Day 84 - Day 85 Sunday - Monday April 7 - April 8, 2024

Hong Kong, China

Arrival: 17:00 Overnight Departure: 21:00 (April 8)

The second day in Hong Kong marks the end of one segment and the beginning of the next segment. We have travelled 2,341 nautical miles from Tokyo to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong can be considered a vertical city with many condos or apartments noticeable from the deck of Insignia. Just like 2018 when we were last here the weather was not cooperating. Yes, it was 27 C but somewhat cloudy.

Arriving at such a strange time the only ship tours offered were night tours of the lights of Hong Kong. Janice and I along with Jean and Pete decided on something different. We had booked two rooms at the Parisien Hotel in Macao the gambling mecca of the Far East and often called Las Vegas on steroids.

Once the ship which docked early was cleared by the authorities the four of us quickly went through customs and caught a taxi to the ferry terminal for the one-hour trip to Macao.

Macao is a special administrative region of China maintaining separate governing and economic systems from those of mainland China under the principle of one country, two systems. The colony remained under Portuguese rule until the 1999 handover to China.

This is what Hong Kong is supposed to be right now, but times are a changing.

You can see the Portuguese style in the buildings in the city's historic centre as it became an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005 and many signs are in Portuguese.

Macao is considered the Las Vegas of the East. Its gambling revenue is 3 times higher than Las Vegas as well. Janice was all set to pull an all-nighter if the machines were good to her. Unfortunately, there was not that many slot machines as the Chinese spend their money at the card and dice tables. There was also only one type of slot machines which she found boring. To make matters worse, although online they say that they serve alcohol in the casinos that was not the case in ours, the Parisian Macao. It felt like a ghost town and there was also no actual bar in the Casino.

I went outside to take some night shots and when I returned to the hotel Janice had already returned to the room. Those of you who know Janice well would know that is out of character.

Janice and Jean are already planning a meeting in Vegas for next year.

The next day we explored the historic part of Macao and of course purchased several Portuguese egg tarts.

Leaving Macao Janice was a little disappointed but glad she saw it. As we leave Hong Kong at 21:00 another seaday awaits and we turn our clocks back another hour. Ha Long Bay, Vietnam await us 465 nautical miles away.