Day 10 - Ferries, Roulette and Really Crappy Music

Day 10 was the day which I spent in Macau. I got up early for once (about 8.30) and headed across to Hong Kong Island via the Star Ferry, before walking to the HK-Macau ferry port (discovered day 8). When I got to the ticket counter, the man there was very confusing (and didn't quite have a complete grasp of English) and so after a few minutes of confused discussion I purchased a return ticket, and headed briskly through to the security area, where a few forms were filled in before passing through security, at which point I examined my return ticket, which said 'return 10.30pm'. Not good. Not good at all, as I would be getting up at 4am the following morning to go to Singapore. I decided that there was little I could do at that point, and so I resolved to instead relax and sort it out in Macau. I boarded the boat to find that I had fortunately been given a seat in the front row, which had some legroom, and I relaxed as much as I could in the not overly comfortable or roomy, and non-reclining economy class seat. I watched the television screen which was on the wall facing me, and I was surprised at what I saw. It was a U.S. (obviously) television show called 'Man vs Beast', and it proved to be compelling viewing. First, there was an obstacle course race between a Navy SEAL and a Chimpanzee, in which the SEAL won and the chimpanzee, upon crossing the finish line, stood up straight with its hands on its hips and pulled a funny face in a way only chimps can. Next came a race between an Asian Elephant and 44 little people (i.e. dwarfs), whilst pulling a DC-10 Jet plane. It was hard to tell who was humiliated the most, the elephant who won, or the dwarfs, who lost. The cabin crew then came around with forms to fill in pre arrival, for entry into Macau, and these seemed identical to those from Hong Kong, apart from the change in the name of the country at the top of the form. After just over one hour of travelling, we arrive in Macau and disembarked to pass through customs. This time, thankfully, I didn't have a blocked nose, and even if I did I wouldn't have said anything. They took everyone's temperature, anyway, by using an ifra-red detector beam. I then headed out into the main concourse area, and was handed a map by a man standing in the concourse and, mistakenly contriving that he was someone from tourist information, I asked for directions to the ticket office, which he led me to. There, I was told by a helpful official that I would be able to catch any boat before 10.30pm, by passing through to the gate and announcing myself as a 'standby' passenger. I then turned to head out from the terminal, and was approached by Mr Tourist Information, who turned out to be a tout, trying to sell a tour by private car of Macau, for only HK$600. Sod that. I managed o fob him off by telling him that I din't have very much money, which was almost true, and I headed out to explore Macau. I passed into a network of overpasses and raised walkways, and within about 15 minutes I was pretty well lost. It was then that I remembered the map that I had been given, and I managed to direct myself to an unassuming building which announced itself as 'centro des activites touristes', and so i headed inside to be confronted with, instead of a tourist information bureau, the Macau Grand Prix museum, and Wine Museum. I was about to reach for my wallet and asses the damage, when I discovered that the GP museum was free. Result! A tour discovered that the Macau GP was a Formula 3 race, and so that explained why I hadn't heard of it. Such a shame, because the museum was very nice, with testimonies to some of the prominent individuals in the race's past, which included Ayrton Senna, as well as a collection of race cars, including Michael Schumacher's F3 car which, predictably, he has won in on several occasions. There was also a free simulator, which was fun, it not a bit cramped, before I departed, and discovered a very reasonably priced gift shop. It's at this point I'll explain that the currency of Macau is the Macanese Pocarat, but, since that exchange rate is almost 1:1 with Hong Kong, HK$ are accepted everywhere. I bought a very nice jacket for $150, and a keyring featuring the circuit, and a pen. All for about 15 quid. Bargain. Then I finally headed out and went in search of food. After wandering past several manky looking restaurants, I found some salvation and, for once, it wasn't a McDonald's. It was a small grocery shop, and I had some crisps and some little sweet crackers, a grape fanta (which is really nice) and a bottle of water. I headed out to a small park I had passed earlier, and ate and watched with amazement as the locals got fit on some outdoor exercise machines which had looked like play equipment when I had passed previously. I then decided to hit a casino, and found one not too far away called the sands casino. Upon entry, there was an escalator upstairs, to the gaming floor, and some truly dreadful music, including someone singing a really terrible interpretation of Ray Quinn's swing version of the ABBA classic, Waterloo. I was then passed though a security point, with a metal detector arch, and I headed for the cashier's desk.  I adopted wise tactics of damage limitation, and changed only HK$200 into chips (about 20 pound). After some time spent searching, I discovered that there were not Texas Hold'em Poker tables, so instead I found a seat at a HK$25 roulette table, and changed my cash chips into purple-ish coloured game chips, which were each worth HK$25 (can you see why it's called HK$25 roulette?). I then began to place bets on the theory that, it I placed them on corners I would get more spread, and if I placed on the same spaces each time I would eventually win something. So I did just that, covering my luck numbers such as 21, 8, 18, 2 and 22. The first $200 didn't last long, and at this point I had discovered why I had gotten a look of astonishment when I had bought chips at the counter. You can buy them at the tables. Before I could help myself, I was $500 down, with only $100 left in chips. I placed the same bets one last time, but somehow seemed compelled to move the chip on the corner, covering  17, 18, 20 and 21, to the middle, between 18 and 21. This paid off, as the ball landed on 18, giving me 17 chips back, instead of the 8 I would have gotten if I hadn't moved. I came to my senses quickly and cashed out before I foolishly lost any more money. I was waylaid on the way to the desk by the slot machines, which turned out to be armless bandits, as it was all electronic ans push-button. I fed a $10 note into one, and I lost it all, so, feeling a bit luckier, I headed to another with another $10 note, and got $11.90 back. Then I finally headed to the cashier's desk to change my chips for $411.90, Down over $200 dollars from when I came in. I headed out back t the Museum, where I had noted previously a bus to Taipa, on the other island of Macau.This was in the form of a small minibus, similar to those in Hong Kong, but it had 2 doors, one at each end, and it was more like a Turkish Dolmus, as people were packed in like sardines. I was lucky to have a seat by the window, and I watched (and took pictures) as we passed over one of the three bridges to the islands, which was strange in the way that it rose up quite high at one point to allow the passage of ferries, before returning to a level, which made it seem almost like a roller coaster (it was quite steep). The bus then arrived in Taipa, and I stayed on to determine when to get off, by the technique of waiting to see where everyone else got off. Not helpful, because the bus turned out to  be a circular, and When I did get off I had already passed the town centre. I wandered through the streets in what I thought was the right direction, until I eventually found a compromise in my favourite non-Asian restaurant. Yep, that's right. McDonald's (I do apologise for repetitiveness, but I have little self-control in terms of McDonald's). I really should charge them for advertising in this blog. A little while later, feeling much fuller and much refreshed, I took a short stroll through the adjacent park, and realised that instead of being given HK$ in change, I had been given Pocarats. I decided to take a taxi back to the ferry port, in the hope of catching the 6 o'clock ferry. I spent a while finding one, before finally succeeding. The taxi stopped, and the door swung open automatically (posh, eh?). I clambered in and spent a short while debating with the driver over the meaning of ferry terminal, before finally showing him the ticket. I turns out that there are two terminals, one on Taipa, and one on Macau. The ride took me over the second of the two bridges, and This one had two humps. It really was like a roller coaster, and it had good views. i reached the terminal and the driver told me it was HK$45. I gave him 50 Pocarats and told him to keep the change. Can't say fairer then that. I caught the 6.30 ferry and in the lounge I discovered a $5 massage chair, which was quite pleasant at times and quite painful at others. It didn't last long, and just after it finished it's cycle we were told that we could board. Upon boarding, I noticed a sign, advertising an upgrade to super class for only $99. It was worth every penny, with comfy, reclining seats, a window seat, legroom, and sound on the telly, allowing me to hear what the commentator said on the race between the dwarfs and the elephant. Lush. On arrival in Hong Kong, I headed back towards the IFC mall, and was drawn in by the attraction of the cinema, again. I purchased a ticket to see Pelham 123, and I discovered the miracle of at-seat service, in which you order, say, chicken strips and chips with apple juice (I wonder who ordered that?) and it gets delivered to you when you are sitting in your seat watching the movie, which was a very good film, which I recommend. (Like day 9, I refuse to give any spoilers). I then returned, by MRT to Chungking Mansions, and I decided to get an early(ish) night because I had to get up at 4am to catch a plane. Upon opening the phone, however, to set the alarm, I discovered that it's temperamental signal had allowed 12 missed calls and several messages to arrive, from mum and dad, telling me to call them because they were worried about me. Drat. I put on some clothes and headed to an internet cafe, where I called them and told them that I was still alive. They told me that their concern was because they hadn't been called in 3 days, and I hadn't updated my blog. I then finally headed to bed, and slept.

Day 9 - And relax...

On day 9 I didn't wake up until about 1pm. I think it was the 8.5% proof cider that did it. Especially since I had two bottles of the stuff. Still, it was quite nice. I decided to do what I didn't get the chance to do yesterday, so after a long shower and some food, I decided first to catch up with George and say bye before he headed off to Shenzhen. I managed to catch him, and I bid him farewell. Then I headed up to the swimming pool (I had rinsed out my swimming stuff from day 8 to remove the sand), and spent several hours in the pool relaxing and working off the stresses of the week. I also headed down to an arcade that George had told me about, which turned out to contain a very loud (and addictive) car racing game, and a very addictive (and very loud) drumming game. What with that and grabbing some grub, that was the afternoon gone, and in the evening I decided to re-do the peak (day 3) to get some pictures. However, little did I know that instead, on the ferry I would meet Illie and Nick, from Rochester. we got chatting, and instead of the peak we headed up to a bar at the top off the IFC, which did provide quite a good view of the light display, but the lights proved too hard to photograph (the attempts are on facebook), so instead we decided to just watch the wonderful display of dancing light. I can tell you, it really was something. I then split with Illie and Nick (who had to go back to Happy Valley, where they were staying with Illie's parents), and the IFC palace cinema caught my eye, as did a certain film, whose title begins with the word Inglorious (I can't give you the full name because this blog may end up on Mr Hood's whiteboard). I tell you. the seats in the theatre were amazing, really comfy, like armchairs, and with proper armrests and none of that stupid fold-up nonsense. And, for this? Only HK$85, which is very reasonable. The film was also very good (no details so I don't ruin it for those who haven't seen it). After the film I realised how late it was, and decided to run down to the MTR, which I managed to catch (well, it was past midnight, and that trains don't run all night). Then it was off to bed, back at Chungking.

Day 8 - Beaches, Boats and much too-short shorts

On day 8 I woke up late, around 11.30, and so I decided to see if I could find out where George had gone to, and I again found him in the internet bar after half an hour of fruitless searching. I didn't stop, just said hi quickly and found out that his great escape had taken him to the room next door to the one he was in previously, with no upgrade in size. He told me that he would be leaving for Shenzhen the following day, but that he couldn't have a get together until later, so I decided to head off for some lunch, followed by swimming. I had lunch, and discovered that I still had about half an hour before the 1pm session started, so I sat in the air conditioned centre and waited. And waited. And waited, until about 1.15pm I decided to find out why the session hadn't begun yet. That was when I saw the sign which I had missed before, informing the public that, on a Tuesday, 'Kowloon Park Swimming Pool will be closed between 10am and 5pm for cleaning and sterilisation, and will re-open as normal at 6pm'. Oh, well. Time for plan B then. I gathered my collected gubbins and headed off for star ferry. When I arrived at Hong Kong ferry terminal, I walked along until I found the boat I wanted. The ferry to Lamma Island, more specifically to Yung Shue Wan. The boat took about 45mins to get to Lamma, and then i realised that George was pretty much right in a previous conversation, where he had told me that Lamma had no cars. It didn't. It just had bicycles and small, motorised carts for carrying goods. I followed the marked out route through the small village (it was quite well signposted) and on the way, I saw such sights as the Man Kee restaurant, and a small ice-cream shop which displayed caricatures of celebrities, such as Barack Obama and Michael Jackson (when he was black). The woman inside seemed amazed as I photographed these works (on facebook), and I was astounded when she told me that she had done them herself. I was impressed, and that was what convinced me to buy an ice cream (quite nice, actually). Well, she did put a lot of effort into them! After leaving Yung Shue Wan, the path headed through dense woodland (rainforest or jungle, I'm not sure), and up and down a few hills, giving brilliant views. Eventually the path trailed into Hung Shing Yeh, and I had arrived at the reason I had decided to come to Lamma. Hung Shing Yeh beach. I changed out of my basketball top and shorts and into my swimming shorts, which, as you can guess from the title, were very short. After the quick change routine behind a palm tree, I found a spot for my towel and headed out into the surf. The water was lovely and warm, and free from rubbish, although it wasn't the clearest. That was slightly disconcerting, as on a peninsular just to the left of (and well within view of) the beach was Lamma power station. I swam about, relaxing and quite enjoying myself for the best part of three hours before finally deciding to think about heading back. I collected my stuff and headed for the changing rooms (which I hadn't seen to begin with). Upon arrival in the changing room, I found an empty cubicle and started to change, noticing when I did that in my haste to leave Tsim Sha Tsui I had forgotten to pack boxers. That left me to decide to put on the shorts I had come down in, but go commando (it may seem disgusting, but it happens to us all at some stage). That was when I noticed the huge ripped hole in the back of my shorts which i had travelled in. Plan B then, obviously (and lucky I noticed, too). I decided to put my basketball top on, but leave on my swimming stuff, and hope that they would dry on the walk up to Sok Kwu Wan.Now let me just give you the image here, so that you fully appreciate it. The shorts are so short that they could possibly classify a 1/4 lengths, and the (Yao Ming) basketball top is actually long for me. So long in fact that viewed from the right perspective, I'm pretty sure that it looked like I was just wearing the top and nothing else. So, my head hung in embarrassment, I headed off to Sok Kwu Wan, to catch a ferry back to the mainland (as recommended by the bible of Lonely Planet). The walk was longer than the one to the beach, and more hill, which was quite strenuous, but did give some lovely views of the island of Lamma. I arrived, eventually, in Sok Kwu Wan at about 7pm, very tired and hungry, and drenched in sweat. That was when, on closer inspection, I realised that every single one of the restaurants in the village sold nothing but seafood, and that the next ferry to central wasn't for another hour at least. I did note, however, that there was a ferry headed for Aberdeen advertised. Well, when I say a ferry it was more a simple boat, with open sides and no air conditioning. I hopped aboard, in the hope that I would reach Aberdeen to find some way to return to central. The ride on the boat took about an hour, and so during the course of the journey, night fell. And it started to rain. That worried me, because i was scantily clad in very summery, very short (not of my choosing) clothing. Thankfully, the rain was only momentary, and was gone by the time we arrived in Aberdeen. Upon arrival, I headed for the nearest bus stop, and upon studying the timetables, I found absolutely no hint of a bus to the central terminus. Thankfully, just as I was beginning to lose hope altogether, the beautiful glow of an approaching buses display said 'Admiralty MTR'. Salvation. I clambered aboard and, after much rummaging, extricated my wallet from the trashed shorts. After reaching the haven that was Admiralty, I headed for the overhead walkway to Star Ferry, and therefore to TST, home. On the way I was becoming increasingly self-conscious of the looks I was getting, and this merely quickened my pace to the point where I took a wrong turn, and instead of heading for Star Ferry, I headed for HK-Macau Ferry. I realised my mistake after only a short while, an upon retracing my steps, I realised which way I had to go to get back on track. Right through the heart of IFC mall, full of hugely expensive designer outlets and those with more money (and taste) than sense who choose to shop there. If Usain Bolt had been there I'm not sure he would have been able to match my pace through the IFC. I reached the star ferry in record time, and headed back for the relative salvation of Tsim Sha Tsui, to a McDonald's, a cider, and, last, but not least, bed.

Day Five - Giant Buddhas, Buses, Ferries and Chopsticks

I awoke at 6.30am. SUCCESS (Well, it's a bit perfect, but it's good enough). I decided to give the poor receptionist some rest and stayed in bed and read my Top Gear magazine until half eight. I then headed out to see if George was up, but hoi hotel was all locked up, so I decided to get breakfast, which was
NOT from McDonald's (OMG!!!) I had a coconut cream bun and a chicken teriyaki sandwich, with a chocolate milk and a malted soyabean drink. I found that the soybean milk was actually very nice, and I tasted (honestly) like Kellogg's All Bran. Perfect for breakfast. I then headed back to my hotel and continued to read my magazine until George came and knocked on the door. We then headed out to go to Lantau, to se the Big Buddha. George suggested that beforehand we should try this really good juice bar, and he was right, it was lovely. I had three different Juices to try, and they were all pretty good (even if they don't all sound appetising). They were strawberry, star fruit and avocado. We then spent quite awhile looking for a post box for my many postcards, and we eventually managed to get directions to the post office (opposite the Sheraton hotel, no less), and I thankfully got rid of them all. We then caught the MTR into Hong Kong, and when we arrived headed for the ferry terminal. On the ferry to Mai Wo (Lantau), we played chess (tie, 1 game each). We headed out to catch the bus up to Ngong Ping, home of the Po Lin  Temple and the Big Buddha. we arrived, and headed into Ngong Ping village, slightly disconcerted at the apparent lack of Buddha. We headed to a small shop just before the village for some shopping. Goerge got some sun specs and I got a proper hat. When we then headed into the village proper (It's all been built and set out properly to look nice, a little bit like sterling mills), we asked a woman in the shop where the Buddha was. She looked at us like a pair of absolute dunces (a fair judgement), and pointed to the hill in the directly opposite direction than we were facing. Believe me, if you see the pictures, you'll see exactly how hard it is to miss. We retreated in shame to the 7 eleven for lunch (chicken teriyaki sandwiches and crisps) befor heading off, this time in the right direction.When we arrived at the Big Buddha, we realised, that it wasn't just big, it was BIG! And it made a great photo (see my facebook). We also visited the little gift shop inside, and I departed with a crystal etched buddha, a tiger's eye brecelet and a patron saint of the goat necklace, and a wallet feeling HK$200 lighter (well, it's only 20 pounds). We then headed for the Po Lin monastery. this was a lovely, peaceful place, with incense burning and just the gentle flow of life. There was one strange thing, though. The size of the incense sticks. They ranged from reasonable to HUGE (as in 3 feet high and 2 inches in diameter). It seems, alas, that the amount of zen in buddhism that can be gined in incense can be measured in the size of your wallet. How unfortunate. We then headed back to the bus, and at the stop were surveyed by a guy about the bus comapany. i don't think he was happy ehwn we complained about everytning from the lack of direction to the bus signs, to the leather seats, the exact fare system and a grumpy bus driver. Upon arrival back in Hong Kong, we saw the Open top bus again, and decided to return to the peak (I needed to take photos) and got there only to see the length of the queue for the tram. We then headed straight back on the return bus to central, and decided to get some grub. We saw Yoshinoya, a Japanese resturant, and headed there. It was surprisingly delicious and filling, all except part of my meal which seemed to be cabbage in hot sauce, which we both decided not to eat. We then decided to leave, and I decided that I like the chopsticks, which were porcelain and obviously meant to be returned. Noink! We then decided to call it a night and headed for the star ferry, which brought us back to Tsim Sha Tsui, and this internet Cafe, where this blog ends. Stay Tuned!