I know I’ve been missing out on updating the blog since I left Shangri-la end of June. From Shangri-la, I took a very bumpy bus ride (59 RMB) to Lijiang and spent 2 full days shopping in Lijiang old town and Shuhe.

I boarded a morning flight from Lijiang to Guangzhou, which was a very eventful journey. There were 2 airport shuttle buses at 645am and 830am. The journey to the airport takes an hour. My flight was at 1030am and the hostel people told me I can take the 830am bus, arrive at the airport at 930am, just in time to check-in. After thinking about it, I figured that it’s too tight a timing (hey, anything can happen in China, remember?). It was too expensive for me to take a cab alone coz it would cost 100RMB. So, I decided that I would take the 645am bus and kill time at the airport. But lady luck was on my side when I found out another guy was going to the airport and he had booked a driver to bring him there. He was on the same flight as me. The next morning, the driver was supposed to pick us up, then go to a bicycle shop to pick up his bike (packed into a box).

The driver was 15mins late… and this was when the drama began. It was not the same driver he spoke to the day before. It was a taxi, not a van (so obviously his bike won’t be able to fit in). And this new driver doesn’t know where the bicycle shop is! Wait for the most interesting part: This guy has a receipt but it doesn’t have the address of the bicycle shop! Whaaaaatttt?! Didn’t your mama tell you not to trust strangers? The clock was ticking while they were trying to locate the correct driver and find out where the hell is that shop. Meanwhile, my friends told me that I should ditch him and go to the airport on my own. So I did, and paid 100RMB for the ride. Bah. Couldn’t risk missing my flight.

Arrived at the airport and flew to Guangzhou. It was raining when I arrived. Bought a bus ticket (84RMB) to Zhuhai where I would cross the border into Macau. Godsis met me at the border and we got ourselves some drinks for tea-time. The first thing I did was walk into a salon with my huge backpack and got myself a haircut (since it’s cheaper in Zhuhai than in Macau). Then, after a long wait at immigration, we crossed the border gates and I stepped foot into the “Asian Sin City” for the first time. That night, we went to a Malaysian kopitiam for dinner and I had Penang Hokkien Mee. Bliss!

I was finally back to civilization in Macau! Coffee places. Fully-stocked supermarkets. Foreign products easily available. Western food. Pastries. Buns. Cakes. English channels on TV. Uncensored Internet. Modern buildings. Shopkeepers who speak English (heck, even the chicken sellers in the wet market speak English!).

Been visiting all the major touristy places here and consuming loads of Portuguese egg tarts! It’s almost summer here and the weather has been extremely annoying. Average humidity at 85% and above. So you’re basically ‘sticky’ all day long. Random light showers. Strong winds.

I’ve been walking in and out of the casinos here. Got my ID checked 4 times. One guard said “WOW!” and another shook his head while repeating “I don’t believe it, I don’t believe it…” Sigh. I don’t know if I should be annoyed or laugh it off. Maybe I should just flash my passport at them the next time I walk in.

Godparents were here for 10 days and left yesterday. They brought with them food supply from Penang (laksa/curry mee/hokkien mee paste, curry powder, kopi-o powder, tau sar peah, dumplings,etc etc etc). Godsis had to work, so I’ve been the tour guide, bringing them places. So, that has been keeping me busy busy.

Will be here for another 2 weeks… and hopefully will write up more posts about my stay in Macau.