The last few days have been fairly uneventful for the Kiat clan. We had our first adventure to Immigration this week. The most exciting part of our venture there was that we saw a giant rat right outside!! Unfortunately, (or perhaps fortunately) it was squished into the pavement. It was still interesting for us to look at since we've never seen a rat before.
Two of the wonderful ladies from the office at the school were kind enough to go and wait in line for us a couple of hours before our arrival. They also translated and took care of all our documentation. Thank goodness!!! At first it sounded like we would have to leave the country this weekend and head to either Hong Kong or China in order to get an extension from Immigration. So, we did what we needed to do to get our Chinese Visas and were going to cross over on Saturday with some new friends of ours to go for cheap massages, pedicures, and dvds. The Macau government was only giving me until September 6th to remain in the country, so we hoped that by leaving and coming back we would get an extension of twenty days or so (Amanda's blue card won't be ready until early October). On Friday they advised us NOT to leave Macau and go to China for the weekend. They decided our best bet would be for me to go back to Immigration alone on Monday and ask for an extension instead. So, I will head back on Monday solo and I'm quite sure Amanda and the kids will be super jealous that they don't get to go and see the rat again; I wonder how squished he will be by then??
We have heard talk around town that there is a cupcake shop here. Amanda has talked a lot about finding the cupcake shop, and we have made a couple of failed attempts to locate it over the last 3 weeks. The night before Pat left we ventured out to Myrtle Park with our customary fish/turtle food. After feeding time was over we took Pat to see the fish store down the street. Once Kaid got his fill of the fish there, we made a very enthusiastic effort to find the cupcake shop again. We texted a couple of friends to try to see if they could give us some directions and then we headed off! 45 minutes later we had seen a whole lot of Taipa and guess what?? The cupcake shop was not included on the tour. The following night Amanda was desperate to find the shop. The next day would be the first birthday in her classroom, and since we don't have an oven she knew she wouldn't be able to bake a cake for the birthday boy. So, she was bound and determined to bring him a cupcake. She was also mourning Pat's departure, so definitely needed a mission to keep her mind focused on something else.
She and I headed out solo. Armed with instructions from a plethora of people, a fierce determination, an actual address from their website, and bellies craving something sweet, we were certain to succeed! And....we did!!! Of course it ended up being tucked away a tiny bit and we had pretty much walked by it many times before and never noticed it. That's the way it goes, I guess. Were the cupcakes as good as Babycakes in RD or Hey, Cupcake in SP? Nope! Not even close!! But...we found it!!! Finally!!! And, the chocolate cupcake Amanda snarfed down 45 seconds after we had left the store was a little taste of home...because there are NOT a lot of chocolate cakes to be found around this town.
Friday night Amanda's principal had planned a TGIF get together at a wine bar in Old Taipa. Most of the teachers headed over there right after school ( the school bus dropped them all off there!!!), and we all enjoyed 2 for 1 drinks and free snacks. Amanda is apparently a terrible light-weight because she had 2 glasses of wine and passed out for 2 hours when we got home at 7 pm!
The whole weekend we all relaxed; it was so nice to laze around! I went and played some squash with some friends on Saturday and Klash and Amanda went to the dog shelter on Sunday to walk some dogs. Apparently the shelter is HUGE and filled to the brim with TONS of strays. Volunteers are allowed to come any time and take dogs for a walk and I know for a fact that Amanda and Kylisha will be regulars...because they have fallen in love with Don-Doe.
Don-Doe apparently looks a little bit like Brady old Bourne (definitely part Shih-Tzu). He is black and white and pretty stalky. He was also the most energetic dog either of them has ever seen before!! Amanda was in charge of him, and she spent most of the walk running after him as he sprinted uncontrollably (tongue hanging out the side of his mouth). Every once in awhile he would randomly stop and lie down for 5 seconds and then he would be off again. He also LOVED water and every little stream they came to became a place for Don-Doe to lie down, submerge himself and re-group. Both Amanda and Kylisha say that as sad as the dog shelter was, their walk with Don-Doe was their favourite thing so far in Macau!! Of course, Kylisha's dog Robert also deserves a mention. While he wasn't quite as enthusiastic as Don-Doe, he was both a gentleman and a scholar.
We are terrible and have no photos of the squished rat, Amanda passed out, our cupcakes, or Don-Doe. So instead we have included a couple of randoms. Enjoy!!
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