Macau: The Fam Comes to Asia! // 家人来到了澳门

So, this post is longgg over due, but China wifi is just terrible and I’ve been quite busy since the first week of classes started! Anyways, here’s a little about my Mom and step-dad’s first experience in my neck of the woods, ASIA!

February 22nd we left the States and arrived in Hong Kong. We stayed in HK for 4 days, one of those days including a day trip to Macau. For the next 7 days we resided in Shanghai! It was a crazy two weeks as we woke up around 8am every morning because I had our days jam packed with activities. I was their tour guide for 2 weeks and was happily to do so just for some good food and a nice comfy hotel room 🙂

Overall, I was so happy that my family could experience a culture and language that has been so special to me for the past 4 years. There’s just a huge part of me that is so connected to this part of the world, so it was awesome getting to tour my family around and show them the same amazing things I’ve experienced here. In general, Americans have a very skewed perspective of China, but I was happy to have changed at least two people’s opinions. They left loving Shanghai and Asia and I felt so happy to know I created a unique experience for them. Although they had to put up with some inconveniences like dodging traffic, using chopsticks, drinking warm beer, using squatty potties, dealing with spotty wifi, being napkin-less and overcoming the language barrier, they were really good sports and together we had an awesome time. Dad, if you’re reading this, you better get ready!

– Macau –

On our second day in HK, we decided to take a day trip to Macau. We were debating whether or not to do an arranged tour group, because I had never been to Macau before and didn’t know what to expect, but we decided to just wing it and buy a one way boat ticket. We must have had “bewildered” and “lost” written on our foreheads because as soon as we arrived tons of tour guides approached us trying to get us to buy day trip tours. We just grabbed a city map and made our way to the bus station and managed to hop on a bus that took us to the center of the city.
So, Macau is famous in Asia for it’s casinos and gambling. Because gambling is “illegal” in China, tons of Chinese from Mainland China come to Macau to win (or lose) it all in the casinos. In fact, people from all over Europe, Asia and the Middle East come to Macau to gamble! Even Princes and Sheikhs. We stepped inside one of the largest casino hotels, the Lisboa, and walked through the game floor. We wanted to play just for fun but the starting bets were so high! Like nearly $100 just for a game of black jack! We just had fun looking around after that…

We hopped on another bus that took us away from the city to see the A-Ma Buddhist Temple. This was my decision and although I truly can’t tell the big differences between temples I visit, I like how tranquil and peaceful they are. But as soon as we arrived, people began setting off firecrackers! Because we just arrived in Hong Kong as Chinese New Year was coming to a close, people were still celebrating. These absolutely cannot be compared to firecrackers in the US. Chinese invented these things and they make them LOUD. All around the temple we could see reminisce of firecrackers. Regardless, the temple was full of visitors coming to make some small prayers or give thanks. My favorite part about this temple was the cool cone shaped incense hanging everywhere. Visitors can purchase these incense and basically it is lit at the bottom and slowly burns away into nothing. They represent prayers that people have made.

The A-Ma Buddhist Temple was quite far away from the city center, and as we made our way back, we stopped by the Senado Square. From there we worked our way through the crowds to the ruins of St. Paul’s Cathedral. The roads we walked through were quite narrow so you really had to push and shove your way through. I think this was my parents first truly uncomfortable experience they had. Especially during festivals and holiday seasons, crowds are larger in popular tourist destinations, so we kind of got caught up in that dilemma here in Macau. Anyways, we made our way through gradually and were pleasantly surprised by how beautiful the ruins were! Although it was just the face of the cathedral, it was quite unique in that way. A piece of history from the 17th century preserved in time.

We managed to find some good snacks along the way as well! Small egg tarts are such a popular snack food in Asia. I have only had them a handful of times but I wanted my parents to try so we had these together. We snacked through lunch and the afternoon, but for dinner we wanted to find an authentic Portuguese restaurant because Macau was previously a Portuguese colony and well, when in Rome, right?? We were recommended to check out a restaurant called Solomar’s in the city center and we were pleasantly surprised they had air conditioning, friendly staff, good beer and awesome food! A great ending to a very fun, successful and adventurous day in Macau.