Another early start to catch the ferry to Macau, a former Portuguese colony similar to Hong Kong.
The ferry terminal was crazy, pretty much an airport – customs, visas etc. I had thought it would be more like the star ferry – pay and get on – but in the end I was glad I brought my passport and left my drugs back at the Cosmic guest house.
The sky was clear and it was reasonably warm, so it looked like a good day. But about 5 minutes into the ferry trip it was all fog again, and Macau was even colder than Hong Kong. I need to check the weather forecast for the next time I go travelling. I managed to get into a conversation with a nice old chinese lady that spoke good English on the ferry. After saying I was heading up to China from Hong Kong, she said it was very cold in Guangzhou and it could be snowing. So I definitely better check the bloody weather forecast.
I had kind of hoped that Macau would have as many English signs as Hong Kong, but it being a Portuguese colony and all, everything was translated to Portuguese. So my plans to catch a bus or follow trails were quickly stuffed, leaving me to hike blind. As Macau was famed for its casinos (bigger than Los Vegas as of 2006) I went walking in the general direction of big, fancy buildings. Ended up in some sort of theme park/shopping centre where I got some ok views from a giant fake volcano. Like Hong Kong, no one seemed to be awake before midday as everything was closed and the place was empty. I began to wonder if I was even meant to be in there. Each part of the centre had different themes – Miami, Mississippi, Italy, A Colosseum and Aladdin’s fort. Aladdin had a fort?
The first thing I noticed about Macau was that the people loved their giant golden statues. Within a short walk I had seen a giant lion, lady and several inflatable rats. Then I saw a giant golden building, the Casino Lisboa. Keen to lose some money, I entered under signs of 18 only. With my only gambling experiences being the slots or texas hold ‘em out the back of the esky, I had no idea what to do whilst all the security guards were eyeing me. Quickly walking through, I tried to take a picture but the guards weren’t happy about it. Seeing a blackjack table, I thought I’d try my luck but the minimum bet for each hand was 15 aussie dollars and the chip exchange only worked for minimum 50. Seems they get a lot of tight tourists like me walking through.
Dismayed, I set off in search of Macau’s other main attraction (for me), Portuguese egg tarts. But nothing was open! Bloody hell. Determined, I set off in all directions but only found casinos, fountains and a James Bond poster (Pearce Brosnan). Now lost, with no tart, I headed through some back alleys to find something more interesting. In contrast to the golden glamour of the harbour and casinos, the buildings here were, well, shitty. Pushing onwards I found a temple, the first I have seen this year. Everyone was burning incense and praying, so I thought id give it a go. Buying some incense, I began to freak out as I had no idea if I was allowed to enter, let alone what I was doing. But the person in front seemed to know, so I followed and mimicked them. Lit my incense on the candles, stuck it in ash, then hightailed it the hell out of there before the monks yelled at me.
Now completely lost, I headed up a hill to try and get better bearings. It was a big hill and after all the smoke from the incense I barely made it, but got some good views from what I think was some rich guys backyard. Still no idea where I was, I consulted the lonely planet map at the expense of standing out like a dumb tourist. Luckily another dumb tourist with a bigger map was attracting all the merchants. I was a long way from the ferry terminal yet still no egg tart, so I roamed the streets again.
Just when I was about to give up and head back, I found an egg tart! Only one left, but for 40 cents it was well worth it. With the Macau trip now satisfied, I headed back to the terminal. Being late afternoon all the shops were now open and I helped myself to another egg tart, then another. When I got to the terminal I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, so I tried the mimicking again. Worked fine through check-in, customs, visas and even finding the right terminal. Happy, I joined the queue for the ferry. Five minutes before departure, I wondered why people were running ahead of my queue whilst I wasn’t going anywhere. The person I had mimicked through check-in was in front of me, but they had a ticket for the next ferry after mine! Damn it, but lucky I noticed.
No more mimicking.
