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Published: September 20th 2014
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As per my previous blog the night train was very hot, well,it certainly was on the bottom bunks and Bhavisha and I had trouble sleeping despite it bring a very quiet train journey. So when we finally got off I was so relieved and knackered.
After we got off the train we freshened up in the loos and had breakfast and the local BK. We then headed to the bust station to catch the bus to the China boarder. The bus journey was very uneventful other than a guy at the front of the bus and a lady at the back almost shouting on their phones, what is it with the Chinese they are just so loud! When we got off the bus we headed to KFC to use the loos and get some food. On the staircase on the way up we saw 7 dead cockroaches! Better dead in the stairs than in the food lol.
From there we had to walk to the passport and boarder control to leave China and enter Macau. Once through we got two taxis. Jim did mention to us to be wary of the taxi drivers there as
they were no so scrupulous. Jim had given the money to Nitzan to pay the taxi driver and he needed to get a taxi. It did look like he wasn't using the meter, but he was as at the end he produced a receipt but short changed Nitzan!
Our accommodation for the night was one of the only two hostels on the island. There was no AC only a fun. All the rooms were next to each other with only thin walls and they didn't go to the ceiling! They were painted a very dark green colour. We had a hand basin in the rooms and the showers and toilets were on the floor below. They were clean and functional. We decided not to have showers as we knew we would be getting hot and sweaty again walking round the old part of Macau as it was a basking hot day and very hit on the rooms.
We had seen a TV advert at the immigration area in Macau advertising the House of Water show which looked amazing! We wanted to go but couldn't get tickets. I wIsh we had known about the show
earlier so we could have booked tickets. We suggested to Jim that he should feed back to the dragon tip people that they should offer this as an additional activity. There is nothing else like it as far as I know and it's in a specially built arena the size of 5 Olympic swimming pools I hear. I doubt this show could ever go on tour simply because go the volume of water required to do it. Oh well I guess I will have to come back one day and see it.
After settling in we headed out and changed our Chinese currency to Hong Kong dollars and then went for a wander round to local area. Firstly we headed to St Paul's which was a church which stood on the hill until it was burned done by protesters, all that is left now is the original entrance, some parts of the walls and foundations. There is a museum below which houses the bones past priests and religious artefacts. From there we headed up to the fort where we could get a view of the city skyline. I have to say it's not the most attractive of
city scrapes. We could also see the building where you could do the worlds highest bungee jump. Bhavisha was considering it but it was very expensive and it would have meant a lot of waiting around once she had paid and Stuart Jim and I would also have to wait until she had completed it. There will be other opportunities to do a bungee jump on her travels I'm sure.
After the walk round we headed back to the hostel to get showered and changed, on the way we saw some dried sharks fins and caterpillars in a medicine place. We headed to a local restaurant for dinner and then caught the bus to the ferry terminal where we then caught the free bus to the largest casino in Macau, the Venetian. Apparently it takes more money than some of the casinos in Vegas.
We were allowed to take photos outside and in the lobby etc but not in the casino itself. We walked through the lobby and the shopping area into the casino. It was massive! It had all the usual things you would expect, plush carpet, black jack tables with minimum bets
of $300 HK and upwards, slot machines, wheels of fortune and various electronic games. We decided to head for the bar and were shown to a booth in front of a long bar by one of the hostesses working there. They were all dressed in short black skirts, black tights and shoes and red basques/corsets (sorry boys no photos lol)
It was all low key lighting with a huge video screen on the far wall, sadly blasting out R n B and hip hop tunes, one sounding and looking the same as the last lol. We had a look at the rinks menu and Stuart and I opted to buy a bottle of wine each at the princely sum of around £32! I decided I wouldn't be betting that much if at all and thought what there'll I will only be here once so splashed out :-) we even got some nibbles to go with our wine so that of course eased the hole in the pocket lol. Each bottle came in it's own ice bucket and the hostesses popped over every now and again to top up our glasses. Jim left early as he's not a
drinking or gambling man as left us to our own devices.
Stuart finished his bottle of wine before me and headed out to the casino to play the electronic roulette wheel. Nitzan, Bhavisha and I stayed to watch the band (Cabernet) who had come on stage before Stuart had left. The first song was sung by a guy who did a pretty good rendition of all of me by John Legend. Then the girl started to sing and really should have been dining on cruise ships or holiday holiday camp in the UK as really she was no where near as good as the guy.
So after a few songs I finished my bottle of wine and we went our to find Stuart. We didn't have to go far to find him at the electronic roulette wheel. He summed to be doing ok so I decided I would have a flutter and bet $20 HKG which is about £1.75! I was up on bet and then lost it all. Bhavisha had a flutter too and again she won and then lost as did Stuart. Nitzan isn't a gambler so he just watch us fritter
away our hard earned cash lol.
After we were done we decided to head back to the hostel and walked out to the entrance area. We hope to get the free bus bs k tot he ferry terminal but they had finished running. So plan B was to get a taxi so we headed to the rather disorganised line of cabs waiting. There seemed to be an argument going on at there's it between a driver and security so we avoided that one. We did try to get a taxi and showed the driver our hostel card but I don't think he knew where it was so we were pointed in the direction a second driver who agreed to take us. I rode shot gun and the others piled in the back.
As we set off I was handed something from the back seat and it was a wallet which Nitzan had sat on. I didn't make a fuss over finding it and just hung on to it until we had arrived at the hostel. Once in our room Bhavisha and I had a look in the wallet. There were lots of credit and
ATM cards in it but any possible name was in Chinese. There was also a edge of cash, and I mean a wedge!
Xxx
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