I thought I will write a bit about the organization of my trip, that may help one of you if you’re planning to go to Macau. I split it more or less 3 sections Travel/hotel/Must do and don’t.
Turbo Jet
Travel:
Singapore – HK Airport with Jet Star early morning flight (6:30am and landed around 10:30am) then
HK Airport Ferry Terminal – Macau Ferry Terminal with TurboJet. It is slightly pricier than taking the Ferry from HK but faster since you don’t have to go to HK and come back to Macau. It also has the advantage to avoid Customs since you stay in the International Zone while transferring from HK Airport to the Ferry terminal. One thing though, although the trip is about 45 min, departures are less frequent. You can check on the company website www.turbojet.com.hk/en/
Congratulations to those of you who rightly guessed both locations. Answers are Macau for Casinos & Hong Kong for HSBC.
Now let me narrate my trip – I should start with Macau and keep the best for later 😉
National flag of Macau
Also I should probably start by showing you where exactly it is in the map 😉 (It’s ok I didn’t really know where it was before I came to Asia or worst that the country exist)
Macau like Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China; however, where Hong Kong was British for about 150 years, Macau was Portuguese for more than 400 years. Yes, Portugal had a colony in Asia!
When walking around Macau (which by the way is very safe) Portuguese heritage is easily recognizable. It starts with architecture such as administrative buildings, churches including the famous Ruins of St Paul, well-known Portuguese pavement most noticeable at Senado Square, but also street names among other things.
St. Dominic’s Church, Macau
Ruins of St. Paul’s, Macau
Civil and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Macau
Street name, Macau
Senado Square, Macau with portuguese pavement.
Although you can easily see European influence you still very much know you’re in Asia because of, well, because of the people around you! 🙂
I find the Macanese people very nice and friendly. I think most of them have never really see a black guy western style. (You know me when I put my SWAG on :-)) The reason I’m mentioning this is because due to Portugal presence also in Angola, Macau somehow has a little Angolan community.
Back to locals, the one thing unfortunate for me during the trip was I don’t speak Cantonese, so I couldn’t really communicate with people as much as I wanted to. Below is a short story that can give you an idea of what I’m talking about.
Mc Donald, Macau
At Mc Donald (Yes I have that thing in any country I go to I have to taste a Mc Donald’s Big Mac and Coke as well) after ordering I see the price on the counter and it shows HK$34. While then preparing my money, the server tells me ‘it’s 64 dollars’, so I gently smile and reply to him ‘no it’s 34 dollars’… It’s only after 15-20 sec that I realize he isn’t joking, no he really thinks read 34 sound sixty-four. When he finally realized his mistake (add another 20 sec), he looked at me and we both had a quick laugh. Funny thing is I honestly think he wasn’t still convinced… haha
Although the burger was good, it’s worth mentioning Macanese cuisine is very unique and consists of a combination of Southern Chinese and Portuguese cuisine. I tried different things such as famous Pastéis de Nata or commonly know as Egg Tart, the sweet dried meat found on display around the town called Bakkwa, for breakfast I also tried a bun (although this might be more common in Hong Kong). Unfortunately I did not have a proper meal (I know shame on me!)
Egg tart
Buns
Bakkwa
Lastly, Macau is world known to be the “Las Vegas” of Asia, and actually generate more revenues than the American city. Overall I find Las Vegas more live, but it’s worth mentioning that I was in Macau during low season, the weather was quite bad, and it was a Thursday…
After about 3 months in Singapore including long hours of work & long nights of partying, eating fantastic food (or Not…sometimes), getting used to hot temperature (and the perspiration) I am quite happy to take some time off somewhere in Asia.
Destination? Two places actually – different ‘countries’…One is one of those places I have always thought about seeing one day; the name sounds about right, food diversity is great, shopping is pretty cool, and it looks like you’re in a vibrant atmosphere all the time. Ok I stop there I said too much already.
The other one, less known but nonetheless very famous for being on par with one of the most famous city in the United States.
Hello guys and gals, I haven’t written anything for a while now (and I know you have missed miss so much). Well, work and else have kept me pretty busy over the past few weeks.
I know most of you are in the cold winter or preparing to get into it. You’ll be happy to know that in Singapore there is no such thing as winter; indeed, average temperature last week was 30°C… Sorry 🙂
Anyway today I thought I’d write about similarities I’ve seen between Singapore and the United Kingdom.
Having had a chance to live in London, I can say I somewhat feel the British way of life/doing things here in Singapore. I’m neither talking about the shitty weather (hehe, while writing current temp. is 28°C) nor the famous fish and chips (here there is way more food variety – check it out ==> Food section of my blog). No, here, I’ll be talking about easy and recognizable legacy of Britain’s influence.
It start with the used of the English, haha, ok I know easy one…(but FYI English is the official language along with Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil)
More seriously the first obvious thing is left hand traffic; if you’re not used to it make sure to always check the road when crossing and remember to always look RIGHT, LEFT & RIGHT!
Another easy reference to the UK is the public transportation buses; you know the famous double-decker bus, you’ll find a bunch of them here. I must say they are not as stylish as the one in London. See for yourself below.
I think we all agree, London red double-decker buses are way sexier!
Also if you’re in Singapore, you could be a lucky one and get pick up by the famous hackney cab, you know the taxi limousine type.
In addition to the above, there are many others things that will remind you of the UK, like the strong fan base of the Premiership (England’s highest-level football league) especially Liverpool (Boooo!) but mostly as one would expect Manchester United (Yeaahhhh!).
PS: Next week I’m off travelling somewhere in Asia; stay tuned by Liking Singapbyart facebook page as I will be posting pictures in the blog but mostly on the page.
One is one of those places I have always thought about seeing one day; the name sounds about right, food diversity is great, shopping is pretty cool, and it looks like you’re in a vibrant atmosphere all the time. Ok I stop there I said too much already.
