We spent four delightful days exploring Macau Island and Hong Kong. The structure and organization of the city was really a breath of fresh air. They call Hong Kong a vertical city because everything is built straight into the air. The town is full of escalators and the Chinese people line up in a row on the right and leave the left side open for those wanting to walk or run past them. It is even more military like than Paris! We quickly learned to shift into line like little soldiers. The most frustrating part of the trip was the shopping. Hong Kong is a major shopping hot spot because there is no tax, however all the clothes are size small and medium and the largest shoe I found in any woman's department was 9. I guess things are about the same in India, but we don't have cool stores like H & M, where I actually want to go shopping. We got laughed at every time we asked for a shoe size and then finally we gave up.
Macau is the Las Vegas of the East and was really fun to see the enormous casinos and hotels. The Hong Kong residents like to gamble all day long. We enjoyed watching others lose money while ours stayed in the bank. The Venetian Hotel was our evening resort palace as we took in the Cirque du Soleil show Zaia, enjoyed Morton's Steakhouse of Chicago, and walked the shopping streets of Venice with singing Gondolas and all. Macau is an island 50 minutes from the Hong Kong airport and a very convenient connection.
Hong Kong island and Kowloon are the other two areas where we spent time. Hong Kong Island is a large mix of expats from all over the world and a major financial hub for several banks. They call Hong Kong the NYC of the east and I would have to admit it did have a bit of a New York City feel, minus Broadway. We really enjoyed the mix of cultures and the state of the art architecture and transportation. A truly lovely city! We would move there in a heartbeat vs. India. The Chinese people don't speak a lot of English, but they are really good and pointing a person in the right direction. The people are very fashionable and there is a tremendous amount of high end shopping in Hong Kong and Macau...Prada, Gucci, D & G, LV, etc. Those are stores that you practically have to pay just to walk into...ha! Where is a good JCPenney's when you need it?
Pictures include: Lantau Giant Buddha, Hong Kong by night, the street cars of Hong Kong Island and Ben at the conveyor belt sushi bar.
