Wanderings around Macau

Welcome to Fisherman's Wharf! Last Saturday Jatana and I decided to go exploring. Fisherman's Wharf is down near the Ferry Terminal and is considered to be a failure. After exploring our guess as to why it is a failure is the poor deisgn. It is pretty cheesy, and while cheesy can work when done well, this is not an instance where it was done well.

The Rocks Hotel.

Outside the Afrikana Bar

Wait..I thought we were in China?

Strolling in Paris which looked like Bourbon St.

What can I say...

He was just so cute!

This was the best part of Fisherman's Wharf. The Ice Gallery! Admission is 80MOP and you can wander around inside for 30min. There is an ice slide that is a lot of fun but difficult in a skirt. You also get free coffe, tea and hot chocolate.

Outside the Ice Gallery

Entrance

Jatana trying to climd out of the undergroud game room.

Voila!

This snake was outside the Aladdin Arena thingy. Can't really remember.

I need to add photos of Jatan. She is just as big of a clown as I am.








Now for the Wynn! This hotel is located in Macau and has a very simple design. Amongst all the neon, the Wynn looks very classy.

the Wynn! One of my favorite looking hotels in Macau.

The awesome, giant sign out front.










My wonderful, amazing, awesome mother sent me a care package! Below is picture of the box which made it all the way from the US entact but definitely a little bit beat up. It took about two weeks to get here, and once it arrived I had to pick it up at the post office down in Senado Square. If it was smaller it actually could have been sent to IFT, but that is in a box is kept down at the post office.

It was really nice to get something from home. Just seeing my mom's handwriting and knowing that at one point this box had been in my house made me really happy.

The box!

The first glance!

All of my goodies! Which include: Two cards for St. Paddy's day, some magazines, my wonderful face wash you can't buy here, some Peeps for Easter, Glamour, and the most delicious Granola from Sugar Magnolia Bakery (thank you to my amazing boyfriend Tyler)

TIP: If you are ever in Statesboro, Ga go to Sugar Magnolia Bakery! My faovrites are: the Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chicken Salad Sandwhich, all Pizzas and of course the Granola.

TIP: If you really like a certain body product bring it with you. I didn't bring my face wash and the pollution in the air made my face break out really bad. Nobody likes pimples.









Signing off for now! Tomorrow it's back to Mainland China I go!

Trolley Ride up Victoria's Peak

The view from our trolley. The ride up was soooo steep. We stopped at one point to let some of the trolley workers jump on, and it was so scary. Luckily the trolley started up again just fine and we made it the top with no problem.

Video of Victoria Harbour

I took this video while we were waiting to see the Symphony of Lights. It's a nightly light show that is the world's largest permanent light show. Very impressive, but not as impressive as we were hoping for. TIP: If you want to see the show arrive 45min-1hr early. Good spots go fast!

Hong Kong Take One (Finally)

SO it's taken me awhile to post pictures from Hong Kong but here they are! Are you ready??

Welcome to Hong Kong! Fresh off the MTR and out into the chaotic streets of HK.

TIP: After doing some research all of us exchange stuents decided to buy what is called an Octopus Pass. This pass is good for all modes of transportation (except taxis) in Hong Kong to pay for fares, and you can also use it at most stores to pay for your purchases. We even used it in IKEA to pay for lunch! The cost of the pass is 100HKD plus a 50HKD deposit which is refundable if the card is returned within three months. I suggest anyone planning to spend more than a day in HK to purchase the pass. It saves so much time, and since you have the ability to use the card at stores you never have to worry about not being able to use up all the money on the pass. You can replenish the pass at any MTR station.

IKEA! Got some chocolate, cookies and candles. All the Swedish, Danish and Finnish students felt very much at home here.

Sanna looking oh so cool.

Just a couple of the giant building we passed. It really is a whole other world from Macau. By the end of the day most of us agreed that we loved visiting HK and want to go again and again, but we are really happy to be studying in Macau. In Macau you can walk most places, and Macau just has more of a small town comfortable feel.

Up at Victoria's Peak looking down to HK and Victoria Harbour.

Clowning Around.

The day we went was pretty clear, and the views were just awesome. We rode the trolley up to the top of the peak. It was a lot of fun and provided awesome views. Video coming soon!

This is the Peak Tower. You can pay extra and go to the very top, but really there is no need. The views from all the surrounding look out points were awesome, and none of us felt like we missed out by not going to the top.

What can I say? We clown around a lot.

I found this to be very odd. It is a small restaurant that is right across the street from Peak Tower. The whole area is surrounded by a very well to-do neighborhood. I'd love to go exploring more and maybe have dinner at this restaurant, but don't think I will any time soon.

The panorama came out small here, but this is from the other side of Peak Tower at a small Temple/lookout point.

The beautiful metropolis of Hong Kong.

I thought this guy was really cute. He is guarding the temple.

Woohoo!

One thing I want to say about visiting Victoria Peak. Make sure to either go at night or on a very clear day. Unless you want to walk up the mountain, you'll want to take the trolley up. The ride is about three minutes and is really cool, but the line for the trolley is about an 45min-1hr long. We asked and apparently it is like this most days. I would allow a minimum of 3hrs to see Victoria Peak, especially if you want to wander around the surrounding area. I definitely suggest doing that. There is a long trail (I think it was somewhere around 13km long) that winds all around the mountain.

This was down in the MTR Station. Only in China : )

Party on the MTR!!! Woooo! I know the other passengers must have thought we were crazy. : )

Sidsel unleashed!

Terry! This was right before he started practicing for his new profession...pole dancer. haha

Dinner down at Temple Street Market.

I had pork with rice and soy sauce and milk tea to drink. It was very good!

We had planned to go to the Ladies Market, but due to the fact that we ran behind about four hours, the Ladie's Market was closing up about the time we were ready to start shopping. Instead we went to Temple Street Market. This is the big night market in Macau, and is filled with about anything you could ever want from scarfs and purses to sex toys and booths to have your fortune told.

TIP: The group in total was about 10 ppl. This was very hard to keep up with, especially since most people's phones didn't work. My advice would be to travel in smaller groups or set meeting places, and just be cool with breaking off into smaller groups. We didn't set a meeting place, but did say that we would head back towards the ferry terminal around midnight so it worked out.
Storytime: There were five of us who planned to go back together around midnight. From what we had seen the MTR stopped running around midnight and we didn't want to risk getting stranded and not knowing how to get back to the ferry terminal. What happened was while shopping at the market we got seperated. Around 11:30pm Sanna, Jatana and I decided to head towards the ferry, hoping the other two girls would do the same. We went to the ferry terminal, got our tickets, boarded the ferry and were sitting waiting to leave when our two friends walked on board! We couldn't believe it!

Another strange thing was the something similar happened with four of our other friends and they somehow managed to get on the same ferry too! They took the 5am ferry though. lol

TIP: The ferry runs ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT!

Hong Kong was amazing and we have already made plans to go back in two weeks. This time we will stay the night and plan to visit the Giant Sitting Buddah, some shopping and HONG KONG DISNEYLAND!!!!! Can you tell which one I'm most excited for? ;)

Visas and Being Sick

The focus of my blog today should be pretty obvious from the title. I've finally fell ill (dag nab it) and I've got some very good information about getting visas.

Sunday I woke up with a slight sore throat. The weather here is changing, last week it was lovely this week is cold and dreary. Spring is on it's way but with that comes colds. During the night on Sunday I woke up thanks to one of our neighbor's windows that kept banging shut. My sore throat had gotten worse and it took me a while to go back to sleep. Monday I felt ehhh, but figured I'd just take some of my cold meds and I'd be fine. Wrong. By Tuesday morning I felt like crap. I had a major headache, terrible sore throat, and just felt icky. I tried to go by a pharmacy to pick up some cough drops before my 9am class, but apparently NO ONE is open before 9am. I ended up at McDonald's so I could get some orange juice. So far I haven't been able to find any fresh OJ in the supermarkets.

I barely made it through my 9am. After class my friend and I took the bus back to Macao and she took me to a pharmacy and showed me what she'd gotten when she had a sore throat. It was traditional chinese medicine, and I couldn't take it then, so I decided to wait and pick it up later. Bad move. Went to my next class, which was Cantonese for foreigners, and felt so bad by the end of it I was actually putting my head down in class. And my friend informed me to "Go Home. You look terrible." Gots to love friends.

So I skipped my last class, picked up my chinese meds, and went back to crash. The medicine I got is called YI HONG TONG PEI PA KOA. You take 1 tablespoon three times daily, and it's as thick as mollases. It didn't seem to help much at first, but when I woke up today I felt so much better. I've taken it twice so far today and I can tell it's helping a lot. In a strange way, I also really like taking something that is traditionally Chinese. The ingredients listed on the side show that it contains: Snake Bile, Birds Nest and Sea Coconut just to name a few ingredients.

That along with some Sudafed and some ibuprohen (only when my headache was really bad) had seemed to work. I don't feel 100% better today, but I think by tomorrow I should be back to normal!

Lessons learned:

1. Watch out for when the seasons change.
2. Try traditional medicine. It works and it's cheaper.
3. Sleep!
4. Ask at the pharmacy for suggestions. They may not understand english, but pantomiming should work. : )
5. Don't freak out about being sick in another country. Everyone gets sick.
6. Hot tea is your friend.
7. And last but not least, don't expect any store to be open before 10am.

Visas!

I'm very lucky in the fact that I have a Visa to visit Mainland China. And my advice to any student planning to study abroad to Macao is to get your visa before you leave the US. Ask your study abroad advisor, mine was Sarah Langston, for information on a company called G3 Visas. It costs around $190 for a 12 month Tourist Visa. With this Visa you'll be able to enter Mainland as many times as you want for that specified 12 months. I got mine in January 2010, so mine is January 2010-January 2011.

If that sounds expensive, and you still want to wait till you arrive in China listen to me: DON'T!

When you arrive in Macau you'll have to apply for a Macau resident Visa. You will not be able to obtain a Visa for Mainland China until you have the Macau Visa. The problem for US citizens is that for some reason the paperwork is different, and we have to wait to receive ours. While most of the other exchange students received their visas that day, Jatana (the other USC exchange student), I and the Taiwanese students have to wait until April 4th to get ours. This means that Jatana, can't even applyfor her visa for Mainland until April 4th, which means she has to put off making travel plans for times like Easter Break.

Once she does receive her visa, she still has to Get a testimonial from her parents saying she can go to Mainland. This is required by IFT, and all exchange students, even the ones who are 26 YEARS OLD, have to get it! I don't understand why in the world we need this. Once her parents send that, the school will approve it and issue a testimonial, which costs 50MOP, and then she can go apply for the Visa. Once she has applied it takes from 4-5 working days to complete. With the crazy hours the embassy has just say it takes a week.

Hopefully this will be helpful to all students planning on coming to Macau. Macau is a great place, just remember GET YOUR VISA BEFORE YOU LEAVE! It will save you so much time and effort.

Signing off for today! Time to go grocery shopping!

A Few More Pictures

Jo San. <--Good Morning in Cantonese

So this will be another picture post. I've got lots of photos to upload from Hong Kong! Going to try to do that tomorrow!

My yummy ham and cheese roll from the bakery down the street!

Ocotopus and veggie rolls. Jatana and I picked them up at a little restaurant on the corner.

Terry preparing a traditional Korean dish for the Latern festival.

All of the amazing food that our Chinese, Korean and Taiwanese friends made for the latern festival. This festival is to celebrate friends and family.

Noodles at a restuarant round the corner. SIDEBAR: Most of the places around here have Chinese names so I can only remember what the outside looks like. Sorry that they all sounds so vague! SIDEBAR DONE I still don't know what the little thing with the pink swirl on it was. The texture was kinda spongy and it really didn't taste like much.

Jatana's sushi at the same place. She loved them and went back a few days later to get more!

Good Afternoon! I'm here in the comp lab at Taipa campus killing time before class. This morning was spent reading out on my balcony. A good book is the best/worst distraction! No, I didn't accomplish any of my goals for the morning, besides getting bread from the bakery, but I enjoyed myself immensly. Took the bus over to Taipa a little earlier than normal, and strolled around. Found a small coffee shop called Cuppa Coffee, that is open from 8-8 everyday! I know what I'll be having for breakfast tomorrow : )

I don't know if I mentioned it earlier, but I have a 9am class in Taipa on Tuesday, and trying to get a bus is extremely difficult. Thanks to a suggestion from Tyler, I'm going to leave around 7am, take the bus over (hopefully it won't be crowded) and have breakfast in Taipa.

The weather is amazing now. Today is sunny and feels about 65 degree out. It makes it very hard to stay indoors. While I was out walking in Taipa, I came across a couple little restaurants to try, a temple, a few small shrines and some nice places just to sit.

Ahhhh now it's off to class and then to the gym! Signing off until next time.