Visiting Macau

We went to Macau Monday morning to visit the Portuguese monuments and experience the gambling capital of the East. Travelling as a huge group is always fun because we get all of the plush ammenities Anthony (our "cultural liason"/Dad/Interpreter/Doctor) provides. We took an hour ferry ride to get to Macau, another Special Administrative Region once ruled by the Portuguese but now under China's control. I was so excited to see a place like Vegas. Apparently, while Las Vegas made $5.3 billion in gambling revenues in 2003, Macau made $5 billion. And the casinos we saw were architectually astounding. The Sands was huge, the Lisboa was bigger and golder (if possible), the Golden Dragon we stayed in was even huge. There were others I didn't see like the Venetian (which apparently has a Cirque show... cool) and the MGM Grand. There was a little kids amusement park accross the street from our hotel boasting a huge volcano building, a replica of a Chinese temple, and a little Italy-type building. It was fun to look at but was closed when we walked over there leaving us to see vacated bumper cars and roped off entrances to mini-sized rides. The Portuguese monuments we saw were really pretty--a cathedral (I love visiting churches abroad, they hold confessions in English, Portuguese, and Mandarin), the facade of Sao Paulo (see picture) which once was a cathedral but burnt down, an old fort (at the top of TONS of stairs), and the Senate square. We ate at a Portuguese restaurant for lunch. Interesting to me is the fact that most restaurants in Hong Kong/Macau bring out your food at different times, not waiting on all of it to be ready before it is brought to the table. I understand they are probably trying to get it to you before it gets cold but its awkward sometimes because people will finish their meals before others have even gotten their food. After looking at the historical part of town, we went by a fruit stall to get some fresh fruit and unfortunately I passed up the opportunity to try these egg custard pastry dessert things (see link) but according to Wikipedia they should be in Hong Kong too.

Despite thinking I was going to have a Vegas experience, most of the games looked foreign (both because I have never been to a casino and because I was in Macau), there wasn't an easily accessible strip like Vegas, and I was so tired! After hanging out in the Sky View bar and drinking Lychee martinis (Lychee was a new fruit I experienced that day from a fruit stall--super sweet but really good) I burnt 300 HKD (~$40) on black jack and went to bed. I think my exhaustion has crept up on me because I have had a headache ALL day today. Urgg.

New foods:

Lychee fruit--suppposely if you eat too many of them you'll get a nose bleed and high blood pressure? Someone in our group told me that. They were good though, I still have some in my fridge.

Red Bean Paste--dessert-like, red wine colored

Gross ass salad today at Sha Tin mall--who puts tofu, cucumbers, and bananas in the same bowl?

I miss everyone. It's weird to think its only 5:35am at home, I'm getting ready to go to Lan Kwai Fong--the 6th street of Hong Kong.