Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau - September 27

Hong Kong & Macau
October 3 - 12, 2003

I departed Singapore late morning on October 3, on Cathay Pacific Airways flight CX714 for Hong Kong. The flight landed at Hong Kong International Airport in just a little under 4 hours, where I was met by my aunt in Hong Kong.

Immediately, I noticed the weather was still very warm, but not nearly as hot as Singapore. The temperature in Hong Kong was generally just below 30ºC, with much less humidity than Singapore.

Having already visited Hong Kong the year before, it was much more familiar territory than Singapore, so I was able to spend more time on my own. Nearly all travel was done by bus, MTR train, ferry and on foot. Nearly the entire public transit system in Hong Kong is linked together, where passengers can use an Octopus smart card, much like in Singapore, but to an even greater extent. Vendor stores located within the MTR train stations accept the Octopus card for purchases as do many convenience stores outside. The public transit system is every bit as efficient, safe and clean as it is in Singapore. Together with Singapore, these are two of the best transit systems I have ever travelled on in the world.

I took a day trip on October 8 to Macau with several relatives. Having been a Portuguese colony for over 250 years (handed back to China in 1999), it had a distinctly different appearance than the former British colony of Hong Kong. Much of the Portuguese influence, particularly in the architecture was very prevalent, its European colonial rule having a greater visual impact than it did in Hong Kong. It was actually quite interesting to see the meshing of Chinese and Portuguese heritage.

Both Singapore and Hong Kong are very tourist friendly places, with English being very prevalent in signage and spoken by a large portion of the population. Singapore has 4 official languages, including English, and Hong Kong was a British colony for over 150 years.

Unlike the year before, there was no 6 hour departure delay. But then this year flying on Cathay Pacific Airways would eliminate any chance of such a delay, Hong Kong being it's hub. Flight CX828 was another long trans-Pacific flight with a technical stop in Vancouver for cleaning, re-fueling and a crew change, then onwards to Toronto, arriving almost 45 minutes earlier than scheduled, the same day as my departure from Hong Kong. My whole flight experience on Cathay Pacific definitely makes it one of the best airlines I have ever flown with.

Despite having been to Hong Kong just the year before, this trip was just as enjoyable. I would go back again in a heartbeat. But the trip to Singapore was just as enjoyable if only to visit relatives I had not seen since I was a newborn and to finally meet my longtime friend Julinda in person. I definitely see myself going back to this part of the world again...even after having already been there 16 months earlier...it's just a matter of when.