Macau the most cloudy city in the world

This is the chronology of my Macau-Hong Kong vacation from 27th until 31st May 2010, Day 1

The much-anticipated trip for this year I would say. When my company announces that they are going to be organizing a vacation trip this year I immediately sign in, I really need a vacation. At first we were told that we would be going to Macau for a few days. My colleague and I were thinking off going to Hong Kong ourselves from Macau since we are not gambling there. Who wouldn’t want to go to Hong Kong? Everybody knows it is the place to get good food, good shopping bargain; I was told so, and DISNEYLAND! Later on it was changed, we would spend 2 days in Macau and 3 Days in Hong Kong. And a lot of us sign in to visit Disneyland, only a few opt to do their own thing. Shopping I guess.

So here we are, all ready at the airport, with smiling face, a half empty luggage and myself with one bag pack. We were told to be at the airport as early as 8:30am, to check-in our luggage early, to avoid complication I guess since our departure time is at 11:35am. So we waited together at Mc Donald and have our breakfast there. This would be also the first time I’m keeping a travel book for myself, together with my brand new Fuji Instax camera.

We boarded our craft together with a few Hongkies who are I think returning from their vacation here in KK. There was a seat mixed up on board and the Hongkies thought the nice old couple had taken their seats. It turns out their boarding pass had a hand written seat allocation whereas all of us is printed on it. I was on seat 23B but gladly gave up my seat so I could sit next to the windows. I know it’s just a bunch of clouds on the way there but I just have to see what’s Hong Kong looked like from the air. Our craft is Boeing 737-400, I was hoping for Airbus.

Does all flight attendant required to talk funny? It’s like whenever they put on their uniform, their accent cortex also changed or something. This particular flight has that, that funny accent. But I guess it would be even funnier if he speaks like Captain Kirk on board The Enterprise. We arrived at Kong Kong International Airport at about 2:30pm, thirsty. We waited at the arrival hall for our Ferry ticket to Macau. There were a lot of travelers there, I think waiting for the same ferry transfer to Macau. We saw a group from Indonesia while we sipping water from water dispenser there. Their tour guide calling for them was a dead giveaway. Oh I found an Apple Reseller there and quickly went there to check iPad price. There’s only one there on sale and it was bought by this gentlemen. Didn’t dare to ask the price though, fearing that I might want to get it. They say its coming out this month. I think I’ll just wait for it back in KK.

At about 4:00pm we got our ticket and proceed to take the train to the Ferry Terminal. I think there is another Malaysian group going to Macau, sensing from the way they talk, I think from KL, plus their looks. But I know they are Malaysia because they say “hei main tipu lah” when we reached Macau and someone jumped queue, I think. The ferry that going to board looked like a spaceship, red colour some more! We should have this type of ferry here in KK, much safer and comfortable.

We arrived Macau at about 6:00 pm and were brought straight away to Rock Hotel for our dinner. I noticed that the building was beautiful, trying to figure out their building influence. Later I was told that Macau was under Portuguese occupation. According to Danny, our tour guide, most of VIPs have their lunch at where we are going, so he says. After our dinner, we were taken on a night tour of Macau, passing a few hotels and casinos there. Some of the picture I took was a bit blurry because we were on the tour bus, we didn’t stop to take picture, we were heading to our hotel at Taipa Island.

During our ride to our hotel, Danny explained to us that Macau is the most cloudy city in the world. I figured he was referring to the weather because when we reached there, it was a bit hazy. Not until he mentioned per square kilometre, which I thought to myself, how does hazy and per area related? Then I realize he was referring to Macau population. The most crowded city in the world! OK so his English pronunciation was a bit off.

We stayed at Best Western Hotel Taipa, my roommate is Mahathir and we stayed in Room 720. We made a quick stroll around our hotel after checking in, together with Asmawi and Veronica. As I was browsing through the city maps, I noticed there are a lot of Portuguese remnants. I just noticed, after years of leaving school, the word Gereja derived from Portuguese, Igreja. Should have paid more attention during history class. We went to the supermarket to get some supply and I noticed a few Nazarene, a familiar face that we find in Melaka. Pandai-pandai saja saya label orang begitu HAHAHAHA

So that’s Day 1 of my Macau-Hong Kong vacation.