One of the reasons I went to Hong Kong is to attend a wedding. The groom and the bride were two bankers, the reception took place at one of the Shangri La hotel, so my expectation of the event was pretty high.
The event started by each guests writing a short note to congratulate the couple, but the first cultural difference I notice was the gift tradition; indeed, in a Chinese wedding you’re supposed to give a red envelope containing monetary gift to the newly married couple. (I was aware of that, so I have my red envelope 🙂 ) A Chinese buddy of mine told me the red color of the envelope symbolizes good luck and is supposed to ward off evil spirits.
A guest writing a note
Red envelope with monetary gift
As expected the wedding venue was magnificent, it consists of a small stage and several round tables across the room. The main table was easily recognizable since it was in front of the stage, but mostly because it was the only one with chairs covered in red cotton. Similar to above red is traditionally also a symbolic color of happiness in China.
After visiting Macau (cf. Destination Macau) I finally arrived to the only place in Asia that has always attracted me, yes that is true I have always hoped of seeing one day Hong Kong skyline. I mean even the name of the city itself is cool hOng kOng! haha
Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China but was British for about 150 years; Like Macau (but to a lesser extent) it has that beauty of being a mix of European and Asian culture.
In Hong Kong, there are many things one could do and see. But if you plan to stay only for a few days like I did, I recommend for sightseeing the BIGBUS HONG KONG tour. They offer different tours and it is a must do since it really allows you to see all the different faces of Hong Kong. Indeed you’ll see the expected like high-rise apartments, skyscrapers, but you’ll also get a chance to see the mountains, country parks, and even beaches from the South China Sea.
Two International Finance Centre
While on the tour I stopped at Stanley city, a small town on the peninsula on the southern Hong Kong Island. Stanley is very interesting to see mainly because it give you the opportunity to see how diverse is Hong Kong landscape. Indeed, Continue reading →
Congratulations to those of you who rightly guessed both locations. Â Answers are Macau for Casinos & Hong Kong for HSBC.
Now let me narrate my trip – I should start with Macau and keep the best for later 😉
National flag of Macau
Also I should probably start by showing you where exactly it is in the map 😉 (It’s ok I didn’t really know where it was before I came to Asia or worst that the country exist)
Macau like Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China; however, where Hong Kong was British for about 150 years, Macau was Portuguese for more than 400 years. Yes, Portugal had a colony in Asia!
When walking around Macau (which by the way is very safe) Portuguese heritage is easily recognizable. It starts with architecture such as administrative buildings, churches including the famous Ruins of St Paul, well-known Portuguese pavement most noticeable at Senado Square, but also street names among other things.
St. Dominic’s Church, Macau
Ruins of St. Paul’s, Macau
Civil and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Macau
Street name, Macau
Senado Square, Macau with portuguese pavement.
Although you can easily see European influence you still very much know you’re in Asia because of, well, because of the people around you! 🙂
I find the Macanese people very nice and friendly. I think most of them have never really see a black guy western style. (You know me when I put my SWAG on :-)) The reason I’m mentioning this is because due to Portugal presence also in Angola, Macau somehow has a little Angolan community.
Back to locals, the one thing unfortunate for me during the trip was I don’t speak Cantonese, so I couldn’t really communicate with people as much as I wanted to. Below is a short story that can give you an idea of what I’m talking about.
Mc Donald, Macau
At Mc Donald (Yes I have that thing in any country I go to I have to taste a Mc Donald’s Big Mac and Coke as well) after ordering I see the price on the counter and it shows HK$34. While then preparing my money, the server tells me ‘it’s 64 dollars’, so I gently smile and reply to him ‘no it’s 34 dollars’… It’s only after 15-20 sec that I realize he isn’t joking, no he really thinks read 34 sound sixty-four. When he finally realized his mistake (add another 20 sec), he looked at me and we both had a quick laugh. Funny thing is I honestly think he wasn’t still convinced… haha
Lastly, Macau is world known to be the “Las Vegas” of Asia, and actually generate more revenues than the American city. Overall I find Las Vegas more live, but it’s worth mentioning that I was in Macau during low season, the weather was quite bad, and it was a Thursday…
Anyway, before coming to Asia, my perception of Asian food was limited to sushi, some soup, but mostly dumplings. So imagine how happy I was when I went to this restaurant for lunch yesterday: Din Tai Fung
I love dumplings and this place make handsome handmade dumplings, which is kind of cool…check it out below.
The menu is in Chinese, and the restaurant proposes a lot of dishes. Lucky enough I have Mandarin-speaking colleagues, hence we tried plenty of dishes, but below are my most preferred: Simple basic dumplings.
Steamed Pork Buns, and Steamed Crab Meat & Pork Dumplings
These were really tasty; the one on the back is made of a doughnut type of mixture with meat inside. This, accompanied with spicy sauce, and some vegetables was delicious. Smallest dumplings (on the front) were very fragile lol. They contained some sauce in the bottom, so one needed to be careful when taking one.
Overall it was a great experience having lunch there, it’s definitely a must go if you’re in town. This is their website:Â www.dintaifung.com.sg
