I finally took the ferry to Macau and spent a day exploring over there yesterday. Macau is a former Portuguese colony now under control of China as a S.A.R. (Special Administrative Region) like Hong Kong. Today, its home to a booming gambling industry - casinos are going up by the handful and are constantly busy. Getting there from Hong Kong is very easy: just a quick $20 ferry ride.

I was surprised to hear (and get the chance to speak) a fair bit of Portguese around town. Of course, the main language is still Cantonese but many busineses and shops display signs in Portuguese. Parts of the city feel very different from what I’ve been used to in Hong Kong. There are plaster facades, stone-paved streets and sidewalks and beautiful Portuguese-style buildings mixed in with the familiar Chinese metropolitan sprawl. I had a nice day walking all over (all over) and the weather stayed dry for the most part. It was cool to see several Catholic churches and Chinese temples right next to eachother throughout the day.

I’ve now got my ticket to Bangkok for tomorrow. I’ll be arriving there tomorrow evening to meet up with Brandon and the next day we’ll fly to Krabi (southern Thailand) to do some island-hopping for a few days. Sarah arrives in Bangkok on the 14th so I’ll be flying back up there to meet her.