Portugal+Hong Kong+Las Vegas=Macao!

So last Saturday marked Part 2 of my class excursions around Hong Kong. This time we went to Macao, the Las Vegas of the East. For everyone who doesn't know, Macao was a Portuguese colony for 442 years until Portugal handed it back to China in 1999. It was the first and last European colony in Asia. Macao is an hour away from Hong Kong by high speed ferry. The ferries are actually really nice with economy and first class tickets and really comfortable seats. I slept during the first ride, missing most of the ride to Macao, because we had to leave at 8:00 am, a ludicrous time for anyone to even contemplate being awake. I was, however, conscious for the last 10 minutes of the trip and was able to see the skyline of Macao filled with large signs and casino buildings.

After we docked, we had to make the dreaded trek to the customs office. At first, a few of us tried to go into the Hong Kong residents line thinking, "Oh, I'm a student and I'm here for a year. I'm about to extend my visa and TECHNICALLY I'm a non-permanent resident of Hong Kong. Perhaps this is the line for me." It turns out we were wrong and stood in a 30 minute line for nothing. We then switched to an equally long line for visitors. In all, it took an hour for my little group to get through customs. This doesn't include the other 80 people in our tour group. We didn't end up leaving the immigration building until 12:30. Think about it, I was doing nothing but traveling or standing in lines from 8:00 am to 12:30 pm, a full 4.5 hours. After we were all rounded up, we went to a casino to have a buffet dinner filled with Western and Chinese food. 很好吃！(This means "how delicious"). We gorged ourselves and then took a chartered bus ride to Macao Tower, which is basically a large observation tower with restaurants and shops. However, this observation tower is special because it has the highest commercial bungee in the WORLD!!!! I didn't do it that day because I wasn't feeling well and it cost a lot of money, but I am planning on going in January. I figure it's the appropriate next step up after my cliff diving experience. I'm so stoked for this.

After the tower, we went to the more historical, Portuguese side of town and saw St. Dominic Catholic church and the ruins of St. Paul, both beautiful examples of 16th century Portuguese architecture. In front of St. Paul, we saw an impromptu Lion dance which was completely random, but really awesome. Walking down the streets was also fun because of all the Portuguese style bakeries and restaurants, all of which were giving out free samples of their food. The best place to go for this is the Rua do Regedor which is known for its eateries. All of this was outside and the temperature was somewhere around 100 F so we decided to cool off and look at the insides of casinos. No worries everyone, we weren't allowed to gamble. Turns out casinos aren't that interesting if you don't bet money, so we decided to head back to Hong Kong early. This meant more ferry rides and more immigration offices. All in all, a good day.

Even more exciting was my visit to Chinese University's vice chancellor's house for a barbecue. One of my classmates had gone to a presentation where the vice chancellor was speaking. He proceeded to send him an email and secured an invitation to a "presentation" for himself and four classmates. He decided to invite me as one of the four. We got all dressed up in business casual attire and headed out. When we arrived, we found out that the presentation was for Chinese students who were studying at Oxford for university. We also learned that it wasn't actually a presentation. It was a casual backyard barbecue that he was hosting for the Oxford students. So basically we got a chance to eat really good food and chit chat with the vice chancellor and a host of other interesting people. Later in the evening, he insisted that all of the groups sing a song. Some of the Oxford kids were in an a cappela group, so they had an awesome performance. This was followed by my group singing the University of South Carolina Alma Mater (yes, I know all of the words). I then was pulled up to sing a song in Chinese with the vice chancellor. Afterwards, he invited us to come back for the Mid Autumn festival and Chinese New Year. Now I know, an email goes a long way to making good connections.

Our group with the Vice Chancellor