Visit from Grandma and Paka

I took a longer than expected vacation from blogging (about 3 weeks) but I'm back!  And I'm ready to start updating our Macau blog weekly again.  So enjoy and come back soon to read about our adventures!

One of the main reasons for my blogging vacation was a wonderful visit from my parents.  All of us were so excited to have Grandma and Paka come to Macau.  It was so much fun to share with them what our life is like here in a very, up-close, personal way.  Plus, we really enjoyed having family around again.  One of the biggest adjustments we've made since moving is being too far away to see relatives regularly.  Moving our family half way around the world was an adjustment for my parents as well.  Since we lived 2 doors away from them in Utah, they were used to daily visits from me and the kids.  Talking through Skype and Tango just is not the same.  So, it was a special treat to be with them for a week long visit!

With only a week, we tried to squeeze in lots of fun activities, a few tourists' stops, as well as show them what life is like for us day to day.

We picked them up at the airport and spent the first 2 days in Hong Kong.

Our first stop was Disneyland.

It was a perfect day - not too hot and no rain.

Our first ride was Space Mountain.

Abby hated it!  This picture captures a little of her terror but I have to admit nobody else was anxious to get back on it either.  So we went to a more relaxing ride - It's a Small World.

After a few other rides and a cute 3D show about Mickey's Philharmagic, 

we spent the rest of the day in Toy Story Land.  

We love the bright colors and oversized toys.

Our favorite ride was the Toy Soldier Parachute Drop.

Day 2 - The Big Buddha

We took the tram ride across Tung Chung Bay 

and over the beautiful, green mountains of Lantau Island to

Ngong Ping Village.

Then, we climbed the 240 stairs to the

giant, bronze Buddha statue.

This statue is 112 feet tall and sits on a lotus flower throne.  

Before heading over to Macau on a ferry, we tried to make a quick stop at the Hong Kong Temple but nothing is quick and easy with 4 kids, lots of luggage, and a packed subway system.  

The temple was closing shortly after we got there 

so we just walk around briefly and took a few pictures.

The time change of 15 hours was starting to take it's toll on Grandma and Paka - they needed sleep.  And, really after 2 days of non-stop activities and walking, we were tired too.  We made it to Macau, showed them around our apartment, ate some dinner, and then crashed.  Paka had the hardest time adjusting to the time change so he was up in the middle of the night quite often and both Grandma and Paka were up super early in the mornings.  Just as they were starting to adjust and sleep more regular hours, it was time for them to go back.  And, as I understand, adjusting back is even harder.

On Sunday, Kyle showed Grandma and Paka his daily walk to work through the Old Taipa village and garden.  He shared some of the historic spots along the way, including the lime green homes and bright yellow Catholic church built in the early 1900's.  These buildings used to line the waterfront but due to reclaimed land they now only overlook a beautiful lake filled with lotus flowers.        

  

Grandma and Paka attended church meetings with us and experienced a warm welcome from our dear Filipino brothers and sisters.  After church, Kyle left on a business trip to Africa so the kids and I were the tour guides and entertainment for the rest of Grandma and Paka's visit.

We tried to follow our normal schedule during the week as the kids went to school each day.  Grandma and Paka joined us on our walks to and from school most days and learned quickly how tricky getting through the city streets can be.  One morning, as we crossed the busiest street of our walk, Grandma screamed "watch out" when a car almost hit Cade.  Her scream scared us more than the car did.

While the kids were in school, Leah and I took Grandma and Paka shopping and sightseeing.  We visited the Ruins of St. Paul's,

 

the oldest A-ma Temple built in 1488,

the Maritime Museum,

Taipa Pequena (check out the Macau city skyline in the background),

and a few parks including one where Grandma tried the ancient Chinese practice of stone walking.

One day we took the kids out of school early and spent the afternoon in Coloane.  We spent a few hours at Hac Sa Beach where the kids played in the water and sand.

We also walked around the town square of Coloane and visited the popular Lord Stow's Bakery where the famous egg tart was first created.

Our visit with Grandma and Paka was awesome - we loved it!  Although it was hard to say good-bye, we know we'll see them again soon when we go back to the US for the summer.  Only 60 more days, but who's counting!

A Day at the Beach in February

Since we've been in Macau, the weather has been anything but typical.  Locals have repeatedly told us that "this is not normal".  We saw little rain during the "rainy season", no typhoons during "typhoon season", and the "coldest month" of the year was not cold at all.  In fact, the weather in February was our ideal temperature - warm enough to wear shorts and t-shirts and occasionally a light jacket.

With the kids out of school for a week during Chinese New Year, we took advantage of the nice "winter" weather and went to the beach.  It was a bit cool and overcast when we arrived but soon turned into a gorgeously warm and sunny day - perfect for a day at the beach.

We went to Cheoc Van beach with our good friends, the Knowlers.  Cheoc Van is the smaller and less populated beach of the 2 sandy beaches in Coloane (and possibly all of Macau).  

When we arrived, we were the only people on the beach.  The kids were pretty excited.

We walked along the beach,

 

climbed the giant rocks, 

looked for treasures,

and played in the sand before having lunch at one of the restaurants overlooking the beach.  After lunch, the sun came out from behind the clouds and our nice day at the beach turned into an even more beautiful day! 

 The kids threw off their jackets, took off their socks and shoes, rolled up their pants, and waded out into the sea.  

 Cade and Abby were a little more daring then the others and ended up with water up to their waists.

 Ian, who prefers playing in the sand over the water, made a number of sand animals including this cute monkey.  

We had a wonderful time playing at the beach and enjoyed the warm sunshine.  Unfortunately the early season beach time found us a little unprepared.  We didn't put any sunscreen on and felt the consequences later.  A few of us, especially our hyper-sun-sensitive boy Ian, got our first sunburns of the year.  But no complaints - we still had a perfect beach day in February!

Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year!

Kung Hei Fat Choi

(Congratulations & be prosperous)

Chinese New Year is the most important holiday in China.  For Macau, it means decorating streets and plazas, buildings and parks, and everything else in between with lights, lanterns, zodiac signs, orange trees, and lots of red paper decorations.  It also means fireworks, and lots of them!

It was great to be in Macau for Chinese New Year and learn more about the Chinese traditions and celebrations associated with this special holiday.  Here's some of what we learned and experienced: 

RED ENVELOPES

For weeks leading up to Chinese New Year, I saw people standing outside the banks selling brand new bills (usually 10s and 20s), and didn't understand what they were doing.  Then, the week before Chinese New Year, I noticed the lines at the banks were ridiculously LONG.  I discovered everyone was preparing for the red envelope tradition.  Red envelopes, symbolizing luck, are filled with money to be given as gifts during holidays and special occasions.  According to tradition, the money has to be new and crisp and even numbered but avoid using the number 4 because it's unlucky.  During Chinese New Year, red envelopes are passed out from married and elderly people to children and the unmarried.  It's customary to give red envelopes to all the children you see during the week of Chinese New Year, regardless of how well you know them.  The recipient often says “Kung Hei Fat Choi”, wishing the giver good fortune during the coming year.  Although Kyle and I didn’t pass out any red envelopes, our kids still collected quite a few.  We’ve been told that kids can easily receive thousands of patacas during Chinese New Year.

Red envelopes are often tied to orange trees that are used as decorations during Chinese New Year.

GOLDEN DRAGON PARADE

Dragons are a Chinese symbol of power, wisdom, and good luck.  They are also a vital part of the Chinese New Year celebrations.  

In Macau, a 238 meter golden dragon paraded through the streets and major tourist spots.  The parade also included lion dancers, the 12 Chinese Zodiacs, and figures representing happiness, honor, and longevity.  

We watched the parade as it weaved down the stairs in front of the Ruins of St. Paul's and got an up close view as it passed us on it's way to Senado Square.

FIREWORKS
Another popular tradition during Chinese New Year is fireworks.  There are a few firework shows during the week but the most exciting firework experience is the do-it-yourself fireworks.

Macau sections off 2 large areas (one on the Macau peninsula and another on the Taipa side) for people to buy and light fireworks, including redirecting traffic and erecting tall partitions.  There are also first aid stations, firetrucks, and many safety personnel.

Plus, it's best to wear long sleeves, a hat, and ear plugs.  As you can see, these are serious fireworks.

Kyle and the boys went with some friends to experience the DIY fireworks.

And, they had a blast!  

According to the boys, the fireworks were gigantic (as tall as Ian), super noisy (thank goodness for ear plugs), and TOTALLY AWESOME!  I'm afraid they've been scarred for life - fireworks in America will never compare to these Macau fireworks.

SCHOOL CELEBRATIONS

The kids were out of school for more than a week for Chinese New Year.  Before the break, they had a special day to celebrate the holiday.  Students were invited to wear traditional Chinese clothing and parents came to share a potluck lunch.  The Kindergarten classes also had a special performance.  They wore traditional Chinese clothing, sang songs in Chinese and English, had lots of props, and performed elaborate dance routines.  Although I didn't understand most of the words, it was still a fun, entertaining show.  They did a great job!  

Happy New Year!  May the year be filled with good fortune!                 

Macau Tower

"FINALLY!", the boys exclaimed as we headed to the Macau Tower on a beautiful, clear, no-school holiday.  They've been asking for months to see this 338 m (1109 ft) tall tower.  It was a perfect day for this attraction and it quickly became one of our favorites places here in Macau (we only wished we'd come a lot sooner).

First, we rode the lift up to the 61st floor to an outdoor observation deck.  I was a little nervous about an "outdoor" deck but it really only meant that the upper part of the windows and roof were open - perfectly safe!

This deck is home to all the adventure and thrill seekers.  Not only can they take the plunge from the world's highest bungy jump but they can also go on a walk around the outer rim with no handrails just an overhead tether.  Notice the people in orange shirts behind us on the other side of the windows - those are the "skywalkers".  

Aside from the heart-pumping adventures, the Macau Tower also offers some fantastic views.  It was so much fun to walk around the deck and see our stomping grounds for the last 6 months in a whole new perspective.  The pictures below show the Macau peninsula side with mainland China in the background.   

The following picture is looking the other direction toward the island of Taipa, where we live.  The green hill in the foreground is Taipa Pequena (which we hiked and blogged about recently - can you spot the white zig-zag wall structure that resembles the Great Wall of China?).  

And this picture shows two of the bridges that connect the Macau peninsula (on the left) with the Taipa island (on the right).

The Macau Tower also has a revolving restaurant and an indoor observation deck with more amazing views in every direction.  It's especially fun to watch the bungy jumpers fly by from this deck. 

Plus there are a few spots with glass flooring that reminded us how high we really were.

Although Leah said she wanted to do the bungy jump, she was scared of the glass floors.  She would only walk on it if she was holding someone's hand and even then she walked very slowly and cautiously (so funny!).

The Macau Tower also has a theater, cafes, restaurants, conference rooms, and shops, including the kids' favorite, Toys R Us.  Along the boardwalk, there is outdoor seating, concerts, and a landing pad for the bungy jumpers (we even saw one jumper from this ground level and witnessed the thrilling smile on his face).  Plus, there are more beautiful views.  As you can see, we had a great time and the Macau Tower is now on our list of places to take visitors. 

A Vietnamese 1 Month Celebration

One of the best parts about living in Macau is meeting people from all over the world.  We've met people from many parts of Asia, Europe, Australia, a few from Africa, Central America, and the Middle East.  It is so much fun to find out why they came to Macau but even more fascinating is learning about their customs and culture.  I love discovering the differences and similarities of the varies homelands.

Recently, we learned that many Asian countries have elaborate celebrations when a child reaches different milestones in life.  Although annual birthday parties are typical, the first and seventh birthdays are especially important and usually include much bigger celebrations.  And a child's 1-month milestone is a very, big event in many of these countries.  Not only are the parents rejoicing the baby has survived the most vulnerable stage of life but it's also a time to introduce the new baby to family and friends. 

This week, we got to be a part of a 1-month celebration - Vietnamese style.  Our friends, Peter and Anny (both from Vietnam), had their first child, a beautiful baby girl named Ynna (notice it's the mother's name spelled backwards - how cute is that!).

They invited friends over to show off the new bundle of joy and share a traditional Vietnamese dinner.  Peter is a professional chef so the food was very good and the presentation of the kid's special dishes was just like a 5-star restaurant.

There were about 20 people in this small 2 bedroom apartment during the celebrations.  Most of us were together in the front room where they had packed all their stuff against one wall behind a small couch and chair.  Two women sat in the chair, 4 of us were on the couch, while the others sat on little stools or on the floor which was covered with newspaper for easy clean up.

We had a wonderful time adoring baby Ynna, visiting with friends, eating good food, and being entertained by my silly children.  Ian thought the party needed a little more entertainment so he kicked off an impromptu show with a Chinese poem.  Abby shared some of her Chinese talents with a song and Leah took a turn singing I'm a Child of God and Jingle Bells.  Then the kids started dancing Gangnam Style (I can't wait for a new fad song and dance!!). 

I love getting to know people from different parts of the world and learning about their cultures and traditions.  What a blessing to have our circle of friends expanding worldwide.  It really does seem like "a small world after all".