Riverwalk @ Macau Tower

Recently, we took Mum to Riverwalk at the Macau Tower for her birthday dinner.

It's supposed to be an Italian themed restaurant but every Saturday, the have a BBQ buffet dinner promo going on. The selling point would be the free flow of beer that they are serving with the buffet.

Started off with some appetizers. I'm not a big fan of salads so I just took a few pieces of stuffs that I think I might like. I got myself some dried cranberries, sun dried tomatoes, turkey, corn, scrimps, mushrooms, croutons and a piece of bread. Didn't enjoy my appetizers much...kinda wish it was sashimi or a hot dish.

This is Eric's appetizers. Obviously it looks more festive than mine. Lots of vege(yucks), I spot some olives and there's actually many cheeses to choose from.

We chose to sit outside eventhough it was super windy and a little on the cold side. But what's a BBQ without enjoying the fresh air right?

The BBQ meat is being cooked on order. It didn't take long for the meat to arrive at our table 'cause there weren't many orders =P The place was pretty much empty.

They labelled the pot "Seafood Soup" but there aren't any seafood to be found in it. It's actually a minestrone that turns out to be quite tasty even if it looks yucky in my pic.

Next to the BBQ pit, we found some naan and papadam. Sadly, the papadam has gone soft and the naan was disappointing to the max. They were serving some fancy dips for the naan when a yummy curry or tandoori would have just made our night.

Side dishes to go with the BBQ with a piece of naan. The potato wedges are to die for...yummiest thing I ate that night.

Our BBQ arrived meat arrived and it looks like a big mess. So, we got some lamb, beef, chicken and a few tiny pieces of baby squid. What can I say? The BBQ was a big let down. The meat was either overcooked or undercooked. It was dry and tough with certain meat tasteless.

They even BBQ a huge sausage and a big piece of sirloin. Okay...the sirloin is the best among the whole bunch of BBQ meat we had.

Sausage on the other hand...taste a bit weird to me. I didn't enjoy it. Much preferred if they serve honey sausages or something.

I do love my potatoes. I can't get enough of the potato wedges...and I went overboard with the bacon bits for my baked potato =P

Riverwalk is not exactly in the tower itself. It's actually in the building at the foot of the tower. So just a few steps from out table, we get to enjoy a beautiful view of the Macau Tower.

During dinner, it was wonderful to be able to just sit back and soak in the beautiful view. The bridge that connects the Macau Peninsular and Taipa island is lit up beautifully at night.

The only distraction was this ferry going back and forth right in front of us. Spoilt the view really. I caught the ferry at it's best, before all the colours start blinking and going crazy -_-

The dessert counter was pretty small. Well, there's not many people to eat it anyway. But I gotta say, it looks pretty =D

But I wasn't expecting marshmallows sticking out like this. Without a chocolate fountain anywhere in sight. A little odd, no?

Looks so chocolatey doesn't it? I can taste the chocolate just by looking at them. Overdose to the max.

Mix fruits that was pretty wet and the strawberries were cooked in wine =P

Some dessert that Eric took, a vanilla cake, a few toffees, a ball of truffle and a piece of something with cream.

Overall, Riverwalk is a one timer.

Doubt we'll ever go back there.

The view is fantastic but the food, could be much much better.

But I have to say, the service was very good.

Our waitress was very attentive and she spoke English as she's Filipino.

At one point, the music they were playing was painful to our ears.

It sounded more like a prayer that was wailing on and on and on.

Totally spoilt the my mood.

I then complaint to our waitress and she quickly got it changed to lovely romantic music instead.

I'm sure the other diners are grateful.

The management needs a bloody kick in the butt for insisting such awful music to be played.

No wonder their business is bad.

The restaurant was barely a quarter filled that night.

People who makes the decision in Riverwalk should really sit down and have a meal there themselves to see how bad the food and music is.

If they improve by a few miles, maybe....just maybe...we'll be back one day.

Until then, the Chef in the family ain't going back =D

Well...if you still wanna try Riverwalk, head over to their website here for details.

You've been warned though.

Waiting..

I'm tired.
Of always being the one who is waiting.
It hurts...but who knows.
Who cares.

5 letters define how I feel now.
Alone.

Life's a fucking bitch.

New Yaohan Food Court @ Macau

Besides Angela's Cafe, we discovered today that New Yaohan has a food court.
It's located at the upper most floor.
That's why we never stumble upon it before.

The food court was packed when we got there smacked right in the middle of lunch hour.
I quickly grabbed a table and Mum when off hunting for food.
She came back pretty disappointed because the menu was all in Chinese.
The management really lacked certain foresight.
How can they not have English on the menu?
That pissed me off.

Mum then took charge of the table while I go try and get us some food.

Then I noticed these flyers at each food stall. Geez...so now they're cutting down trees so people can have some English? At least with these flyers I could order some food, but still...I hate the thought that stacks of these are printed just so those who could not read Chinese won't starve to death.

Once I decided what to order, it's time to head to the cashier to pay first before you get your food. Not a good system if you're starving. Once you've paid up, you'll get these little tickets (one for each food/drink) and then you head to the right food stall and collect you meal. Yeah...lots of exercise before you eat. Again, not a great system if you're starving.

Ordered Beef Brisket Noodles for Mum. As usual, the portion was big for one person, but then, we were kinda starving. The noodles was tasty but a tad too salty for my liking. Pretty reasonably priced at MOP 16 a bowl.

I like the iced milk tea. It's thick and comes with crushed ice =)

I didn't know what to have for lunch so I ordered this. Saute Glutinous Rice Flour Cake from the Korean food stall. Okay, this one, the portion was pretty small. All I can see on the plate are rice cake, pieces of octopus, a few small prawns, sauce and chopped spring onions. It was a little on the spicy side. But I got tired of eating it after a little while 'cause the rice cake was pretty chewy.

Took this pic after we finished eating and the lunch crowd is no where to be seen. This is the only pic I managed to take of the food court 'cause a guard came up to me and said "No photo". Well, I hate it when people don't let me take pics at public places. As if there's some top secret info hiding somewhere in their food court and they're afraid of it being sold to enemies.

Did a little shopping after lunch and ended up with a new kettle as the old one got rusty (please check your kettle if you haven't done so for many moons) and a pillow as the old one got mouldy.

Yeah I know....ewwww.

I then went hunting for the famous Portuguese egg tart in Macau.

Just my luck that they're closed today =(

Will try again another day =)

Now & Never Again

Last night, I hung out with Nicole, who is Eric's friend.
Come on, obviously I don't have any friends of my own in Macau.

So, Nicole and I decided to meet at Senado Square and then decide where to eat.
Since it was past 9pm, some of the restaurants were already closed.
It's hard to find makan places once it gets late in Macau.
How I miss the convenience of mamak and hawker stalls back in Subang for a midnight snack.

Anyways, we somehow ended up in a little restaurant called Now.
It's located in one of the alleys around Senado Square.
Too bad I forgot to snap a pic of the place from the outside.

A dull looking menu.

Carnations on the table.

Interesting decor all around us. The restaurant is actually pretty cozy looking (I told Nicole that's 'cause it's small so everything looks cozy) But I gotta say, the interior design is pretty good.

The empty restaurant should have set off some foodies alarm. I'm always skeptical of empty restaurants -_-

I ordered Cranberry juice just for fun. In fact, Cranberry juice is said to be great for kidney's health. Since my kidney infection, I've been keeping an eye out for Cranberry wherever I go =)

Lots of alcohol at the bar. With no bartender in sight.

So, this is Nicole's pathetic lamb with spaghetti. She ate the bland spaghetti that doesn't have any sauce 'cause she can't stomach the lamb. It looks so unappetizing.

I ordered a light snack instead. This is Bacalhau. Meaning codfish in Portuguese. I've eaten much much better Bacalhau in Macau. This one was a total letdown. It was so dry and tasteless...I had trouble swallowing. Can't believe the waitress told me they've gotten raved feedback from every customer that have tried it.

See how dry it is? It crumbles O_o

And I find their cutleries really weird. The handles are so wide and heavy making it more of a balancing act while I try to eat my dry Bacalhau.

I will never ever go back to this restaurant. No idea how they're going to survive serving such food. It's a tourist area so I guess they are not big on return business. Geez, I pity those tourist who got conned just like us. It cost about MOP180(Approx RM70) for my Cranberry + Bacalhau and Nicole's Coke+lamb. So not worth it.

After much bonding over horrible food, Nicole and I headed to a quaint little drinking place called The Rooftop.

I didn't get any pics of the place.

Promise I will the next time I'm there.

We waited for Eric and Mattia while I sipped on another glass of Cranberry.

Wonder if I'll get Cranberry juice overdose now.

Anyways, the 4 of us hung out till they switched of the lights.

The bar.

The music.

And almost closed the door.

We quickly scurried off.

When I got down from The Rooftop, to my amazement, St. Paul's Ruins was quiet.

I've not seen it looking so serene.

So imposing.

So beautiful.

Look at it. Doesn't it just stop you in your tracks? During the day, come rain or shine, hundreds or maybe thousands of people crowd around St. Paul's Ruins trying to snap a pic among the sea of humans.

At 1am in the morning, I realized it's the best time to take in it's mesmerizing beauty.
I totally recommend visiting St. Paul's Ruins at 1am =D

This is a bit delayed.

A few weeks back, we were in Zhuhai and we ate at one of our fav restaurant.

Yup, Fire Hot Restaurant =)

Eric recommended this noodle dish. Looks Christmassy with all the reds and greens doesn't it?

Apparently, the fettuccine look-a-like is made of potatoes. It's a little chewy with a super smooth texture. I like how it's transparent =P

I love love love this super sinful dish. It's Chinese bacon stir fry with some vege. The fragrant bacon fats coats the vege making it irresistible. You know it's good when I voluntarily eats the vege =P

This lotus roots (lin ngow) is one of my fav as well. Somehow, the lotus roots in China is different from the ones we get in Malaysia. In Malaysia, the texture is powdery and it's yellowish/brownish in colour. These lotus roots we get in China, it's super chrunchy and yummy.

Okay, it's so obvious this dosh is for Mum. It's fish head cooked in 2 flavours. And it's spicy as hell. You can tell from the amount of chillies heaped on the fish.

Since the weather is getting warmer, it's time for a diet.

Gotta look good in my shorts ;P

Hmm...and somehow, Grandma found out I was hospitalized and we got a frantic phone call this morning all the way from Malaysia.

The poor old lady was so worried.

I wish she didn't know about me being in the hospital.

She probably thought I was half dead or something from what Mum told me.

Maybe Eric was right.

Maybe I shouldn't have blogged about my stay in Kiang Wu hospital.

Can't believe I gotta censor my own blog.

Crap =(

Feeling Lazy

Since the hospitalization, I've been kinda lazy.
Haven't been doing much lately except to eat, sleep and watching movies.
Maybe it's the medication I'm on.
Maybe it's just me being super lazy.
Not as if I've got much to do here either.

The weather in Macau is starting to get kinda erratic.
One minute it's sunny and hot.
The next minute, it's raining cats and dogs.
Never leave the apartment without an umbrella.
I've learnt my lesson the hard way.

I've also not been doing any cross stitching.
Totally not in the mood.
No knitting as well.
It feels kinda weird to be knitting when the weather is warm.

Somehow, I've been feeling like a yoyo lately.
Up and down, over and under.
Weird thoughts went through my mind.
My imagination went into overdrive as usual.
Thank goodness a good friend knocked some sense into me before it's too late.
I can be over dramatic at times.
And complicated.
Makes me wonder if Eric thinks he married a nutcase.

The highlight of the week is probably our midnight trip to the beach.
Hac Sa (Black Sand) beach is on Coloane Island and it cost MOP100 one way from the peninsula island where we live.
It was fun watching Eric and his friends play football and basketball while I munch away on Pringles.
It was even funnier when Eric woke up the next day with his muscle aching all over =P

What was not so funny was me being attack by ants.
Yup, I got bitten by dozens angry red ants.
Okay...maybe not dozens, but there were many.
My feet was so swollen from the bites =(
It's still freaking itchy now...and my feet looks kinda ugly with the bite marks all over it.
Being bitten by ants and mosquitoes are one of my biggest fears.
'Cause I have bad skin reactions to them.
The normal sequence would be...
Bite -> Red -> Swell -> Itch -> Scar
And it takes such a long long long time to heal completely.

God...I can't stop scratching now.
It's such pure pleasure to scratch the itch.
But I think I'm going to draw blood soon if I don't stop scratching.
Eric forbids me scratching the ant bites, but I CAN'T FREAKING STOP!
Plus...he's sleeping...so he can't see me scratch =P

Btw, Mopiko doesn't help at all.

Angela's Cafe @ New Yaohan, Macau

Yesterday, I ventured out of the house and join the Easter holiday crowd in Macau.
Mum and I went for lunch at our fav sandwich place, Angela's Cafe.

To find the cafe, just head towards the only departmental store in the whole of Macau.

Yup, you heard right.

The New Yaohan is the only shopping complex in Macau and strategically located in the city centre.

As usual, we chose to make our own sandwich.

Huge isn't it? My Nokia E71 looks like a mini next to the croissant. Mum and I always share a sandwich. There's no way I can eat the whole thing by myself.

Layers of yummyness with chips on the side

Oppss...and it gets a little messy trying to eat it =P

Since it's the Easter holiday weekend, we then took a walk to St. Paul's Ruin to check out the crowd. I haven't seen so many people at the ruins for some time now.

The weather these few days were great.

The temperature is hovering around 19 - 24 degrees Celsius.

No rain, just gentle breeze and a burst of sunshine now and then.

Now is really the best time to visit Macau (before all the typhoon arrive in summer)

To enjoy Macau, it requires quite a lot of walking (I'm not kidding)

And in this weather, it's like walking with air-con following your every step.

It's so relaxing, and best of all...no sweat!

Oh...and finally I could store away my winter jackets and bring out my fav shorts.

And sunglasses =P

If anyone is planning to visit Macau, come now when the weather is fantastic.

Check out the Macau Tourism website http://www.macautourism.gov.mo/

180° Lounge & Grill @ Macau Tower, Macau

Thank you everyone for your concern and well wishes.
I'm doing okay now =D
Just gotta be careful not to have a recurrence.



I've been in and out of Macau for some time now.
But somehow, I've never visited the Macau Tower.

So...after I got out of the hospital, Eric and I decided to watch a movie.
It's my first time watching a movie in Macau actually.
And the cinema is located at the famed Macau Tower.
The funny thing about this cinema is....

...it has only ONE screen.
Meaning at any ONE time, there's only ONE movie showing.
And it was pretty empty.
I've got a feeling Macanese are not really into the cinema scene like us in KL.
They'll prob think Malaysians are nuts as we have like 10 movies screening at the same time, at the same place!

I was excited to make my virgin visit to Macau Tower.
For a tourist attraction, it was pretty boring.
Maybe 'cause we were there at night...it was quite deserted.
It had a Toys R Us store but it closes at 8pm O_o
As usual, the one thing you have everywhere in Macau is SASA the store and slot machines.
Unsurprisingly, you can find those at the Macau Tower as well.
I think there's more people at the slot machines than in the cinema!

Since The Fast & The Furious 4 only starts at 9.30pm, we ended up having dinner with Samuele at the 180° Lounge & Grill.

Located at the 59th Floor of the Macau Tower if I'm not mistaken.
When we got there...it took my breath away.

The view from the restaurant was fantastic.

And we have the whole restaurant to ourselves!

Some decor on the walls that feels out of place.

Wines were selling at 50% off. Obviously I can't have any since I just got out of the hospital.

Bread to start our dinner with...too hard for my liking though

My lobster soup was creamy and too salty

Eric's Ceasar salad...he said it's hard to make a bad Ceasar...so I guess it was pretty okay

Eric's sirloin steak...nothing special lar in my opinion

Mashed potatoes came in a bowl...with no sauce. We agreed it looks like yucky baby food

My linguine with seafood was a big disappointment. Few pieces of seafood tossed with bland linguine. Just a little hint of tomato paste and just plain tasteless. I had the waiter add lots of pepper into it to make it edible.

180° Lounge & Grill sells itself as a fine dining experience.

I think they're delusional.

The service left a lot to be desired as well.

Granted, the waiters spoke English but what came out of their mouth is kinda unbelievable.

They have a very small menu so we asked what's so famous about their "Famous 180° Burger"

The answer was "Maybe it's the beef"

Okay...so maybe it's the beef -_-

And there was the mistake of serving vinegar to Samuele for his sushi and sashimi platter instead of soy sauce.

Bad service and bad expensive food.

The only saving grace was it's location.

Nothing could beat it's view in Macau.

Oh...and the movie was superb!