Rolled out of bed at Kuya Mike’s flat with 45 minutes left to the morning. Kuya was already awake and chatting online with my mother. Had a nice VOIP chat with her while uploading the crazy number of snaps I took the night before. Once we were both ready to go, we had a delicious lunch at EOD cafe just around the corner. Not sure what kind of cuisine it was (Makanese maybe?). Nevertheless, it was very good. Who knew oyster, beef, and rice inside a steaming bowl of broth would actually taste better than a beef curry stir-fry?

We headed across the border to Zhuhai in mainland China shortly before 2pm. Kuya secured our day visas ahead of time, enabling us to shop to my wallet’s content at Xin Xiong Ying Mall. It is a multi-level open market for people who love to bargain. Conveniently situated not even 50 feet away from the exit of the Macau-Zhuhai border crossing.

We walked around for 5 hours while Kuya taught me the finer points of inter-language bargaining. One is supposed to slash at least 50% off the original offer price. If language is a barrier, numbers talk: motion for the calculator and let your fingers do the talking (along with feigned outrage and walking out of the stall in pretend disinterest). I am a bargaining noob so I mostly watched my kuya work his magic on my behalf. If he hadn’t been there, I could have easily been parted with an additional $150 CAD of my money!

Both our feet were swollen and sore by 7pm. Kuya suggested an hour-long foot massage, which only wound up costing 30 yuan (RNB, or so he called the local currency). That’s roughly $4 CAD–what a deal! Kuya practically feel asleep while ticklish me giggled throughout the entire process. Wrapped up the time at the market with a last-minute purchase of hot yellow heels and silver peek-a-boo shoes (2 for only 200 yuan). The very huggy saleswoman was so enamoured by my gadgets that she asked to have pictures taken with me while we waited for my shoes to arrive from their back room.

On the way back to the border, I took a quick pan of the market for you to catch a glimpse:

Had the urge to try Portuguese cuisine so off we went to Dumbo restaurante, across the street from the Makanese bakery where I splurged on Portuguese treats for the IG office. We tried a couple of so-so dishes (maybe Portuguese food is relatively bland?). The highlight of the meal was a delightful table rosé that has been the closest thing to a French rosé since Provence. Would have downed the whole bottle but I was much too tipsy after four glasses!

Back on the hydrofoil for the 11:15pm ferry…just in time to catch the very last MTR train back to the hotel and straight to sleep.