We discuss it over breakfast and decide to take the turbojet ferry
to Macau. We’re tight on time to catch
the 9:30 departure as we race across Kowloon Park then try to find the ticket office
in the ferry terminal. A woman in
uniform sees us looking panicked and lost, and asks if we are going to
Macau. The Turbojet company goes to many
destinations from this terminal, so she rushes us over to a counter where an
“agent” sells us return tickets and we are told to hurry to the dock. Of course, Macau is part of mainland China,
so we have to go through immigration and they take our landing visitor
cards. Problem is that Dan has lost his,
so he’s given another on which he hurriedly scribbles some incomplete
information, and we race along to be the last passengers getting on the 9:30
boat. The seating is wide rows of
airline-type seats with seatbelts which we’re required to wear. The windows are small and the front windows
are curtained, so there’s limited sights to view on the passage.
On arrival, we decide we want to book seats on the 3:30 return
boat, to ensure we get back in time to shower and change for our dinner
cruise. We finally find the Turbojet
ticket counter but are told, to our dismay, that the return tickets we hold are
for a 10:30 pm sailing from a different ferry company. Finding their ticket office, we see that
there’s no convenient earlier sailing, and we’re told we’d have to go standby
and could not be guaranteed a spot in any case.
Apparently we have been taken for a ride by the couple who sold us the
tickets in Kowloon. Chalking it up to
experience, we purchase one way tickets back from Turbojet.
Macau is a bustling place.
One of the online guides suggested taking one of the many casino
shuttles which are free, to get into the city.
The shuttle we choose takes us to “City of Dreams”, a large casino
building with Lambourginis in the lobby.
We wonder around then cross the road to the Wynn Palace. This place has a free cable gondola ride
which takes us into the casino itself.
The Wynn is very opulent and has a couple of interesting displays, but
lacks the luscious gardens or art gallery available to patrons of her Las Vegas
cousin. We’re not that impressed, and
time is ticking on, so we grab a shuttle to take us into town on Macau island
and look for a restaurant. We settle for
a place in the “coffee shop” in the luxurious Grand Lisboa casino. It’s a challenge getting by with English, but
the food is amazing and the air conditioning nice and cool. After that it’s over to the Wynn, then we
catch a cab to the ferry terminal.
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| T-rex eyes Dan who eyes a yellow Lambo |
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| display at the Wynn |
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| the famous Grand Lisboa |
We’re relieved to shower or go to the pool for a swim. Despite the heat, we dress in long pants and
dresses for the dinner cruise. We
successfully navigate the subway system to arrive at North Point terminal and
board the well-appointed converted ferry vessel which is almost 100 years
old. It’s a pretty fancy buffet dinner,
but the highlight of the evening is going to the upper deck to view the
symphony of lights as we are cruising the harbour. It’s truly spectacular, although we’re
puzzled that the music is not piped to the upstairs deck.
There is a band playing with two very talented female vocalists
who belt out torchlight and big band tunes along with some soft rock for the
entire evening. Unfortunately, the first
couple who get up to dance are obviously talented ballroom aficionados, so the
rest of us are too embarrassed to take to the floor, particularly since cameras
showing the band and dance floor send video to screens around the room. Arriving back at the ferry terminal, we’re
slow to leave since we’re finishing our drinks, and we learn we can stay on
board for a short ride back over to Kowloon.
The band keeps playing for that passage, and we’re brave enough to get
up and dance now that the showoff ballroom dancers have departed.
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| the Symphony of Lights from the top deck of our dinner cruise ship |
We have a tough time getting into the 5th floor outdoor
lounge at the Mira, but we finally manage it with assistance. We’re surprised to see a group of young
people at the next table reclining on couches and passing around a hookah. The waitress tells us they get flavoured
tobacco and enjoy smoking outdoors.
After awhile, we realize that other patrons are doing the same thing,
but fortunately the smoke is not really bothersome to us. We finish off the night with Sambuca
shooters, but are told that we’ve now emptied the bar of Sambuca.
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| view of the night sky from the Mira outdoor lounge |
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