Reading through a friend's blog, it gave me an idea to summarize some of the err.. let's say, interesting things that have occurred in Macau. I remember doing the same with my friend, Rachel on the way home from Ghana over a couple of bottles of free airplane wine. For this list (which may be a work in progress), Hong & I sat at the dinner table one night brainstorming some of the funny, adventurous, scary, gross & odd experiences thus far in Macau. Let me begin...
1. One of the most recent ones, which I like to call "the curious incident of the rat + a long metal pole intended for bodily harm + a man who is a cook in the restaurant in our building = not a fairy tale ending for one of these players". I will not delve into details, unless specifically aksed?
2. People here do marvelous things with their cell phones, such as driving on a moped or showering while talking on them. Maybe my hearing is shot - but how do they even hear the other person?
3. City bus breaking down in front of one of the only gas stations in Macau (& yet they were of little help despite the irony of this situation) & having only one tree on the side of the road to shade all passengers in 35+ degree weather.
4. Locals having a stare-down contest with gaping mouths and pivoting bodies against (one of... or perhaps the only) ginger in town.
5. Cockroaches the size of small cats roaming the streets.
6. Flyers littering the underpasses near the casinos selling "Marissa" (from the OC/ or Mischa Barton) for one night, for one low price of 138 Yuen (approximately $25 CAD). (Mischa, you should set your price a little higher...)
7. Tallest bungee jump in the world. I am still working up the courage to take the leap. I sure hope I do it soon :)
8. Tourist attraction (/ghost town, kinda sad) "Fisherman's Warf/ Aladdin's Village/ Colliseum/ Volcano/ Qing Dynasty Palace/ Pellet gun obstacle course/ Portugal street/ etc etc". I think they were confused when they built this area, none of the attractions connect to the others. It's a very random area.
9. Dead fish floating in the windows of the seafood restaurants.
10. World's fastest, most efficient construction. Quality - questionable.
11. No toilet paper + no toilet seat + no water + no soap = disturbing bathroom experiences.
12. Dust mite allergies.
13. Venetian flop.
14. Cab drivers reluctant to let Canadians into their cabs. This one cab we got in (I hopped in the front seat), he opened his door, leaned his body out the door & put on a face mask. (refer to point 15.)
15. H1N1 hysteria - the government even canceled all schools.
16. 4 pieces of sushi for $1.50 CDN. Quality = again, questionable.
17. World's greatest dumplings.
18. Running into students or their parents in the streets.
19. The Red Market. Huge enclosed market with the greatest selection of seafood I've ever seen. Highlights - fresh fish with their hearts still beating (& these people are the fastest fish gutters in the world, hands down) & shrimp jumping to their death out of the styrofoam coolers onto the floor.
I wish I had kept some sort of notebook to record things as they happen, but I think that's one of the best parts about traveling... you go home, return to regular life & unexpected circumstances trigger "instances" you thought you forgot!
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