Happiness in Hong Kong
During my working life at Texas Instruments and then Accenture, I was thrilled to have been able to visit Hong Kong several times. I have so many fond memories of my TI hosts taking me shopping in Stanley Market, even had dinner in the ONLY Mexican food restaurant in the 1990's (enchiladas & Dos XX beer), seeing the floating city of Hong Hong which is now long gone, and riding the cable car to the top of Victoria Peak. But the only thing I never got to do, and the one thing I always hoped to do, was take the ferry over to the island of Macau. Macau is the Las Vegas of Asia and I love love love Las Vegas. So I was determined to get there this time.
Our ever-changing itinerary had cut our visit from 3 days to 1.5 days due to the high cost of Portage in Hong Kong. I'm not sure it was factual but I heard it was almost $100,000/night for us to stay tied up at the dock. But I was on a mission. Nicole and I had a Plan. Originally we had planned to spend the night at one of the Hotel/Casinos but with the abbreviated schedule we decided that probably wasn't a smart idea. We would still have plenty ot time to see the Casinos but not the old Portuguese side of the island. That was a real bummer because it sounded very interesting. Plan A:
8:00am Arrive at Port
9:00am Hopefully get cleared through Customs
10:00am Find our way to the Ferry to Macau
noon Be on the 1 hour Ferry heading to Macau
10:00pm Be on the 1 hour ferry heading back to Odyssey
Well, as is typical of our lifestyle, things didn't work out quite as planned, but it was a fun adventure at least for me! The evening before our arrival in Hong Kong Nicole received a call which required her to stay close to the phone and on the ship, in case she would need to return to the States ASAP. But like I said, I was on a Mission. So as soon as our Purser said we could depart the ship, I headed to the Ferry Dock. Definitely, not as easy as it sounded when I first decided to do this on my own!
Step #1 Off the Ship and into the Mall which was Huge. We were in the Kowloon Port and I needed to transit, by Ferry, over to the island of Hong Kong. That turned out to be the easy part. There were actually signs. I found the ticket counter and purchased my 1-way ticket to Hong Kong. Less than one US dollar.
Step #2 It turned out that the ferry to Macau is run by a different company and departs out of a different Port location. On the map it looked really close to my arriving port but not close in reality. But I was lucky. A very nice Hong Kong resident was sitting behind me on the Ferry. She asked where I was going and if I knew how to get there. She was actually on her way to a Ceramics class and the Macau Ferry was very close to her class so she would make sure I got to where I needed to be. We had a wonderful conversation on the 20 minute walk through 2 more Huge Malls before arriving at the Ticket counter. She made sure that I got the Senior Citizen Discount ($25US) and got on the best Ferry Boat. Surprisingly, there are 2 companies and one was older and slower but cheaper. She did not recommend that one. I smiled and agreed. So off I went on a hydro-foil boat with comfortable seats, TV, and internet. I was on my way. Yippee
Step #3 I and the hoards of others arrived at the Macau Terminal, showed our passports and exited into the pouring rain. I didn't care - I was in Macau! At the exit there were dozens of big busses and Limos lined up ready to take us to any one of the many Casinos in town. I just picked the Venetian and climbed aboard. It really was amazing. It looked and felt like Las Vegas. Casino was beautiful and hopping with the noise of Vegas - same Casino name and everything was "over the top". The noises of people having fun was contagious. I had my credit card out to get Hong Kong money and for some "ungodly" reason the ATMs would not take my card. And of course, I only brought one card! But I had $45 in US$, so I got that changed and I was off to the slot machines. I would have enjoyed going back outside and wandering over to a different casino or two but it was still raining and it wasn't worth the effort. By 3:00pm I was close to being out of money so I started working my way to the exit. HOWEVER, the Fun Gods decided it wasn't time to leave just yet. Within an hour I had worked my way up to over $100 (from my $45 investment) and I decided it was really time to leave.
Step #4 Occasionally I make some good decisions. This time I decided that since I was by myself, it might be good to get back to the ship before dark (I was at least 2 hours away.) It was now 4:30, I had won some money and I was hungry and thirsty. I got lost in the Casino but finally found my way back to the Bus pick-up point and was on my way home.
Step #5 Found the correct Ticket kiosk and had a ticket for the 5:00pm ferry. Actually made it on the running-late 4:30 ferry and was back at the Mall at 5:45. Should be a piece of cake to get back to the ship before dark. I loved seeing Hong Kong transition from bright sunshine to dusk. The buildings and the boats seemed to glow. It was really cool to see a boat whose sail touted Accenture and the huge UBS building. The sunset was amazing and everyone on the ferry was taking its picture.
But then I realized that I had no idea how to get back to the other Ferry Dock because I had paid absolutely no attention when I was getting to the ferry the 1st time. After many many wrong turns and asking lots of folks for directions, I made it back to the ship in only 1.5 hours. And yes, it was certainly after dark but I was in the Malls the entire time. Three Malls to be exact. An ice cold beer at the ship's Morning Light Bar was definitely in order. Actually, everyone was really impressed that I had taken off to Macau by myself and made it back with extra money in my fanny pack. It was a adventure and I had a great time.
After Hong Kong we had 3 more Sea Days before arriving in Ha Long, Viet Nam. But things were changing.
Comments