Asia we Begin

We have arrived in Asia. Our first stop is 2 days in Macau. Jeff and I have both been here before and I for one am happy to return, the familiarity is comfortable. On our first day it was truly enjoyable to watch Jeff share with Tim the places he has been in years past. And then again it was fun to see Tim realize and put reality to stories he had heard over the years.
We took a Turbo Jet (large hydroplane) Boat made by Boeing from Hong Kong to Macau. The trip takes close to an hour; unfortunately the weather was a bit misty so the trip was not as scenic as it could be. Jeff and I were in Macau 2 years ago; this is where we purchased our Asian furniture. Not much has changed here as far as the way it looks but the store where we purchased and arranged our furniture shipment is no longer there. How sad that was and in talking to another shop we purchased items in they are selling the stock they have and closing down. The economy down turn has hurt.
As many of you may know Macau is a gamblers heaven. There are a lot of casinos including The Venetian, The Sands, Wynn and many other large casinos including many of the original ones from the old Macau days, like the Lisboa. Interesting fact; the Chinese head to Macau more often than Las Vegas for gambling. Well why not, it is much closer for them and they have Macanese food (a blending of Portuguese and Chinese)
We enjoyed a lovely dinner at one of our favorite restaurants of the world; Fernandos. Brilliant Portuguese food and as usual got the chance to say hello to Fernando himself. Fernando is very interesting man and always remembers Jeff, kinda fun after all the time that has gone by since Jeff lived in Hong Kong.
We spent a fair bit of time wandering about several forts and a temple in Macau. While we were there, the festivities for Chinese New Year were beginning. They decorate every where. It will be the year of the Tiger beginning Feb 14th and “Tigers” were out in force.

~ Karen ~