I just ate some skittles. Amazing. This is why I don't buy this stuff.
It's 12:20 AM on 2/5/2012. I'm feeling a bit giddy. Looked up at the wall right above my computer. Inches away. There are 3 notes that I haven't looked at for ages. How is that possible? They made me laugh just for the pure amount of time they've been there. One says 'Pictures for sentences'. The second says 'STUDY Chinese!' with 1-10 written in Chinese. The third says 'Make a clock'. Haha. The first and last applied towards school at some point, and neither ever happened. Go figure.
I have been sitting around doing nothing. 2/8
So……Macau. Right? Right? Yeah. That's where we left off and it hasn't been tooooo long since my last blog, so if I get this posted relatively soon, I should be right on schedule. Macau, Macau, Macau. Eh, it was alright. Could have been worse, but definitely could have been better. I left on the 21st. I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare just to be on the safe side. Getting my tickets wasn't the easiest thing with everything being in Chinese in the airport for the most part. People directed me here and there. It took me about 3 tries to finally end up at the right counter. No big deal. Like I said, I had time. I asked for a window seat and got seated next to a young kid and his girlfriend. They were both from Macau and really nice. The guy was also helpful and gave me some tips of places to visit and what not during my trip to Macau. I had him write down some things in Chinese characters too. Also helpful. In case you are wondering, people in Macau speak Cantonese and while there are different dialects throughout China, the written language remains the same. My flight there was a direct flight and it took a little less than 4 hours…..Hold up.
It's 2/8. I have been sitting around and lounging all day. I've been a little productive, but not much. I studied Chinese for maybe an hour today and will study again in a bit, I played guitar for an hour, I read for more than an hour I think, but other than that there wasn't much going on here. I've been messing around with the new phone I bought wondering why I bought it. Owning an android phone for me is just a big pain in the %$# in some ways. I'm looking up apps, I'm looking up themes, wallpapers, and other ways to customize the phone. It's only a matter of time before I completely fry my brain. I'm on a retarded sleep schedule at the moment which I'm trying to fix. Been out so much lately and up till 2 in the morning more often than not, which has left me waking up at close to noon most days. Tonight will start my attempt to fix that schedule. I've only got another week and a half before school starts too, so I'll have to be back on that schedule anyways. Let's not talk about that, though. I don't want to think about that at all at the moment. Anyways, the whole point of my blabbing on in this prief paragraph is that I wanted to state how clear the sky is right now. It was 10 PM when I went outside. I was going to a supermarket nearby just to pick up some water because I was running low. I looked up and wow – I think the sky was the clearest I have ever seen it in Beijing. I was able to see more stars than I could count for once. It's nothing like the countryside, but still. I even made out Orion's Belt. To be honest, it was kind of a surreal feeling when I got out there looking up at that sky. The wind had died, and it was relatively quiet after the World War 3 bombing of Spring Festival. I found myself looking up and all around. There was a peacefulness to the whole thing, a tranquility. It was like I was seeing those familiar buildings and places outside my own building for the first time. I didn't mind the cold at all. I even decided to take a long route and go for a little walk. A 5 minute water mission turned out to be a 20 minute adventure. It was the first time I had stepped outside today. The 'fresh' air was nice. The only downfall is it can sometimes be hard to just relax outside or stand around admiring the entirety of it all because I'm in a city. There's always someone lurking around or people going to and from.
So…where were we? I guess was about to arrive in Macau. I got there around 8:00 PM. Now, I need to back track a bit so you understand what took place after my arrival. Prior to going to Macau, I was looking for some place warm to go to. Long story short, hours were spent in an attempt to find me reasonably priced flights and a place to go and all that. I really just wanted to sit on a beach and do some exploring in a nice warm place where I could rock shorts and sandals for a week. It was not meant to be. After receiving help for flights on Chinese webpages, I eventually took matters into my own hands and found a destination. How did I arrive at Macau you ask? Excellent question. I remembered that an assistant from my company had mentioned her boyfriend had gone to Macau so I knew that I could do that. The only reason I even went to Macau or searched for a place outside of China (Hong Kong and Macau are special regions so they qualify for leaving the country) was because of my visa. I was required to leave the country once within the year. I could have stepped into any country for 2 seconds, gotten the stamp on my passport and returned. So dumb. At that point, it was getting later and later for booking flights and my break was approaching quickly. I stopped caring about where to go and just tried to pick somewhere that might be somewhat decent. I'd say for the most part I failed. My original flight was for 8 nights and 9 days. That changed after a day or two once I got a glimpse of hotel conditions. I was scrambling to find a cheap hotel. I couldn't. I looked all over the net and included hostels. My flight was during the Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) so just about every hotel was booked or close too. First off, Macau is a gambling center first and foremost so everything is already expensive. Factor in the Chinese New Year and prices are through the roof. Anything that was available was between 1000 and 4000 rmb a night. Crazy. I was so desperate, I jumped on a website that I had been referred to and had visited when I was first looking to travel a year ago. It's http://www.couchsurfing.org/. I started messaging people in Macau asking if any of them had anything available for the time that I was there. Well, I changed my flight to a mere 3 nights, and more like a 2 day trip. (Figure, I arrived at 8:00 PM on the 21st, and left at 12:00 PM on the 24th.) Well, a lot of people turned me down, but 2 ended up saying that they could at least show me around so that was cool. I was willing to take what I could get. I figured if I couldn't find a hotel, I'd sleep on the street. Seriously, that was my thinking. Just glad it didn't come to that. One of the girls found me a really cheap hostel. You'll know why it was so cheap later, I promise. Beggars can't be choosers, though. Anyways, I was hoping I would at least be comfortable wearing a light jacket in Macau. Failed again.
Awesome Living Conditions
So, with that pre story out of the way, I arrived. One of the girls that I spoke even offered to pick me up from the airport and take me to the hostel she found for me. Sweet deal. People can surprise you sometimes. So, she did just that. I also saved money because with her I was able to take a bus instead of a taxi. Well, we arrived at the hostel, if you can call it that. Sweet mother, what did I get myself into? I'll tell you what. A rat's nest. Yep, a rat's nest. The walls were about as thick as paper and didn't even go all the way to the ceiling. It was a tiny little hole in the wall. I could easily hear people next to me and everything going on through the rest of the place. Fortunately, people nearby were pretty quiet. I lucked out on that one. I'll let your little mind wander and you can imagine what I could have ended up hearing in a place like that. Check out these pictures. It only cost me 200 MOP a night (The exchange rate for RMB to MOP is about 100 MOP to 125 RMB). Normally, it was 100 but they double the price for the week of Chinese New year. How convenient. It wasn't worth it. After checking in, I went with that girl to go get some dinner. I told her I could eat spice so she ordered some kind of spicy little dish. It was a junky little restaurant that was overpriced. The dish that came out for me was a small bowl. I touched the meat to my lips and immediately put it down. Next. Yeah, it was that hot. I didn't even need to eat it to feel the heat radiating off that piece of meat. It was some kind of curry dish that was set ablaze. I wanted no part of it. I hate wasting food, but that was just too much. The dish that followed wasn't spicy, but just wasn't that great. Obviously, my trip started off quite nicely. I got walked back to the garbage can I was staying in, and spent a while reading the second book of A Song of Ice and Fire before going to sleep. Somehow, I made it through the night.
I was supposed to hang out with that girl the next day and she was going to show me around, but I just wasn't feeling it. I told her I would just wander by myself. Unfortunately, it was colder the next day. I was forced to wear my winter jacket later on. Why weather WHY? Beach…warm……sun….That's all I wanted. I got none of those. The sky was dreary, gray all day. A soft, drizzling rain came and went from time to time. Luckily, I was still able to venture around and the rain held off for the most part. I was kind of glad to be on my own. Some company might have been nice, but at the same time…you know how I feel about that. I don't have to stop and wait or move on or abide by any schedule. The schedule is my own and if I want to linger, I can linger. If I want to move on, well I move on. It has its advantages. I'm not exactly sure when I headed out that morning. I caught a glimpse of a hotel nearby, so I decided to wander in and see what the rates would be. I knew it would be more expensive than the sh*t hole I was staying in, but I was hoping the damage wouldn't be too bad. The son (I assume) and the woman told me the first night would be 400 and the next night would be either 700 or 800. I thought about it and decided 400 would be ok, but the 2nd night was pushing it a bit for me. I expressed my concern and got the price knocked down to 600 for the second night, but that was still a bit high for what I was looking for. I decided to check out the rooms and it was definitely an upgrade. I just wasn't completely satisfied with that other price. I told them that I would think on it and maybe be back. 1000 for 2 nights wasn't completely undoable considering it was Spring Festival and I was in Macau. Still. Better to think before acting.
From there, I headed off to begin my wandering. I talked to the guy at the desk to find out where one of the places was that the kid I met on the airplane wrote down for me. (A lot of people can speak English in Macau.) Amazingly, I was stationed right next to the heart of Macau tourism. The famous street, loaded with shops and people from all over the world, has signs that lead to all the famous spots. The signs are all over and in English as well which made my life a lot easier. One of the coolest and obviously one of the most popular was the Ruins of St. Paul (Above ^^). However, before I saw that, I decided to take a road less traveled. I decided if I got lost, no big deal. The city was small enough and there were plenty of large buildings to use as landmarks. Besides, I was heading up towards the top. I had no idea what awaited for me, but I just kept going up through narrow streets and alleys. Eventually, I ended up at the this structure. That was as high as I could go in that region, or most from what I could see for that matter. It was there I discovered The Museum of Macau. Wandering pays off. Stay off that beaten path and go explore. Escape the crowds, discover cool things on your own,and. The view was great and yes, I went into the museum as well. It didn't cost much, and what else did I have to do? There was some cool stuff inside. Here are some pictures of that.
Last Image: Ivory Chess Set - 19th Century
After hanging around in the museum for a while, I was trying to kill time at that point, I headed back outside. Getting back was easy. I did walk around somewhat aimlessly for a bit and then I headed back to the hovel. I can't really recall what time it was. At that point, it was getting colder, and I wasn't too thrilled about the whole situation. My mind was made up. I decided to shell out the money for the upgrade. I verified that there were still rooms available, paid the money due, and checked out of the rat's nest. What a relief. I was happy to be free of that place. I had already made it clear that I wanted a room that didn't smell of smoke after inspecting one of the rooms, so the guy at the front desk said he'd give me a room with a window. Good man. I was really wishing I had brought my laptop with me at that point, but at least I had my Kindle with me, (which can connect to the internet by the way) and this was a decent hotel so it had a TV. The few English channels that are on Chinese television are hardly worth watching. Mostly news. Not my cup of tea. I watched some odd Chinese programs, the coolest was probably the easier version of 'Ninja Warrior', then ended up passing out. My day was spent wandering for a bit, lazing around in the hotel room, followed by wandering again and so on and so forth.
I had bought a sim card for my phone (needed a new one for Macau) when I got there, so I was able to text/call the people I had met on www.couchsurfing.org. I met up with a different girl later in the evening. She and her boyfriend were showing me around, which was really cool of them. We ended up going to a few different casinos and bars throughout the night. There weren't a lot of people out because of the Chinese New Year, but I still had a good time. I ended up getting back to the hotel at like 4:30 AM. I stayed sober and the girl was cool. We had a lot of similarities so I was happy for the connection. I enjoyed the company of her boyfriend too. He was a nice guy. No, that's not sarcasm. Actually, the girl mentioned meeting up on the next day to do some kind of hiking. I was looking forward to that, but the weather wasn't great – continuously drizzling on and off for the most part, and she got caught up with her family. Too bad. That would have been cool. Well, that day really dragged on since I had zero company…again. To be honest, I was just waiting for the day to be over so I could get out of Macau and back to Beijing. I got some cool photos, though. I wandered for a couple hours that day and again much later at night. During the night, I was considering playing some poker in one of the casinos. It wouldn't have been my first time and I used to play a lot of cards, so I'm not completely dumb when it comes to poker. The first casino I went to was smokey and just not up to my standards. One guy was talking on his phone, another texting at the table. I don't like that. I inquired off this to one of the managers and he informed me that they were technically supposed to get up from the table. I already knew that. I didn't see anybody enforcing it, though. They didn't' have electronic shuffling machines either. Come on. Get with the times. The other casino I went to after was too long of a wait, and it was already late. I watched for a while, but just wasn't feeling it. I had even changed over some of my U.S. dollars for gambling, but never ended up touching it. I still have that Hong Kong money now. Haven't converted it back yet.
I wasn't ready to call it a night, though. I decided to do some wandering and attempt to find a bar. I walked pretty far, but it wasn't too bad. After a few locked doors, I finally found a bar that permitted entry. There was some karaoke inside, typical. There were no tables available, yet I saw a few? I can't explain that, but I guess they were reserved for a later crowd. I managed to find a seat on a countertop near the bar. One of the guys working there was really friendly and spoke good English. He told me he just loved his job and it was apparent. He plenty of the customers, particularly the pretty girls, or so it seemed. He was a little odd, but super friendly nonetheless. He even directed me to some other bars nearby. I was told the one would have lots of good looking girls. I can't say that was entirely true. I walked in like I owned the place…..kidding. I just walked in. I glanced over in this corner where a couple of women were sitting. Yeah, I was checking them out. Bad idea. Based on the looks I received, I knew right away what I was up against. Prostitutes. They were a little old for me too. The first woman gave me a lingering look so I turned away, feigning stupidity, and walked to the bar. Ordered a beer, double the price of the last place, but whatever, and sat down. I glanced over that corner a second time, I guess just to be sure. I caught the eyes of another woman who gave me a curt nod and a lift of the eyebrows like I was fresh meat. On that, I quickly turned my head with wide eyes. Haha…..From there, the first woman made her way over to my table and offered all kinds of lame small talk. I didn't give her too much attention, but that didn't seem to bother her. She kept going on and on. She had asked me about the casinos and I stated that I hadn't gambled. To that, she replied that she thought that was good because maybe I would lose a lot of money in doing so. She thought maybe I needed a woman. I couldn't resist. With subtle hinting, I said 'Well, maybe I'll lose more on the woman.' I don't know if she didn't understand the implication or just ignored it. She simply responded that the girl was in my control so I would decide if I was going to lose money or not. Well, I was getting bored of that situation. I didn't want to be rude, so I said that I just wanted to be alone and drink my beer. She was a little saddened, but at least she let me be. One of the dancers there (in a dress, not her underwear – don't worry) ended up stopping at my table later and sharing a drink with me. Actually, she was a really nice girl. She was Russian, with a college degree, just unable to find work in her major so she was doing that temporarily. We had chatted for a while before she returned to work. Oh, and I made sure to ask her if those women were prostitutes. She confirmed suspicions. I left shortly after.
Check out the leg room.
The next day arrived, and I was in the airport by 10:30 AM. I was happy about that. I had to stop in Nanning (capital of Guanxi) to change flights. I had a little bit of trouble there with my visa, or so the people working there thought. It turned out to be fine, fortunately. I won't bother with the details. The best part about that first flight was the room I had on the airplane. The plan was pretty much empty! I had a seat right by an emergency door, which meant extra leg space. Ah, it was so nice. That's the only way to fly in my opinion. Some guy was seat jumping, and did end up in my row for a bit before he changed seats again. The seat next to me was empty, though. Loved it. The second flight wasn't as accommodating, but it got me home. Home? I suppose it is now. That's a strange concept to grasp.
I'm going to end this blog there because it should have been out ages ago and I only just finished. To give you an idea of the time it took me to complete, I got back from Macau on the 24th of January. Terrible, I know. Better late than never!
-Jeff
