Hong Kong and Macau

Last weekend I Nichole, Ryan and I embarked on an adventure to Hong Kong and Macau. Nichole is a huge UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) fan. There was a fight scheduled on Saturday night with her favourite fighter, from her home state of Ohio, fighting the final match. The journey was not an easy one; we flew into Shenzhen, which is near the Hong Kong border. After what seemed like endless hours of flights, subways, trains, and customs lines, we arrived in Hong Kong to beautiful sunny, warm weather, and immediately proceeded to the bar. What a treat, Strongbow cider on tap – my favourite!

Upon arriving in Hong Kong, my first thought was how civilized everything seemed. It must be the British influence. It was the little things I noticed that are different from China, like the fact that people stand on the right side of escalators so others can pass, and when loading onto the subway they wait until everyone has exited. Oh and how could I forget, the bathrooms are clean and stocked with toilet paper and soap! Like I said, it’s all the little things that you really notice.

Another thing I noticed, although it seems obvious now, is that Hong Kong is Cantonese, and a lot of the Chinese influence in Vancouver, as far as language, food, and culture, is also Cantonese. Walking around Hong Kong reminded me of walking around Chinatown in Vancouver; even the smells were familiar!

Our friend Zach also happened to be in Hong Kong for a business trip, so we met up with him for dinner and drinks on Friday night. Hong Kong has a great nightlife, but it’s definitely not cheap. We enjoyed some delicious Western food and drink throughout the weekend, and paid prices higher than what we would probably pay at home. Zach was supposed to fly back to Nanjing on Saturday, but it didn’t take too much convincing to get him to change his flight and instead come with us to Macau for the night.

After a massive feast at Outback Steakhouse, including ribs, crab legs, steak, chicken wings, and baked potatoes, we caught the Turbojet ferry to Macau. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Macau is a former colony of Portugal, and is now one of two special administrative areas of China (along with Hong Kong). It’s quite strange going through customs into Macau, and having all the signs in Portuguese, English, and Cantonese. Macau is like the Las Vegas of China. It is an island famous for tourism, and specifically gambling. In fact, Macau earns more gambling revenue each year than Las Vegas.

The UFC fight was at the Venetian Casino, the biggest casino in Macau. Luckily we were able to scalp some tickets for a pretty good price. The fight was quite exciting, especially sitting next to Nichole, who gets really into it! Just imagine a 5 foot 3 blonde girl screaming “GET HIM…KILL HIM!!!” much to the amusement of all the Chinese people around us. The last fight was a big upset, with Rich Franklin getting knocked out in the first minute. My favourite round was the flyweight division, with short men that weigh around 120 pounds. They are so quick and it’s really fun to watch.  

After the fight, the four of us decided to try our luck in the casino. Nichole and I both won playing roulette, winning about $230, and $300, respectively. Zach is a crazy blackjack player, and walked out with around $700, after being up almost $1800. And Ryan…well, we won’t talk about Ryan. He wasn’t so lucky. However, he and Nichole did get their picture taken with Chuck Liddell, a former UFC Champion, so the night wasn’t a total loss!

With the oxygen they pump into the casino, combined with the bright lights and the endless free drinks, we didn’t end up leaving until about 4am to head back to our hostel in Hong Kong. That was not a fun journey home the next day, but all in all worth it for a crazy weekend in Hong Kong and Macau. If only it weren’t so expensive, Hong Kong is definitely somewhere I could see myself living for a while.