Macau and a Memorable Baptism

This weekend's experiences ranged from the sublime to the( over-the-top) ridiculous.  President Anthony Perkins had encouraged, (by  giving permission) to the senior couples to go to Macau for the Saturday water show, with the advise to "avoid the casino pits".  I had no idea that Macau was the center  of  "casino pits", with the potential of becoming the  Las Vegas of the China Sea-South Eastern Asia Area, so,  we took his counsel to heart.

We took a "ferry" which, to my disappointment, exceeded speeds up to 60 mph (it was called a Turbo Jet).  I had entertained visions of being out on the water, feeling the salt spray against my humid body,  enjoying, albeit briefly, the distance from the heat and noise of the city.  As it was,  boarding the ferry,  I had the sinking feeling that I had been dead wrong;  the interior looked suspiciously like the interior of a plane.  The air bag and  printed  "instructions for emergency evacuation"  in the side pocket did not bode well for a "nature trip."

We covered a 55 mile trip to Macau in about 45 minutes (that does not include the hour walk to the pier, or the trip on the "Ling-Ling" (trolley) to access the pier).  After disembarking, we spent the afternoon exploring the early ( 1550's) Portuguese influence on the culture and the architecture via the ruins of the Mount Fortress, built by the Jesuits in the early 17th century.  The Fortress constitutes the city's principal military defense and offered a panoramic view of the city.  On its west is the Ruins of St. Paul's,  the historic monument of the Centre.  I brought a picnic lunch which was eaten, but not shared by Dad and I because he left to see the fortress and I opted for the Macao Museum.

It houses three floors of artifacts representing the cultural exchange between the Chinese and the Portuguese, including Chinese opera, Chinese medicine, Chinese puppets,  their infamous firecrackers ( guaranteed to burn brighter and explode w/ more fierceness than any other), marriage traditions/clothing and Macao myths.  Dad enjoyed circling the perimeter of the fortress and viewing all 57 of the cannons mounted at intervals along the top of the wall.

The most spectacular and absolutely unique feature of Macau are the original Portuguese-laid black & white tiled sidewalks with themes from the sea, i.e., squid, fish, boats, undulating waves, nautical equipment et. al.  ending in a large fountain at the entrance to the old Portuguese buildings.

Beaten by the sun and humidity and the walk on the ancient stones, we boarded a bus marked "City of Dreams",  which promised a free ride to the venue for the Water Show.  I had no idea what  "The House of Dancing Water" performance actually entailed. I soon found out when  the show opened with a large cadre of spectacular, finely tuned/toned Chinese gymnasts who began the show with high dives from a nondeterminate height (it was too distant to estimate!).  The entire evening was woven around the pulse of very loud drums, blaring music (mostly  based on a 7 tone scale) and a  loose, fragmented story of unrequited love, fierce warrior battles played by diving soldiers in the eternal struggle between good and evil. It was "Dante's Inferno" against the backdrop of China, coolies and ancient/traditional themes.

The gymnast/dancers, arrayed in stunning gold/silver costumes,  spent the performance besting themselves with each subsequent act.  It was an entire evening of sequential  "can you top this-es!?"   The show included   water stunts: fountains, flashing lights, rain storms emanating from 150 ft. above our heads, the stage floor going from water to solid and back again, dives from 100 ft., motorcycles doing flips over, around and above each other, an artificial giraffe, powered by people on stilts inside the paper mache animal,  walking about by the edge of the water, cage's with people going under the water (and not coming back) and a Masai warrior who was so limber even his eyebrows were double-jointed.  He folded up into a box that wasn't even two foot high.   I think it was intended to be a Macau version of the Las Vegas "Cirque de Sole" that I have heard about.  Now I never need worry about  queuing up for tickets to that;  I have "seen it all" as the saying goes.

The best part of the weekend was Sunday and a sublimely sweet baptismal service with a Phillipina woman who has been attending Church for just a few weeks while being taught by the Elders.  The Phillipina sisters are such good missionaries, take the mandate so seriously to spread the Gospel, that they should be air-lifted to the Wasatch Front to show us "how it is done".  They exhibit very little reserve or shyness when it comes to sharing the Gospel and they, in word and deed, actually feel the urgency to get it shared with as many as possible.  Their spirit and enthusiasm for the work is contagious and we are all blessed by their shared commitment as they work together to "find" those to teach.  They simply won't come to Church without bringing someone, so we always have investigators.  I believe this is the fruition of the vision of The Brethren when they discuss the most efficacious way to share the true and restored Gospel.

All of this happened, of course, while you were listening to the Conference addresses which we are still waiting for.  One advantage of being Hong Kongian is that we schedule the conferences when we want (11 to 1, and 2-4 on Sat.  5-7 for Priesthood.)  Love you, miss you.  Mom (and Dad)