RESTED, REVITALIZED AND READY TO GO AGAIN!

In continuing on with our Macau adventure…our taxi tour yesterday took us to the highlights of Macau.  I didn’t know that this was originally a Portuguese Colony and there is still the influence of some of the culture.  There is an abundance of Spanish signage, catholic religion and some of the food treats like an egg tart. 

I sampled the most delicious pork jerky.  It had a bit of sweetness and was such a treat.  They were packaging up pieces and it was literally flying out of the shop in such a volume that I was surprised they could keep up.  They had some other samples available for tasting, however, I was reluctant to try some of the ones with legs or eyes.

We stopped at a temple and were nearly asphyxiated from the incense.  There were some huge coils that were hanging and smoldering.  Many people were making their offerings and saying some prayers – however my prayer was to get out of the heat and humidity and back to the air conditioned vehicle.

We climbed a small hill to see another church – however it was the view of the city that was worthy of the visit.  There were two brides up there – seems odd for the middle of the day on a Tuesday – no guests were there – just the wedding party and photographer.  So perhaps not the actual wedding.  The setting with the lovely church and the backdrop of the city below would make for some beautiful pictures.

Our next stop was to cross the bridge and see the “Las Vegas” part that we think of when we hear Macau.  The casinos are large and opulent.  We went in the Galaxy first and were blown away by the crystal fountain in the lobby.  No gambling – just some picture taking and then off again to see the Paris – with the Eifel tower, the Wynn where we rode a gondola to the entrance of the casino – quite a novelty – it is free to go TO the hotel but you have to pay the equivalent of about $6 to take the gondola out.  So we walked through and out of the casino and back for our last stop – The Venetian. 

At the Venetian, we opened our wallets to make our fortune!!  Well – what we didn’t know is that the slot machines which look like the ones we play at home – the betting keys are backwards so our first $20 Hong Kong was gone in one spin.  WTF – so after a quick lesson we learned how to play more to our speed and were able to enjoy spinning the wheels in Hong Kong.  Actually there is a Macau $ too which has a slightly lower rate of exchange to the Hong Kong $.  I don’t really understand that it isn’t the same as mainland China, but that’s a google for another day.

Display in the Wynn 

So now our day has come to an end and time to return to our hotel.  We were told there was a free shuttle to the ferry and to be sure to go to the Macau terminal not the Taipa terminal to catch the ferry back – fortunately we had already purchased tickets for the return fare.  So on the free shuttle we cross the very long beautiful bridge out of the gambling district ready to have some dinner and relax after our very busy day.  Tickets, exit paper and passport in hand we walked into the terminal to line up for our ferry across the water and home.  Suddenly … we are pulled out of line and a few people to help interpret and we find we are in the wrong terminal – our tickets are for the Taipa terminal.  Are you kidding??   We are tired and hot and hungry and now we have to find our way to the right terminal.  So they say 10 minutes by taxi – out we go to find a taxi.  

So he starts driving and lo and behold we are heading for the bridge back to the casino district.  OMG and now in rush hour.  So you know you are in trouble while in a taxi – crossing the longest bridge ever…in heavy traffic and he puts the emergency brake on – not once but three times while waiting in traffic…….arghhhhhh.  We finally made it to the Taipa pier and were able to board the correct ferry and get home by 9:30 instead of 8:00 – we were so beat.  So our free shuttle ended up costing $75.00 HK or the equivalent of $15.00 – not really that bad price wise but the aggravation and energy cost was expensive.  Another story and we were safe and sound after our adventure. On a happier note, we were treated to the beautiful lights of the night skyline of Hong Kong.  So all in all it is no wonder I couldn’t finish this last night.  Now we are up, showered and on our way to see what today will bring!