Mar 2007

After a final lingering lunch date with YOSHINOYA it was all aboard Turbo Jet for the 65km journey to Macau.

Mac-where..? Exactly! If like me, your grasp of world geography is decidedly sketchy Macau is a tiny country situated on the Southeastern coast of China in the Guangdong Province. Turbo Jet (which deserves a mention in its own right) was part plane part boat. It had all the internal characteristics of an airplane - airplane seats, airplane seatbelts, a little fold away tray to use as you pleased & young, attractive ladies working the isles trying to flog you overpriced food, drinks and Marlborough Lights. But it is essentially a ferry and a fast one at that so after just 50 mins I disembarked in a whole new world.

I only had a couple of days in Macau which is all you need really as it only a small place, it has total land area of 27.3 sq km including the peninsula plus Taipa & Coloane islands. The whole country has a distinctively mediterranean feel and rightly so. Jorge Alvares became the first Portuguese to set foot in Southern China in 1513 and his visit was followed by the establishment of a number of Portuguese trading centers in the Pearl River delta. These were eventually consolidated into Macau, which soon wielded, with the permission on the emperor of China, a virtual monopoly on trade between China and Japan and between both nations and Europe. Today it is still a mixture of Chinese and Portuguese cultures harmoniously maintained and developed by its people.

In July 2005, 25 distinct sites in the historical centre of Macau were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. These are largely ancient stone fortresses, churches, Chinese temples and restored colonial villa's all scattered amongst tiny cobbled backstreets named by distinctive Portuguese blue enamel signs. Look to your left and you could be convinced you were in Portugal, to your right and you could be Shanghai.

Ruins of St. Paul Cathedral

Typical alleyway

Another World Heritage Site

I must admit I enjoyed ambling around these sites a whole lot more than I thought I would, infact the whole of Macau is one of those places which just oozes charm. Each street I ventured down had something going on, a group of old men playing cards in a shady corner of the park, old cobblers shops which look like they have been there forever and traditional chinese medicine and teashops. In the next alley there's funky clothes and souvenir shops and everywhere there are people zipping around on scooters, I haven't seen so many scooters since Vietnam. And that to me was what really appealed, a blend of the old and the new, the East meets the West.

The lads gather for a game of cards

But when the sun goes down on the history and the heritage the neon's soon come out to play. I wasn't aware of this but apparently gambling is illegal in Hong Kong so many people head over to Macau for a weekend of excess in Sin City. Now we aren't talking the strip in Vegas here but Macau is home to some 18 casino's which is rather alot for such a tiny place.

Cheeky school kids
I wanted to take some photo's of an old building but these kids appeared on the way back from school and wanted to be in the photo too

Usually I'm not much of a gambling man but I'm on my holidays and at this late stage in my trip I figured it was double or quits. Worse case scenario, I lose what very little money I have left and I'm on the next flight back to Heathrow. If I win big, its a quick call to the folks telling them not to expect me home anytime soon. Well.....either of the above happened and how can they when you playing the slots with pocket change..? But it was good fun all the same.

Grand Lisboa Casino
The scene of my flurry on the slots

And that, I suppose is the beauty of travel, you can rock up in some tiny country you know absolutely nothing about only to discover it is a real gem!

Considering my Round the World ticket kind of "hit the skids" somewhere in the South Pacific between Rarotonga and Tahiti, I decided on Hong Kong as my next destination. I have always quite fancied it and figured why not...when am I next going to be in this neck of the woods?

Arriving fresh from Brunei into Hong Kong was a big-time sensory overload. Massive neon signs hang outside every shop, there is heavy traffic everywhere (of both mechanical & human variety) and plenty of noise 24/7 - but this was what I had come to experience afterall.

Kowloon

I spent my first few days in Kowloon on Chungy's recommendation (Chungy is an old Uni pal and Hong Kong native). So I ventured out with my Chungy cheat sheet and the Lonely Planet tucked under my arm to tackle the walking tour. This took me through the caged bird market, flower market, dodgy knock-off threads market, chopstick market and finally the goldfish market (I kid you not). Then I treated myself to a new hairdo (nothing fancy, just a trim) but the old Chinese guy got abit fizzy with the clippers and now I have a Shaolin Monk crop. He seemed exceptionally proud of his efforts and kept asking me "you like, you like?". I didn't have the heart to tell him it was a trifle shorter than I wanted but on the plus side, it has shaved seconds off my morning beauty routine.

Bright lights of Nathan Rd

That evening I went down to the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade to check out the infamous skyline. It didn't disappoint as the whole of Hong Kong Island is lit up in neon. At 8pm each evening they have a Symphony of the Stars performance which is essentially a light and laser show to orchestral music across the harbor. Yes, it's as cheesy & tacky as it sounds but I loved it nonetheless. I then took a saunter down the Avenue of Stars which pays homage to home grown Hong Kong talent such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

Hong Kong Skyline

Jet Li - Avenue of the Stars

The following few days were spent taking in the sights. I queued 3 hours to take a cable car up the Ngong Ping Plateau on the outlying island of Lantau to see the Po Lin Buddhist monastery. The cable car trip takes 25 mins and offers some amazing views of Hog Kong but the main draw card is the Tian Tan Buddha. Measuring 34m high and weighing in at a hefty 202 tonnes its a rather impressive sight. I also covered off the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong Museum of Art and Kowloon Park - incidentally a lovely place to have a relaxing breakfast whilst watching the olde timers doing their morning Tai Chi.

Tian Tan Buddha

Funky Fountains

I spent alot of time riding the MTR, Hong Kong's equivalent of London Underground apart from it runs on time, it's ultra speedy, it's squeaky clean, it's dirt cheap and it doesn't stink of piss. It transported me effortlessly across Kowloon to Diamond Hill to see the Chi Lin Nunnery a large Buddhist complex dating back to 1930's. It was a very serene place with lotus ponds, bonsai tree plants and the monks chanting behind big carved screens. With it being Chinese New Year it was absolutely mobbed with locals praying for prosperous 2007 and offering up incense sticks.

Chi Lin Nunnery

Kowloon Park

Hong Kong Island

Made a move from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island and have been calling Causeway Bay home for the past few days. My first stop on Hong Kong Island was The Peak which is the highest point on the island. I took the tram all the way up to the top of Peak Tower to have a good look at Hong Kong down below. I was relieved to learn that the tower had been specifically designed to withstand winds of up to 270km/h - theoretically more than the maximum velocity of a No. 10 typhoon (apparently). It made for some decent photo's.

The Peak by Day

The Peak by Night

I also had an interesting wander through Hong Kong's business centre to marvel the architectural treasures - it is home to 18 skyscrapers no less (the ones which take part in the aforementioned Symphony of the Stars) including Exchange Square the Bank of China Buildings and Government House.

Central - Skyscrapers

But it was the sheer number of shops which I couldn't get over. I have never seem so many shopping malls, department stores & street vendors ever before. I mean, if anybody from Hong Kong came to visit one of London's main shopping districts like Oxford Street or Covent Garden they would be asking where all the shops were, it's insane! And they are open so late, most of them until around midnight so even late at night you can go and pick up such essentials as the latest Louis Vuitton bag or CD's from HMV. And I suppose with retail being such big business its highly competitive. I went into one gentleman's outfitters for an idle browse and the young lady working there was so friendly and helpful I left 10 mins later having bought a pair of jean, T-Shirts, trainers and jacket - how did that happen..!?

I also made the best discovery in a food outlet called YOSHINOYA. It's like a fast food Japanese style. I became hopelessly addicted, partly because I have been looking for something to fill the massive void Pret A Mange left in my eating habits and also because it is one of the few places in Hong Kong where I understood the menu. So it's been a No. 3 for lunch and a No. 7 for tea for the past 7 days straight. Considering opening a franchise in London, after my water taxi company takes off ofcourse.

Wishing you all a prosperous Year of the Pig!

Next stop - Macau.