Smaz, Luckystar917 (friends from another forum) and I all went to Macau yesterday to set up for the exhibition that will open this Saturday. We left Hong Kong at 10 am to make sure we were there on time to begin. Well, at 11 there was a car waiting for us at the pier and we were off. Sadly, the venue wouldn’t be ready until 2:30 so we headed off to a nice little dim sum restaurant for the first ever Macau puzzle meet up.
it was just us three in a private room playing with my toys.
Someone finally came back to pick us up at 3:30 and by 4 we were at the venue ready to set up. As we entered the room I kind of felt like Old Mother Hubbard. Nothing was ready and they were still bringing up the display cases. When all were up there, we finally were able to start setting up the puzzles. After a bit of discussion about insurance and security, the exhibition lost out on some of the older more expensive puzzles. I just didn’t feel that it was safe enough to leave them there. Somewhere along the way the messages got crossed.
Once all the puzzles were set up, we were told for the third time that the cards with the names of the puzzles on them had not been printed yet. (Hmm, wonder why, they only had them for at least a month!) No problem, Luckystar917 studied design, and I brought all the information with me so we just cut up my bits of paper, glued them to some black card and were on our way!
Once the cards were placed by the right puzzles (there was a bit of a laughable moment for me when neither of my partners could work out what a Whip-It was-a very common puzzle made in Hong Kong) we were ready to put the glass cases on top. We were told the workmen left at 8 pm for the day, and since it was only just after 7 we had plenty of time….apparently they tell time differently in Macau. Every one of them had buggered off home. After listening to a bit of one-sided yelling in Cantonese over the phone Luckstar917 got it in her head that we could do this ourselves, and we did!
By this time it was very dark, and did I mention there were no lights on in the venue? One lady had a mini-flashlight, and another was using the glow from her phone to help guide us carrying these 100 pound half inch thick glass cases around. All the while we were doing this a group of men I knick-named the Monkeys were bringing in rather large, wooden display boards. We finished putting up all the glass, and problem solved right! Wrong! There were 14 display cases and only 13 glass covers. I guess they count differently in Macau as well! Luckily that was for a couple of wooden puzzles I picked up here rather cheaply, a Meji candy tube that is easily replaced and a packing pineapple puzzle that I have a duplicate of…the woman in charge promised they would put the case on first thing in the morning. Fingers Crossed!
We double checked the locks on the upstairs doors (I broke the handle off one so I know that door won’t be opened anytime soon) and then headed downstairs to wait for security to lock the last door.
I took a few last photos and we headed for the ferry home. I know Smaz wanted to eat dinner in Macau, but after the ride over in the morning, there was no way I could do it. This was part of the fun. Jetfoils are supposed to
glide over the water, I am sure ours
bounced all the way there. Yes, for those of you that want to know, I did get sea sick. And I prayed all the way there that we would make it alive. Going home was smooth sailing for the first part of the ride, but they did make an announcement saying the trip would take a bit longer because of stormy seas. That was an understatement. Half an hour into the trip I was back praying to the porcelain gods one more time. I was so happy to finally make it back to Hong Kong I wanted to cheer! I won’t be there this Saturday for the opening, I just can’t stomach (get the pun) the thought of going over there again so soon. It’s now 7pm here, and I’m finally able to sit up without being sick.
What a wonderful day it all turned out to be!
Pictures of the display can be seen
here
I didn't see that one coming, but I got an email from the manufacturer in China, so Like Yogi Berra, I "Gotta have it!"
