Over a period of twenty years, Macau has turned into China‘s gambling paradise with huge casinos easily matching if not surpassing Las Vegas. Continue Reading →
Archive | Hong Kong
A Lucky Day & More Déjà Vu
What a day! On Friday, Gilles discovered that Air New Zealand had reimbursed the tickets we had to buy twice because of the mix-up in dates crossing the International Time Line and Phoenix Travel Agency had our passports and visas for Mainland China ready in the afternoon. Continue Reading →
Po Lin Monastery & The Giant Buddha
“The world’s largest outdoor seated bronze Buddha sits serenely atop Ngong Plateau”… This is the official tourism ad for this place on Lantau. Do not expect a quiet place, this is a major attraction for both Chinese and non-Chinese tourists! But it is truly impressive. Continue Reading →
Eating Out In Hong Kong
How many restaurants are there in this city? This is what we truly would like to know. There is no type of food or price range that cannot be found, from basic restaurants serving huge dishes for 2 less than Euros to others where starters sells for more than 20 Euros! Continue Reading →
Hong Kong – A City Of Great Contrasts
Arriving in Hong Kong was as much of a shock as a delight: after spending months on small Pacific Islands and in New Zealand with its sheer unlimited space, we were suddenly surrounded by skyscrapers, traffic jams and millions of people rushing around. We had not been in such a huge city since leaving Buenos Aires and truly enjoyed it, not even being bothered by the noise and air pollution, so far. Continue Reading →
No Visa For China?
Immediately after our arrival, we raced to “Chinese Resource Center” to apply for our visa for mainland China. The line was already very long at 08:00 am, one hour before the door opened and rumours were flying high. Everybody had a story or a concern about the latest changing visa requirements. It seems that after the heavy criticism on its policy in Tibet and the massive disruption of the Olympic torch carrier, China does not want individual travellers roaming all over the place! Continue Reading →
Hong Kong & Macau – Summary & Budget
After we first arrived in Hong Kong and moved around for a few hours, we were worried that staying for four days might be too long. Well, we were so wrong, we loved every minute of our stay and this is equally true for Macau Continue Reading →
Macau & Its Portuguese Heritage
Macau was our destination for the weekend and also our port of entry into Mainland China. The otherwise scenic one-hour crossing by hydrofoil from Hong Kong unfortunately was more like rushing through a tunnel of fog, the same kind of fog or smog that had blanketed Hong Kong throughout our entire stay. The “Chegada a Macau” is usually via ferry from Hong Kong. Already on the boat, less informed visitors are thrown into confusion by bilingual immigration forms in Cantonese and Portuguese. Continue Reading →
Flight Cancelled
“Have a nice flight” shouted the driver of the car rental shuttle after dropping us off at the international terminal of Auckland airport. Seconds later our eyes were scanning the huge board listing all departures, one flight was cancelled, flight Cathay Pacific CX 108 to Hong Kong, ours. Not good! Continue Reading →