Because, Pandas

About a week ago we went to the Panda Pavilion, a place where I expected all of my panda dreams to come true.  This was not the case.  First I saw two ostriches that were confined in a tiny little paddock with no place to roam around or run and then I heard the wails of a very sad monkey.  At least I ASSUMED he was sad, but he probably was..living in a tiny metal box.  I would be sad too.

The panda's had very lovely living quarters and seemed relatively fat and happy...I guess I just thought they would have more space and more room to roam free even though they are clearly  the laziest animals ever. They don't even like to have sex, not even for its reproductive awesomeness that creates baby pandas for the world to enjoy.  The Panda Pavilion is very proud of their two pandas. They are adorable. You would be proud too.  The Panda Pavilion is in Seak Pai Van Park and it is a strange oasis considering the insane amount of construction that is happening right across the street.  The two pandas that currently live in the Park are named Kai Kai and Xin Xin, the names mean happiness when put together.  A panda in Chinese is a xiong mao and it means bear cat.  Your Chinese lesson of the day!

I really did enjoy my day at the Panda Pavilion and it was mainly the company of the group and our tutors that made the day spectacular.

Pandas prefer their ladies to be classy.

And their gentleman.

I have no idea what this is a picture of.

The walking path into the park.

The park is very pretty.

Because no park is complete without pandas made entirely out of flowers.

NOT A HAPPY PANDA.

He lumbered away as only a bear cat can lumber and proceeded to menacingly eat bamboo in a corner. Clearly happiness is not something this particular panda has a lot of.

Their living quarters look like the world of Walt Disney.

This is all the pandas did.  Eat.  Gluttony.

Maggie and I.  She is one of our tutors and she is wonderful.

Colorful pigeons, swans, flamingos, white and black swans.

A Panda ball.. I must go back for more.  I need my life to be filled with panda balls.

Moon and Cassie.  Behind us you can see the construction of giant buildings that I mentioned earlier.

Extra giant panda to make me look less fat.

Panda love....

Panda butt..

The end of the day with pandas.

Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral and Fortaleza do Monte

The first tourist adventure we took was when our laoshis took us to Main Macau to see the Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral, it super old and now for a lesson in history!!!

The Cathedral was finished in 1602 and was built by the Portuguese because they love all things Catholic, how Macau and China feel about that, I am not entirely sure.  Eventually people stopped caring that much about the Cathedral as people are apt in doing and the whole damned thing was destroyed by a fire during a Typhoon in 1835.  Typhoons involve a A LOT of rain, so how this fire managed to destroy the Church is beyond me, it must have been one out of control fire. All that is left is the facade and the 60 some odd steps leading up to the facade and some of the original pillars and a shrine.

Macau is hot, mind altering, pain inducing, angry type of hot.  Oppressive heat doesn't even begin to explain the level of humidity that is felt while in Macau.  I would have stolen water from a child if I knew I would have gotten away from it.  One must always leave the house with an umbrella and a sweat rag.  You life depends on your umbrella.  Every shop I go to I have to force myself to not purchase a new umbrella because I am only here for a month...however, the umbrellas are adorable and hard to resist. I was basically refusing to let people take photos of me because sweat was pouring down my face, in the rare instance that it stopped I would snap a photo or two..I'm surprised I did sweat away my insides.  

In order to make it to the Ruins, you have to walk through the Historic Centre of Macau.  It is very European and colorful.  It also crowded and people walk in every direction with absolutely no distinction or pattern, they simply move.  If you do not move, they will push you.  I had an old lady use her umbrella to shove me out of her way while I was waiting to cross the street.  It wasn't an "oops I ran into you." It was a "get the hell out of my way".  She was also shorter than I was.  I have been shoved into walls, garbage cans, other people, bamboo, and railings.  They only time people stop moving is when they encounter an escalator.  This is an enigma to me that I don't think I will ever understand.

Sculptures outside of one of the hotels.

All of the photos above and the giant vases were all inside one of the hotels we stopped at to get on a shuttle bus to head to Main Macau.

The photos of the colorful buildings and the amazing brick street are all part of the Historic Centre, it is Senado Square.

St. Dominic's Church built in 1587, also the scene of a murder that happened at the foot of the alter during mass in 1644.  History sure is fun!

Street views while wandering around.

The view from the street as you walk up to the ruins.

When you walk up to the ruins, on your right there is what appears to be a garden, but it is actually the Fortaleza do Monte which was built between 1617 and 1626.  This is all part of the Historic Centre of Macau.

The view of the city from the top of the Cathedral.

Alexa and I at the entrance of the Cathedral.

Imelda and I facing the historic square from the top of the Cathedral stairs.

This is the entrance to the ruins.

From inside the fortress.