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| A shot taken by me in 2011. |
I didn't know much about Macau tbh, in mandarin, people call Macau as 澳门 (ào mén), and so it sounded like a european country, but i was surprised to study that it was near to Hong Kong and is one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China. (AND I WAS LIKE WHUT???)
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| How can a place be so luxurious and beautiful?! |
And then later i also realised that Macau people speak Portuguese and Chinese (Cantonese), and do you know Portuguese is actually Macau's official language too?! Though i'm not fluent in Cantonese, but i look forward to improve it further if i'd ever get a chance to go to Macau. :)
How many more surprises could Macau bring? With the fusion of culture between Portuguese and Chinese, i am filled with awed in so many levels.
Back to the main question, what actually attracted me so much about Macau?
The first being the FOOD.
I'm a food person, seriously, although i've been on a healthy diet for 5 months now (Due to increase in weight gain since semester 1), i still enjoy food very much. Whenever i travel to other country and even other states in Malaysia, the first thing that i hunt for is, you guessed it right, FOOD. Because i have that mindset that if that place is famous for something, you can only taste the authentic flavor and the amazingness of that particular food from THAT place, for example, I'm from Klang, and i believe that Klang's Bah Kut Teh is the best! And the same applies to Penang Laksa and Char Kuey Teow. :) *Gosh i'm hungry already!*
And what's more exciting is that, Macau's food and cuisines is a blend between Southern Chinese and Portuguese! Many unique dishes resulted from spice blend attempt to replicate European dishes. Okay, i've definitely not tasted any European dishes before, and they have a term for Macau cuisine, it's called the Macanese dishes. How cute is that?!
Example of some Macanese dishes will be - Pastéis de nata , also known famously for the name Portuguese egg tart pastry.
*oh gosh, i kenot... i'm drooling all over my keyboard right now*
Previously i went to Ipoh, and the famous dim sum shop there is selling these Portuguese egg tart, and i've felt deeply in love since, developing strong sense of interest in tasting all different kinds of egg tarts from all over the world (if they're selling them of course), and i would definitely try out the Macanese version of egg tart. :P
There's also this dish called Pato de cabidela which is a Portuguese dish made with Poultry or rabbit cooked in it's own blood added with water and a bit of vinegar. The blood is captured when the animal is slaughtered. And the blood gives the dish a brown color to it. This is one of the most famous dish in Macau, have you ever eaten a meal cooked in blood?! ME NEITHER! And rabbit.... have you consume rabbit meat before? Neither do i.
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| source: google image |
And there's all other food like Minchi, Pork chop bun (did i mentioned that buns are also my favorite food?!), egg rolls, Portuguese seafood rice, Serradura, Prawn tartare, sweet pork jerky, black garlic chocolate and MORE according to CNN website. I've never heard of those food names IN MY LIFE.
I'm so hungry already just by looking at the photos and having an empty stomach. :(
Reason number 2 being, the beautiful landscape and tourist spot of Macau. I love photography, as you can see on my blog posts every time, i will always incorporate photographs for visual aids every time i write a new entry. Being a person who loves taking photographs, i've developed an interest on looking at things differently, and wanting to understand and capture different perspective and view of life and culture. Though not much sight seeing, but historical places had been my favorite. I love history. And Macau is full of wonderful and interesting histories!
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| source: google image |
The ruins' of St. Paul is one of them. I used to see my friends posting on facebook and other social media website posing in front of the church ruins. It was very beautiful and memorable. Being a catholic, going there would be like a pilgrimage journey for me, to understand better and more thoroughly about my own religion's history as the Cathedral used to be one of the largest Catholic churches in ASIA! *jaw drops* although the primary religion is Buddhism, Roman catholicism has considerable influence in education and social welfare in Macau.
Another place that attracts the tourists and me the most would be a place that i've seen in the famous movie called - boys over flowers. Filmed by Koreans.
There's a scene where Gu Jun Pyo went to Macau for business purposes and they filmed at a place called - The Venetian Macao. It was very romantic, and luxurious. That river especially, when you sit in the boat later did i know the term was Gondola, and there's the guy in front standing known as the Gondolier, and rowing the gondola singing loudly with what sounds like opera to me. How much more romantic can it get? And also, there's the world's largest Casino located there! EEEEEK!
And all this would be very satisfying to my eye and my camera :D I think i'll need 50 GB of memory space if i ever go to Macau. :P
And thirdly, i would really love to understand more of Macau's culture. The people, the language, the art, the temples, the religion, the music, the literature, everything! It's a whole new experience with who knows when i'll ever get the chance to experience in my life. YOLO right?
and not forgetting Macau most famous bungee jump from Macau tower which was visited by Runningman as well, and the bravest Song Jihyo actually jumped!!
Honestly, i wouldn't dare say i'm the bravest person to try this, it's human nature to be afraid of jumping off a building from THAT HEIGHT! But like i said, it's a once in a lifetime experience to be afraid, i mean, how long will i stay 18? YOLO is definitely the term for this.
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| That could be me :D |
This blog entry is for a contest hosted by Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO), therefore i am betting my luck to winning this 3D2N all expenses paid holiday.
Well, i think i eligible to win this contest because if i really got chosen to go for this amazing trip, it'd definitely take the stress off my shoulder from all the studying and assignments i've been having in my university life. It's time to shake those worries and bad thoughts off my head and shoulder and enjoy some care-free 3D2N at somewhere that is worth going.
Previously, i've also talked to my sister about traveling. I told her i'll definitely travel after i graduate, once i earned my income. And she told me, you'll never be able to start once you start working, because it's hard to take days off to go for vacation, best if you can go during your college life, or before you started working, and what she said are true. I should enjoy life, while i still can, after all, nobody knows what's really gonna happen the day after today right?
If i were to be chosen, that's another item off my bucket list. :)
And going to Macau, i've never thought of having the chance to go there, i mean, once in a lifetime experience, to gain some YOLO experience and even a bonus for pilgrimage, and also visiting so many places to increase my lack of knowledge for other culture and lifestyle practices? YES, PLEASE.
Besides, after knowing more about Macau, i can share what i know, and the information i get here with you! :) How awesome is that?
The most exciting thing about traveling to me, is to be able to photograph memories. I love taking pictures, i love recording down my life, writing it in my blog, in my journal, and share it with others. It gives me a sense of accomplishment and it gives me the reason to keep doing something different everyday, to bring change, to make better story, to share and to provide information if i can. :)
All of the above had i stated why i think i deserve to be chosen for this contest winner, to go to Macau, and i can only achieve them by the help of the organizers and Nuffnang.
Please do visit Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) for more news, events and further details, and also Nuffnang, that helped make this happen. :)
Thank you MGTO once again, and Nuffnang as well, for this golden opportunity to enter this contest to bid my luck for a chance to visit Macau.
