Full disclosure….I haven’t actually ever watched a full episode of The Amazing Race, but I’m familiar with the premise. Our first days in Macau certainly felt like we were participants in this type of reality show.

Background information:

I accepted a teaching position at an international school in Macau. We had several months to wrap up our lives in Newfoundland and prepare for our move. By the end of June, we felt we were as prepared as possible. We took the summer to visit a university of interest for Maeve in Toronto, hang out with family in Chicago and vacation in Taiwan, Bali and Singapore. We then landed in Macau and were tasked with finding an apartment to live in for at least the next year.

We were not allowed to arrive more than one week before I started new teacher orientation. We were told this was to ensure that the government had the most time to process our paperwork and visas.

Day 1

Our flight landed in Macau at about 5 p.m. It was raining and there were thunderstorms. We were told to wait on the plane until the weather cleared because ground crews could not operate. So we waited about another hour.

The Macau International Airport is quite small. There are no gates outside. Planes just seem to land and park in a large lot while you wait for the mobile stairs in order to exit the plane. A shuttle bus takes you to the terminal. Despite the no-smoking signs, the airport itself reeked of cigarette smoke. I found it difficult to breathe. The immigration line was long and we knew a staff member was waiting for us once we were cleared.

I think the administrator who met us was as frustrated as we were. It was hot and late. We were just happy to see someone there for us. Accommodations had been arranged for us. We were able to stay in another staff member’s vacant apartment for a week while we looked for our own apartment. This was a great arrangement as we were immersed into a different culture immediately.

We arrived at the apartment by 7:30 p.m. and were ready to find a place to eat by 8 p.m. Luckily, there was a Portuguese restaurant very close to this apartment. We were all hungry and cranky. It’s probably not worth going into too many details about the rest of the night. After eating, we settled in as best as possible and went to bed.

The view from our temporary accommodations. Mainland China across the water.

Day 2

We planned ahead and scheduled apartment viewings with a real estate agent for the morning after we arrived. She had about eight viewings scheduled and the agent picked us up at about 10:30 a.m. to start the process. I took pictures and wrote notes on each apartment. We now felt like we were in another reality show….House Hunters International.

Most of the apartments were unfurnished. To furnish one, we’d need to spend thousands. However, we’d probably make up the difference in rent payments in less than a year. We had made it through four years in Newfoundland without buying furniture and I wasn’t keen on purchasing any now. In addition to the cost, it would cause quite a problem when we left as we’d have a heck of a time selling or unloading all the furniture and accessories purchased. We had to keep an open mind and deal with what we were shown.

Many of the older apartments had mold. The newest buildings were certainly clean, but they were quite small and more expensive. We also needed to consider our location (I’ll get into that more in another blog post). After a few hours of viewing apartments, our realtor dropped us off at a restaurant she recommended for lunch. We visited the phone store to figure out how to get a data plan. Michael and Liam needed new phones, but that would happen at a later time. Maeve and I bought SIM chips so we could have an internet connection.

We had no idea where we were and had no plan to figure out how to get back to our accommodations. It was more than 90 degrees with humidity to match. We couldn’t figure out the bus system despite the restaurant owner recording our desired location for us in Cantonese. There were too many bus routes and we didn’t know which one to get. This is another part where it’s best not to get into too many details. Following the limited data we had in Google Maps, we walked back to our apartment. It was about a 30 minute walk. We were soaked and exhausted. After cooling off, I went off to purchase some groceries so we could prepare dinner and discuss the apartments we saw earlier.

Day 3

We scheduled additional apartment viewings with a different realtor. We thought it would be better to have more than one realtor. We later found out that all the realtors here have access to the same inventory. We did let this realtor know that we had already seen some apartments, but we still wasted time viewing a number of uninhabitable apartments. Some were filthy while some reeked of bleach. There was one that was decent, but the couple would not be moving out for a few weeks. We had to keep in mind that we needed to be able to move into this place within the next five days. We also didn’t have much time to deal with issues that would take awhile to address. We were warned that some owners might not even address our desired changes after the lease was signed.

Similarly to the prior day, we saw about eight apartments. We saw one apartment that was decently furnished in that the furniture matched, unlike any of the other apartments. It had more of a hotel feel to it, but it was the best we had seen. Up until that point, we were feeling that we would have to get an unfurnished apartment. Once we finished our viewings, we made sure that the realtor took us back to our apartment. We did not want to wander around in the heat again.

After lunch we thought we would visit the new school to pick up my first paycheck which we would convert to cash. I would be reimbursed for my flight and for about one box that we had shipped here. We definitely needed the cash money because in order to sign a lease, we needed four months of rent in Hong Kong dollars cash and the ATMs had small daily limits. See Michael’s blog for additional information on this. We still hadn’t sorted out the buses and we knew taxis were cheap, so a taxi ride it was.

What we hadn’t planned on was that the majority of taxi drivers do not speak English (although that mistake was clearly ours). The school had given us a ring of small, laminated cards containing important place names written on them in Mandarin and Cantonese….I left them in the apartment. The door man had called the taxi, but did not tell him where we were going. Needless to say, we drove around for a while stopping at different schools. It didn’t end up costing much, it was just frustrating. Rookie mistake.

We were excited to see the new school. I was able to get the check easily and told them about the taxi problem. The HR staff called for a taxi to take us back. Unfortunately, it arrived too quickly so we weren’t able to tour the school that day.

All in all, it was a successful day. We had seen as many apartments as we could and we had the remainder of our cash for rent.

Day 4

Decision time. Our second realtor called and said that there was a three bedroom apartment that was larger and was furnished in the same building we liked. We ran out to see it, but it was poorly furnished…two large dining room tables and no chairs. The couch was old and the place, while bigger, was just odd. It seemed we knew which apartment we would choose. We liked this building and the location. The building gym and pool were free for residents - we’d have to pay every time we went at the other buildings. The location was central to almost everything….walking distance to the school and near a ton of restaurants. This location cost a bit more, but with two teens and our love of restaurants, it seemed ideal. We decided to make an offer on the one we saw the day before.

Day 5

Negotiations began. We submitted a list of requirements which included a bed for the third bedroom. The apartments here have wardrobes as opposed to closets. The third bedroom had four and the second had none. The wardrobes were massive and needed to be moved. There were several other things that needed to be done, but most were not necessary changes before moving in, but they needed to happen.

The rest of our day was spent obtaining bus cards for everyone and figuring out the bus routes and apps. The kids were quite lazy and stayed in their rooms, which was fine because we still had a lot to do.

Day 6

Negotiations continued. The actual owners lived in Europe and it took a while to communicate with the time difference. They agreed to get a bed and move the wardrobe. We needed to settle on a price.

Day 7

We agreed on a price and set a move in date for day 9. We had two days of wiggle room since the staff member who let us stay in her place would not return for two more days. We paid her for the extra night and were set to move into our new apartment on day 9.

Later we went to a scheduled dinner for all new staff and their families. We had a heck of a time getting there because our bus just stopped mid trip and we were forced to get out. We weren’t familiar with the routes yet and I’m still not sure what happened, but we were directed to another bus and finally made it to the restaurant. It was great to meet some of my new colleagues. The food was delicious and they even had a vegetarian menu. Everyone was super friendly. I met another girl who was staying near us and we planned to meet at the stop so we could go to school together for our first day.

Day 8 - First day of work

My first day at the school. I was glad to have someone to meet at the bus stop. We were so confused and didn’t know on which side of the street we should catch the bus. It all worked out in the end. When school starts, a designated bus would pick us up near our apartment. The day went well. We had breakfast and general informational meetings. There was a lot to learn, especially when moving here with a family.

Maeve had also arranged to meet a girl that she had been corresponding with from Newfoundland. They met at one of the casino malls. Maeve was excited to actually meet another student so she wouldn’t start without knowing anyone.

Day 9 - Move in

Day 2 of orientation also included a full school tour for new family members. Michael, Maeve and Liam returned back to our accommodations and I met them afterwords. I made sure everyone was packed and ready to go. Our realtor and her husband picked us up at 5:30 p.m. I’m not sure how we crammed 6 people, 3 large suitcases, two carry-ons, two large backpacks, three small backpacks, and some groceries into their SUV, but we did.

Our new apartment is on the 30th floor and the elevator is quite slow. We unloaded everything into the apartment, but then we had to sort through the lease and payment for four months in cash. Once that was settled, we had to get water and bedding. Our realtor and her husband were kind enough to drive us around to collect those things. Everyone has a water cooler. The water is okay here. It tends to be the pipes in the older buildings that are the problem. We bought 100 jugs which entitled us to the cooler. We would have never been able to set this up on our own. The facility was like a warehouse in a store front on the street. Our realtor helped make the arrangements. Michael gave them his phone number. Several five gallon jugs would be delivered. When you run out, you text and some guy shows up about an hour later with replacement jugs.

It was a late night, but we made it. I had to get up early for another day of orientation, but we were ready for our next adventure.