We’re just back and I’m totally
sick with a cold, but ah well. My plan is to get the clothes out of the washer,
take a shower and just crash.
This was the second time I’ve
been to Macau, and we did a different part
than before. It was more Portugual-y than the first area, though not by much.
The egg tarts were pretty awesome. We got six for 50 Macau
pataca (and have a lot of fun saying “pataca” and even though all three of us
loved them, we opted to give our second to a sweet lady who was begging outside
the store. She gave us a sincere toothless smile in appreciation, and it was
totally worth it.
The influence of Portugal is still strong in Macau,
down to the religion. The churches and cathedral in mainland China are few, far
between and not open to locals.
Macau had a
few, and we went to one and happened to get there right as mass was starting,
so we went. It seemed tacky to try to photograph the inside while we were worshiping so I didn’t, but it really was pretty inside. It was yellow with a
mint green ceiling. The stained glass – which was minimal – was the same shade
of green and a shade of lavender. Taken together, it reminded me – in a good
way – of those after-dinner mints. Very simple and very beautiful.
The photo of the church here is
a different one than the one I went in, in a separate part of Macau.
I loved the dock, too. I just have a thing for boats and water, I know. I
photograph them a lot. I really liked the juxtaposition of the little boat with
the City of Dreams
and Hard Rock in the background.
So now I have to figure out how
to pack for Australia,
and perhaps do a little planning for that, too. What I have right now is places
to stay, an overnight bus from Melbourne to Sydney, reservations for
penguin-watching and diving on two days. That’s it. I have no earthly idea what
I will do the rest of the time.
I need to plan, but I’ve been
so ridiculously busy. As in, last week, I’d glance at my watch and realize
there were only five minutes left in the workday or that lunch was half over
and I hadn’t realize it had begun.
There are two days in this work
week for me, and I have a big deadline, a doctor’s appointment and God knows
what else. My busy season will be in full swing upon my return, too, so I need
to tie up whatever is outstanding before I get out of town.
One loose end I’d like to tie
up is an outstanding partial order from Walmart. My order got mucked up the other day. It's
still kinda funny. I've previously ordered a bunch of grocery items and then
one bath item -- a loofah -- and, if you've ever ordered from a place that has
food/no food items, you probably know they ship those separately.
The loofah came shipped in this
box about twice the size of a shoebox. That was all that was in the box.
Everything else had been food. The thing wasn't that big, but didn't fit in an
envelope. I guess it was the next size up.
But right after I got back from
Manila, I got
another box that topped it. I placed a big order and part's still outstanding,
so I was expecting that. Katie in the mailroom laughed when she gave me the
box, asking if I'd gotten another sponge and joking that it was air because it
was so light. We aren't allowed to open mail in the office, so I took it home
and opened it.
It was air. All that was in
there was about seven of those little air packets. No packing slip. So I
emailed them -- they really good at getting back -- and suggested that maybe it
was supposed to be the outstanding part of my order. They said no, my order
hadn't been shipped yet. I was like, uh .... then why did you send me air? I
didn’t get a response to that email and instead got a “the rest of your order
has shipped” note.
So yeah, kinda funny. I just want the rest of the order to come in.
I’d like to delete that email.
I keep a “spam” email address
where all stuff like that goes, and right now, that account is full of emails.
Beyond the Walmart correspondence, I have all upcoming travel stuff. Just the Australia trip alone is enough to clog an inbox
(somehow, despite such few plans) but I also have Nepal,
Burma and Zhengzhou. I’m ready for the R&R just so
I can delete some of the stuff! 
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