In addition, could I have a hotdog, please? We were seated at TurboJET’s Premier Grand Class cabin, comfortably reclining on our spacious seats as we sped through the Pearl River Delta. We just started our journey from Hong Kong to Macau when a lady approached asking what we would like to have for snacks. Before the waiter started back to the kitchen, I called to her again, Err, can you you make it two, please?

TURBOJET’S TICKETING AREA AT SHUN TAK CENTRE IN HONG KONG

SHUN TAK CENTRE’S AIRPORT-LIKE TERMINAL

It was going to be my first time in Macau and I have zero idea how to get there from Hong Kong. It was a good thing that two of my travel mates have been zinging back and forth across the two regions since birth. I was, indeed, with good company.

From Pentahotel Hong Kong, we rode a bus to Shun Tak Centre in Sheung Wan where the terminal for Macau-bound ferries dock. It was easy as one, two, and three from there.

► SEE: MACAU UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE TOUR

My mouth was saying let’s go while my mind was thinking, can I not go? I gingerly walked towards the edge of the mildly swaying platform on one of the piers of the Chao Phraya River, handed over my camera bag to the boatman inside the long-tail boat—which was wildly bobbing up and down, by the way—and begged a prayer not to let my clumsiness take over and get dunked on the churning brown waters of the river below.

Please don’t fall down. Please don’t fall down. Please. Don’t. Fall. Down.

TRADITIONAL THAI LONG-TAIL BOAT USED FOR FERRYING PASSENGERS ALONG CHAO PHRAYA

I don’t really hate boat rides. What I don’t like is the actual act of getting into one and, equally, getting out of one. I can ride a bike but I really don’t balance well. Inching on a foot-wide plank from the safety of the still grounds to an even gently bobbing boat makes me ill. What more to a slim wooden boat, frantically swaying with no particular rhythm in mind.

► CHECK OUT: AMPHAWA FLOATING MARKET

The long-tailed wooden boat growled as we gingerly hopped from the pier and seated ourselves inside. All the other commuters had taken the previous boat, filling it almost to capacity. Now, this one was all ours. A guy called out for more commuters, but the pier was already empty. The motorized boat growled once more, and gaining speed, ripped across the narrow canal, roaring onwards to a place called we-don’t-know-where.

BANGKOK COMMUTERS TAKING THE MORNING WATER TAXIS TO WORK

We have no idea that such antiquated transport system still existed in the modern metropolis that is Bangkok. It was only by chance that we were staying in Novotel Platinum Bangkok, which sits beside the Khlong Saen Saep canal, and we saw these long river taxis plying the waterways in regular intervals.

With no real plans, we decided to ride one before we leave Bangkok.

► CHECK NOVOTEL BKK DISCOUNTED ROOM RATES

On our second day at Banton Island, D’s aunt suggested we visit a fish sanctuary after seeing the photos I took on their backyard, Malabiga Beach, using my little underwater camera. I was almost jumping out of my skin to go, D never mentioned there was a fish sanctuary in the area.

Everyone was excited except my lazy friend who was really on vacation mode and too lethargic to get off the sofa. While tinkering with his PSP, he says he lacks funds for the boat since we had to pay extra for the unexpected boatride to Banton from Marinduque. I offered to pay half of it, and that at last brought his lazy ass up (grudgingly hehe) and he finally consented in going.