Travel Diaries Hong Kong 2006 Day 5 - To the next SAR | Day 5 - To the next SAR |
| Friday, 08 September 2006 | ||||||
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Today I'm off to Macau with Clara to see our friend Sunny. The day started as normal, but a little later than usual. We were booked on the Hong Kong to Macau ferry at 12.00pm so after breakfast we packed our things and boarded the bus 3B to Central. After the 10 minute ride we got off at the terminus in Central and took the 5 minute walk to the Hong Kong ferry terminal. We had to visit the travel agent which was next to the terminal enterance to get our tickets for the ferry and our hotel reservation ticket. When you leave Hong Kong you are leaving the country and so you have to pass through immigration. On first entering Hong Kong I had to fill in a form to enter with my details for immigration to keep. To leave Hong Kong I am also required to fill out another form that shows the same exact details. Also when passing through immigration I received another stamp in my passport to say that I was leaving Hong Kong, just 4 days after I had entered. The ferry terminal is a structure which stretches out into the harbour and houses a number of departure gates for the Turbocat ferries to Macau. The Turbocat is basically like a floating plane, with two levels of seating that looks very much like an aircraft cabin but with larger windows in the sides. We were booked on the 12.00pm ferry but arrived early at the terminal and after sitting waiting for a while we were told that we could take the 11.45am ferry instead as it was not full. We boarded the ferry 10 minutes later as the weather outside took a turn for the worse and the rain started to pour down. When we got on the ferry we sat in our seats by the window and the boat started to rock from side to side. At this point I thought that the journey was going to be hell as the boat was rocking 20-30 degrees to each side. It turned out that this had more to do with people getting on board and also that the harbour of Hong Kong is the worst part of the journey as it is full of many vessels of all shapes and sizes making waves. As the ferry set off there was an automated safety message and the rocking started to subside, which made me feel much calmer. I've not had a history of sea sickness, but I was worried that the way the boat was rocking around today could be the first time! The ferry journey to Macau takes 60 minutes and passes amongst the many islands of Hong Kong and finally across the Pearl river delta into Macau harbour. As the ferry journey passed it was possible to see some of the smaller outlying islands, most of which were uninhabited and also the many fishing boats that fish in and around the Hong Kong area. The rain started to subside as we left Hong Kong and by the time Macau was in site, the sky was still grey but at least the rain had stopped. Macau is made up of 3 main islands, all of which are linked by very long bridges. There is also a large harbour wall which reaches out into the sea that protects the islands from the worst of any typhoons that hit. The ferry we were travelling on was fairly busy, as it was Friday it seemed that many people were going to Macau for their weekend of gambling. We disembarked from the ferry at the Macau terminal and after filling out another form (and getting some more stamps in my passport) to enter Macau we could proceed through immigration to meet Sunny at the arrivals area. Macau is another Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the Peoples Republic of China. Macau was originally Portugeues but was handed back to China in 1999 and is guaranteed to have 'one country two systems' for the next 50 years. The handover also appeared to be much more acrimonious than that of Hong Kong. After meeting Sunny he told us he had a action packed day planned and so we set off into Macau. We got into a taxi outside the ferry terminal - it turns out taxis are even cheaper in Macau - and drove to the Macau Tower, a 233m tower that has recently been built on reclaimed land. The journey to the tower allowed us to see some of the many casinos in Macau, including the Sands casino which we would visit later in the day. On arriving at the tower we went for our lunch in a chinese restaurant in the convention center that goes with the tower. Again we ate a dim-sum lunch and haad delights such as chickens feet, spring roll buns, egg noodle and beef and fried rice. After lunch we bought tickets for the ride to the top of the tower and when to the lift to ride up the 58 floors to the indoor viewing area. The view from the tower was great - to put it into perspective the tower is taller than the eiffel tower. The tower is also located in the middle of nowhere and so the views to central Macau and the other islands are great. It is also possible to see the border to China and the many bridges which span over the harbour to the islands. The view allowed us to find out that Macau is not that large and that most of the sights are in a fairly small area. After taking the inside view we moved up to the 61st floor where there was an outdoor viewing area. The tower offers people the opportunity to free fall attached to a rope down from the top of the tower. As we got to the top floor we found that someone was about to do the drop. The girl was attached to a harness and a long rope which moved around a big reel. She jumped straight forwards and off the deck and out into the air, a couple of seconds later the reel began to move and the rope unwound. There was a large crowd watching and everyone gasped as she fell, but we couldn't see her reach the floor... After the trip up the tower we looked around the shops in the convention center including a museum of cup noodles (only in Macau where they are VERY popular) and the gift shop. We then left the tower and got into a taxi to check into our hotel and drop off some of our belongings. As we reached the hotel, it was less than impressive, mainly due to scaffolding outside. As we walked through the main doors the hotel was very nice and made up for the early disappointment. We checked in without too many problems, only being slightly worried as the desk assistant demanded $500 and not saying what for. In the end it turned out that this was a deposit for the room in case we ate the minibar, or damanged things. I'm not really sure how this would work as we only stayed one night and no-one checked our bar out before we left... The scaffolding outside the hotel turned out to be as the hotel was refurbishing. We later found out that half of the hotel was complete and the other half was still to be done. We sadly got a room in the latter (but it was on the 19th floor - the top floor), but were not disappointed as we entered. I had never stayed in a **** hotel before and the decor was very nice. Both beds were extra large singles, nearly as big as a standard double bed! There was a flat screen TV on the wall and the bathroom was very nice. There were a couple of weird features to the room including a window between the bedroom and the bathroom so you can watch TV in the bath and although the room was nice, the attention to detail was slightly lacking as some area were not as calen as we expected. Macau is a unique place as it mixed Eastern architecure with the Western architecture brought to Macau by the Portuguese (or Cows as the Macau people call them). The next area we visited consisted of many Portugues buildings that are now protected as World Heritage Sites. Our first visit was to the main cathedral. The Portuguese brought religion along to Macau and the cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral where many people worship. The facade of the building was very nice, but the inside held nothing spectacular. After walking for 5 minutes we arrived in Senado Square, all of the buildings around the area are in Portuguese style including a post office and the floor is tiled like you would find in many European cities. Next we moved onto Macau's most famous sight the Ruins of St Pauls, the front facade of the cathedral of St Pauls that stood on a hill in Macau. The cathedral burnt down twice and the second time it was not restored to its full glory. To reach the facade you climb up around 100 steps and you can also go up on a viewing balcony to look from the first floor windows where you get a good view of some parts of the city. Next to the ruin is the mount fortress, a fortress built on a hill complete with cannons. After this we took a short walk and then a taxi to the most famous temple in Macau A-Ma temple. The temple is a temple for the god of fishermen and while we were there we lit some insense sticks and each person had to make a wish. The temple was in many ways less impressive than the ones in Hong Kong, but it was situated on the side of a hill and had some rock carvings painted in red. By now we were starting to get weary and decided to end the sightseeing for the day and return to the hotel to freshen up for the evening. We took a ride back to the Beverly Plaza Hotel and on the way passed a number of large building sites. After arriving in Hong Kong we saw that a new casino had opened in Macau called Wynn and after asking the taxi driver we found out that there was a number of casinos being built. We passed the new MGM Grand casino which was still only a shell and its very obvious that given 10 years Macau is going to be the new Las Vegas and is also trying to become a new Hong Kong. See the next entry for our evenings entertainment...
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