7 days of non-stop Eat-Pray-Love in Macau/Hong Kong - Day 03

Day 03: Breakfast in Macau. Lunch & Dinner in Hong Kong
(how i wish it could be Breakfast in Macau, Lunch in Hong Kong, Dinner in Taipei)

We ticked off most of the tourist spots on my list yesterday, only left unseen was the great statue of Kun Iam (location: outter harbour). Like yesterday we kicked start our walk-aton as early as 8:00am, again with empty stomach (don't ask me why..).

We walked towards the bus stop nearby and asked for help from the newspaper lady in cantonese:

(1) What bus no. should we board? We want to go to Kun Iam statue.

(2) From which side of the road? The one on this side of the road which was coming toward us or do we have to cross over to catch the bus that was going in the opposition direction?

She gave us the bus no. and pointed at the opposite direction. So we crossed over and almost immediately a bus of our route pulled over and we boarded it. At 8:00 am-ish, the city was still sleeping soundly, most streets were empty, and shops don't open for business before 10:00am.

Macau has been a Portuguese colony for four and a half centuries. This explains the variety of shrines and historic cathedrals in Macau. And all the signages were written in two languages - Portugese on top and Chinese at the bottom. The statue of Kun Iam that we were heading to has influences of both, it is a blend of both the goddess of Kun Iam and Catholic's Virgin Mary.

We got off the bus infront of Wynn Resort and passed gold-blue-bronze MGM Resort. We walked for 5 to 10 minutes before the 20-metres high bronze Kun Iam statue came into sight. I thought the Kun Iam standing on the dome-shaped lotus stand looked like she has a nun's veil on, doesn't it???

As you can see from the picture, the sky was covered with thunder clouds, we quickly snapped a few photos and scurried for cover - Wynn Casino :D (it drizzled awhile so we hang out at Wynn Casino). We then flagged down a cab to get us to Senado Square and strolled around Senado Square before heading back to our hotel on foot.

At 9:30am we were back at our hotel (all dry as the rain stopped entirely :D). Since we still have some time, we went to the backstreet of our hotel to see if we were lucky enough to find any food store open. And yes, we found this tiny little shop and as I stepped in - wow! packed with locals! (they were all yanking loudly so i assumed they are all from the same neigbourhood). The chubby looking auntie (the shop owner - Si Tao Poh) sitting by the door with a cigar in her hand turned to me:

Si Tao Poh : Lady, what you want?

I : Do you all have pork chop bun?

Si Tao Poh : Dining in or take away?

I : Take away..um'... ya.. take away.

***the Si Tao Poh shouted her staff to get her butt over to the counter to take my order***

Staff: What spread you prefer on it? Butter or xxx...

***I was perplexed by her question***

I : Pork chop bun can have spread on?

Si Tao Poh: Lady, you want baby pork pao or pork chop bun??

I : Pork chop bun. But what is baby pork pao? Nevermind, I want pork chop bun, give me 3.

Si Tao Poh: Lady, are you from Singapore?

I : No, I'm from Malaysia (so proud again! :P)

Si Tao Poh: Ohh.. where are you staying?

I : Ole London Hotel nearby..

***Si Tao Poh LOL***

Si Tao Poh: Lady, you sure know how to pick a hotel.

***I shot her a puzzled face***

Si Tao Poh: Oh that place was a brothel (continue laughing).

"Noooo...that was years back. Now the government banned it and they are cleaned. All the brothel house moved.. don't paint a wrong picture to her and scare her away!" a lady sitting behind shout across to me.

Si Tao Poh: Ya.. last time it was a red light district and they have anyone from 30 to 80....

***She continued on and on entertaining me with her tales until my pork chop buns were ready***

I sure didn't expect that much extra info from a take-away. But, frankly speaking, I was grinning all the way, amused by how they talk, they are so blunt yet humourous. The shop was so lively, though i was there only for a short 15 to 20 mins, I heard people shouting, teasing and laughing out so hard at each other. The vibe and bond was simply amazing to me. I LIKE!

We checked out at 10:30am and caught a cab to the ferry pier. It was 10:45am and we were there at the ferry pier. The journey to ferry pier didn't take long and the ticketing queue was short. We need not check in our baggages as they did not exceed the hand carry measurement (we buffered one hour for this, it is always better to be early than late). So at 11:00am we were already waiting to board the 12:00pm ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui (ticket price: HKD 140). And one thing I noticed was there were NOT ONE SINGLE SEAT in the whole ferry terminal, those with tired knees just sat on the floor. But being an annoyingly clean person, I've chosen to stand and wait with my sour knees.

***After about 50 - 60 mins, we arrived - went through the immigration hall - toilet break - straight to customer services to seek for direction to Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) MTR station***

At the TST MTR station, each of us purchased ourselves an octopus card (HKD 150: it has HKD100 in it and 50 were the deposit, upon leaving you can collect the HKD50 at any of their counter).

JellyBean's chewy advice: HKD100 isn't suffice for 5 days in HK, we topped up another HKD50, which is the minimum, you cannot top-up less than HKD50.

Remember all three of us had our luggage with us? Those wheeled trolley bag where you pull along (my friend calls it the airstewardess-bag..so glam). What happened was, we got down at Mongkok station and like everyone I tagged myself out at the mini exit but...NOT my luggage..it got stuck behind the bar. I panicked and pulled it across while the kid behind me tagged his pass, i.e. my luggage used his pass, and now he can't exit (the bar free up for a minute or maybe less for one to walk through after one inserted his ticket / tagged with his octopus card). He was.... PISSED (duh), I mean really pissed, he shaked his head in disbelief (perhaps thinking where on earth this morron came from!), uttered a long trail of !@#$% beneath his breath, cursing me to the max I believe despite my thousand and thousand apologies to him. He jumped across the bar and sped off without looking at me, ignoring my apologies... :(

***walked about 5 - 10 mins to our hotel (Harbour Hotel at 986 Canton Road) - checked in and dropped off my luggages - head out to a nearby mini chinese eatery named Choy Kee for lunch at about 3:00pm***

Before our drinks came, we were given some tea, which was weird cause we didn't order any tea, but we drank some anyway cause we were thirsty. Then my friend looked around and discovered that the tea is not for drinking but to sterilize the cutlery!!! And we DRANK it (-_-"). As for the food, they all tasted nothing but salty.

After the late lunch, we board a train to TST to walk the Avenue of Star. Though it was 5:00pm-ish, the sun was burning our skin! However just as we covered every hand print and signature on Avenue of Star, it rained, not drizzle but heavy rain! Everyone there scurried to the sourvenir shop and waited out the rain.

At 7:00pm-ish, we are back there to catch the symphony of light show. It starts at 8:00pm every night. As kiasu ran in our blood, we went there earlier to get a good sitting spot :D Also we were there early to snap pictures lah...The most breath-taking part was when I saw the red in color junk boat sailed by with lights on!! That was de best moment for me - watching the stunning old beauty sailed pass before my eyes!!