Flower that bloom at night

Since I'm young, I'm told that this particular flowers which looks like lotus will only bloom at night. It's been years growing this plant yet I have no idea what was the actual name for this type of flower.

It's been about 2 years since I saw the blooming of these flowers. In my memories, I used to see more than one flowers blooming. But this time round, there was only one flower.

I can't recall smelling any fragrance from this flower. Yet, by looking at the ants that crawled around the flower, you can feel how the sweetness and fragrance attracted these little "insects".

Although this flower looks beautiful, the lifespan was very short. It can only last for about 6-8 hours from the moment it started to bloom till withered.

If you do know the name of this flower, please drop me a note.

Beginning to bloom

 



Ants crawling around the flower

Almost fully bloomed

Macau Trip 25 - 29 May 2010 (Part 3)

Day 3 - 27 May 2010


Both of us woke up late this morning. We are supposed to wake up and crossed over to Hong Kong by ferry in early morning. By the time we reached Hong Kong ferry terminal, it was past 12 noon. That means we have to miss our morning breakfast at Tim Sum resturant as we have limited time to 'play' today.


The first destination of our one day trip in Hong Kong was Ngong Ping. We took MTR to Tung Chung station and travel to Ngong Ping via the cable car. The cable car ride was about 25 mins. Throughout the journey, you will be able to see Hong Kong airport, fishermen fishing on boats, the Big Buddha statue & more.

Cable car tickets to Ngong Ping

The cable car

Cable car terminal behind us

The fisherman

I've no idea what these people are doing? Anyone can enlighten me?

The houses are so small from where we are viewing

Passing by the Hong Kong airport

The Buddha statue

Upon arrival at Ngong Ping, you will pass through Ngong Ping village before heading to the Tian Tan Buddha Statue. There are food stalls, mini theater, souvenir shops and others in Ngong Ping village. You can rest your feet and get some foods before you proceed further.

Ngong Ping Cable Car Terminal

Ngong Ping Village Directory

Direction to Tin Tan Buddha Statue

Our main motive to Ngong Ping was to visit Tian Tan Buddha Statue. Hence, we bought some snacks and ate along our way to see the Buddha statue.


It was drizzling and foggy when we reached the bottom stairway of Tian Tan Buddha Statue. We felt disappointed when we looked upon the statue where we are standing. The statue was completely hidden behind the fogs.


After discussion, we decided to climb up the stairs to try our luck. By the time we reached the top of the stairway, we are glad that our decision was right. The Buddha statue was clearly 'sitting' in front of us, so magnificent.




Unable to see the statue at the bottom of stairs



Buddha right in front of us

The Buddha

Picture taken after we came down.

After leaving Ngong Ping, we headed to our second destination, Women's street (also known as Ladies street) which was located near Mong Kok's station. Although the street was named as Women's street, they are selling stuffs that varied from toys, clothing, accessories, souvenirs & more. This is definitely not a shopping place meant for women only. We spent about 2 to 3 hours doing our shopping, buying souvenirs for our friends, colleagues & family members.


Our last destination was Avenue of Stars located near Tsim Sha Tsui station (not sure if the station name is correct). The Avenue of Stars was constructed to appreciate the efforts of those professionals who have contributed to the Hong Kong's film industry. You will be able to see various Hong Kong's film industry contributors' signatures and palm prints along the waterfront promenade, such as Jackie Chan and Andy Lau.


We spent sometimes taking pictures and looking through these palm prints as we walked. We didn't manage to walk from one end to the other. We headed back to the MTR station half way walking down the pavement. We have to get back to the ferry terminal to catch our ferry (we purchased return tickets) back to Macau.

Palm prints & signature - Jackie Chan

Palm prints and signature - Andy Lau



Palm prints and signature - Hong Jin Bao





Nice scenery at the waterfront promenade

Macau Trip 25 - 29 May 2010 (Part 2)

Day 2 - 26 May 2010

This was the first time both my friend and I visited Macau which there are lots of places we can explore.  Macau is a small country which can be classified under 3 areas and they are Macau city, Taipa & Coloane. Just alone in Macau city, there are numbers of historical places we can visit.

Our hostel was right behind Senado Square (5 mins walk from the hostel) which was located at the central of Macau city.  It was convenience for us to move around as most of the historical churches are located around Senado Square.

Signs directing the historical places / churches.

We left our hostel at about 9am.  Our first target place of interest was Ruins of St. Paul's which was supposed to be a 10 mins walk from our hostel.  We didn't check with Amy in advance which direction to go.  As such, we headed towards the right path based on the direction sign (see above picture).

As mentioned earlier, it was supposed to be a 10 mins walk from our hostel. But never did we know that, the route that we have chose took us almost a hour to reach our destination. Throughout the route, we saw car parking metre which we do not see it in Singapore (below picture). We came across a parade where there was a group of women doing mass dance playing "Nobody knows". We have realised that there are number of schools that do not look like one (as compared to Singapore).  For example (below picture), there was this primary school which looks like an office building.


Car Parking Metre

A group of women doing mass dance

Primary school that looks like office building.

Finally, we managed to make our way to Ruins of St. Paul. The church caught fire during 1835 when typhoon hit Macau. Other than the white stone wall which remains, the rest was gone. As you walked down the stairs of Ruins of St. Paul, you will see this metal couple statues. We are not sure of the story behind this couple statues but just snapped a few pictures and move on to other places.

Ruins of St. Paul

Some historical information of Ruins of St. Paul

The metal couple statues

There are quite a number of churches around Senado Square which are listed as part of Macau's heritage. As it was almost one year since I last went to Macau, I have no idea where (which churches) these pictures was taken.

Some pictures taken around Senado Square.

 

In the later afternoon, we went to the Grand Prix museum and wine museum. Although both of us are not car or bike racing lovers, Grand Prix museum does attract us a little. I have never been so 'close' to these racing cars, hence we started to 'examin' these vehicles..

The wine museum was located just next to the Grand Prix museum. This museum displayed  some variety of wines from various regions.  I love red wine but there are some red wines in this museum I have never seen or heard before.  At the end of the tour, you may want to purchase a ticket and try out some of the wines at the 'wine tasting station'.

Look like real grapes??

The golden lotus was presented by China after Macau was returned to China. Based on online information, this golden lotus represent 'Lotus Flower in Full Bloom' which symbolise everlasting prosperity in Macau.  It was only walking distance from Grand Prix museum to Golden Lotus Square.

It was almost evening time after visited these places. Hence, before we ended our second day, we headed to Casino Lisboa for jackpot session after dinner.