Hong Kong day 6

Hong Kong day 6: Macau

Sohs on the 6th day we were actually in Macau,not Hong Kong.We didn't need any visa so we just went over by ferry(can't remember,but i think only need passport).Had to wake up at 5 am to catch the earliest ferry so that we could spend the whole day in Macau.It was so early that we were forced to have McDs for breakfast.It wasn't as good as in Malaysia somehow.Doesn't taste as fattening or something...

The ferry ride was 1 hour 10 minutes.

One of the pretty lanes there.Macau has a lot of Portuguese influence because of the settlers,and even now you are more likely to see signboards in Chinese and Portuguese than Chinese and English.

Some of the buildings look like KL buildings.

One of the interesting shoplots there.Look,so many jakun tourists!

A water feature I saw in one of the lanes.There was another one with a cherub but i didn't take a pic.

Random nice building.

While walking through the shophouses,we accidentally found this old house that's called Lou Kou Mansion.It's not that big actually,just 2 floors of a shoplot,and they call it a mansion.But it was unique because it kinda reminds me of BabaNyonya houses,authentic old smelly building.Now it's used as a place to promote Chinese paper cutting artpieces.There were nicer pieces than the one above but then suddenly the artist appeared so i didn't take any more pictures,afterwards say I'm infringing copyrights or something.lol.

Decorative piece above the doors.

Notice how every surface just must have a carving or something on it.

Next,we went up to the Macau Museum,which feels like it;s on top of a really high hill.Wheeee...look at the road towards the museum and hear some Happy Tree Friends theme song playing.

One of the gazillion casino buildings that can be seen from the top of that hill.Looks so unstable right?Like some kind of bunga kantan or something.I think it's supposed to be flames.

Inside the Macao Museum,which used to be a fort.The museum housed an exhibition on macao culture and history,comparing it with western countries,especially in terms of export.There was also an exhibition on an olden times art school founder's artworks,which was western looking watercolours(think of old western illustrated flora and fauna speciment books)

Then we went to St Paul's Cathedral,which is just outside the museum.It's probably the most popular tourist spot in Macau.But actually it's just a wall *ahak* the rest is destroyed.BTW the said wall was damn huge so the nice detailed photos can't fit the whole wall.

taxi cab Macao style.

Macao is famous for it's almond biscuits and grilled meat.Just walk around the shops at lunchtime and you won't have to spend anything to feel full from all the food samples.These 2 guys are making the biscuits,which looks like it's made of some mixture of flour and packed into cubes,not baked.

We also went to A Ma temple.Got lost halfway and got a lot of exercise walking up and down the hills looking for it.Turned out that it was just near the sea.It was built to honour a Goddess that calmed the rough sea for the local fishermen.

Eh...surprise,I didn't take any pictures of the whole temple.Oh well,here are some little puppies for you to look at, they were sleeping at the temple and being sort of celebrities among the tourists.

The last stop was to see one of the kazillion casinos in Macao.It's practically sin city of China,and most of the casinos are owned by Stanley Ho.So you can imagine how rich he is.I wanted to go and see Venetian Macao and see what the fuss was all about but we ended up in Sands, which was the nearest to the harbour.No pictures though...cheh...i dunno why I didn't take so many key pictures that day.Free shuttle busses from the harbour to many of the casinos.That's good business sense.And later i found out there's free accomodation for loyal customers too.lol.I can just imagine dead bodies under the beds now.

In conclusion I think Macao has 2 sides to it.the casinos which are all about money and will only interest you if you're ready to loose a lot;and the olden part of Macao which is rather westernised and very charming but will make you walk your legs out.Overall very different from HK.

TTFN.

Hong Kong day 5

Went to Ocean park in HK island.It's a theme park but plus a lot of animals.(PS:can you believe my parents dare to sit on rides that I don't dare?)

Not much to write about.Photo essay.

Saw this at the breakfast table at random coffeeshop.Rice in salt?

Prettyfied toilets at Ocean Park

Cable car that links the lowland part of Ocean Park and the hilltop part.The hills are right next to the sea.Check out that dramatic plunge.

Some birds at the aviary.They really are not scared of humans.I was prolly only a metre away and they just flop down and sunbathe right there.

Otters inna bucket! Get yer otters inna bucket!

One of the only presentable shots of the aquarium.It was jam packed with people because of the 2 school excursions.The fishes were really nice but i couldn't take any nice shots because they were moving about too much and the photos came out blur.

That was outside the panda cages.OK,not cage,plexiglass.No presentable shots of the pandas to show.i don't get the panda and corn theme.

There was also a dolphin and sealion show,which was very popular.We were so lucky to get seats in the amphitheatre.There was an ice skating show as a Christmas special as well.I'll post some videos in the next entry.

I'm having mixed emotions

there's a debate going on in dA about whether or not Linda Bergkvist's CGs are photomanipulations(paint over photos) or not.I sincerely hope not because she's such an inspiration to me.But many people seem to think that it's more likely to be photomanips since they are so realistic.So I dunno what to believe,anyone could be correct,either LB is shy to admit that she is just manipulating photos or other people are jealous and refuse to believe that anyone can be that talented.

But I still think it's possible to be that talented.I'll just hold onto that.Or is painting over a photo all that different from real painting after all? except maybe to pick colours you still don't get much benefit right?(but then again her tutorials teach people how to choose and layer colours...)Her tutorials make it more believable but some people also think that those are made up to cover the truth.Also it seems to be,from what I've heard so far,i can conclude that LB was banned from dA? Or did she just leave by herself? 

edit: oh well.at least even if she photomanipulates,she has better ideas than other people...

Hong Kong day 4

Wheeee...1 cent paper money...back in 1940 something...

Day 3,we went to the IFC 2 tower in Hong Kong island to see the monetary info centre and look at the skyscraper view.The info centre displayed how money is made,the designs on the money,and the anti forgery features of paper money .Before that i didn't know that Hong Kong money was made by 3 different banks.Standard Chartered,HSBC,and one more that i forgot.

Unfortunately the lighting has botched my spying plans...

Remember your FA printing terms?

Pretty cool,all the notes have different mythical creatures on them.The first one is a dragon,second a phoenix,the rest I dunno

I spy with my little eye something beginning with "B"

Christmas decoration at the shopping mall part of the IFC

Also,we went to ride the Chinese Junk called 'Dukling".It's sponsored by the HK tourist board to attract tourists.1 hour 10 minutes ride roughly.It used to be an old fishing vessel but it was restored and is now used as a novelty boat and for filming movies.

I thought this was it.Jakun tourist right?This thing is actually a floating restaurant.Which is not doing such a good business by the looks of the empty interior...Also,I christian thee "Jei Juin".Reminds me of her drawing style.

I christian thee "Vincent".lol...that comes from going to CF right before flying off to Hong Kong.This sculpture was outside the Museum of Culture.

This guy's painting the view of HK island,eventhough it was a smoggy day.It always is a bit smoggy though.I suspect he's making up the colours anyway,and i think he's painting a night scene.

This is the Dukling,with masts tied down.

Masts lifted.Too bad couldn't take a full photo of the junk since I was onboard already.

It was pretty good sitting up on the highest deck.It was quite windy.I think most of the other tourists were either Malaysian or Singaporean though,by the way they talk.

Also,later on,we went to the Templer street night market.I think we went too early.Lonely Planet says it's the biggest night market in HK,but prolly not all the stalls were open yet when we visited.The best time to visit would be 8.00pm.We were there at 6.00pm.Still could see a few interesting stalls though.There was a row of stalls specialising in fortune telling,including one that used birds to pick out cards.Also,some...no,actually quite a lot...of stalls were selling sex toys.Dunno whether anyone would be brave enough to openly buy one in public.Afterwards like their neighbour or auntie come across them or something...and you know lah,women like to talk,and old women can lagi talk kau kau wan...

Nearby there was the Jade market.All the stalls were selling jade,so competition was very high.I saw one of the stalls selling those humongous mopit brushes made of horse tail hair and i told my parents.Then immediately the stall woman took down like a dozen brushes and spread them all over the table.And I didn't buy anything.I was lucky that she was polite and didn't use a jade statue or LV bag to belasah me and curse me in Cantonese or anything...

There was one stall that sold tagua nut carvings.So i bought one.The stall woman tied a Chinese knot on the spot to accompany the carving.Prolly I'll post a pic of it when I get my camera back from the workshop.It decided to continue being a bitch according to mood.

That's all for that day

Stay tuned

lightshow

sorry about the bad cameraman-ship or whatver you call it.And the lack of sound.

Hong Kong day 3

Day 3,we went to the HK Science Centre,Museum of Heritage and Planetarium.

admission was free for all 3 because it was a Wednesday.The Art Museum is free on Wednesdays too(i went the next week),so can just like berkhemah there,coz all the buildings are nearby

Not much to write.The Science centre was very fun because it was mostly hands on learning of science.There was a group of primary school kids there though,so it was very packed.Not really a typical science centre,sort of partially a fun fare kind of atmosphere.Has a hall of mirrors and a corner for IQ games too.

The Museum of heritage was interesting too.There were a lot of people taking pictures there,although I'm not too sure whether that's allowed.The guards didn't complain but then again maybe that's because it happens too often.There were a lot of short documentaries which alternate between English and Cantonese screenings.The best part was the Hong Kong ancient clothes and festivals display.

The Planetarium wasn't all too interesting though.Also it was quite small.Has 3D shows but we gave that a miss(like Imax but by a different company)Ironically I met Mark and family there (from DG071) he said he's staying with his aunt.Somemore went to HK on the same day as me.But he stayed there for 14 days.I was there for only 10.

The Planetarium.A big round ball.

Chinese Opera clothing.Those are mannequins BTW.

Chinese Opera footwear

The Hong Kong Museum of Culture.We didn't go there.It's actually like Actor's studio,all the plays and orchestras are held there.Quite a lot of good plays were on(The Nutcracker,The Little Prince,etc)but of course have to pay wan lah.

scaffolding Hong Kong style.It's all bamboo.Lighter and more durable to the weather I presume.

Christmas decorations at one of the shopping complexes near the Avenue of Stars

looking out to Hong Kong island (from Kowloon island)at night

another view,from the Avenue of Stars

found at the wishing trail at the Avenue of Stars:"I wish for a nice happy warm Chrissy"aww...shucks...(no,I did not write that myself)

One of the vendor carts.

Another one.So cute...

Maybe cannot see this one,this one's Eric Tsang.

My personal favourite.

Also,we saw the daily lightshow along the Avenue of Stars.The HK government organised that to attract tourists.Buildings from Hong Kong and Kowloon islands flash lights across the channel.Some tourists would ride the ferry along the channel for a better view.I wanted to post a video but it's quite slow to load,maybe i'll try again later.The buildings somehow remind me of Transformer robots showing of to each other...

Stay tuned

HAPPY 2008!!

Happy New Year!

I know,I wanted to type this like 16 hours ago,but I was too tired.

Anyways.Here are the routine wrap ups for 2007 and resolutions for 2008

Resolutions:

1)pass all my subjects in college,with good grades.(I'll leave 'good' up to own interpretations,since everyone says 2nd year is so difficult)

2)Improve my manga.

3)Improve my CG ing

4)Study all the Japanese notes I own.This time I'll give myself 1 whole year.

Deeds yet undone:

1)art exchanges with Yilyn,Tali and JJ.Are they still valid anyways?(PS:Joe and Anisa,you owe me)

2)letter to foster family.

3)illustrations for ncs's Harry Potter fanfictions.Nooooo!!!!Delayed for like 2 years!!!I think I just don't feel confident enough to have a go

2007 hall of fame:

The memorable things of the year...

Entering art college,a world of a difference from highschool.No crappy subjects like Moral and Add math that we studied without knowing why.Oh,wait,don't talk so much,we still have the stupid LAN subjects...I still don't have my SPM cert yet.And come to think of it good grades on the cert will mean nothing to us now except as an ornament,even after we studied so hard.

Censorship in college is... a foreign word.(lol...I still remember Anisa and Yilyn researched in censorship for Malaysian Culture)remember how it was in highschool? Males and females cannot stand next to each other in class photos. Wrong colour scrungy bands earn you more demerit points that the merit points you earned for representing the school at state level.(Although I heard in Taylors there are still a few sucky lecturers that live under rocks.Remember the prom ticket and college newsletter issues?)But in college we have those gay jokes and discussions on how to best act out an x rated scene for drama.

And then we have the Gay Gang of course,which makes college life ever so sunshiny.

Yilyn with her obscene sound effects, obsession with glomping people and loads of sunshine.

Anisa with her choir boys and archive of gay comics(and Bill Kaulits *ahak*).

Simone with her plain x-ratedness. 

Pirated JTYY with even more Tokio Hotel daily newsletters and very loud laughs. 

Dom and his new gay partner,Pikachu. 

And the others,Tali and 

Joe who we are not talking to because they have DDs(lol...just joking),

Lennard Cheam the college L, 

Najib,the guy who introduced Crunchyroll to Yilyn and thus indirectly to me,

Yunzi and 

JJ who we are also not talking to,

and Nichi Youbi,DG071's new Tai Kor.

And also from the old school, 

Sooky, 

XX, 

Siao Chen, 

Yen Yen, 

Yen Kaye and 

Leonard Tan,

(the last 3 who are new acquaintances) aka the YumChar Gang.We should yum char more eventhough petrol prices are going up and XX is still the team driver.lol...*evil laugh*

Back in college...let's recall the Obsessive Compulsive Behavior of FA ,

Yum Char-ing at Kluang Station ,on the pretense of research for Malaysian Studies,

butterfly stomachs before public speaking,

brain cracking about how to represent balls and boobs for Design 2,

erotic dances for Drama ,

naked models for life drawing,

drawing hairy middle eastern guys in Sunway Lagoon with people gawking at us, 

wearing all blue and black for Debbie,

Irwin's Magic Worm(OMG...sounds so wrong...),

various people's armpit and pubic hair,

painting brinjals ,bananas and hairy coconuts for Drawing,

lepaking outside Design dept. waiting for classmates' sculptures to be handed in,

and caffeine all nighter moments for Figure Studies,

and feel blessed anyway because at least it's not Add Math we're loosing sleep over 0.0 

lol...I sound like a priest...

The staff of TOA...

The sadistic librarian who turned out to be quite polite,

Debbie who is Debbie, 

William's "aiyaks", 

Irene's "pee pow", 

Irwin's "Magic worm"and "Sir,computer spoil"

Mr Cage's lame jokes

The ham sup receptionist

Marion the crazy grandma

Mark the communist

ZL who is scared of us

CK who had a secret identity

ZY's putty eraser dinosaur

Darren(heineken) C Edwards whom we still dunno what C stands for

Wai Ho's plunging necklines

Li Sim who reminds me of my 2nd sister

Pinky who helped us in our community project

Hooi Chiat's funky hair and symmetrical cheek moles

Sarah who photographed her own hands and feet as reference

Yuan Yuan's "Jei JuuUUUUUin"

Hoo and the partying

College aside,I really had fun

Making Dim Sum a la tissue with YumChar gang

chatting to the folk art woman at the Annexxe with Gay Gang

crying like bimbos while watching Bridge to Terabithia

trying each other's eyeliner/molesting cats/reading gay porn in Anisa'a place

exchanging thumbdrives to transfer camwhore pictures with each other

Happy new year everyone!