Went to Macau and Hong Kong again in January and I absolutely love and enjoyed the cold weather compared to our hellish hot weather here… It was my second visit and I’m still not getting enough… I don’t mind going back there again and again… Hong Kong especially… sad to say although it’s my second time in Macau, I still have not completely cover the all the heritage sites. Many beautiful churches and temples I did not manage to go, I have not eaten Lord Stow’s and Margaret’s famous Portuguese egg tarts and also have not eaten at Solmar’s, one of the most recommended place for authentic Portuguese/Macanese cuisine. Well, that gives me the excuse to go back there again… :P next round is going to be a relaxing 2 nights trip, and winter time! (nice to be walking around with cold breeze although the sun is shining!) This trip was initially Hong Kong only, but decided to just go Macau as well la since it’s just a ferry ride away… Anyways, be warned, photos overload as usual coming your way and I try no to say much la.. let the photos do the talking!
My flight was the first flight ex PEN of the day.. 6:00am! Good thing they have online check in, I arrived airport just on time.. at 5:00am :P Flying to HKG from PEN is faster.. less than 4 hours! So the journey is still bearable.. Air Asia.. if you know what I mean… :D
Arrived HKIA and have my luggage transferred to Turbojet.. Heading Macau directly from HKIA for HKD 215.. all I need was buy the tickets from the counter in HKIA (don’t have to go thru the customs checkpoint), and they have my luggage routed directly to the ferry terminal and auto check in for me. Made my way to the ferry terminal, everything was a breeze, and the ride to Macau was smooth.. around an hour comfortable ferry ride…
Still can smile on this ferry ride to Macau… haha… you’ll know why later…
I booked a night stay through Asia Travel at Metropark Macau, and it was a good deal.. MOP 489 per night… something like that.. and it has got coach transfers form the hotel to the ferry terminal.. well, not as frequent as the other big hotels with casinos though.. but good enough.. :D The area is actually not that prime, but I managed to walk to the ruins of St Paul, i think around 10 minutes walk to Grand Lisboa, 15 minutes walk to Senado Square and 20 minutes to Ruins of St Paul. With the cold weather, no issue at all… only my shoes that were actually killing me….
The room… was okay… clean with basic amenities.. small lcd tv, coffee making facilities.. overall, okay la… next round I wanna try staying in Venetian or something.. :P
First meal of the day… it was not good… luckily I was not that hungry… haha… their serving as usual, BIG. Ordered seafood and vegetable in cream sauce with rice.. just okay… and I can’t remember what noodle was that but it was really oily with one piece of oily deep fried pork chop.. more of like oil soaked pork chop.. cost us around MOP 66.. i think.. :P
Start out journey to Senado Square… passing by Grand Lisboa… the last time I went was at night.. brightly lit and pretty!
Historical buildings…. right opposite Senado Square.. is the Instituto Para OS Assuntos Civicos E Municipals Building (Macau Central Library)..
And here we are at Senado Square… things were all over as they are preparing to get the Chinese New Year decorations up!
Busy and packed with people… I think Senado Square is one of the most visited places in Macau by tourist, casinos aside :P it’s because a batch of the heritage sites and building are actually adjacent. Mostly within walking distance.. and that Koi Kei bakery… one of the busiest and packed with customer…
Wing Kee beef offal stalls is actually just a few meters away from Metropark. Chestnut stalls and the food in sticks are at Senado Square… my sis said her friends told her it’s nice… I didn’t know, so I’m gonna try them next time…
And the famous Ruins of St Paul… when I went with my bro in 2008, it was evening and dark already…. this round the sun is shining, the sky is bright and it’s pretty!
The surrounding area of the ruins…
Photos photos photos…
A few days later, when my sis went, it was already decorated into a Chinese New Year mood.. with plum blossoms all over… nice!
Na Tcha temple is just right behind Ruins of St Paul… turn left at the top of the stairs at the entrance of the ruins
Several places I did not manage to go this round, only passed thru during the coach rides, top right is the ferry terminal… where the journey in Macau begins.. that’s Macau tower… Golden Lotus Square, with that golden lotus sculpture
City of Dreams.. with few major casinos and hotels.. one of it is Hard Rock Macau alongside with Grand Hyatt and Crown Towers
Rock Shop Macau…
Dinner at City of Dreams.. surprisingly we did not feel really that hungry despite the cold weather… we shared a tempura don since the portion is quite big and it’s yummy @ MOP30.. better than lunch!
Macau at night is really really bright and colourful….
Right opposite is the Venetian Macau! walking distance.. and need not worry about transportation in Macau… to and from major areas, free coaches available… my main exchange point was the ferry terminal.. i arrived ferry terminal – free coach to hotel – walked to and fro hotel, Grand Lisboa, Senado Square and Ruins of St Paul – free coach to ferry terminal – hopped in free coach to City of Dreams – walked over to Venetian – free coach back to ferry terminal – free coach to Grand Lisboa (cos my hotel’s free coach last ride was at 9:30pm) – walked back to hotel.. i did not spend a single cent on transportations around Macau this time…
Venetian Macau…. was dead tired by then…
So i totally forgot about this place in the Venetian… my sis went and when i see these photos… I was like.. ahhhh…I forgot about this place and didn’t go! *knocks head
Rua De Peqium is the road Metropark is located… so we went to the nearby shop for breakfast…
Breakfast before heading to Hong Kong… Pork Chop Bun, Pineapple bun, hot drink, milk tea and horlicks, and fried noodles.. again.. enough to feed 3 person that plate of noodles…
The food was okay… well, we should have went there instead for lunch the day we arrived… haha.. both myself and Branda agreed that the food here is definitely better… and again… still can smile during breakfast not knowing what’s gonna happen next…… packed our luggage, took our hotel free coach to the ferry terminal, bought out tickets to Kowloon via First Ferry…
and my nightmare begins here! A rough 1 hour ride to Kowloon, Hong Kong! That explains no photos in the ferry cause I was busy counting seconds for arrival and time went really slow… i don’t recall my ride the last trip from Kowloon to Macau to be this torturous… The moment we went in the ferry, even before it start moving, I had bad feelings about it, i kinda regret for taking breakfast that morning… the sea was very rough… the lady sitting at the next row already prepared few bags in front of her… I was like, oh no… and oh well… i tried to sleep but i couldn’t, I don’t remember popping how many mints in my mouth but it was hell lots of it… I had cold sweats and wasn’t sure if my face had turn green or pale white.. it was like only first 15 minutes of the journey… and the lady i mentioned earlier has already processed her first bag of “sharks fin soup”.. what i had during breakfast was practically up at my chest already.. i continued popping mints.. and turned away while she processed her second and third bag…. i could not stand the smell I decided to go to the toilet and wash my face… the ride was really rough i nearly fell off while walking to the washroom.. good thing the washroom was clean.. and since no one came knocking, i spent my last 15 minutes in the washroom cubicle, looking at the mirror and play games from my phone! I survived the ride and did not waste food! yay! Hong Kong photos soon… stay tuned…
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