My Actual Four Stamps

Asia » Hong Kong » Lantau Island
June 18th 2008

Published: June 18th 2008

So this is it. My final blog of the trip. How weird it is to be typing that, where has 88days gone, not that I have been counting them!! I write this whilst waiting at Hong Kong aiport for my flight, and its a good job I have time to kill as this Blog needs to cover my final two days.

Yesterday I went to Macau. Now todays title is "my actual four stamps" since the last blog was meant to cover macau as well but I ran out of time. The reason for this title is that for me to go to macau for the day, it required 4new stamps in my passport, out of hong kong, in and out of macau, and then into hong kong. It was a busy day for customs! I decided to go to Macau for the day because it used to be Portugese, and is now an up and coming Vegas, so i figured it would be worth a look. To get there took about an hour on a fairly fast boat, though the journey wasnt much as it was chucking it with rain. Boat was amazing though, was like an airplane in terms of seating, just a lot more, and more comfy! Nothing like the Star Ferrys.

Got to Macau late morning, still raining, but couldnt waste time, so whacked on the waterproof, so glad i packed it! Made my way around and along Fishermans wharf. Now this is a Kitsch themed aread (whatever that means!) full of cafes, arcades, shops etc, except that they were all set in different style buildings. They had african, american (various styles including new orleans), european, temples, etc. it was all rather weird, but then thats the way macau is going. I say that because my next two stops were the MGM Grand and Wynn casinos. You may well know that these both have the originals in Las Vegas, and except for being smaller here, they are quite similar. I actually felt like I was back in vegas when i was inside. The wynn even has a mini bellagio-style fountain show, quite impressive but not bellagio! Turns out they even have a Venetian here but sadly I didnt get to see it. So there you go, Macau is turning into the vegas of Asia (and these are not the only casinos here already!).

Walking towards the Macau tower, I passed a big almost lagoon type area, which looked like it gets used for dragon boat racing, since it had lanes marked out, and they were putting up spectator seating. It is the dragon boat season after all. Finally got to the tower, and lets just say i may as well have been fully submerged in water, thats how wet I was. Sat down in a nice little cafe and had a baguette for lunch. Had to get out some Macau MOPS first, since they have their own currency here (though most places take hong kong dollars!). After eating I shot up to the 61st floor of the tower, or the outdoor observation deck as it is known. Dont worry, its perfectly safe! Up here is where they do various things like skywalks, skyjumps and a mast climb. All looked very fun.

Having taken in the cloudy and rainy views, though still cool, plus you can look into China, which is literally across the river, I headed back down to the bottom for a bit more of an explore. Since this use to be a portguese run place, I wanted to see more the of the portugese style, and its not too hard to find. They have lots of buildings scattered around which are much more european in style, with the old pastel coloured building as well, and one of the most obvious is the Pahne church up on the hill. It really doesnt look like it should be there when you see all these big casinos popping up. Another of the most noteable places is the Liloa square (blatantly made that up!!). It has a black and white striped floor, and is surrounded by various brightly coloured buildings, and almost felt a bit like a venetian type square if i am honest! Was really cool to get away from all the massive, packed in buildings, and see some slightly more "old school" architecture.

The rain hadnt stopped all afternoon, so by now being 5pm, I was very wet indeed, so headed back to the ferry terminal, though not without taking a "shortcut" oops. Stupid lonely planet map wasnt quite accurate! Jumped onto the boat and was back near my hostel around half 7. Didnt go straight back in though but instead found a nice little resturant for some dinner. Had a very good pork dumpling soup, these dumplings were huge and tasty, and got 6 of them. And followed this up with fried octopus on rice, served in bamboo, very tasty! Obviously i washed this all down with a strawberry milkshake, very cultural!

And that then brings us to the last day of my trip, today. Sad times he says! Was up at the usual time and out by 9, this was only because I have been waking up at 7 ever morning, think it might actually be the opposite of jetlag where you are like ahead?! haha. Now the cool thing with Hong Kong airport is that if you get the express train from the city, you can check in and get rid of your bag up to a day before the flight, and you do it all in the central station. Jackpot! So my flight being at 23:40, i was checked in at around 10:00!! Now I did have plans from here but these were ruined by the weather. Rain had caused a landslide on Lantau island preventing the buses from getting to the giant buddha, and shutting the cable car down. Plan B. Decided to get the bus to south hong kong island, and hit Stanley Bay. This is quite a cute little place with a nice beach, and a cool promenade. However, it is most famous for its market.

Before hitting the market though, i first visited a couple of temples and also spent a bit of time in the maritime museum. Now I have been to a few of these, but this was the first one with a whole exhibition on chinese maritime history, so that was quite cool. Some of the boats they you used to use were wicked, though not too practical or safe to be fair! After this, obviously I hit the market. It is very dense, with covered walkways, with everything from proper shops to make shift alley shops. On sale is everything from fake designer goods, electrical items, and of course souvenirs. Bought myself a pair of nice boardshorts. Might not be real, but who knows, plus still look good regardless. Also bought a new tie, it was cheap, and some headphones for iPod since broke mine yesterday. Also bought some chinese calligraphy.

From Stanley, I was going to go to the Ocean Park theme park for the afternoon but the rain was too heavy and would of just made it miserable. Headed all the way back to Hong Kong centre instead to have a look at the convention centre, before hitting some museums. The convention centre looks cool from the outside, and is cool on the inside, hoiwever much of it was shut off for a private exhibition, rubbish. Grabbed a bite to eat here before crossing the water back to Kowloon and the museum of chinese history, and the science museum. Spent about an hour in each and both were very enjoyable. The science museum had lots of cool hands on stuff, and is a kids dream...hence the sheer mentalness of the place. Lots of school trips i think, it is free wednesday after all! The history museum was wicked. The various displays were all in themed areas, so like mock streets, forests, temples, was all very cool, and learnt alot about china...which I have now forgotten again obviously!

Got chucked out at closing, shame as hadnt finished, and meandered back to central, this time crossing the water by boat and not the MRT, better view of the city! My last Hong Kong activity was to be dinner at a very swanky resturant in the IFC. Surprised they let me in dressed how i was an wet, but they treated me like everyone else. Sir and all that! Had vietnamese spring rolls to start with, followed by fried shirmp, pineapple and rice. Was great, love the food out here. Was opne of the more expensive meals of my trip, but being my last night, my last meal, and the last thing i do, what the heck. Like a little celebration to mark the end of the trip, haha.

So here I am now, in the massive Hong Kong airport, waiting for my flight back to the UK. I almost feel like I should write some epilogue or something but thats just too much effort, standing and typing is tiring! However, my 88days is up. I have visited Bangkok, lots of Australia, even more of New Zealand (propprtionally speaking!) and of course Hong Kong. I have had an amazing time and seen some incredible things. Its weird how quickly it seems to have gone, uni terms were never over this quick I am sure! I hope you have enjoyed the blogs, whether they be informative for you, or just entertaining when bored at work! Going to be weird not having to write these at least every other day! Right. Thats it. Blogs done. Good bye!

Ps not really good bye as for a lot of you readers, you will see me soon!

My Actual Four Stamps

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