Macau: turbojets, dumplings and the Venetian

Before we realized it, Pat and I pulled another all-nighter after watching the fireworks. We managed to stay up until 5am and to make matters worse, the Falafel place down the hill and around the corner that never closes was closed by 4am. Pat knew what to do though: we went straight to the restaurant that actually doesn't close and even at 4am in ghost town New Years Hong Kong, it was packed. The food was filling and unremarkable. It tasted great, but at this point my standards are so high from being totally spoiled by amazing food that is everywhere here.

Pat and I got to sleep as soon as we got back because we need to leave for the Venetian in Macau the next day (ie 6 hours from now). Predictably, waking up was tough, but we managed to pull ourselves together, dapper up and throw on suits. We raced to the turbo jet station only to see where all the missing people in town were! They were standing in line waiting to go to Macau! Pat, with turbo jet passes in hand went to the ticket counter, explained that we needed to get on the next departure even though they were booked solid for 5 hours at this point...and it worked. We sprinted through the station, somehow got through immigration in 2 minutes and sat down in our seats.

The turbo jet is a cool sounding name for a hydrofoil that takes tourists from Hong Kong to Macau. The way I like to explain Macau to people is that Hong Kong is an island that the British controlled and turned into a banking center of Asia.

Macau's story is that the Portuguese controlled the island of Macau and instead of banks they built casinos. Street signs are a mix of Portuguese and Chinese and thankfully some English as well.

The seating on the turbo jet is similar to that of a 747, only it is about 3 times as wide. There are monitors playing adds for the casinos and upcoming events in Macau.

One ad that was especially interesting was for Brian Berg, the current (and continuous since 1992) world record holder in building towers out of playing cards. Normally I wouldn't care, but this is the guy that Pat was interviewing for his magazine and I was going along.

The seas were a bit rough and we got to Macau a little later that we'd hoped so when we docked we ran to immigration to enter Macau. I am used to being tall while I am here, but I am only a little taller than the Hong Kong population. The other tourists in Macau were from all over the region so Pat and I towered over everyone. This was a plus, since it meant that it would be impossible for me to lose him in a crowd.

Pat had and awesome interview and I will see if I can get a link to Pat's story when it prints.

After the interview was over, food was on our minds. We walked through to casino to leave which was easier said than done because it was packed with people.

It seemed as if the rest of the missing Hong Kong population was on the casino floor. Mable Wu, the PR director explained that this holiday there would be up to 100,000 people passing through the Venetian. Gambling is a huge part of Chinese New Years celebration, and Macau is the Las Vegas of Asia. We maneuvered through the teeming masses of people around the craps, roulette and bic bo tables. Outside wasn't much better. Pat and I had to be vigilant to get a taxi since they were all in service most likely because the weather was terrible and no one wanted to walk in the cold.

Pat and I knew what we wanted: The elusive Shanghai baozi soup dumpling. We headed right for a restaurant we had been to last time I was here and like every place else, it was packed.

We managed to score a table and ordered as quickly as we could. Pat and I were wiped out from the night before and needed something to bring our vitality back. I have never felt the rejuvenating effect of food before like I have with these dumplings. In case you have never had them, they are a seasoned, finely ground sausage meat wrapped in a dumpling with broth and then steamed. They are served on a flat bottomed bamboo bowl that is also used for steaming. The trick is to grasp the dumpling with your chopstick and put it in your spoon to while taking a bite to release the hot broth and let it cool down in the spoon. You can eat it once its cooled a bit. We ordered 8 of them...each. By the time we were done with them I was stuffed and feeling nearly 100% myself again.

We walked around a bit in the old square downtown and checked out the New Years celebrations. The square always looks interesting with its Portuguese colonial buildings mixed with east asian architecture but today it was lit up with lanterns strung across the streets and giant illuminated tigers. People were crowded around a stage watching a dance. Pat and I navigated the sea of happy revelers and walked down narrow streets. There was a conglomeration of smells from all the shops cooking food to order. I wished I wasn't so full from the dumplings.

Pat and I walked around town some more and eventually made our way back to the turbojet station. Unsurprisingly, the line was massive. Pat went to the ticket counter and explained that we had to get back immediately and the guy at the counter was moved by Pat's urgency enough to grant us passage on the boat leaving in 2 minutes. We sprinted to and through customs since we were pros at filling out our immigration cards and got to our seats just as the boat was ready to leave.

We got back to Hong Kong just in time for Pat to meet Youyi as she came back from New Years with her family in Shanghai and a quick trip with friends to Korea. She brought cake back with her from her mom and we had a slice before passing out from another exhausting day.