Day 2: Exploring with the GAs

Woke up early this morning (jet-lag!) and went exploring a bit...found my way back to the Sanmu grocery store and picked up some cereal (Honey Crunch Corn Flakes!) for future breakfasts, but the third floor was closed off so I couldn't get a bowl or spoon to eat said cereal. To make up for that, I stopped by the Saint Honore Cake Shop, the smaller of the two bakeries across the street from the bus stop, but it's a chain brand throughout Macau and HK. It's quite cheap and delicious, albeit unhealthy for daily consumption: I got a tsa sao bao (BBQ pork bun) for 5.5 MOP and a "Rocky Bun" (buo lo bao) for just 3 MOP, so spending just over $1 USD.

"Rocky Bun" with red bean paste - just 4.5 MOP!

I managed to find my way back to the Altira roundabout via the 25 bus, where I met up with Austin, Holly and the other two MPI ETAs, Emily (yay for Yalies!) and Amy. After some adventures figuring out where we were supposed to meet Eve and using a New Century Hotel payphone (since none of us had cell-phones or Macau simcards yet), Eve took us on a quick tour of the UM walkways...so much more convenient than hiking up the hill! We ended up spending more time in the ELC than expected - the MPI ETAs all had to check email and deal with something about their MPI contracts.

For lunch, Eve brought us to Senado Square to meet Karen and Tom, two UM grad students who are working at the ELC as graduate assistants (GAs) helping students with their writing. They took us to a little dumpling/noodle shop for lunch (where Emily was curious to try the "black fungus", then all around Senado Square, the historical center of Macau.

Senado Square

We were able to get a lot done - purchase cell phones/simcards, get fresh-squeezed juice (mango, yum!), sample beef jerky/almond cookies/egg rolls from street hawkers, and take some ridiculous photos, like this one:

There was some historical stuff too - the ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral (the rest was lost to a huge fire), and the Mount Fortress, with old cannons and a great view of Macau:

St. Paul's, with huge weekend crowds

View from the balcony of St. Paul's

An antique cannon at Mount Fortress

By the end of the day, we were all pretty tired...Karen walked Susan and I back to Horta e Costa, passing by more landmarks like the Macau Public Library and the local flu clinic =P Tomorrow will be even more exploring, so time for bed!