Tom's Birthday in Macau

Tom's birthday is coming up on October 28th and we decided to celebrate early with a visit to Macau. We are looking forward to a visit from two of Tom's aunts next week on his actual birthday, so it seemed to make the most sense to do our celebration before they arrive.

Between the 16th century and 1999, Macau was a colony of Portugal. Since its return to China, Macau has experienced a similar level of autonomy to that of Hong Kong. Until 2049, Macau is also considered a Special Administrative Region. In the past decade entrepreneurs from the United States and Asia have poured billions of dollars into turning Macau into the Las Vegas of the Orient. Macau boasts an international airport, two major ferry terminals, and over 22 million visitors a year to world-class casino-resorts such as the Mandarin Oriental, the MGM Grand, the Wynn Macau, the Grand Lisboa, and the resort we stayed in, the Venetian. Amazingly, last year the Macau casinos took the lead as the highest-volume gambling center in the world, generating more revenue than even the casinos in Las Vegas.

The Venetian-Macau, opened in 2007, is definitely the coolest hotel we have ever stayed in. Just walking around it is easy to tell it is enormous, but we were stunned to find out it is actually the third-largest building in the world (behind a flower auction in the Netherlands and Beijing International airport.)

We took the one-hour ferry from Hong Kong to Macau on Wednesday morning, arriving at the Venetian around 12:30. After handing over our bags, we wandered around the mall inside the resort and did some shopping. Like its counterpart in Vegas, the Venetian-Macau has gondola rides operating on a canal within the mall!

After shopping, we were able to check into our room. Somewhat depressingly, our hotel room was more than twice the size of our apartment in Hong Kong!!!

We headed down to the casino floor, and after rapidly losing money to a few Black Jack dealers and slot machines, walked over to the Morton's for Tom's birthday dinner. I recognize that this blog often focuses on food, so I won't get carried away with descriptions; suffice to say, dinner was DELICIOUS. It made me realize how much I miss good old USDA quality steaks and beef! Also, the staff of Morton's was wonderful, even printing up a specialized menu and presenting Tom with a molten chocolate lava cake as they sang Happy Birthday. It was certainly a memorable meal.






After dinner, we headed over to the theater to see the Cirque du Soleil show playing at the Venetian, called Zaia. Neither of us have ever seen a Cirque du Soleil show and we were highly impressed!! Unfortunately, my food coma made it harder to pay attention than I would have liked, but still a great show.



All in all, a wonderful way to celebrate Tom's 26th birthday. Now back to daily life in Hong Kong for our remaining two months!!

Darlin' it's Better Unda Da Sea

One key part of our trip to Boracay I neglected to mention in our last post was our time exploring under water. As some of you may know, I tend to worry about pretty much anything I can think of, so it was no small feat that Tom and Natasha convinced me to try scuba diving. Before I tried it I was fairly certain that one of three horrible disasters would befall me- 1.) my tank would end up not having oxygen and I would die 15 meters below the surface, 2.) we would end up in a thick patch of killer jellyfish and I would die a painful death, or 3.) that scene from the movie Open Water. (If you haven't seen the movie, just look it up. I can't bear to even repeat it)

As you can likely deduce from the fact that you're reading this post, I'm still alive (so is Tom). In fact, other than a mild ear infection there were no negative effects at all. It was actually pretty incredible.

Tom and I managed to go on two dives to different spots around Boracay with a wonderfully classic dive shop called "Free Willy." Free Willy is named after the shop's owner, a legendary older French man named Willy, although we called him Jacques Cousteau. He was extraordinarily patient with me, even when I began hyper-ventilating during the practice session in the shallow area. I am amazed that he managed to not sound sarcastic as he reminded me that you can't drown in water that's only three feet deep!

The actual dives were unlike anything I've ever done before. The organisms that exist 10-15 meters (30-40 feet) below the surface are incredible. Fish of every color and in shapes I didn't know existed, strange anemones, living coral-- it reminded me of a cross between Finding Nemo that documentary, Planet Earth. I'm not sure I have the right words to describe it, and unfortunately we did not have an underwater camera, so I'll just have to encourage you to try it for yourself.

Snorkeling
Scuba diving was a bit too expensive for us to do more than twice, so we decided to try snorkeling to see more of the aquatic life of Boracay. Although not quite as cool as scuba diving, still an interesting experience.

Boracay, Philippines

Tom and I just returned from a truly amazing week in Boracay, a small island in the Philippines. After a gluttonous week of over-eating, tanning, exploring coral reefs and enjoying postcard sunsets, our return to the busy streets of Hong Kong has been a bit of an unsettling adjustment.

For example, in Boracay you would never have to compete with hundreds of determined people wielding umbrellas as weapons just to cross a street before the light turns red. In fact, in Boracay there appears to only be one road and very few actual cars. The closest Boracay comes to 'traffic jams' are the groups of families and Asian tourists who line the shore to take pictures of the sunset each night.









In Boracay, almost everywhere can be reached on foot. When transportation is necessary the primary modes are either sailboats around the island or "tricycles" up and down the road from the docks to the main tourist area on the island. Tricycles are basically sheet metal boxes attached to diesel vespas. Although they are an entertaining adventure, I would not recommend them for the faint of heart.



















One of the best parts about Boracay, oddly enough, is the food. Unlike Ko Phi Phi, where most of the best restaurants were started by European ex-pats living the dream, in Boracay the best restaurants are run by Filipinos. This includes a great Italian restaurant with great pizza and pasta and a Greek restaurant (Cyma) that easily qualifies as one of the best restaurants Tom or I have ever eaten at, including in the U.S. A few pictures of Cyma's food:

This dish is called "Gourmet Hummus." The title does not do it justice. If I could survive on this snack every day for the rest of my life, I would.









(Our friend Natasha posing with amazing lamb ribs!!)
















(What I am about to say will cause friends and family to fall out of their chairs... I ate this Red Snapper. And I liked it. That is how good this restaurant is.)












This dish, flaming mangoes with vanilla ice cream, should definitely find its way on to the menu of DC restaurants ASAP. Life changing.

























As much as I loved the food, the best part of Boracay is absolutely the sunsets. I took far too many pictures of this, which you are welcome to scroll through on my shutterfly link if you would like. As for the blog, I'll only include a few of my favorites:








Link to all Boracay pictures: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AcOWjlq3btmMJ

Sundays in Hong Kong

One of my favorite traditions I've discovered in Hong Kong is Filipino gatherings on Sunday.

According to the Philippine Consulate there are 52,000 Filipino women living in Hong Kong under a Domestic worker program. These women come from Manila and rural parts of the Philippines to work full-time in Hong Kong, for both wealthy and average middle-class families. The 'lucky' women work for wealthy families and might get their own bed, but the majority sleep on floors or couches that must be cleaned up before the families awakes. They work 6 days a week cooking, cleaning, and looking after other people's children for wages rarely exceeding $400 USD/month.

That leaves Sundays.

Although they have almost no spending money, (what little they make is sent home to their husbands and children in the Philippines,) tens of thousands of these women gather together every Sunday across all of Central Hong Kong island.

They wake up early to board trains, trams, ferries and buses to take them to the center of life in Hong Kong, a neighborhood fittingly called Central. Central is near the ferry docks (which makes it most convenient for those coming from the outlying islands) and where many of the largest skyscrapers are located. The area is unique in its abundance of sidewalk space on overpasses and its parks and benches.

The women lay out mats and towels on the sidewalk and set up for the day as one might set up for a day at the beach. They bring books, magazines, playing cards, music, home-made dishes, nail polish, hair brushes and clothes to trade. They sit in groups for hours talking in rapid-fire Filipino, laughing, catching up and beautifying one another.

These women, brave, self-sacrificing, and lively have come to be synonymous with Sunday in Hong Kong.

They are an inspiring reminder to me that even in the worst of situations, life is what you make of it.