Day 4 - Thursday June 25, 2009

Woke up around 7:15 and decided to go t Macau for the day. But first, we had to test out our shower which was going to be an adventure since it was just a hand-held shower head over the toilet... After getting ready we decided to go traditional for breakfast at try out some new Chinese restaurant called McDonalds...I don't even remember the last time I have eaten Mc'D in the US much less another country.

With the help of some brits in our hostel we took the MTR (Subway) to the Macau Ferry. A Turbo Jet ticket cost around HK$130 one way and took 1.5 hours. During the ride there were a lot of waves and I bet the boat was going up an down 6-10 feet with each wave...some people were getting seasick - my eyes were shut the entire time.

After getting to Macau and clearing customs, which we had to do, we tried to find our first site. Macau is the Las Vegas of China and was full of elaborate casinos. There were a lot of green spaces between roads with ponds, bridges, and loads of exercise equipment. The sidewalks were all made up of square black and white cobblestones that created shapes like suns, fish, swirls, etc.

We came through the casino area that had a 'fake' Disney Landesk Portuguese city that was the definition of a ghost town. We also saw a casino in the shape of a volcano. We went inside the Sands Casino, which was huge. We also went into the Wynn Casino that had a lot of expensive shops. CKE was mad because the woman at the door didn't check any one's IDs except his and you only have to be 18 to enter! The Wynn had an awesome floor to ceiling show that is indescibable, but I will try. The ceiling was made up of the animals for each year and it gave way to an LED screen that did a light show to music which gave way to a huge crystal chandelier coming down. The the floor opened and of all things to rise up, a gold oak tree 'grew' and people just started throwing money at it. We thought they were crazy to give the casino even more money, but it was funny to watch.

Next we wondered the streets for what felt like hours to try and find the senate squares. It took forever to find but we saw a lot of interesting things along the way like a pink building and a cathedral with roses on it. When we got the the older part we saw the yellow church with green doors (St. Dominic), the senate square and loyal senate, the ruins of the church of St. Paul, and the Monte Furte. The last two places had great views of the island not to mention a great parterre leading up to the ruins.

On our way back to the ferry CKE and Danika got Strawberry drinks that were awesome - they had foil on the top that you had to stab through with a straw!

Once we got to the ferry and bought our now HK$170 tickets we had a much smoother trip back including a nice nap.

When we arrived back in Mong Kok (after taking the MTR) we went through a 'shopping mall' that was like nothing we had ever seen before. CKE said, "I have seen hallways in houses wider than this," speaking of the aisle between stores. The stores were all about 8 x 10 feet wide and packed with stuff.