If you have a spare day in Macau, you can easily do a day trip to Hong Kong. Most information online is for people staying in Hong Kong and wanting to do a day trip to Macau – but we did it the other way! 🙂
We took the Cotai Water Jet from Cotai in Macau, to Sheung Wan, HK. This takes around an hour but the boat is comfortable so you can quite easily be lulled to sleep. And when you wake, you are in the hub-bub of Hong Kong! Continue reading
I am a sucker for a vibrant city, ideally one with culture, and some form of water – be it the sea, a lake, a river or canals. Here are my top 5….
Number 1: Barcelona
Barcelona has everything – the wide tree-lined boulevards, the tiny quaint Gothic streets to get lost in, the lovely sandy beaches, complete with volley-ball courts and surfers, the harbour with yachts and palm trees. Barcelona is famous for the architect Gaudi. His work is beautiful and versatile, ranging from the huge gothic cathedral the Sagrada Familia to the lovely Park Guell. Continue reading
I’d never been in a glass-bottomed cable car before, but we decided to splash out on an upgrade from normal cable car to glass-bottomed one! It was a fun experience, floating across the sea and over a lush green island. It was also fun to watch my boyfriend squirm as he refused to sit on the glass floor. Payback for when he got to watch me squirm as I handed over 170 HKD each – approx. £13 each for a cable car ride (!).
You have to be careful to find out what time the last cable car back is as the cable cars were pretty busy. Continue reading
It’s crazy to think that in my lifetime (ie. not long ago!) Hong Kong was owned by Britain! The British influence was evident and it certainly felt more western than Beijing. Most things were written in English as well as Chinese, particularly in the shopping malls and business districts, and there seemed to be lots of western business people about. Some of the buses even looked familiar (same make!). But this created a pleasing mix with the sights and sounds of China! (Although this is technically not China proper, but the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR for short, which is unfortunate as it makes me think of SARS- sorry!)).
We dutifully visited the giant cigar that is the monument to the British rule, and the Golden Bauhinia statue (a flower), which are situated in front of the Convention Centre on the waterfront. However we were soon torn away by the excitement of crossing the harbour on the ferry and marvelling in the famous skyline.
The buildings are fairly creative, with bizarre geometric shapes. They celebrate the awesome skyline with a laser light display, called the Symphony of Lights, Continue reading
Big Fat Tourist 