Despite the care-free and laid-back way of life that most experience whilst travelling, there is something comforting about routine and the mundane.
We got home last night at a little after 1 a.m. Yes, the journey from Macau International Airport took a lot longer than planned due to a variety of reasons.
First of all, the airport bus, which was supposed to run on a frequency of 10-15 minutes, showed up an hour after we'd missed the first one. Luckily we were right at the front of the queue and managed to get a couple of seats on the bus. As for the 20 or so individuals who had to stand the whole 40 minute ride, crammed in like a can of sardines, it must've been a different story.
By the time we got to the ferry terminal it was around 10:45, by which time the ticket counters for the Kowloon ferries had already closed. We had no choice but to buy tickets over to Hong Kong side, but to our dismay, the next available seats were on the 1 a.m. boat. We had the option to get on the 11:30 ferry, but only via the deluxe seats, which costed about HK$100 more per ticket. I wasn't in the mood to get home at 3 in the morning so I suggested to Trigger that we should just go along with the pricey option.
Fortunately, we didn't have enough cash on us to pay for them. So we made our way back over to the ATM to get more cash. I say fortunate because along the way, we were stopped by a lady asking us if we were interested in some 11:30 regulare fare tickets. Naturally, she was gonna make a little profit from this transaction. It was a better deal than the deluxe one, so we condoned her touting livelihood and quickly handed over the money.
No wonder there weren't any tickets until the 1 a.m. ride. Scums like her had bought up all the tickets and were touting them right by the ticket counters.
Anyhow, we made arrived at the HK Macau Ferry Terminal at around 12:40, jumped on the Mong Kok mini-bus that was waiting outside, and got home 3 hours later than anticipated. The price for trying to save money by flying with AirAsia.
I'll figure out a way to upload the mobile photos on a gallery of some sort later. Buddhistson arrive tonight and I need to get the place ready for them to crash at.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Back in Macau...
We're back in Macau and have spent the last 40 min waiting for the bus to take us to the ferry pier. Then it's a one hour boat ride followed by a short taxi ride. Looks like I won't be home for at least another two hours.
Bangkok Day 1
Ironically, half the pics I took of our first day here have mysteriously disappeared, including the ones of WSI Thailand (which looks a lot trendier than the HK centres) and the always-fully-booked Atlanta Hotel.
Instead, all that's left are the handful taken during the first few hours hitting the various fashionable shopping centres, which unfortunately gives a false impression of what we got up to in Bangkok.
Monday, April 9, 2007
Heavy Rainfall on Kaoshan Road
Greetings from 'sunny' Thailand. I've found myself stuck in a couple of undesirable situations. Firstly, the sudden heavy downpour has forced us to take refuge within a semi-flooding internet cafe that doubles as a travel agent. It seems the same people also run a mini hostel and massage parlour upstairs as well. Nothing wrong with internet cafe itself, but since we only have a couple of days in Bangkok I'd much rather we were out and about making the most of our short time here.
The second dilemma is that we've checked ourselves in to a hostel on Kaoshan Road. I never thought I'd be staying at this so-called 'backpacker's ghetto', but due to some major screw up with the directions to the guesthouse I'd booked, we thought it'd be better to just find a place to stay (of which there's an abundance here) instead of wasting another hour or two walking all over Chinatown (which is what we did upon arrival at Hua Lamphong train station).
The train ride itself was a very pleasant journey and the time passed by as quickly as the many fields and small villages that flew across our window. In the seats opposite us sat a gorgeous one year old Thai baby, who kept us and the adjacent passengers smiling and entertained for a good portion of the trip.
Only small complaint would be that we ended up in one of the older train compartments, which had tighter seatbenches. Other than that it was as enjoyable as the time I travelled on it for the Buddhistson/Whence He Came tour.
The train lacked a dining car, but catering was provided so we helped ourselves to some mediocre rice and soup set dinners. Our other source of food came in the form of hawkers who'd come on the trains at various stops along the way, selling anything from fried chicken and fruits, to hot coffee and fried dough sticks.
We were supposed to depart at 13:15, but for some reason or another, the train didn't start moving until it was close to 14:00. Factor in the various ridiculously long stops throughout the journey, and we got in to Bangkok at about an hour and a half behind schedule. Good thing we weren't in a hurry.
Anyway, it looks like the rain is clearing up so we better go and indulge in some sights and culinary delights. I'll upload some photos as soon as I come across wi-fi. There's a pretty swanky Starbucks round the corner... guess I'd probably find something there.
The second dilemma is that we've checked ourselves in to a hostel on Kaoshan Road. I never thought I'd be staying at this so-called 'backpacker's ghetto', but due to some major screw up with the directions to the guesthouse I'd booked, we thought it'd be better to just find a place to stay (of which there's an abundance here) instead of wasting another hour or two walking all over Chinatown (which is what we did upon arrival at Hua Lamphong train station).
The train ride itself was a very pleasant journey and the time passed by as quickly as the many fields and small villages that flew across our window. In the seats opposite us sat a gorgeous one year old Thai baby, who kept us and the adjacent passengers smiling and entertained for a good portion of the trip.
Only small complaint would be that we ended up in one of the older train compartments, which had tighter seatbenches. Other than that it was as enjoyable as the time I travelled on it for the Buddhistson/Whence He Came tour.
The train lacked a dining car, but catering was provided so we helped ourselves to some mediocre rice and soup set dinners. Our other source of food came in the form of hawkers who'd come on the trains at various stops along the way, selling anything from fried chicken and fruits, to hot coffee and fried dough sticks.
We were supposed to depart at 13:15, but for some reason or another, the train didn't start moving until it was close to 14:00. Factor in the various ridiculously long stops throughout the journey, and we got in to Bangkok at about an hour and a half behind schedule. Good thing we weren't in a hurry.
Anyway, it looks like the rain is clearing up so we better go and indulge in some sights and culinary delights. I'll upload some photos as soon as I come across wi-fi. There's a pretty swanky Starbucks round the corner... guess I'd probably find something there.
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Around Georgetown
We've been going all out (well... I have anyway) with the laksa, prawn mee and char kway tweo. I think we've also had a few too many bowls of chendol/ice kacang. Surprisingly, my bowel has been solidly intact for the entire duration of this trip despite downing all that hot and spicy stuff. Tomorrow afternoon we board the train to Bangkok and it'll be interesting to see how I handle Thai cuisine.
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