Moments in Macau

How could I forget some of the funnier things that happened in Macau? I've had lots of time to think over the past few days during my various spa treatments, and I just realized I didn't mention these. Hope you don't mind me reverting back a bit... Then again, I'm going to whether or not you mind!

We arrived quite late to our ferry due to the long lines at immigration (only for me, Mary Beth had the super-speedy Hong Kong resident card line), with only minutes to spare. This turned out to be fortuitous as we were upgraded to "Super Class." Which we could not stop laughing about. It sounds like something a kid would make up. We joked that the next level up is "Super Duper Class." We sat down and I was immediately both enthralled in and mortified by the conversation behind me. An American couple was talking and the man said "This island is Polynesian, right." There was a pause before she answered, "No, it's Portuguese." His reply? "Well it's the same thing, right?" Ai yi yi. I believe the only thing the two cultures have in common is the letter P. Then he looked back at the harbor we had just left and asked, "Where are all the pleasure boats? If this were California, there would be marinas everywhere." Um, I could be wrong but I believe even in California they don't place pleasure craft marinas in the middle of major shipping harbors.

At the restaurant, I was embarrassed to listen to an American introduce himself to a German father and son sitting a few tables away. He was asking them where they were from and telling them that he goes to Frankfurt once in a while. It wouldn't have been so bad, except that he had to shout, since they weren't sitting all that close, and they were clearing trying to eat and have their own conversation. I was even more embarrassed when I realized this overweight, overbearing old man was out with his 20-something Asian girlfriend.

I'm sure it's possible for a young, Asian woman to fall in love with an older, white man, but I find it difficult to believe that it could happen dozens of times a day. It makes my stomach turn to see it, but I suppose they're both getting something out of it. It's just the same in Thailand (perhaps more so), and in fact there is an internet cafe where most of the "bar girls" write their email love letters to their new sugar daddies. They use a pre-printed, well-worn master on the wall as a template. Today in Bangkok I saw a man who was at least in his 70s with a girl about 25. Ugh.