Macau

The plan for Macau was to go via ferry from Kowloon to Macau. Upon arrival at the Kowloon ferry terminal we were immediately flooded by private travel agents selling ferry tickets to Macau for a little cheaper than regular price. They mentioned that the tickets were good to travel to Macau at anytime of the day and return at anytime during the day as long as we were on the last ferry back we were good. Who doesn't like to save money? This sounded very good to us so we took their deal and purchased three round trip ferry tickets to Macau for 1044hkd about $135 with turbojet. Luckily for us, we had arrived just in time for the next ferry. But before we could head to the gate to board the ferry, we had to go through Hong Kong immigration (backwards, I know!). There was no special order of boarding such as boarding group or anything. Everyone boarded at the same time. Even though everyone had seat numbers, some people were more eager to get on the ferry before others.

The turbojet ferry was pretty big. It seated over 300 people. Unfortunately, we did not get a window seat but instead we got seats in the middle which turned out to be great due to the way the boat was swaying. The ride from Hong Kong to Macau was about an hour. It was a smooth ride except for the swaying back and forth which wasn’t that troubling. Upon arrival at Macau ferry terminal, we went through passport control aka immigration. Once we walked into the terminal, a man approached us. The first thing he said was “I am licensed” while showing us a picture I.D, we could not even read what the I.D said but we followed as he led us to his kiosk. He then pulled out a map of Macau and started explaining to us the landmarks and tourist attractions in Macau. He offered to take us on a private tour of Macau for $300 for 4 hours. While pointing to the map, he mentioned that Macau was a big town/country and we could not possibly explore all the attractions on our own. Chloe and I were sold! We wanted to take his offer right then and there but Lindy being the skeptic was not impressed. After several attempts of bargaining, the man reduced the price to $250 but Linda was still not impressed. She then suggested that we ask a tourist advisor at the terminal. As we started walking towards the tourist kiosk, the man kept following us now saying he would reduce the price even more but we were long gone. The tourist advisor pulled out his map and informed us that all the attractions in Macau were walking distances from each other as long as we were in the city center. We asked how much a taxi fare to the city center was and he said about $5. We were like “WTH”. We almost paid that man $250 for something that we could do on our own for dirt cheap. WOW, Thank God for Lindy!

The drive from the ferry terminal to the city center took about 10 minutes. The city center is situated in the middle of all the tourist attractions. It took us a couple of hours to hit some the main attractions such as the ruins of St. Paul’s, St. Domingo’s church, largo de senado, Na tcha temple, casinos etc. We also had the opportunity to sample some traditional Macao street foods. We really wanted to get a feel of the Portuguese side of Macau therefore we had a traditional dinner at a Portuguese restaurant. It was absolutely delish! The blend of Chinese and Portuguese flavors was absolutely spectacular. It was now time for us to head back to Hong Kong. We wanted to make it back in time for the 8pm light show in Hong Kong.

When we arrived at the Macau ferry terminal, the attendants at Turbojet were dismissive towards us and wouldn’t allow us to enter to the gate. Due to the language barrier we had to find an English speaking attendant to explain to them that we wanted to get back to Hong Kong on an earlier ferry. They then let us know that our return ticket is scheduled for 10 pm. After several attempts of explaining to them the terms of our ticket, they reluctantly let us in. Once we arrived at the gate, OH MY! What a line! There were two separate lines; there was one for people who were returning at the time for their return ticket and a separate line that read “standby” line for people who wanted to return earlier than the time on our ticket. People from the standby line could get on an earlier ferry if there was still space after the people from the regular line had boarded. Of course, we ended up in the standby line because the time on our ticket said 10 pm. I knew the ticket sounded too good to be true. Lesson learned: if something sounds too good to be true, it is because it probably is. We ended up standing in the line for several hours. We boarded at 8:30 pm so we ended up missing the light show again! The ferry ride back to Hong Kong was not as pleasant as the previous one. Not only was it super packed but there was a family on the ferry that got seasick immediately when the ferry took off. The woman and her daughter vomited (loudly) the entire hour ride to Hong Kong. It was the grossest thing ever.

This was our last night in Hong Kong. Chloe’s flight was early in the morning so we decided to turn down. We took showers, packed our things and went to bed. After all, we were tired and it had been a long day. We had an amazing time but we were ready to head back to good old America. Chloe and I had a couple of days to rest before our European and Dubai tour. Stay tuned for those tales.

#Asia #Macau #China #HongKong