HK, Day 2: Lost in Wonder
September 2, 2009
We were dropped off to a mall for our ferry ride and since it was already past noon and we haven’t had breakfast, we trooped to the food court. We chose to eat in Mak’s Noodles where Anthony Bourdaine ordered congee, noodles with chicken feet, and noodles with pork. It was ok. The chicken feet in Fruito King in Divisoria is much much better (more of that in a future post).
At the Macau ferry, our Filipina guide picked us up and brought us to St. Paul’s ruins.
This was a church built sometime in the late 1800 but for some reason was destroyed. It was rebuilt several times but it was always destroyed. What is standing now is just the front facade of the church. Inside (or to be more correct, underground) lie the bones of Japanese martyrs.
In the square fronting the church, is a huge television. Coolness! The street was lined with shops selling pastries, processed meat and whatnot. All were offering free taste. We had our fill of tocino, polvoron, cookies, and other stuff.
After dark, we hit the casinos not to gamble but to gawk. There was a casino partly owned by Jackie Chan and embedded on the floors are 88 gold bars.There were also hude jade and ivory carvings. Amazing craftmanship.
At the City of Dreams (a casino), there was a huge wall made to look like an aquarium and from time to time, mermaids would appear in it. It was cool.
For the show, we entered a dark room nicknamed “The Bubble”. It was dome shaped with a white ceiling. There were no seats but there were rails one can lean on. When the show started, it was magical. Spheres lowered form the ceiling and there were colorful lights.
(photo by B)
Then it was as if we were under the sea and there were fishes and mermaids and there were dragons! One of the most amazing things I have ever seen so far!
(photo by B)
After the show, we went to another casino, The Venetian, for dinner and more gawking. It was like a wonderland inside. It was as if you were walking in the streets of Venice. There were even canals and gondolas plying it. And the ceiling was painted like the sky and changes colors too, like it was dusk or dawn.
We went back to Hongkong around midnight, tired, hot, sticky, but very happy.
