Arriving Macau - Portuguese influence I

Macau has been a Portuguese colony for centries; so Portuguese influence is naturally evident and readily visible. Even after the handover to China in 1999, Portuguese signs are still visible everywhere.


Not to mention those blue tile street signs that are unmistakably Portuguese.


These ceramic tiles, often hand painted, are used for wall decoration as well throughout Portugal (in Spain as well). They are beautifully done at the Leal Senado building...





Reminds me of those I saw in Queluz Palace.

Arriving Macau - Las Vegas influence

Teased by MK's post, I paid a two day visit to the Chinese gambling city Macau. I lost count of how many times I have been there. The recent de-monopolization of casino operation rights supposedly brought out the big guns from Hong Kong and Las Vegas and rumored to have turned the economy upside down - gaming revenue has sky rocketed while the labor market has swung decisively one side due to the sudden rise in demand for casino personel. Anyhow, from Hong Kong by jet foil, it takes less than an hour to get there, so I set forth to see for myself.



Indeed huge casinos have popped up everywhere, Macau is so different from my last visit. The question it begs: is Macau turning into Las Vegas? Surely it cannot host a LV style strip, cause the traditional casino area - between the peer and Hotel Lisboa - is already packed with commercials and residental buildings. But that didn't stop casinos from rising in front of children's playgrounds.



That's right, that's a Rio, same one from Nevada. There's a miniture Wynn too, looks exactly the same as the one in Vegas...



... complete with a big fountain in front.



Other Vegas brand names include MGM...


... which looks different but the trademark feline is preserved, opening soon, meow.



For full size replica, you need to get off the strip and visit Taipa where the Venetian is a mirror image and just as imposing as the original.



While you are there, visit LV inspired theme'd Casino resorts New Centry, they've got Roman characters posing as Greek figures.

Arriving Palau Redang

From Langkawi, the ship sailed through Singapore to Palau Redang, a typical southeast asian beach resort where water is warm, skins are brown, chicken wings are sizzling and music is loud.

Blue water fine sand relaxation with the SS Virgo seen anchored off shore

Swiming napping whatever with the beach resort as a back drop

There're suba activities. I don't dive but I agree with them, these folks are ok.

Please once again ignore my laser John Travolta disco green shorts

The beach has of course been immortalized by the Hong Kong movie Summer Holiday (2000) starring famous Taiwanese singer Richie Ren.

Supposedly the authentic Mo Mo Cha establishment in the movie

This's how I should spend my everyday, I said to myself.

Arriving Langkawi

From Phuket, we moved on to Langkawi (the eagle city), Malaysia summer resort town.



The eagle plaza had a giant eagle, the town's symbol.



It was cloudy all the time I was there but I ain't beach going type anyway so it was okay. The Underwater World housed a wide variety of marine lives. The penguins remind me of those from Happy Feet (2006).

Arriving Phuket

From Singapore we took the luxurious SS Virgo, through the historical Strait of Malacca and arrived at Phuket island where Potung beach - scene of destruction during the disastrous 2004 tsunami - lies at its west shore. This is my second time to Thailand and first time to Phuket.

Sunset at the Strait of Malacca

Our ship didn't dock until 3pm at the south end of the island. By the time we hired an SUV, things were closing, so sadly we didn't get to see much. But we still got to see Wat Chalong, a traditional Thai temple.

Please direct your attention away from my disco green shorts to the dragon head, party party

I love Thailand's unique art style. Those golden pointy temple roofs are distinctively different from the rest of southeast and east Asian architectures (Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese on the other hand all have Chinese roots). The crafty home deco items they produce are reasonably priced and absolutely beautiful. Modern Thailand also produces many outstanding designers (like Chaiyuk Plypetch). It is surprising that the country hasn't taken on a more prominent position in the world of arts and designs.

In search of the Merlion

The Merlion(鱼尾獅 a lion mermaid) is Singapore's landmark, a must see in my opinion. Our visit to Harbor Front led us close enough to see the towering Merlion statue in Sentosa. My parents insisted that that is the official statue; I was doubtful because it squirts in all the pictures I've seen. "It was moved from its original spot." My mom assured me.

The Merlion tower at Sentosa

After taking 2000 pictures, it dawned to me that that creature is just too large to be the one I've seen in pictures. My parents reassured me otherwise while I grew skeptical. I went through the map square by square and discovered a Merlion Park by Raffles Place subway station, and so we set off.

The exhausting hunt under the boiling sun paid off. We found not one but two Merlion statues. It was a joyous moment tainted by the question of which one is the official one though. My dad refused to believe that the one at Sentosa was just a replica, while leaning towards the possibility that the smaller at Merlion Park might be the original one. Another 2000 pictures taken each later, our debate was settled at Wikipedia.

Singapore's Merlion statue and the Singapore skyline

Arriving Singapore

Actually I arrived at Singapore last Sunday (but I had no internet access). This is my first visit. Singapore has a reputation of being a clean city; I am sorry to say I was disappointed, I actually think Hong Kong is cleaner. In the same way, I am not impressed with Changi Airport, a supposedly award winning airport.

But that is not to say I didn't like it there; on contrary, I had a great time visiting. Other than the subway (the SMRT) Singapore is really not like Hong Kong. There is a bigger Indian and Malay population and everybody seems to speak a different language; I guess that explains why things are in English.

Changi Airport is supposedly award winning

There are lots of street side restaurants, especially in China Town (牛車水) and Little India. We went to Lau Pat Sat (老巴刹 which means Old Bazar?) in downtown for South China Chicken and Rice (海南雞飯) and other regional delicacies. I wasn't impressed with the cooking but it was 100% distinctively Southeast Asian and very satisfying.

Futuristic skyline of Singapore

More of Singapore skyline

Singapore street signs are all in English, one of them puzzling enough