Wednesday in Hong Kong

Wednesday January 30

Another cloudy rainy morning. It is my last day, so off to Victoria Peak I go.

I walk to the base of the peak. I always take a different route when I go for my walks. Good thing I have a great sense of direction, and I can read a map. Along the way I see many different buildings. The most interesting is an apartment building with TWO lobbies, one on the ground floor and one on the fourth floor. That is how steep the mountain is. One opens to the front on one road, and the other opens to the back on another road.

I get to the bottom of Victoria Peak. There is a coffee shop, and it is still very cloudy, so I grab a coffee and a donut. The tables are all outside, and the tables under cover have people sitting at them all. A young Chinese man motions for me to sit with him.

Kelvim, is a graduate of McMaster University, and coming to Hamilton in March for his honeymoon. His new wife has never been to Canada. We talk about Hong Kong and Canada. I give him lots of advice on other things to see. He offers to take me anywhere in Hong Kong or Kowloon I want to go, but I tell him the weather will decide what I do. We exchange numbers, and heads off while I head up/

Victoria Peak, named after of course Queen Victoria, rises up 552 metres from sea level, highest point in Hong Kong. Remember, this is a small Island, and 552 metres is a long steep way up. I board the tram and sit in front of a man with a small digital camera. He notices my Pentax, and says he has a Pentax film 35 mm. We start talking about the advantages and disadvantages os a compact digital camera versus a SLR digital. It comes down to convenience versus picture quality. I get better pictures, but have to carry it around.

George is from South Africa, there on business. We chat all the way up. The slope seems to be 45 degree at times, but I am sure it is only 30. We reach the top to see a beautiful view of the inside of a cloud. It is drizzling, cold, damp, with a visibility of 20 feet. But still , it was worth the trip up.

After eating another real hamburger at the Burger King, I head back to take the tram down. George, is on the tram too, so we sit and hat all the way down. We also exchange email address, and I am off again.

It is raining, so I grab a taxi, head back to the hotel, and decide MACÁU is the next stop. I call, Kelvim, thank him, and tell him I will see him in a few months.

The TURBO JET and Macáu terminal is close to the hotel. For 134 HKD, (about 17 dollars) I get a one hour trip to Macáu. Funny is was 174 HKG retuning ...

The turbo jet feels like it is going 100 km per hour, based on watching the cars we pass on the freeway. Macáu is only about 70 km. away, so it was not that fast, but close.

I arrive at the terminal, and there are a buses galore waiting shuffle people off to casinos. Kelvim mentioned LAKE CHARLES Casino, which I can not find, so I settle on the MGM Macáu. It is beautiful with a expansive courtyard between the lobby and the casino. Similar to the MGM in Las Vegas (yes I have been there too, but not on this trip).

I only play against other players. Playing against the casino is a sure way to lose. I go looking for the poker room. I can’t find one, so I ask. Eventually a nice gentleman employee talks to me. He is from Las Vegas. There is no poker room in the casino yet. There are some issues over money, due to Macáu’s position as a former Portuguese territory so close to China and Hong Kong, not to mention easy access form other south east Asia countries. So I say I will play “Let it Ride” and he says they don’t have that game either. I settle on a new game, “Caribbean Poker” at the lowest stakes I can find, 100 HKD ante.

I never played the game, and I will assume most readers haven’t either, so here is the reader’s digest version. Player put up the ante to get five cards. Dealer gets five cards, and turns one of his (her?) cards face up. Player looks at his cards, and decides to play or fold. If he folds, he loses the ante. If he plays, he puts up double the ante. So I played 100 HKD, I would now have 300 HKD on the hand.

Dealer shows his hand. If dealer has below A-K, there is no game, and player wins the amount of his ante. So I would win 100 HKD.

If he has A-K or higher, ( a pair or more) then the hand is played. If the dealer has a higher hand, then you lose the entire bet. If you have a higher hand, you get paid based on your hand. The ante pays one to one and the bet pays according to a table. A pair pays one to one, two pair pays two to one and three of a kind pays three to one.

I lost early, as expected, and was down as much as 2000 HKD. Then I hot a lucky streak. On tow of three hands I had trips, and dealer played - paying me 3 to 1 on each. A few more winners, and I was up all of a sudden, I went up as much as 1500 HKD, and finally left after not being able to play ten hands in a row. I was up 100 HKD, and very happy.

Onto the turbo and back to Hong Kong. I left Honk Kong at 2 PM, arriving in Macáu at 3. Gambled for two hours breaking even, and took turbo back at 5 PM arriving in Hong Kong at 6. A good way to spend an afternoon and get a stamp on my passport.

I met Betty and Ye Sow at 8:00 back at the Sogo store and we went to a Thai restaurant for dinner. A couple of beer, some appetizers and dinner. At 11 pm we paid and I was back to the hotel again. It was my past night in China. A movie and sleep time.