3 Nights in Macau – Episode I: Hit the street

Visit the Episode 0 if you haven’t.

I have circled the zones I wished to visit on a map the night before. It’s a matter of time and how I get there. I even circled places in Coloane (far south of Macau), after knowing the taxi fare could be easily over MOP$100; I dropped the plan, as I was very skeptical that it’s so remote there could hardly be anyone. I don’t even know if there’s any taxis on my way back. Perhaps another time…

So I instead walked around the blocks near my hotel. I just counted how many blocks I’ve walked, one way 18 blocks. Perhaps I’ve walked farther in Hong Kong. I’ve never counted. I just kept going. In this case I did, I walked to the other side of the city (actually half way); until I see the water (the Nam Van Lake where the new and old Lisboa Casinos were).

I have never enjoy the neon lights, city skylines, night cityscapes until a Korean girl told me how much she loved them. It was a cold night in Chicago where I drove from Southern Illinois. Perhaps it’s the feeling of getting rewarded after many hours in a car. I never slow myself down to enjoy what’s good in front of me. I’ve learned to stop and enjoy this year. Taking a deep breath at the important landmarks can really ease all my stress.

At night walking around the blocks of the casinos alone had forced me to be more alert and pay extra attention. I have proved it’s perfectly safe even dangling with my Leica X2.

Besides we share the same Cantonese dialect, everything is so new to me; nothing like in Hong Kong. The buses, people, motorbikes (lots of them), Gran Prix track, casinos, passages between buildings, tunnels…

That’s my first night. It felt great whether I got the photos i want or not. Just me, camera and a completely foreign place. As always feel the place by taking a deep breath!

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Episode II coming soon.