Friday's here! Be sure to check out the Restaurants tab on the right!

That's right, the weekend! Wahoooo!! Unfortunately, Friday in Macao is just like Thursday in the USA! Kids and people working still have to go to school/work on Saturday! Still, work does slow down a bit. Enough about that!

On to the evening news. Remember to keep checking out the Restaurant page if you like Good Eats (one of my favorite shows, btw)! Well, check it out even if you don't like Good Eats or good eats. I've been updating that as fast and furiously as possible! Below is a quick sample I wrote up in response to those doomsayers regarding McDonalds. Check it out!

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Restaurant: McDonald's
Communication: Chinese AND English (high school students, dontchaknow...)
Location: Near intersection of Rua de evora and Rua de Coimbra
Prep time: 5 minutes (that's right, FIVE minutes!)
Price: $ [$0 to $50 MOP]

Yes indeed! That is a McDonald's in Macao. Right is right, and I still haven't gotten used to the fact that they drive on the wrong side of the road!

 

You folks are now looking at a Number One, Large Size, Eat In, with a Sweet Potato Pie! FYI, Large Size here in Macao is actually what would correspond to a medium size in the USA. Good for Macao! Before you start looking at the awful McDonald's meal in China and thinking about what a waste it is, let's get something straight. McDonald's is indeed Fast Food, so if you need a quick bite, it's nice and easy to just stop by, grab something and get moving to meet a deadline, etc. A second thing of note is that McDonalds in China is quite a bit different than McDonalds in the USA. Yes, the food is similar but actually tastes slightly different, less greasy, and the restaurants are actually rather upscale. It's especially a favorite after-school hangout for young people. I've seen high school kids doing homework in various McDonalds quite frequently. Hey, in China, you can even get escargot at Pizza Hut! Sure, the pizza isn't as good as in the USA, but try the other entrees! You might be surprised.

I'm not done yet! For pure educational or time-wasting purposes, there is another interesting aspect about the big Number One. In economics, there is the theory of the Big Mac Index as an approximate assessment of purchasing power parity between currencies of various countries (no joke, click the link if you wish to learn more from Wikipedia's standpoint... but it is a legitimate theory). McDonalds is located more or less in every country in the world. Furthermore, the Big Mac is served everywhere. Yes, yes, it has different names and variations in some places, like the Maharaja Mac in India that is made from chicken, but that's not the point. These burgers are usually prepared in central locations, stored in massive refrigerated warehouses, and shipped out en masse to different parts of the globe (shout out to the Discovery channel's show on refrigeration for that fact). In any case, because of similar prices for preparation and storage of a Big Mac, the Big Mac Index can make a good approximation, although there are always exceptions to the case! Again, take a look at that nice meal above, which coast me $4 US. Not bad, eh?

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