Nuffnang

Saturday, October 23, 2010

~ Past Holiday Experiences 10 - Hong Kong - Macau May 2007 (Day 3) ~

2nd June - Day 3: This is a very rush 1 day trip to Macau (澳門) and it might have been better if we have stay for a night. Quite an amount of time has been taken on travelling and we actually only have about half a day left after all the hassle. We took a ferry early in the morning and arrived at Macau Ferry Terminal. Since this is our first visit, we are quite unfamiliar with the routes. Luckily, we managed to take a bus and reached Senado Square.


Upon reaching the square, you can see the pavement are paved with wave-patterned mosaic of coloured stones. This is a traditional style of Portuguese pavement which is very neat and beautiful. (Macau was a Portuguese colony and later handover to China in 1999.)

You can also see the Portuguese style architecture with a modern sense as well as some historic buildings (St. Dominic’s Church, Leal Senado, General Post Office etc).



We walked around the streets and had a quick lunch. It would have been nice to stay longer and shop around but we are really tight on schedule and had to take a bus to our next destination - A-Ma Temple.(妈阁庙) - Note:  Maritime Museum is located right across the temple.


A-Ma Temple is an old Taoist temple and we brought our inlaws here for prayers.


Moving on, we headed back to the Fisherman's Wharfs (澳門漁人碼頭). There is a theme park with some kiddy rides where Denver finally gets a chance to have some fun after following us for the whole day so far.

The entire place is very big.. so much so that we didn't know where we are going or start from. There is a Tang Dynasty Fortress which I'm not sure what's inside. Right beside it is the 40m high Vulcania which erupts every evening.

Alladin's Fort is where the children's rides are and we hit the jackpot going in the right direction. :)


There are only a few simple rides mainly for the younger children but it is enough to keep Denver happy. I wonder if it is due to the hot weather or we have come to visit at the super low peak period. There are not many people around and no children queuing for the rides.

Roman Amphitheatre, an outdoor Colosseum where performances are held.

A nice view of Macau Harbour from the Fisherman's Wharf. I can imagine it should look very scenic too in the night with the lights.



Empty streets along the Legend Wharf where the shops are.


One of the must-do thing in Macau is going to the Casino. Unfortunately, Hubby & I didn't get to go in since we are with the kids.

 New Yaohan is a deparmental store that is very near to the ferry terminal. We gave that a miss too since we are catching the evening ferry back to Hong Kong.


Yes, it has been a very short 'trip' in Macau and we probably did not have a good chance/time to really appreciate and enjoy more of it's culture and food. Nevertheless, we have left our little footprints and catch a glimsp of it's beauty.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

~ i Light Marina Bay - Walk Route 2 ~

We continued our walk from Marina Bay Sands after having a little rest. The night continues to get hotter and hotter, but we walked on.

Denver had some fun walking through the glass panels as the lights goes on and off and I really love the Singapore skyline in the night.


Where is Gladys? She is hiding somewhere within the colourful cubes. Parents better make sure to keep an eye on the younger children as they can get easily get lost in the night.


Along the way there will be people giving out brochures to the public with regards to the different light art installations along Marina Bay. It is a shame that the dim lights around makes it pretty hard to read the details.


Plastic bottles with diodes within giving out blinking green lights. Does it looks like Fire Flies from afar?


We finally made our way to the Promontory! Welcome to the Public Garden where you will see lighted trees, plant-like lighted sculptures. Many people have seated within the open space probably admiring the entire landscape and beautiful skyline.


We did not have a chance to go into the womb of this art piece since there was a guided tour at that time and people are queuing to get in. I wonder what's inside.. Darkness? or Light?


Gladys - out of curiosity, ran into the 'forbidden' area of this art display and disrupted a few photographers from taking a good picture. :) She must be attracted to the pretty changing lights.


A huge flower vase within our Singapore Garden. :)

Care to take a rest? You won't miss this one within the dark since it is brightly lighted. BUT... we'll have to wait since there are many people waiting to take a picture with this futuristic chair made of acrylic sheets.

They called this a whirlpool to give the illusion of water draining away. I thought it looks like a chess set. Hehehehe.

The Living! Project.. This one is interesting. Made of thousands of recycled plastic cups and lighted by low energy LED. From the website, it is said that this art piece will grow and the community is encouraged to add to the installation everyday and they are expecting to make use of 30, 000 used plastic cups! I wonder how tall it will grow on the final day!


It has been a really long walk! We took 2 hours to complete both walk routes and although we didn't catch every single art installations, it was amazing. Denver and Gladys were totally exhausted and their treat for being such a good sport is ....... ICE-CREAM! Their motivation factor to complete the walk and reach the ending point. ^_^

Sunday, October 17, 2010

~ i Light Marina Bay - Walk Route 1 ~

i Light Marina Bay is Asia's first major substainable light art event. Over 20 stunning light art installations by local and international artists will be displayed at various locations around Marina Bay.

Only energy-efficient lights and lighting techniques are used and the festival aims to create awareness for energy-saving technology within public spaces, offices and homes.

i Light Marina Bay is open nightly from 7.30pm to 12 midnight from 15 October to 7 November 2010. (Admission is FREE)


There are 2 walk routes where public can choose to take. Each route will feature different artists' artworks. There are also special guided tours (Light Walk Tours) on Fridays and Saturdays during the festival. More information and registration details can be found on the website.

After having our dinner at Marina Square, we started our walk route from the Esplanade waterfront. Big colourful Jellyfish brightens the waters and unlike the real ones, you can try touching it's tentacles. :)


Straight ahead are two crouching tigers at The Float @ Marina Bay. Feels like Chinese New Year is around the corner. :p


I can't really make out the projection on the "I C U" artwork but the lightings on the seatings are pretty nice.

This is probably one of the kids' favourite. The fishing rod like fibre optic poles are mounted along the Helix Bridge and upon winding the reel, the lights will be illuminated. The faster you wind, the brighter it will be and the children use their strengths to turn the handle as fast as they could.


We actually missed 2 light artworks at the start (which are part of Walk Route 1) and only get to see it upon returning from the entire route (which took us 2 hours to complete).

1) The Animal Tree is a lamp pole made of many plastic orange bears coin banks. A pretty cute piece of design.

2) "Touch. Do Not Please the Work of Art" is an interesting installation within the pedestrain walkway underneath the Esplanade bridge. We were puzzled for awhile why people are standing by the wall making different funny poses. Later, we realised once the words light up and shine, upon touching or staying still to pose, shadows will be cast onto the installation and leave an instant graffiti on the wall! Children and adult had so much fun standing by the wall making their own temporary funny shadows..


The weather is really hot and humid even though the sun has already set. Gladys started to complain about the heat and so we took a short break in Marina Bay Sand before heading on to view the remaining artworks from Walk Route 2.

To be continued... :)

Friday, October 15, 2010

~ Past Holiday Experiences 10 - Hong Kong May 2007 (Day 2 - Part 2) ~

Continuing from our previous post, we are heading to Adventureland. Well, the only ride that we took here is the Jungle River Cruise which took us on a ride through the mysterious river. Seeing the 'fake' elephant, zebras, tribal huts etc. :)


Here we are at the Liki Tikis where children can have some fun with the blasts of water. (especially in this hot weather!)


Due to time constraints, we quickly move on to Tomorrowland. This is one of Denver's favourite as Buzz Lightyear is HERE! Spaceships, futuristic gadgets and buildings welcome us.



We hopped on to the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters ride and get ready to blast the evil Emperor Zurg with our guns. Denver had so much fun that we went in for 2 rounds of shooting!


We were also lucky to meet Buzz Lightyear after our rides and he is the only character that Denver is willing to take a picture with. Hahahaha. :)


There are many other rides that we missed in Tomorrowland which is a shame. :( We didn't get to see Stitch nor take the car rides in Autopia. It is pretty tough to complete all the rides within a day and all of us are getting really tired already.

We walked back to the Main Street, U.S.A and went into the shops to enjoy the air-condition as well as looking at the various Dinsey products, souveniors and clothing. :) All of them look so nice that you just wish you can grab them all back home. :p

We were also just on time to catch the Disney on Parade! All the characters came out to greet the visitors. Mickey, Minnie, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Chip & Dale, Disney Princess and many more!




Before leaving, we took a little ride on the Hong Kong Disneyland Railroad. Visiting Hong Kong around May and June is pretty hot and many have their umbrellas or caps on to shelter them from the hot sun. Nevertheless, we enjoyed ourselves and it has been so much FUN in Disneyland.



We didn't stay on for the fireworks in the night as it is pretty tiring for the kids and my in-laws. I'm sure the children had a good time and we need to take the train all the way back to our hotel for a good rest. :) Gladys is all smilely on her face even though she has been pretty 'steam' up with the heat. :D

Goodbye DISNEYLAND!! Till we meet again. :)