Off Topic: The travels that made me: Hong Kong & Macau

I wanted to try uploading this as Audio so forgive me if the sound quality is not amazing this was just a test, let me know if you prefer it in audio form as I want to try uploading more videos and audio in the future, saves you having to read everything!

Wow It’s been almost three years since I last updated this series so I thought I’d better continue! Last time I was over halfway through my travels en route to living in Australia and my last stop before landing in Melbourne to live out the rest of my days (Oh how that worked out…) would be Hong Kong for around 5 days with a visit to Macau included. This part of the journey for me was bittersweet because I had not been to either place since 2009 and after the last time I went to the latter I came back a bit of a changed person, but I’ll get to that.

I flew from Osaka, sad to be leaving Japan behind again after such a short visit but happy to be making progress along the way. I remember I’d bought all my tickets together through some website I found through Skyscanner and for some reason the ticket from Osaka to Hong Kong didn’t show correctly on my booking, I was assured all would be fine when in touch with Customer service but thought this could well be the end of my travels.

In the end it was fine but the staff at the airport were asking me so many questions about what I was doing because I didn’t have a return ticket to England. I thought they might not let me travel further, in the end everything was fine but it was certainly some unneeded stress!

When I arrived in Hong Kong I’d received my small suitcase only to find that it’d been pretty much obliterated somewhere along the way, while there was no damage to the inside, the outside was unusable so not a great start having to fork out loads of money for a new one inside the airport, if you’ve ever had this happen to you you’ll know that the airline loves to argue which country it happened in, being a bit more naïve I didn’t really pursue is but wish I had to at least get some kind of compensation, the new suitcase is still going strong today at least.

I’d begun to think coming back may have been a bad omen, I eventually reached my hostel and remember a guy trying to sell suits just harassing me constantly as I walked towards the entrance and me losing my shit with him, I’d not even had a long flight I was just pissed off that I’d spent money on a new case and had this guy badgering me, like did I look like the kind of guy that wanted to buy a new suit?

I entered my hostel room and thought I’d do the usual meet and greet you do with those in the room but this time around it was dead silent. It was a full room of a group of friends from France but one told me eventually that  they all were really sick and to stay away from them (Or maybe they just didn’t like Brits), they left the next morning and after that I only had one other person in the room with me who got on pretty well with me and was in Hong Kong for business, thankfully we both never got sick!

The Hostel was not too far from Kowloon Park which I’d take a walk around every morning, it was nice to return somewhere slightly familiar but also visit places you didn’t think to go to before, I wasn’t there to shop or see people I could just pick a direction and walk. What I love about Hong Kong is the street food, you can smell it from ages away and it pretty much invites you to come and take a bite, I think most of my meals there were street food if I’m honest as I was always on the go!

I also love the general architecture; the neon lights the tight spaces and how the city has tried and succeeded to put as many buildings into it as possible. While that might not be fun for the residents at times I can appreciate the design and aesthetic.

I used the app Meetup again for a day just to see what was going on and met up with a local lady and a guy traveling from Greece who was writing a book about his travels and people he met but with a focus on music, so we spent about 3 hours between us just discussing music and how our tastes in it have changed over time, unfortunately I lost contact with them so I wonder if my answers were ever used!

While I had a good time I felt I’d exhausted a lot of my options on what to do next, my room mate even took me to a business meeting with him one morning (which frankly was really odd and I still don’t know why I said yes or what my purpose was being there) and then they left back to Sweden so I didn’t really have much else going on.

I thought a little bit about some of my previous time in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau and how it’d been a great experience at such a young age but had left a bit of a sour feeling and I wanted to rectify that as best I could so I looked online for a ticket on the Ferry to Macau the next morning, I wasn’t sure exactly what I’d do, would I see anyone I’d seen last time (I didn’t!) and if so would they remember who I was (No, it had been about 10+  years).

To touch on the subject briefly, I was in a long-term relationship that was your quintessential high school romance, your first ‘serious’ partner and being young I truly believed from 14 – 16 years old that this person was the person I was going to Marry. The naivete of that looking back I think could be considered sweet but for me manifested in a bit of jealous behaviour over time which in turn made me not a nice person to be around from what I can remember.

Towards the end of this relationship from finishing high school and before entering Sixth form I was lucky enough during the summer holidays (and I mean truly privileged and lucky) to be able to visit and stay with my partner and their family in Macau where they were from. While the time there was really fun (I even got to see Linkin Park live!) I think general drifting apart, being ‘stuck’ together for 6 weeks and my jealousy brought things to a close not long after returning home.

I’d be pretty snappy, not really caring about other opinions, I don’t really know what my overall issue was other than not wanting to lose someone but not being able to address the drifting apart and the fear of the eventual moves to University down the line I think it manifested in frustration and that was taken out on my partner with my attitude.

I remember being so selfish at one point we were staying with family in Hong Kong and it was really humid for me, in the middle of summer it’s to be expected I guess but I just thought it was unacceptable we were staying somewhere that was hot and didn’t have aircon to whatever standard I’d been accustomed to, I whined about it enough that people went out of their way to accommodate me, really childish behaviour that mortifies me to this day.

I took the breakup really hard and I think it affected me a lot for quite a few years but was all down to me, not to be melodramatic but I think it was just a big shock to me at the time but I learnt a lot from the experience in the end and feel it made me a better person so there is no resentment for the other person. So while I’d not long before got back in touch with my ex-partner to apologise and move on I was hesitant to return to Macau and Hong Kong due to the time I’d spent there previously.

When I got back to Macau I never really had a plan in mind, I didn’t think about transport I just walked from the ferry to the centre and immediately felt a wave of nostalgia hit me, things had clearly changed but at the same time felt familiar. I never wanted to go to any Casinos but just to see them from the outside was as amazing as it had been years before.

I feel as though this time around I was a bit more conscious of the history and culture mix of the area, I really felt the Portuguese and Chinese influences in the architecture, food and more. These were aspects I knew about before but was too naïve to really take in and think deeply about or even appreciate. I was in awe at the towering gleaming casino buildings that looked like protective pillars over smaller neighbourhood, they were even bigger than I’d remembered.

I remember retracing a lot of my steps, visiting the amazing Ruins of Saint Pauls, eating Macau style Egg tarts and visiting the museum nearby. I think these Egg Tarts are the perfect example for me of how foods can unlock memories, it was like stepping back in time. The sun was out, the sky was clear but there was a great breeze through the islands, it was just a pleasant experience to walk around and take everything in. I didn’t speak to anyone until I waited for the ferry back, I just put my headphones in and walked and walked.

I remember telling my ex-partner that I’d decided to go, I didn’t say why other than I was already in Hong Kong and they seemed happy for me to be seeing the area again, I think we’ve always wanted the best for each other even all these years later which is around 16 now so I never felt it an odd thing to inform them of.

I still remember the kindness their family had shown me when I stayed with them, the amazing food they would cook, the places they would show me and the inclusion I felt at their family gatherings, they didn’t know me from anyone at first but I felt like a part of the family and for that I’m truly grateful, it will always be an experience that stands out, it’s a shame things happened the way they did but I’m always thankful I got to experience visiting.

I ended my time reflecting as I walked around Guia Hill Municipal Park, reflecting about not only my journey so far and the year I’d had prior but also my time in Macau previously and the outcome of that time. I could still feel a deep sense of regret about things that happened in the past but I could be thankful that I’d learnt from them and had become a much better person because of them. With the sun beginning to et I walked back to the ferry port and headed back to Hong Kong, wishing I’d spent a bit more time in Macau but being thankful I’d been brave enough to return and finally forgive myself for actions I’d made when I was a teenager.

I think this post was probably the most honest you’ll get out of me and was quite cathartic to write, in all honesty I enjoyed Hong Kong again but the trip was made because of my return to Macau and I wonder if I’d have ever returned there otherwise if I hadn’t bought a ferry ticket again on a whim.  I’d certainly like to come back again one day with my own family, even if just for a day!

With that being said, I was ready to take my last flight to Melbourne and reset my life fully. I headed back to Hong Kong on a later ferry to have one final day in the area before I flew to Bali for a stop over and then onwards to Melbourne from there. I remember thinking “this is it” it wasn’t just travelling anymore it was time to land and get a job as soon as I could so I could try to make a new life in Australia, a lot happened in my time there which I’m sure I’ll write about soon.

I appreciate this was more a reflection this time around but Thanks for reading!

I still travel quite regularly so if you’re interested in the places I’ve been my travel Instagram is: @Loostravel if you’d like to follow the instagram for the blog itself you can find it @ljinterviewswithyou. Lastly I’ve now got a ‘Buy me a Coffee account if you’d like to donate to help with the running of the blog feel free.