weekend in macau

Yesterday I got my passport stamped for the first time since arriving here. I went to Macau, an island nearby that was about an hour ferry ride on the "Turbo Ferry". Macau is a Portguese colony, so there's an interesting mix of European influence and Asian culture. I expected it to look a bit more European than it actually did, but there was evidences of Portugal in the architecture, written language (on streets, etc), old church ruins, and on the restaurant menus.

Our school had a fund-raiser for people to get sponsorships to jump off the Macau tower, so I decided to volunteer. (Not to jump, but to hold a walkie talkie and to tell the people up on top that the jumpers had landed safely on the ground.) Although it was no bake sale, the school raised quite a bit of money, and even got a local celebrity to come and jump as well, surrounded by cameramen.

After the Sky Jump, I went venturing out with a couple of friends. Macau wasn't quite as easy to navigate as Hong Kong, but we somehow got on the right bus and ended up in the center of town, where some of the older churches, cathedrals, temples, and old forts are located. The rain inspired us to take a taxi to a different island, where we had heard of a great Portuguese restaurant. We arrived in the small, sleepy fishing village and walked around on the beach. It was refreshing to be outside with some comfortable temperatures and to not be inhaling pollution or to be bumping into people left and right. I think I didn't realize how much I missed the outdoors until I was able to take a break from the city life of Hong Kong. We stumbled across a Rugby tournament and beach party, tucked away on a side beach. It was pretty funny to hear Bob Marley being played on a radio, watching British and Australian men tackle eachother in the sand, and to have Chinese people barbequing all over the beach.

The restaurant, Fernandos, was delicious, with vegetables, rice and chorizo, and beer that was cheaper than water.

After quite a bit of confusion (not too many English speakers on that part of the island), we figured out which bus would take us to the main part of Macau, which was quite similar to Vegas. Macau seems to be quite divided into a few diverse areas, but it is well known for it's casinos and nightlife, which is supposed to be reflective of it's pirate history. Every Saturday night in the fall, there is a fireworks display, which is part of a national fireworks competition tournament. After the show, we took a rickshaw back to the ferry depot and made our way back "home" to Hong Kong.