Not Ruined

When the sibs said that we'll head off to Macau on Saturday, it was greeted by excitement on their part. And dread on mine.

Saturday trips to Macau can be chaotic, as I've experienced personally when I was still living in HKG. Usually, on weekends, tourists from HKG, Mainland China, and the rest of the world, descend upon the small island. That's why everything becomes difficult - getting ferry tickets, finding cabs, moving around, the whole shindig.

Despite those worries, we decided to push through and enjoy the sights, sounds and free grub in Macau.

At the onset, there were already hitches and glitches. When we got to the China Ferry Terminal at 11:00am, it turned out that the earliest ferry tickets we could get was at 5pm! Which meant we'd lose an entire day.

Experience taught me, though, that there are scalpers who sell ferry tickets, albeit more expensive. We found one, and he was selling a one-way ticket for HK$250! (The regular price is HK$170.) Not one to be fooled, I looked around for other scalpers until I found a guy who sold tickets for the 12:15pm sailing for only HK$180. Not bad.

We got there past 1pm and decided to go straight to The Venetian. And my gosh! The crowds were just wild! It was like there were tens of thousands of people crammed in one casino! Jostling, pushing and herding became the norm. Thankfully, we were able to get out in one piece.

Next Stop, Senado Square and The Ruins of St. Paul.

Again, tens of thousands of people in one small area. Even Biboy and Liz were shocked at the sight of so many people. The crowd was so thick and unruly that we almost weren't able to find Ate Bullet and family. Thankfully, we were able to locate each other, and we all made our way to the ruins.

It was super difficult to find a spot to have a decent photo taken since there were so many people. We then decided to wait it out, and after half an hour, the crowds thinned, and we were able to have our group shot taken.

By 7:00pm, Biboy and family, as well as myself, were on a ferry back to HKG.

It was a short, frenetic and tiring trip. But because it was a short, frenetic and tiring trip with family, it was all worth it.