Hong Kong

Hong Kong is probably the perfect definition of the word “city.” The place is bustling all the time with big double decker buses, double decker trams, taxis and hoarders of pedestrians always brushing past you as you walk through the streets.

In Hong Kong I stayed in Tsim Sha Tsui, which is in Kowloon. The place is full of cheap guesthouses and finding accommodation there was easy. The accommodation though was not of the greatest quality, it was quite small and not in the nicest of neighbourhoods but the location was central and suited my purposes well enough.

Watching the light show across Victoria Harbour on my first night there was incredible to see. After seeing the harbour before in movies and on TV, the scale of it was much larger in real life. Taking the tram to the peak which overlooks the city the next day gave a real indication to the sheer size of the city.

While there we visited the Big Buddha statue. To get there we had to get an overpriced cable car ride, which went for about half an hour. Unfortunately, the day was so misty that we couldn’t see anything from the cable car. I was quite disappointed in the end by the Big Buddha. Sure it was big and Buddha like, but the whole area seemed to be a tacky scam geared at taking stupid tourist’s money. For example you could not visit some areas inside the monument without purchasing an extra ticket.

The food in Hong Kong was also different… compared to the Malaysian Chinese food I’ve become used to anyway. I found Hong Kong food is less geared towards flavour, and more towards healthiness. For example, the food there was far less sweet than the food you can find in Malaysia. I also took the opportunity to try some different foods while there including a variety of odd things at dim sum, and a watery tofu dessert, which to my surprise actually tasted quite good.

Ocean Park was also a highlight of my Hong Kong trip. Being a huge fan of roller coasters I chose to visit this park over Disneyland. It’s very much like Sea World in Australia, with a few added extras. One of the best added extras would have to be the Giant Pandas. An-An the panda just sat there eating bamboo leaves the whole time, and really did look like it was a guy in a suit. The rides at Ocean Park were the standard theme park fair. I was able to confirm my love for roller coasters by sitting in the front seat of the two roller coasters they have at the park, and enjoying every second. The only problem that I found with the park was that it was too big, which made it troublesome to get around. To get from one side to the other you need to take a cable car, and then to negotiate your way around that side you need to take a series of really long, really slow escalators.

In Hong Kong I also travelled briefly into the New Territories, or the burbs of Hong Kong – where lots of the people live. About an hour out of town I was surprised with how busy the place still was. There were heaps of tall buildings everywhere which would put most city centres to shame.

See videos of places visited:
Victoria Harbour light show:


The Abyss Ocean Park - Hong Kong (take 1)


The Abyss Ocean Park - Hong Kong (take 2)


Dragon Rollercoaster Ocean Park - Hong Kong

Macau

Billed as the “Vegas of the east” and being the highest volume gambling centre in the world I was very much looking forward to my visit to Macau.

The place is very different to what I imagined. There are heaps of casinos for sure, but I found the place to lack a sense of excitement. The casinos are big, with lots of tables for most budgets. Baccarat is the game of choice, with some other Chinese games I’ve never heard of as well, but most of the games I’m familiar with were there too. Although I started off positive, in the end, craps let me down,

To me, most of the casinos looked the same. The one that really stood out was the Venetian. Apparently the 4th largest building in the world by floor space, it has to be seen to be believed. The outside is modelled to look like a series of buildings from Venice, but the inside is the most amazing. A series of indoor canals, complete with gondolas, singing gondoliers and fake sky make it quite the experience.

Aside from the casinos, Macau has a very European feel to the city with narrow cobblestone street and old churches etc. – which is a strange feeling when the city is full of Chinese people. I found that English was used a lot less than expected. Luckily I travelled with a Cantonese speaking friend, but otherwise things would have been more difficult. Most shops have signs in Chinese only.

On the plus side Macau is very easy to get around and for free too! The place is so small that you can walk to most parts yourself, but when you can’t, there is usually a free shuttle bus offered by a casino which will take you to the right general direction. As a result, paying for transport is almost unnecessary.

The airport in Macau is also quite cool and worthy of noting. The runway is quite literally a narrow strip of land in the middle of the sea, with the planes able to drive onto the runway from the airport on small causeways. The plus side to this is that take offs and landings are more exciting, the downside is that the taxying from the airport takes ages as the plane has to drive the entire length of the runway each time

Inside the Grand Canal, Venetian Casino Macau