Macau

[Bamboo Grove]

I tried to use similar systems and got them right on the computer, yet they came out the way they did.

[Big Boy]

I always tab to the next photo, and the change automatically saves.

[Bamboo Grove]

I still can't put the photos upright so I will not add any that are not vertical here.

Thursday we did our first registration for the teaching department of Macau, got our Macau phone numbers and uploaded mpay, which is used to pay all sorts of things here. I'll add them to my blog when I start to write there.

I took the other foreign teachers to a Chinese restaurant and helped them to order their meals. No-one else likes spicy food, oh well.

Yesterday started the apartment hunt and most teachers got theirs, they all want to live next to our school but I don't like that idea. There's an area called Taipa, not too far away from the school and that is my kind of area, lively but not crowded streets with shops and restaurants. The old Macao area is too far away from Coloane, where the school is and is too crowded, I tried walking there yesterday but just lost my cool.

The school

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Went to see three apartments there, two were dirty and dark, not for me and the third one was far too expensive, around 1300€ per month. Even with the cheaper ones, I will need to pay 800-900€. Tomorrow the agent will take me to 5-6 others, lets see if we are luckier. At least she know what I want.

The local people have been very friendly much more so what I've experienced in mainland or Hong Kong and surprisingly many have spoken good English. In the small restaurants, they may not but then I get by with my mandarin, which most people seem to able to speak, maybe not the older generations but it has been compulsory to study mandarin since the hand over of 1999 so many people have studied it by now.

[Bamboo Grove]

Thanks BB, he has promised to straighten me and my photos, until I learn to do it meself.

Senado Square is one of the sights of Macau and actually the only one I've done so far. Nothing particular here really but lots of people on the narrow roads around it, too much for me. Guess I've been too long in Finland.

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One of the casinos, maybe I'll drop in once I've settled down.

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On the night when we arrived we went to eat, happened to be Thai food. When we came back to the hotel we found these as gifts from the hotel + two small bottle of port. Very nice.

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Sun is about to set, looking out of my hotel room window.

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This one is still from Hong Kong, part of the drinks menu from Ned Kelly's, you can see how expensive the drinks are there.

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[Big Boy]

What an interesting shape that casino is.

[Bamboo Grove]

Thanks for the photos again, BB.

[Big Boy]

No problem, please keep them coming.

[Bamboo Grove]

Apartment was confirmed today, will move there later this week. 15 minutes bus ride from school, in an area where I wanted to be. A studio, rent 6000 HKD per month, reasonably cheap in this area and studios are difficult to find this time of year.

We also started the teachers registration today and will try to finish them soon so we are on our way to blue book, which would, I think, entitle us to multiple entry visa to China as well. I still have some places in my bucket list, mainly in Yunnan.

On my way to the hotel I passed by the biggest jewellery chain in Macau

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[Bamboo Grove]

Typhoon Saola is approaching Macau. Yesterday typhoon signal number 1 was announced in the morning and it changed to no. 3 in the evening. Now in one hours time, it will be raised to no. 8, meaning that an hour from that, the four bridges from mainland to Taipa/Coloane area will be closed and also shops and restaurants will be closed. Someone said the only exceptions are the casinos. I've bought food and drinks and all kinds of things for my apartment and thus I'm ready to wait until the typhoon passes. That' on Sunday I suppose. Our school was closed today to give everyone enough time to buy provisions for tonight and tomorrow.

https://www.reuters.com/business/enviro ... 023-08-31/

https://www.cyclocane.com/saola-storm-tracker/

[PeteC]

Wow! I've been watching that storm on satellite for the past few days as it danced around south of Taiwan, not really deciding which direction it wanted to go.

Hunker down and stay safe is all you can do. Welcome to Asia?!

[Bamboo Grove]

The signal was raised to no. 10 around midnight and the wind pounding the windows and the building woke me up at around 1 a.m. Anyway, it has now passed and the signal is back to 8 and will soon be lowered to 3 when it should be ok to go out again.

https://www.reuters.com/business/enviro ... 023-09-02/

[PeteC]

What dialect are you using with the people BG? You up to speed with Cantonese, even though the current Gov line is that everyone should now speak Mandarin. Regardless what the Party says, they will never stop the use of Cantonese in that area.

[Bamboo Grove]

I really don't know Cantonese. I've studied mandarin and that's the one I'm able to use.

[Bamboo Grove]

Last Friday the school was cancelled due to the taifoon, which I can understand. Now, it's been raining for more than 16 hours constantly, sometimes the rain has been quite heavy. I was just about to step out a moment ago to go to work, when this message came.

Dear Principals/Persons in charge of schools,
Due to rainstorm, by regulation, classes of secondary education are suspended this morning. Classes of primary, infant, special education are suspended today.
DSEDJ
2023/09/08

I was just thinking that many moons ago when I started my teaching career in Helsinki, there were couple of days, when the weather was -30-35 C and the schools were not cancelled. Neither do I remember the schools ever being cancelled in Bangkok even during the floods. But honestly, I think, this is a wiser way to handle the thing. The low lying areas here must be flooded as well and the place is so small that it can cause chaos on the roads. Hopefully the rain will ease a bit sometimes during the day so that I will have a chance to go and buy food and drinks for the weekend.

[Bamboo Grove]

Just received a new message, we are required to be at school by 12.30. Hopefully, no need to do any swimming on the way.