Hong Kong and Macau are considered Special Administrative Regions or SARs due to their colonization by Britain and Portugal respectively. They have their own governments, currency, a European tongue as an official language (English for Hong Kong and Portuguese in Macau), and compete in the Olympics independently of China.
Macau was already established as a Portuguese colony in 1557. It was only handed back to China in 1999, two years after Britain handed back Hong Kong.
Macau offers a unique mixture of Portuguese and Chinese heritage, culture and culinary specialties. Unlike Hong Kong, gambling is legal in Macau, and this fact has pushed expansion and development to turn Macau into the Las Vegas of Asia. It is for this reason that we decided to check it out.
We took a high-speed ferry from Hong Kong that got us to Macau in an hour. Mike had reserved us a room at the Banyan Tree Hotel, being the only hotel I have ever heard of that has a pool in every room!
Yeah, that baller.
We walked around the adjacent Galaxy Casino and then went across the street to the Venetian Macau, touted as the second largest building in the world.
Before grabbing a bite to eat, we had a nice soak in our room's pool while enjoying a bottle of scotch. By the time we headed out for food, most restaurants were closed and we had to eat at a food court.
Not so baller.
By this point, we had already started playing fives, where the loser of each round has to either chug their entire drink or do an embarrassing or disgusting task.
While we were in the pool, Josh had thrown a complimentary pear into the water while we all still in it and just before heading out to the casino, as fate would have it, Josh lost at fives and had to take a bite out of the pear that had been stewing in the warm water that we had been soaking in, not once but twice!
We then put the half-eaten pear in a glass of vodka to act as the prize for the loser of fives upon our return to our room.
The only similarity between Macau and Vegas is the gambling. Other than the Galaxy Casino, the other casinos were not built to impress, but just to accommodate the largest amount of people possible. They don't even give complimentary drinks while gambling other than bottled water and tea. Lame I know.
The atmosphere is definitely less lively: these Asians mean business. That didn't stop Mike and Josh from hitting the tables and trying their luck. Rob and I acted as spectators to their gambling endeavors.
After watching their highs and lows and splitting 15L of kegged beer, we headed back to our room for cigars and room service, which for some reason Rob volunteered to answer the door completely naked. As for the vodka-soaked, half-eaten, bath-water pear, Josh had lost again and had to eat it!
It was better than winning at the casino!
It was 7:30am and we were still awake. I had been preaching the fact that Macau had been under Portuguese control for 400 years and I couldn't leave without seeing it's heritage buildings.
So after pulling an all-nighter and still quite tipsy, I hailed a cab to Senado Square. From there I walked to Macau's most famous structure, the church of Sao Paulo, where only the facade remains.
From there I visited the Monte fortress, providing incredible views of Macau, before heading back to the hotel to catch a few hours of sleep. I was pretty impressed to see how the pictures turned out in spite of my sleep-deprived, slightly intoxicated state.
Mike and Rob were catching an early morning flight to Bangkok, Thailand to continue raging. Mike had graciously offered Josh and I to stay at his place while they were gone and we used the opportunity to recover and watch episodes of Suits, Modern Family, Dexter and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
After a few days of this, I started to get a little stir-crazy and decided to go do something.
I caught a ferry to Mui Wo on Lantau island and then took a bus to Ngong Ping plateau, home of the Po Lin monastery and the Giant Tian Tan Buddha.
The Buddha, measuring over 100ft tall, weighing 243 tons and forged in bronze is said to be the biggest of its kind in the world, even if it was completed in 1993.
After spending a few hours visiting the temples and the Buddha from close and afar, I headed back to Mid-Levels after having visited Man Mo temple, the oldest temple on the island of Hong Kong.
The following day, Mike an Rob had returned from Bangkok completely spent after their party marathon.
Our last night in Hong Kong was a quiet one, enjoying some barbecue brisket and other western fare, which we will probably not have again for quite some time.
Mike had been a phenomenal host: selfless, accommodating, generous and incredibly laid-back. Hong Kong and Macau would not have been as fun without him. My liver, however, is not as appreciative, hahahah!
The following day we were headed to Beijing on a 24-hour train ride. Our last taste of western civilization was fleeting, and I couldn't be more excited!
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