Hong Kong -- Macau, Day 2

I woke up early and set out for Macau, the oldest Portuguese (and European) colony in China, now under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China. I had heard about Macau, the casinos, its rising prosperity (24,000 USD per capita income), increasing tourism from Mainland China and Hong Kong, the food and the renowned banking industry, etc. -- I wanted to experience it firsthand. From a historical standpoint, Macau traded extensively with the British East India Company (later British Raj). Portugal, in the meanwhile, controlled parts of India in the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1498 AD, Vasco da Gama discovered the trade routes to India and made parts of East and South Asia accessible to European colonial powers. As they say, the rest is history. Incidentally, Macau lies 70 km(43 miles) southwest of Hong Kong and is best reached by ferry.

I had breakfast (sausage and eggs) at the Ferry terminal near Cheung Wan MTR, a terrible mistake. Avoid sausage in Hong Kong -- it tastes really bad and looked like no other sausage I had ever eaten. To get to Macau use one of the many ferry operators between Hong Kong and Macau. The ferries run every 20 minutes or so. I took the TurboJet Ferry at a cost of 140 HKD (~ 16 USD); there is a first class @ 240 HKD. The trip is an hour long each way and pass through Hong Kong emigration as well as Macau immigration. Upon arrival, I took a 2 1/2 hour walking tour of the Macau peninsula suggested by Lonely Planet. I took the walk and was happy to get a feel for the city, from the new and the old to the weird and typical. I had mentioned in my previous posting that the "ladder streets" in Hong Kong were fast disappearing; Macau still has them.

Macau's casinos, financial districts and governmental buildings are connected by wide, paved streets, while the commercial and the residential areas are narrow, winding and sometimes steep. All street signs are in Portuguese and in Chinese, however, you'll have a hard time finding anyone that speaks Portuguese or English, for that matter. Portuguese has little or no significance to the people in their daily life today, perhaps only some official types speak it. You will still see a lot of Western influence in the architecture, though. Right in the middle of the alleyways, I found an Indian restaurant, something that I never expected as well as a signboard pointing to an Alliance Française of Macau. Wonders will never cease.

I visited the very informative and interesting Macau Museum, passed through the various shopping districts similar to those in Hong Kong. The final stop in my 3 hour walk was lunch at the highly recommended A Lorcha, very close to the A-Ma Temple. This restaurant carries traditional Portuguese cuisine. I had a sopa de marisco (seafood soup), porco balichao tamarino (pork with tamarind and shrimp paste) washed down with an excellent oporto (port wine). The lunch tab was 160 Macanese pataca or MOP$; MOP$ is pegged to the Hong Kong dollar.

With a few hours to kill, I hopped over to the Taipa village, which, to my chagrin, was a waste of time. Avoid it! To get around, I used the excellent public transport system in Macau. The signs and directions are neatly marked and the cost was approximately 2.5 MOP$ a ride. I also peeked into a couple of casinos -- Golden Casino and the newly opened Wynn casino. According to Wikipedia, the Macanese casinos have revenues greater than those of Las Vegas. Imagine that! Many more casinos are expected to open over the next couple of years.

After a long and tiring day, it was time take the one hour ferry ride back to Hong Kong. I took the subway back to Wang Fat Hostel, and I managed to get the crazy Korean guy moved to another room. Good riddance! I met my new roommates, Arnold from Taiwan and Rod from Calgary, really nice guys. Since I was feeling a tired and satiated from all the food, I had a couple of fruits and some yogurt and called it a night.

Hong Kong MTR: The subway system is fantastic, frequent and easy to use. All signs are in English and Cantonese. A typical ride is 10 HKD (~ 1.25 USD). MTR is huge and reaches the all the important parts of Hong Kong. There is no graffiti to speak of and cellphones work even underground. You can purchase an all day pass on the MTR for 50 HKD (~7 USD) and travel between Hong Kong Island, Kowloon as well as Lantau Island, the home of the new Disneyland Resort. BART in comparison is dirty, expensive, infrequent and overrated. Whoever called BART the number one public transportation system in the US has not seen the subway system overseas. We've a lot to learn from them.