Macau Again
Got up this morning, and headed for the shower. The water was coming out and the igniter was clicking, but the gas wasn't firing up. So i punch the box and it started right up. If all else fails, hit it. Maybe I should try that with the chinese people. ;-)
I headed out. It rained during the night and it was still sprinkling. Crap. It hasn't rain for a month or so. Hopped a motorbike taxi to the bus station. I got there, grabbed a ticket for the next bus that started boarding 1 minute ago. Sweet. It was 820AM. Early start. I fell asleep on the bus.
I got thru customs and the border with no troubles. There was harldy any line-ups.
I walked around Macau and planned a little couple sight seeing things: Head down to Sedano Square (the shopping walking street area), then head over to Taipa Island to see the four headed Buddha, then head back to Mong Ha Hill on Macau proper. Lots of Taxi driving this entailed. I am glad I did it though, sure it was a little expensive, however, it beats getting stuck on Public Transportation for many hours. Its soooo slow. This place is too crowded.
I was disappointed when I got to the four headed Buddha statue because the map made it seem like it would be really big, but its not. Its about half the size of me. So, i took some pictures and hopped another taxi to Mong Ha Hill.
Its a real shame that it was raining all day. Because I took some fotos that would have been beautiful had it been bright and sunny like it usually is. Mong Ha was cool. I walked around the park area and trails. Very pretty. Went up to the Fort de Macau. Went off the beaten path n stuff. See for yourself from the pictures. The taxi guy took me up to the top where there was an educational resturant. A place where they train new cooks n stuff. I didn't eat there, i just hung out there to plan my attack on the hill. I headed back out into the rain and sight saw.
After I was done, I headed out and stopped by Lin Fong Temple and took a couple shots. Then I headed out. It was about 2pm when I took off from Macau. I hung around in Zhuhai shopping and looking for stuff. I found this real nice practice Bagua Dao at a sports area in the giant mall. It was 210RMB, but I tried for 120RMB and the lady wouldn't go below 200RMB. Lady, it ain't even worth 100RMB. Mind you, 200RMB is $24US. If I go back, I may try again.
I eventually caught the bus at 4pm. I got back into Xiaolan at 530pm. I am gettin really frustrated because my iPod won't hold a charge now past 1 hour. The major downfall to the iPod, the lack of battery power. Well, my plan is, when I get my Z-visa, I will head to Hong Kong and have it fixed up.
I went to the Kodak shop to get some more Passport fotos made in 1 hour because I need 8 for Z-VISA processing and I only have 7. After that I went to get some photocopies made of my Passport for the processing as well. I then headed to the computer shop to get some DV Tapes because we are running low on tapes for the Guzhen Stage taping all this week.
The guy wanted 150RMB for 5 tapes and I said 120RMB. He wouldn't do it at first, but I said 120. He checked it out, 28/tape instead of 30/tape. He finally relented and said sure. But he pretended to be upset. Dude, Peter and I are like the only people that buy these tapes from this guy. He should be grateful we gweilos are honoring him with our presence and support.
I picked up my passport fotos and headed home. It was a really chilly night tonite. I don't want to go to practice because its gonna be super cold.
I got back to the Big House thinking I would pass Peter on the way heading out to Guzhen. I got there and they said that Guzhen was canceled because it was too cold. Sweet. I didn't have to go at all, but it was nice nontheless to know Peter and Mark and Clyde didn't have to spend more time wasted on it.
Around 8pm Amy went with me to pick up my pants and try on my suit. The silk pants fit great. Can't wait to use them. I then tried on the suit. Fit pretty nicely however there were a couple problems.
1. The pants were too long in the crotch, so I looked around on them and I had them take an a bit less than an inch off the top. It would fit perfect then.
2. The shoulders of the jacket were super tight, i tried to pull my elbows back and they wouldn't go, it snagged a bunch. Then I tried to put my hands on my head and they couldn't go that hi. The couple kept saying its supposed to be like that. I am sorry, but I am sure Chinese people are able to comb their hair while wearing this suit and have manueverability of their arms while wearing it.
3. The collar had no space in it where it came together. So they said that if you wear a shirt it will fix it, so I tried on this nice white silk shirt that goes with the suit, and still the collar didn't work. So they will fix that.
4. Plus, there was a bubble between the 2nd and 3rd button down.
I want quaility damnit!
And, I figured, since they were late on doing everything, and having it done, I deserved a deal on it. Like less money or a discount on something. So for the same price of 400, i tried to get them to throw in that real nice white silk shirt for free. They got pissed. They were complaining and not letting up.
She would offer me 65 for the shirt and she cut a piece of the material and said take this to other tailors and try and get if for less than 80RMB. I figured, doing that, she knew what she was talking about. So, i thought about it, so I said, 450 for everything. After about 5 minutes of intense discussion amongst themselves, they said OK. I felt good about it. I felt I nailed the chinese with thier own deal system. But I wonder if they got me. Who knows. Amy thinks its a good deal. 450RMB =$54US.
Headed home.