Friday, September 28, 2012

Bloggers Trip to MACAU - Day 2

"Bloggers, are you ready for the interesting Mini Macau Amazing Race?"

Yeah! is Race Day today! Early in the morning we set off to Senado Square area within the Historic Centre of Macau for a mini amazing race around MACAU's heritage area. I told the bloggers that the race will be very relaxed. However, at the end of the day or rather along the way, they had been cursing and swearing. Haha.. in the Whatsapp group chat, one of them said that I bluffed them by saying that the race is easy. Oh well, the race questions were indeed manageable. I guessed it was because of the hot weather that made all of them perspired a lot. Most of them were soaking wet at the end of the race. Deeply appreciate their great efforts in completing the race within the designated time frame. In fact, I didn't want them to go beyond 12pm as the weather will only be hotter and it was really not wise for them to be racing under the hot afternoon sun. Glad that everyone made it back in a piece! Haha... Great Job, guys! :)

Questionnaire for the Race

Side Track: after washing my hair in the morning, I decided to look for the hair dryer to dry my hair. As I was looking for the hair dryer, I found this flowery bag. Mmm... what's in it?

Haha... is the hair dryer! what a lovely bag for the hair dryer...

Off we went when everyone gathered on time at 10am! After I flagged off the race at Sofitel @ Ponte 16, I decided to slowly walked to the ending point to wait for all of them as they were supposed to complete a task at the ending point. As I walked along, I decided to detour to fill my stomach ( I didn't eat breaky!!). Actually, this is part of my plan - to enjoy some street food for breaky. I planned to have a cup of bubble tea + Lok Lok for breaky. However, to my disappointment, Come Buy Bubble Tea was not opened yet. Haiz.. not fated to drink bubble tea, so I just settled for Lok Lok from my favourite stall, 恒友. I sat down to enjoy my Lok Lok and checking out Instagram for updates for their race. As I have asked them to answer some questions via Instagram so reviewing Instagram was part and parcel of my task. As I was enjoying my Lok Lok, I realised that their speed were faster than I expected. Before I could finished my last piece of Lok Lok, the first few teams were already more than half way through the race. So I quickly went to the last stop @ Margaret's Cafe to prepare for the arrival of the teams. :)

恒友 Lok Lok Stall

Yummilicious... You can even buy the sauce from the stall owner and try to make "Lok Lok" at home. I shall get 1 bottle during my next trip!
Egg Tarts for the task to be completed by all teams @ the ending point

Finally when the first team - Willy & Valyn arrived, I knew that the rest will slowly strolled in too. As they sat down, I could see their tiredness and shagness. I didn't mean to torture them by asking them to race under such hot weather. This Amazing Race was specially designed by me and I really hope that they have enjoyed MACAU in an amazing way and be able to know more about what MACAU has to offer in terms of culture, heritage, food and sightseeing. :)

Group photo after the race... All look kinda tired and shag.. haha...
As I didn't followed them during the race, I had to look into the Instagram photos to know what they have done and where they have been. I decided to include some of the photos to show the real action. All these photos are courtesy of all the bloggers via Instagram.
After flagged off at the starting point at Sofitel @ Ponte 16

First photo to be taken with any 1 local cookies shop located along Rua da Felicidade (Happiness Street)

Wow... Joey is like superstar with so many cameras taking a picture of her (or actually they are aiming the shop name behind her. :p) *Photo courtesy of Jerome

Chun See was asking for directions to the next question?? *Photo courtesy of Jerome

Yes! Of all people, why did Kaika asked a half-naked guy for directions? Hmmm.. according to her, there were no one else then. However, we weren't very convinced. Haha...

Rui Long's remedy to fight the HOT weather... Smart girl!

NICE jump by Joey! :)

According to Leo, he was faking a smile as he was soaking wet after going around under the sorching sun!

One of my favourite photos of St Dominic's Church as it captured the whole facade itself.

Photo of part of the Old Section of the City Wall which is one of the heritage site of MACAU!
Lovely photo taken by Kaika, capturing not only her 大头贴 self-potrait but also the landmark of MACAU - Ruins of St Paul's in the background.
Time for Egg Tarts!!! :)

Leo was not really enjoying the tart as he was too tired and sweaty to think. haha..


Of course, together with the video captured by omy.sg, I had a clearer picture of how's the amazing race like when the teams were going around. For the very first time, I felt that MACAU is so beautiful, even more beautiful than I thought of. The local street scenes were nicely captured in the video. :)


After the race, the bloggers had free & easy session to roam around. Most of them decided to further explore Senado Square area for good food and more photos. GOOD for them! :) I didn't joined their lunch @ Cheong Kei & Yi Shun as I had to join Grace and the guests for GTEF for a quick lunch. After lunch, I re-joined some of the bloggers to explore MJ Gallery @ Sofitel @ Ponte 16. I wanted to take some decent photos of the gallery for future promotional purposes. When we were done @ MJ Gallery, the bloggers went back to Senado Square while I went for some retail therapy @ my favourite outlet in MACAU. heehee...
Sau Jun, Joey, Rui Long and Ai enjoying the milk pudding @ Yi Shun. Yummy!!


MJ Gallery dedicated to the King of Pop - Michael Jackson

New items on display...

A time passage that showcased the timeline of MJ

The iconic white gloves of MJ..

If you are a MJ fan, do not miss the MJ Gallery. Quite a compact gallery which is good for a walk down memory lane with the idol's favourite outfit, accessories, music CDs and more. It is FREE admission!


My loot from Espirit Outlet in MACAU! Retail therapy didn't really work though I spent about S$90 in about 2 hours. haha..



After a long day going around, I went back to my hotel room to have a good night rest before a hectic schedule on the next day. & as I entered the room, I was wondering what kind of surprise will I be getting from the hotel? Mmmm...

Here you are! Yummy Macaroons of different flavours! Thanks, Grand Lapa Hotel for the hospitality! :)

Last but not least, for more information and photos of the trip and what did the bloggers do, please log on to My MACAU Travel Experience 2012 official website.




Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Bloggers Trip to MACAU - Day 1

As shared in my pre-trip entry, this trip to MACAU is supposed to give me a total different experience as it will be the first time for me to travel to MACAU with a group of bloggers. :) Being inspired by them, I decided to blog about my trip (usually I will be very lazy to do it as I have to write post-trip report for official submission and I have enough of writing. haha...) Anyway, I shall keep it simple by giving day by day update on what we did.

On departure day, our Tiger Airways flight was due to depart at about 10.25am and I have asked the bloggers to check-in at about 8.25am and to meet me at the boarding gate at about 9.30am. After my flight check-in, my body was aching and I was feeling very tired. My eye lids were heavy and I felt that my eyes were a bit swollen. I guessed these were the after effects of not sleeping well or rather not sleeping at all the night before. But as I shared in my post trip entry, once I wore my MGTO t-shirt, I know I have to be professional and be able to brace through any situation with a smile.

After the flight check-in, I decided to go into the main area earlier as it was the last opportunity for me to explore the terminal and depart from this terminal. Budget Terminal had ceased operations as of 23 Sep and will be making way for the new Terminal 4. I had been travelling to MACAU from Budget Terminal for the past 3 years and I am certainly going to miss it (though the infrastructure is simple as compared to other terminals). Here's a photo I captured before heading to the board gate:


Strolling slowly to the boarding gate to meet up with the rest and to start the adventures in  MACAU! The PR rep from Tiger Airways met up with us and we decided to take a group photo before departure. When the request was asked, we heard many unwilling responses "oh no, I didn't put on make-up! So unglam looking! So shag looking" haha... oh well, though without make-up and with the panda eyes, all of them still look good la... :)


After which, we were off to MACAU for surprising moments! :)

Flight to MACAU was good as I slept throughout the journey (what's new! thats usually what I do and especially when I didn't sleep well the night before). Upon arrival, we were transferred to Grand Lapa Hotel for check-in. It was my 2nd time staying in this hotel. Personally I quite like the hotel. While the hotel building itself is relatively old, the decoration at the lobby, lift lobby and cafe are elegant and classic. The in-room decoration is simplier as compared but it gives people a cosy feeling.

nice & cosy room... :)

lovely view from my hotel room at 17th floor
After a short rest in the hotel, I met up with the group and brought them to Macau Tower for dinner and to enjoy the 24th Macau International Fireworks Display Contest. Along our way to Macau Tower, I was giving some simple introduction about MACAU and pointed out a Kun Iam Statue which clearly display the East meets West elements of MACAU. Yeah, it is a statue of Kun Iam with westernised features. Being a Westerner, the scupltor of this statue did not know how the real Kun Iam looks like. Hence, he designed  the statue of Kun Iam who has features that are similar to Mother Mary. Interesting indeed. :)


Finally we arrived at Macau Tower. The sales rep from Macau Tower brought us around for a quick view. Having been to Macau Tower for numerous times, honestly I am no longer fascinated by the tower itself. I am more interested about my delegates' reaction when they are taking the lift up to 59th & 61th storey and their reactions towards the see-through glass panels on the floor and their reactions towards dare-devils playing the bungee jump. All these reactions are unique, precious and definitely varies from person to person. Without much doubts, there were someone within the group who did not feel comfortable walking on the see-through glass panels and someone who sat down and refused to move. The bloggers were also fascinated by the panaromic view of MACAU and parts of Zhuhai. When we inspected the outdoor observation deck, they even had a chance to witness the bungee jump in action. Guess it iwas a fruitful trip for them in terms of photo taking. When we proceed to Cafe 360, instead of going for the food immediately, most of them started to take photos of the wide variety of food. Until when they finally cannot resist the temptation, they decided to put down their cameras and held on to their fork & knife and FEAST!

Group photo of the 10 famed bloggers @ Macau Tower

The see-through glass panels which can hold weights up to 200 tonnes.. so it is 100% safe standing on it. Try it when you are at Macau Tower.

before I feast (my 1st meal for the day!!!), I decided to take an illusion shot of the M&M Bridge!
After dinner, the bloggers left the restaurant unwillingly as they were enjoying the dinner so much. They said that the variety was great and there were so many selections of international food. Even the dessert selections were marvelous and they felt so pampered. Unfortunately in order to be on time for the 9pm fireworks display, we had to leave! Sorry guys! We joined the judges and MGTO guests at the VIP section specially set aside for MGTO guests. Seated down, we decided to chit chat among ourselves while waiting for the fireworks. & of course how can we missed out in taking photos of the tower, the surroundings and the seafront areas.

this photo of M&M Bridge was captured by my iPhone 4. how amazing...

where i was seated, i took a photo of the tower from bottom up

Fireworks Display Contest started at 9pm sharp when all the GOHs went on stage to announce the opening. First team to start: Korea. 2nd team: Thailand (first time participation). Personally I like the fireworks display by Team Korea. However, Team Thailand was able to incorporate many interesting elements into their display although the interval from section to section was a bit too long. Winner of the 24th Macau International Fireworks Display Contest will be announced on 1 Oct.




My video of Team Korea's Fireworks Display


My video of Team Thailand's Fireworks Display

After a tiring yet fruitful day, we went back to hotel for a good night sleep and be prepared for an exciting Race Day on Day 2! Upon going into my room, I was greeted by this little surprise.. Thanks, Grand Lapa Hotel!


Last but not least, wanna look at the real action at Macau Tower, here you are:

Video footage is courtesy of omy.sg

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Singapore Formula One 2012 - Jay Chou F1 Concert

Finally today I decided to give myself a break from work and focus on updating my blog before it goes back to hibernating mode again. :p shall leave my updates on MACAU aside first & talk about the hottest topic in town for this VROOM! VROOM! VROOM! weekend.
 
September is the month where we welcome the Formula One Night Race in Singapore. This year, the race is from 21 to 22 Sep. The atmosphere could be felt everywhere, every corner in Singapore. As I was preparing my photos for this blog update, I heard my Grandma called out "VROOM! VROOM! VROOM!" all of a sudden! See! Even my Grandma is in the F1 mood. whahahaha..
 
Today is the final race and we will know who is the winner of this year's race. I am not a F1 fan but I am still excited to find out who is the winner. :) This year, I happened to be part of the F1 celebration. All thanks to my lovely Brother and Junwei, I managed to go for F1 race on opening day and was able to enjoy the concert which I had been longing to. YEAH! Cause this year, F1 organiser invited Jay Chou to perform on opening day! Woohoo~!!! He is the first ever Asian singer to perform in F1 (at least in Singapore). & most importantly, this is his first ever outdoor concert in Singapore! I thought he would only be performing for 5 to 10 minutes. In the end, his performance time slot was a good 1 hour and he performed 12 songs in total! oh wow! the very oriented-themed for most songs chosen and also very much related to racing to suit the F1-themed. Good selection of songs as being the only Chinese performer, i think Jay would like to show a clear distinction in his music from the remaining performers. Apart from fast-paced songs with loud music and rap, he also sang his classic romance songs. he melted the girls' hearts by emerging from the middle of the stage with a piano! Awww... full of charisma, how can I not continue to support him and completely immerse in the 周式歌曲 (Jay Chou style music)? :) Looking forward to his concert in Singapore next year... it has been almost 2 years since he last had his concert in Singapore. Jay, don't make us wait too long, yeahz! :) okiedokie, enough of my writing, shall dive straight into the photos I took for the night. Pardon me for some of the blur photos as I was standing quite far away from the stage and tried my very best to capture the actions.


Pat & I @ the entrance gate 3 :)

Happenings around Zone 4 @ Padang..


杰伦, 我们又见面了!!!


wow.. so many people waiting to watch Jay Chou's performance. Jun, who say no one wanna watch Jay leh? it was "people mountain people sea" lor!

before the concert starts, Pat & I decided to have a look at the practice race but it was kinda boring with NO collision action. whahahaha..

even it was practice race, there were quite a number of spectators. & the funniest thing was everyone had their cameras ready and tried to take photos of the formula cars that drove past. oh well... unless the cameras have super high shutter speed, else the photo will be a total failure. but still everyone wanna give it a try and I thought I should try too... see below pic for what i captured:

haha... totally blur vision of the super fast-moving Formula car... oh well, at least i tried my best. :) after a few shots, i decided to take video instead. so here you are:
 
 
VROOM! VROOM! VROOM!
 
After watching the practice race for about half an hr, Pat & I decided to head down to the field area and position ourselves for the arrival of Jay Chou! Most people were comfortably seated on the grass patch area despite the heavy rain earlier which caused the mud to be soggy and wet. For that, Pat & I preferred to stand around to wait for Jay instead. heehee... When it was about 15mins to the start of the concert, Shuwei messaged me and asked if I wanna join her in the FanZone area. She had the wristbands for the FanZone access and she could pass them to me so that Pat & I could go in too. Due to the poor network reception, there was a miscommunication. After much rushing and running around, I finally met up with Shuwei. I went into the FanZone with her first while Pat waited for me outside. Then after I went into the FanZone successfully, Shuwei handed me her wristband and I quickly ran out to bring Pat in. woohoo!!! we were just in time for the concert to start officially! YEAH!!! 有惊无险!!

Proudly present to you: Jay Chou Singapore F1 Concert!
 
the opening backdrop for the 1st song.. so many computer graphics and effects for the night. though the sound system was a bit muffled in the midst of Jay's singing, everything else was perfect. even Jay's dance steps were miraculously ok. haha...

cool.. the tower rose all the way up.. good opportunity for us to take photos from afar. heehee...
 
heehee.. lyrics flashed on a panel facing the stage to "remind" singers on the lyrics in case they forget! how thoughtful...
 
woooo... *melt *melt *melt
 
wooo... so many cameras/phone cameras snapping away... trying to capture the best shots of Jay Chou at every corner
 
love him ah.. cause he seems to like to walk to the right handside of the stage, right in front of where we were standing. good view of him. :)
 
LED lights on his costume! wow! oh ya.. he changed a total of 5 costumes in the short 1 hour concert. how amazing! Jay really gave in 101% for this concert. on top of this, he also rehearsed on-site for 2 consecutive afternoons. Bravo, Jay!
 
香车美女与帅哥 --- Ferrari ohhh...
 
Ermm.. Jay trying hard to focus in his singing but obviously he was distracted by the hot babe dancing sexily next to him. whahahaha...
 
钢琴王子 --- 杰伦是也
 
好陶醉ohhh
 
又帅又酷又有才华
 

Jay on piano.. one of the highlights of the concert!
 
the very oriented-theme backdrop for his very 中国风的歌曲
 
 
说好的幸福呢
 

杰伦,我们明年再见!