UFC Macao!

Tonight, we were fortunate enough to have a meet and greet with some UFC fighters before the weigh ins at the Venetian. Here are some pics! Can't wait for the event tomorrow night!

48. Bungy Jump

Well, I'm alive still! Leading up to yesterday, the anticipation of jumping has been killing me since we returned to Macao. Amanda purchased a free Macao Tower bungy jump at a school silent auction last year and it expires tomorrow. Right from the start, I knew that Amanda wouldn't do it, nor would Kylisha, so by default I was the go to person. I've actually bungy jumped before, but that was at the piddly West Edmonton Mall one.

I'm not gonna lie, I was nervous all day and barely had an appetite to eat lunch. The worst part was walking out onto the ledge and looking straight down. I could easily do it again now, but it definitely feels good now that the tallest bungy in the world is done with!

65 down.....35 to go!

Visitors, a wedding, and CONGRATULATIONS!!!

In November we had three visitors at the same time...Kylisha's best pal Danika came back again for two weeks and Amanda's mom and her best friend Edna came for a visit at the same time.

It was a very busy two weeks since we didn't actually have any time off while they were here and it was report card time for Amanda AND Kylisha has a crazy course load this term. Danika went to school with Kylisha a few days and then spent some time exploring Macao with Amanda's mom and Edna, because let's be honest...what kid would want to spend her vacation going to school?!

While they were here we still managed to:

1. Go trick or treating (since they arrived the day before Halloween)
2. Have dinner at the Macao Tower's revolving restaurant to celebrate my birthday
3. Watch the Cirque de soliel show Zaia at the Venetian (and we also had dinner at North...a really nice restaurant where they make all their own noodles right in front of you).
4. Amanda, her mom and Edna went to Shenzhen for a girl's shopping weekend and stayed in the Shangri-La where they had high tea (and Amanda's mom bought about 50,000 pairs of shoes).
5. All the girls headed to Hong Kong for a weekend and they enjoyed a trip to Cheung Chau Island
6. Multiple trips to old Taipa and Senado Square
7. I took Amanda's mom, Edna and Danika to Zhuhai for the day so that they could go shopping (and Edna bought 50,000 pairs of shoes).

It was a fun and busy two weeks!! There are lots of pictures, but they belong to Amanda's mom and she hasn't shared...so this is all you get:

At the beginning of December Amanda made a weekend trek to Las Vegas to attend her bestie Lynn's wedding. It was a whirlwind weekend, but she is extremely happy she went and we want to wish Lynn and Dan all the best in the future! I went on Amanda's iphone to find pictures documenting the weekend. Here's what I found.

Speaking of weddings...Amanda's little sister got engaged at Christmas to one of my best friends AJ! This is great news and we can't wait to join them on Vancouver Island in August for their big day! Congratulations, E-Bo and Slayer!!

Chinese New Year 2012 - Boracay, Philippines

Back to the Motherland!

A new video...

85. Australia

When we were making our list we actually put Australia on it thinking there was no way it would ever happen. But, Amanda figured that because we would be a lot closer, that it would at least be in the realm of possibilities. We have both always wanted to go and when our friends Dane and Kirsten invited us to spend Christmas with them...we were so excited!



64 down...36 left to go!!!

76. Eat roti canai and sambal bunchies in Malaysia

Before we moved to Asia our friends Brad and Leah introduced us to a restaurant in Edmonton called TROPIKA. We had never had Malaysian food before we went there, but we immediately fell in love with the Malaysian dishes on the menu.

While we were in Malaysia it was super easy to find roti; it was everywhere. Spicy green beans were a lot harder to find. Maybe it's like vermicelli in VietNam...more of a western food than an actual dish you can find in the country itself. We ate enough curries and noodles to make up for no sambal bunchies!

63 finished...37 left to go!

98. Take a cruise on Victoria Harbour

Amanda, her mom, her mom's friend Edna, Kylisha, Danika, and Amanda's friend Kari all took a sunset cruise around Victoria Harbour in November on the Aqua Luna. They would definitely recommend it, as it involved free drinks and the Hong Kong skyline at night.


62 down...38 left

56. Run a half marathon

Back in December, Amanda ran her first half marathon here in Macao. For months and months before the race, Amanda was a nervous wreck as she heard that if you didn't finish in 2.5 hours, they didn't let you back into the stadium to cross the finish line! Needless to say, her stress level was quite high leading up to the race, but she persevered and finished in 2 hours, 18 minutes! It was a great moment for Amanda and we were so proud of her!

It should also be noted that the day before the race we were all at Senado Square buying new shoes for Kylisha for track and Amanda spotted some shoes that had the word "marathon" written on them. Of course, she thought this was a sign and she bought them and ran the race in them the very next day!

One of her big toe nails finally fell off about 4 weeks later.

61 down...39 left

11. Experience a level 8 typhoon

Back in September, we experienced our first T8. We woke up in the morning and the weather outside really wasn't bad at all, a little breezy and cloudy. To our surprise, school was cancelled as it was already T3 and the possibility of T8 was on the horizon. We spent a great day inside at home chilling out, while the weather outside remained fairly pleasant. During a T8 warning, all shops are closed and no buses run so basically the city shuts down. Everything was fine until about 5 pm. Looking to the south, I could see this massive intimidating white wall of rain making its way toward us. The wind started to pick up and you could feel the anger build. By the time it hit us, the amount of rain was atrocious and the high winds were rattling our glass patio doors. It only lasted about an hour, but we definitely understand why school was cancelled! 60 complete...40 left to go

24. Have fish and chips and a pint at a British pub in Hong Kong

When Amanda's mom and her best friend Edna came to visit in November, all the girls (including Kylisha and Danika and Amanda's friend Kari) went to Hong Kong for a weekend. They apparently went to SoHo for dinner at a British pub and Amanda's mom had fish and chips.


59 down, 41 remaining

10. Attend the Macau Grand Prix

Back in November, the Macau Grand Prix arrived once again. We did not have a chance to go last year so we knew it was a must do before we head home this summer. Amanda was fortunate enough to receive some free tickets from a student and we spent an afternoon in the grandstands on the final day of races. To say it was loud does not do it justice. It almost hurt as the formula cars roared by lap after lap! It was a great time and we're glad we finally got the chance to experience it!



58 done...42 left