New Orleans

Thanks to my department, Hong Kong Research Grants Council and of course, the American Geophysical Union, my trip to New Orleans to attend the 2017 Fall Meeting was made possible. Also, many thanks to Danny, who organised a significant part of the trip. New Orleans is a small, very chill city in the state of Louisiana. It is proud of its exquisite food and French-American mixed culture. The most striking culture in the states is perhaps the very good customer service, and the need to give tips because of it.

10 December 2017, Sunny, Hong Kong > New Orleans

It was hard to define the dates since I am travelling to a different timezone. I left my room somewhere around 12 and set off for the airport with a few friends. It was a long flight, very uncomfortable indeed. We flew over the Pacific, riding on the jet stream, making the flight very fast. When we finally reached New Orleans, we booked a limousine to get to our hotels. Since we had twelve people, this option was actually a cheaper option. Danny and I checked into Hyatt Regency New Orleans.

After we checked in, we went out to the nearest grocery store called Rouses market and bought some food to satisfy our hunger. Fell asleep very quickly.

11 December 207, Clear, New Orleans

We started the day with a wonderful buffet breakfast by the hotel. It really was great. After breakfast, we found our way to Earnest N. Morial Convention Centre without any navigation tools, purely by remembering road names. There was a very long queue for registration, so we were late for two talks we intended to attend. In the end, we walked around the poster hall. We attended a talk about deep learning at about twelve. After the talk, we wandered off to a less visited place to find a local prepaid sim card. After looking at a few shops, we finally settled for a very expensive plan... Oh well, everything is expensive here. We the walked around the city to explore a little.

New Orleans does not have much content, it is just a really chill city. We had late lunch at Jimmy John's, which sells sandwiches. It was good, much better than Subway. We went back to the hotel for a very quick rest before coming out for dinner. We met up with our supervisor, Amos, for dinner. It was fried seafood at Deanie's seafood. It was just of average quality. We then returned to our hotel quickly and rested for the night.

12 December 2017, Sunny, New Orleans

We woke up slightly later than yesterday. I called dearie while eating breakfast, and it was an awesome call. After breakfast, we went to the convention centre. We hit the poster hall first. I talked to a few people who were standing by their very interesting posters. Lunch was with friends at Riverside Outlet. I had some cheeseburger, which wasn't nice. We then went back to the poster hall to check out the afternoon session, but we didn't stay for long. Danny called Uber and we were off to visit Lake Pontchartrain. We arrived at a nearby park called Lake Oaks park, and then walked to the lake along Lakeshore drive.

A very chill place indeed. Locals can be seen fishing. There were also a few others just playing and hanging out. We walked all the way to Pontchartrain park, which turned out to be a golf course. It was getting dark here and we didn't manage to get reception to get an Uber ride back. We walked towards the Wesley Barrow stadium, where reception is better, and got our ride back to town. We chose to eat dinner at Felix Restaurant and Oyster bar. ACME oyster house, which was very recommended, was always overly crowded. I had fried alligator meat, and some 11 fresh oysters on the half shell to complete the day.

13 December 2017, Sunny

Again, we woke up even later, ate the usual good breakfast and made our way to the convention centre. Today was not as productive, but I met Dadi, my old colleague. We had a rather long catch-up before heading to Riverside Outlet for dinner. It was rather healthy. I chose salads. I then spent the afternoon walking around the poster halls. In the late afternoon, Danny and I took an Uber ride to Jackson square to visit it while there was still light. I took a few beautiful shots of the area.

We then tried to walk by the side of Mississippi river, but it was difficult to find a route. There was some construction going on. We did find the Street car tracks and walked along it until we came across an opening, where we could see the river. We met Chen Xiang and her friend for dinner. Danny chose Estrella steak and lobster house, which has the theme of what we both want. The waitress here has really good customer service. She was exceptionally patient in helping us decide what we want to eat. I had New York strip, a rather nice steak that didn't break the wallet. The ambient music played by the saxophonist completed the atmosphere. After dinner, we did a short walk back to the convention centre, to find that it was closed. After a short trip to the groceries, we headed back to our hotel to rest.

14 December 2017, Cloudy, New Orleans

We just kept waking up later and later. We had the usual buffet breakfast in the hotel. In order to save time, we walked a different route to the convention centre, passing by Cochon butcher, where very good burgers were sold. I bought Le Pig Mac, a very nice double pork burger. In the morning, we walked around the poster halls again. At about 2, we walked to the south corner of the convention centre. Danny's and Amos' presentations were held there. I sat in the session and listened to the talks. Some were really relevant to my work. One of the speakers was working on the effects of future climate on aerosols, without land use changes, and has extended the idea further to include potential impacts on humans. After the session, I hurried back to look at Dadi's poster. He is doing really interesting work. I gained a lot from his poster. At 6, the poster hall closed. Some friends brought me to NanJing University's open house to grab some free food, which left us not hungry, but not full either. We then made our way to Riverside Outlet to eat some more. I tried the crawfish etouffe, which really tastes nicer than it looks. I returned early, snapping a shot of the entrance to Fulton street.

15 December 2017, Rain, New Orleans

We started the day with a nice breakfast as usual, but we were early today. I arrived at the convention centre, set up my poster, and immediately, I was bombarded with people and questions. The main getaway from all the interactions was that other scientists were actually getting similar results even when the methods used was different. That is really comforting to know. I hope I am on the right track. Lunch was back at Cochon butcher again, because it was nice. We even queued in the rain. I ordered their coleslaw this time, and it was not too bad. Although my poster session was in the morning, I decided to stay near it even in the afternoon. It was underwhelming, however. I went around the convention centre to take some pictures, marking the end of the five day AGU fall meeting.

I met with some Singaporean friends, three of which I just met on the same day. We went to eat dinner at Mulates, and we all shared our stories of how we ended up where we are, far away from home. I ordered seafood gumbo, which I think, is quite similar to etouffe, except more liquid. We shared a whole platter of fried stuff, which we quickly got sick of, but still finished. It was a pretty awesome chat with people who speak in a similar accent. I went back pretty late, after the long chat.

16 December 2017, Cloudy, New Orleans

So now that AGU has ended, we are free to explore New Orleans. Our first stop was the World War 2 Museum. The museum was a lot larger than I expected!

I really learnt a lot about world war 2, from the American perspective. Peace sure does not come easy. We stayed at the museum from morning till about 2 PM. After the museum, we took Uber northward to meet with our friends who went there for shopping. We stopped at Cheesecake Factory first to have our very late lunch. We were famished when the food finally came at 4 PM. I had a vegetarian pasta, which was pretty okay. We then went to the mall, called Lakeside Shopping Centre. This mall is large, in terms of area, not height. I walked around myself and bought some gifts for my family. We went back rather early today, skipping dinner. I had two friends who came over to stay in our hotel because they needed to check out of theirs. We had to share our beds.


17 December 2017, Rain, New Orleans

It was the last morning of our stay in Hyatt Regency. We went down for the usual breakfast and reluctantly checked out. Since it was a rainy day, we tried to reduce our time spent outdoors, resulting in a rather uneventful day. We stayed in the hotel till about noon, when we bid farewell to Danny. He will fly to Austin to continue his trip in the US. When the rain finally stopped, I brought my two other friends to check out Willie's chicken shack, a very local style fried chicken, fast food, bar. It was all in one, and had a very local atmosphere. We did get a few weird glances from the locals, but that did not deter me from enjoying myself. We ordered some fried chicken and sat down to eat, while watching the live rugby match, which was actually going on in the city itself. It was in fact, in the giant dome behind Hyatt Regency. After the meal, we decided to move our luggage to Hilton Riverside, because that is where our other friends are. We met with them there, and then made our way to meet up with more friends for dinner. Dinner was at French Quarter, in an oyster bar called Desire.

Such buildings are a common sight in the French quarter, which also means the entire place is very pretty, full of holiday decorations. I ate very good for this meal, to prepare my body for the long travel back. I ate some meat mixed with rice, a cocktail called Tropical Hurricane, and then finished off with a dozen of oysters. Needless to say, I spent the most, out of all my friends. When I went to the toilet, I actually chat with a local youngster. I found it so amazing that random people will just come and talk to you, and it isn't awkward. I can literally see his eyes lit up when I replied his greeting and started talking to him. After the sumptuous dinner, we walked towards Jackson square. My friends wanted to see it, even at night, so I brought them there. After the short visit, we sat down at a local cafe called Cafe du Monde. The beignets here are a local treat, or so I was told. It is actually some form of bread topped with a lot of sweet sugar icing on top. It was actually pretty good, I had it with hot chocolate. It was a really comforting supper. After this, we walked back via Bourbon street, checking out the night life of New Orleans. I gave away all our coins to a busker along the street. There were many loud pubs, strip clubs, people dancing on the road, and most importantly, police officers to maintain the order. There was one quiet and peaceful pub along the street, which was more of my style. We left Bourbon street at about ten, and made our way back to Hilton to rest for a few hours.

18 December 2017, Fog, New Orleans > Dallas > Mid Air over Arctic

In the wee hours of 2 AM, I was awakened by my friend, telling me it is already two and it is time to go. We hurriedly collected our luggage and went down to meet the Uber driver we have previously arranged. It was a smooth ride to New Orleans airport. We continued to rest there until about four, when we then begin to check in our flight. I was lucky enough to get window seats for both my flights. The security here is really strict. I had to remove all electronics from my bag, as well as take off coat and even shoes. The flight took off at six. It was the most beautiful flight I have ever witnessed so far. I saw the sunrise from the plane. When it was about to land, the wheels came out while the plane was still above cloud level. I thought something was wrong. I took this picture when the plane was just above cloud level.

The answer revealed itself just when the plane penetrated the clouds to reveal the runway, not far below (How did the pilot see?). Turns out Dallas was experiencing foggy weather. We stayed at Dallas airport in transit for about two hours. We did a little window shopping before sitting down to wait for the next flight at ten. This flight from Dallas to Hong Kong was the longest plane ride I ever had in my life. Due to some delays, we only took off at about 10:45 AM. The flight took us eastwards, which means we're kind of going back in time, and when we pass the international date line, we just go to the next day. Rather complicated. We flew over the arctic. Since it was December, the northern hemisphere was having winter, night time. I witnessed a beautiful sunset. I tried to get some sleep when it was dark. I shall consider the day to end here, when we cross the date line.

19 December 2017, Cloudy, Mid Air over Arctic > Hong Kong

I only caught a glimpse of the arctic ice using the first rays of light from the rising sun. When there was substantial light, we were already above Russia. Over Russia, I saw the vast landscape of snowy mountains.

It was quite an amazing sight. My jaw dropped when I first saw this. I guess I am not that well-travelled after all. The plane ride dragged on. I tried to get as much sleep as I can, but it was not comfortable. A snowflake formed between the two layers of airplane window glass, and this was my company for the flight. It melted when the plane lost altitude when landing. Again, I witnessed a sunset. From my 24 hour perspective, I witnessed the sun cross the horizon four times. We landed safely in Hong Kong at about six, making the entire flight about 17 hours long. This marks the end of the nearly ten day US travel. I have had amazing experiences, and the gain in this trip is definitely much more than the sights, sounds and tastes of New Orleans. Till my next travel, or rather an exchange programme.

Hong Kong 4

ZhuEn is coming over to Hong Kong to visit for the fourth time actually. We are doing more relaxing things rather than being touristy now. I planned most of the events, and the rest of it just happened spontaneously. As usual, her trip here happened and ended so quickly, just like a dream.

8 November 2017, Sunny, University

It was a light hearted morning. I woke up at the usual time and went for my morning lecture, making sure that ZhuEn's journey to Hong Kong was smooth. I left the lecture early so that I could meet ZhuEn at Shatin. It was all sweet embraces when we were finally reunited. Our lunch was Tonkotsu 8, my favourite ramen at Shatin. It was a nice and pleasant meal. After that, we walked over for some cheap but nice ice cream, then made our way back to my school. I settled her down in my room before going over for seminar and lessons. She slept in my room while I went for the seminar and lesson.

The lessons ended at six. The sky is already dark since winter is approaching. ZhuEn was not used to it and was pretty shocked. I took her to Shatin again to eat spicy noodles and KFC in a special bei fung tung flavour only available in Hong Kong. We then went back and rested for the night.

9 November 2017, Sunny, University

I had group meeting in the morning, so I woke up early. Leaving ZhuEn in the room, I left for my office. ZhuEn woke up later. Group meeting went as usual. I then went back to my room to find my hungry partner, almost going to cook instant noodles for herself. I brought her out to Morningside canteen for lunch, to let her have a taste of school food. She commented that the food is quite bad, which I cannot disagree. The views however, was beautiful. After lunch, I brought her around campus again. This time, we walked to the back of the mountain. I brought her to Tolo cafe, where we sat down and enjoyed ice cream with the marvelous views.

We then walked back to my room, where we played some computer games together. It was really a strong bonding moment. We had lots of fun and enjoyed the company of each other. Soon, it was five, and we arranged to meet ZhuEn's friend, ChieSze, from Malaysia for dinner at Chan Kun Kee, a famous street food stall near Shatin. Dinner with her friends was enjoyable. Although I was shy at the start, I forced myself to socialize with her friends. Some of her friends turned out to play a very popular game that I was also playing, so that was a good source of common topics to talk about. Good to know more people still active playing this game. We ordered their specialty wasabi chicken, which I already knew beforehand. It tasted really good. I can see that ZhuEn is really enjoying herself with good food and good company. Her friends even gave her a birthday present as we were about to say goodbye. We then went back to my room and rested for the night.

10 November 2017, Sunny, Tung Chung

We woke up slightly later than planned. After making a hasty breakfast for me and ZhuEn, I made my way down to Prof. Jason Cohen's talk. As usual, his presentations are very enriching and inspiring. It dragged because I was trying to talk to him after his talk and there were many students asking him questions. I met ZhuEn at the train station at noon. It was already very late. We bought buns near the station and went towards Tung Chung. There, we bought some sushi takeout and headed for Tai O.

ZhuEn liked Tai O, the rustic fishing village untouched by Hong Kong's modernization. We walked around the town a little bit, bought some local produce, and ate fried chicken wings with instant noodles at one of the shops in town. We really do like this small town a lot, although the bus trip here is quite bad. After that, we took a bus that takes us straight to Ngong Ping. I can still remember the stunned face of hers when she finally saw the big Buddha at Ngong Ping. We first climbed up the stairs to see the big Buddha and took some mandatory touristy shots. We then descended and went to visit Po Lin monastery, the popular temple also in Ngong Ping. We visited the Hall of Heroes, an apparently very famous building.

Next, we decided to try out the local TaoHuey, made from mountain water rich with ions. True to its word, this TaoHuey is the softest that I have ever eaten. Its softness when cold matches the softness of other warm ones, so much so that it nearly melts in your mouth. Finally, we walked around Ngong Ping village. We did not like it, seeing how touristy the village is. We then tried to find our way out by bus, which, to our horror, was not any better than queuing for the cable car. After some 45 minutes wait, we finally got up the bus that took us to Tung Chung, and then took the train to Mongkok East. Here, we revisited Lo Dim, the first Dim Sum shop that ZhuEn ever visited in Hong Kong. We had a pleasant dinner here, getting our Dim Sum craving fixed. After dinner, we went back to my room and pack up for our stay for the next three nights: an AirBnB place at Mongkok. We arrived at the AirBnB slightly before midnight.

11 November 2017, Cloudy, Shek O

Today is a hiking day. We woke up late because we slept late the previous night. After preparing some things we need for hiking, we set off to eat our brunch at Hong Lin restaurant, a place that ZhuEn's friend recommended. The food here turned out to be very good, although the Polo bun was not as good as Kam Wah cafe. The dry prawn noodles and the tomato stew turned out to be better than expected. We bought their egg tarts as takeaway because reviews mentioned that their egg tarts are good. After an enjoyable meal, we set off for Shau Kei Wan to meet with my friends and start the Dragon's Back hiking. There was not too much sun and we had a rather easy climb before we start to get the beautiful views.

Too bad the weather was not good and we did not have the blue sky. We did have very strong winds though. We lagged behind the main group because we kept taking pictures. ZhuEn and I really enjoys hiking a lot, so in our future trips, we should find more places to hike. After going up and down repeatedly on Dragon's Back, the hike descended into forest cover, where the hike start to become boring. We made haste and soon, the path led us to Big Wave Bay. Here, we made our way to the lifeguard post, which overlooks the entire bay, allowing us a spectacular view. We enjoyed listening to the wave crashes and observe people riding the waves. Soon, we had enough and we decided to go off for dinner. After some discussion, we made our way to Causeway Bay to eat JiBao. It turned out to be a very unenjoyable meal. Not letting it dampen our spirits, we went to Jordan to take away milk pudding desserts from the two famous milk companies, namely Australian Dairy Company and Yee Shun Milk Company. We took them back to our BnB and compared them side by side. Turns out we prefer Yee Shun Milk company more because it is less sweet and more milky. The one from Australian Dairy company has egg flavours and is overly sweet. We then rested for the night.

12 November 2017, Rain, Tsim Sha Tsui > Wong Tai Sin

It is her birthday today. In order to make it a birthday celebration, we decided to go to Deluxe Daikiya for brunch. It was really a super enjoyable meal. The seafood was reasonably fresh. We enjoyed our salmon sashimi, crab legs cut in the wrong way, sea urchin sushi, and many more delectable selections. These are only just some of the favourites that we enjoyed.

As always, I peel crab legs for her. We did like four rounds of ordering, staying all the way till it closed. After the really full and satisfying meal, we made our way to Prince Edward and starting walking to Hong Kong SGI Peace centre. Here, we met ZhuEn's friend, KaSing, and his new girlfriend, to attend the world peace gongyo. A video about the founding fathers of Soka Gakkai was screened. After that, we walked around the centre, just like how we did the first time she visited. We left the centre and headed towards Wong Tai Sin for dinner. We were kept in the dark where we were going for dinner until we actually reached the place. It was a Singaporean Restaurant. Since we were very full from the brunch, we shared a bowl of laksa. The laksa here has hints of curry. The white coffee is decent, but it was obviously made from instant coffee mix. Next, we went to Kai Kai dessert. We arrived early and there was no queue. We found the dessert here cheap and good. I ordered sweet potato soup, while ZhuEn ordered TangYuan. Both our desserts are gingery and it really hit the spot on a cold rainy evening. We bid KaSing farewell and continued walking around Jordan and Mongkok for a while before going back to the BnB to rest.

13 November 2017, Rain, University

We woke up. I wanted to give her a massage, and so I did. The travelling in the past few days probably wore her out, and I wanted to really rejuvenate her before sending her back to Singapore. After a slow and nice massage, we started to pack up and went for brunch. It was at MeiJi porridge in Mongkok. It turned out to be very nice. We ordered pork and century egg porridge, complete with fried dough sticks. The porridge here are cooked in golden bowls. The uncle was very nice and allowed ZhuEn to take a picture of him before we leave.

Not going to miss Kam Wah's Polo bun, we went there to buy the takeaway. It is heavenly as usual. We then took the train and made our way to my room to spend the afternoon doing the final packing up. After she is ready to fly back, we went to Shatin to each TangZai again. This time, I chose the tomato soup. Turns out ZhuEn did not really like the tomato soup. Finally, we took the bus to the airport, reminiscing the times we spent together in the past few days. Good byes are really really difficult. Every time we meet and depart, the feelings were reinforced. Till the time when we can really live together, also looking forward to the next time we travel together.

Singapore

One would find it strange that I blog about a trip back home. This trip back was a very important trip, at least for me, because it commemorates me and dearie's first anniversary as couples. I made it mandatory that we have to celebrate this together.

1 July 2017, Sunny, Singapore

I started my day after a good rest from the flight. I decided to drop by my grandparents' as ZhuEn is at the Tampines Soka Centre. Had a good chat with my grandparents and noted that they are currently well. I met her for lunch at Tampines Round Market. We had dumpling noodles, something that I miss. After that, we embarked on a hot and long journey to our staycation location at Studio M hotel. Took a bus, then taxi. We had to queue to check in, but the staff was very nice. After we got into our room, we bathed and rested for a while.

It is quite a beautiful loft apartment with the bed on the second floor. In the evening, we went to a nearby ramen shop called Ippudo. It was quiet and peaceful and ideal for an anniversary dinner. The ramen was good. We ordered salmon salad, which was fresh and succulent. After a pleasant (first) dinner, we went to her uncle's place to fetch some items. Along the way, we picked up some sushi so that we can have our second dinner in the rented loft. On the table right in front of the high window, we ate candle-lit sushi, complete with some apple cider.

We then rested for the night.

2 July 2017, Sunny, Singapore
We woke up rather late. After a quick shower, we enjoyed our breakfast, again, on the table by the tall windows, with the curtains drawn, in the light.

This marks the end of our staycation. This time, it is in Singapore, our home. In the future, we shall travel to other places, to explore new places together.

Macau

This trip was planned by ZhuEn and I together. It is also the first time we explored a place that we both have never been to. We also had friends from Japan tagging along in this trip. Macau is a place with a rather big divide between the rich and poor. Most parts of the region looks old, but the casinos were very pretty and posh, especially casinos in the Taipa region. It was a truly a journey of discovery and learning.

1 May 2017, Sunny, Hong Kong > Macau Peninsula > Taipa

We woke up early in the morning and made our way to Kennedy town to try a rather famous Sun Hing dim sum shop. It was really crowded and we waited for a while inside. When we were about to get our seats, we were scolded because we did not know which seats the old lady were pointing to. Typical Hong Kong culture haha. After that, I spent quite a while trying to figure out how things work here as it seems quite different. Apparently, we can order off people walking in the shop, or go to the front and order by choosing what is already there. I thank ZhuEn for figuring this out for me as the noisiness and crowd made everything difficult. Food was alright. After that, we went to the ferry terminal at Sheung Wan. We bought the tickets and walked around the mall for a bit. The ferry was equipped with Hydrofoil technology, making it look as if it was floating high above the water (not the regular floating). This allowed it to travel very fast across the sea with less drag, quite impressive really. We arrived at Macau at about 1. We first walked to Fisherman's Wharf. It is not the kind of fisherman's wharf I was expecting. Other than some expensive restaurants around, there was also an arena. The ancient infrastructure was quite impressive. We then took a taxi to Senado Square. There, we walked around the streets, finding the classic Lisboa casino and the newer Grand Lisboa. We began to explore, and bought some very expensive Pork Bun, apparently one of the signature food of Macau. I was not very impressed. Since Margaret's Cafe e Nata was closed, we bought Portuguese egg tarts from another bakery. It was quite good. Next, we walked to find a fountain that we thought was Senado Square, haha. Turns out it was just a random waterfall nearby Se Cathedral. We entered the cathedral for a while. (I do not usually enter a cathedral on my own accord). After that, we walked to Monte Forte, climbing a hill along the way since the fort is on top of a hill. The fort is a Portuguese style fort, used in the past as a central defence base. It is high and it overlooks the whole Macau Peninsula. It is now preserved as a tourist destination, together with Museu de Macau. Good for tourists, the view is spectacular. Next, we went down the hill to find Ruins of St. Pauls.

ZhuEn was very touched when she finally reached this place. After a couple of pictures, we went to buy some food nearby. We then took at taxi to A-Ma temple. (Again, I do not usually enter a temple on my own accord). We can see hints of its former glory. After that, we walked towards our dinner place: Henri's Galley, passing by some impressive rich people's houses, as well as a lake with Macau tower in view. It was a Portuguese dinner. We tried some very refreshingly new tastes and we really enjoyed it. My friend insisted on having some alcohol. I guess he have learnt the Japanese culture. After a really satisfying dinner, we walked back to the central area of Macau Peninsula and sent my friends from Japan back, enjoying the night scenery along the way.

We then took a bus to Taipa to check into our hotel to rest for the night.

2 May 2017, Cloudy, Taipa > Hong Kong

We woke up late in the morning and checked out. We took at bus to The Venetian. After crossing the Venice bridge over what was meant to be a river, but was dry, we entered the place of extreme poshness.

The whole place was decorated with extreme luxury. Even the floors are very shiny and reflective. We walked around the place in awe, until we found Lord Stow's bakery and cafe along the shoppes. The shoppes reminds us of Marina Bay Sands. It turns out they are both called Sands Shoppes, probably belonging to the same company. Lord Stow's bakery is famous for their Portuguese Egg tarts. It was Lord Stow that made egg tarts a famous delicacy. We ordered two egg tarts and some drinks to try, and it was really good. It was not too sweet, and carried hints of saltiness in the pastry crust.

I went to order two more because it really made us hungry haha. After that, we found our way out and went to look at the exteriors of Parisian. The infrastructure is really grand. Next, we took a bus to Galaxy Macau. In my opinion, Galaxy Macau has the most awesome exterior. The combination of white walls and gold tinted windows make the structures extremely impressive.

The internal design however, was not as impressive as the Venetian. We took a free bus ride from the Galaxy to Macau Outer Harbour and took the ferry back to Hong Kong, ending our Macau exploration. We had a relaxing evening on Hong Kong island, eating Mak's wonton noodles, Ichiran ramen, and milk pudding at Yee Shun Milk company. Turns out Yee Shun was originally from Macau. We then checked into Best Western Plus hotel, the hotel with the largest room that I have ever stayed before in my life.

We then rested for the night. Till the next time I have a chance to travel with my dearie.

Port Dickson and Genting

There was not much planning involved in this trip. It was solely inspired by us wanted to stay in a chalet above water, and off we went. Special thanks to ZhuHan for driving most of the time, and their mother, who made sure everything went smoothly. Thank you also, to ZhuEn's relatives who booked the hotel room at Genting for us, and treated us several meals.

2 February 2017, Sunny, Chaah > Port Dickson

After our Lunar New Year celebrations, I was finally able to make my way to ZhuEn's home. In the morning, we set off for Port Dickson. ZhuHan took the wheel. We stopped by Tangkak, a small town, for very nice Bak Kut Teh. The soup was slightly sweet and the flavour was good. ZhuEn even ordered more fried beancurd skin. We ate till we were all very full. We then continued our journey to Port Dickson, reaching at about 2 in the afternoon. We drank some coffee at a local Old Town Coffee shop. We all ordered a cup of coffee, though with different variations. ZhuEn's was the most interesting: affogato. Seems that someone really like affogato since our Malacca trip. Next, we went to the 3D art gallery nearby. It is a very standard kind of tourist attraction where pictures taken by the camera will appear 3D. We spent about an hour inside taking pictures for each other. Perhaps the most interesting picture was this one...

Somehow, my camera was able to capture the luminescence from the glowing whale. It wasn't exactly 3D, but it is pretty. This isn't the best 3D photo gallery I have been to, but it was still fun nonetheless. After that, we went to check into the chalet above sea water: Avillion Resort, Port Dickson. We also met up with ZhuEn's relatives, Sister Niu, Uncle Yi and their baby children. There, ZhuEn and I stayed in the premium water chalet, which boasts awesome sea views. When we arrived, it was low tide however. ZhuHan bought swimming costume there and brought the babies down to play in the pool. I brought ZhuEn for the evening cocktail, which also coincidentally turned out to be at the circular sofas that she was looking for. We ordered 3 cocktails and 1 mocktail, which was complimentary with the booking of the premium water chalet, and enjoyed them at the circular sofas in the sunset. It made a very calming, peaceful, and slightly romantic scene if not for the other people around us...

At night, we drove out to have seafood, since Port Dickson is famous for its seafood. We ordered prawns, fish, crabs, squid and some vegetables. Turns out the seafood was average. I like the salted egg crabs though. It came with 2 hammers for us to break the shell! We then returned to rest for the night.

3 February 2017, Sunny and Rain, Port Dickson > Genting Highlands

We woke up at about seven. After a quick shower, we went around the chalet for some beautiful pictures of the place. The babies were also allowed to play a little at the beach. After that, we went to have breakfast in the chalet. It was good, the spread was large and it was actually yummy. We then went back to our chalet and packed up to leave. Not wanting to leave this paradise, we stopped for one last picture, flower among flowers.

Our next destination was Genting Highlands. I have visited this place many times with my family, but it was always via long distance coach and the journey always started from Singapore. This time, we are actually driving ourselves up. It was free and easy, and it was a good new experience. We stopped midway up the mountain for a pleasant lunch at a local ZhiChar stall. We ordered big head prawns, but I think they overcooked it a little. ZhuEn was sure to snatch the bill and paid it with my money, which was a good move. We reached Genting at about 3 PM. The others were very tired and took a nap after checking into the hotel, however, ZhuEn and I found the energy to walk around and explore the place together.

It really brings back memories of events that happened the last time I came here, 6 years ago. I cannot imagine this time, I am coming here with my girlfriend. It feels totally different. There is now a newly opened section, called the Sky Avenue, so this was something that we were quite excited about. We walked around, found a rainbow when we went out for some fresh cold air. We then went back and ate some GuiLingGao, and then played some arcade together. At about 7, we met up with the rest and had dinner at an expensive place. Food was pretty good. The most interesting item was the cod. It was extremely well prepared, but came with thousand island sauce, which we all thought was a funny combination. We then went to bowl. It was the glow in the dark bowl in First World Hotel. The machine was quite faulty and counted wrongly many times, but we still had a lot of fun there. After bowling, we went for a second round of arcade, this was when I tried to teach ZhuEn about the fun of shooting themed arcade games. Seems she did not really pick it up. After that, we went back to rest for the night.

4 February 2017, Cloudy and Rain, Genting Highlands > Chaah

We woke up pretty late in the morning. After a quick shower, we packed up and prepared to check out. We had to bring all our luggage to eat brunch, at Dragon-I, which was in the new building. We ordered quite a bit and had a hearty meal. We then went to buy Baskin Robbins ice cream and Llao Llao ice cream yoghurt and sat down while we waited for Uncle Yi to 'do his final battle'. After that, we descended the mountain. We stopped by just below the cloud level to take some last few pictures. It was a very happy moment although the holidays are ending.

We then smoothly descended the mountain, with ZhuHan taking the wheel again, because she knows how to use engine brake efficiently. After that, I took over and drove all the way down to a small town south of Tangkak. Apparently, I drove too quickly and made some rash decisions along the way. Dinner in the small town was excellent. Their signature steamed fish was really very yummy. We had a very good meal at an economical price. Her mum then drove us home since night fell. It was a dangerous drive since it was raining. Along the way, I observed that there was fog just above the road. This was a very rare phenomena in the tropics, It made it extremely difficult to see the road. Finally, we arrived at ZhuEn's home, and that was the end of our short but eventful trip.