Trip to Hong Kong

The last week in October was "fall break" for all students at TIS. We did a number of things during the break but the hi-lite was a four day trip to Hong Kong. We arrived Tuesday and after checking in we were off to Hong Kong Park in the central area of Hong Kong. The park itself winds its way amongst the skyscrapers and in it one can find botanical gardens and an enclosed aviary that has an amazing display of birds. Day two saw us travel to Ocean Park via a double decker bus; the ride allowed us to see so much of Hong Kong Island on route. Ocean Park is a combination of Sea World and a large amusement park. Memorable moments included the four giant pandas, feeding sea lions, the shark tank and the gondola ride over the mountain. Day three had us traveling to Stanley Market for some shopping. This market is located on the southern tip of Hong Kong Island and it has incredible shopping. Before we return to Canada much money will be spent here. Upon returning to the city center we went up the the 55th floor of the IFC-2 building (fourth tallest in the world) for a view of Hong Kong and Victoria Harbor. The day ended with a ferry ride across the harbor to Kowloon for dinner and the 8:00 p.m.laser light show courtesy of many skyscrapers in the city center.
The last day was quiet, we spent the morning wandering through a local market before we left to catch our ferry back to Macau.

Our Apartment

A number of people have asked what are new home is like in Macau so a blog entry seemed like a good way to answer that question. We are living in a 3-bedroom apartment in a 35-floor building in Flower City. We have approx. 1500 square feet of living space. Besides the bedroom we have two bathroom, a kitchen and a living/dining room. The building is quite new and it has a swimming pool (open May - Sept) and a playground for the kids. Considering that we had almost double the living space in Edmonton we have all adapted well to our new home.

Turtle Temple and Ah-Ma Statue

On the island of Coloane you can hike up (or ride a bus) to the top of a large hill where you can find two places of interest. The first is the Turtle Temple (not sure if this is correct but that is what we call it). The second is the Ah-Ma statue which was carved to commemorate the handover of Macau from Portugal to China. Emily and her father hiked to the top one day and then the four of us took the bus to the top on the second trip. From the Turtle Temple it is a short walk up to the very top where the Ah-Ma statue is found. Great views of Macau and the South China Sea can be had from the top.

Cheoc Van Beach & Pool

Cheoc Van Beach and the public swimming pool that is located there has become one of our favorites spots in Macau. The beach is located on Coloane Island and it is a 15-minute bus ride from where we live. Coloane is very unpopulated which makes it a great place to go to get away from the noise and the many people one would find in Taipa or Macau. After swimming, the girls usually do some beach combing (they have a large collection of shells) and then we will have a bite to eat at a local restaurant overlooking the water.

The Tooth Fairy Visits ... Again

Emily lost another tooth last weekend; this was the third tooth since arriving in Macau. She has only four front teeth now; good thing she eats a lot of rice and noodles! The tooth fairy has been very kind though; the last tooth was worth 20 patacas! Emily used some of this money to buy a smoothie at lunch time.

Macau Tower

A few weeks ago, we all took a trip to the Macau Tower. It is the 10th tallest tower in the world and it offers great views of Macau, Taipa (where we live), and of mainland China. There are indoor and outdoor observation decks from which to gaze out from and on the outdoor observation deck you can bungy jump or go for a sky walk down to the ground. If you really like heights you can also pay to do a "mast climb". This entails climbing from the outdoor observation deck up the mast (needle) to the very top of the tower almost 400m above the ground.

The International School

The International School of Macao (TIS as it is commonly called) is where all of us spend our day. It is a very young school compared to most and it has been in it's current building for only one year. There are approx. 700 students from JK to grade 11; 55% of students come from Macau, Hong Kong or China, the remaining 45% come from thirty different countries (the majority coming from Australia).
Classes tend to be smaller than in Canada with class sizes usually between 14 and 19 students. Students are required to wear a dress uniform in class and a PE uniform on PE days.
Staff come from around the world. The majority are Canadian but others come from Australia, Romania, UK, and the U.S.A.