Macau the Beautiful...

Took time out last night to do what I enjoy doing...
That is, night photography...
And Macau offers lots of opportunity to do just that...


What's a trip to Macau without coming to the Senado Square?
At the entrance to the Square, a charming looking building and fountain offers solace for locals and visitors alike...


The rain came suddenly and people darted about briefly...
Still, the Square was a nice place to just hang around...


The Ruins of St. Paul's, sitting pretty in the evening lights...


The Grand Lisbao by night, from the 'other' side...

Tonight is my last night here...
Have had a marvellous time attending the conference and meeting loads of wonderful, new friends...

A big bonus was, I accidentally bumped into a former student of my university... so pleasantly surprised...

Shall be checking out of the Royal Hotel tomorrow morning and heading to the Ferry Terminal to go to Hong Kong Airport...
If all goes well, I shall be reaching home at past midnight...

Long day ahead...

Typhoon at Macau

Hmm, due to Typhoon ‘Hagupit’ scraping past Macau, the conference program for today was cancelled.

The typhoon had left trees uprooted, scaffoldings at construction sites ripped off, and at some streets, floods.

With some unexpected free time on my hands, the curious side of me decided to check out what the fuss was all about with this place called the Venetian Macau.

The place is touted to be the biggest casino in the world. It is designed to blend the ‘charm of Venice and the glamour of Las Vegas’ with the ‘mystic of Asia’.

However, for the non-gambler in me, this trip seems to reaffirm the dislike I have for this type of institution.

In less than half an hour after walking into this grotesque complex, I felt an irresistible urge to flee.

It is late afternoon now, and the skies are still gray.

I am wondering if I should take a risk and walk to the Senado Square and the Ruins of St. Paul.

Macau, Round three...

Am quite thrilled to be here in Macau again...
I first came here in the early 1980s and then again in 2003...
Macau is World Heritage material... she has about 25 buildings and sites that are deemed to have cultural and historic significance...

Could have flown directly from Kansai into Macau International...
But I am an ANA fan, and I wanted to go through Hong Kong for fun’s sake...
I had expected to take the airport bus from Hong Kong International to the ferry terminal at Sheung Wan near Central...
But was too happy to see that they did the logical...
Passengers bound for Macau can now purchase their ferry tickets at Hong Kong International and they need not go all the way to Sheung Wan or Tsim Sha Tsui just to take the ferry...
Passengers can now conveniently transfer to the newly built pier at the airport itself for the 50 minute ferry ride to Macau...

I am here for a conference on higher education...
Am excited about it as this is the first experience for me to present a paper at a UNESCO-organized conference...
Am also enthusiastic at the prospects of meeting some Malaysian scholars there as well...

I had chosen to stay at the Royal Hotel which is quietly nestled among residential properties...
The hotel is located on a gentle slope near the Guia Hill... so I get to enjoy a bird’s eye view of the city and the hills at the background...


The old and the new, side by side...


As one blog says, old and decaying buildings...

Am feeling very comfortable now at Room 1621...
They had upgraded me to the Premier Room and, hmmm, nice... really nice...
Cozy carpets, big TV, huge King size solid bed, four huge really comfy pillows, marbled floor bathroom...
Wherever I travel to, I like to seek out places where locals eat...Last night, I dined on fish, tofu, and vegetables at a little shop a stone’s throw away...
I admit that my ability to speak Chinese, be it Cantonese or whatever, is horrendous...Hokkien is passable, and Bahasa (while in Bali, for example) is not a problem... but, Chinese? Urgggh...

Still, with fingers pointing at Chinese characters on the menu, I managed to go un-starved...
Ok, shall now head to the Ferry Terminal to check out the maps at the Tourist Center...
Although central Macau is very compact and small, the heat is stifling...
Am not so keen to have my armpits sweating by walking around the streets...
So, might consider renting a ‘moke’ (small, jeep-like vehicle) to cruise around the territory...

Pakatan Rakyat or UMNO?

Over here in Japan, we got to enjoy a three-day holiday over the last weekend… wooh…

I have decided for the time being, that weekends for me are ‘off-line’… no internet, no emails…

Weekends are to be enjoyed gardening, to be with my suweeto-haato, breathing the fresh air, listening to the birds chirping, and gazing at the ships passing by…

But utter disgust got the better of me as news pages unfolded on 16th Tuesday…

After Raja Petra, MP Teresa Kok and Sin Chew Daily reporter Tan Hoon Cheng (released shortly after) arrested under the ISA?

Man, this is getting more and more ridiculous…

Come to think of it, the political situation has pretty much boiled down to a contest between UMNO the villains and Pakatan Rakyat the savior…

Current and past events have shown that UMNO is clearly stepping off its limits… and way too far at that…

UMNO is harassing the people as it becomes imminent that it is going to be sacked by the people…

It is becoming obvious that the thuggish party UMNO is no longer fit to lead, and is not able to work for the people…

Several commentators suggest that Pakatan Rakyat should not take over the federal government through the help of politicians jumping ship… it is not morally right, they say…

These folks further propose that Pakatan should focus on doing a good job managing the five states they currently control and wait for the next general election to obtain the mandate of the people…

Well and fine, but I think we do not have the luxury of waiting until the next election…

UMNO is going berserk and it is desperate to maintain power…it is clinging on to straws to do just that…

And I do not rule out the possibility of UMNO using the military and the police to muscle itself into justifying its actions…

I think the UMNO minnows must be feeling pretty scared lately… scared of People Power that has already ditched a dictatorship or two in our neighboring countries…

It is happening now, here at our home…

Pakatan is reported to have approached UMNO, requesting for a peaceful transition of change of power…

I hope good sense prevail although we can never know what the UMNO scumbags would do…

Pakatan Rakyat, multi-racial and fighting for justice, for Malaysians…

Or UMNO, narrow-minded, arrogant, racist, chauvinistic…

Now, is there really any contest?

Rooting for Raja Petra

Update: 10th March 2013... just in case, I have long ago given up on this individual... he is a turncoat and is not worthy of support any longer...  I rest my case...

*******  **********  ***********

I thought I was the one going haywire...

Just read in the news that Raja Petra of Malaysia Today was arrested under the draconian Internal Security Act...

The government under Barisan Nasional is clearly going haywire... it is disintegrating...

If Raja Petra is telling lies under the Malaysia Today banner, why fear?

If he is lying, sue the lights out of him...

Use the court of law, but not some old out-of-place evil tool devised by the British colonists ages ago for another purpose...

As many have said, an UMNO stooge blurts out racial slurs and remains unrepentant despite uproars from Malaysians from all walks of life...

He gets three miserable years of suspension from UMNO membership... big deal...

I have a good friend, a Malaccan baba...

His family speaks Malay at home...

He talks to the chinese contractor in Malay...

And that UMNO stooge calls him a 'penumpang'?

Sheeesh... this is unforgivable...

Pakatan Rakyat just announced that the September 16 plan is off course...

I say, off course for now...

I still look forward to the day when we can throw these scoundrels to the pits...

In Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party is also fighting for its life...

Although I have no voting rights here, I am cheering for the Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition party, to give the LDP the boot...

As with Malaysia, we need to change the cook as many people are getting sick of eating the same fried chicken year in and year out...

As for the sickening UMNO and her Barisan partners, it is way over time that they get a big fat kick on the butt...

In closing, I say to the reckless Malaysian government... FREE THAT MAN, and for that matter all the others put to jail through the damned ISA...

Ok, back to work... serious...