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Published: April 27th 2011
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Hongkong and Macau are the special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China. Each regions have a "Basic Law" which gives them a high degree of autonomy, a separate political system and a capitalist economy which is, as we know, different from that of mainland China. This is possible under the principle of "One country, two systems." Hongkong became a British colony after the First Opium War (1839-1842) and was in control of the region until 1997 (although Japan occupied the region during the pacific war). Macau was a Portuguese colony from the 16th century until the handover on 1999. But enough about history.
My wife and I had gone into a 3-day Hongkong-Macau trip last june 2010 which was a little exhausting but a good experience none-the-less. A tip for those who would go there for the first time, it's a good idea to buy a 3-day unlimited MTR ticket. This gives you a train ride from the airport (and back to the airport) and unlimited ride for 3 days in any of the MTR lines. They also give discount coupons with the ticket.
From the airport we checked-in at Chungking Mansions in Tsim Sha Tsui. The
room was small, which is what we expected since it was cheap. The room had a bathroom (which is a little larger than a public comfort room cubicle), a twin-size bed, a table, a tv above the bed and a little space for everything else. But then again, we were only going to sleep there anyway.
First stop after checking-in was Ngong Ping. To get there, we rode a cable car near Tung Chung Station. The cable car ride is about 5.7 kilometers and about 25 minutes. They offering two kinds of cable cars. The normal one and the crystal cabin which had a fiber glass for its floor. We decided to ride the crystal cabin just to try it out but one thing good about it was, you can save time from standing in a very long queue. From the cable car, you can see the Tung Chung Bay and Hongkong International Airport. After the cable car ride, we arrived at a Chinese-style village. It looked Chinese but it actually has Starbucks and a 7-11 store. Strolling through the village, we saw a very large buddha statue, the Tian Tan Buddha. It was sitting atop Ngong Ping Plateau
and we had to climb up a very high stairs. We then went to Po Lin Monastery.
After Ngong Ping, we went to Disneyland. It was only two stations away. We got off at Sunny Bay Station then rode the disney train to Disneyland Resort Station. It was raining when we got there. It was a good thing the rain just passed through the area or we would have spent the afternoon indoors. We only took a few rides but then again, our ticket was free which gave us the liberty to just enjoy the park. The souveneir shops were a bit stressful though, being so packed with people buying toys and shirts. By 8 PM, the fireworks began and I must say it was a very good show. I didn't get a good picture, though. I didn't bring a tripod with me for the trip. After the fireworks, we headed to the night market at Temple Street.
The Temple Street was hard to find, if you don't know where you're going. We got off at Yau Ma Tei Station and from there we tried to ask for directions but no one seemed to know where it is.
Either that or they just didn't understand us.
So here are the directions. At Yau Ma Tei Station, find the C exit. From this exit, Follow Man Ming Lane. The Temple street is the second street to the left. We got there at around midnight, a little too late. Most of the stalls were already closed the the ones that were still open was closing. The trip there was not futile though. We were still able to buy a few t-shirts and souveneirs.
We woke up early the next day and headed for Macau. To get to Macau, we took the turbojet, a passenger ferry. The ferry terminal is near Sheung Wan Station. We arrived at Macau Terminal Maritimo e Heliporto an hour later. From here, you can get around Macau by riding the free shuttles provided by the hotels.
First stop in Macau was The Venetian Hotel, my wife's favorite stop. And I couldn't blame her. We strolled at the Grand Canal which has 330 stores and looked like it's sunset all day, ate some breakfast and tried our luck at the casino. We didn't get lucky but it was the most relaxing part of the whole
trip.
By lunchtime we were at the Largo do Senado, Macau's urban center for centuries. To get there, we rode the Venetian Shuttle back to Maritimo, rode Bus 10A and got off at Almeida Rebiero Av. We had lunch there at a nearby McDonald's then walked to Ruinas de S. Paulo (Ruins of St. Paul's). There were a lot of souveneir shops and food stores, most of which offers free taste of their product, from Largo do Senado to Ruinas de S. Paulo. Ruinas de S. Paulo is the facade of what was originally the Church of Mater Dei built in 1602-1640, which was detroyed by a fire in 1835, and the ruins of St. Paul's College adjacent to the Church.We then went to the nearby Fortaleza do Monte (Mount Fortress).
At about 5:30 PM, it was time to go back to Maritimo. We were trying to catch the ferry before 6 PM because the tickets cost more after 6 and we wanted to catch the Symphony of Lights at the Avenue of Stars back in Hongkong. We rode Bus 10, which was not a good idea because it went around Macau before going back to Maritimo. We
got there at around 10 minutes to 6 but there were no 6 PM tickets anymore and we had to take the 6:30 ride.
We arrived at the Avenue of Stars late for the Symphony of Lights, which is named the world's largest permanent light and sound show by the Guinness World Records (it features more than 40 buildings on each side of Victoria Harbour). The show is being held every night at 8 PM. None-the-less the view of the buildings at the other side of Victoria Harbour was magnificent. Not to mention the bronze statue of Bruce Lee as well as the plaques of celebrities (most of which we did not know) the the avenue walkway.
In the last day of our trip, we went to Victoria's Peak. From Tsim Sha Tsui Station, we took the train and got off at Central Station. The exit to the Peak Tram is the J2 exit on Chater Garden. From here, we walked up on Garden Road to get to the Peak Tram Terminus. The Peak Tram is one of the world's oldest and most famous funicular railway. Funicular means a railway which goes up a very steep hill. It
was very steep indeed, rising to 396 meters above sea-level. It almost felt like we were lying on our back at some point.
At the end of the Peak Tram ride is the Peak Tower, which is the most recognisable landmark in Hongkong, well, I guess this is due to the combination of its unique design and the fact that it is at 396 meters above sea-level. At the top of the Peak Tower is the Sky Terrance, which offers 360 degree view of Hongkong. From here, you an see the stunning view of Victoria Harbour as well as the other side of Honkong island. The Peak Tower also houses Madame Tussauds Hongkong that features over a hundred celebrity wax figures. There is also a scare attraction that looks like an asylum. Those with heart problems should re-think about entering since it is really frightening inside.
After having lunch at the Peak Tower, we rode the Peak Tram back to Garden Road. We stayed a little at Chater Garden, which surprisingly had a Wi-Fi (which is very hard to find in Hongkong) and a lot of Filipinos. Since we had no other plans for the day we walked
around and looked for malls to do some shopping until it was time to go to the airport for our 11:55 PM flight back to Manila.
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