Macau and such

So I know I haven't written in a long time...but that's because I haven't really done that much. Here is a little bit about what I've done and learned and then I will tell you about Macau.

• People in HK have no sense of a personal bubble. Crowding is not an issue and they don't mind getting in your face about it.
• If you are a westerner and you go into a store you get followed around. If we are getting stereotyped for being rich, isn't it true that we wouldn't need to steal something, but rather we could purchase it? So to put a positive twist on the situation, I suggested that maybe they think we will need help or have a question. However it happens in ANY store you go into.
• They have hair cut prices ranged anywhere from $10 US to $50 US and they do a GREAT job!
• Professors love to rag on America. If it is something negative, you can guarantee that America will be part of the example.
  
• If you want more than one packet of ketchup at McDonalds you must ask for it (sometimes twice).
  
• Movie theaters are extremely different. You purchase a ticket for an actual seat (ex. E4). Culture wise, people laugh.....at everything. They have sweet popcorn and salty. Sweet popcorn is caramel corn. Salty popcorn has zero toppings. No butter, no salt, no flavor shakers. However, I can go to a movie for about $6 US. So pretty cheap.
• Some parts of HK smell really bad.
• There are *BODY SHOPS* on every corner (for those of you who don't know, I'm talking about the lotion, spray, flowery type store usually in US malls).
• There is always ice cream and fruit available.

So recently I've seen 2 movies. Confessions of a Shopaholic - very cute and Slumdog Millionaire which I absolutely loved. I've also studied soooo much for midterms. Definitely more than I've studied at IU because I didn't know what to expect. I'd have to say a lot of people are doing the same, at least those of us who's grades transfer. For those who don't - all they care about is getting a C, so if you are in a group project with them, that's no fun!!

I'm in 3 group projects. One with a guy from Purdue (rival) and 3 girls from HK. Our project is all about the Red Bull testing team. Yes the girls who serve samples of Red Bull to the public. Don't ask how that became our topic, please. lol. Anyways we basically have to analyze the work behavior environments of this company and organization.

My second group is with the same guy from Purdue, a guy from Arkansas, and 4 guys from HK. This topic we are doing on APL due to a reference from an uncle (thanks :). ) This project is really just learning about the company and how it operates.

Lastly my criminology group consists of a guy from Long Beach, and 2 girls from HK, and 2 other people who I have yet to meet. Our requirement is to visit a court hearing and write a 2000 word reflection essay. Well Thursday we ended up visiting the court. First of all, it took an hour to get there. Secondly, it was in Cantonese. Thirdly, the first 50 minutes of the hearing it was just the judge speaking. Needless to say there was no translator and the other exchange student and I left and said we would write a lot of the paper (after they helped translate).

1. Our groups our huge. In America we would never have group work with a team this huge.
   
2. The language barrier has been an issue in all groups.
   

So besides group work and movies, I've gone out for late night sushi a couple of times. The majority of the menu (no appetizers, no desserts) but the rest, is all half price starting at 9:30 pm or 10 pm at almost all sushi restaurants. It is pretty amazing. I've stuck to a lot of safer stuff, but tried some of their more exotic creations involving mangoes (not a crazy kind of fish).

Okay so this weekend I was supposed to be in Shanghai, but due to a change in a midterm, it would have been extremely inconvenient, so instead me and a friend Jennifer, from Syracuse, went to Macau. We left at around 1 pm on Friday and journeyed to the ferry, which was surprisingly empty. We landed in Macau and stepped off the boat into a rain storm that looked like it was never going to end. Luckily, by the time we got situated in our hotel around 330, it was clear, but cold. When we checked in our hotel upgraded us to a "Premier Executive Suite." Nothing special, but nice none the less.

We started our journey off at the Grand Prix Museum and Wine Museum. Personally I thought it was one of those attractions that you pass on interstates. When you are a kid you might think its cool, but when you are grown up you know better than to stop and pay for something like that. Oh well, we got to try some wine and learn some pretty neat stuff for less than $3 US. After that because of the weather, we decided to get dressed and head over to the Venetian. We picked up our tickets to see Cirque du Soleil - Zaia. We had an hour to kill so we walked around the shops and the casino. We were super stoked to see the show though and wanted to save our gambling experience for after the show. The show was amazing, tons of actors, actresses, dancers, singers, and tons of props including a 4000 pound globe. We were in LL and there were only 3 rows of seats behind us, but of the ~4000 people in the room, our seat wasn't bad at all. I would definitely recommend seeing the show - however, not if you've been to Vegas. (On the way out everyone was saying how the one in Vegas is better).

After the show we gambled the slot machines a little bit at the Venetian. I definitely left with extra money - pretty exciting!! Next stop was MGM. The hotel was back on the main island of Macau and was extremely beautiful on the inside. We walked around the casino and stopped at the slots where I proceeded to loose my winnings :(. After that we wanted to get some dessert and headed back to our hotel cause nothing was really open. Our hotel had a lounge with the most amazing desserts (chocolate mousse cake). Very delicious. While relaxing, we planned out Saturday's route for walking around and hoped for good weather. We headed up to the room and watched The Pursuit of Happyness. Yes our hotel had about 10 English channels (including HBO, ESPN, and FOX news), 7 Cantonese channels, and about 5 Portuguese channels.

Saturday we woke up and got ready for the day. We checked out of our hotel and walked outside to warm weather and sunshine. YAY! We asked the hotel for breakfast type places and he said to start walking. Eventually we found a cafe that had decent food (I didn't get much because I was looking forward to those Portuguese egg tarts). After eating we started walking around to see the temples and other ruins and shopping in Macau. We got lost, but a guy from Portugal led us to the ruins through a shopping area which was extremely convenient. Now that we knew our way around we took pictures, tried egg tarts, and did a little shopping.

We finally made our way to the casinos which was the end of our journey before bungee jumping. Don't freak, I didn't do it, but only because of the price (~$200-$300 depending on the added options like pictures, dvds) I just thought that I'd rather spend money on another trip than 15 seconds of my life. My friend Jenn wanted to jump though, so I sat at the bottom and waited and watched. It looked pretty neat, but nothing special, minus the fact it is the tallest in the world!

Here are the pics from Macau:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2589670&id=6844049&l=d9227a555e

After her jump, we headed back to HK. It was a neat relaxing trip away from HK. Can't wait for my next ones:
Cambodia
Shanghai
Malaysia

and then China with the fam. Hope all is well back home. I'm pretty sure it is, but don't rub it in because I miss it dearly!! Especially because everyone is going on SPRING BREAK!! So have fun and be safe!