Macau (5/13): Massage and Visa

On the day after 'Let's Fight" I had to go to Macau since it was a month since I had been in Hong Kong and my temporary visa was expiring.

Actually, it's strange becuase all my other visas were for 90 days, but this was a 30 day visa.  And after the following weekend I received a 90 day visa again.  So I'm not sure what the rules are there.  But ... whatever.  I do what I'm supposed to.

So, Sunday I ran by work for a few hours, did a bit of this and that, and then went over to Shun Tak and boarded a TurboJet for Macau.

The Shun Tak HK Ferry Terminal

Lots of people getting off the boat!

When I got to Macau I didn't really have any plans.  My goal was to find a decent massage place and my other goal was to get some dinner.  So, first I went to the Lisboa Hotel and got a sandwich at their bottom floor cafe.  I also got to see what people call the "Lisboa Racetrack" (or so I was told after the fact). 

Basically a hallway where a constant stream of Chinese "ladies of the night" walk back and forth from one part of the building to the other (if they stay in one spot too long it's called "loitering" so they have to be constantly moving) and they try to entice men to ... well.  You know.

It's interesting to watch this as you're eating a sandwich and avoid eye contact with the girls (if they see you are looking towards them they'll try to get your attention and ask you to .. well.  You know), but at the same time it's really an interesting spectacle so you're sort of inclined to at least observe.  So it's kind of like looking at the sun.  It's very noticeable and hard not to see, but you dont' want to stare directly at it.

After that I grabbed a taxi and asked him to take me to a place I could get a "legitimate" massage (i.e. nothing I would have to cleanse my soul for after the fact) and he took me to some Sauna place.  At first I was a little apprehensive, but I saw some woman go into the same establishment so I figured it was okay.

You go in, shower and change into this robe thing with shorts, and then go to a big area to sit and relax. They have big screen TV's, food you can order, and even computers with free internet.  If you like, someone can come to give you a foot massage, pedicure, manicure, etc.  It was a little on the pricey side, but a great service.  It sort of reminded me of the hot springs in Xiamen, except not quite so big and grand.

So I relaxed, got a foot and shoulder massage, an ear cleaning, some food, checked my email, took a nap.  Actually, as it was getting rather late I found out that it was okay to just sleep in the chair as long as I wanted, so I crashed there for the night and got up the next morning to take the ferry back to Hong Kong. 

You can get similar sorts of things in China for very cheap prices -- like the Xiamen hot springs would have probably been a few hundred RMB, or for Lao Fanzi maybe 50 - 100 rmb, depending on the service.  So this place was more in the 500 - 1000 RMB range.  Kinda pricey, but a decent service.  I got the lower end of that range, btw.  (And by U.S. standards, it's still super cheap (around $70 - $130 USD).

Fancy lobby lights

An uninteresting street side in Macau

In any case, that was my trip to Macau.  After I came back to Hong Kong and was going through my passport I realized that I had miscalculated my need for a visa by 1 week.  Which meant that I didn't need to go to Macau at all.  Doh! 

In fact, I had thought my last trip to Macau was the last time I was out of Hong Kong, but I had forgotten my trip to Shanghai with Pat and Jack. 

Well, these things happen, I guess.  Too many stamps in the passport, perhaps? 

I'll have to visit this on my next trip over

Macau Ferry Terminal

View from the ferry terminal