Macau Trip-Day 1

If somebody invited you to travel abroad for the first time, would you go? Well I did, and I am so glad I did even though it wasn’t exactly planned for me and I am a bit worried about spending too much on this trip.

So after I decided to go to Macau, I booked a round trip ticket to Macau for April 2 & 6, 2014. Luckily, Cebu Pacific had this fare promo and I was able to get that round trip fare for only 4,488.14 which does not include anything else but a sit and a carry-on bag and travel tax & terminal fee’s not included. I accidentally selected a seat, so I guess I could have had that round trip fare for more or less 4k if I didn’t.

So in preparation for the trip, I made a budget plan to save up. I had about 3 months to prepare so that’s 6 payrolls for me and I have an online job on the side so I think I can make it.

So on April 2, we rode a Victory Liner bus to Clark Airport. I made sure that everything I need to carry fits in my backpack and only brought clothes that aren’t too bulky like leggings and skirts. I also made sure that I have with me clothes that are easy to mix and match. This also goes for the one pair of shoes and sandals that I brought along. And before I boarded the plane in Clark, I made sure I already had my PHP exchanged to MOP, which is the legal tender in Macau. But HKD is also widely accepted there.

I did not know what to expect as the plane started to ascend. My sister, who was with her family and was the one who invited me to go with them to Macau, has an issue with heights. So we exchanged reassurances before the take off. The flight only took about an hour and a half and I felt really excited as I looked out the window of the plane (I picked a window seat) and saw the evening lights of Macau looming closer as our plane prepared to descend. As we exited the plane, I immediately felt a blast of oh so cold air (I am a person who is perpetually cold). We arrived at 9pm and my sister did some research beforehand and so we knew that there are free shuttles provided by the hotels in Macau that would be waiting at the airport. So we rode a shuttle to Wynn Hotel, one of the many grand hotels in Macau. In Macau, there’s almost always wi-fi, even the free shuttles had free wi-fi, which is really wonderful.

We were pretty tired by the time we arrived at Macau’s main island. For our first night, we did not make hotel reservations beforehand so we had to look for one. We were able to settle on a hotel called Kou Va Hotel aka Ko Wah Hotel which is located at Macau’s former red light district. There are 5 of us, so the 5 of us split the accommodation for one night. The beds are very comfy and there are beds for each of us, plus there’s a TV for each room (the room was divided into two). The blankets are so thick and comfortable that I slept like a baby.

Kou Va hotel is within walking distance from Senado Square which is the first place we want to go to on our first day. We were also able to grab a couple of maps from the hotel, which was very convenient since we plan to tour Macau on our own.

Senado Square is a busy busy square and is a famous tourist destination. Tourists flock here to take pictures, shop and eat at traditional Chinese restaurants. The square is paved with a wave-patterned mosaic of colored stones that I really enjoyed looking at and walking on.

St. Dominic’s church is a baroque style church and can also be seen in Senado Square. The church dates back to the early 17^th century.

Our next destination was St. Paul Ruins. The streets leading to St. Paul Ruins are lined with shops and the most wonderful thing about the shops here is that they let you taste some of the food they sell for FREE! I love the almond cookies and the egg tart.

I was also able to taste the jerky’s they sell and they were pretty good.

The kiamoy here are the most delicious I have ever tasted. But it was actually quite expensive. So my sister only bought half a kilo of it and we devoured the whole thing as we toured Macau.

 

St. Paul Ruins is an old church that has been destroyed by fire in 1835. Only the façade of the church remains standing and it was one of the largest Catholic Churches during the 16^th century.

Since we needed to check out and go to our next hotel (we booked another hotel for April 3-4 beforehand), we grabbed our bags from Kou Va and had lunch at a nearby restaurant.

Ole’ London Hotel is just a little further than Kou Va Hotel from Senado Square. We checked in and once I saw the beds, I already missed Kou Va. It was narrow and not as comfy as my previous bed. The bathroom was actually so much cleaner here than at Kou Va’s, but I still missed our old hotel room.

On the way to Wynn Hotel (we were going to take a free shuttle), we saw the Grand Lisboa Hotel and this is one of the most impressive buildings that we have seen in Macau.

We rode the bus from Wynn hotel to the Airport and then from the Airport we rode The Venetian Macau shuttle. As the Venetian Macau shuttle was nearing the hotel, I saw how epic it was. At the entrance of the hotel, there was circus themed décor since they will be having a circus event. Towers loomed over the hotel and the theme is very Italian.

The inside of the hotel smelled of expensive perfume. We were even discussing whether they actually do use expensive perfume as air freshener because the place smelled so good. And of course, the interior was oh so grand.

We did not stay long because I insisted that we go to the Giant Panda Pavilion, even though it’s on Coloane, which was bit far from our hotel. And we need to get there before 5 pm because if not it would be by then closed. We rode a local bus to get there and we had our Pataca coins ready but we still got yelled at a lot since we were a bit confuse with the whole bus system and bungled a few times.

We actually kind of got lost and arrived about 15 minutes after 5. My heart broke a bit when they told us they were close for the day and that the panda was already resting. I almost almost cried but held it in. So we just decided to make the most of it since they let us walk around the pavilion, which also housed some other cute animals like the lemur and the pavilion is also a mini zoo. And for all my heartbreak, at least I got the panda bear stuff toy to hug.

Going back to the main island got a bit complicated when workers were coming out and filling up every bus as soon as they stop at the bus stop. So we waited, and it was drizzling a bit and we were feeling cold and somewhat tired.

We did not actually plan to go to Taipa Village, but since the bus we took had a stop near Taipa Village, we decided to go. Old colonial houses had been preserved here and made into a museum of sorts.

Before finally calling it a day, we went to Wynn Hotel to watch the famous Dancing Fountains Show. Music played while the fountain swayed and dance to the music as if choreographed. The show starts daily from 11 am to 12 am and runs alternately at 15 min. intervals.

Alas, we are weary from all the walking and decided to dine on a familiar restaurant, McDonalds. But the menu of the McDonalds in Macau actually has been tweaked a bit for a more oriental taste.

My bed felt weird in Ole’ London Hotel, but with all the walking we did all day, I was out cold within seconds. And my feet were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief for that day.

Macau Trip - Day 2