50 RANDOM THINGS WE'VE NOTICED

1. People have a hard time controlling their dogs.

2. The drivers don't yield to pedestrians...imagine a real life game of Frogger. Seriously. Kylisha was about 30 cm from getting plowed into by a scooter tonight...SHHHHH...don't tell Pat.

3. You have to ask for your bill in most restaurants. You also need to let them know when you're ready to order, or when you want anything at all. For us this means charades with our server.

4. Speaking of restaurants...no tipping. In the western restaurants they add a service charge, but the local places...no tipping.

5. People walk (and drive) on the left.

6. Lots of smoking, and you can smoke anywhere. (bet you'll come now, Slayer)

7. When dogs do their business it isn't like back home where they do it and you use a bag to pick it up. Here, more often than not, when the dog starts to squat the owner tries to catch the "business" on a piece of newspaper...this is fun to watch! VERY fun!

8. Booze is CHEAP!! A 6 pack of Budweiser is less than $1.00 Canadian. (you all want to come now, I bet).

9. People here like to sleep in. Most businesses don't open until 10 or 11 am. This stunk when we were getting up at 6 every morning! Now we're Chinese, so we don't care.

10. LOTS of scooters!!! The best are the girls in 4 inch heels and short skirts driving their scooters...pretty funny.

11. There is no third floor in our apartment building; but there is a thirteenth.

12. It smells like mothballs most everywhere (and durian in the super markets). It's Pat's FAVOURITE smell :)

13. Most men wear long pants or jeans (and it's 35-40 degrees).

14. Lots of realtors.

15. Nobody holds doors open for other people.

16. People eat out A LOT and the restaurants don't get busy until after 7:30.

17. No line up etiquette. It's every man for himself.

18. No dryers...just washers. Most people dry their clothes on their balconies. We dry ours inside...too many pairs of underwear have been lost. Not really.

19. Coffee (other than instant) is hard to find and EXPENSIVE. Coffee makers are also not as common; people often use presses.

20. No stick deoderant!! Only spray and roll on.

21. Not a lot of smiles...but 90% of people will smile back if smiled at.

22. There are numerous ladies from the world's largest country living in our building who come home from work at 5 am each day. They must be "tutors".

23. People use umbrellas (or books, bags, or small children) to make shade.

24. A lot of people wear face masks and we have noticed people without masks cover their mouths and noses when we walk by them?? We are choosing not to take this personally...even though it's happened 8 trillion times.

25. The strip here isn't nearly as busy as the Vegas strip. And we haven't seen a single Elvis...sorry, Allyson!

26. There is a lot of incense in the street in front of buildings (usually stuck in bananas).

27. Bedding stores are tiny but are stocked FULL...(think floor to ceiling) with sheets, blankets, pillows etc.

28. We saw canned turtle at the supermarket :(

29. They have ducks and chickens in the deli section of the supermarkets already cooked. These birds still have faces, necks, and beaks.

30. You have to flag down the buses in order for them to stop. No flagging=they fly right by.

31. The security guards at the Macau Tower look like (dress like) soldiers. No smiling + soldier attire= kinda scares Amanda.

32. There is NO popcorn at the movie theatres :-( People bring in their own snacks.

33. If someone says 11:30...it won't happen till 1pm. This also applies to store opening times. If the sign says that it will open at noon, the owner may or may not roll in at 12:30 to open shop.

34. We have the NICEST security guards in our building. We don't know how secure our building is since they tend to let ANYONE in....or leave the doors propped open, but they are super nice. Isn't that all that matters??

35. Lots of stray dogs. Our building actually "has" one. He was apparently born here when it was a construction site and he has never left. Apparently he only eats Chinese meat? Not even sure what that is? But, we will not be buying him biscuits.

36. The thunder is scary here. It's too close. Way too close!!!

37. Most people here have filipina helpers who clean their apartments, iron, etc. Our helper's name is Les.

38. The grocery carts are the size of a basket back home. Can't fit a lot of ducks and chickens avec faces & beaks in them, so we're only buying 5 or 6 at a time.

39. The best Mexican food we've had is from a restaurant here!! Go figure! They have a wide selection of hot sauces there including..."Fiery Fart" and "Anal Agony"

40. When Kaid is with us everyone is SUPER nice...cars yield, people move on buses, we get complimentary drinks at restaurants. Kindness and love to the wee ones!!! We now ensure that we don't leave home without him!

41. Sometimes when Amanda walks by people we can hear them calling her "Gwai Lo". Look it up.

42. You have to buy a bunch of bananas, but the bananas start to turn brown the second you buy them. And...we have no oven to make banana bread!!!

43. There are always people sweeping the sidewalks and streets.

44. There is a BEAUTIFUL soccer field on the University campus by Amanda's school. Every day there are 3 ladies wearing huge hats crouched on the field picking weeds one by one with tweezers!!!

45. The casinos here smell like VERY STRONG baby powder.

46. There are random exercise devices everywhere. Most involve hanging from a bar and twisting and turning your body.

47. The bread here is A LOT different. For one thing, the packages of bread only have 6 slices in them!! It's hard to find bread with seeds or nuts in them, too. Les and Kaidyn LOVE this!

48. Not only is booze cheap, but you can find EVERY type of liquor imaginable!! They have a bigger wine selection here than back home.

49. Unfortunately, cheese is another story. The blocks of cheese are VERY small and the selection is poor.

50. The weather (besides the scary thunder) is FANTASTIC here! We are loving every minute of it!