12/30/15
Macau, Macao
Special Administrative Region, China
Is it
possible that Macau, one of most fascinating places I have ever visited, is
actually the least interesting place I have smoked my 2010 Christmas pipe
during my New Year’s trip? Quebec,
Istanbul, and the Bransfield Strait in Antartica. Macau doesn’t even come close. I am happy once more, though. As predicted, the aggravation is gone,
replaced now with tiredness. Tomorrow,
New Year’s Eve, is the transfer day. I
have no set schedule. I just have to transfer
at an appropriate time so that I can get my sightseeing done in both Macau and
Hong Kong before dark. I did the fancy
dinner and casino tonight, so tomorrow will just be souvenirs and the old city,
so I can sleep in a bit. It is close to
3 AM (ain’t that familiar), and I will pass out the moment I am done with my
pipe.
I am sitting in my room in the
famous, historic Hotel Lisboa staring out at the iconic CASINO LISBOA sign. It is one of the better views I have had from
my room the nights of the 2010 Christmas pipe: The WHS Plaque in Quebec, Hagia
Sofia in Istanbul, and, of course, Antarctica.
I will note that I actually didn’t smoke the pipe in my room in
Istanbul, rather at the outdoor seating area for the restaurant. Alright, enough of this rambling.
After I closed on the airplane, I passed out,
waking up as we were making our descent.
I cleared border control with no trouble and got some money from the
ATM. I had cell service, but no data,
but I did have Wi-Fi. People spoke much
better English here than the mainland. I
took a taxi to my hotel, and the guy said there was an extra charge of about
60% of the metered fare. I asked him to
show me. He pressed the extra button on
the meter a few times. I asked him to
show me a sheet of paper outlining the charge.
He then said I could just give him like 25% extra of the fare, which is
what I would have tipped him anyway. I
just had large banknotes, and first he said he didn’t have change. When no one else had change, remarkably he
found some change.
I then went up to my
room to relax a little before dinner. I
also needed to get a lighter. I closed
my eyes for a bit and then headed down.
I got my lighter and then went to the Portuguese restaurant. They said I couldn’t wear my flip flops. I was about to go into the room when he said
he would just rush me to the table so no one would see me.
I looked up typical Macanese cuisine on my
food, which is just a variant of Portuguese food. They had a few. I got the Caldo Verde and the African
chicken, along with a glass of port wine, of course. First they brought the bread, way too much
bread, good bread, with designated butter for each type of bread. There was a big loaf of banana bread, a beer
roll, and Portuguese chorizo bread. I
would have been happy if that was my whole meal, bread and wine.
Then came the Caldo Verde, a type of soup, which
was also delicious. By the time the
African chicken came, I wasn’t even hungry, so I really just tasted it. I had also preordered dessert, since the
kitchen was closing while I was still on my early courses. It was just too much, but I finished it all,
along with the free pastries they also gave me, including a famous Macanese egg
tart.
I went up to the room, rested my
eyes for a while and then published the Mainland China entries as one
post. That took an hour while I smoked my Davidoff. It was 1 AM at this point, and I was dead tired,
but I couldn’t go to bed without a) going to the famous, historic Casino
Lisboa, and b) writing this entry. I put
on my tux and headed down.
I wanted to
play baccarat, of course, but I was shocked at the high minimum bet. The lowest table, I only had enough cash to
place two bets. Well, that’s no
fun. I sat down anyway. We won the first hand. I took my winnings and walked away. I cashed out, glad to have won so much, but
it felt like waste of getting all tuxed up for one hand. I headed up to the room, sat in the chair,
where I lit up my 2010 Christmas Pipe and proceeded to write this entry, which
I will now close. I can’t believe it is
less than 24 hours until New Year’s.
Actually, this is so short I should wait until tomorrow to publish, I
think. No, then it’ll mess everything
up, especially since I want a full entry for tomorrow.
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