Welcome to Macau! Portugal tried to offload this former colony to the People’s Republic of China in the 1970s, but China’s official response was, “Oooooh, you shouldn’t have….” Just as we exited immigration a bus went by with a banner reading, “Macau! City of Dreams!” and another tourist said, “I’m pretty sure that slogan is…
Everyone’s a Tourist in Macau
Working Hard: Sunset on Victoria Harbor
Mind you, our stay in Hong Kong wasn’t totally a vacation; part of the work aspect meant cruising through Victoria Harbor at sunset so Chris could check on some official business. That ended up being one of my favorite things we did! First we had a pierside beer while we waited for our boat. Tough…
How Many Buddhas Does it Take To Reach the Top of a Hill?
The Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) dropped us off for less than $2US near the Shatin Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery in Hong Kong’s New Territories, leased from China to the UK in 1898 in the Second Convention of Peking, or the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory. Hong Kong Island itself was never leased…
Protect Yourself From Monkeys
Don’t be alarmed by all these commanding signs shouting, “GOVERNMENT LAND—NO OCCUPATION” and anti-monkey feeding signs. Chris and I were hiking up a million stairs to the 10,000 Buddhas monastery when we came across some monkey business. Note: tragically no actual monkeys were spotted in Hong Kong.No worries, we will know what to do should…
Crouching Tiger Blushing Dragon
Chris and I settled into a couple of club chairs in the lobby lounge of the Intercontinental just in time for the nightly 8 pm light up of skyscrapers along the harbor. On the tip of Kowloon, we had a great view of the north side of Hong Kong Island including the Bank of China…
Waiting Around Hong Kong
So I’m waiting for my ship to come in, sipping a European beer pierside on Victoria Harbor (because you can’t drink the water in China, right?). There was a steady sea breeze pushing the boats in and out of view behind the land being reclaimed to my left but the late October air was dry…
The Approach—An Intro to Hong Kong
I hate that dumb quote about enjoying the journey over the destination. Huh? However, I think that would be specifically applicable here on Lantau Island (烂头), Hong Kong’s biggest outlying island floating serenely in the mouth of the Pearl River. The 5.7-kilometer Ngong Ping Cable Car lifted Chris and me up and over the river,…