I went on a daytrip to Macau on Monday, even though I was feeling kind of fluish in the morning. When you're both traveling and working as a freelancer it's practically impossible to turn off the "got to see and got to do"-gear. It turned out I was a bit too optimistic about my symptoms but I'll get to that in a bit.
Macau is another Special Administrative Region of China and is known to most as the Las Vegas of Southeast Asia. And I do not wonder why. After the one-hour ferry ride from Hong Kong pretty much all I saw were casinos lined up, one after another. One of the casinos, Sands, hosts Asia's only Playboy Club, and I figured there's one institution that must be especially thrilled about the Year of the Rabbit. Anyway, the whole city felt surreal. Even more so because my head felt like it was about to explode.
In a state like this you should never visit a new place because all your experiences will be tainted by that literally sickening feeling. Still I have to say that, especially after all my nice experiences in Hong Kong, Macau did not impress me. Bad - even rude - service at restaurants, horrible pedestrian walkways and guidance and high prices. So Macau is probably a great place if you love to gamble and have like, you know, money, but for a feverish freelancer or other similarly poor bastards I wouldn't recommend it as a first holiday destination. (I did win some money at the poker table though so if you're a risk-taking poor bastard, this might be your deal after all..)
So I came back to Hong Kong with a good ol' flaming temperature and got myself almost quarantined at the ferry terminal. They've got scanners there to recognize people with flu symptoms and when I passed by I ended up behind the white curtains to get my temperature checked. When the masked nurses realized how hot I was - mostly on the inside unfortunately - they told me to go and see a doctor. And I got out of the terminal faster than ever! When people see you come out from behind a curtain that says "Avian flu", they really give you way.
Mine thankfully did not appear to be the avian kind - nor the swine thingy for that matter. At least the three different meds I was prescribed seem to have kicked in. No shortage on (prescription) drugs here, then. Or tea, for that matter. So I've been feeling much better since Monday. And tonight I got to eat something other than antibiotics when I got to celebrate Chinese New Year's Eve with Margot's family! A big dotse to the Kwans for having me over for a traditional Chinese festive dinner. The food was delicious and the experience something very special I'll remember for the rest of my life.
Happy Year of the Rabbit!
Macau is another Special Administrative Region of China and is known to most as the Las Vegas of Southeast Asia. And I do not wonder why. After the one-hour ferry ride from Hong Kong pretty much all I saw were casinos lined up, one after another. One of the casinos, Sands, hosts Asia's only Playboy Club, and I figured there's one institution that must be especially thrilled about the Year of the Rabbit. Anyway, the whole city felt surreal. Even more so because my head felt like it was about to explode.
In a state like this you should never visit a new place because all your experiences will be tainted by that literally sickening feeling. Still I have to say that, especially after all my nice experiences in Hong Kong, Macau did not impress me. Bad - even rude - service at restaurants, horrible pedestrian walkways and guidance and high prices. So Macau is probably a great place if you love to gamble and have like, you know, money, but for a feverish freelancer or other similarly poor bastards I wouldn't recommend it as a first holiday destination. (I did win some money at the poker table though so if you're a risk-taking poor bastard, this might be your deal after all..)
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| Macao Lotus Blossom. |
Mine thankfully did not appear to be the avian kind - nor the swine thingy for that matter. At least the three different meds I was prescribed seem to have kicked in. No shortage on (prescription) drugs here, then. Or tea, for that matter. So I've been feeling much better since Monday. And tonight I got to eat something other than antibiotics when I got to celebrate Chinese New Year's Eve with Margot's family! A big dotse to the Kwans for having me over for a traditional Chinese festive dinner. The food was delicious and the experience something very special I'll remember for the rest of my life.
Happy Year of the Rabbit!
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