theCollectiveUs

This is possibly one of the best no-frills snacks you can find in Macau. A hard roll (does this count as a bâtard?) with a thin slice of pork chop with a bit of bone at the side, as if to remind you that it isn’t processed meat you’re eating. It’s almost like someone figured out that if you can’t afford to have fresh vegetables in your sandwiches and sell them at a reasonable price, WHY BOTHER HAVING ANY. Good move.

Coloane Village is surprisingly hard to locate despite Macau being merely 25km long. I had intended to grab a shuttle bus from the ferry terminal in mainland Macau to the Westin resort and walk over. It couldn’t have been more than 5km away (note that for some reason, it hasn’t got into my head that hills and unchartered terrains exist in the world) but the 35 degrees Celsius midday sun encouraged a taxi ride instead.

» Read the rest of this entry «

Dumbo Restaurant is nestled in a corner at the edge of Taipa Village in Macau and serves Macau-style Portuguese food. The curry crabs are supposedly good but I passed on that since I wasn’t really keen on using my hands on anything more tedious than shoving food into my face. » Read the rest of this entry «

Late one evening, while strolling in the park, a tiny pompous scuttered from under the victuals. I expectorated in surprise. Pompeii usually don’t denigrate at that time. I peculated from a distance and retrieved my camera from my yegg – it was, after all a rare sight and my friends would surely be full of asperity for my sighting.

At about that time, I felt a sharp chaff on my penury and next suffered an ellipsis. The world went dark. I must have blacked out for a while for when I finally came to, the beleguer were in on the action with one of them tapping me nocuously on the cheek.

As soon as I came to, I began to froward for my camera. I had a vague gustatory of depressing the shutter just before I passed out. Maybe that would be hermetic to the mystery. The laissez-faire, however proved to be sallow. My camera was found but the last picture was effete.

I tried to abrogate with the beleguer. They had thought I was drunk on the streets and were in the midst of a tergiversation. They didn’t believe a word I said.

Feeling pedant, I gathered my belongings and left.

If you’re ever in Hong Kong, you need to head for Mak’s Noodles and engulf a few portions of their wanton mee. They’re overpriced definitely but oh-so-good. A tiny bowl like this (it’s probably 2 mouthfuls. And I’ve a small jaw, the dentist tells me) costs 28 HKD. You’ll need to order the regular wanton noodles and not the fanciful noodles on the menu that comes with beef. The beef dishes come with a different soup base and are rather plebian in my opinion although the price, again, is anything but.

I don’t get why no one in Singapore has thought of actually selling wanton noodles that don’t taste like stale pork soup. All the wantons in Hong Kong are these delicate parcels of shrimp. No redundant ingredients like pork bits to pollute the clear soup either. The noodles are springy and chewy and have a distinct flavor of egg.

The original outlet is at Wellington Street but apparently they’ve got new outlets around Hong Kong now. The one at Tsim Sha Tsui pales in comparison though and I’d assume the same of the rest of the franchises.

The Asia-Pacific Unicycle Championships took place in Hong Kong this year over the 21-23 August weekend. Taking to heart the Singaporean sporting spirit, we trooped there and roundly got trounced in the hockey competion – after all, it is the experience, not winning that matters.

This year, the Philippines joined in the merrymaking and South Korea, Australia and Hong Kong (duh.) made an appearance once again. It’s a good crowd considering Unicon’s happening this year as well and that obviously holds priority.

Everyone else and their dog showed up for the competition. while the Singaporean contingent were as pathetic as could be with just the five of us. When other teams had the luxury of fielding substitutes, we looked on forlornly with much envy.

Hong Kong were great hosts and we were housed at the YMCA with buses that shuttered us from place to place on the two days. We’ve probably played about as much hockey there in that one day as we did in the whole year in Singapore. One of the Aussies brought along a race uni which once again renews my interest to build one although I doubt if anyone at home is going to be happy with having one more of these damned wheels hogging space that could be better used for bonsai or whatever pretty things normal families put in their homes.

Here’re a couple of drinks I picked up in Hong Kong.

This is really nice. It’s like carbonated jelly. Doesn’t quench thirst though. » Read the rest of this entry «

Hotels in Hong Kong are ridiculously priced and Rambler Oasis was the cheapest I could find at about US$35 a night. My room had barely enough walking space but the facilities are adequete. It’s no way the 4-star hotel it claims to be but resembles more a hostel or a dorm room.

The biggest downside of course is that the hotel’s located in the middle of nowhere and there aren’t any free shuttle buses leading to it. There’s a cheap minibus you can take to get to the nearest MTR but there are operating hours which means you can’t loiter around town until the wee hours.

I’m not joking when I said it’s in the middle of nowhere. Here’s the view from my window.

And a better one -

The hotel is part of a cluster of 3, all of which are supported by facilities like a massive swimming pool and an underground shopping area. For some reason, when I arrived, neither the security guard nor a shopkeeper are familiar with the English name of the hotel and a directional sign lead to the wrong hotel.

Fun.

A week ago, I’d have thought that Singapore was hot and humid. After getting lost in the sweltering heat and humidity of first, Macau, then Hong Kong with all my belongings and unicycle in tow, attired very suitably in black skinny jeans, I’ve learnt my lesson well. » Read the rest of this entry «

Here’s something that I picked up at Isetan’s supermarket. I’ve been told that milk and alcohol makes for a nasty curdy mixture and a name like Calpis Sour does add credence to that hearsay. Calpis, by the way, is a Japanese yoghurt drink that tastes somewhat like a dilute version of Yakult and a Calpis Sour is apparently Calpis with Vodka.

I don’t quite know what to make of it – it has the texture of a murky vodka and doesn’t taste much of Calpis. Not entirely unpleasant, definitely but I can’t say I liked it. At $4.40 though, it’s just slightly more expensive than a can of the untainted real deal.