28.09.05, Hong Kong, Macau

It takes time to get accustommed to the fact that not everywhere where something is written in Chinese is a Chinese restaurant.

Another thing that takes some time to get used to is that people do not try to stay out of each other's way: they seem to stand in the most inconvenient places, blocking everybody's way, and if you need to pass you just gently push them out of your way. This is expected and nobody seems to get upset about it in any way.

I look out of the window, see lots of people with umbrellas, mutter something about the fucking rain and go out. It is sunny outside, but a lot of people are using umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun. After a 10-minute walk I realize I need a sunblock and go to a drugstore.

Drugstores in Hong Kong have a lot of cosmetics, hair products, skin products and suchlike. There are some drugs too. The only painkiller in evidence is Panadol and other versions of acetaminophen/paracetamol, with ibuprofen nowhere to be seen, but, as I find out later, "ask and ye shall receive". They also sell tiny sample bottles of perfume, which is nice because it would take more than my lifetime to use up a bigger bottle. The sunblocks they have here are of unbelievable strength, up to 165 SPF.

There are many companies that ferry people between Hong Kong and Macau, they sail every 15 minutes or so and the tickets tend to cost between 12 and 15 euros one-way.

The trip across the Pearl river delta is one hour long. The delta is full of ships, from very modern to so ancient I keep suspecting them of being some sort of LARP boats.

In spite of being, technically, two autonomous regions of the same country, Hong Kong and Macau have full border formalities between them, which consist of checking all passports on the way in and on the way out, and filling out little pieces of paper each way. Also they check everyone's temperature by some infrared camera.

Macau waterfront is full of casinos built in some country's style. Everything everywhere is written in Chinese, Portuguese and quite often also English. The signs in Portuguese mislead one to assume that somebody somewhere out there might also speak Portuguese, but during the day I run into no such person. Few people speak English, too; I get by in my very, very bad Cantonese.

Macau has an old colonial center, which they keep in an immaculate condition. It's quite beautiful if somewhat small. The rest of it is built-up in high-rise buildings, much like Hong Kong. Just like Hong Kong, Macau is hilly, and two places that are 50 meters apart on the map can also be 100 meters apart vertically, which the map doesn't show you. The difference is, Hong Kong has escalators for that occasion, Macau mostly doesn't.

From the Largo do Senado (the historical/tourist center) I go by the way of a few narrow streets to Ruinas de San Paulo, the main tourist attraction. Why the ruined colonial church is a tourist attraction and the perfectly intact one is not, I am not sure.

There is a little temple beside the ruins.

There is a lot of little shops that sell beef and pork jerky and little crepe-like cookies, and feed you free samples. I never understood the point of jerky until I tasted it here. It's juicy and meaty.

Vela Latina, right across from the Largo do Senado, is a local fancy restaurant. 19 euros buy me a very good two-course dinner and a small (0.375l) bottle of wine.

I try to see more of the city, and it proves to be a pain. Macau is covered by a dense network of bus routes. Unfortunately they all work like night buses in Helsinki: they go all over the place and do not return quite the same way they went there. The routes are, therefore, in fact one-way and circular, and if you need to go the wrong way you are shit out of luck. The listings of the routes are available but decent maps aren't.

For some reason most balconies are fully covered with metal bars.

All the same things as in Hong Kong are forbidden here, and in addition allowing one's air conditioner to drip watr is forbidden too. I don't know how they go about it.

I come back to Hong Kong, notice that it is still reasonably clear and decideto go to Victoria Peak. The peak tram ride is rather fun by itself. The views from above are great.

Around midnight I go and check out the little outside restaurants near Temple street market. They have big dishes of seafood and ask you how you want it prepared. The shrimps wave their little legs in protest when I say that I want them in garlic sauce.