ri" or every man's birthday. But nowadys, it is eaten throughout 16 days (including the eve). When I was in Kuala Lumpur, we had Lo Hei - 2 weeks before Chinese New Year. Here are some ingredients that do into yusheng, an...

Singapore - some Chinese New Year Trivia for those who are clueless about this festival that is widely celebrated in Asia.... 1. Why must the amount in cahs in the Hong Bao be even-numbered? 2. Why must we stay up on the eve of Chinese Year Year? 3. Why do we wear red-coloured clothes on Chinese New Year? 4. Why is the Chinese Character fu placed upside down? 5. Why are mandarin oranges exchanged during Chinese New Year? Answers: 1. There's a Chinese saying that "good things come in pairs". Odd-numbered amounts are generally associated with money given at funerals. 2. It is believed that the later children stay up on the eve of Chinese New Year, the longer their parents will live. 3. According to a legend, there is a New Year monster called Nian. Because, the monster fears the colour red, it became tradition for the Chinese to wear red to frighten it away. 4. Turning something upside down is known as "dao" in Mandarin, which sounds similiar to the Ch...