My family and I found out that you can go to Macau, a special administrative region (just like Hong Kong). So, we embarked on a great adventure. We needed to pass Passport Control to get on to the ferry, and because there were no regular tickets available, we ended up being in premium class. They served us food and drinks and we got on and got off first. Niiiice.

The journey took one hour and was very pleasant. When we arrived a nice gentleman approached us and offered a tour of the island for the entire day. He would take us places in his car, tell us about history, and wait for us when we walk around. His name was Mario and he was great. Macau is very interesting. Until 1999 it was a Portuguese colony, so Portuguese is their official language, in addition to Chinese. It was discovered by a famous Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama in 1554 and was one of the largest ports in Asia. First we decided to go to a giant statue of the Goddess of Mercy. You can go into it (just like the Big Buddha!). We came out on the other side. We watched the ships pass by. After a few minutes we got into the car and drove to the Macau Tower, the tallest tower in Macau. It is 338 meters tall. It also is the tallest bungy jumping tower in the world (233 meters). We actually saw a person jump!

We drove around and saw the Grand Lisboa, a 5-star hotel and casino. Its design is very nice (as are so many of the buildings in Macau). We also saw the Gate of Understanding. The design of it was made so if you look from one point you cannot see it connected but if you move a little you can see that it is connected! We also went to the A-ma temple, the oldest temple in Macau. It is dedicated to the goddess of the sea, Mazu. We burned a lot of incense. After that we went to the Ruins of St. Paul’s Church. It is a ruin of a church that was built when Macau was still a Portuguese colony. It is very old. We walked around for a little while, got into the car and drove to see a performance at Galaxy Macau, a big (fancy!) hotel. There was a fountain that moved up and down, and in the end, It made a diamond appear from inside it! After that we decided to go eat inside the Venetian. It was beautiful inside (and delicious)! Then we drove to the seaport, got on to a ferry and sailed back to Hong Kong.

I cannot wait to come back to Macau. (answer to the question about my general: vikarala is armed with a vajra)