How exactly it was that my pictures turned out looking this way from The Macau Convention and Entertainment Center, I don't know.
Either there was something I should have done, either it was something I shouldn't have done, whichever it was, I didn't do it, or did it, and so here we are, with memories, and a collection of pictures that have the unmistakable, (amateurly) unerasable reflection of Chonkycam's lens right in the middle of most of them.
Gawd, it's embarrassing.
This doesn't usually happen to me.
And just so unfortunate it has.
See, The Macau Convention and Entertainment Center, also known as Macau Tower, offers one of the best views of Macau with a 338m height from ground level to the highest point.
At or around 233m, a floor above (or is it below) the Observation Deck, is the 360° Café, a revolving restaurant where one gets to have a meal- lunch buffet, dinner buffet, or afternoon tea set- with gorgeous views looking over Macau and her surroundings beyond.
We had come here for their afternoon tea today, and (questionable) pictures of the view aside, all of their offerings carried a very distinctive charm.
I'm pretty sure I would have raised an eyebrow had I been expecting delicate-looking, aesthetically pleasing pastries, small elegant petite cakes of cream, sponge and mousse.
In the same way I would also have raised the other eyebrow had I been expecting porcelain tea sets of fine china, shiny smooth plates and shimmering cutlery.
But because I'm the sort who likes taking experiences as they are, the meal here felt pleasantly simple, even familiar, to me.
Don't underestimate simplicity.
Also don't underestimate familiarity.
There are places where the food and surroundings may not resemble that of a sitting room in an English countryside manor but in place of functional design, there is so much heart.
I felt something familiar with the cups and the crockery that they had placed on the table.
I also felt something familiar with the way you had to go get your drinks from a machine- the coffee was Nescafe- but they had not neglected alternatives, and right beside it were dispensers of water, and sugarless brewed black tea.
I don't know how many cups of Nescafe Mocha I took that afternoon.
But the sweetness of the coffee matched the savory flavors of the food, and it was a great meal altogether.
It would be easier if I had enough pictures of all the food that we ate.
But I don't.
These are all I have.
I was hungry.
So here we are, with a petite little puff pastry, a bit of fruit, and a couple of little cakes.
I couldn't stop admiring this cute little puff pastry.
It made me think of those little cream puffs sold over at Don Don Donki, except that with this cafe instead of fresh vanilla cream, or fresh chocolate cream, they'd taken liberties and made it with ikura, with some sort of pate (I think) and a bit of cream .
The fruits were refreshing- watermelon and strawberries and something else.
And then there were the little cakes of chocolate- were they chocolate eclairs- of some sort of orange sponge- it might as well have been mousse- and, if I'm not wrong, crunchy hazelnut as well.
I wish I could remember just what the food of this section was.
But the pictures too didn't turn out so well and now I cannot remember at all.
So glad I am to say that besides the sweet section and the cold section, there was also the hot, and amongst the hot food selections were the dim sum.
One thing I realized about their offerings here was that even though most of them didn't seem to pay attention to aesthetics, their plating was strong, and in terms of taste and flavor, were one of the heartiest ones I've ever had.
I had a lovely time nibbling through them all.
It might have seemed simple- maybe Macau has a different interpretation of what dim sum should be- but everything was so heartwarming I wish we had more.
First off from the small round bamboo steamer came these steamed dumplings that looked like wantons and yet weren't really wantons and might have even seemed like fish dumplings but weren't really fish dumplings either and all I could think of were that they were a flatter version of jiao zi.
Not to say that the skin wasn't chewy enough.
It was.
And I actually liked it.
Besides these flat jiao zis, there were oval shaped puffs whose skin textures reminded me of deep fried sweet potato balls but which were filled with bits of meat and some sort of gravy.
Then there were little round deep fried radish cakes so well fried that were crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.
And finally Portuguese egg tarts, which, to be honest, what with it being an icon of Macau, I had quietly hoped for more.
I'm now trying to remember whether there had been scones.
Somewhere in the depths of my memory I think there were- the presence of strawberry jam has sparked a bit of a hint- but right now I can't be sure, and I'll have to go back there again for an afternoon tea if I want to know.