Yalie mini-reunion #1

Carrie Nguyen ES'09 stopped by Macau on her way from Vietnam back to the States, so Emily and I took her out to yum cha and walked around quite a lot of Macau: Grand Lisboa, Senado, etc. Even though I've been to those places before, we always find something new to gawk/laugh at.

The first time I was in the Grand Lisboa, it was at night, and I was looking for another place altogether, so I didn’t really take a good look around. When we come home at night and see it from the bus window, the sparkling lights look absolutely garish, but I still have to admire the coordination of all the bulbs, even with changing colors. I got a similar feeling inside the lobby – it was so over-the-top, but you can’t help marveling at the ostentatious displays of wealth.

A massive, glittery chandelier

A multi-ton jade sculpture

A similarly elaborate gold sculpture

Even the bathrooms were draped with crystal strings

Senado felt much more like authentic Macau, especially with the weekend Lion Dance performance at the steps of St. Paul’s Ruins. It was pretty warm out that afternoon, so it must have been boiling for the performers inside the costumes. However, they still managed to seem as if they were having fun too, going around the audience to let all the kids (and many of the adults) pet the lion heads and take photos.

Lion dancing

So soft and fuzzy!

Hi kid.

Of course, no trip to Senado is complete without stopping by Lemoncello for gelato…I tried some new flavors (grapefruit peach and kiwi), both of which were quite yummy. Outside, though, we (literally) ran into some clowns…turns out they were advertising a new snack shop or something.

No, the police were not coming to arrest them.

After that, Emily took Carrie to see Zaia at the Venetian while I ran a few errands, then we met back up for dinner at a Portuguese restaurant near MPI. Amy and Holly came along too, so we had a lot of fun critiquing the Miss Macau pageant (the restaurant was broadcasting it) over some very yummy fried rice, mussels, and other dishes. I went home while the rest of the girls went for post-dinner foot massages, but then we reunited for some walking around the casino area, namely MGM and the Wynn.

Possibly the craziest part of the night: midnight fountain show at the Wynn! I’ve watched the show at other times before, but they’re all different, with varying songs and therefore varying water patterns. This one was especially elaborate, perhaps because it’s the last one for the night:



After that, we went to one of the bars in ZAPE intending just to get a drink and hang out. Emily and Tom left earlier because they had to get up for debate in the morning, but Sam, Carrie and I stayed there talking until almost 3 AM! We briefly stopped by Cubic, but the club was charging $100 MOP cover, so we didn't feel it was worthwhile. All in all, though, it was a fun night =)

Weekend recap: Hac Sa, fireworks, casino tour, and more

Friday evening after work, Susan, Sam and I got slightly lost in Z.A.P.E. after getting off the bus a few stops too early, but after some walking around we finally met up with the MPI girls for dinner at "A Taste of India" near the Kun Iam statue. I thought my spice tolerance had increased throughout college after rooming with Atisha for three years, but things here still seem to have quite a kick, and the combinations aren't always what I expect. For example, my chicken curry had a LOT of cilantro, along with some other unidentifiable spices...I think I chewed a bit of ginger at one point and there was something that looked like a raisin but smelled lemony. It was still really good, but quite, um, flavorful.

Sam and I were pretty tired so we went home early while the others went out bar-hopping, but we all slept late in preparation for the afternoon/evening full of activities. Things started off around 4:30 PM with the UM exchange students' barbecue, all the way down at Hac Sa (Black Sand) beach.

The beach, which I guess is more dark brown than black

A cool sculpture overlooking the beach

The exchange students' association, including people hailing from all sorts of places (mainland China, America, the Philippines, Finland, France, Germany, among others), had invited us ETAs to join the fun, and we took the opportunity to explore the area a bit more ourselves. Joseph and Henry, two local students, had also come along to meet more of the exchange students (they both studied abroad, so their English is very good), and because they had kindly agreed to guide us to a good local restaurant for dinner, but more about that later.

Hac Sa itself was nice and cool, partially because it was so cloudy, which made it perfect weather for the annual beach rugby tournament. Austin wasn't with us at the barbecue, but that was because he was playing rugby!

Attempting to dodge a defender

By early evening, we were getting kind of peckish, so Susan, Henry, and Joseph stopped by one of the little food stalls to get a snack...a very protein-rich one =P

Susan with her snack, which looks like it escaped from Davy Jones' locker. She said it was yummy.

For dinner, we headed back to Horta e Costa, where Joseph and Henry guided us to a popular local joint called Sun Iek. Amy and Holly joined us for dinner as well, so it was one big party. While I'm getting a bit tired of Cantonese food all the time, I thoroughly enjoyed the tong cai, shrimp with cheese, pork chop with spices/cheese, spicy fried pork pieces, and curry chicken in a giant bread bowl!

Yum.

Post-dinner, Joseph and Henry left us to start their homework and Amy went home, but the rest of us caught the 32 bus down to the Lisboa to watch the second round of fireworks: Taiwan vs. France. Both were definitely better than last week's contestants, although my photos aren't as nice because I didn't have the backdrop of the Macau Tower.
After the shows, Holly went home, but Susan, Sam, and I randomly bumped into Emily while walking around the MGM. We continued exploring the casino lobbies, some of which had some extremely amusing decor:

The light/water show at the Wynn

Chinese zodiac-themed dome in the Wynn rotunda

"Legend of the Golden Panda" at MGM

Mock Senado Square (which doesn't really look like Senado) in MGM

More pandas in the MGM =P

We stayed out until the wee hours of the morning, but it was a pretty satisfying night of explorations, so it was all worthwhile =D