The day we left for Macau, Da Yi, Er Yi, Grace and I inexplicably left for the airport around noon for a 4:20 PM flight.Since we had so much time, we ate free yams and ice cream, and took naps in the massage chairs of the business lounge at the airport.
Er Yi and Da Yi all dressed up. I begged Da Yi to pack a pair of heels (for such occasions) and she delivered.
Grace and me
Even though the drinks were free, neither Da Yi nor Grace worked up the courage/had interest in dancing.
Thus, Er Yi and I tore it up out there.
But overall, the Bellini Bar was pretty lame so we left in an hour to get some much needed sleep.
The next day, we visited the Taiwan consulate in Macau to get my visa. After submitting my materials, we were invited into the office by the friend of my dad's friend and were regaled with tea and tales of poor souls who gambled their lives away in the city and are currently being sought after by Macau gangsters. These people (the ones from Taiwan) often come to the consulate, tail tucked between their legs, to ask for a plane ticket back home. Good thing none of the four of us even touched a slot machine the whole trip (though Da Yi and I did apply for a flashy red Wynn casino card for a souvenir.)
The visa took some time, so we walked to the city centre and did some siteseeing. But just a few hours later, I was legally allowed to re-enter Taiwan and stay for 90 days. Yay!
Grace and I have determined that Macau is not our favorite vacation place (I think the parts we visited were too touristy and gaudy), though we are glad we went. Some highlights of the two days:
Senado Square. Macau was colonized by the Portugese.
At the "Lou Mansion". Mr Lou was a wealthy merchant and philanthropist in Macau during the late 1800s, early 1900s. Coincidentally, his surname written in Chinese is the same character as my "Lu". This is me sitting in my room where I welcome visitors.For lunch we ate at a touristy (read: horrible!) Portugese restaurant. I don't think it was real Portugese food, just weirdness.
I am cutting into fried rice baked in a pineapple rind topped with a sweet and sour sauce. Blegh.
Good Fortune Tree at the Wynn. That schmancy chandelier came out of the ceiling and the tree came out of the ground. People threw coins in it for good fortune.
Ruins of St. Pauls Church. Quite stunning as only the facade is left. The rest was destroyed by fire.
One of the most disappointing moments of the trip was when we walked half an hour to find "Casa Garden", which according to our guide map, is the beautiful residence of the wealthy Portugese merchant Manuel Pereira from 1770. When we got there, I was not impressed. If you think from the picture that it looks alright, realize that there is nothing more. That was it!
But soonafter, we came across a jewel. Tucked in a street near Casa Garden was a dim sum restaurant that by the looks of it, only locals frequented.
The woman opened each one and we picked what we wanted. At one point a man came straight from the kitchen with metal bowl with four dead fish and asked us which we wanted to eat. We were seated in the backyard of the restaurant on a foldout table and plastic stools. Everything was delicious, especially an eggplant dish.
The rest of the trip was spent doing some more feeble siteseeing, wandering through ostentatious, enormous hallways of casino hotels and reading. Yes, reading. We decided we were all tired so we retired to the hotel lobby around 3:00 PM (we had checked out at noon) and read newspapers until our 8:00 PM flight. I finished three newspapers front to back.
This photo was taken just before we boarded the plane. Goodbye, Macau.
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