Making the Jump

First of all, I'd like to apologize to those I didn't meet up with in Hong Kong. I'll make up for it next time. And there will be a next time, I'm pretty sure.

Ok, so now that that is out of the way, I'd like to share my jampacked Hong Kong and Macau experience and the one "once-in-a-lifetime" activity that made it all the more memorable.

We went to the spanking new Changi Airport Terminal 3 where things are just about squeaky clean, early in the morning to catch a flight to Hong Kong International. The brand new airport looks good and it's got that more wide-open feel, truly world class. Flying Singapore Airlines economy class has always been a treat, and for this flight, I got to watch 90% of the movie 3:10 to Yuma (as I ran out of time, I don't remember why), just short of the climax/resolution. In HKG, immigration lines were a bit long and took quite a while. After we were cleared, we gathered our luggage, got Airport Express Tourist Transport tickets, got money from an ATM and headed towards Hong Kong Island via train. Once on IFC, we took a cab to L'Hotel Causeway Bay, which is a stone's throw away from Tin Hau Station. It was a convenient location for a hotel. The weather was cool and damp at around 12-18C (I'm guessing). I wore a shirt, a sweater and a jacket which I occasionally took off.

The grand tour started at Tsim Sha Tsui, after that short meal in Cafe de Coral. Taking the Star Ferry from the terminal, we got a good look of the harbour despite the fog and smog. Bus 15C took us to the lower Peak terminus, and from there we took the Peak Tram to Victoria Peak. That afternoon, we were blessed with a relatively clear view of Hong Kong and Kowloon. We spent the evening with a long trek to Citygate Outlets way out in Tung Chung. Just before calling it a night, we decided to check out Causeway Bay and curiously watch people looking up at the big screens showing Edison Chen's press conference.

Day Two started in historic Mido Cafe near Yau Ma Tei. It started drizzling while we were walking to Mongkok along "The Golden Mile", Nathan Road. In the area, people were watching replays of Edison Chen's press conference. It really was a big deal to the locals. We continued our trek through Tsim Sha Tsui, looking for bargains, though nothing was really compelling. We spent just about the whole afternoon on the south side of the island to check out Ocean Park. The weather wasn't cooperating, forcing the park to shutdown the rides that we came there for. We managed to watch the dolphin show, go inside the atoll reef, and ride the Abyss. After the cable car ride to the main entrance, we got a chance to see the Giant Panda Habitat, which was a unique experience. Back smack in the middle of the city, we had dinner at Canteen in IFC Mall to watch a muted Symphony of Lights from the HK side. We got dessert at Lucky Desserts near World Trade Centre.


Day Three started with a quick breakfast at Cafe de Coral, after which he headed straight to Sheung Wan. That place of course is where we caught the (Turbojet) ferry to Macau. After enduring the bumpy 1 hour ride, we were at Macau Ferry Terminal. We took a cab to Macau Tower, where my pilgrimage will take place.

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This probably merits a blog entry of its own, but I'm confident that I can fit the entire experience narrative in a paragraph or two. Here it goes.

The "once-in-a-lifetime" activity was bungy jumping from Macau Tower, the self-proclaimed World's Highest Bungy Jump at 233 meters. We could get into technicalities about how it's not pure bungee what with all the safety equipment, but who really cares. In any case, I got booked something like an hour before the scheduled time, which made me feel like dead man walking. During that time, I didn't think it was a good idea to have lunch even when I eventually did. The feeling is similar to taking the final exam in school, not knowing if you're prepared. You dread the event, and at the same time, you want to get it over with quickly. As the slated time approached, I signed a couple of waivers, got the complimentary shirt, and emptied my pockets of stuff which could potentially kill people at 9.8 meters per second. I was scared shit and excited, but I got a bit more confident when I saw that three Korean girls ages 11-16 were ahead of me. Maybe it's won't be so bad after all.

It started to rain lightly when I was outside the observation deck, which was the 61st floor of the tower (which I assumed to be 233 meters up, as advertised). It was pretty windy as well. After the three young ladies did their jump, I got a good insight of how the components of the contraption work. Each jump took about 5-10 minutes from when they tie up your legs to the time you head back upstairs from the ground. There were three guys operating the jump from the deck, two others to document (still and video camera), and two to pick up your body parts down below (kidding, but there were two at the ground floor). The view from up there wasn't really spectacular, no thanks to the weather and the fog. The scariest part of the experience was walking the plank and into position. I began to realize that there's no way to go but down. I still had the composure to give a thumbs up with a smile to the video team and to follow the instructions on how to jump: arms out, chin up, and try your best to fall over (instead of jumping down). Behind the smile was of course the frozen terrified smile which I held for a couple of seconds.

"Get ready!...5...4...3...2...1..."

The initial sensation was that of panic as I didn't expect the bungy cord to be so heavy as to actually pull my legs down. In fact in the video, you can see me momentarily flailing my arms. I must clarify that wasn't an attempt to fly but rather it was of wanting to fall forward. About a second in, the cords did it for me, and I was looking at the ground from that time on. The wind and rain smashed into my face, but I learned to trust the safety equipment, and eventually just enjoyed the jump. It really was a long way down and I got to look around the landscape on the way. I made it a point not to blink during that time just to milk it for what it's worth. Way short of the landing cushion, I got pulled back by the cord for another (relatively) high drop. After that was a lot of bouncing up and down until of course you settle in a really uncomfortable upside-down position, legs hurting from the strain. I got a chance to look around some more while they were slowly lowering me to the pad. And that was that.

You can see the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAlPSBS-uic

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After spending a considerable amount of time in Macau Tower, we hurried to the taxi queue to get to Largo do Senado and Ruinas de São Paulo. The plaza was packed with weekend loafers and tourists as it should be. The neo-classical architecture around this area was a sight to behold and looks good in the pictures I took (again despite the gray and gloomy skies). As in almost anywhere in the colony, The Casino Lisboa looms over the buildings like a giant overlord. Behind the polished tourist attractions were ugly old residential apartments. We trekked through the pedestrian mall and retail stores. Tasty Macau treats were sold on the streets, we got a box of egg tarts and a pastry which looks and tastes like local polvoron and puto-seko (I don't know what it's called). Up the hill was Ruinas de São Paulo, which was basically the facade of the original cathedral. That short journey was the end of our Macau city tour as we rushed back to the ferry terminal to catch the 5:05 back to Hong Kong.

Back in the former British colony, we managed to get seats at the delightful Shanghai Mian in World Trade Centre. We ordered dumplings, pork buns, seafood fried rice, shrimp, and smelly fermented tofu (which I found revolting).

The final day of the trip started with breakfast at a place whose name I can't recall right now. But it had excellent dimsum which was the perfect local experience. We followed that up with another trip to Mongkok to do some last-minute shopping. The next stop was Pacific Place in Admiralty which is an excellent shopping place for branded items. Lunch was near Lan Kwai Fong, serving various rice and noodle dishes. XTC ice cream helped take away the oily taste. One last look in Central and we were off to collect our bags from the hotel. Waiting for our 8pm flight wasn't so exciting but we got to look around SkyPlaza before going through immigrations. The plane was 15 minutes late, but it was OK. I finally managed to finish 3:10 to Yuma on the flight back, a very satisfying film. I tried to watch Bee Movie but I was unable to complete the damn thing. Not that I was entirely sorry, though. I thought the movie was cute and had some funny bits, but overall it was terrible and got a bit preachy as well, not to mention borderline bestiality wasn't far off (you didn't really need to read that). A couple of hours after and I was back in good ol' ever-humid Singapore.