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Day 3 – Macau, or maybe not

Today we set off to visit Macau, which can be reached in a variety of different ways but because we didn’t want to spend $640AUD on a helicopter to get there we decided to take the ferry which is the next best option. You can also take the bus to Macau along the fairly new 55km Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge, which includes sections of tunnel under the sea; however, there isn’t a lot to see down there to the ferry was the best option.

As per usual we conducted out homework the night before on where to get the ferry from and next day made our way to the ferry terminal to buy our tickets. We asked about tickets and the attendant put up the sign below at the window.

Great, ferries no longer running from the terminal we went to, and Shun Tak Centre is on Hong Kong Island, nowhere near where we are in Kowloon. So, we decided we would can that plan for the day and try again tomorrow, starting by going to the right ferry terminal!!

We decided to go to Hong Kong Island and make our way up the Central-Mid-Level escalators to the top via 800 metres of escalators. You can’t go too early in the morning as between 7am and 10am they work in the downward direction, getting everyone to work, and at 10am they change their direction until midnight to get everyone back up the hill and to home. Most of the escalators fly high above the streets below, and they are another one of Hong Kong’s charms which shouldn’t be missed when visiting.

After making our way right to the top we came down via the hundreds of steps we had avoided going up, and were feeling really hungry so stopped into a Nepalese restaurant. Food is cheap in Hong Kong, some nights we eaten for less than $25AUD for the two of us. However, some places are really expensive and we’ve spent more than $120AUD for lunch; nothing special or lavish, a couple of dishes and a beer. These Nepalese was one of those places, not cheap, but the food was okay.

To finish the day off we visited the Hong Kong Science Museum. We love a museum, and a science museum appeals to us both. We have been to this museum before, probably 17 years ago when we were with our boys. The place hasn’t changed an awful lot, it’s still quite a small museum and most definitely aimed towards the kids. I did suggest we should just act as though we had come with children that were running around somewhere and we were just waiting for them, but hey, who cares, we were there to have a jolly good look around.

Disappointingly the Energy Machine was not working when we visited, it was under renovation. We both clearly remembered watching this mammoth of a machine operate on our past visit; this was an absolute highlight to our visit last time. https://hk.science.museum/en/web/scm/exhibition/em.html

To end the day, after the Science Museum, we had dinner in a very local restaurant. This is one of those restaurants in Hong Kong which is located at the bottom of a tall apartment building where there aren’t any menu items in English, and the restaurant staff don’t speak any English. great way to ensure good local food. On this occasions a bowl of beef brisket with noodles, another bowl of wontons and a couple of Cokes cost around $22AUD. Great food, really fresh; you’ve just got to love it!!

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