Macau -- 2010-05-18

Well, there wasn't anything new to take pictures of, but I did notice a few new things going in this time...

-For one, I had told the guys that you need to factor in 3 hours to get to the airport by public. Well, now it should be at least half an hour shorter, because we're one bus ride closer to the airport, woohoo! Anyway, they were all "technically, you can get there in 55 minutes". But I'm cautious. I also don't always believe everything the guys say, of late, aherm -- I'd rather be safe, aherm again. Anyway, the first train only leaves at 6:00 and my flight was at 9:00, so I got up for that first train... Train left on the dot. Train arrived in Taipei Main at 6:38. I didn't dawdle, the entrance to the high speed rail (HSR) is right beside the platform you get off on, so it's not like I just missed the HSR, but the next one was only at 7:05, so there! I feel rather vindicated, because I tried to get in a weak "well, if you miss the train, you have to wait half an hour for another one, so you have to factor that in (at least, Ange does)" but I didn't even miss it and the next one was that much later, aherm-aherm and aherm. :D Oh well. So that took nearly half an hour. Then I would've caught the shuttle immediately, however, that one was full (I ended up being the first one in line for the next -- Murphy, but again, guys, take note that you have to factor this kind of thing into timings, because the next shuttle arrived 15 minutes later). Shuttle took another 20 minutes or so... So all told, I ended up arriving at check-in 45 minutes before departure, which is NOT to my liking (immigrations can take up to half an hour, sometimes!) -- I don't live on the edge or thrive on the drama, erk. :) Anyway, it's a good lesson: I'll just have to make sure next time the flight's later. Or take an expensive taxi. And continue to not listen to the guys. >:)

So, here are today's additional observations and a couple pictures, but nothing exciting:

-Who buys betelnut before 6:00 AM?! :O Yes, they do: I watched them do it!! :O
-I've never been in town as the newspapers were arriving and being distributed; weird thing to observe, everyone groggy grabbing their paper... even odder is the fact that paper newspapers are still so used -- just haven't seen that, the stacks of literally hot-off-the-press papers, in real-life, ever
-Usually, the beeps as people enter the MRT station are continuous (beep-beep-beep-overlappingbeeps-beep) and never let up: not so before the station's had its morning cuppa: beeeeep... ... ... beeeeep ... ... ...
-Devoted Buddhist lady on train using prayer beads first thing in the morning
-Daybreak reflecting off Danshui river: splendid
-Old ladies carrying their body weight in fresh produce to Taipei Main, on the metro
-A city is a weird thing first thing in the morning: everybody half-asleep, you almost feel invasive as you watch them attempt to rouse themselves; it's surreal; people seem so vulnerable; everyone's stumbling and clumsy
-I just want you to know that when the key promises hit "pregnancy and childbirth", the tune is quite triumphant, haha
-Bus to harbor in Macau: AP1, 3.20 patacas
-Bus to old city from harbor: 3s or 10s, including As, 4.20 patacas
-Just because everything's in Portuguese doesn't mean they speak it; I already knew that
-I discovered the groovy-est coins and stamps nook ever!!
-I also roamed the back streets and was looked at unusually weird-ly (I've noticed, lately, people look at me a lot; it's not for possession of beauty, so I have no idea what it is -- maybe I look psychotic, ahaha; well, my shirt did leave my shoulders a little exposed, but the rest of me was entirely covered up, contrasting some extremely frisky-ly dressed young ladies, aherm, so it wasn't anything to do with scandalous-ness either; I suppose when one looks as exhausted as I generally do, one is bound to get stares, sigh...)
-I found Brasil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Did you know a camel has a "brisket" that they can kill you with? Yeah, neither did I, until I heard it on Unbreakables (thanks, Hik)
-I found Bic pens! I wasn't looking for Bic pens, just a pen, and I never expected to see them in Macau of all places, but there they were, sitting cheaply and familiarly in the little papelaria (er, stationery store, I guess)... I haven't seen Bic pens since leaving Brasil, and since I'd left my pen at home and you just can't travel without a pen (I ended up penning a long letter on the airplane food tray liner -- see how useful?!), since you need to fill out immigrations forms and the pens are never there, besides, it's always good to get them filled out before getting in line and realizing you haven't filled it out... amen... good tips there... so always have a pen!
-Wow, they've really improved the airport-related services; taxi was a little slow, but they had a crew working out the taxis and the taxi driver actually speaks reasonable English and the cars are newer... arrived too late to get the last shuttle (closes at 10:00), so had to take the taxi to the HSR, to catch the last one of those, in order to arrive in Taipei Main to catch the last train home... a day of the firsts and lasts of everything... wooow... and the attendants at the HSR station were overly-helpful (even at such a late hour), even though I knew what I was doing... or thought I did... :D they must be having a "help foreigners and practice your English push" -- either that, or again, that weird staring thing is influencing the attendants as well, ahaha

A few photos...

A very suspicious set of buses! :O :D



Brasiiiiil!!!!! I was walkin' along, mindin' my own business in the old city, when I stumbled upon a sign I'd never seen before, on a side street, with a Brasilian flag and it was the entrance to a tiny restaurant. I stepped inside, raised my arms and shouted "Brasiiilll!!!" The 3 ladies occupying the place looked up and laughed, welcomed me inside, I launched into Portuguese, we struck up a conversation and pretty soon I was eating lunch there. During the course of the conversation, every Brasilian resident in Macau filtered through that place. Okay, not every one, just 90% of them, haha. No, but it is THE place to go, if you're Brasilian. Or if you just want a meal that tastes like my home and not at all Chinese in any way at aaall (even the Donovan's food here -- at least, the fish and chips, which I've had -- tastes Chinese, harhar). The lady is Brasilian and has been living there 20 years, but she still cooks like a Brasilian, talks and acts like one... I had some lovely conversations with some of the patrons that went through (these expressive Brasilian women!), passed on my contact info to people who will be coming to Taiwan in future, had a check that Maria (it's her little place) needed prayer for something, so went to the back and asked her if she needed prayer for anything specific and she nearly dissolved in a puddle of tears and rattled off a long list of requests, didn't stay long at that, as two other ladies were hoping I'd walk a ways with them, but had a little moment and told her that would be the place to go to, next time I'm in Macau... I'm starting to like this'ere Macau... oh! I know why! Brasiiiiillllll!!!!! >:D So, I ordered the prato do dia (uh, "plate of the day"??), which was feijoada (uh, bean soup) just the way it should be, rice tasting the way it SHOULD taste, a tossed salad with dressing the way dressing must be, fish breaded and fried the way it just HAS to be done and all started off with a lovely soup with REAL COUVE IN IT!!! Okay, I was in Heaven: in so much Heaven, I had to hug her repeatedly. And her Filipino helper, who constantly rattled off, in English, "I'm sorry, I don't speak that" to any Cantonese and Mandarin speakers, looked on in amusement. Well, all the Brasilians going in there sort of knew each other and left with hugs, so I was just doin' what comes naturally'n, amen'n. So here's Brasil!! Hal-le-lu-jah!!







Okay, this one's extremely special... The Duty Free in departures in the Macau airport needs serious help -- it's so un-entertaining. But anyway... I discovered this one store with this one shelf with the weirdest medicines... like "general medicine for everything", with a short list of ingredients and its uses covering everything from stomach upset to insomnia to tooth ache. Er, yeah. Then there were the frisky ones, ahahaha... I was so tempted to buy one of each for my family, because they were sooo hillarious, but would've cost me a small fortune, so I had to settle for taking pictures, but then they stopped me, the scoundrels! So I only got this picture -- but seriously... what on earth!! (The pictures can be clicked on, for closer viewing.)



I was so engrossed in my casual scanning and smirking to myself, that I didn't notice if I was drawing stares, but at some point I did see a couple tall-ish Chinese guys saunter over and pick up a couple boxes and look over at me with curious grins, possibly wondering what I was getting off on, ahahahaha.

Perhaps some of that medicine was to help on days like this:



You'll see the oddest combination of fashions here. That lady had fully- and carefully-applied make-up on, designer glasses, but from the neck down, it just went so downhill. But then again... I'm sure they were all brand name items. You'll see perfectly dressed ladies with the loud-est, cute-sy purses, which is quite alarming, really. I told someone, the other day, that this country is run by Hello Kitty-loving ladies. Seriously. Women in their late 40s and early 50s who are seriously into Hello Kitty and Peter Rabbit. Well, if I think about it, I think I said that rather admiringly... that these career ladies keep their sweet side so prominent (in their homes, not at work).

Alright, I should end this day -- been up for 22 hours on 3 hours of sleep. And diseased. :) Now, if only the guy in the room above mine would stop making so much (the usual amount of) noise... :S