uma fuga do fim de semana

With only a few months left, Liz and I made a list of things to see and do both in Shenzhen and in all of China. Last weekend's destination: MACAU, a former Portuagese colony (the first and last European colony of China) often dubbed "the Las Vegas of China."

Friday was cool and rainy, and Kiki called me to meet her at the 4 kuai dumpling shop to eat some ban mian (noodles in in peanut sauce with chives) before heading to Shekou to catch the ferry to Macau. I saw her ahead of me on the sidewalk, and ran to catch up, yelling her name (she couldn't hear me with her headphones on). My sandals slipped on the wet sidewalk, and I hit the graval, sliding into a car. Kiki turned around, surprised, and helped me up as I looked around me making sure no one saw. Though, I tend to stick out in my neighborhood, so I am sure everyone saw. My elbow was bleeding and the whole right side of my body throbbed with pain. What a clutz! We ate and took a cab to the Shekou wharf where we met Scott and Lucie. Liz was meeting us at the hostel in Macau. On the ferry ride, we made a list of all the teachers in CTLC, struggling to come up with about 75 names. I felt minor accomplishment in exclaiming names of teachers we hadn't seen since orientation that everyone else had forgotten about or weren't even aware existed. We took a cab to San Va Hospedaria, where we were staying. The hostel was located down a cozy alley on Travessa de Felicidade (Street of Happiness), the old red light district where scenes from my old time favorite 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom' were shot. There were several bakeries scattered among the neighborhood and the scent of baking and amaretto wafting in the air. Liz was waiting in our room, a tiny room with paper-thin walls that didn't reach the ceilings and a not quite full sized bed to be shared between Liz, Kiki, and myself. Scott and Lucie were to share a twin bed in a separate room unfortunately located by the bathroom.

We dropped our things off and headed out, immediately stopping for the notorious egg tarts. Warm and creamy, they didn't disappoint! We visited the St. Paul ruin and Monte Fort. At the top of the fort, I felt like I was in a secret garden; the rain had made everything look very green and lush and wet. The views from the fort were beautiful, and in the distance we could see the Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino, shaped like a giant genie bottle. The cannons position along the perimeter of the fort were only used once during a Dutch invasion in the 1600s. We were getting hungry, and when Kiki suggested an Indian restaurant called Namaste, my stomach responded with growling and my mouth began to salivate...mmm, Indian food. I imagined creamy curries, spicy vegetables, and crispy samosas, certain to satisfy my bellowing belly. How disappointing when we walked up to the dark restaurant and saw that it was closed. We ended up eating at a Portuagese restaurant called Litoral, which also happened to be on the suggested itinerary I had printed out that morning ("1st class, the most famous Portuagese restaurant in Macau"). A little formal and pricey, but it seemed like the right environment to dine on this special occassion - Lucie's birthday! We were most impressed by the bread and butter served to us and, unashamed, begged for more. Bread and butter, like a real Western restaurant! Dinner was delicious, and the portions were surprising large. I ordered the pork cutlet - fried, breaded, tender and juicy - a bit of gravy on top would have made it perfection to the Southern gal in me. It came with french fries and mayonnaise (mmm, very Euro) and a side salad. I dabbled in the other's entrees as well, which included a Macanese chicken curry, a spicy curried crab dish, and garlicky clams...

Kiki and I had ordered LITs and were feeling pretty L-I-T ourselves, so when we headed to our next destination, the Grand Lisboa casino, we didn't mind entertaining ourselves while the others hit the slot machines. We walked around the casino, admiring the sexy ladies dancing on stage - causing a bit of butt envy (both of us complaining of not having much of a butt ourselves). We wandered around the casino, calling it "Winter in Nordstrom" because of the strands of crystals twinkling and hanging from the ceilings. The entire casino smelled of men's cologne, and we talked about our favorite men's fragrances. Rather unsophisticated, I know, but my college roommate and I had always found it comforting to imagine hugging a large man wearing a sweater on a cold night and smelling of Abercrombie cologne. We decided to take the escalators to the top floor, but finding that we were only allowed to go the third floor, we stopped and ordered cocktails and sat at a balcony overlooking the entire casino, and where we still had a view of the dancing ladies with amazing asses. On the way back to the slot machines to find our friends, we stopped for a private photo shoot in the women's restroom. This sounds shady, but we were just so impressed by the fresh scent, Western toilets, automatic doors/sinks/soap dispensers, availability of toilet paper, additional strands of crystals adorning the ceilings, and general cleanliness that we just HAD to strike some poses. From the Grand Lisboa, we headed to a more casual locale... grabbed some snacks at a Seven Eleven (pringles and M&Ms) and then walked to the Wynn - which was even more impressive that the Grand Lisboa, in my opinion - richly decorated with gorgeous floral arrangements and also smelling of a lovely perfume, not quite as tacky as the "Winter in Nordstrom" schema at the Grand Lisboa.

Scott and Lucie still seemed to have so much energy, but it was rainy, and bed was sounding good - especially for me (I had gotten up that morning at 6:30 am, taught a morning class, and had then hurried to pack and meet Kiki). Back in our room, I called dibs on the wall-side of the bed. Liz laid claim on the edge, and poor Kiki was condemned to the middle. I figured if I was on the edge, I wasn't aggressive enough to push any wanderers back into their place, and I would be falling off the bed. Sleep was impossible. I couldn't sleep on my back or stomach. I had to sleep on my side. At one point my nose was pressed against the wall. The man in the room next to us might as well have been in the room with us. Because the wall didn't reach the ceiling, his room light glared into our room. We could hear him talking, breathing, and farting. He seemed to be awake all night and busy. Early morning (like 4 or 5 am!) we could hear people in the halls, stomping up the stairs. It was awful, and I finally got fed up with trying to fall asleep and got up to shower.

The showers were actually clean and spacious, with good water pressure and nice piping hot water. We had breakfast at Starbucks. Well, I went to McDonalds and got a McFlurry and brought it over to Starbucks where my friends were all having breakfast. In my defense, we don't have McFlurries in China! We sat in cushy chairs and then ventured out to the A-ma Temple, walked along the water, shopped around the black-and-white tiled and lovely plaza Largo de Senado, lunched at an Italian restaurant - Caffe Toscana (where we served more bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar - MMMM!). The foccacia sandwiches were delicious! I had foccacia with pancetta, provolone, and tomato - sprinkled with salt and pepper and olive oil drizzled on top. SOOO tasty! Scott, Lucie, and Kiki decided to head back to Shenzhen. Liz and I went back to our room and took a nap. Because the hostel was empty during the day, and we had one less bedmate, we were able to take a satisfying nap. We went back to Starbucks and read and sipped on chai tea latte while we waited for Kofi. Kofi was expected to arrive around 6:30 PM and would be taking Scott and Lucie's empty room.

Kofi arrived on time and fortunately was hungry and ready to eat. During the second half of our stay in Macau (once Kofi arrived), our trip took on a different focus...FOOD. The next day and a half seemed to be a restaurant-hopping binge fest. We had dinner at NOW Cafe, hidden down the cozy little alley of Travessa Sao Domingos, another Portuagese/Macanese restaurant. We ordered Macanese beers, and I ate a rich and delicious meal of fish with potatoes, cream, and chorizo. We made conversation with the guy at the neighboring table. He was from New Zealand, where he had worked as an analyst for a casino. He was heading to England to find work, hoping for another job in the gaming industry, and had stopped in Macau on the way to hit up the casinos. I envied that he had a plan... which reminds me - must get motivated to job hunt. We grabbed cheap beers at Seven Eleven and more Pringles and then headed back to our hostel to freshen up and played an A-B-C game Kofi had taught us. We had high hopes of a fun night out, so we headed to Fisherman's Wharf, where - according to Liz's Lonely Planet - there are lots of bars, restaurants, shops, and live bands. Fisherman's Wharf was DEAD. We sat down at a restaurant with tables on a patio facing the water with a beautiful view of the lit-up bridge. We ordered chicken wings and fried potatoes, before finally giving into weariness and heading back to the hostel. Night 2 - the sleep wasn't much better. People talking in the room next door until 4 AM, lights on...

The next morning, we showered, packed up, checked out, and headed back to Travessa de Sao Domingos for breakfast. It was already 11:00 am, so we ordered light... I had a warm, frothy cappuccino and croissant with cheese. We sat in the cafe and chatted until about 12:00 pm - lunch time! A few doors down, across from the beautiful St. Dominic church and a beautiful fountain and courtyard, we found another Macanese cafe. I ordered the hamburger special, which was a salty hamburger patty topped with a fried egg (sunny side up) and a side salad. Never had a burger like this, but it was quite tasty. We were too full for ice cream, so we jumped into a cab and headed to the ferry to catch the next one. I needed to get home in time to tutor that evening. Liz seemed quite depressed about returning to Shenzhen, but I felt ready to get home and get some real rest in my own bed.

Back in my apartment, I was feeling very tired, but a very energetic little 7-year-old, Snoopy, arrived for tutoring, smiling and ready to learn... and so, with only a few months left, life in Shenzhen goes on...

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