Fall Break...

Our destination for Lydia's fall break from school was Chiang Rai in northern Thailand.  Given the proximity to Burma (AKA Myanmar), we'd even contemplated a trip over the border to visit that reclusive nation. But, our debate on the wisdom of turning over our passports to Burmese military officials was ultimately overtaken by whether it was smart to simply travel through Bangkok.

Floods have been ravaging Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos this fall.  In the days leading up to our Chiang Mai trip, the Bangkok international airport was one of the only places not engulfed in the city.  Locals were fleeing.  Politically, Bangkok is always a bit shaky...and the flooding wasn't bringing opposing sides together. The thought of spending fall break stuck in the airport due to flight delays (I had visions of it becoming a refugee camp) had little appeal.  When a newspaper headline screamed "Hongkongers Urged to Avoid Bangkok", it sealed the deal - there would be no Thailand for us this fall.

With a week of vacation on our hands, we had to do something.  Take a look at these photos and see if you can guess what part of the world we visited:

Would you believe we were in China?  Specifically, we were in Macau - on the southeast side of China, just an hour-long ferry ride from Hong Kong.

Macau was the first and the last European colony in China.  The Portugese settled there in the 16th century and control of it was handed over to mainland China at the end of 1999.  Like Hong Kong, it's considered a "special administrative region" and has its own currency, laws, and court system.  The Portugese architecture has been preserved in the central city.

Macau is no longer a major trading post in Asia, but has maintained its hold on the gambling industry. It has become the East's version of Las Vegas.  While it's not laid out like the Las Vegas strip, one of Macau's islands has huge casinos and hotels like Wynn, Hard Rock, and Venetian.  The buildings and grounds looked very much like it could be in Nevada - it was wild!  While we stayed on the tamer side of Macau, by the central city, we did make it to the breathtaking (and weird) Cirque du Soleil show.

Cirque du Soleil's ZAIA. 

Lest you believe that Macau looked like combination of Portugal and the US, we knew we were still in Asia by all the people and some of the "newer" architecture and other sights.

It was funny to see signs in both Chinese and Portugese!  Not a combination we see in Hong Kong. 
I was better at guessing the Portugese words!

This is a Chinese pharmacy - where you can buy all kinds of dried herbs and animal parts, like antlers.

Speaking of animal parts, this shop (like thousands in HK), sell dried animal parts for eating. 
It smells as good as you might imagine.

Lydia playing a drum outside of an former Chinese pawn shop - now a museum.
With gambling being a huge draw to Macau, the pawn shop industry is a strong one.

Lydia and me using the abacus and Chinese stamps at the museum.
How many of you have played "pawn shop" with your kids?  See all the great things that Lydia is learning? :)

Despite our trip not going according to plan, Lydia didn't seem to notice.  As with all of our trips, the best thing to her is the pool!