Macau, Hong Kong, and a Wedding!

Two weeks ago I travelled to Macau (a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China) to attend the wedding of one of Tobin’s close friends from high school, Richard. Richard (who is Canadian) met his future wife Tara (who is Australian) in Macau while they were both there for work; ten years later, after living all over the world (they’re currently based in Jakarta), they chose Macau as an ideal wedding location for their globally distributed friends and family.

Tobin and I flew to Macau a few days before the wedding in order to spend some time exploring the area (Tobin flew in from Vancouver and I flew in from Bali). Macau is just south of Hong Kong and has been dubbed “the Vegas of Asia.” It is a somewhat bizarre place where the remnants of Macanese history (including Portugese colonialism) are being obscured by massive casino and hotel developments. I truly mean massive – Macau is home to one of the world’s largest buildings, the Venetian.

Just a few of the many gigantic hotels / casinos in Macau.

Views of old Macau from the Monte Fort.

The area used to be several islands, but land reclamation (which has become extensive in recent years) has connected them. What was once the Macau Peninsula and two islands (Taipa and Coloane) is now a giant fake land mass covered in extravagant displays of luxury. It is… shocking to say the least.

 

Progression of landfill in the Macau area from the early 1900s to 2016.

We spent a couple of days checking out the old parts of area (Taipa village and the Historic Centre of Macau) – which were beautiful and full of tourists and therefore overwhelming and we only made things harder on ourselves by using public transit to get around. Luckily we had Portuguese egg tarts to refuel us whenever we needed them. Possibly the most “Macau” thing we did was to ride Studio City’s gaudy figure-8 ferris wheel (we received free passes after seeing the equally over-the-top Water Dance show the night before). It was a slow ride with extensive views of – wait for it – more hotels being built.

Tobin entering the fray and eyeing up some local delicacies.

Stunning views of development from the Golden Reel.

But our favourite sightseeing adventure by far was a visit to the Macao Giant Panda Pavilion, where $1 bought us an hour of watching two lil pandas run around and harass their giant panda momma. I think I should have felt more depressed about seeing them in an enclosure (the red panda exhibit was super depressing I won’t lie), but watching those lil panda butts tumbling around and munchin bamboo and climbing all over stuff was just one of the most joyous things I’ve ever been able to watch. And Tobin, a true panda lover since childhood (and the one who searched for “where to pet pandas in Macau”) was overjoyed, even though we were separated from the panda famjam by panes of glass. 

 

We set aside an entire day to explore Hong Kong, which is just an hour away by ferry. I won’t lie, by the time we saw Hong Kong, I was pretty much citied out… so it was an overwhelming and exhausting experience to say the least. We managed to squeeze a lot into one day – checking out temples, riding the world’s longest escalator system, walking through the zoological and botanical gardens, standing in line to ride the funicular up Mount Victoria only to be told 30 minutes later that it was out of service… add in 32 degree heat and 94% humidity, and you can imagine how sweaty and exhausted we were.

We rode the Star Ferry across from Hong Kong to Kowloon, and meandered through the Ladies Market and Temple Street Night Market (which weren’t particularly inspiring but DID result in us buying onesies thanks to the extreme persistence of one saleslady). On the recommendation of one of Tobin’s coworkers, we also checked out the Goldfish Market, where ornamental fish are sold in plastic bags. We kept wondering whether those fish could actually survive the day / night… and I kept thinking about all of the seahorses that end up in Hong Kong (we didn’t see any, but I kept thinking about them all anyway). Our last tourist stop was taking in the view of Hong Kong at night.

Around 9pm, absolutely exhausted (I definitely had some city meltdowns) we went to catch the ferry back to Macau and were shocked to see thousands of people lining the hallways of the ferry terminal awaiting their departures. We couldn’t believe it – our ferry ride in the morning had been practically empty, and we hadn’t bothered to buy return tickets, not knowing when we’d want to leave HK. When we attempted to buy tickets, we were told the next sailing we could take to Macau was leaving at 4:15am.

4:15am!!!!! We had a wedding to go to the next day!!

Frantically, we asked if there was any way we could get back to Macau at a reasonable hour. We were told would cost us about $200 each to sail first class, leaving at 11:30pm. Not grrreat… I glanced at a helijet booth and asked Tobin what he thought it might cost.

Treats on the ferry back to Macau.

“Too much,” he quickly replied.

Unsure of what to do, we asked if there were any other options. Our ticket attendant shrugged and said we could try another company. We weren’t feeling very hopeful but we ran across the terminal (past what seemed like a zillion people with a zillion pieces of luggage) to the other ferry operator. The ticket attendant cheerfully informed us that we could catch the next sailing if we took first class, which would only cost about $40 with a bonus 20% off for using a Mastercard. HALLELUJAH! We booked the tickets, cleared customs, enjoyed a smooth sailing with bonus treats, and were in bed in Macau at a reasonable hour.

The next day was lovely – sunny and hot. The celebration was held in Coloane, at a beautiful Portuguese hotel next to the ocean and lush forests. Richard and Tara’s wedding was beautiful and emotional (and so, so, so, sweaty). We had a fantastic time, and will hopefully be meeting up with them for a few adventures throughout Indonesia this year!

Till next time,
A.

Celebrating Richard and Tara in style.