Hong Kong duck and Macau

Miniature vesion of mega duck. Not the same.

So I don't know if any of you have heard of the giant rubber duck that one day decided to leave the tepid waters of its bathtub, spread its wings and travel the world, but this duck is my hero. Seriously. The artist as well of course. What an ingenious idea. And since I'm on this side of the world, I thought, "hey, why not pop over to Hong Kong for the weekend and see this amazing duck"? So I did. In fact, my whole family did. The four of us bought tickets and flew 1hr 20min from Manila to Hong Kong to see the giant rubber duck that graces Victoria Harbour's waters. And what happens? The same day we arrive, some giant asshole decides to take all of their impotent rage out on a poor innocent duck and stab him mercilessly until he is reduced to a sad deflated version of his former self.

Mega sad face.

Well, since the duck was down for "maintenance" we did other things instead like rediscover the family roots and meet up with relatives we didn't even know we had. Which was fun. I like meeting cool relatives who are just as adventurous and full of life. They enjoy laughing just as much as the next person. Tim Chiu is one such relative, my mother's cousin on my grandmother's side, who lives in Macau. Usually I wouldn't recommend visiting Macau for all its glamorous and shiny casinos, but I would recommend it if you went to visit Tim and his version of the city. Old Macau is beautiful and historic, full of interesting alleys, old, run-down sky scrapers, humid and wet.

Cousins and Inti with bamboo stick

I may not be painting the most appealing images, but the beauty of Macau, is that if you really take the time, you will discover the historic Portuguese influence on the development of the city. The street signs are made of white and blue tiles. Detailed iron work decorates the old apartment buildings that tower over the old quarter. In the middle of the city, you'll find a surprisingly large park, carefully hidden away into the side of the mountain. At the top of this mountain, you will come across a tiny church and lighthouse combo and 360 view of the city. The two buildings are very simple, with minimal decorations, but the amount of care and effort that has been put into preserving these two buildings is impressive. I wish more people cared about historic buildings.

Run down the forrested mountain, leaping over waist-high white walls that line the city's paths, and you'll find your way to St. Paul's ruin, another impressive colonial gate like structure in the old quarter. Worth the walk, especially if you still have enough energy to march up another hill past the historic museum to wander around the old fortress. Picture another old concrete, mossy structure, with overhanging trees and vines, and giant canons. Very peaceful compared to St. Paul's.

There are more adventures to write about, but I will leave it here for now. I have to pack for Phillipine adventures in Butuan, my next destination.

Chinese-Portuguese fusion