Memories of Macau

I love Macau. When a middle-aged man writes something like this, people usually look down on him. However, I cannot help it because I just love there. That said, I am not interested in the flashy, gaudy Macau that the middle-aged men tend to love, the kind that makes people look down. Nor do I have any interest in the glittering, glamorous Macau that ladies tend to love, the kind who look down on such middle-aged man.

The day after arriving in Hong Kong, I took the ferry to Macau. The main purpose of the Macau visit was a local dim sum restaurant called “Lung Wah Tea House” located near Red Market in the old town. I love the retro atmosphere of this place, the kind of place I would think it is no longer exists in Hong Kong.

Since the dim sum restaurant was my main purpose of visit, I booked the first ferry of the morning in order to arrive before it gets crowded. Given that I went to such lengths, it would have been a smarter choice to go to Macau directly from Shenzhen Airport, stay in Macau for one night, and then head to Hong Kong. By the time I realized this, I already noticed that I had booked wrong hotel in Hong Kong, and I could not help but conclude that I really was not very smart.

Even someone as clueless as me could tell that it could be a waste to go all the way to Macau early in the morning just for dim sum and head back. After breakfast at Lung Wah Tea House, I decided to go sightseeing in Macau’s old town.

When it comes to tourist spots in Macau’s Old Town, the church with only its wall remaining and the Portuguese-style streetscape are famous, but it was just way too crowded. After looking at the church wall, I headed to an egg tart shop collaborating with Snoopy. Just these two visits made me completely exhausted. Maybe I just visit at bad times, but I only have the impression that Macau is always crowded.

Setting the crowds aside, the biggest issue for travelers in Macau is probably the currency. Macau has its own local currency called Pataca. While you cannot use Macau Patacas in Hong Kong, you can use Hong Kong Dollars in Macau just like the local Patacas. The exact exchange rate favors the Pataca slightly, but even for public system like buses, using Hong Kong Dollars as equivalent currency works just fine.

Therefore, for a short stay from Hong Kong, you should be able to go without any worries. Indeed, I did so. However, in Hong Kong, I rely on its Octopus card for cashless travel. Furthermore, taxi apps did not work in Macau, so I needed cash to pay for the taxi fare. I went to Macau without much cash and nearly ran out of it.

Since Macau’s old town was crowded and I had almost no cash, I decided to go back to Hong Kong after visits to 2 locations. I had a 50-pataca note left, I made a small shopping at Macau City Hall gift shop and made sure to have coins exactly enough for the return bus fare. All I had to do was take the bus to the ferry terminal.

A common mistake in this situation is getting on the wrong bus. It is the mistake I, not being the brightest, tend to make.

By the time I left the City Hall building, I had my left and right mixed up, so I ended up taking a bus going opposite direction. To make the matter worse, I was sitting facing backward on the bus, which made it even harder to notice the mistake. Feeling utterly defeated, I started checking the route. I then realized the bus was passing near a hotel I had stayed at before, so I got off there. I remembered where the ATM was located in that area.

The ATM was a smart one that allowed withdrawals in both Hong Kong Dollars and Macau Patacas. The minimum withdrawal amount for Patacas was 100 Patacas. Since the bus fare for my wife and me was 10 to 15 Patacas, 100 Patacas was too much for me, as I was about to leave Macau.

After thinking for a moment, I came to an idea to withdraw a larger amount in Hong Kong Dollars since I was out of cash. Maybe I am as smart as this ATM. I withdrew 500 Hong Kong dollars and walked away calmly. I thought of buying a souvenir I had given up at the City Hall gift shop with cash, getting some change, and then catching the right bus.

There is a Japanese saying, “a chicken forgets after taking three steps,” but I realized something after three steps.

Even though you can use Hong Kong Dollars in Macau just like the local Macau Patacas at the 1-to-1 rate, it only applies at the time of payment. Since the Macau Pataca is weaker than the Hong Kong Dollar, change is generally given in Patacas. Even if I asked for the change in Hong Kong Dollars, since I only had a 500-dollar note, there was a very high chance that it would be mixed with Patacas. Even someone as clueless as me could tell that this might be a high-risk transaction. I had no choice but to go back to the ATM and withdraw 100 patacas for the second time.

I suppose this is a benchmark of my intelligence: Smarter than a chicken but not as smart as a multi-currency ATM. I only hope that I am as smart as normal single-currency ATM.