HongKong and Macau

It's bad manners to keep a vacation waiting. And for a long time I'd behaved badly. So this summer I decided to spend some time with family, break the monotony of daily mundane activities and explore some beauties on our lovely planet Earth. Choosing the destination was not difficult. When the whole world is today looking towards Asia, specially China, we too decided to follow the trend. A little away from the mainland, we shifted our pivot towards the famous islands of the South China Sea- Macau and Hong Kong.

We took a flight to Hong Kong, from the Indira Gandhi International Air terminal, New Delhi. Duration of the flight was 5 and a half hours. We had to advance our watches by 2 and a half hours. Ferry is a common mode of travel in these island states. Hong Kong airport has an attached ferry terminal, called the Skypier. From the Hong Kong airport we took a direct ferry to the Taipa ferry terminal (Macau). Many times in India I took ferry rides. Ah, those rickety boats overloaded with people, goods to sell on the other side, cattle, vehicles and what not. I thought we would travel to Macau in a similar fashion when I read the word "ferry" in my ticket. But, to my surprise, a beautiful air-conditioned small ship was awaiting us. I thought what's the word for "cruise" in this part of the world?

Once in Macau, we took the Shuttle bus to Sands Cotai Central, where our hotel, Holiday Inn was located. Originally, Macau consisted of three main islands- the Macau peninsula(connected to the Guangzhou province of China by an isthmus), Taipa and Coloane.

But, the entire water body between Taipa and Coloane has been land filled or land "reclaimed" and the region is today called Cotai. It's here that the casinos of Macau, the glittery shopping complexes and sky-kissing hotels are mainly located. This is what it looks like today-

The small strip of land on the right hand side of  Cotai is the air strip of Macau; built through land filling. Yeah, it's called development, not destruction! Again, the southern islands are connected to the Macau peninsula via three huge bridges called the Friendship Bridge, Macau-Taipa Bridge and Sai Van Bridge. The white bridges are a treat to the eyes. 

So, coming back to my travelogue, we stayed at Cotai. All hotels here have casinos in their ground floors. The Venetian, the largest casino in Asia was just across the street from the hotel where we were put up. One can find adults from all age groups in the casinos. A lady, stooped by her old age, wearing a short skirt and a fashionable top, caught my attention! She must have been older than my granny, who was back in India and kept mostly to her bedroom. And, here was this old lady gambling in a casino. I had a culture shock for a moment.

Fashion seemed to be a top priority for everyone in Macau. Armani, Versace, Dior, Chanel...you name it and you find people flaunting it. Let me tell you that Macau has one of the highest per capita incomes in Asia and also high Human Development Index. So, a lot of rich people spending away their monies in the casinos and the high-end shopping malls.

Apart from the casinos, the Fisherman's Wharf, A-Ma temple and Ruins of St. Paul are worth visiting places in Macau. If you are travelling with kids, then do have breakfast buffet at the Kung-Fu restuarant at Sands Cotai Central. It has a Madagascar and Kung-Fu Panda themed show which is quite amusing.

A peculiar thing that caught my attention in Macau was that everyone at the hotel reception, information desks, ferry terminal etc were standing. When I asked the girl at the information desk, she sweetly replied that if they sit they cannot attend their guests well. Service to their guests is their main priority. Whoa!! Standing for 6 hours in those formal clothes and high heels and maintaining a beautiful smile! Where are the human rights and labour rights activists??  

Also, till 1999, Macau was a Portuguese colony, after which it got the status of Special Administrative Region of People's Republic of China. So one can find a lot of people with Portuguese origin and names in Macau. 

After two days in Macau, we took the ferry to Hong Kong. In the ferry itself we had to fill in the immigration slips. From the ferry terminal, the travel agency cab took us to the hotel- The Regal Oriental. The cab driver, Jimmy, was speaking fluent Hindi and looked Indian in colour and style. In the 20 minutes ride, he gave us brief overview of do's and don'ts in Hong Kong. While getting down I asked him, "Bhaiya aap India me kaha se ho?", to which he replied, "main Pakistan se hu". 

We reached our hotel at around 5:30 pm (hong kong time). Our hotel was located in the Kowloon city. If we consider the NCR region of India, I would call Kowloon the old Delhi part. But, unlike Purani Dilli, traffic was smooth though the streets were narrow.

Fyi, most of the water bodies that you see in the map, between Kowloon, Hong Kong island and Lantau island has been land filled. The process is still underway, burying more oceans under the burden of sands, mortar and cement. The Hong Kong island is the main financial centre and administrative block of the city. The Lantau island is like a pensioners' paradise with beautiful buildings and green hills in the backdrop. The airport too is located in the Lantau island. 

On day 1 in Hong Kong we took a city tour, wherein we took the heritage tram to the Victoria peak- highest point in Hong Kong. The tram we took was the first tram in Hong Kong, built by the British, 108 years ago. Actually, Hong Kong was a British territory till 1997, after which it became a Special Administrative Region of PRC (same status as Macau). 

Coming back, we visited the Golden Bauhinia, Aberdeen fishing village, Stanley market and took an open-top bus across the city. High rise buildings in the Hong Kong island, cobbled streets near Aberdeen and Victoria Peak, beautiful street shops selling variety of dried sea-foods are a treat to the eyes. On the flip side, the sight of old people doing menial labour will sadden you. 

The Hong Kong legislative council elections of 2016 were held on 4th September. It was the same day that we went for the city tour. A common sight that day was hordes of old people, in buses and popular dimsum joints. Our tour guide explained that the political parties have arranged for the old people in the outskirts to come and vote(for them). Rings a bell, doesn't it?

The next day we had an amazing time at the Ocean Park. Unfortunately, the cable car was closed that day for maintenance. But, it was awesome watching the Panda, which was busy eating the bamboos and a glimpse of the ocean organisms at the Grand Aquarium. Sea horse, Leafy dragon sea horse, sea cucumbers, star fishes, spider crabs, whip ray fish, sting ray fish and a variety of sharks will definitely keep you glued to the aquarium glass. Oh, don't miss the view of the Toucan at the rain forest section of the park!! What a spectacular beak it has! Also, the various hair-raising, thrilling fun rides at the park are worth trying. 

In the evening, we visited the Temple Street night market. It starts at 6:30 pm and continues till dusk. As the night advances, the market becomes more and and lively. The shopaholics in mom and me bargained like crazy and got very good deals. Popular items in the market- electronics, clothing, cutlery, jewellery, paper cut items, hand bags and variety of souvenirs.

The next day we took the Lantau Island tour. we took the cable car from Lantau island to the Ngong Ping village. The ride was one of the most fascinating ones in my life! It was a half an hour ride, across four hills. You get a view of the Hong Kong airport, the South China Sea waters, small islands and of course, the misty hills. After crossing four hills, we saw the silhouette of a Giant Buddha statue! I was awestruck at this sight. Here are some of the snaps I took from the cable car...

The Enlightened One (literally)!

In the last picture, you can get a glimpse of the Po Lin Monastery. Beautiful, isn't it? So basically Ngong Ping is a small Buddhist village in the Lantau island. The tourism infrastructure is wonderfully developed, making this small heritage village, tucked away somewhere in the cloudy hills, a major tourist attraction! The clean air, serene greenery and the howling sound of the winds was intoxicating. 

Once in Ngong Ping, we took the paved road to the Tian Tan Buddha statue. On both sides of the road, there were statues of 12 guards, each representing one of the 12 chinese zodiac signs. They had Indian mythological names like Indra, Vajra, Kinnara etc. At the end of the road, there is a flight of 268 stairs, leading to the Giant Buddha. The Buddha is surrounded by 6 Boddhistavas. I could only identify Padmapani Boddhistava.

After that, we visited the Po Lin monastery. The main hall has 10,000 small Buddha statues and 5 giant dhyani Buddhas. Photography is not allowed in the main hall. The vegetarian restuarant inside the monastery serves yummy food. We spent around 4 hours in the village, strolling carelessly across the narrow roads. It's spectacular!

Coming back to Kowloon, we visited the Ladies Market in the evening and the Temple Street market at night. Quite a lot of shopping we did, even though Hong Kong is not much of a shoppers' paradise. After all that's the sign of a true shopoholic, isn't it?

We skipped the Disneyland tour. But it would be recommended for those with kids.

Ah! Coming to the food, both Macau and Hong Kong can be paradise for those who want to try different types of foods. Vegetarians beware! My parents had a hard time too as they don't like experimenting much with food. Anyways, midway through the trip, I started having cravings for chawal-daal and maggi. Luckily, we found Indian restuarants at both ladies market and Temple Street market! And to my surprise, they were packed with foreigners!! They were repeating their orders- Beer, samosa, pakode and tandoori chicken. Wow!! 

Overall, it was a nice trip- quite relaxing, learnt about different Asian cultures and spent some quality time with family. In Macau, the people are friendly, willing to help and language not much of a problem. In Hong Kong, unfortunately, I found the people quite rude and ethnocentric. And make sure you learn some basic Cantonese words before stepping in Hong Kong. We had a hard time on the streets of Hong Kong due to language. Another turn-off was the duty free section of the Hong Kong airport. They have very less variety- chocolates, perfumes, wrist-watches, alcohol. That's it. I was expecting more here.

On 7th of September, we flew back to India. Not that I missed India much, but the moment I saw the the land from the flight, a sudden euphoria overtook me. After all, home is where the heart is. Yet, the hangover of the vacation is still not over. Nevertheless, it's time to get back to the daily routine till I plan my next trip.