A sauna, two dogs and a pub

Sorry, this is not the intro to some terribly clever joke - it was my day.  First, morning class with 0 level.  Gave my first quiz and they did pretty well so I was happy about that.  Then I spent a couple hours eating lunch in my office and planning things to do in Hong Kong.  Then more work because I had office hours.  Afterward Beth and I took "The Shortcut" and wandered down to the Old Taipa Village, which is kind of off the main drag and has a lot of cute little restaurants.   On our way we stopped to check out the UM Sports Center which is directly across from this enormous pile of trash.  (There are a number of these places in Macau where it's like nice building, nice building, trash heap. It looks like they demolished something and forgot to clean it up.  Weird.)

Anyway, I wanted to check out the sports center, not because I have turned over a new exercising leaf, no, but because I heard they have a sauna, and I'm planning ahead for the winter months when I'm cold and none of the buildings have heat.  It's awesome!  A real honest-to-goodness Finnish-style sauna!  Can't wait!  I just hope it's not as packed as the buses.

We also walked past a pet supply and grooming store called Dog|One and had to stop for Beth's sake.  She has serious pet longing but is too responsible to make an animal spend the day in our tiny apartment, so she goes without.  But luckily there were a couple of happy little dogs for her to lavish affection on in the waiting area.

We went to a sort of English/Aussie pub where a lot of expats go for dinner.  We were invited by one of our fellow teachers and it ended up being a group of 8 or 9 by the time everyone arrived.  It had nice ambiance, the food was great, and the drink selection was pretty decent compared to what I've seen so far.  I had fish and chips with mushy peas (that's the actual name) and they were all excellent.  Cat, if you're reading this, I know where you should come to try good fish.  I took the two shots below on our walk: just liked the look of this old building and I love these trees with the hanging stuff.  They seem like they might come to life at any minute.

Sorry, I know this photo is dark but it's the best my phone can do at night.  Pictured here are Augusta, Chris, Beth, Miranda, Janice, Sumi and Marilyn.  Monica joined us later.  It was a fun time and I get the impression they go out regularly and that gin is the liquor of choice for many of them, so I'm looking forward to the next one.