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THE MUSHROOM



name : tan juan
age : 18
hometown : malaysia


PIECES OF ME

LOVES

MUSHROOMS
shopping
drawing
TURQUOISE
MUSIC
rainbows
chocolates
chinese orchestra
fairy tales

HATES

CICAK WTF
creepy crawlies
homework
COPY CATS
chinese




GREAT ESCAPES

*chelsea*
*chia chia*
*crystal*
*ee leng*
*ee teng*
*jhing huey*
*jia lee*
*jo ying*
*jun fang*
*lee mei*
*mok mok*
*ning zhen*
*pei jia*
*pei qi*
*rui mei*
*su yin*
*teik hua*
*tict chyn*
*wen huey*
*wen yuan*
*xin yuan*
*xue yi*
*yi ching*





MEMOIRS

♥January 2007
♥February 2007
♥March 2007
♥April 2007
♥May 2007
♥June 2007
♥July 2007
♥August 2007
♥September 2007
♥October 2007
♥November 2007
♥December 2007
♥January 2008
♥February 2008
♥March 2008
♥April 2008
♥May 2008
♥June 2008
♥July 2008
♥August 2008
♥September 2008
♥October 2008
♥November 2008
♥December 2008
♥January 2009
♥February 2009
♥March 2009
♥April 2009
♥May 2009
♥June 2009
♥July 2009
♥August 2009
♥September 2009
♥October 2009
♥November 2009
♥December 2009
♥January 2010
♥February 2010
♥March 2010
♥April 2010
♥May 2010
♥June 2010
♥July 2010
♥August 2010
♥September 2010
♥October 2010
♥November 2010
♥December 2010
♥January 2011
♥February 2011
♥March 2011
♥April 2011
♥June 2011
♥July 2011
♥August 2011
♥September 2011
♥October 2011
♥November 2011
♥January 2012
♥October 2012



THANKS TO

ME. kynzgerl
CODES. manikka
BRUSHES. 1 2
IMAGES. 1 2
The 2 paper heart: moargh.de
♥ Sunday, March 27, 2011 ♥
Macau Part I


LONG POST AHEAD!!! :)

For once, true to my word, I'm updating about my trip to Macau, and so soon after I promised to update about it (yesterday) too! :)

Don't know how many separate posts I should split this trip into, probably quite a lot since I took up to around 700 photos. But don't worry, I'm not going to upload that many and cause your computer to lag and freeze. Haha.

15 March 2011

*Will enlarge the photos A LITTLE in the next post.

Had to wake up at the crack of dawn (again, as with most of my previous trips), as our flight was at 7.55 a.m. in the morning. Eeek. The direct flight from Penang to Macau takes around three and a quarter hours. The horror.

I found my flight to Singapore last year - which took around an hour - so boring, the idea of another two more hours on an airplane made me want to weep. I was going to bring a book, but unfortunately there was no more space left for one in my handbag. I think I've mentioned it before, I tend to overpack. :(

So, after attempting - and failing - to sleep, I listened to some songs, and after my cousin woke up, we had fun snacking on potato chips (well, I'm sure you can tell how bored we were if we found eating chips an amusing act) and playing the ant-squashing game on my aunt's iPhone.

Also, I got the opportunity to try out airplane food, which my nice aunt ... err, solicitously ordered for us in case we were hungry and I have to say, the food wasn't as horrid as I expected!

I mean, I have read from just about everywhere that airplane food is completely repulsive and is to be avoided if possible. Okay, the 'Cheesy Pizza' was indeed horrible, but the Green Curry Chicken with rice was still considerably nice, despite it looking like ...

THIS.

Appetising eh! Yucks.


There, a comparison! Not that the photo version was any much better. LOL.


This, this was downright revolting. The pizza 'dough' was just stale, dry bread, and the red sauce was sweet and sour at the same time, but not in a good way, like the yummy sweet and sour chicken in Chinese restaurants. And the cheese was, well, plain cheese. Eeew.

*On a side note, once I came back from Macau my parents mentioned that AirAsia has cancelled all flights from Penang to Macau since the day we took off, which was, I guess, one of the last flights to that destination. Not exactly sure why though. So I think now people have to fly to Hong Kong first and then take a ferry or something to Macau.

And finally, we arrived at Macau!!

To be honest, my first impression of Macau wasn't that great. It was really foggy, and the buildings were partially obscured, and stuff. I know it couldn't be helped!

Something really misleading was, my cousins and I thought that Macau is somewhat of a big, sprawling city (probably because of all those casinos. Casinos, money, high-rise buildings, somehow they seem to fit together), but it really is not. Which, naturally, led to some disappointment.


First glimpse of the Macau Tower. See how foggy it was?

Photo was taken on the taxi while on the way to Sofitel at Ponte 16 - where we stayed for the first two nights of our trip.

One thing or two about Macau :

1. We found the taxi fares to be pretty expensive. Roughly compared to Malaysia anyway. But luckily many of the famous landmarks and sights are within walking distance of one another (and from our hotel).

2. Many CHINESE people from Macau are extremely unfriendly and occasionally very rude (will get to that later). Made me realise how wonderful Malaysians actually are, so amiable and all smiles! The first person we talked to at Macau, which was the money changer ... WOW. So totally unhelpful and impolite.


The lobby of Sofitel Macau

Sofitel is quite far away from the airport and the City of Dreams, but it's sort of near to the Senado Square, the Ruins of St. Paul's, Monte Fort, A-Ma Temple, the Grand Lisboa and many other places, so the location is pretty great for people who actually want to do some sightseeing and uh, not just gambling. Yeah.

Even the lotus garden (I think it was the Lou Lim Ieoc Lotus Garden, cannot be sure) was within walking distance from the Ruins of St. Paul's. Not what you would call NEAR, I suppose, especially when you have aching and blistered feet (like us, so COMFORTABLE SHOES ARE A MUST).

I think most of the places above only require approximately 10 - 25 minutes' walk from the hotel or from one to another. Cannot be entirely sure though, feet hurt too much to check my watch that often. :P

Anyway, the lobby of Sofitel was .... what can I say? Lavish, extravagant, and had a faint, lingering smell of cigarette smoke and ... some other scent I cannot quite place. Money, perhaps. Hahaha. Almost everywhere in Macau reeked of cigarette smoke. Eew.


Our room!

I think it was the luxury room or something, it was on the 16th floor. And we also had the privilege to access the private lounge on the 17th floor, where cocktails, many other drinks, and some other simple, light food were served. Free Wi-Fi too.

Oh, my cousins read somewhere that the best views from the hotel were from the 4th floor, but sadly the 4th floor does not exist. As in, of course it EXISTS, but it's the staff's quarters or something like that. Hahaha. Must be some misinterpretation. :P


View from our room

This was what I called the 'Old Macau'. Haha. Look at the state of those buildings! It reminded me of Penang, really, just much older, with more Chinese characters and simple, old-fashioned metal window railings.


Mini TV in the bathroom, fully utilised by my guy-cousin since we all wanted to sleep early both nights and he couldn't watch the TV outside.


Hermes toiletries, I'm in love with them! If I'm not wrong, Eau D'Orange Verte is originally a cologne ... ? Okay. I don't know. Haha. But they smelled REALLY awesome. And the shampoo was pretty great!


Odd pose, I know! The lifts are quite pretty.

Oh, a caution! The carpets in this hotel (you can see a teensy bit of it in the photo above) are sort of difficult to walk in, I think they're too ... um, plushy? Soft? And they 'sink' too much under your weight, and can make you stumble or fall.

Not that I fell. My cousin almost did, though. Haha. We all agreed that the carpet wasn't too good!

The ceiling of the lifts


The lounge on the 17th floor

Assorted fruit juices

Hmm, never seen fruit juices served this way before, cute!


A fashion drink? Evian by ... Issey Miyake? Wow.

(part of) The view of the harbour

We were very lucky to have checked in at Sofitel on that particular day, as the hotel swimming pool was under maintenance, and for guests who felt like having a swim, they could go to the Sofitel Mansion swimming pool, which is quite nice!

Not that anyone in their right mind would have wanted to go for a swim, it was so cold. Haha.


Sofitel Mansion's swimming pool

I really liked the view from this pool.

The fog added a mysterious and almost romantic feel to the whole scene, I thought it was nice! :)

(part of) Sofitel Macau's building


I like this photo. :)

Serenity


Hmm, this is the .... hall? of the Sofitel Mansion.


There, finally! A CAMWHORE SHOT! Haha. Kind of noticeable eh, the lack of camwhore photos in this post so far. Not to worry (IMO), not much for this post!

I looked so weird the first day I was there! Not enough sleep the night before, I guess.


After asking the concierge for a map and directions, we started walking (and walking, AND WALKING).

Our first stop, was, of course, the famous Ruins of St. Paul's. We saw it from the private lounge earlier, didn't look too near, but surprisingly it took a really short time for us to reach Senado Square, and then to the ruins.

Okay, our journey actually took a longer time, since we stopped on the way to take photos and snack on the free testers of biscuits in some of the shops we passed, hehe. I LOVE FREE FOOD! :P


There was a WONDERFUL smell issuing from this shop when we passed, had to stop! Turned out it was some crispy roll with chicken floss inside. Not that nice. Definitely smelled much tastier and mouthwatering.


PORTUGUESE EGG TARTS! Quite yummy when they are warm and fresh! Perfectly nice on a cold, drizzling day like our first day there.

This shop is located at ... uh, the pink building opposite the ... um. All right, I have no idea what the buildings around Senado Square are called.

LEMME SHOW YOU! Better than words, really. Hahaha.

(How! How can I ever be a good journalist if I write like this! Also, I'm a tad long-winded. LOL.)


THERE! That orangey-peachy-pink building! Quite hard to miss actually, as I think it was the only one there. Don't even know the shop name, sorry. But if I'm not wrong it is one of the more famous shops selling local goods in Macau! :)

I swear I'll take more notice of things like shop names, building names, and so on the next time I go on a trip!


Senado Square! :)


Please ignore my peculiarly positioned hand!

It was really cold that day! And the light rain did not help. Also, it messed up my hair, and the cold made my skin turn almost blue. Hahahaaha.


For some reason seeing this McDonald's (those awnings!) made me really happy. Looks very cheerful, just like all McDonald's should. The Greenlane McDonald's here in Penang? Bah. All grays and whites, so ... un-McDonald's-like!

Ice cream on a cold day!

The vanilla cone sundae there is MUCH nicer than the ones here. Much thicker, and creamier. Yummy.

St. Dominic's Church?


My mom's friend recommended the Pork Chop Bun (pretty famous in Macau too), she said it's really nice. I trust her taste, but the one we tried (photo above) really did NOT taste good. Or maybe it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Didn't try others from different shops. I mean, would you? When your first impression of some food is already tainted? Normally, I wouldn't. Hehe. Unless I'm in one of my greedy gluttony modes.

Well, I just read someone else's blog, where the blogger and his wife ate the PCB from the very same shop we bought it from, and he ... err, said it was very nice. Uh, varied tastes I guess. My cousins didn't think it was nice either.


The shop has a big yellow smiley at the front of it (photo above), it's located on the way from Senado Square to the Ruins of St. Paul's, pretty hard to miss too. Allegedly, it's famous in Macau.

My cousins tried their Portuguese Egg Tarts as well, and declared that the ones we tried earlier were nicer. Tried their bubble milk tea with pearls too, and, I was not impressed. The ones here in Penang are way better! :(



THERE! The well-known ruins! Really quite magnificent!

You can climb up to the second 'floor' of the ruin from the back. We didn't do that though. No point. Hahaha.

(told you the rain messed up my hair)


In order to look different (and less bulky) in photos, I took off my coat. My cousin's, actually.

Sigh, the sacrifices a vain girl makes ... LOL.

Note my adorable necklace! Pretty unique right?

Facial features frozen from the cold, therefore expressionless. HAHAH. My fingers became so numb, could hardly press the tiny buttons on my camera. First time I ever felt like that.

WINDY!


With my cousin and her 900 bucks-hat. HAHAHA. XD

Okay I think I'll end this post here, it's too long! I wasn't going to stop here though. My font size is really quite tiny, your eyes are probably tired already! Maybe I'll change my blogskin. Too much hassle though. Hmph, as lazy as ever.

Stay tuned! :)



craving chocolate kisses ..
10:32 PM


♥ Saturday, March 26, 2011 ♥
Neglected!

26 March 2011

I know I have been neglecting my blog shamefully!

Almost a month since I last updated. But a lot has been going on recently. Well, quite a lot, hehe.

I swear I'll update about my trip to Macau! Loads of photos to edit and post, so it'll take some time.

And I guess this time is one of the most crucial of my life : I have to make up my mind on where to study and more importantly, WHAT to study.

Ooh I have a feeling I've blogged about this before but who cares!

My earliest choice was fashion design but then after thinking about it for some time I concluded that fashion design wasn't for me. Sure, I love clothes, I love sketching pretty dresses and stuff (especially in class) but the real thing is way different. I have to learn to sew, keep up with the fashion in other countries, the designers and brands, catwalks, fashion shows for every season. I'm not sure whether fashion design courses ARE like that, but *shrugs*.

I understand that everyone has different tastes and styles, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder, blah blah blah, and unless if my designs are truly hideous, there's surely ONE person in the whole wide world who would like my designs. But ... I don't know. I don't know.

Then now, I'm considering journalism. I love blogging (albeit only about personal, every day, boring stuff, yeah), and when I'm in a good mood, I tend to say a lot. Too much, even. Haha. But I'm not sure whether it'll suit me, too. My English isn't exactly the best, so maybe I'll have to take extra English classes, to learn fancy, flowery vocabulary for special articles etc.

I'm also not entirely sure what journalism is about. As in, what you learn, etc. But I guess I'll find out, won't I? If I take the mass communication course, that is. I like the sound of journalism, but the other branches of mass communication? Like PR, advertising, broadcasting, etc? Not really my thing. I mean, it's ME I'm talking about. I loathe speaking in public, I'm not exactly great at socialising, interacting with other people.

I mean, I'm kind of a taciturn person. Unless if I know someone really well, then I'm crazy and overtalkative. I guess I can change myself and be a more sociable person, but I'm naturally a bit ... err, shy. LOL. Hahahaha. Sometimes.

I'm ... uh, constantly imagining myself having witty conversations with some person (sometimes celebs sometimes some random interviewer or hot guy HAHA), clever retorts, etc when I'm alone. But if I come face to face with one of them I'd probably get all tongue-tied and would stutter, and wait for them to find a conversation topic instead of starting one myself. Shy or what?

Soooo, yeah, lots of worries since I got my SPM results. It doesn't help that my dad is hurrying me into making decisions. Okay, not that bad, but it's like there's NOTHING else in the world except college/scholarships/college and college and more colleges. I understand that this is really vital, and can affect my whole future. But oh gosh, can't I take a break from it all? It is, what? Only three days since I got my results.

Pffft. All right, that's all I want to blab about today and I'll start editing my Macau photos tomorrow. If I have the time, because I'm being dragged to the KDU Open Day by my parents. Poo.

Sigh, how can I make my blog more lively and nicer to read like it used to be (says me hahaha), with photos and really stupid, random things? Obviously it's up to me but I don't know, every time I log in to Blogger, there must be something bothering me. And I'd end up rambling about some woeful event in my life. Yeah.

Okay, time for milk! Goodnight! :)









craving chocolate kisses ..
8:03 PM