As it appears as though this might be one of the most random cities I have ever seen, I am going to give you a series of random stories.
1. When wandering through the casino the other day, I noticed that nearly every gentlemen playing cards had some variation of the man purse in use. I wish I knew why this was so.
2. I went for dinner at a sit-down Chinese restaurant the other day. After sitting down, one of the waitresses brings over a cup filled with some steaming liquid that closely resembles tea. The only thing that seemed strange was that it was in a clear plastic cup. Odd for tea. Either way I took a few drinks out of it until I looked over at another table and saw someones cutlery resting in their cup of 'tea.' Instantly I was concerned that I was drinking some sort of cleaning agent and began thinking of the impending illness I would encounter. A few minutes later, I looked over at a few other tables and noticed that they had not placed their cutlery in the 'tea' either and in fact half their 'tea' was gone (likely been drunk). Now I was very confused. Later on I was searching online for something unrelated and found out that it's customary for people to soak their cutlery in actually tea before eating. So I erred in following customs, but was only drinking tea.
3. So I am wandering through the Grand Lisboa casino the other night and I am trying to get to the other side through the maze of people. Quickly I realized that the people were all standing watching something at the bar. I looked to my left and sure enough, there was a mini-burlesque show going on. I'd like to claim that it wasn't mesmorizing.
4. Ever seen a 6 foot Chinese woman? They seem strange in person when you see one.
5. In one of the more briliant and devious alterations to slot machines, since I've last played, they now include an option to double down. The way it works is that after you win (no matter how large or small) you always have the option of doubling-down. If you choose to double-down, you can play some random side game with 50-50 odds. It's absolutely thrilling and terrifying.
6. After wandering around the city for several days, I have finally figured out how to negotiate the streets with ease and efficiency. The first few days I found myself consistently ending up in the situation where two people are walking towards each other and end up zigging when they should've zagged. Next thing you know, you almost collide or somehow has to make a last minute extreme move to get out of the way. I was also having trouble with people just walking directly at me. Me being me, I always got out of the way until I realized that walking on the streets here is a giant game of chicken. If you don't move, the other person will. If you do move, they will just move in front of you again so better to get them to move first. Good times.
7. A sub item of the above is that no one here has any spatial awareness at all. No one pays attention to see if they are going to walk in front of someone or if there is any traffic coming. It's terrifying for someone who is generally paying too much attention. I can't tell you how many times I've seen someone walk through the 'Don't Walk' sign when there is traffic. It's so bad that if there is an intersection that I could make it safely across, even though it's on the 'Don't Walk' I can't go across because it will start a chain reaction that leads to everyone beginning to cross even though the light hasn't changed. If I do this, eventually you will have 50+ people crossing unsafely because I went through when it was safe. People just don't bother to check to see if it's safe, but rather assume it's safe because someone else has gone.
8. Very happy to let you know that I have yet to encounter any 1-ply toilet paper anywhere in Macau. A step up over the hostels in Australia.
9. It may have very well be malfunctioning, but I used a toilet the other day that automatically flushed every minute while you were sitting on it. In effect it was ensuring a courtesy flush at all times is performed (obviously at the expense of our water supplies).
10. While at Starbucks waiting for green tea latte, some lady starting smiling at me. Me being me (again), I smile back to be polite. Then she asks me if I'm, you know, interested. At the same time she offers me her business card (as so much more, actually). I akwardly say no, and look down to see it's just a blank card with hand-written details. Classy.
11. So on day 3 of my time in Macau, I swore off gambling for the remainder of my time here. It's been nearly 48 hours since my vow and I'm happy to say I haven't been back since. Trouble is, a lot of the cool buildings (including those with A/C) are the casinos. The reason that I swore off gambling was that I escalated into some higher stakes games that I should know better than get involved in. The really depressing part was that I was winning and failed to walk away (rule 1 of gambling, know when to walk away). I had a swing from being up thousands of dollars (HKD) to being down thousands of dollars (HKD). At that point I knew I couldn't be helped and needed to just stay away entirely. Well, until at least I get to Vegas.
12. Not many people here are very tall. Anyone over 5'10" is predestined to become a security guard. After mentioned this theory to someone else, they informed me that most of the security guards are actually from Nepal.
13. After spending 6 months in Australia battling with the different forms of outlets, I returned to Thailand where my standard plug-ins will fit into their sockets. The thought never even crossed my mind that it would be any different in Macau, and even if they were different, I had an Australia converter and a European converter. Sure enough, they use the British plug here. Damn colonial influences.
In an effort to avoid the casinos and see just a little bit more of the world, I am taking a break from Macau tomorrow for a new city. Until then, here are some of my favorite photos from Macau so far.
