spontaneity at its best

[backtracking]
Friday: I'm in Macau!!!! I didn't know I'd be here til today at 11am. Dad shoots me an email while I'm at the museum asking whether I could take off early. Cheng boshi encouraged me to go and "see the world" :) So I quickly pack up my things, powerwalk to the subway, and get home. I've never felt so rushed. The moment I got home my dad was busily packing away as our flight was at 4pm. I was starving so I was stuffing my face with burning hot noodles (ouch).


Arrival: Macau's tiny airport is adjacent to the South China Sea. As we landed, the plane's wings were skimming above the sea. It's located on a man-made island called Taipa. This island is where Venetian casino/hotel is....where Boys Over Flowers (Korean drama) was filmed!!! When I stepped inside I felt as if I were reliving Jandi's life. It sort of felt surreal. The hotel is beautiful inside, but it reaks of tobacco as all casinos, or rather Macau, do. My dad is so spontaneous that we didn't even know where we'd be staying. Venetian was too expensive so we took their shuttle bus to the Macau harbor, where lucky for us, there are travel agencies located inside the terminal. We scored a 5-star hotel, Hotel Riviera, by the bay for 550MOP (~$70).

The view is GORGEOUS from our hotel window. We can see the Macau tower, the bay, and lit up bridge.The hotel is rather nice too. It's not fancy smancy, but the bed is oh-so-comfortable that it was hard for me to get up the next morning.

Tidbits about Macau:
1. Macanese food is a mish mash of Portuguese and Chinese food. They use spices from Africa and the Middle East--such as tumeric and cinnamon--in addition to coconut milk and basil leaves mmmm. Unfortunately, we didn't find any Macanese restaurants :(
2. Mandarin and Portuguese are official languages of Macau while Cantonese is the most widely spoken.
3. Every street name is Portuguese. They are usually Rua de _____. Restaurants and store fronts all have Chinese characters, Portuguese, and sometimes English.
4. They drive on the other side of the road here, and the driver seat is on the right side. This was my first time experiencing this, so I always got confused when entering a bus because the doors are on the other side too.