Macau

The Hotel Lisboa is one of Macau's most famous landmarks. It's a hotel/casino and was once considered the height of luxury, Macau style. Now, the Sands, the Venetian, and many other casinos are starting to outdo it, but it's still amazing. My standard room had a king-sized bed, sitting area, free minibar, and all of the perks of a good hotel. I'd forgotten that such things were possible. After going out and exploring the casinos, I jumped into my complimentary robe, used my complimentary toiletries and ordered room service while watching Notes from a Scandal on the free movie channel. Luxury.



That night and the next morning, I was lured by the Macau Tower which was clearly visible from my 17th floor room. I felt a strange urge to jump off of it. ;) AJ Hackett Adventure Co runs an entertainment center on the top of the tower. One has the option of climbing to the very tip of the tower, walking around the outside observation deck, bungy jumping, or doing the world's highest SkyJump. Bungy jumping doesn't really appeal to me because I'm nervous of the whiplash at the bottom, but the idea of jumping off a 61 story tower is quite appealing. So, I booked a SkyJump. This is a harnessed jump that is freefall for most of the 233 meters, but then is a controlled descent for the last 50 meters or so.



It was amazing! I was barely given a chance to feel terrified. Just as I was looking over the edge, wondering how this whole thing worked, the guy said, Jump! and I jumped. Wheeeeeeee!!! I screamed and then screamed with laughter all the way down. When I reached the bottom, I knew that I had to do it again. The 2nd time, you can jump backward! I highly recommend getting high in Macau (that's their ad campaign).



I'd brought my pack with me, and now headed over to Coloane Island for my 2nd night on Macau. I'd spent one night on the peninsula with the casinos. Now, I wanted to see the more downbeat Macau. We passed through Taipa Island, and I saw the new Venetian. It's bigger than the one in Vegas. Taipa is actually quite developed now, and construction in Macau is moving at an incredible rate. Coloane is the part of Macau that is still relatively undeveloped and naturally beautiful.



I checked into the Pousada de Coloane (remember, Macau was once Portuguese) and had a siesta from the heat before going down to Cheoc Van white sand beach for a swim. There, I met two women who'd been living in Macau with their families for 2 years each. We had a great talk about the expat community in Macau and I was convinced to really consider moving to Macau. Crazy! I sat on their blanket with them, watching their children playing, drinking white wine and eating chips while the sun was slowly going down. It was idyllic.



That evening, I took the bus into Macau peninsula to see the casinos one last time. The next morning, I went out to the black sand beach at Hac Sa and then into the village of Coloane for some egg tarts. Wonderful. After one last swim, it was time to get the ferry to Hong Kong and then get out to Lantau Island to catch my flight.



I met a fabulous woman on the ferry, who lives in Singapore with her husband. She convinced me that really, maybe Singapore is where I should be looking for a job. Did you know that a regular 2 bedroom apartment in Hong Kong costs between $8-10,000 US? Per month? Absolutely unreal. In Singapore, it's only $6-7000 US. Back in Kowloon, it was time to figure out how I was getting to Lantau Island and the airport. I wanted to see the Tsing Ma Bridge, the world's 6th largest suspension bridge and then stop off at the world's largest outdoor brass Buddha before getting to the airport. I had momentum. I just needed to figure out whether to take a bus or a ferry and from where. Then, I stalled. I just kept thinking of the oh-so-convenient Airport express train. From the ferry building, there was a free shuttle that would take me to Kowloon Station. There, I could check my baggage for the flight before boarding the train to the airport. Oh, the temptation to be free of my backpack. I gave in to temptation and got on the airport train. It was fabulous. So fast, so air conditioned. Unfortunately, this meant that by the time I got to the airport it was a quarter to 5 - where did the day go? The Monastery with the Buddha stopped letting people in at 5:30 and it takes 45 minutes to get there from the airport. It wasn't going to work. I was crushed. I had failed at the last. I didn't get to see the brass Buddha. :(



I did get to see the Hong Kong Airport. It's like a whole town under one roof. There are shops, and restaurants, and beauty salons, and vehicles to rent to drive you around. It's pretty impressive. Finally, at 8:05pm, I boarded my flight to...San Francisco! Yup, that's right. I'd been on the road for 6 weeks and it was time to go home. I felt as if I'd just left San Francisco a couple of days before, but I can look back over my blog and my pictures and see how much I've done and everywhere I've been.



I had a short layover in Taipei, Taiwan, and then a direct flight from there to SFO. I actually arrived at 7pm of the same day that I left, gaining an hour. Strange. That's what happens with a 15 hour time difference. I'm still adjusting to being awake when my internal clock is telling me that it's 2am and going to sleep when for me it's the middle of the day, but it's good to be home.



I hope that you enjoyed the stories of my travels and feel free to ask questions. There's so much that I learned and experienced that didn't make it into the blog. Thanks for reading!

To see the pictures, try http://picasaweb.google.com/christine7world/HongKongMacau