Macao & Guangzhou

Week 16-17 (4/21 – 5/4)

Finals season is upon us here at CityU, and you can see the lack of life in the students (just kidding… kind of). My first final was Mandarin, which was composed of written and spoken sections. To be honest, it wasn’t super hard, just a little nerve-wracking since it was our first (and last) spoken exam. Though I think I did alright. Thankfully, our Chinese final was actually early, and I had about a week and a half between that final and my other finals to study. So, do you know what I did? Yes, study.

But of course, we all need breaks. So on Easter Saturday, my friends and I did a day trip to Macao. Getting there took 3 hours, 1 train, and 3 buses, but I’m so glad I went. It was so cool to see the signs in Portuguese and see the Portuguese influence on some of the food, architecture, and names. We checked out the Ruins of St. Paul, had some really good Indonesian food, ate my body weight in Portuguese egg tarts, and walked around all the different casinos, which reminded me of Las Vegas. My favorite casino was probably the Londoner, which reminded me of buildings I actually saw while in London, and even though we couldn’t gamble (since you need to be 21), we had a really good time walking around.

We didn’t only go to Macao that weekend, but my friends and I went to Guangzhou to celebrate one of my friends' birthdays. Guangzhou is about a 2-hour drive away from Shenzhen, but it was totally worth it since it was so peaceful and was really beautiful. I honestly wish I had gone to both Macao and Guangzhou earlier in the semester, so I could have explored more, but I am grateful I got to go to these places at least once.