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Published: April 15th 2017
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Tony woke me about 5.30 am – apparently he couldn't sleep due to my snoring!! Decided to get up anyway & get an early start – going to catch a ferry to Macau today. Ate breakfast in our room (we bought cereal & milk yesterday) & were on our way by 7 am. Our first stop was the KCR station to see if we could buy train tickets for our trip to Shenzhen tomorrow. We had to walk a long distance through a flyover and several hotel lobbies before we found it, and then discovered you buy your tickets on the day. Tony yelled at me and made me cry.
We then caught the ZMTR from Prince Edward Station to Sheung Wan, which is where the Macau ferry leaves from. The ferry costs HK141 (about $25) and takes about an hour. It’s rather like catching a plane as we had to go through immigration and get our passports stamped (Tony happy to have another stamp in his passport). we caught the 8 am ferry and it was full of Chinese. We had allocated seating upstairs, the ferry being new and modern. The ferry rocked a lot on the dock, but
when it hit the open sea was quite smooth.
We arrived in Macau at 9 am, and went through immigration. Armed with a map obtained from information, we set out to find the remains of St Paul’s Cathedral & the Monte Fortress. I think we took the long way as it must have taken over an hour to get there, up and down streets whose names kept changing, until we finally noticed that the streets were cobbled and the architecture becoming more Portuguese. (Opinion of Macau – both thought it would be better than it was – expected casinos everywhere & Portuguese ruins – reality was: lots of high rise and a Bangkok feel to it). We finally found the ruins of St Paul’s, climbed the Monte Fortress & visited the Macau museum which was inside the fortress. We used our student cards for the first time and got in for half price! After some Kodak moments & Tony purchasing a tin Panda badge for me, we left St Paul’s (ruins impressive but heaps of Asians running around – where are the western tourists??)
We headed off down Estrada do Cemiterio to St Michael Cemetery. The church was
lime green, small and pretty. The cemetery was huge with many Portuguese & Chinese graves. We climbed the metal stairs onto the roof of the church and noticed all these broken urns scattered about – right at the end were about 6 or 7 skeletons lying out in the sun!! Creepy!! Bolted down the stairs but took a photo first!! Apparently the skeletons are exhumed after 8 years, broken down by laying then out in the sun and then placed in urns to save space. After that experience we thought we would walk to Guia Fort/Lighthouse.
Getting lots of exercise today, but after we had walked for over half an hour and realised that we would have to climb uphill to the lighthouse, we decided to go to Senado Square instead. We retraced our steps almost back to St Paul’s & were slightly disappointed to find Senado Square’s lovely buildings hidden by market stalls and tents – not worth photos. It then took about 45 mins to walk back to the ferry terminal – legs sore now. Caught the 2.30 pm ferry back to Hongkong.
On arrival we caught the MTR to Tsim Sha Shui to
find an Aussie Bar – first one, “Kangaroo Bar: appears to have been closed for a while, but found “Ned Kelly’s Last Stand” in nearby Ashley Street – not really an Aussie bar apart from the beer! A VB stubby is HK27 (AUD4.70) but they are playing jazz music – need a dose of Rolf Harris or John Williamson singing “True Blue” NOT !! Nice to sit still and veg for a while. Caught the MTR back to Mongkok and walked around the markets for a while. Didn't buy anything, still too early in our trip. Bought some food from the roadside vendors – grilled chicken on skewers & I had eggs (boiled) soaked in sweet chilli. Then we had crepes – Tony’s had bacon & cheese, mine roast chicken & corn – absolutely delicious. Tony finished off with three dim sum. We then headed back to our hostel for another early night – off to Shenzhen tomorrow. Tony has a big blister on his foot. Asleep by 10 pm, both slept soundly.
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