It is still dark outside when the alarm of your mobile phone goes off. You open your eyes and see nothing but darkness. You remain unmoved under the duvet and close your eyes again and doze off. A few minutes later the alarm goes off for a second time. You slowly move the sheets aside, turn to the side of the bed, switch on the bedside lamp, look at the time, switch the alarm off and get up. First you drink some water, then you walk to the bathroom and shower for a while. It's unusually early for you and your body and mind need to get fit.
As the warm water drops roll down your body, you try to focus, but it's impossible. Your thoughts turn around the message you found under your door the night before. It read: Meet me tomorrow in Macau. Don't worry about place and time. I will find you.
That sounds mysterious, but it is something you have expected. It is something you have waited for, but hoped it wouldn't happen. A trip to Macau was planned anyway, but you wished you would go there under different circumstances. Macau is a place not many people have heard off. Even you didn't know it existed a few years back. Well, you actually knew from the geography lessons at school, but that information was somewhere deep in your mind that needed digging out. Then about two years ago, when you were working as a copywriter for a British online marketing firm, you were asked to write articles about various places with brick and mortar casinos and about some of the establishments. An internet search brought up Macau and you suddenly remembered the name. Many things have changed over the years, since you were at school. Macau is an autonomous region on the south coast of China, across the Pearl River Delta from Hong Kong and it was a Portuguese territory until 1999. Macau is known as the Las Vegas of Asia, due to the many casinos and it is officially the world's largest gambling centre. The differences to Las Vegas are that it is overrun by hordes of Chinese gamblers who unlike gamblers in Las Vegas, don't drink, but prefer to sip at their tea.
When you told some people that you were interested in going there, they asked you what for. You said for sightseeing, which produced laughter. The truth is, there are not many sights, you can count them on the fingers of your hand.
After a long shower you have a quick breakfast, get dressed and leave your room. It's very quiet in the entire hotel and the receptionist gives you a funny look when you pass by and walk out at the crack of dawn. You inhale the fresh air a few times before you start walking to the terminal to take the boat over the delta.
It's very quiet in the terminal at this early hour and not many people are on the boat. You don't really enjoy the crossing because your thoughts are somewhere else. You haven't taken your mobile phone with you because a) it's not working with the various SIM cards you have and b) it is safer not to have it with you. But you have your little digital camera with you, that will give everyone the impression that you are an ordinary tourist and you hope to get a map somewhere. Soon you discover that you have failed to recharge the battery of your camera and that you're going to miss the opportunity of making photos.
When you finally arrive in Macau you follow the little crowd that seems to know their way round. You follow them along a long corridor and go through immigration, where you have to show your passport. A few minutes later you step outside and don't know where to go. You see a little shop and pay it a visit. There you find a map of Macau and read it for a while. You find a few casinos you wanted to visit and the very few sights this place has to offer. Since the casinos are nearby, you take a left turn and walk towards them.
You ignore the first two and enter the third. This is not due to the fact that us humans are choosy and never take the first but walk by in search of a better one (if you enter a loo at an airport or train station that has let's say five cubicles in a row, will you take the first one? You probably won't. A study has shown that the most frequented cubicle is the third, the second most frequented are the second and the fourth and then follow the first and the fifth. Why? We ignore the first because we believe that something better is waiting for us. We don't go to the fifth because it's too far away. That's why we visit cubicles 2, 3 or 4), no, in this case you're looking for a specific casino you once wrote about. You enter it and are struck by its luxury. It's better than you have ever imagined it. You feel lost in that massive gambling temple, but you play cool, don't want to show that you are a first time visitor, you don't want to lose your reputation and put on your best poker face. You pass by a mirror and believe to see the agent who chases gangsters in the name of Her Majesty, and feel immediately stronger, cooler and more powerful. You buy some chips and walk to a roulette table, where you watch for a bit. You try to remember what you wrote in your articles about this game. Once you remember, you sit down and play. Fortune is with you and you win a few rounds. Like in the films, people gather behind you to watch your moves. You start thinking, will the meeting be held in here? Is the person you are supposed to meet sitting at the table? You look at the people at the table, but they seem to be ordinary gamblers.
After a while you leave the table and walk over to Black Jack. It's time to try your luck there. Again you remember what you wrote in your articles, concentrate hard, listen to your gut feeling and win. You go to one of the restaurants to have something to eat, then you exchange the chips for money and leave the premisses.
It's still early in the morning and you decide to visit another casino. There you try your luck with poker. First you win, then you lose, then you win again and walk off with the same amount you had before you started playing.
It's nearly noon when you step outside. You take your map out of the pocket, try to figure out the way to the ruins of the church of St Paul, which is the top-sight of Macau. Once a Jesuit church, burnt down some 180 years ago and the only thing that survived the blast is the facade, that's why it's also known as 'The Gate to Nowhere'. On the way there you want to visit some churches, temples and gardens, but somehow you can't find most of it and end up seeing two churches, one of which is closed, and one garden, which is smaller than you thought. Finally you reach the stairway in front of the ruins of the church of St Paul and stand still for a while. It is quite surreal and spectacular. There are many tourists, predominantly Chinese couples who take selfies and photograph each other.
You walk slowly up the stairs and when on top, just under the arch, some Chinese spot you and want to have photos with you. You smile as always and say 'of course'. Then you walk around the ground for a while and watch the crowds and the facade. Then you decide to walk around the cobbled paths of the old town and visit a church or two and have lunch somewhere. You pass by a McDonald's and see that it is packed, so are a few other restaurants on the main street, that's why you turn into a side street and discover a little place with local food. You enter the restaurant, ask if they accept credit cards, because you don't have any MOPs (local currency), sit at a table, order and enjoy your meal. You are a bit disappointed though food is similar to the one in China. You expected to find something Portuguese. When you ask to pay and wave with your plastic money, they tell you that they don't accept it. But when you asked, they said they did. Great confusion! The ladies discuss something you don't understand and then they tell you to follow one of the waitresses to the nearest ICBC branch where you can withdraw money. Out of the restaurant, turn right, down the road, right again until a main road with many shops and right again. There you are. You withdraw the amount for your meal, plus an extra tip, hand the money to the lady, thank her and you both walk off to different directions.
You take out the map again and try to figure out the way to the Guia Fort, that's the fortress on top of a hill and you walk more or less in that direction. All the street signs are in Portuguese, but the people speak Cantonese and don't seem to understand either Portuguese or English.
While you walk along the streets, pass by shops, boulevards, bars, etc. you notice that people are quite similar to Hongkongers in their behaviour. They don't honk, they don't spit, they don't shout. After a while you see the fortress high up on a hill and take out the map again and try to find the shortest way to it. The shortest way involves a steep road up the hill.
A while later you reach the top and are rewarded with some spectacular vistas over the peninsula. You walk along the wall and enjoy the view and then you stop at a point where fewer people are and look down to the city.
While you're in deep thoughts, a lady approaches you and places herself next to you on your right.
-It took you a while, she says.
-We didn't have a set time and place, did we? you ask.
-No, we didn't. But stop bitching around. What's the code?
-N-O-O-D-L-E-S. What's yours?
-B-E-E-F.
You look at each other and start giggling like children. Whose silly idea was this? Beef noodles? Give me a break! On the other hand, it does make sense, as it's one of your favourite dishes in China. The person who chose the codes seems to know you well. Too well for your taste. The lady is called Vivi and is a brunette European with beautiful brown eyes and a cute smile. She's dressed like a tourist and has a digital camera hanging from her neck. That's something typical western. Asians use their mobile phones with their massive displays to make photos and westerners are more traditional and still carry around cameras. Vivi is being very professional and places her arm under yours, leans her head against your shoulder, makes a few photos from the surroundings with her other hand and asks you if you have 'it' with you. You have. You place your hand into one of your pockets, produce 'it' and give 'it' to her. She looks briefly at 'it' and hides 'it' away in her bag. Then you walk around a bit like a happy couple, before you both take separate ways.
You feel relieved that it's finally over and take the route down to the centre and with the map in your hands you try to find the way back to the boats. Once in the terminal, you buy your ticket, walk through the customs and disappear into the crowd walking towards the boat to Hong Kong.
If you would like to read more by me, find those two on Amazon:
As the warm water drops roll down your body, you try to focus, but it's impossible. Your thoughts turn around the message you found under your door the night before. It read: Meet me tomorrow in Macau. Don't worry about place and time. I will find you.
That sounds mysterious, but it is something you have expected. It is something you have waited for, but hoped it wouldn't happen. A trip to Macau was planned anyway, but you wished you would go there under different circumstances. Macau is a place not many people have heard off. Even you didn't know it existed a few years back. Well, you actually knew from the geography lessons at school, but that information was somewhere deep in your mind that needed digging out. Then about two years ago, when you were working as a copywriter for a British online marketing firm, you were asked to write articles about various places with brick and mortar casinos and about some of the establishments. An internet search brought up Macau and you suddenly remembered the name. Many things have changed over the years, since you were at school. Macau is an autonomous region on the south coast of China, across the Pearl River Delta from Hong Kong and it was a Portuguese territory until 1999. Macau is known as the Las Vegas of Asia, due to the many casinos and it is officially the world's largest gambling centre. The differences to Las Vegas are that it is overrun by hordes of Chinese gamblers who unlike gamblers in Las Vegas, don't drink, but prefer to sip at their tea.
When you told some people that you were interested in going there, they asked you what for. You said for sightseeing, which produced laughter. The truth is, there are not many sights, you can count them on the fingers of your hand.
After a long shower you have a quick breakfast, get dressed and leave your room. It's very quiet in the entire hotel and the receptionist gives you a funny look when you pass by and walk out at the crack of dawn. You inhale the fresh air a few times before you start walking to the terminal to take the boat over the delta.
It's very quiet in the terminal at this early hour and not many people are on the boat. You don't really enjoy the crossing because your thoughts are somewhere else. You haven't taken your mobile phone with you because a) it's not working with the various SIM cards you have and b) it is safer not to have it with you. But you have your little digital camera with you, that will give everyone the impression that you are an ordinary tourist and you hope to get a map somewhere. Soon you discover that you have failed to recharge the battery of your camera and that you're going to miss the opportunity of making photos.
When you finally arrive in Macau you follow the little crowd that seems to know their way round. You follow them along a long corridor and go through immigration, where you have to show your passport. A few minutes later you step outside and don't know where to go. You see a little shop and pay it a visit. There you find a map of Macau and read it for a while. You find a few casinos you wanted to visit and the very few sights this place has to offer. Since the casinos are nearby, you take a left turn and walk towards them.
You ignore the first two and enter the third. This is not due to the fact that us humans are choosy and never take the first but walk by in search of a better one (if you enter a loo at an airport or train station that has let's say five cubicles in a row, will you take the first one? You probably won't. A study has shown that the most frequented cubicle is the third, the second most frequented are the second and the fourth and then follow the first and the fifth. Why? We ignore the first because we believe that something better is waiting for us. We don't go to the fifth because it's too far away. That's why we visit cubicles 2, 3 or 4), no, in this case you're looking for a specific casino you once wrote about. You enter it and are struck by its luxury. It's better than you have ever imagined it. You feel lost in that massive gambling temple, but you play cool, don't want to show that you are a first time visitor, you don't want to lose your reputation and put on your best poker face. You pass by a mirror and believe to see the agent who chases gangsters in the name of Her Majesty, and feel immediately stronger, cooler and more powerful. You buy some chips and walk to a roulette table, where you watch for a bit. You try to remember what you wrote in your articles about this game. Once you remember, you sit down and play. Fortune is with you and you win a few rounds. Like in the films, people gather behind you to watch your moves. You start thinking, will the meeting be held in here? Is the person you are supposed to meet sitting at the table? You look at the people at the table, but they seem to be ordinary gamblers.
After a while you leave the table and walk over to Black Jack. It's time to try your luck there. Again you remember what you wrote in your articles, concentrate hard, listen to your gut feeling and win. You go to one of the restaurants to have something to eat, then you exchange the chips for money and leave the premisses.
It's still early in the morning and you decide to visit another casino. There you try your luck with poker. First you win, then you lose, then you win again and walk off with the same amount you had before you started playing.
It's nearly noon when you step outside. You take your map out of the pocket, try to figure out the way to the ruins of the church of St Paul, which is the top-sight of Macau. Once a Jesuit church, burnt down some 180 years ago and the only thing that survived the blast is the facade, that's why it's also known as 'The Gate to Nowhere'. On the way there you want to visit some churches, temples and gardens, but somehow you can't find most of it and end up seeing two churches, one of which is closed, and one garden, which is smaller than you thought. Finally you reach the stairway in front of the ruins of the church of St Paul and stand still for a while. It is quite surreal and spectacular. There are many tourists, predominantly Chinese couples who take selfies and photograph each other.
You walk slowly up the stairs and when on top, just under the arch, some Chinese spot you and want to have photos with you. You smile as always and say 'of course'. Then you walk around the ground for a while and watch the crowds and the facade. Then you decide to walk around the cobbled paths of the old town and visit a church or two and have lunch somewhere. You pass by a McDonald's and see that it is packed, so are a few other restaurants on the main street, that's why you turn into a side street and discover a little place with local food. You enter the restaurant, ask if they accept credit cards, because you don't have any MOPs (local currency), sit at a table, order and enjoy your meal. You are a bit disappointed though food is similar to the one in China. You expected to find something Portuguese. When you ask to pay and wave with your plastic money, they tell you that they don't accept it. But when you asked, they said they did. Great confusion! The ladies discuss something you don't understand and then they tell you to follow one of the waitresses to the nearest ICBC branch where you can withdraw money. Out of the restaurant, turn right, down the road, right again until a main road with many shops and right again. There you are. You withdraw the amount for your meal, plus an extra tip, hand the money to the lady, thank her and you both walk off to different directions.
You take out the map again and try to figure out the way to the Guia Fort, that's the fortress on top of a hill and you walk more or less in that direction. All the street signs are in Portuguese, but the people speak Cantonese and don't seem to understand either Portuguese or English.
While you walk along the streets, pass by shops, boulevards, bars, etc. you notice that people are quite similar to Hongkongers in their behaviour. They don't honk, they don't spit, they don't shout. After a while you see the fortress high up on a hill and take out the map again and try to find the shortest way to it. The shortest way involves a steep road up the hill.
A while later you reach the top and are rewarded with some spectacular vistas over the peninsula. You walk along the wall and enjoy the view and then you stop at a point where fewer people are and look down to the city.
While you're in deep thoughts, a lady approaches you and places herself next to you on your right.
-It took you a while, she says.
-We didn't have a set time and place, did we? you ask.
-No, we didn't. But stop bitching around. What's the code?
-N-O-O-D-L-E-S. What's yours?
-B-E-E-F.
You look at each other and start giggling like children. Whose silly idea was this? Beef noodles? Give me a break! On the other hand, it does make sense, as it's one of your favourite dishes in China. The person who chose the codes seems to know you well. Too well for your taste. The lady is called Vivi and is a brunette European with beautiful brown eyes and a cute smile. She's dressed like a tourist and has a digital camera hanging from her neck. That's something typical western. Asians use their mobile phones with their massive displays to make photos and westerners are more traditional and still carry around cameras. Vivi is being very professional and places her arm under yours, leans her head against your shoulder, makes a few photos from the surroundings with her other hand and asks you if you have 'it' with you. You have. You place your hand into one of your pockets, produce 'it' and give 'it' to her. She looks briefly at 'it' and hides 'it' away in her bag. Then you walk around a bit like a happy couple, before you both take separate ways.
You feel relieved that it's finally over and take the route down to the centre and with the map in your hands you try to find the way back to the boats. Once in the terminal, you buy your ticket, walk through the customs and disappear into the crowd walking towards the boat to Hong Kong.
If you would like to read more by me, find those two on Amazon:
