Macau Day Trip

Macau is a former Portugese colony near Hong Kong. It was given back to China in 1999, two years after Hong Kong was given back by the British. The Portugese colonized Macau in the 16th century as a unique outpost in the Far East for trading. Hong Kong's rise lead to Macau decline as the deeper waters around Hong Kong attracted larger ships and thus trade prospered in Hong Kong. Macau is now famous for its casinos (said to rival the monetary pull of Vegas) and its unique Portugese/Chinese culture.

Macanese cuisine is a blend of Portugese-Mediterranean and Chinese Cantonese influence. Some of the Med culture can stil be found in its small fishing villages where the pace is slower than the surrounding parts of China.

To me, I really never had a picture of what Macau was, as for one thing it doesn't make it into the world media stage very often. I do know that they host the Macau Grand Prix for a smaller category car racing series and I also remember that some simple computer games were based on the Macau GP. Because it's not a huge financial center like Hong Kong, it gets dwarfed on the world stage. But, that was some of the allure of going there... finding out what Macau's all about.



Regional map showing Hong Kong and Macau on the left


Boarding the Macau Ferry at Hong Kong. It costs about $20 for a one-way 45 minute journey on a jetfoil. The ferry terminal was very much like a mini airport with gates and boarding passes and everything.


Upper Deck on the ferry. Looks like a plane too.


Abandon Ship Procedure. First time seeing a card like this and good to know that safety is important here.


The Macau Ferry clipping along the Pearl River Delta at a healthy pace


Arriving in Macau by going under one of the many bridges in this small territory. There are 2 islands linked to the main Macay peninsula. They're all connected by fancy bridges, paid for by the casinos.


One of the ferries


Estrada do Reservatorio (Promenade along the Reservoir), very active in the evening time.


A free exercise machine on the promenade. There were others like this along the path with adults and kids on them. Great way to work out.


How nice, a designated bathroom for dogs.


A street dating back to the colonial days


A moto-cop on a Yamaha FZ6. Note the Portugese "Policia" marking.


A lively street corner with many locals and tourists


I was hitting a few of the big tourists spots, then planned to get dinner before heading back to Hong Kong. Heading to the Ruinas de Sao Paulo, then the Largo do Senado.


A food vendor on a street corner. It looked so tempting and I know we're warned against eating anything from the street, but what the heck, looked like she was deep-frying the meats in front of you, so that should kill everything, right? Hopefully the oil's been changed recently. They had one of my favorite meats there, Chicken Gizzards. I know, I know, most of you think that's gross, but I've also loved it. I had three gizzard kebabs, so tasty!! And I'm not sick, yeah!


On the road to the Ruins of St. Paul


Lots of local Chinese shops selling food, candy, jewellery, etc.


Sweat Meats. I bought a packet of Wild Boar meat. Was thinking of Asterix and Obelix. Tasted really good.


Ruinas de Sao Paulo. This is what remains of huge cathedral built by the Portugese a couple hundred years ago. It caught fire and they managed to save the facade. It's supported by steel beams in the back.


Lots of intricate details with statues of monks and angels.


World Cup Fever!! Awesome ad by adidas where this young kid gets to pick the top 10 players in the world to play in his imaginary game. Watch the TV ads all of June during the games. Really captures the spirit of football.


Largo do Senado. The center of Macau. It's characterized by it's wavy brick design and important colonial buildings in the square. Very beautiful area.


A side street off of Largo do Senado




Two-wheelers are the best bet to get around this tiny territory. All though I did see a fair amount of souped-up cars??


Walking around I saw this old house perched on a little ledge with spot lights. Something about it is just appealing.


Macau Tower. Trying to create a symbol for the new Macau. It's taller than the Eiffel Tower and has a revolving restaurant on the top with a glass bottom.


Another house from yesteryears...


Look, someone has my other car! I had a beautiful red BMW just like this one for most of my college years. Sadly, she got rear-ended pretty badly, but now she's in San Diego starting a new life.


I had dinner at Henri's Galley, an old time seaside restaurant. The mood was fitting for some wine, so I had a small bottle and ending up inhaling it down as I was getting late for the return ferry. Made the walk back interesting...


A Yamaha Racing scooter...


Sweet! Imagine going for rides around the island on this jalopy.


A Macau casino. This one was a floating kind in the bay.


The beautiful Ponte de Amizade (Friendship Bridge)


100 Macau Patacas, similar value to Hong Kong dollars. They have the Largo do Senado as the background.


I thoroughly enjoyed my short visit to Macau. It was greaty fun. I think two full days are needed to explore the rest of the islands and really get a feel for the place.

Hong Kong Part III

Pictures from the second visit to Hong Kong on the way back home.



My room at the JW Marriott in Hong Kong. I loved the corner view, but I wasn't in a corner room. And everyone room has a corner view. You'll understand in the below picture.


L-R: Conrad Hilton, Shangri-La Hotel, Swire Group (owners of Cathay) and the JW Marriott. It was zig-zagged all the way around giving each room a corner view. Very cool.


I loved the layout of my room. They took a small space and made it appear huge.


The Foreign Correspondents Club - a very old gentleman's club and still only to members only, a very British thing.


Lan Kwai Fong - the busy bar street, filled with ex-pats and locals. Didn't hang around here much. I was off to find a quieter place...


Look! I drove my car to Hong Kong. Someone with the exact same color scheme as mine: Indigo Blue, White Roof, Mirrors, Wheels and Bonnet Stripes. But no driving lamps. I was actually at the little place on the left, Bohemia, a very chilled live jazz bar.


I was walking around the next day through Hong Kong's interconnected buildings (you can walk between 10 or 12 complexes without touching the ground, really helpful in the rain) and I followed my nose to this smelly fruit, the Durian. This was in a super market that was cramped into the side of a building, with very narrow aisles. They had most of the products that you find here.


Awesome! A Ducati MH900evoluzione in store front. Now, if they had some guy's clothes in there, I might have bought something cause it certainly caught my attention.


L-R: IFC2, Four Seasons Hotel and IFC1. IFC2 is the tallest building in Hong Kong and with the heavy fog during April/May the people in top floors must not be getting a good view. How cool to see a building reach up into the clouds. I was thinking of the movie, The Fifth Element, with it's massively tall skyscrapers.


Central Plaza, another landmark in Hong Kong's skyline, surrounded by apartment buildings and again, lots of greenery.


Even their roadways incorporated lots of trees and greenery. Makes it look less like a concrete-jungle and more like a jungle-jungle.


A smaller fruit market, also selling bric-a-brac. The constrast in the items you can buy was really vivid. Right next door to this market is a mall with Prada, Gucci, Armani and the sort.


One of my favorite fruits: Mangostein. You squeeze the hard skin until it cracks and remove the semi-solid flesh inside and gobble it down. So tasty. I bought like a dozen and just had them for a snack.


Catching the tram...


Taking a Tram Ride across Hong Kong in the upper deck


Part 2


Taking the Star Ferry across Hong Kong Harbour to Kowloon, the mainland. It costs HK$2.2, which is about $0.30 and it's the best bang-for-your-buck tourist thing to do as you get an awesome view of the skyline, plus you get to experience the heavily trafficked waters of Hong Kong. Smaller boats have to yield for bigger ones.


My ferry boat was built in 1958! A long standing tradition in Hong Kong.


A daytime cloudy view of Hong Kong's famous skyline.


They've built a Avenue of Stars, something like Hollywood's Walk of Stars to celebrate Hong Kong Cinema.


Tourists on the avenue




I was looking for one of my favorite actors; Jackie Chan. I used to watch his movies when I was a kid, even the ones in Chinese with the funny English voice overs.


This guy was just floating along in his little boat near the shore. Seemed strange in these busy waters.


Ad for Cathay Pacific being chosen Airline of the Year


And of course... good old Bruce.

Hong Kong Part II

After returning from Stanley Island, my next item on the itinerary was to head up Victoria Peak and catch the amazing skyline of the city from the tallest point on the island. I was hoping to hit the Temple Street night market that night, but it would've been too rushed. I met a cool German who was also on business in Hong Kong and taking in the sights. We hung out for a while and traded pointers on taking night shots of the city.



What a civilized place. People were actually queing up at a public bus stop without anything forcing them into a line. Wow.


Ride in the lower level of the tram


Ride in the upper level of the tram


Going along with the land being scarce theme... dealerships are also tucked away on ground floors of buildings. You can barely see the Porsche Cayenne SUV.


The view of the harbour from my hotel room in The Excelsior. Pretty nice hotel, but lobby wasn't that great and staff weren't the friendliest I've seen.


Very modern subway system. People again queing up in an orderly fashion. Lights on a map in the subway car indicated which station was coming up and which direction the train was going. Also very clean.


Directions at the subway door to direct people on the platform so that they are not blocking people exiting.


Public internet kioks at the subway station. Valid for 15 minutes.


The Da Vinci Code was having its Global Premiere that weekend and there were lots of huge ads for the movie.


Taking the Peak Tram, a very old establishment in Hong Kong. This tram climbs the steep vertical face of the hill overlooking Hong Kong Harbour. The ride is quite a thrill.


Hong Kong night view from Victoria's Peak. The tallest building is on the left, IFC2 and the fancy building with the zig-zag neon lights is the Bank of China building.


Hong Kong Skyline from the Kowloon side. I love the look of the IFC2 building. Buildings in Hong Kong and China are supposed to use Feng Shui principle, where the buildings reflect positive energy to their surroundings. It's been said that the Bank of China building has a lot of negative feng shui for all its zig-zags.


This is the HSBC headquarters, designed by Sir Norman Foster and it's supposed to have lots of positive feng shui and it was also a very expensive building.


Small clothing market on a side-street. Dont get me wrong, there were millions of high-end designer boutiques in many many fancy malls, but they weren't worth taking a picture of.


An empty Pottinger St in the SoHo area on a wet Sunday morning.


Lots of antique shops were in the area. Very expensive items. Of of the those horses in the back is about USD $10,000. Carefull not to tip anything over. Don't think I'll be able to expense that.


Interesting and catchy sign


To relieve congestion of people commuting from apartments higher up in the hills to jobs in the city, they've built the longest outdoor escalator. In the morning, people actually use it as opposed to taking the bus or driving to get to work. How cool.


Malaria and Dengue Fever and real concerns in this tropical locale.


Taking the Airport Express train from Hong Kong Island to the Airport. I liked the blue LED status indicator.

Hong Kong Part I

I visited Hong Kong for the frist time in 1993 on a family trip from India. I was, let's see, 12 and I still remember most of the things and places we went to. This time I bought a pocket-size travel book on Hong Kong, the DK Eye Witness one and it was most helpful. The Lonely Planet guides don't look interesting to read. Much more color, pictures and maps in the Eye Witness books. On the flight over, I tried to plan a quick itinerary so that I could get in as much as possible of the sights and sounds.

I timed my flights so that I would have the maximum amount of time on the ground in Hong Kong, either during transit while on the way to Beijing or during my stay by catching the last flight out. Luck be it that I arrived in the worst month of the year for weather; rainy season. September is supposed to be best in terms of sunshine and low humidity. I got plenty of clouds and mostly rainy days, but that wouldn't dampen my mood.

During my transit to Beijing, I arrived early morning on a Saturday and would be leaving Sunday evening to Beijing. I tried to switch my body clock as soon as I left Chicago, so that I wouldn't be tired during my short stay. I think adrenaline also kept me going.

On my return trip, I managed a visit to the other special region in the area, Macau - a former Portugese colony.

Here are pictures from the first Hong Kong stop over:



Hong Kong's awesome airport terminal building, designed by Sir Norman Foster.


The longest suspension bridge in the world, conneting Lan Tau island, where the airport is located with the main land. I felt they could've jazzed it up a bit, like with some paint. The Golden Gate Bridge looks lot more impressive.


Container City. Hong Kong is known as being one of the busiest freight ports in the world.


One of the many remnants of the 99 years of British rule that ended in 1997; double decker buses.


The Hong Kong territory is littered with tunnels, either under water channels or through mountains. Crossing the harbour from the mainland (Kowloon) and getting to Hong Kong island, where my hotel was.


Hong Kong Dollars. I noticed that there's no 'Federal' bank in Hong Kong, as it's officially part of China, but it has its own currency. So, I think commercial banks stepped up and they print out the currency. Here, Standard Chartered Bank (UK) promises to pay the bearer on demand at its offices the amount on the bill. Very interesting. Other banks in Hong Kong printing money were Bank of China and HSBC.


One of the many markets in Hong Kong. They say the city is truly a mix of East meets West. There are 'wet' markets right next to skyscraper headquarters of banks. 'Wet' referring to meat being slaughtered in the open along with fresh seafood.


Yeah, dont think too much about the hygiene thing. Just cook it properly.


Freshly cut fish. Some still alive...


Talk about some Jumbo Shrimp




Roast Duck


Various kinds of dried fish. I think that's Anchovies in the bottom right.


Considering how expensive land is in Hong Kong, strange to see a full size outdoor Basketball court.


Oh yeah, all the phones that my group works on, being displayed in a store front. USD $1 = HKG $8.


That's one thing I started to notice about the city layout; they really dedicated a lot of space to parks and public areas and then they're reclaiming land out in the harbour to build massive skyscrapers. But, playing soccer on a concrete court. Ouch. I did that as a kid.


Gas station squeezed underneath a building. I think Europe also has stations like this.


Another remnant of British rule.. trams. Hong Kong has the only double decker tram system in the world. Costs about $0.25 to ride it and it goes up and down Hong Kong Island's main throughfare: Gloucester Road.


Lippo Towers. Architecture is very cool in Hong Kong. Someone described this as pandas climbing the outside of the building.


Heading to the South side of the island to the town of Stanley. The island is very hilly and the 30 min ride there is very exciting on the upper deck of a double decker bus. The buses have 4 wheel steering to help them make the tight corners without crossing the center line. The $1 fare was very worth the trip.


Route 66 is the only route that goes over the mountain, the scenic route. The other buses just take the tunnel through the mountain, boring.


An Egyptian cafe at Stanley Market. The atmosphere was very island-like: breezy, people strolling around, having a coffee at an outdoor cafe.. very relaxing.


Stanley Market. Not as cheap as China, but fun to look around for interesting hand-made items, like the few lamps I picked up.


Sort of suprised to see so many wind surfers... and the tire bumper boat...


Murray House. A very old building that was part of a fort complex here.


The view from the Thai restaurant in Murray House.


Lunch: Cucumber salad, Shrimp on celery sticks, Papaya salad, Chicken Satay, Tempura vegatables, Indian curried vegetalbes and oh yeah, a Lichi Martini...

Hong Kong Travel

I went on another China trip for work in May, but this time I would be going through Hong Kong as I needed to visit one of our suppliers near there. I was also very excited that I would be flying Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airline instead of just plain old American Airlines. Cathay was just voted Best Airline in the World for 2006. I've flown Cathay before while going home to India, but just in cattle class in the back, which is pretty awesome by itself. But this time, I would be in Business Class and my first time in the Upper Deck on the Boeing 747. I've looked forward to this for a long time.

Here are pictures of all the travel:


American's terminal at night in Chicago


Huge interactive touch screen info display by Accenture at the terminal. You could pull up different channels and watch 2 minute clips. Very cool.


Dinner onboard Cathay's 747 in Business. Note the very cool Salt and Pepper shakers.


Not as much legroom as on AA's Business Class, but this seat folded down flat for sleeping, albeit at an angle.


The space by the window felt like I had my own little office. I loved it.


The Upper Deck on the 747


Hong Kong Airport - now this is an Immigration Hall, compared to all the other drab hallways in other airports.


A concourse at Hong Kong International Airport, very spacious.


Cathay's Business Lounge, The Pier.


My view from The Pier... a Long Island Ice Tea and a Cathay Boeing 777

Return Journey:


Special kids area with Cartoon Network at Hong Kong Airport


Cathay's other Business Lounge, The Wing. I liked this one better than The Pier.


Pretty tranquil setting for a work area


Lunch menu onboard the return flight


Los Angelese Airport. Note the two sets of parallel runways, facing 1 degree apart from each other.


Australia's Qantas Airline's colorful Wulanji Dreaming 747 showing off Aborigine art


AA's Admirals Lounge at LAX. Much better than the one at Chicago.


Awesome views from the lounge of all the different International birds