Reflection, Sweetness, and Rest in Foshan

Charming Bridge (韵桥) at Liang Garden (梁园)

Durian and black glutinous rice with frozen coconut milk (榴莲忘返)

Zhongshan Park

And to those who will be celebrating a new year, Shanah Tovah.

Mistaking All at a Shopping Mall in Foshan

For a brief amount of time on a recent day, I thought the two shopping centers in Zhuhai with signs stating "All you can get here" and "All is here" had been upstaged by a mall in Foshan — a city bordering Guangzhou and not far away from Zhuhai. But then I looked at another sign and realized I was not now at the All Shopping Mall. Instead, both of the Ls in "All" were actually the number one.

I am tempted to argue the A11 Shopping Mall should have a used a font in their logo which makes a clear distinction between the two characters. But I would like to hear their logic for this design. Perhaps the similarity is intentional, though that isn't necessarily a good justification.

In any case, their online presence does clearly make use of two number ones in their name. So yet again, sometimes all is not as it appears.

Parts and All of All at Two Shopping Centers in Zhuhai

The Zhuhai Port Plaza underground shopping mall has a sign with a claim.

Given the context, the phrase "all you can get here" encompasses the items shown below. Indeed, all of them, such as food, shopping, beauty salons, and transportation, are available. In fact, more can be found there. And two years ago I even saw some Baltimore Ravens boxer shorts on sale for 25 RMB (about U.S. $3.90 then).

Suffice it to say, a lot of stuff can be found at the Port Plaza, which sits just in front of the Gongbei Port immigration checkpoint at the border with Macau.

But the more upscale shopping area at the Midtown complex, about three kilometers away and also in the Gongbei subdistrict of Zhuhai, makes a much stronger claim.

In this case, the "all" doesn't appear to be limited to the items below. That only leaves all of all.

Competition is fierce. And that's all.

Medicina Chinesa and B.S. Medical Signs in Macau

I have had a cold for the past few days. At first I thought it would be low impact and quick. The cold has had other ideas though.

So in that spirit, I will share photos of two contrasting signs for medical establishments I recently noticed in Macau.

The first sign is for the Mestre de Medicina Chinesa Kong Tong Sam on Rua de Coelho do Amaral.

I liked the look of the sign.

The second sign is for a medical center with a focus on dermatology on Rua da Colina.

In this case I was struck by its English name — in particular, my first reading of "B.S." as "bullshit". For the obvious reasons, I doubt that was intended though.

In all likelihood, "B.S." represents the first letters of the romanization of the first two Chinese characters in its name. It also may be no coincidence that the doctor who practices there uses the English name Dr. Benny Si.

If I were now in Macau, I probably would have just gone to an outlet of a familiar health care and beauty chainstore with a pharmacy and picked up some medicine there. But these two places definitely have more interesting signs.

Pork Delivery in Zhuhai

On the day after Typhoon Hato hit, I saw something in Zhuhai which may have been connected to the typhoon in some way, but it was also something I wouldn't be shocked to see most other days. That said, it isn't something I see often, and for a moment it took my thoughts away from all of the storm damage I had just seen and walked through.

A pig carcass unexpectedly zooming past on an electric bicycle can have such an effect.

The feet dragging on the ground took it up a notch. But at least the pig carcass didn't appear to be at risk of completely falling to ground as what happened on a grander scale last year in Florida:

At least four pig carcasses, which were not secured properly, splattered onto the roadway, creating a gruesome scene captured by WTVT-Ch. 13's helicopter camera. It also backed up traffic for miles starting around 8 a.m. as emergency crews worked to clean up the remains, blocking the northbound right and center lanes.

As the Fox 13 helicopter roamed overhead while streaming a live feed to Facebook, Floridians totally freaked out online.

I didn't notice anybody freaking out over the passing carcass in Zhuhai. Had it splattered onto the street, though, it might have gained a little more attention.

Moving On From Typhoon Scenes

Another scene in Zhuhai shortly after Typhoon Hato

I don't plan to add more to add to recent series of posts here about Typhoon Hato's impact in Zhuhai and in Macau. There are some odd and ends I could still share, but I am eager to move on to other topics. Plus, with Hurricane Harvey recently hitting Houston, the devastating flooding in South Asia killing over 1,400 people, and Hurricane Irma now in the process of wreaking more havoc, I figure there is some good in delivering something other than storm-related news.

I don't know if there is a good way to segue from such a topic, so I will just . . .

OK, the first few figures of speech that innocuously came to mind seem inappropriately related to water, so I won't even try that method.

Other topics soon.

The Aftermath of Typhoon Hato in Macau: A Major Cleanup Effort Three Days After the Storm

Closed shops on Rua da Pedra in Macau

Typhoon Hato not only caused significant damage in Zhuhai but in neighboring Macau as well. Three days after the storm hit I crossed the land border which separates the cities to spend some time in Macau. I had just learned electricity had finally been restored to most of Macau, and I assumed enough debris would have been removed that walking through the dense city would not be problematic. Given the relatively limited amount of time I spent in Macau, I won't be doing as extensive of an overview of the the typhoon's impact there. Instead, I will simply share some of what I saw that afternoon and evening in the city, which admittedly was much more than I had expected.

After I passed through Portas do Cerco, the immigration checkpoint on the Macau side of the border, I saw one of a few downed trees still around at the pedestrian street on Istmo de Ferreira do Amaral.

But later I was relieved to see that the large trees at the Chuk Lam Temple (竹林寺) all remained standing.

Like several groceries stores I saw, the several 7-Elevens, common in Macau, I stopped by all had mostly empty shelves where items such as milk and and fresh juice were usually kept cool.

But at a street wet market in the Three Lamps District, along with vegetables and other foods, I saw the usually full selection of roasted meats.

One of the more notable impacts of the storm could be seen on Avenida do Almirante Lacerda Santo Antonio where, unlike the any of the areas I had seen in Gongbei, Zhuhai, many stores and other businesses still remained closed.

The Lok Kei Cafe, part of what had brought me to the street, was fortunately open, and I enjoyed an appropriate local-style afternoon snack there: a pork chop bun.

While there I learned they had just reopened that day and the water had reached the countertops during the storm. Not only did that explain the many stores at the street level which remained closed, but it also made me think of a nearby below-ground grocery I had been to last year. The story of the flooding also likely helped explain the booming business at one place I later passed not far away: a repair shop for electric vehicles.

What stood out most that day, though, was the large number of volunteers, police, sanitation crews, and other people participating in a massive cleanup effort due to damage from the extensive flooding. The immense amount of disposed items was striking as well. The following series of photos which conclude this post were taken from the late afternoon until evening on the western side of the Macau Peninsula. The photos are presented generally in the order they were taken, most with street names in Portuguese — one of Macau's official languages due to its past as a Portuguese colony. In addition to the extensive cleanup efforts, not all of which meant disposing damaged items, the set also includes two photos from a tourist area. Walking a few steps from some of the other scenes and reaching an area where all appeared mostly normal, except perhaps for smaller than usual crowds on a Saturday night, seemed surreal. The amount and type of items being disposed nearby seemed surreal as well.

Rua de João de Araújo

Rua da Palmeira

Travessa dos Calafates

Rua da Ribeira do Patane

Rua dos Faitioes

Rua de Cinco de Outubro

Rua de Cinco de Outubro

Rua do Infante

Largo do Pagode do Bazar

In front of the Hong Kung Temple

Largo do Pagode do Bazar

The O-Moon gift shop on Rua de Cinco de Outubro

Hong Kung Temple

Rua de Cinco de Outubro

Rua das Estalagens

Rua das Estalagens

Rua das Estalagens

Rua das Estalagens

Rua de Nossa Senhora do Amparo

Rua de Nossa Senhora do Amparo

Rua de Nossa Senhora do Amparo

Rua da Tercena

Rua da Tercena

The now permanently closed Crazy Barista on Rua da Tercena

On Rua da Tercena

Rua de São Paulo

Ruins of St. Paul's

Rua de Cinco de Outubro

Rua de Cinco de Outubro

Rua das Estalagens