Title: Macau Wow

Yesterday was another exciting day! Mom and I were thrilled to find out that we had multiple entry visas for China. When we found that out, we started thinking how nice it would be to take our day off and go see Macau (sounds like macow).

Macau is a SAR (Special Autonomous Region) of China. China has two others that I know of, Tibet, and Hong Kong. What that means is that if you are a Chinese national, you have to have a visa to get in and out. For foreigners, you don't have to have a visa to get into Macau, but you must have a multiple entry visa to get back to mainland China. Up until 1995, the Portuguese controlled Macau and had so for over 100 years I think. But the influence in the architecture and food has remained. We were excited to go see the beautiful island and eat some Macanese/Portuguese food. Oh, by the way, it is also known as "The Monte Carlo of the East" but we didn't take part in any gambling.

We were prepared to work our way through buying our bus tickets and getting through customs on our own, but were more than thrilled when my new friend offered to go with us and drive us there. It just so happened that because of her work, she already had a visa. Yeah!!!! In hindsight, I can't begin to even tell you how good that was that she was with us. We would not have had the slightest clue how to get from point a to point b without her there! However, I was excited that the menus were in English and our waiter spoke English so that was nice for a little change.

We left at 8 in the morning and went to visit Suphie's company. Are you thinking "Wait, I thought her name was Suzy?" Yes, it was. When we got in the car she explained that she had looked over English names and found a name she liked so that we could be a little different. She liked the name Sophie. But she still wanted to keep the "Su" part so she has chosen to make a new name "Suphie". OK. Mom made a comment that I was thinking, "What is the point of picking an American name if you are going to pick one that sounds Chinese? Why not go with your real Chinese name?" But we are going with Suphie.

It took us close to 2 hours to make it through customs so it was after noon by the time we sat down for lunch in Macau. I ordered Portuguese chicken in a bread bowl, Suphie ordered spaghetti, and mom ordered a steak. It was good food. We also ordered nachos. They were different. It was Doritos with seasoned ground beef.

Next we went to the Ruins of St. Paul. Everyone said to us that if you see the ruins, you've seen Macau. That is what Macau is known for. It was pretty cool and it was swarming with people in the heat of the day. Mom stayed at the base and Suphie and I went to the top. It is just the facade of the front of the church. It had burned 3 times since 1540, it is my understanding that the facade is actually from the late 1600's. Exploring the history of the old church opened up a neat conversation between the two of us.

We explored the little shops and then walked around two of the really big casinos. They have a Venetian Hotel and Resort that is just like the one in Las Vegas. I hit the jackpot without even placing one single bet- I found a Starbucks in the hotel! I had given up Chai Lattes long ago-but yesterday, I gave in and had one. YUM. The other hotel was called the Grand Lisboa. It looks like a giant lotus flower and at night is lit up like no other.

We left Macau and only had to wait for 45 minutes to get through customs this time. We met one of Suphie's friends in a neighboring town for late night appetizers and then got on the road for the 1 1/2 hour car ride home. We made it back at 2 in the morning! Poor Mom! It is a good thing that we didn't have class on Monday morning, only in the afternoon.

I really enjoyed our little side trip to Macau. I think it is neat though how "you know who" set it up for us to have a ride and a guide and then gave the opportunity and right moments to open a neat discussion. I'll tell more later, but none of it could have happened if we hadn't taken a whole day to spend with my new friend in a new place.