May holiday - Part 2, Yangshuo and Macau
We did not have a lot to do on Friday, and the day was kind of rainy, so we spent a leisurely day not doing much. We went to Monkey Jane's for breakfast. It is up on the roof of a building and has a great view of the town and mountains nearby.
After breakfast we wandered around town and looked at the shops. We stopped by a used book store where you could sit and have tea and read the books.
For lunch we went to MC Blues. I had some burritos and Phyllis had a steak with Mexican salsa on it.
Then we went to a place called China Cafe for cheesecake. Phyllis ran into a friend there, so they got to chat awhile.
After lunch we took a short nap and then wandered around town some more.
We found one place that sold t-shirts that could make a shirt for me. It's blue and it says, "I live here. I am not a tourist" in white Chinese characters. I think it will come in handy in ChengDu. A lot of the merchants and vendors here speak a little English, and every where we went people would see me and say, "Hello! Hello!", and then try to sell me something. I think Phyllis was a little amazed at how many people say Hello to me all the time. She must have heard Hello more times in those few days then she had heard in all of her life.
For dinner we went to Kelly's Cafe for pizza and lasagna, and then afterwards we went next door to the 98 Bar to have a few beers, chat, and do some people watching. The tourists here are from all over the world and it was a lot of fun to watch everyone partying and getting along. We did not stay out too late since we were heading back to Shenzhen the next day.
On Saturday Phyllis wanted some Chinese breakfast so we went to a little noodle place that the locals ate at. I was the only foreigner there, but no one seemed to mind. The little children enjoyed watching me eat. I probably use chopsticks better than their parents do. After breakfast we went to a place that sold tickets for a hot-air balloon ride, but 700 Yuan was too much so we just wandered around town for awhile and did some more window shopping. For lunch we went to a Thai place that had very good curry dishes. After that we went to another place for dessert. Phyllis had strawberry ice cream and I had some apple pie with ice cream on it. It was a strange apple pie since it was topped with melted mozzarella cheese.
At around two o'clock we set off on our 10 hour bus ride to Shenzhen. Actually, traffic was not so bad and I think it only took about 9 hours to get back to Shenzhen. We got to see a lot of scenery we had slept through on the way down and slept most of the last part of the trip back. When we got to Shenzhen I headed back to the Kempinski Hotel and checked into my room and went right to bed. The next day would be an early day, and the bus ride had been tiring.
I woke up early on Sunday and after breakfast I met up with Phyllis and two of her friends, Ping and Lee Sen. We headed out to the ferry terminal to catch our boat to Macau. We ended up getting there early so we had a lot of time to sit and chat.
The boat ride to Macau took about 75 minutes, and we slept through most of it.
When we got to Macau it was lunch time, so we took a bus downtown to a restaurant called A Lorcha on Rua Do Almirante Serigo that I had read about online.
It was wonderful! Great sangria!
After lunch we walked back to downtown and checked out the sights as we went. The first was the A-Ma temple which is perhaps the most famous Chinese temple in Macau.
After that we walked through a pretty residential area on our way to the Macau Tower. There were lots of different houses and a nice park along the water's edge.
The Macau Tower is a 338.8m tall structure (3 and 8 are Cantonese lucky numbers!) with a revolving restaurant at its top and a convention and shopping centre at its base. From near the top they have bungee jumping too! We didn't do that, but enjoyed the great view of the city from the observation deck.
From the Macau Tower we took a bus to downtown and visited the casinos. We went into the Casino Lisboa, but did not play any games. It was pretty crowded inside and we couldn't take pictures inside. We took a bunch outside.
We ran into a funny bunny.
Then we walked over to the Largo do Senado (Senate Square) which is a colorful typical Iberian town square at the heart of the city.
From there we went to the remains of Saint Paul's Cathedral.
After visiting the cathedral we did a little shopping at some bakeries, and then made our way back to the Ferry Terminal to catch the evening boat back to Shenzhen.
When we got to Shenzhen it was kind of late and we were all hungry, so we went to a hotpot place near where Phyllis lives and had a great dinner. After dinner it was late, so I headed back to the hotel and went to bed. On Monday I returned to Dalian. Luckily it has warmed up in Dalian since I had already gotten use to the warmth of southern China.
After breakfast we wandered around town and looked at the shops. We stopped by a used book store where you could sit and have tea and read the books.
For lunch we went to MC Blues. I had some burritos and Phyllis had a steak with Mexican salsa on it.
Then we went to a place called China Cafe for cheesecake. Phyllis ran into a friend there, so they got to chat awhile.
After lunch we took a short nap and then wandered around town some more.
We found one place that sold t-shirts that could make a shirt for me. It's blue and it says, "I live here. I am not a tourist" in white Chinese characters. I think it will come in handy in ChengDu. A lot of the merchants and vendors here speak a little English, and every where we went people would see me and say, "Hello! Hello!", and then try to sell me something. I think Phyllis was a little amazed at how many people say Hello to me all the time. She must have heard Hello more times in those few days then she had heard in all of her life.
For dinner we went to Kelly's Cafe for pizza and lasagna, and then afterwards we went next door to the 98 Bar to have a few beers, chat, and do some people watching. The tourists here are from all over the world and it was a lot of fun to watch everyone partying and getting along. We did not stay out too late since we were heading back to Shenzhen the next day.
On Saturday Phyllis wanted some Chinese breakfast so we went to a little noodle place that the locals ate at. I was the only foreigner there, but no one seemed to mind. The little children enjoyed watching me eat. I probably use chopsticks better than their parents do. After breakfast we went to a place that sold tickets for a hot-air balloon ride, but 700 Yuan was too much so we just wandered around town for awhile and did some more window shopping. For lunch we went to a Thai place that had very good curry dishes. After that we went to another place for dessert. Phyllis had strawberry ice cream and I had some apple pie with ice cream on it. It was a strange apple pie since it was topped with melted mozzarella cheese.
At around two o'clock we set off on our 10 hour bus ride to Shenzhen. Actually, traffic was not so bad and I think it only took about 9 hours to get back to Shenzhen. We got to see a lot of scenery we had slept through on the way down and slept most of the last part of the trip back. When we got to Shenzhen I headed back to the Kempinski Hotel and checked into my room and went right to bed. The next day would be an early day, and the bus ride had been tiring.
I woke up early on Sunday and after breakfast I met up with Phyllis and two of her friends, Ping and Lee Sen. We headed out to the ferry terminal to catch our boat to Macau. We ended up getting there early so we had a lot of time to sit and chat.
The boat ride to Macau took about 75 minutes, and we slept through most of it.
When we got to Macau it was lunch time, so we took a bus downtown to a restaurant called A Lorcha on Rua Do Almirante Serigo that I had read about online.
It was wonderful! Great sangria!
After lunch we walked back to downtown and checked out the sights as we went. The first was the A-Ma temple which is perhaps the most famous Chinese temple in Macau.
After that we walked through a pretty residential area on our way to the Macau Tower. There were lots of different houses and a nice park along the water's edge.
The Macau Tower is a 338.8m tall structure (3 and 8 are Cantonese lucky numbers!) with a revolving restaurant at its top and a convention and shopping centre at its base. From near the top they have bungee jumping too! We didn't do that, but enjoyed the great view of the city from the observation deck.
From the Macau Tower we took a bus to downtown and visited the casinos. We went into the Casino Lisboa, but did not play any games. It was pretty crowded inside and we couldn't take pictures inside. We took a bunch outside.
We ran into a funny bunny.
Then we walked over to the Largo do Senado (Senate Square) which is a colorful typical Iberian town square at the heart of the city.
From there we went to the remains of Saint Paul's Cathedral.
After visiting the cathedral we did a little shopping at some bakeries, and then made our way back to the Ferry Terminal to catch the evening boat back to Shenzhen.
When we got to Shenzhen it was kind of late and we were all hungry, so we went to a hotpot place near where Phyllis lives and had a great dinner. After dinner it was late, so I headed back to the hotel and went to bed. On Monday I returned to Dalian. Luckily it has warmed up in Dalian since I had already gotten use to the warmth of southern China.
posted by Steve Harms at
3:21 PM
1 Comments:
Looks like your having a good time on your trip! Keep posting!
hek
http://chicanohek.blog.com
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Anonymous, at 12:31 AM
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