Today was our transfer to Hong Kong, meaning the alarm was set for 4:30 am and we were on our way to the airport by 5:15 am for our 7:55 am flight. It was a good thing that we arrived so early, as each step in the check-in and security process (4 in total), took between 10 and 35 minutes waiting in a line. The actual check-in process took 15 minutes because they were confused about our final destination. Mom later got pulled from the first security line because she had accidentally left a battery in her checked luggage. Then, during the final stage, she was pulled out again because their machine wasn't registering her fingerprint. I honestly started to wonder if she had a hidden life of crime that was finally catching up with her.
Once on board, it was quickly evident that Hong Kong Express is Asia's version of SpiritAir. I can't think of another flight in the past 15 years that has been quite so uncomfortable. The seats were so crammed together that Mom and I with less than two inches of knee space. They had limited air conditioning on until 10 minutes from landing, and, but for the take off and landing, crew were invisible... they didn't waste any energy providing cabin services during the 3 hour flight.
I had originally scheduled us a tour of Lantau Island departing within two hours of arrival, but it was such a good decision to cancel. We needed food, coffee, and some time to get our wits about us, so we stopped in a French bistro chain at the arrival terminal. So much in Hong Kong appears to be app based, including payment methods. So when we tried to order from our phone at the table, we were stymied by the payment process and had to go to the register. We were similarly frustrated by the HK taxi service. Either you have the app and an account or you pay in cash. We didn't learn this until we were at the taxi stand, so then it was another 20 minutes of wandering around outside trying to find the Uber pick-up location. I was hot and sweaty when we finally found it and kept apologizing to my mom for misunderstanding the directions.
The ferry took about an hour and as we neared the port I started worrying about the need for cash to get around, since Uber left Macau many years ago. No need! All the major casinos have regular free buses that run to and from ports of entry. Even if you aren't going to a casio, you can still hop on a bus and let it take you nearer to your final destination.
We decided upon the Venetian, and were standing in it's glittering, frescoed lobby within 10 minutes. After some photos and a detour to look at the menus of the upscale restaurants on property, we walked through the casino area to access the food court. The language barrier is solved at each of the food stalls by photos of available dishes and an English name. I don't know how much substitution is possible, so it is trickier than anticipated to find vegetarian options. I ordered Singapore noodles and a side of "sizzling vegetables" and Mom ordered pork fried rice and we settled in to look up interesting facts about Macau (me) and post photos to Facebook (mom). Based on my research, here are some interesting things to know about Macau:
1. Macau was a Portuguese trading post from the mid-1500s until the late 1990s and the two official languages of Macau are Portuguese and Cantonese. Thus, all signage has both languages with English being included on most tourist-relevant signs.
2. Today, less than 5% of Macau residents speak Portuguese and only 0.6% speak it at home. There is only one school in the city that uses Portuguese as its language of instruction. It made me wonder why they still make the effort to maintain it as an official language.
3. Macau boasts 31 casinos which consistently pull in twice the annual revenue from gambling than Las Vegas.
4. Cars drive on the left side of the road and the convention applies to pedestrians and escalators as well. The Up escalators are on the left and the Down escalators are on the right. When turning a corner in a building or on the street as a pedestrian, you should make sure you are on the left or else you will clock someone as they round the corner from the other direction.
5. You need to go through immigration to enter Macau no matter where you are coming from.
6. Macau is a high income country with an average life expectancy of 85 years.
7. Clothing trends for young women in Hong Kong and Macau involve what I would call "prairie dresses". Ruffles, puffed sleeves, tiered skirts in whites and pastel fabrics. To make it a little more edgy, I guess, they are paired with either sneakers or crocs that have disproportionally large rubber soles. I don't know if I have missed this trend in the US - I need to ask my nieces - or whether its unique to this area.
8. The prevalence of myopia was really noticable. I have read that its as high as 50%, partially attributable to starting school so young and having underdeveloped eye muscles to change focus from short to long distances.
After eating, we wandered through the casino and decided it would be too much trouble to get a card to play slots. We hoped to catch a gondola ride, but it was closing down. Accepting that there wasn't much to do but wander around, we decided we wanted to wander back to our hotel room, go to bed, and have a lazy day tomorrow with absolutely no plans. So we returned to the Taipa ferry terminal and got two seats on what turned out to be a sold out ferry. Mom slept while I wrote up these notes. :)
PHOTOS
Prairie dresses and sneakers are a trend. With Crocs and socks, not that know of!
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