Macau in a Day

Macau is an hour ferry ride away from Hong Kong, and makes a good location for a 1 day trip away from Hong Kong. There are 3 locations where you can take the ferry to Macau:

1. Sky Pier at Hong Kong International Airport (for transiting passengers only) 

2. Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal (near Sheung Wan MTR station)

3. Kowloon China Ferry Terminal at Tsim Sha Tsui (Near Harbour City Mall) 

I took the 8am ferry from Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal since I was staying at my friend's house in Sheung Wan. 

Breakfast on the ferry.

After clearing the custom, I hop onto a free hotel bus to Grand Lisboa, and walked to Ruins of St Paul, passing by Senado Square and a few iconic buildings in Macau.

Holy House of Mercy, a UESCO World Heritage SIte

St Domingo's Church

 The famous Koi Kei Bakery 

Koi Kei is very famous for its almond cookies, and I always lugged a few boxes of the almond cookies home whenever i visit Hong Kong (before they open an outlet in Singapore). There are many Koi Kei outlets in Macau, and it is cheaper to buy from the outlets near the Ruins of St Paul. 

After stopping at various points to take photos and soaking in the Portuguese culture, I finally arrive at the Ruins of St Paul. These are ruins of the St Paul's College and the Church of St Paul, and is Macau's most famous landmark.

Ruins of St Paul

On the way back to Grand Lisboa - I took another street so that I can pass by other buildings.

Macau Zhu Pa Bao (Pork Bun)

I bought it from a random store, and thought it is pretty normal. 

I guess it'll be better to find and try the famous Pork Bun.

Senado Square Fountain

Church of the Nativity of Our Lady

Where it all began - Yee Shun Milk Company originates from Macau before opening up branches in Hong Kong. Take a break from the walkings and check out its lunch menu and steam milk pudding.
Address: 7 Senado Square

I took the free hotel bus from Grand Lisboa back to Macau ferry terminal, and took another free hotel bus to the Venetian Macao. You might have seen this hotel from scenes of movies or TV drama serials, and the shopping area of the hotel is a replicate of the canals and buildings of Venice. It is actually quite a good shopping place if you are looking for international brands.

Dinner at the foodcourt of Venetian Macao

Portuguese Egg Tart from Koi Kei 

Time for me to go back to Hong Kong. As there are frequent ferries from Macau to Hong Kong and vice versa, reservation of tickets are not required, hence increasing the flexibility of your stay in Macau. I took the free hotel bus from Venetian Macao to Taipa ferry terminal, and board the ferry back to Kowloon China Ferry Terminal for more shopping at Harbour City Mall.

Weekend Trip to Kluang

Kluang is my mum's hometown, and I've made frequent trips to this town since young. I've previously blogged about taking a train to make a day's trip to Kluang. If you have a car and more time to spare, you can drive up north from Singapore (about 1.5 hours) and make a weekend trip instead. 

Day 1

About 15 mins drive after exiting from the North South Highway will bring you to ZenXin Organic Park. City dwellers (including myself) are often clueless about the origin of vegetables we eat (whether it is a root of a plant or how it is grown) and how fruits trees look like. A visit to this Organic Park will answer some of these queries and open your eyes to the world of vegetables and fruits. There are free guided tours available for you to join (check out ZenXin Organic Park's website for the timing) and you can also engage in "lokang" fishing (catching fish with net in a swallow pond). To complete the visit, visit the Farm Mart to shop organic food stuffs grown in the Organic Park.

Address: Plot 47A & B, Batu 9, Jalan Batu Pahat, 86000 Kluang, Johor

For lunch or tea, I'll choose to have it at Kluang Rail Coffee. In fact, I'll never leave Kluang without having a meal there. The toasted buns are heavenly and they also serve other food like nasi lemak etc. 

Address: 20 & 21, Jalan Tasik 1, Pusat Perniagaan Tasik, 86000 Kulang, Johor

There are a few hotels available in Kluang, and I often stay at Starz Hotel, as it is clean, modern and economical (and close to Kluang Rail Coffee). The rooms are pretty basic, but good enough for a 1 to 2 nights stay. There is also a supermarket and some shops right next to the hotel.
Address: No 31, 32 33, Jalan Tasik 1, Pusat Perniagaan Tasik, 86000, Kluang, Johor

After check-in, you'll probably want to go to the central town of Kluang to shop for some "Kluang Delights". I'll recommend you to buy:
1. Tong Huat Confectionary
Address: No 28 & 30, Jalan Cantik, 86000 Kluang Johor
Tong Huat Confectionary is famous for their Tau Sa Piah, and there is a sweet version and a salty (traditional) version. I actually preferred their Heong Piah (香饼) for the sugar coated winter melon fillings with sesame seeds.

2. Yuen Fatt Shanghai Mooncake
Address: No 39 Jalan Haji Manap Nordin, Kluang Bahru, 86000 Kluang, Johor
The mooncake is usually available as early as June. Unlike traditional mooncake, Shanghai Mooncake has a softer skin (almost like pineapple tart type of skin) which makes it "melt it your mouth".

Otherwise, pay a visit to Kluang Mall where Padini, Uniqlo, H&M, Cotton On and Pacific Supermarket are some of the tenants there. You can also catch a movie or have a game of bowling there.

For dinner, a 5 mins drive from the Starz Hotel will bring you to Restoran Won Kee. Famous for its claypot rice and home cook soup, it takes a bit of time for your order to be served as they'll cook it on the spot. However, you'll find that the wait is definitely worth it as you stir in the black soya sauce and salted fish (yes, you need to do it yourself) and take your first bite.

Address: No 24, Jalan Intan2/4, Taman Intan, Kluang 86000

Day 2

My family loves dim sum, so we'll always go to Chop Foo Chow for breakfast. The dim sum there are pretty decent with a huge variety of choice. You'll need to take the order paper provided by the staff to go to the counter and take whatever you want.
Address: No 2 Jalan Langsat, 86000 Kluang, Johor

If you feel guilty eating too much during this trip, shed off some calories by taking a walk at Gunung Lambak, also know to locals as the backbone of Johor. I've only managed to reach the half way point of the 510m hill, but the view is nice enough (do be careful as there are monkeys along the way) and worth the workout. 

Before bidding goodbye to Kluang, visit the Kluang Baru area ,which is quite famous for curry fish head. I usually have mine at Restoran Patam, and on top of curry fish head, its home-make fried tofu is equally nice. 
Address: No 28, Jalan Lim Swee Sim, Taman Kluang Baru, 86000 Kluang, Johor

Hope this guide is useful for you to plan a weekend trip to Kluang.

Starry Minsu at Cingjing

Cing Jing, a town situated in Nantou of Taiwan, has become a popular destination for travellers in recent years. Being at an elevated altitude, the weather in Cing Jing is relatively cool (in fact cold during the winter months) throughout the year and you can literally touch the clouds in Cing Jing. There are many minsu in this town, and I had a hard time to decide which minsu to stay in. I was looking for a minsu with a view, and the minsu has to be clean and accessible to all the attractions in Cing Jing. The more popular minsu are Starry and Misty, and after some research, I decided to give Starry Minsu (观星园）a try. As I was travelling with my parents, I did not want them to climb too much stairs, and we've hired a driver to pick us up from Taichung to Starry Minsu, hence resolving the transportation issue.

Here are the views of the room I stayed in and photos taken from the balcony of the room.

An introductory map of the places in Cingjing and the lovely breakfast prepared by the minsu owners.

Starry minsu provides transportation to Qing Qing Farm, and they will pick you up near Misty Plaza after you finishing touring the area.

The steamboat dinner.

If you are a meat lover, you can get a chicken on the way back to the minsu to add on to the steamboat dinner.

The minsu also helped us arrange for a hot spring visit to Lu Shan, where we had fun soaking in the natural hot spring water.

Overall, we had enjoyed our stay in Starry Minsu, and I'm itching to get back there soon to enjoy the cold breeze and fresh air. 

Starry Minsu Website: http://starry.nantou.com.tw/?ptype=info

Best Chicken Pie in Singapore - Oven Marvel

I'm not a food blogger, but good things are meant to be shared! Recently, my friend introduced me to Oven Marvel, a store selling chicken pies, muffins and curry puffs at Sunshine Plaza, and I'm totally hooked to its chicken pie!

I'm not a person who would sacrifice my calorie count with snacks or bites in between meals, but this chicken pie is something that I found it sooo hard to resist! Typical commercially sold chicken pie are usually with hard skin & dry interior, but the one from Oven Marvel is vastly different! The soft, fluffy skin with generous chicken filling makes it sooo delicious that 1 piece is never enough. It is bake on the spot, and runs out pretty fast. You'll have to wait for the next batch if you missed it! 

Do try it out in your next visit to Bugis!

Oven Marvel

91 Bencoolen Street

#01-51

Sunshine Plaza

Singapore 189652

Travel to the countryside - Bollywood Veggies

My friend and I decided to take a break from the concrete jungle on 1 Saturday afternoon and we paid a visit to Bollywood Veggies. We drove there for the sake of convenience, but there is a Kranji Countryside Express Bus from Kranji MRT station which you can take. It was a nice drive there, away from the city, passing by Kranji Reservoir and different farms before reaching Bollywood Veggies.

After paying an entrance fee of $2 each, we started exploring the area. There are 2 available trails - a 10 mins or a 30 minutes trail, and the trails are well marked so that you'll not lose your direction. Do remember to apply sun block and mosquito repellent before embarking on the trail. We followed the 30 minutes trail and passed by different plants and trees, seeing the food and fruits that we are familiar with right from their source. Each plants and trees are marked with descriptions too to deepen our understanding of the plant or the tree.

Lotus pond

Sugar Cane

After a nice walk, we had our dinner at Poison Ivy Bistro. The special of the day is their famous nasi lemak, and of course we did not want to miss it, and we also ordered a chilli kang kong as a side dish. Most of the ingredients were self-grown and freshly picked, and it was a fulfilling meal for both of us. You can also purchase some self-grown spices, freshly made bread, pots of greens etc from the bistro.

There is also a store selling handicraft next to the restaurant, and the handicrafts, although hand-made, are nicely priced. I bought a bag in support.

All and all, it was a well spent Saturday to experience a different side of Singapore.