M is also for Macau

photo from Bloomberg Business

Macau is one of the two special administrative regions of the "People's Republic of China, the other being Hongkong.  Macau lies on the western side of the Pearl River Delta across from Hongkong to the east.  The territory's economy is heavily dependent on gambling and tourism, but also includes manufacturing (Wikipedia)

We were in HK already so might as well visit Macau for one day to have a view of their historical places.

You can visit Macau from HK by riding a one hour ferry ride.  We rode the TurboJet back and forth for HKD 680.00, we took the following schedules:

Depart from HK        - 10:30am
Depart from Macau   - 9:30pm

We wanted to make the most of our visit and thus we stayed there a bit late. 
We chose TurboJet as this is the most trusted one (based from Sweets' research).

Since you already know how to go to Macau, you can plan to go there in an earlier time, the ferry leaves every thirty minutes starting 7am and gets full easily.  My suggestion is for you to go to the terminal the night before your planned trip and purchase 7am ticket ride.  For me,  the earlier the better and you can make the most of your trip.

After your one hour ferry ride, you will arrive in their terminal and you still have go pass Immigration.

The day that we arrived there, it was the second day of the "Grand Prix" so lucky us, we were able to have a peek of the fast cars.  We even had the chance to take some souvenir items with us!

There was one stall with this person signing autograph, I wondered whether he was a celebrity because people were all around him.  I asked Sweets to take a picture of us but then he said "Kilala mo ba yun? (Do you know him?), then I said "No".  "Okie nevermind" I said, it will also be hard for me to explain to my friends who that person was. :D

We were suppose to meet with our two other friends in Macau, however, since they took the next hour ferry trip, it was too late.  Therefore, Sweets and I just roamed around Macau.

Essentially, Macau is a small place and for as long as you have a map and you did your own research then you will find your way along the streets.

Kudos to Sweets! He did all the research about Macau.  Unfortunately, since there was a Grand Prix, all of the roads were re-routed and we were a mess! Hihihihi! This made our trip even more exciting.

Macau Fisherman Wharf

The Macau Fisherman's Wharf is the first theme park in Macau.  The construction took five years.

The complex includes over 150 stores and restaurants in buildings built in the style of different world seaports. 
(Wikepedia)

Photo from China Travel.com

The one at my back is not a giant bottle of perfume.  This is the famous Hotel Lisboa.  

From the looks of it, I was immediately blown away because of its unique architectural design.  

It is a city within a city that is full of excitement and fun.  It was set up last 1970 and the hotel is one of the most famous hotels in Macau.

During the day, this is a golden jewel, at night, it even looked much inviting because of its lighting! 

On with our travel destination, first stop was at the Senado Square.

The Senado Square, or Senate Square, is paved area in the centre of the former Portuguese colony of Macau, China enclosed by the buildings of the Leal Senado, the General Post Office, and St Dominic Church.  (Wikipedia)

If you walk along the streets of Senado Square, you will see a lot of people! I mean a lot!  Then just walk around and you will see some other historical places there.

For one, you will see the Ruins of St Paul's.

The Ruins of St. Paul's refers to the ruins of a 16th century complex in Macau including of what was originally St. Paul's College and the Cathedral of St. Paul, a 17th century Portuguese Cathedral dedicated to Saint Paul the Apostle. Today, the ruins are one of Macau's most famous landmarks. In 2005, they were officially enlisted as part of the UNESCO World Heritage SiteHistoric Centre of Macau. (Wikipedia)

When you go all the way up the stairs, you will be directed to the "Crypt" where you can see the ruins itself and other antique paintings and saints.

Just before we leave the premise, very near that area is the "Museum de Macau".

The Museum of Macau is on the hill of the Fortaleza do Monte, a 16th century fort in Macau.The museum presents the history of the city and territory of the former Portuguese colony of Macau, now a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.

Planning for the museum started in April 1995, its construction began in September 1996. The museum was inaugurated on 18 April 1998. The museum building is located within the interior of the Fortaleza do Monte. Its total size is about 2,800 m², with around 2,100 m² of exhibition space. (Wikipedia)

 When we were at the museum (it was until 3F), I was happy to see how they set up their museum.  It was very kid friendly - where in kids will be interested to know the story in each of the items presented there.  I enjoyed it because I am a kid at heart! :D



 


After this, we headed to Macau Tower!  We were supposed to go up the tower, however, we thought that the view should be the same up there and thus we decided not to proceed!

Nonetheless, I will never miss the opportunity to take some photo opps!

Just across the street, we saw a lot of lights and tent and thought "what is happening there?"

Then when we went there! Wow! My initial thought was "We were very lucky" because the area was for the "Macau's 12th Food Festival".

A favorite event among local residents and visitors, the Macau Food Festival brings delicious Asian, European, Mainland China and local delicacies, and exciting entertainment and fun for everyone.  With the theme of global delicacies in Macau, the Macau Food Festival was like an amusement park where visitors can taste worldwide cuisines in just one place.  There were also game booths, live performances and beer competition during the festival. (Macau.com)


When we got there, we immediately exchanged our money to chits.  This is what we need to use in order to buy food! There were a lot of people and it was pretty organized.

We had a simple snack to satisfy our cravings!

- Chicken hotdog wrapped in bacon.
- Grilled Octopus
- Milk Tea!


The after this, we went back to the market area to buy more souvenir. Then we headed straight back to the terminal to wait for our ferry ride!

Another thing where Macau is famous is their casinos! There were a lot of them and they were very colorful at night.  We had no time to visit and thus we just looked at the buildings from our bus.

Macau is a simple and nice place, they were previously under the Portuguese Colony and thus you will notice that most of the words they use is in Portuguese as well as the streets and infrastructure!

Xoxo