I woke up early in order to catch a ferry to get to Macau by around 10am.
What the trains look like at 8am
To get to the ferry terminal for boats going to Macau, I got off at Sheung Wan station and just walked up, through a mall, to get to Turbo Jet’s ticketing counter (Cotai Jet is here as well). The ticket to Macau cost HK$163 (Rs. 1150/$21/€15) and I was hoping to get a seat for the ferry leaving at 8:45am, but as my bad luck would have it, the one guy in front of me at the counter wanted god-knows-how-many tickets and was arguing about change with the man behind the counter! Grrh, don’t you just hate it when this happens to you while waiting in line?! I stood there frustrated as not only did the 8:45am ferry fill up, so did the 9am one as well! I got one for 9:15am and then I waited at the departures ‘lounge’.
The terminal was filled with tourists from mainland ChinaI knew it would be well past 10am by the time I reached MacauThis was the standard ‘class’ which was comfy enough and air-conditionedI bid farewell to Hong Kong — for now
I asked for a window seat (as usual)
I kept praying I would get to Macau and clear immigration in time so I could head to the airport to see SNSD arrive. But that wouldn’t be the case.
I only reached Macau at around 10:30am. I already knew by now that my chances of making it to the airport in time were slim.The casinos greet you as soon as you near the Macau ferry terminal
As soon as I disembarked and made my way towards immigration, my hopes of getting out in time were dashed completely. My god the rush! Mostly mainland Chinese tourists all coming in droves every 5 to 10 minutes or so via each ferry. Compounded by some tourists (in this case Indonesians) who neither spoke English or Chinese making filling up of immigration forms and talking to the immigration officers all the more difficult. By the way, they hand out immigration forms (and you need them if you are foreigner) in the ferries itself. Save yourself some trouble by filling it up before you queue up at immigration. Macau, like Hong Kong, is another Special Administrative Region (S.A.R) under China. Meaning they have their own set of rules (thus the casinos), currency and administration. So even if you have a Hong Kong visit visa, it doesn’t apply, you still need to get a Macau visa. Visa-on-arrival is available to several nations, including India (30 days in fact), so no need to apply for one in advance – as it’s free.
I wanted to take a photo of the sheer volume of people at immigration but there were signs saying photography was prohibited. This was all I could sneak in to show you how long I waited to get to the counter.
By the time I was done with immigration, it was nearing 12:30pm. What followed next, well you can read that here.
Once outside the ferry terminal, I decided to check out The Venetian first.
All the big casinos have free buses from the ferry terminal to their respective casinos
It was a bit of a wait, but I got in one around 1pm.
This is the Macau Museum of ArtThis was part of some attraction called Macau Fisherman’s Wharf
Macau Science CenterKun Iam statueMacau Tower, from where you can bungee jump… if you have the gutsMacau city, although sparsely populated, was quite impressiveThe casinos are everywhere! After all, that’s where all the money is coming from. This is the MGM Hotel and Casino
The infrastructure is ready for the thousands coming in daily to spend a lot of money on this islandAnd that atrocity over there is the Grand Lisboa hotel and casino. In my opinion the ugliest building in the world.We were going to be taking that bridge to get to Cotai, a large piece of reclaimed land on which many of the big casinos were built onThey have quite a few of these suspension bridges
I can’t imagine what Macau must have been like before the big casino chains came hereThis is the Galaxy Casino and Hotel, which is close to The VenetianThe bus dropped us at the West Lobby of the hotelI mainly came to the Venetian for what its famous for — replicating the canals of Venice, ItalyWhile I was here, I picked up my ticket for the K-pop Nation concertThe hotel has many reception desks and lobbies, as this building site is huuuuugeAnd multi-storeyedI can’t imagine how may billions they spent building itI finally reached the shopsAnd the casino’s watered down version of Venice
And what’s Venice without a gondola boat ride right?
The gondolier (the man maneuvering the boat) even sings — and that’s how you know they mostly employed Filipinos for this job Honestly I had no clue how far along in ‘Venice’ I was – it’s pretty huge!
Man… the work that went into getting this done
Nothing classes up a grand casino modeled after Venice than a McDonald’s You have plenty of brands to choose from hereAll the walking eventually led me to the casino. But this is the only way to photograph the place, because like with most casinos, photography is strictly prohibited
There are many parts of the The Venetian that are only restricted to guests staying at the hotel, but if you got money to blow, there is so much to see and do here. I didn’t have both money and time (which was more precious), so I left having seen enough.
I waited for the shuttle bus back to the ferry terminalThat’s the Sheraton hotel to the rightThat’s the Venetian hotel. So no shortage of rooms here.And if the Venetian is full, you have plenty of choices all around. City of Dreams (L) and Hard Rock Hotel (R)
We passed by Macau airportThe annual Macau Grand Prix, one of the oldest races in, erm, racingThis is the main ferry and helicopter terminal
The bus terminal had buses going into the city and I hopped on one to get to Senado Square.
I took all these photos behind the glassLike I said, gambling is everywhere. This is Golden Dragon Hotel & Casino in Macau city.
I got down in front of Senado Square, which is famous for its remnants of Macau’s Portuguese colonial historyAs evidenced by the architectureBut before I could go any further, the smell of freshly baked Portuguese egg tarts caught my attention. Being one of three food items Macau is famous for, I obviously had to have one.I crossed the roadSenado Square is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site – one of many in MacauBut my god the number of tourists!
Senado Square has enough of the usual brandsSt. Domingos (or Saint Dominic) churchI didn’t bother too much with colonial churches as I’ve seen my fair share in India and a ton in Philippines
This is supposed to be a historical place, but it’s quite commercial
I just kept walking around, exploring all the smaller streets
I had to try one of these pork buns tooI walked past a very busy shop called Kok KeiThey were handing out several samples of Macau’s other famous tourist treat – almond cakes (although biscuits or cookies would be a more appropriate definition)After trying out a few samples, I decided to pick up a few boxes to take home. The almond biscuits were good but nothing I hadn’t tasted before. Only bought them because I didn’t know what else to take back from Macau as a souvenir.Oh, Macau’s third most popular food snack – jerky. Beef, chicken, pork and probably some other meat too… you get them all jerky-ed.But before I left, I just had to have more of these egg tarts. I was hooked on them! (They cost HK$7-$8 in these parts)I moved to the next attractionTake away the signs in Chinese and you would mistake this for some European townThis remains one of Macau’s biggest tourist attractions – the Ruins of St. Paul’s CathedralThe church was destroyed in a fire way back in 1835Only the facade remainsStill standing tallThis is what it looks like from behindA few historical artifacts were excavated and preserved hereFrom here too, the building that ruined Macau’s skyline is visibleI decided to check out the nearby fortress and museum
Macau garden hillThis is the Fortaleza do MonteFortaleza do Monte entranceThe fortress also houses the Museum of Macau — which was closed by the time I got hereAnd what’s a colonial fortress without the obligatory cannonsHow I so wish I could fire one at that architectural atrocityYou get some great views from up herePanorama comprised of 8 shots
Even though I knew I didn’t have much time, I felt like exploring Macau a bit more
I had no clue where I was walking to, but that’s usually what compels me to keep walking I walked through some neighbourhoods to get an idea of how people who don’t gamble all day live in Macau. Also passed by a lot of Filipinos
Luis de Camoes gardenAs I was getting late, I simply hopped inside a taxi and went back to the Venetian. And I passed by the Grand Lisboa again.Each of these bridges only goes one way
The taxi dropped me at an another entrance where I saw just how much beauty the Venetian has in store at every corner
Took both the above photos on my phone as I was rushing to get to Cotai Arena.
But I had to stop and take my camera out when I saw this!Print or real painting?
You can read about how the K-pop Nation concert went over here. After the concert, I took the bus back to the ferry terminal. It was well past 10pm, but the night was still alive in Macau. After all, the amazing nightlife is one of the reasons why people visit Macau. If I had the money I would have spent a few days in Macau because you really need to if you truly have to enjoy all that Macau has to offer. I would have liked to have checked out Galaxy Casino and City of Dreams, but I neither had the time or the money this time around.
So back to Hong Kong it was
By the time I arrived, it was nearing 1am. I cleared immigration and fortunately got a minibus going straight to Mong Kok. I had my dinner from a 24-hour McDonalds and called it a night.
But that wouldn’t be the case.
Took both the above photos on my phone as I was rushing to get to Cotai Arena.
