I love Hong Kong and Macau. Hong Kong is flashy, über metropolitan while remaining quintessentially Asian, and bustling with life and lights. Macau is a funny blend of high rise flash casinos and old world Asian charm with mysterious back alley streets and a strong Portuguese influence. We were only in each place for a few days which was not nearly long enough but I'm glad I got a little taste of each of these Special Administrative Regions of China (or S.A.R.). Originally colonized by Portugal and Britain they are now both technically part of China (since the late nineties) but each place has retained their own political and economic systems so its quite different from the mainland. Here are a few of our highlights from these fantastic places!
We left mainland China and after going through customs took the MRT to Hong Kong! There are three main parts to Hong Kong but its quite easy to travel by either Metro or ferry. While there...
1. I found cheese! Yum yum welcome back into my life. Such good food in HK.
2. Kowloon lights show. If you are in the Kowloon area by the harbor you can watch the skyscrapers on Hong Kong Island flash lights and lasers set to music. Hilarious, kitschy, and totally worth 20 minutes of my time
3. Escalators on Hong Kong Island near Queens Road. That place is hilly as hell and I was certainly glad to ride on this crazy long escalator system up the hills. You can get on and off as you please and the child inside me still enjoys a ride on an escalator. Why is that so exciting?
4. Botanic Gardens/Zoological Park. Gorgeous and best of all- free! If you have never seen a good old fashioned lemur wrestling match you are missing out. I also enjoy a good flamingo sighting every now and then
5. Cable car up the Peak Tram. Very "touristy" but I loved the view of Hong Kong Island from the top of "The Peak" as it's known. We went at sunset to see it during day and night.
6. Jade market. God I loved that place- filled with things I wanted to buy. Beads, Buddhas, and jewelry...oh my!
7. Tin Hua Temple. I love me a good temple. Filled with incense and cute old Chinese people. Night market is also nearby
8. We ran out of money one night so instead of going to a bar like classy people we bought beers at the 7-11 and drank them on a park bench like the homeless people that we are. Well, I guess technically we have a home it just changes frequently from city to city. Our bench overlooked a fountain though so that classed it up a bit.
We went through customs, got on an expensive ferry, and boated off to Macau! While there...
1. Stayed at the greatest place- the hotel run by the Institute for Tourism Studies. Talk about service they are setting the standard. Included breakfast with homemade jams. I love students who are not yet jaded by the real world.
2. Casinos! Luck be a lady tonight. Water show at the Wynn, watching a dragon come out of the floor in the atrium, holding butterflies at the MGM, and more. My heart races and sings at the sound of those dinging slot machines.
3. Senado Square. Beautiful wavy cobblestone streets filled with neoclassic architecture that is a funny blend of Mediterranean and neon signs. If you want Asian beef jerky this is your place
4. St Dominic's Church. Gorgeous old Portuguese Catholic Church filled with light and also houses a sacred art museum. Macabre Jesus statues found here. We also went to the Cathedral which was built in 1622
5. Fortress of Macau and ruins of St Pauls.This place is filled with history and beauty. The climb to the top of the fortress was worth it. I also enjoyed the old cannons on display
6. Fancy lunch with cheese plate. Enough said
7. Old Protestant Cemetery. Graves from the late 1770s-1850s. Sailors, merchants, and missionaries found their final resting place here. Apparently you were lucky to live past the age of 35 back in those days- modern medicine is amazing.
8. Tom, Brad's lovely family member who resides in Macau, took us to an amazing dinner at a renowned restaurant called Fernando's. It was so unbelievably good that I even ate some- gasp- chicken! The place was located on Colane Island so we got to see another area of Macau. It was really fun to hear about Macau from someone who really knows the area. A dinner to remember. He also gave us a box of the best egg tarts I have ever eaten.
9. Gambling at the Venetian Casino on Taipa island. I wore my "high rollers" skirt for good luck and away we went to the roulette table. I hit on the first number (always play on 0) then was hooked and proceeded to lose it all. When I started getting sad I remembered that $100 Hong Kong dollars is actually less than $20US dollars. Then I spent some more since it felt like I was just playing with monopoly money. However I did not pass go to collect $200 and I would like my money back now please.
We went through customs yet again and we are now on a ferry back to Shenzhen, China where we will stay for one night before we fly to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia! We have had to stand in 6 customs lines in the past week, with 2 more to go tomorrow. As On a side note we just passed another large boat (tanker) where three Chinese men were all standing on deck in their underwear. Probably won't see that happening in America.
Before we leave China I would like to share with you a quote we recently heard from a renowned actor: "Excuse me but I'm confiscating these horses." Try to use that in a conversation at some point in your day today as that could be a euphemism for many things.
May your wild horses run free.
Also Brad wanted to add, "Free Tibet!"
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