Thank you series: Back from Manila!

Hello everyone!

I'm back from a 3 week blogging hiatus and there's so much to share. From Manila, I was only able to post about my new hair cut and the wedding I attended. I enjoyed every moment I spent there and really wish I could have stayed a little longer. I just love spending time with my family and friends.

By the way, we arrived here in China on a Saturday. The next day we had to go to the market and grocery to stuck up on food since our fridge and cupboards were empty. In the market I stumbled upon a crustacean I loved to eat as a child. In the Philippines, we call it 'Alupihang Dagat'. I searched the web for it's English name and I found this. Apparently it's called 'Mantis Shrimp'. This animal looks a bit weird but it sure does taste good.

Excitedly we went home to cook it. I made a soup called 'Sinigang' in Filipino. In the soup I added tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger, orange juice/concentrate (instead of tamarind or guava), cabbage, salt, pepper, and of course the 'Mantis Shrimp'. It was yummy! Actually it was my hubby's first time to try it in a soup and I'm glad he liked it. Well except for the fact that it was quite hard and inconvenient for him to unshell :)

still hot in the pot

served hot

what's left

Thank you series: I take a trip around the world in Macau

If you are a regular guest of this blog, you will notice that I have written about Macau in this blog a number of times. To date I have visited the place at least 5 times - that is since October 2008. It's such a small place that I've grown to appreciate more and more.

What I love about this place is that it reminds me of Manila - particularly Binondo or Manila's Chinatown - yet it also allows me to visit the world. Take Fisherman's Wharf for instance, a visit here will allow you to see Spain, Portugal, New Zealand and the Middle East in one day. While a day in Venetian takes you to beautiful Venice.

For more photos, visit my photo blog of Venetian and my photo blog of Fisherman's Wharf.

If your planning to travel soon, a vacation in Macau is something to consider. There are lots of hotels to choose from. From the pricey and extraordinary - perfect for honeymooners - like Venetian and Rocks hotel, to the practical Metropole hotel - perfect for adventurous backpackers.

Note: Breakfast buffet in Metropole is mostly Chinese style. They offer fried noodles, mantao, steam cabbage but you will also find hotdogs and ham.

Thank you series: A day at the park

The day after Christmas, December 26, my hubby and I decided to visit another park here in Zhongshan. We visited Zimaling park, an 88-plus hectare park located at Zhongshan, China. It was a fun day and we were pleasantly surprised to find rides and fair activities – target shooting, cable ride, boat ride, mini roller coasters and cart ride – at the park. It was familiar and reminded us of provincial fairs in the Philippines.

It was a good day of exercise. For more photos of the park please visit my photo blog.

Thank you series: One day budget trip in Macau

It's my second time to visit Macau and at the rate I'm going, I'd probably be visiting Macau once every month. Last October it was to celebrate my birthday, this time (November) it was to be the tourist guide of our friends who are here on a business trip. On December, I expect to go there again to attend a Gawad Kalinga event.

Anyway for our trip my hubby and I prepared a packed day for our friends. We only had one day and we had to make sure that we make the most of their visit. I'm just glad that they enjoyed amidst the hot sun and aching leg muscles. According to them, it felt like 'Amazing Race' but it was all worthwhile.

Check out our itinerary. (Consider that we came from China mainland and that we only had a day. We also opted to make this as cost efficient as possible so we opted NOT to stay overnight although we were very much tempted to stay the night so we can do some shopping the next day :) ).

7:30 am Left our houses to catch the bus.
7:45 am Arrived in Fuhua hotel and bought our bus tickets. We took the bus ride from Zhongshan to Zhuhai/GongBei. Cost per person is 20RMB per person

9:00 am Queued in China immigration, exiting China.
9:15 am Queued in Macau immigration, entering Macau.
10:35 am We exit immigration and ... arrive in Macau. We began taking pictures! Incidentally it was the day of Grand Prix Eliminations. :)

10:40 am Took the number 3 bus and headed for San Malo. Cost per person is 2.5Macau Pataca per person

10:50 am We arrive at San Malo. After a few minutes of deliberation we decided to eat lunch at Pizza hut.

11:10am Lunch is served!

12:00noon Began our sightseeing in San Malo. Visited Ruins of St. Paul and the Macau Museum.

1:30pm Took the number 33 bus to Taipa. Cost per person is 3.3Macau Pataca per person
2:30pm Got a little lost but we found the Venetian eventually. It was ok though since we got to take a few more photos of the streets of Macau.

3:00 to 5:30pm Time spent admiring Venetian (inclusive of idle/rest time. We just had to sit a while to relax our aching feet).

5:45pm Left Venetian via cab going to Macau Tower. We opted to skip the 'free bus ride of Venetian' to maximize the time. Cost of cab ride for 4 people is 50 MOP from Taipa to Macau tower (Not bad eh :P )

6:00pm Arrived in Macau Tower. We also visited the stores Toys R Us and Warner Brothers. As always shopping and photo moments took a little longer.

6:45pm Arrived at New Yaohan mall and had our dinner at Sakura Tei. Yummy! :)

7:30pm More sightseeing for us at Wynn and Lisboa. We enjoyed the bright lights and the 'Dancing Fountain.'

8:30pm Tired to the bones, we now decided to go home. We hailed a cab who brought us back to the border. Cab ride to border from city for 4 people costs 50 MOP.

8:45pm Now we had to exit Macau immigration and enter China immigration.

9:30pm Done with immigration. Less people when it's late so queue was faster.

10:05 Now time for us to take a cab home. No more bus at this time so we had to take a cab. Took us 10 minutes to negotiate with the cab for a ride from border to Zhongshan City. Cab ride home for 4 people costs 200 RMB.

11:00pm we arrive at the Zhongshan. Now we needed another cab who will bring us home. Had to hail another cab who knew Zhongshan better.

11:30pm Arrived home. Cab ride home for 4 people costs 50 RMB.

A few things to note:

• In Macau, HK dollars are accepted by stores but I do suggest that you have your money changed to MOP (Macau Pataca). This will help you save a little more since HK dollars is a little higher that MOP.
  
• Venetian is such a big place, you need at least 1 whole day to visit it's every nook and cranny. However you can prioritize what you want to see. Maximize the available touch screen floor plans found at the lobby. There are also free maps for you to refer too.
• Gondola rides in the Venetian cost around 105MOP per head for adults and 60MOP for kids. It's cool, romantic with live singing from the boat drivers.
  
• Venetian is also in Taipa island so best to group your visits. (Example: Taipa island = Venetian. Macau island = St Paul Ruins, Macau Tower, Grand Lisboa, Fountains of Wynn etc)
  
• The area of Grand Lisboa and Wynn are best visited at night. The lights are amazing so day trips are suggested in Macau tower, the Museums, St. Paul Ruins and the shopping area.
• Cost of activities in Macau tower are: Bungee jump = 1700MOP Skywalk= 780MOP Entrance fee to enter the tower = 100MOP
  

Thank you series: Back from vacation

I'm back after a week long hiatus from the Internet world and normal routine. I had so much much fun with my hubby and his colleagues during the national week. Aside from our trip to Zhu Hai, we mostly spent our days in the pool practicing our breast stroke and freestlye. My husband has perfected his breast stroke. As for me I'm still practicing but I feel that I almost got it.

Last week, we also visit a nearby market for the first time. For our first month most of our food came from the grocery. As expected it was sooo much cheaper and the best thing was the freshness. Red meat is pink and soft, fish is alive and swimming. I was also pleasantly surprised to see a 'Tilapia', my favorite fish in Manila. My glee, however, was immediately replace by pity. It was traumatic for me to see how they killed the fish and cut it while it's still alive. It was really a terrifying to feel the freshly chopped fish moving inside the plastic bag that Jason held, but a taste of the cooked fish removed all my qualms. Maybe I will consider being a vegetarian... maybe in a few years... maybe not.

Lunch."

"Close up of the cooked Tilapia."

Ooh and did I tell you how nice the fish vendor is to me. :) She seems to be amazed with the fact that I look sooo Chinese and yet can't speak a single word. I get this reaction often, by the way. I always have to explain, I try, that I'm a Filipina and that I don't speak Chinese. Funny how I look the part but don't speak the part eh. :P Anyway I say "Philippines" since there is no direct translation of Philippines in Chinese. Most of the countries with direct translation are the first worlds. Here's a few:

Meguo for America (Meguo means beautiful country by the way)
Inguo for England
Faguo for France