Two segregated cultures

While walking down the street, it almost felt like I was constantly bouncing two different worlds back and forth. One world with old Chinese people with their markets, electric equipment stores and outdoor food stalls, and another world with tourists attractions and fancy restaurants. Those two exist at the same place, but dodn’t mix well together. I imagined Macau as similar as Hong Kong; they both have European and Chinese influences and are bilingual countries. However the segregation in Macau was bigger than Hong Kong. It felt more extreme.

Back street of Macau

Cuisine

Macanese cuisine is not world’s favourite, but you won’t forget the delightful taste once you have it. It is a mixture of Cantonese and Portuguese and they create some pretty good stuff. For starters, custard tart (egg tart) is widely available in every corner of Macau. Portuguese chicken jumped high on my ‘favourite food’ list. Try to taste it from different bakeries. HK$1.5 one was excellent, but the one I paid HK$8 deserved the price. Also they surely know how to make a good quality coffee.
 

Portuguese Chicken in Macau

Casino

As the nickname ‘Las Vegas of Asia’ indicates, casino is a big part of Macau. There are 23 casinos around the islands, and no need to sit and play if you don’t want to. Casinos are clean, well managed, and actually pleasant. No smoking inside, no loud noise, and the decor was fancy. They even run free shuttles to the border gate and to the airport. It’s free for everyone, so use it if you are around.
 

Casinos in Macau

Currency

Do you know what kind of currency they use in Macau? Neither did I until I arrived here. Patacas, have you ever heard of such name, Patacas? Funny thing is, if you are coming or visiting from Hong Kong, you don’t need to bother exchange money because it considers as the same as patachas. Quite strange, using other country’s currency. But it’s a good change if you collect foreign money, because it is certainly a rare currency for sure.

Patacas

Location, location, location

Macau is a good place to break your trip from/to Hong Kong or China. It is an interesting place to travel of course, and because of the location between Hong Kong and China, the border crossing to either country is easy. Just an hour of sailing to Macau was a delight. I was with TurboJET, and the boat ride was way beyond what I was expecting. While busy eating complementary breakfast on the leather seat, and drinking coffee with the newspaper, we were already in Macau. I think this was the very first time I wish the boat ride was longer than it was supposed to be.

After two days of exploring, I entered China. I’d never thought of the day I cross the Chinese border by foot but I did. It appeared to be a lot of people are commuting across the border, due to the amount of people at the custom. If you can walk between two countries, I guess it is doable.

I thought about a day trip to Macau when I was in Hong Kong, but I decided cross the Chinese border through Macau since I’m going there anyway, and it looked like Macau deserves more than a day trip, and it was true.
 

On the way to Macau with Premier Grand

No English

Don’t expect to use English in Macau. All the signs are bilingual but Chinese and Portuguese. It’s easy to think Macau would be similar with Hong Kong due to the geometric and cultural similarity but no. In Hong Kong, lots of people are using English and Cantonese but seem like Macanese use only Cantonese or Portuguese. I survived with my ability to read and guess Chinese letter and few Portuguese I can recognize. Oddly enough, I didn’t meet anyone who speaks Portuguese.

English sign is rare in Macau

Rice terraces are all around Yunnan Province, and Yuanyang is a good place to start. Yuanyang is divided into two: Nansha and Xinjie and we based ourselves in Xinjie for three days. The journey from Jianshui to Xinjie wasn’t easy but not difficult. The bus got us off at Nansha and we took a town bus to Xinjie from there. Xinjie is basically a town for tourists and shopping for people from nearby villages. I’ve never seen that much different kind of minority village people at one place. It was extremely hectic under the daylight and it got quickly calming down at night.

People say the best time to visit the rice terrace is winter, right after a heavy rain. Luckily, we landed in Xinjie on a very sunny day, and it was foggy and rainy the next day. The third day, sunshine on our back, we started our journey to see rice terraces. There are few ways to look around the neighbourhood: rent a minivan, take a town bus, and walk. Be aware, you have to pay to get in some villages. We walked to Longshaba, a nearby town. Just like the guidebook described, it was all flooded and the sunshines are bouncing off the water at sunset.

We walked on the rice terraces for hours. Some farmers gardening their field with their water buffalos and cleaning out the paths. There was an absolute tranquility.

It was extremely difficult to select these photos among 423 photos I took this day, but here we are, photos from Yuanyang Rice Terraces.

While we were having a hard time in Yangshuo, it was even hard to find a place to eat. All the restaurants in town seem like aiming for the big tourist groups, and they didn’t look like having ‘local cuisine’ as they clammed to. Well, it got better eventually. It was just a matter of know where to go and what to eat.

Over the second last dinner in Yangshuo, we decided to have ‘Beer Fish’ the next day. Beer Fish is Yangshuo’s cuisine that cooked with fresh Li River fish and Liquian (local) beer. And no doubt, the most popular dish here. We were at a new claypot restaurant, and like meant to be, we met Harry. Harry was the first English speaking Chinese people we met. He said he knows what Westerners like, because he worked at an Australian restaurant in Shenzhen for 7 years. And he said he doesn’t use MSG, and we were extremely happy to hear that. We asked if he knows any good place to eat beer fish and what do you know? It was on he’s menu. He agreed to film the cooking process, and we promised to come back with our cameras, and we did.

Stephen and I observed the whole process of cooking beerfish and filmed it. Thanks to Harry for letting us follow you around. Good luck with your new business!

Now, let’s watch the video, and learn how to.
 

 
 

I don’t call it ‘Chinese New Year’. Koreans call the New Year’s Day by lunar calendar ‘Old New Year’ because that’s what their ancestors celebrated. So that, this is my holiday as well. If I were at my home country, what would I do right now? Making mandoo (Korean style dumpling) for three days, preparing holiday food with my mum and eating dduckguk (rice cake soup) for New Year’s Day tradition. That’s why how I can charm people with my cooking skill – trained for a long time with holiday cooking. Or, I would travel – because new year’s day is the longest holiday as a office worker; 3 days. Glad I’m not anymore.

Anyway, today is their New Year’s Day. For the past few days I’ve been staying in Jianshui, Yunnan, I had a chance to see how Chinese are celebrating their the biggest holiday. It involves with a lot – I mean A LOT of fireworks, putting flowers on the street, setting up red lanterns and red and decorating red-yellow ribbons everywhere. And the fireworks peak at midnight.

The strange thing was, they’ve been preparing the celebration for a long time, and magically everything shuts down at New Year’s Eve. No cars, no people, no shops, only Chinese teenagers with fireworks on the street. And the following morning, the New Year’s Day, everyone is on the street, celebrating with their family. The night before was like the calm before the storm. The change was quick and surprising. Though, it’s nice to see people are keeping the tradition and celebrating it with their family.

Here are some photos of how people are celebrating Chinese New Year in Jianshui, Yunnan Province, China. 新年快樂!

setting up fireworks for Chinese New Year

Red bow for Chinese New Year

Red lanterns at Confucian temple

Decoration for Chinese New Year

Flowers for Chinese New Year

Celebratory flag

All shops are closed for Chinese New Year's Eve

A big incent to burn for Chinese New Year

Hanging Ornaments for Good Luck

People are dancing at Chaoyang Gate square

A shop for Chinese New Year celebration

Setting up red bow at Zhu's garden

Chinese New Year at Confucian Temple

Fireworks are the must

Fireworks Leftover

Red lanterns for Chinese New Year at Zianshui, Yunnan

Floating lantern for Chinese New Year

Red bow from Confucian temple

Zhu's garden at night with celebrating lantern and the trail of floating lantern in the sky

Hong Kong, one of the most beloved destination among travelers, indeed has lots of titles. Hong Kong is China but under different political system, is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, and  is one of the world’s leading international financial centres. There are much more titles we can name about Hong Kong, but I will introduce five ‘the world’s best’ that you’ll meet as a traveler.

World’s longest indoor elevator

Central-Mid level escalator Hong Kong

In Central Hong Kong, you’ll see the sign says ‘elevator’ and people often guide you to ‘take the elevator’ to get to somewhere. What is so special about the elevator? Because this is world’s longest indoor elevator and it is crossing the whole central area of Hong Kong Island. Get on and get off, wherever you are. It’s going down until 10:30am, and it’s going up rest of the time, till midnight. What a great system!

World’s highest hotel & Highest bar

ICC tower Photo: AraiGodai from Flickr

In ICC, world’s 3rd highest building, there’s world’s highest bar. The bar belongs to Liz Carlton Hong Kong Hotel and it’s even higher than the observation deck. There’s the trick: don’t pay for the observation deck, just go up to the hotel bar. That’s what I did. The view is great. ICC building is located on Kowloon side and because of its height, you’ll see the entire victoria harbour and Kowloon. Have a drink or two with the view. The price for lunch and drink is fairly reasonable for the bar with this view.

World’s longest laser show

Hong Kong Skyline from Kowloon side

Every night 8pm sharp, world’s most vertical city gets busy. A symphony of lights, the world’s longest laser show is about to begin. The best spot to enjoy the show, the Avenue of Stars on Kowloon side, become one big theatre. All the big buildings are decorated with neon, and it gets more active when the show begins. It is one of the cliché you have to do when you visit Hong Kong.

World’s largest sitting Buddha

Back of Big Buddha

Tian Tan Buddha Statue is the World’s largest, seated, outdoor, bronze Buddha. It’s in Ngong Ping village on Lantau Island, and you can visit the area by Asia’s biggest cableway. You can also hike to the village. This Buddha statue can be seen in the cable car, even from afar. Not just because this is the world’s largest, with Po Lin Monastery and few walking passes like Wisdom path, the area is peaceful. And you’ll see lots of people praying near Buddha.

World’s best airport

Hong Kong Airport Express

If you ever pass through Hong Kong airport, you can’t argue with that. They are efficient, clean, and fast. It will only take 15 minutes to get out of the arrival gate if you don’t have any problems with the custom. Your baggage will be right there as soon as you walked out from the custom. Along with Chingi Airport in Singapore, no doubt, Hong Kong airport is one of the most beloved airports by travelers.

Macau, also known as Macao, is one of the two special administrative regions of the People’s Republic of China along with Hong Kong. It is popular for a day trip for Hong Kong tourists, but also it is a good place to explore for few days. Macau has lots of different aspects that worth to travel. I traveled Macau for two and a half days while I was on my way to China. During the time, I tried to capture the different sides of Macau.
 

There are two main rivers near Yangshuo: the Yulong river and the famous Li River. Both are famous for its dramatic scenery and one of the best ways to enjoy the scenery is riding a bike. All the roads are pretty well managed to ride a bike. Not just for tourists, it is one of the major transportation systems for people who live here.

Dragon Bridge is one of the most highly recommended routes to people who want to cycle around Yulong River from Yangshuo. It’s about 21km round trip, and no elevation change. We rent a bike (City bike-10yuan, Mountain bike-20yuan) and pedaling our way to Yulong River. The sky was hazy just like our everyday in Yangshuo, but it seemed little bit better than last few days.

On the way to Yulong River, near Jima

The view is great on either side, but in order to enjoy Yulong River on both sides, it’s better to cross the river before reach Dragon Bridge. You can cross the river by one of the countless bamboo rafts all over the river, but only if you can bare the hassle between bamboo rafters. We crossed by a small bridge right after Jima zhen (Jima town).

Crossing Yulong River

Parts of the roads were well paved and even country roads were comfortable for a bike ride. It’s not easy to find the right path to Dragon Bridge, but also it’s not easy to get lost. Just remember where is the river and which side you are on. The whole journey took about 5 hours but we did some detour.

It was a pleasant day. Good weather, considering everyday was damp and misty, better visibility than most of the days we’ve been here and relatively warm weather. The thing about Yangshuo is that it is a charming town but if you want to feel the beauty of this city, you need to get out of the town. Hiking, biking, walking or even cruising, there are several ways to look around the area. For biking, Yangshuo is biker friendly. Cheap bike rental places are all over the city.

After few more days and more outdoorsy activities, Yangshuo was growing on me. Still, all the photos are hazy and I didn’t see the shiny days like I was expected, it was good enough to enjoy the day, relatively. Maybe because previous few days were extremely cold and damp. If you are wondering about my first impression about China or Yangshuo, read this article: What’s going on China? – The First impression of China or Yangshuo.

The view of Yulong River on Dragon Bridge

Dragon Bridge from west side of Yulong River

Remember a few things for biking in China

Don’t be fooled by sweet-old Chinese guy who leads your way. There’s a high chance that he’s one of the bamboo boat drivers or he will try to sell you something.

There’s no rule for driving in China, or at least it appears to be. No matter what they’re driving, they will go anywhere and whenever they want. Don’t trust stop sign and streetlights, which mean nothing. Look around and be aware of vehicles around you. That’s the best way to do it.

Biking to Yulong River

It’s been almost a week since I walked over to China. Stayed overnight at Zhuhai, Guangdong and now it’s been four days at Yangshuo, Guangxi. There were many reasons why I choose to travel China from the beginning but I can’t say I’m glad I’m here just yet. Well, the scenery is more than I was expected. I’ve never seen just a dramatic scene before. Still I have few more months to go and plenty more places to travel. It will be interesting to see other parts of China – preferably less touristy places.

Here are some of the quirks I found in China, or just in Yangshuo.

Bank opens 7 days a week

We needed to exchange money. It was 4:30 pm and we didn’t bring our passports. Bank was about to close and it was Saturday. Our conversation went like this:

“Does bank open tomorrow?”

“Well, in common sense I would say no, but it’s China so who knows?”

We went back to the hostel and asked the manager where is the nearest money exchanger. Of course, only bank does the job and it was already 5pm. So we asked, doubtfully, “Does bank open tomorrow, on Sunday?” and what do you know? She said Yes. Yes, people, Chinese bank works on Sunday.

China is not a place for tea

I thought Chinese people think tea same as water. In Hong Kong and Macau, it was normal thing, a teapot on the table, hot or cold. But apparently it’s not a courtesy anymore in China. Or again, maybe just in Yangshuo. They want to charge 20 yuan for a pot of tea, and we even met a restaurant owner who looked at us like we have four heads when we asked for hot tea in a pot. Tea is one of the reasons why I wanted to travel China, and hot tea is an important part of everyday life. I thought Chinese people are the same way. What’s going on?

Universal plug system

I didn’t bring travel power plug. I bought a little one in Hong Kong and planned to buy one in China, since everything is cheap in China. But no need. Few places I’ve been so far in China had universal plug. It was a surprise.

No bargain

China is not a place for bargain, at least Yangshuo isn’t. It almost feels like they take this as an insult. Everytime we tried to cut the price (I mean, 65 yuan -11 USD for a pair of glove, really?), the vendors just walked away, shook their head, shouting “No bargain!”. I thought we supposed to bargain for a third of price in China.

Think twice: Is it fake?

There was a warning in Macau, that we shouldn’t buy cigarette outside of the duty free shop in Zhuhai, where the Chinese border located. The reason why? Those cigarettes are fake. Is it even possible to make a fake cigarettes?  I didn’t know that. It’s China, the home of everything. Then I saw the shop in Yangshuo – Kentucky Fried Chicken lady?!

Road crossing is a challenge

Don’t bother with the street light and cross walk. Trust your own eyes, and cross when you see the opportunity. Few years back when I traveled Beijing, this surprised me, big time. It was right after Beijing nominated for winter Olympic, so I thought it must be more developed than I thought but no. Seems like more than 90 percentage of people don’t care about the street light. So, hold your breath and run through the cars and scooters!

Electric bicycle: goodness or evil

I have a strong negative feeling toward electric bikes in China. If I’m in different place I would be impressed by them but not in China where the red light doesn’t mean anything to anybody. The biggest fear: they don’t generate sound. Cars and scooters, I can escape since they make noise but not these electric automobiles. I know it’s good for environment, but I just hope they care little bit more.

Simplified Chinese

I did pretty well in Hong Kong and Macau. I don’t speak Mandarin or Cantonese, but I can read chinese characters due to the concentrated education system in Korea and Korea and China’s complex history together. I could point out things I wanted and communicated with people by wrote down simple letters.

However as soon as I entered China after Macau, the signs became noticeably difficult to read. Then I realized that it’s the simplified letters. I knew Chinese are using simplified one in conversation or writing, but didn’t know they use it in official signs.

Well, China. We have a long way to go. I like how you look. Looking forward to have more delightful days in China!

Me, on the top of Moon Hill, near Yangshuo, Guangxi, China.
 

Dine in Hong Kong, what a joyful time, every single day.

Dim Sum, I knew that. But I didn’t think Hong Kong as a culinary getaway destination – other than Dim Sum, but it was, totally was. During about a month I traveled Hong Kong, I tasted different meal every day, found new places and stumbled upon ramdon food stalls. Price was reasonable. I was little bit intimidated by the food price at first, but I found lots of options and broad choices within reasonable range of price. From HKD11 to HKD120, from street food to cooked food market, the range was wide. But I usually sat down an alleyway with HKD16 beef noodle with a cup of milk tea.
Here, photos of food I had in Hong Kong. I’m sorry in advance, to make you hungry. Enjoy!

Table full of Dim Sum

Rolled Rice Noodle with Sesame Sauce

Chinese Bakery

Beijing Style Dumpling

Prawn Dim Sum

Beijing Style Beef Noodle

Won Ton Noodle

Rice Noodle Dimsum

Beijing Style Minced Spiced Pork Noodle

Rice Cooked in Lotus Leaf with Duck Sauce

Shrimp with Garlic Sauce

Coconut Tart at Chinese Bakery

Rice with Seasoned Beef

Hainan Chicken Rice

Pecking Duck and Rice

Thai Style Mixed Vegetables

Chicken and Duck Rice

Deep Fried Fish Skin

Bok Choy and Oyster Sauce

Shanghai Style Dumpling

Beef Noodle and Wonton Noodle

Spurge a little... Sushi in Hong Kong

Dim Sum with egg

Hot Pot in Hong Kong

Eggplant Clay pot

Steamed Fish with Rice

Char siu with fried egg

The year 2011 was a year of everything. Just like I said in the previous post, it was one hectic year, and I’m having a good ending. I thought a photo essay will be a great way to sum up my year. From here and there, personal changes and travels, here is my story. Let the photos speak for me. I linked related articles for your convenience. I knew you want to read more about it. Have a great New Year’s Eve!
 
 
Hwaumsa Temple stay, Korea
 

 
 
Island Hiking, Geomundo, Korea
 

 
 
Wat Arun, Bangkok, Thailand
 

 
 
Palau Mamutik, Borneo, Malaysia
 

 
 
Sunset in Kota Kinabalu waterfront, Borneo, Malaysia
 

 
 
Laksa, Borneo, Malaysia
 

 
 
What I call, the face of a career breaker
 

 
 
From a camping trip with Katie Tibbetts aka Breakaway Katie.
 

 
 
From the Road Trip USA. Picture taken at Northern New Hampshire.
 

 
 
Poutine, Quebec, Canada.
 

 
 
Hong Kong Skyline at night.
 

 
 
Dragon’s Back Hill Hiking Trail, at Big Wave Bay, Hong Kong
 

 
 

The year 2011 was very complicated. But it’s going great and I believe it’s heading toward the right way. I wish you all happy new year. See you next year!!!