Flash floods, sea sickness, gambling, and Portuguese/Chinese encounters, also known as my weekend. :)

Friday went to pick up my glasses...awesome. Statement making in that they're black plastic frames and have glitter/rhinestones on the sides, but they fit and although they did make me dizzy and gave me a headache the first day, it went away relatively soon. As opposed to my other pair of black glasses which gave me a three day headache and made the world look a lot taller and further away than normal.

But the fun stuff! Macau.

I had originally planned to go just for Saturday. I was going with some people who were overnighting it, but I wanted to get back, be able to study, and not drop a ton of money. Went to bed late late Friday night, woke up earlyyyyyyy to the rain that seems to never stop. Didn't think too much of it as I got ready to go, but as I left the building the security guard gestured emphatically and excitedly to the door sign, which said that a black rainstorm warning had been issued. So I nodded and breezed right on out.

Taxi to Tai Po Center, 307 to the Central Ferry Piers. Should have been around an hour on the bus. Ended up being much more, because apparently a black rainstorm warning means A LOT of rain. The roads flooded in Central. We saw taxis stopped in the middle of the road with water up to their bumpers, trashcans floating down the street, restaurants/hotels/stores with the water lapping inside and sometimes even covering the floor. People were knee-deep in water and sloshing around. Luckily the bus got through a lot of the deep water, and we got out on a part of the street that wasn't incredibly flooded. Dashed through the rain to the ferry pier and managed to catch the boat we were supposed to take even though we were running late. I've been on a fair number of ferry rides in my life (around here and then out to Bald Head), but this one made me sick. Thought I was going to be violently ill, but managed to drift off to sleep for a bit.

Woke up to rain in Macau. Got off the boat, went through immigration, then wandered around in the rain trying to find the free shuttle bus to take us from the pier to the hotel. Had decided by that point to spend the night. My ticket was originally 11pm Saturday night, but the weather in HK being what it was, I thought it wiser to just stay in Macau. Anyway, finally decided to take a taxi to the hotel which wasn't that far away. Checked in but couldn't actually get into the room till after three. So we went to the Venetian. Which is a very large hotel/casino/shopping center. We took the free bus back to the pier and then another free bus from the pier to the Venetian.

How to describe the Venetian? Expensive, but almost gaudy. Really high ceilings with creepy chandeliers that were made of something that almost looked as though they could have been highly polished bone? Not sure. Bathrooms were nice. We wandered around and had lunch at a sort of all-you-can-eat buffet, only a very nice and classy one. Didn't eat a terrible lot because my tummy was still feeling funny. Then we wandered around the shopping mall. I assume it was built along an Italian theme...river with gondolas etc. Lots of shops, lots of people, the ceiling vaguely reminiscent of HP (painted to look like the sky). Finally went down to the casino. I played some of the slot machines which was fun. Lost of course. One of my friends played Blackjack, which looked like fun, but for my skill at playing it and the price of the buy in - wasn't worth it for me.

Left the Venetian and went to the hotel. Dried out for a bit. Then went for dinner at this Portuguese style restaurant. It was good. Walked around, saw the different casinos, and then went into the Wynn casino. We walked around it and ended up at the Starbucks there. :) I got id-ed going in. Not sure why. None of the others were stopped, but the guard looked my passport over. *sigh* Got back to the hotel at a reasonable hour. I didn't have any clothes with me as I hadn't planned to spend the night. I bought a tank top at the Venetian (at a 'cheaper' store) to wear under my jacket for the second day.

Woke up somewhat late on Sunday. Watched a bit of TV - we saw the dragon boat races! Then checked out of the hotel and went to Las Ruinas de Sao Paulo. Walked around, bought some things including a present for someone! ;). We stopped by a church. I can't remember the name of it, but it was a Catholic church. I don't know if I've seen an actual old-fashioned confessional booth in real life. The rain at least had stopped, thank goodness. Instead the sun was incredibly hot and the humidity intense. But still good to be hot than soaked. We had dinner at this little diner type thing. Apparently restaurants are not open between 3-6, and we had to eat early so that we could get to the pier by 6:30. I didn't eat much because I was afraid the voyage back might be sick-making. Had essentially a drink with frozen fruit in it. Tasty.

Got to the ferry pier, checked in, boarded the ferry, and THEN they announced that "There is rubbish in the intake" and we had to turn and go back to Macau. They made us get off and board another boat. But the passage was swift, didn't get sick, and they gave us complimentary Oreos. Took the bus back to Tai Po, stopped by McDonald's for a snack, and then back to campus.

I liked Macau. I also really enjoyed trying to figure out what all the Portuguese signs and menus said.

Today was another public holiday. I slept in, went to the grocery, studied for the LSAT etc. I teach tomorrow, only day this week since I took vacation because the test is Sunday. *meep*
Terrified out of my mind.

Lots of things that need to happen between now and when I come back home. But none of it matters till after this test. Wish there were going to be people around the Saturday before the test, but most people will be on an outing to Sai Kung. Didn't want to run the risk of getting back at midnight the night before the test, and Sai Kung is pretty far out. It's okay. I'll have time to do stuff after the test. I hope. *fingers crossed*

And I'm once again at the end of a long rambly recounting of things I've done.
*deep calming breaths*
In the immortal words of the Little Engine Who Could: I think I can I think I can I think I can I think I can....