Thee Countries in One Day

Thought you had to be in Europe to experience three countries in less than 24 hours? Think again! Today I went from Hong Kong to Macau, then to mainland China, back to Macau, then back to Hong Kong. Ok, all three locations are technically part of the People's Republic of China. But, as Hong Kong and Macau are considered "Special Administrative Regions" of China, they have their own passport/visa requirements and currencies, and you have to go through customs to go back and forth.

We took a late morning ferry out from Hong Kong (Tsim Sha Tsui) to Macau. Ferries are the usual mode of transport from HK to Macau, and they run at least every half hour, from early until after midnight. The ride was approximately an hour long. Once we arrived, we met up with my friend's dad who basically showed us around the city. We started with the Fisherman's Wharf, which was cool and cheesy at the same time because it had replicas of architecture from different places, such as Trinidad, Amsterdam, New Orleans, and Africa somewhere. All in all, not that serious. Then we walked around the modern part of the city for a bit, which was quite dead, despite Macau's reputation as a gambling capital. Macau's "downtown" kind of reminds me of Kowloon in Hong Kong, without the beautiful mountains in the background. We went to this random local restaurant which is supposed to have the city's best barbecued pork, chicken and duck. One thing I wanted to do in Macau was explore its unique cuisine, which has Portuguese as well as Cantonese elements. I did not get to do that today, unfortunately, as lunch was great, yet standard Chinese. However, I WILL find a restaurant that has what I'm looking for next time.

After we filled up on good barbecue, we explored the older, colonial part of the city, which was a goal of mine that I did accomplish today. Since most of Hong Kong is so tall and new, it felt good to see a change in scenery. I guess that the neighborhood resembles old Portugal, as they were the ones to colonize Macau. Speaking of which, every sign in the city reads in English, Chinese, as well as Portuguese. But what's funny is that most everybody there is Cantonese, and Cantonese is all I heard on the streets. We went to this historical fort building and this other building and blah blah blah. Then my friend's dad gave us the bright idea (no sarcasm) to go to mainland China! Macau sits directly across the border from Zhuhai, China (pronounced Ju-hoy), and a free bus shuttle from any of the casino hotels will get you right to the border entry. We went through Macau's customs AND China's customs and there we were. Right off the bat I knew we were in mainland China. After spending two weeks there and then coming back to HK, I've come to realize that mainland cities just have a particular look to them that's hard to really explain unless you can relate. It could be the open squares and wide streets that definitely characterize Beijing more than anything else. Or maybe its the disorganized, chaotic, haphazard traffic. Hong Kong has heavy traffic and drivers that drive really fast, but at least you can look at the traffic and tell that they follow strict traffic rules. Not so in mainland. Oh, and only in mainland China will ladies holding little kids follow you around asking for money. In fact, that's pretty ubiquitous in mainland cities, as I've come to realize. My friend's dad told us that it's all a business, and that the kids are usually borrowed so that unaware pedestrians gain sympathy for the beggars. Damn, and I thought Harlem people made hustles out of everything. Maybe they have (or had) the crack game on lock, but the Chinese can outhustle anyone anyday. Real talk.

In Zhuhai we went to a seafood restaurant that was nothing like your average seafood restaurant. You don't choose what you want from the menu; instead, you buy what you want from seafood vendors outside. Then you come into the restaurant and tell them how you want everything cooked. Pretty gully, isn't it? We had prawns, razor clams, more types of clams, steamed fish, crab legs, and chicken (??). And I chipped my tooth from biting on that damn chicken! Seriously man, I lost 1/2 of my tooth! That was the tooth in the back that needed that root canal; I guess ain't no need for that no more! And the fact that it broke so easily proves that it was seriously a dead tooth. But damn, I have to figure out what I'm going to do about the fact that I lost half my tooth...

Once we were full and merry we crossed the border back into Macau. We went over to the Venetian because we've always wanted to scope it out. Not for the gambling though. I hope this statement won't bit me in the a** a few years later, but I don't have a real desire to gamble at casinos. Losing money ain't cool, unless it's at the kitchen table with your grandmother and aunt and you know that the few dollar bills you lost during pitty-pat (card game) will come back to you in the form of food, financial aid payments, or gifts. So I'm gonna travel to a location and lose money (you most likely will lose, how do casinos make their $$$?) over some funky games?? I'd rather lose it to a pair of sneakers. I keep my money how I keep my style: tight! I was willing to play the slot machines with the spare change I had in my pocket, but the slot machines only took tickets, so I didn't feel like going through the work of exchanging like $10 HK ($1.30 US) for tickets. So I just took pictures of the shopping area, which replicates Venice with the canals and gondolas and architecture. I now know why people love the Venetian!

And then I came home and wrote this blog. I'm tired of writing now.