Macau, meal by meal

Our plan for today is to take a tour of Macau before returning to Hong Kong, so after a delicious hotel breakfast buffet, we all climbed into a bus to begin our tour. Sadly, the bus agency sent a smaller vehicle than requested so we had to take the bus and a few taxis over to our first stop, a traditional Portuguese restaurant.

Since the restaurant wasn't quite ready for our party of 30, we walked to a nearby temple, lit incense and cast our prayers. The sticks of incense were covered in gold glitter, which, unsurprisingly, ended up all over me.

After a delicious lunch (with some really yummy garlicky clams and another rice dish that was sort of like a soupy paella), we climbed into a larger bus that would hold our entire party. Unfortunately, said bus had a busted air conditioner so it was hot as balls. So hot, that we could not bear to be in it and we ended up going to the Venetian casino to partake in air conditioning.

The Venetian was huge and full of people - much more chaotic than our beloved MGM Grand. We all split up for an hour and a half - some people ran to the tables, others walked around and my mother, sister and I sought out the gondola rides. Unfortunately, the line to be serenaded was too long and we ended up hopping into a few stores before our rendez-vous time.

Now equipped with the original, air-conditioned bus and a smaller, air-conditioned coach, we began our real tour of Macau. First stop was a little bakery, famous for its Portuguese custard tarts. Literally after gobbling up a few dozen, we headed for another spot, famous for its pork sandwiches. Unfortunately, they were all sold out for the day, forcing us to spend time roaming the streets and spending money.

Next up, we headed to the Macau Tower, which we ascended to watch bungee jumpers. After taking in the view (and some coffee soft serve ice cream), Lil' Sis' Panda!!!! and I went around taking pictures at the arcade and with the gigantic stuffed Olympic mascots. We even found some free internet, from where I'm currently blogging.

Next up tonight, dinner, of course! It's been approximately 12 minutes since I last ate something.