Big Birthday Boy

For the past six months Shad has been constantly reminding me that I am 35 and he is only 34. Well, his time finally came last month and so now my dear husband is ALSO 35! We spent a relaxing day at home then the four of us went out for a cosy dinner at a neighbourhood Italian restaurant that night. These occasions have become all the more special now that we have two precious munchkins to share them with.

Earlier that morning Ryan bounded out of bed excitedly to get the birthday card he'd made, rushed into our room and threw himself on Shad. This year's card was very special because Ryan made it all by himself. I only provided the materials while he came up with the design and did all the drawing and pasting by himself. He gave it a lot of thought and knew exactly what he wanted to make, "a round spaceship with another circle on top and a big star in the middle". He also wrote the birthday message but ran out of space at the end so had to squeeze Mia's name in the tiny space above his own name.

Ryan's creation

A pair of cufflinks for Daddy - Ryan's pinky and Mia's thumb

Those little hands are so quick much to Daddy's and Koh-koh's amusement

And they went straight into the mouth (Daddy's head's cut off because Mama was not concentrating on the photo but rather wanting to get some tissues to clean Mia up asap!)

A very happy birthday boy

Stomach crunches - trying to get out to join in the fun

The lamb chops were delicious

Unfortunately the pasta didn't live up to its delectable description on the menu

"Smooth" Sailing

It's been a year since our last junk trip so a few weeks ago we chose a day with fine weather and hired a junk to enjoy a day out in the sunshine. Well, that's what we thought would happen anyway. How were we to know that a beautiful sunny day would later turn into one with fierce winds and heavy rain?!!

The day started off beautifully, clear skies, light breeze and plenty of sunshine. We boarded the junk at Central Pier then headed out to Sai Kung with my cousin's family. We stopped at High Island, a tiny island with one lone seafood restaurant for lunch. Initially we'd intended to go to Billionaire's beach (we were told that the sand there is super fine) which was just around the corner from where we were having lunch. But as we sailed past it on our way to lunch, there were already 18 junks anchored close to Billionaire's beach. And it was only 11am on a Monday! Don't people work??? I guess you could say the same about us then, har har. So we stopped at a smaller beach nearby instead.

Our "wheels" for the day

Enjoying the sea breeze on the upper deck

There's no such thing as personal space in Hong Kong!

A partially hidden Hong Kong skyline

An old coastal village

Rough seas as we sail into the open sea toward Sai Kung

The nausea starting to creep in

Thank goodness our pit stop wasn't too far away - Yau Ley restaurant on High Island

Digging into the fresh seafood

An ice treat to cool down

Is this a sign of things to come? ;)

Our sexy little girl with Wah Yee

Our transport to the beach

The trip back to Central was pretty rough. In less than an hour the weather went from sunny to overcast to stormy. Unbeknownst to us, the HK Observatory had issued the Typhoon 1 warning signal. The heavy rain made it extremely difficult for the skipper to read the waves and the strong wind made the sea horribly choppy. Poor Ryan who has never gotten seasick on all our previous boat trips was in tears telling us that his tummy was "pain pain", and Tania didn't fare much better either.

Chilling after our swim (and a nap for Mia)

The calm before the storm (right before we sailed into the tropical storm)

Sick as a dog, plastic bag all ready!

Hard to tell but it was raining cats and dogs by the time we got back to Central

It was one heck of a choppy ride, thanks to Typhoon Goni which swept by Hong Kong but thankfully we all made it back safely!

Casino Crawling

The last time we went to Macau, we came home several pounds heavier thanks to the "Deanna & Alex" culinary tour. We literally spent most of the day going from one place to the next, sampling a wide variety of Macanese cuisine. And all of them were delicious. With the memory of all that mouth watering dishes still strong in our minds, we decided to go on another foodie holiday.

Ryan was super excited about going on a ferry ride and even more excited about staying in a hotel. Our little boy has this thing about hotels, he absolutely loves them. Once when Shad asked him why he likes to stay at hotels, he said "because I get to sleep with you and Mama, I can draw on lots of paper and order room service." He loves hotels so much that two weeks ago as Shad was leaving to go to the airport on his way to Melbourne, Ryan gave him a kiss and said "Daddy don't forget ... (I thought he was going to say "buy me a toy") ... to order room service!"

This time since we were staying at the Venetian Resort, we took the Cotai Strip Ferry which docks very close to the hotel. The ferry left Hong Kong at 7.30pm and by 9pm we were already in the hotel room. Even on a Wednesday night, the place was bustling with people. The ads weren't lying, this entertainment/retail outlet/hotel/casino complex is humungous. Walking from the check-in area to the room itself took at least 10 minutes, and without a map we would probably have gotten lost.

High rollers on the way to the Venetian

A "mini" Venice

When we got to the room, we had a nice surprise because Shad had gotten us a room upgrade while checking in. The suite was extremely spacious, over 2,000+ sq ft of floor space. Unfortunately, the layout and design were terrible. We've stayed in many smaller hotel rooms which looked a hundred times more appealing.

A giant box of a room

We made "someone" very happy by having room service dinner that night

Ryan and Yee Chai in a food coma

The next morning we took a leisurely stroll through the historic centre. Thankfully since it was a weekday, we didn't have to contend with too many overbearing, pushy Chinese tourists so we took our time and stopped at the main attractions along the way up to the ruins of the Church of St Paul.

New meets old - Starbucks housed in one of the old heritage buldings

Big sis and little sis (vice versa when looking at height!)

Mia boleh!

These ancient craft shops still exist in Macau

Infront of the facade of the Church of St Paul

Our resident photographer and his willing model

View of the old city from the top of the Church of St Paul

See that green building? Mia and I spent a good half hour waiting in the small air-conditioned pharmacy "pretending" to look for something to buy while we waited for the others

After two hours of walking around in the scorching heat, we were all ready to head back to the hotel to chill out. Although I did suggest going to the famous "chi pah pow" (pork chop bun) stall to grab a snack first, unfortunately it was loudly vetoed by both Shad and Tania, and of course all Ryan wanted to do was to go back to the hotel and order room service!

Enjoying the outdoors under a (fake) perfect blue sky

Family pic Take 1...

Take 2... why is it so difficult to get the kids to smile at the same time??

Bollywood wannabes. Think the pole can pass off as a coconut tree??

Excited passengers with our Vegas imported gondolier

Our gondolier serenading us under the bridge. Ryan and Mia were most impressed, both kept turning around to stare at him!

We revisited Litoral for dinner that night and the food was still as good as the time we were there with Dee and Alex. The African chicken and the clam stew were both divine. Sorry no pictures here as we were all too busy digging into the food and forgot to take out the camera. Later that night, Tania and I left Shad on babysitting duties and went out to have a look around the Venetian casino as well as the Crown Hotel and Hard Rock Hotel which were just opposite the road. Both Tania and I thought that the Crown was a much nicer hotel, what it lacked in size it made up in style and atmosphere.

Frescoes at the Venetian

The Venetian at night

We spent the next morning relaxing in the pool before going to Fernando's for lunch. Fortunately since it was a Friday, we didn't have to wait in line for a table when we got there. And again, the food was excellent, just like we remembered it to be. Even after that enormous lunch, I still insisted that we had to stop by the famous Lord Stow's Bakery so that Tania (who loves this version of egg tarts) could taste some "real" Portugese egg tarts.

Daddy and his babies

Flying high

The oh so popular Fernando's Restaurant. Don't be fooled by its looks, on weekends there is a long long line of people waiting for a table even before it opens its doors.

And here's why. Those clams were amazing!

One very satisfied customer

Lord Stow's bakery - the man who invented the Portugese egg tart

They're reportedly as good as they look (so say Shad and Tania as I am not a big fan of these)

Our poor baby cried all the way home as soon as he found out we had to leave the hotel (and I mean ALL the way home, even after the ferry arrived in Hong Kong!)