Finally arrived!

22 Nov 2005

We queued up for immigration and I handed over my passport and the arrival card. I thought I was getting really familiar with the procedure already, well almost! That was until I was told to hand over the departure card as well. As we first stepped out of the immigration area, we saw a man waving at us with a sign. We didn’t notice the sign with our group name until they called for us. We were surprised that they could tell that we were from our school until I realised we had the green sticker on our shirts.

Oh well…

Then the man who looked European handed us a map. We waited for our friends to assemble. Thereafter, we went onto our respective coach. It appeared that our bags were too big for the bus (perhaps the bus was smaller) to carry that they had to transfer some of them to another coach. As the bus drove past the night scenery in Macau, we caught glimpses of the Macau tower and the neon lighting of the casinos. It was really spectacular! It was unbelievable how we had virtually spent our whole day travelling to Macau. We were heading for our hotel. The guide missed my number and I had to reconfirm my room number which hardly got into my head either. Room 3-06. We reached Sintra hotel and checked into our room. There I was reunited with my room-mate! We got down by 7.15pm for dinner and walked to Metropole Hotel. It was like a banquet dinner with rice and 9 dish course. We were really full after the meal.

Thereafter we explored the area… there were many shops selling almond cookies. There was one shop where the retail person kept speaking us in Cantonese and we just smiled politely to whatever they are saying as none of us understand the dialect. It was really awkward. We went into Esprit and I was so glad I found an affordable top. I did not really bother to try the size as I wanted to break my note so urgently. Along the way, we bought milk pudding at HK$14.50. It tasted nice and sweet like some custard.



As I had read about this really spectacular place called Largo Do Senado in some of the travel books, I was hoping to find the place. As lady luck was on my side, we were naerby the area and finally got there and took many photos there. The distinctive architecture and wavy design on the pavement were the highlights.

 We also discovered a narrow alley lighted up so beautifully, aligned with a straight row of flower pots. It was a really beautiful aisle! As we continued our walking tour, we found many familiar brand names Giordano, Sasa (they have many Sasa shops… 3 in the same street!), Levi’s, Adidas, Samuel and Kevin, McDonald’s and Häagen-Dazs.



We came across one shop selling pick-and-choose candies and preserved snacks. We discovered another local dessert called Serradura. I tried asking the locals in Mandarin. It turned out they could not speak very fluent Mandarin. However, we bought the cookie and cream dessert and it was nice. It was all cream based but as it melts and it goes into the mouth with these crispy mashed biscuits on the bottom, it just tasted good.

Later on, my two other friends and I went searching for convenience stores; 7-11.We tried seeking help from the local policeman but still could not find the shop. I never knew it was literally translated in Mandarin there ("qi shi yi"). We eventually gave up and went back to the hotel to abide the 11pm curfew. I was never an early sleeper so I invited my girlfriends over to my room and we were watching TV till 12 plus in which we saw our local actor Adrian Pang in it… an Aladdin show but I could not recall the title.

 The room was rather spacious and comfortable but I wasn’t really used to such a stiff bed. There were so many layers of blanket. We slept with the lights on. Though we turned off both the air-con and heater, the room was already cold enough to cause me to have flu. I dozed off while watching the MTV... Jay Chou, Tanya Chua...

A bumpy ferry ride

22 Nov 2005

Upon our arrival in Hong Kong International Airport, our group of seventy was split up into two coaches, each under a different tour leader. All of us followed our guide in a straight line (like school children...) as we dragged along our bulky luggage to the bus terminal where our coach was waiting. Our tour leader then told us to leave our luggage to be placed in the storage area of the bus (I could still recall that because it was the first time I heard him spoke and he carried a strong local accent).

At the bus terminal, I noticed there was even a bus company named “Air Bus”!

We boarded the bus and we were on our way to the ferry terminal. After a four-hour ride on the plane, we were still up and about, eyes glancing through the window overseeing the views in Hong Kong. As our tour guide explained some facts about Hong Kong, the Disneyland, the tallest building there - over 80 storeys high, the government housing, to that of his dream house and he was a part-time fortune teller! I wasn’t really listening attentively to what he was saying as I was busy gazing through the window. I remembered seeing these orange stopover counters on the roads similar to those at the causeway (or I heard), for drivers to stop over and pay. I supposed it is a similar concept to the ERP in Singapore. I was fascinated by the local school children (their uniform are really adorable... navy blue jacket and a tie for boys). In midst of all these, I could not help but to notice the tour guide's occasional pauses followed by “err huh…” every now and then. I was just beginning to find him cute.

As we alighted at the ferry terminal, we collected our luggage and were on our way to the immigration (the others were dragging their trolley bags all the way up while I was merely carrying my bag along). We were then given the green stickers as an identification of our tour group. Sadly, we parted with our cute tour guide and headed for the immigration counter.

As I passed through the immigration, the person asked for my name again to double confirm my identity. He must have thought that I looked very different from my picture. We then passed through the immigration and saw a few people wearing masks handing out some notices on the precautions against bird flu. We were filled with glee when we were told that we were allowed to shop in the duty free shops. I thought it would be a good chance to break down my currency note. Yet shortly after, we were rushed off to proceed to boarding as there was a change in the ferry schedule to 4.30pm instead of 5pm. Even before we stepped onto the boat, we could see that the door was flapping up and down very badly and the ferry was really unstable. There was a ready vomit bag placed infront of us. We took a quick look at its menu… instant noodles, soft drinks and Calbee chips. As the ferry set off, it was bouncing really badly. We were screaming every time the boat shook. The locals on the same ferry must have been bewildered by our behaviour! Our faces turned pale and not one of us spoke very much during the journey. As some of us could still cast away our uneasiness for a moment to fill in our arrival card, some still remained very silent and motionless in their seat. Everyone felt nauseous and quickly hypnotized themselves to sleep. I rested awake. I was anticipating our arrival yet to no avail. All I could see was the vast ocean and not a single island was in sight. Every time we thought we were approaching, that “island” we saw was just another passing boat. It was till a very long time we caught sight of a very long bridge and realised we were really approaching Macau.

As we alighted from the ferry, we could feel the chilly breeze blowing against our skin. It was already dark at 6pm there.

The first stamp on my passport - 22 Nov 2005

It was for the very first time I have gotten my feet out of our tiny little island called home, and boarded my very first flight. Though I was literally a virgin traveller, I was neither filled with anticipation nor excitement as I prepared for my trip. Macau has never been my dream destination or the first destination that I have planned for my maiden voyage. Well, it was an educational trip afterall. As the day came like a blink of the eye, I was rushing to pack all my stuff the day before. It was really a hassle to make sure I don’t miss anything out of my luggage and I got to turn in early for the next day morning flight. Mum and dad sent me to the airport, as it was my first time travelling overseas, they were even more anxious than me. I met my friends at the airport and I realised I seemed more like going for a chalet than going on for a tour. Everyone had brought huge luggage and mine just look like a fugitive’s bag! As we queued up for check in, I looked like a first-time traveller on no doubt. I placed my bag on top of the counter’s desk, thinking that the digital scale below works with it. The staff promptly shoved me to put it down on the right side at the bottom of the counter. Following, my bag disappeared from my sight like a gust of wind and I had no idea how much my bag weighs, but surely it looked much lighter than everyone else’s. As I passed the security point to the immigration counter, the immigration officer was flipping so hard through the pages of my passport that I offered to say I had no travel history before. Not to mention that she did have some comment about my photo taken 9 years ago!

I was not new to the departure hall in the transit even though it was indeed my first time boarding a plane. I still remember the thrill when I first got my pass to work in the transit and it just seems to lost its luster. We settled down at the lounge at McCafe and took a brief walk along both terminals. Time for boarding! As we rushed for our gate, we merrily marched towards the wrong gate and quickly rerouted. I went through the metal detector very smoothly, handed my boarding pass and I was on the aerobridge. As I stepped into the plane, I was peering up and down for my seat and landed on one of the middle seats with my group of friends. Being my first time on a plane, I did not feel really nervous. It was like a bus ride or some sort. However, I yearned to see the breathtaking scenery outside the plane. What a pity not to get a window seat! We started taking pictures on the plane before it takes off. Later as it ascended, we settled into our seats with buckled seatbelts, sensing the vibration of the take-off and off we go! We got to catch the movie, "Bewitched" and enjoy a nice lunch with Häagen-Dazs chocolate ice cream, salad, beef with rice. We also took sips of red and white wine on the plane. When we landed at HK international Airport, we assembled outside the gate and proceeded for immigration.

I then realise that the first stamp on my passport is going to be Hong Kong.