MACAU -- HONG KONG

October 25, 2014

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We left our Macau hotel to catch the ferry to Hong Kong. We waited in line outside for quite a while and, personally, considering there was immigration to be considered, it made me a bit nervous... would we actually make the ferry? More...



Obviously, we were able to board the hovercraft in a timely manner. It was a smoggy, wet day and you really couldn't see much as we travelled across the China Sea to Hong Kong. Upon arrival, we made our way through a ferry terminal which might be bigger than some airports I've been in. They took us directly to our hotel but along the way, Otto told us a bit about his place of birth. One thing that I was not aware of... Hong Kong used to be the biggest and is STILL one of biggest shipping ports in the world. When you see a particular container area on the shore, you cannot doubt that for an instant. Otto's sister, Wai Yee, met us at the hotel. She had bought all of us "Octopus Cards" which allow to you use public transportation and also frequent small businesses without carrying cash.
After we went upstairs to our room (ours was on the 56th floor - we could have ended up anywhere between 42 and 77), me, Alma, Roberta and Otto went for lunch with Wai Yee. We ate at "City Walk" which is a "touristy" shopping mall attached to the Nina Tower (our hotel). The contrast between the stores in that mall to the market outside and across the street from it were like night and day. The many shops outside were filled with every type of food stuff imaginable as well as everyday household items. So much more "real", if you know what I mean.
Later in the evening, a group of us used our Octopus Cards to grab the subway to the Kowloon district. We walked down Nathan Road towards the water and then along the waterfront area. We passed such things as the Peninsula Hotel (strictly for bigwigs), the YMCA (not for bigwigs), street performers (break dancing, guitar) as we made our way to the clock tower and public pier. We stayed there for a light show which was OK but disappointed Otto, Roberta, and Alma very much because it "just isn't what we witnessed last trip". We then hopped on the Star Ferry to visit Hong Kong's Central District. We walked to the subway station on that side of the water then took the subway back to our hotel.