Fourth Tallest - Sky100

Sky100 is currently the fourth tallest building in the world and is the highest indoor observation deck in Hong Kong.  How many of the following buildings have you visited?  (Click on the photo to enlarge)

It was a lucky coincidence that my cousin and I decided to go on a Wednesday, because admission price is buy one get one free if you go with a Hong Kong resident before 8PM on Wednesday.

View from the 100th floor.

Visibility wasn't great that day, but we were aware of it.  The ticketing agent pointed out to us the screen that shows the live time video feed of the viewing conditions from the observation deck prior to our ticket purchase.  We decided to go check it out anyway.  It turned out to be a fun experience, because besides the panoramic view, there are Chinese new year themed stations set up for visitors to take photos in.

The observation deck also has a cafe that serves one of my favorite treats. nom nom nom

TingTinging out!  Thank you for visiting!

Portuguese Egg Tart

From Hong Kong, there are ferry services to Macau (澳門) every 30 minutes.  According to Wikipedia, Macau was a Portuguese colony in 1887 and is both the first and last European colony in China.  Due to the colonization, the architecture in Macau consists of a blend of Portuguese and Chinese art form.

Aside from visiting casinos and catching the various free shows at the hotels, I had to visit the ruins of St. Paul's cathedral as pictured below.  Macau's Portuguese egg tart (another example of a blend of Portuguese and Chinese culture?) and pork chop buns are also a must try! nom nom nom

Interesting fact:  Macau has the second highest life expectancy in the world.

Seized

Opsies #1

Being the year of the dragon, I bought a box of candy shaped like little dragons. Or so I thought. When I opened the box purchased, unlike the box displayed in the store, I find these cute little puppy eyes looking at me! I guess I don't miss the dragons that much after all.

Opsies #2

US customs confiscated my crispy pork jerky!  Jerkys are considered a meat item and are not allowed in the states.  *sad face*  Maybe I should of showed the custom officer the above puppy faces...

However, the following made it through customs and my friends could feast on these instead:

Thank you for visiting!

Year of the Dragon

Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous year of the dragon!

 行運一條龍!

Everyone was out and about in Hong Kong getting ready for the new year:

Below are some photos from the new year markets selling new year related products such as flowers and ornaments.  It is a tradition to visit these markets before new years for luck.

I converted my Christmas tree into a Chinese New Year tree! (^__^)Y

I am lucky to have been able to have a reunion dinner with my long distance relatives this year.  I want to thank them for their hospitality during my visit.  I had a wonderful time!  

祝大家新年快樂! 

Moving on Up!

The view from the seventh floor no longer applies!  Last night apparently a water pipe broke on the eight floor right above my hotel room and water started to leak from the ceiling.  I had to pack all my stuff and relocate to another room.

The view from the eleventh floor isn't any better than the seventh floor... and there are constructioning going on on this side of the building so it's really noisy in the morning!

Management sent a young man to help move my things.  After he grabbed my luggages and canvas bags, he proceeded to lead me to the new room.  However, I had to break the news to him that I still have more things to be carried.  He did a pretty impressive job juggling my stuff.

My traveling buddy was hoping that we would get upgraded to the presidential suite.  But instead, the hotel is compensating all this TingTinging about so late at night by offering late checkout since I have an evening flight going home.  

Decipher the Code

Can you tell which part of the globe I am at by the following photos?

Banquet:

Roasted suckling pig

Dinner:

Snacks:

Fish balls

Siu mai & meat balls

Seventh Floor

The view from the hotel

Can you guess where I'm TingTinging about?

Flight Gear

Next time when you are dressing for a long flight, consider the following:

-        Avoid clothing with studs/metal as they could potentially set off the metal detector.

-        If you have long hair, bring a hair tie!  From experience, it gets static-ky on the plane and tying my hair down helps manage the icky static feeling.

-        Wear comfortable clothes!  Remember that you will be sitting for a long period of time, so it is important to not wear anything too tight that may cause discomfort.

-        The quickest way to adapt to the varied temperature in the plane is to dress in layers. 

-        Bring or wear a comfy pair of socks to keep your feet warm.

-        Bring a small bottle of lotion to moisturize as the air in the plane cabin could be dry.

-        Footwear! Wearing shoes that are easy to slip on and off would not only speed up the security check line, it also makes your life easier when you are putting your shoes on to use the restroom on the plane.  (The leg space on airplanes might be limited and you might not have enough space to bend down to fiddle with shoe laces or straps.)

I recently purchased a pair of TOMS recommended by a coworker because of the arch support.  I would image that TingTinging about and around the terminals sporting the canvas shoes would make both your fellow passengers and feet happy.

Good to know: To prevent your feel from swelling on a long plane ride, get up and stretch your legs and walk around about once an hour.

Zen Packing

Preparing for a trip could be stressful.  The following are some packing tips:

1)   Do your laundry early to avoid having to rush at the last minute.

2)      Make a list of emergency contacts, address of the places you would be staying at, and a copy of your identifications. (Consider saving the contacts and travel information in your e-mail so that you could still have access to them in case you lose the physical copy.)

3)      Pack your toiletries in ziplock bags to prevent messes caused by spills.

4)      To decrease the probability of forgeting something, make a list of things you need to pack and check off the items as you pack them.

5)      Check the weather forecast of the places you are visiting so that you could plan accordingly.  

      My upcoming vacation destination’s weather forecast notes that there are slight chances of tingtinging - I mean drizzle.  I better bring my umbrella and boots to keep dry!

Good to know: Gel-filled bras are permitted through security screening and aboard aircraft.

TingTinging's Debut!

Hello everyone! I am excited to be writing my first blog post.  I was disappointed that the blog name "joyceee" was taken.  However, don't you think that "TingTinging" is much catchier?

I will be traveling overseas soon and was looking for something to carry my DSLR camera in in style.  One evening, since I was too early for a dinner date, I went purse browsing and fell in love with a Steve Maddens bag.  Eager to share my purchase, I started texting a friend as I was walking back to my car and misjudged stepping down a curb. Luckily I had caught my balance in time, but not soon enough because a guy nearby had saw my stumble and called it a close one.  Indeed it was!

Here I share my TingTingings with you, my new adventure purse:

Thanks for visiting!