Hello Steemian friends,
It's another Throwback Thursday's!
For those of you that missed out on the previous parts, please find it below:
Throwback Thursday's: Hong Kong // Part 1
Throwback Thursday's: Hong Kong // Part 2
Throwback Thursday's: Hong Kong // Part 3 (Day in Macau 1/2)
Monday 29th January - Macau
We reached the southern part of the north island of Macau. We were cold and hungry. At least, Sam had his Portuguese egg tarts, but Becca couldn't have this. Though, she always has a few snacks hidden here and there in her bag. Snack monster! Trying to figure out which bus to get to our known destination on the southern island took some time. Of course, we just missed the bus we needed to get, which comes by every fifteen minutes. Eventually after waiting twenty minutes in the cold relentless wind with really nothing to protect us from the cold, we got on the bus. Thinking the bus would warm us up was a thought that quickly went away. Once you are stone cold, it's hard to get warm. It's hard to think that it was that cold, now that we are sitting in the heat of Bangkok!
Bem Alimentado (Well fed)
After going pretty much all over the southern island of Macau (Taipa, Cotai and Coloane), we finally arrived at Hac Sa beach. This is the place where we were told by our host (Netty) that we could get a good traditional Portuguese meal. We had been working up an appetite, so we hoped that Fernando's would be the real deal and worth the hype! And it was! We were happy to see many of our Portuguese favourites in the menu, but Sam came here for one thing. Frango com batata (Roasted chicken and chips), when it's done the Portuguese way it tastes amazing like the way any Mediterranean country would do it. Plenty of olive oil and herbs. Becca opted for the Bacalhau a Braz, which is cod fish cooked with scrambled egg and potato strips. We shared Pasteis de Bacalhau, Portuguese cod fishcakes. And washed it all down with cerveja (beers). Yes, we maybe over-ate, however our moods were right back up and we were feeling lucky. Casino time?
The Las Vegas of Asia
We were longing to be back in cosy Fernando's whilst we waited in the cold wind and rain for the bus to come and collect us. Yet, we can't always be in our comfort zone and we were running out of time. Our late lunch and desire to be in a warm restaurant took way longer than it should have done, however, sometimes it's nice to chill and relax. We did put this pressure on ourselves as we did not want to arrive back in Hong Kong late and make our host stay up for us! In a way, this pressure helped us save money from the money-grabbing casinos.
It was 16:00 when we arrived outside Studio City casino and we knew we wanted to be on the 18:30 ferry back to Central in Hong Kong. Thus, giving us less than 2 hours to explore as many casinos on this block.
Studio City is what you can expect from the name. A casino linked to the idea of being in a movie, where you'll end up being a (broke) star! Like all the other casinos, this one was massive! It is a labyrinth of restaurants, bars, shops, entertainment facilities (like a cinema) and of course, in the center of it all, was the casino. One could literally pay for a flight to Macau and to stay in this place and you won't need to leave it (until you're broke or your holiday ends). You have everything you need there (apart from seeing the locals and local culture).
After roaming around the casino, in which Sam had to show his I.D. as the bodyguard thought it looked young. He was surprised to find out he is 27 years old (baby face). We decided to move onto the next casino down the Strip without spending any of our precious money here as we weren't feeling it.
We walked along what would be equivalent to the Las Vegas Strip. Yet, less glamorous. We passed The Parisian, MGM, Sands and finally decided to go into The Venetian as we were getting cold and Sam wanted a go at the roulette table before leaving Macau. Initially, we set out that we would spend up to $50 (around 400 HKD), but we would slowly spend this money to maximize our time in the casino. However, we looked at the time and realised we only have 45 minutes until we should get going in order to catch the ferry back to Hong Kong.
The House Always Wins
Our host warned us before that casinos are like a time warp where one could easily enter in the afternoon and end up spat out onto the streets in the early morning, thinking they were only in there for 2 hours. We didn't want to end up like this and we were constantly checking our watches. Everything in the casino is so impressive and we know its all for show and seen as a status symbol, but we were in awe. After looking around at the amazing decor and layout of the casino, we decided to enter the casino itself. Again, the bodyguards stopped us, Sam has to show his I.D. and Becca wasn't asked. Sam still has his young looks (for better or for worse). We sat down at a roulette machine (we know, we were disappointed it wasn't controlled by a human too). As soon as we sat down, a member from the casino came to greet (hassle) us about signing up for their loyalty card for free to win points which could be redeemed as cash. The guy never gave us a chance to say no, so we were eventually convinced, even though we didn't need it. We did become slightly worried that they took Sam's passport to make a photo-copy and went for a long time. In the end, the card was pointless as we didn't play with enough money to collect points. We only put down only $5 (50 HKD) on the roulette machine. Picking Red or Black, Odds or Evens and even went for a number - lucky number 9 once....and lost. Not so lucky any more. We managed to go up to 75 HKD, but in the end the house wins! All that thrill and disappointment was conducted over five minutes! No wonder people lose more than they can afford to lose as they try to win it back!
Hong Kong At Night
Since we were in a slight rush, we opted for a taxi, but there is a free shuttle bus to take you to and from the port. The only FREE thing the casino will give you. The port we arrived at was a different ferry port, Taipa, on the southern island rather than the northern island which we came in with TurboJet. This ferry terminal was for their competitor, Cotai ferry, which also goes to Hong Kong. It didn't really matter to us as the prices were the same and so was the service. Maybe Cotai was slightly better with the swaying and generally more space on board. As soon as we got into Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal, we could noticed the bright lights of Hong Kong at night. Becca is definitely a country girl, but she appreciated how beautiful Hong Kong was at night. With only a couple of minutes to spare before we took another ferry, this time from Central back to Mui Wo on Lantau Island and back to our host's house, we managed to get in a few photos.
It might seem like our time in Macau was rushed, yet we didn't feel rushed at all. We knew the time constraints and we managed our time well. Would we recommend visiting Macau in a day? Certainly, but if you have plenty of time, we suggest going earlier and staying behind later than what we did. It will be a packed day and we are sure you will be exhausted, but Macau is a place you cannot miss!
Stay tuned for our final part in next week's edition!
What did we do for our last day in Hong Kong? Find out next week!
Stay Classy Steemians!
Throwback Thursday’s is a post written by the @travelling-two every Thursday to inform their followers and readers about their previous travel experiences.
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