9 Days to Hong Kong & Macau
25/10/2011 - 2/11/2011
Macau
26 - 29 Oct 2011
Some history of Macau
Macau (澳門), also spelled Macao, is one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China (Hong Kong is the other.) Macau lies on the western side of the Pearl River Delta across from Hong Kong which is to the east, bordering Guangdong province to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east and south.
The territory's economy is heavily dependent on gambling and tourism, but also includes manufacturing.
Macau is a former Portuguese colony, and is both the first and last European colony in China. Portuguese traders first settled in Macau in the 16th century and subsequently administered the region until the handover on 20 December 1999. The Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration and the Basic Law of Macau stipulates that Macau operates with a high degree of autonomy until at least 2049, fifty years after the transfer. Macau was first lent by the Chinese empire as an trading port in 16th century, and had to administer the city under Chinese authority and sovereignty. In 1887, Macau became an colony of Portuguese empire and its sovereignty transferred to the Portuguese.
Day 2 (26th Oct 2011) Hong Kong to Macau
Upon checking our from Ah Shan Hostel we went to the ferry terminal to board the jet to Macau. Our stay is Macau is in Metropark Hotel, a Four Star hotel. The hotel provides free shuttle to and fro from the ferry terminal. We were told to look out for the hotel bus upon coming out from the ferry terminal as the hotel does not have a booth outside the ferry terminal. Almost all 5 Star hotels have their booths outside the ferry terminal to direct their guests. We waited at the usual stopping place for about 15 minutes before the bus finally arrive.
Metropark Hotel Macau is an elegant international standard four-star hotel that is situated only 5 minutes by car from Macau Maritime Terminal and 15 minutes from Macau International Airport. Its convenient location in the heart of Macau gives you all the advantages of proximity to major commercial, shopping and entertainment facilities,
The three nights stay in Metropak Hotel cost us HKD1, 931 or equivalent RM738.17 when we booked online through Asia Rooms. We choose this hotel as it is very near to all the major tourist spots and some of the major casinos in Macau, like Lisboa Casino, Grand Lisboa ,Wynn Casino and Starworld Casino. It is also about 10 minutes walk to Senado Square, the main attraction in Macau. In Macau you can get free shuttles from one casino to another, to airports and Zhu Hai City border.
After a short rest in the hotel we decided to take a walk to Senado Square to explore the place.
Our first photo stop. In front of Casino Lisboa, one of the early casinos in Macau
Senado Square with its Portuguese pavement of wave-patterned stones and globular fountain.
Road leading to Ruins of St Paul's that have shops lining on both sides selling mainly foodstuff and souvenirs.
The Ruins of St Paul's from a distance. The Ruins of St Paul's refer to the facade of what was originally the Church of Master Dei built in 1602-1640, destroyed by fire in 1835, and the ruins of St Paul College, which stood adjacent to the church. Nowadays, the facade of the Ruins of St Paul's functions symbolically as an altar to the city.
.
View from the base of Ruins of St Paul's
Macau's famous almond biscuit. That are many shops that offer free tasting of their biscuits before you buy them.
Various kinds of dried meats to suit your taste buds. Mainly pork and beef.
When night fall you can enjoy colorful lights that adorn the casino building.
There’s heavy competition among the Macau hotels and casinos. So most of them try to be unique in some way – either through a special decoration theme, through opulence, technical gizmos or sheer size. The Wynn in Macau tries to beat the competition through style and some automated shows.
Every fifteen minutes, there’s a show at the artificial lake in front of the hotel. The fountains are synchronized to music that ranges from classical symphonic favorites to Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Holding out for a Hero’.
It’s all very dramatic: sound and light, fire and water. Expect to get wet, depending on where you stand beside the fountain pool and where the wind is coming from.
Musical fountain (also known as Performance Lake) outside Wynn Casino. The water jets will gyrate according to the music.
Water fountain show
View of Lisboa Casino and Grand Lisboa from Wynn casino at night
Another scene with different change of lighst
When you’ve seen the fountain show, stroll through the hotel shopping mall past the Gucci, Armani and Prada stores to the mall rotunda. The rotunda is home to two shows – one always starts on the full hour, the other at the half hour.
At the full hour, you’ll see the dragon show. As the clock strikes the hour, the lights in the rotunda dim and dramatic music sets in. Below the rotunda’s cupola, an opening in the ground opens, fake fog seeps out and the ‘Dragon of Fortune’ appears.
The dragon is at least five meters high and completely covered in gold plate. As the statue of the dragon rises from the underworld, it slowly turns and the lotus flower which it guards lights up and opens.
Then the dragon slowly descends back into its cave in the ground. The lights come back on in the rotunda and hotel employees with vacuum cleaners quickly clean the place so that everything’s ready for the next show.
Dragon of fortune show
The next performance starts at the half hour. But that show is different: instead of the dragon, a gold tree rises up from below the ground and turns majestically. The leaves on this 33-foot ‘Tree of Prosperity’ are 24-karat gold. Above the tree, the rotunda’s cupola opens (again to dramatic music) and a giant chandelier appears.
Tree of prosperity show
Day 3 (27th Oct 2011) Macau
We decided to continue our exploration of World Heritage area in the morning.
View of Lisboa Casino and Grand Lisboa from Wynn Casino in the daytime
Senado Square is very quiet in the morning
Side view of Ruins of St Paul's
Mount Fortress (Monte Fort) - Built in conjunction with the Jesuits from 1617 to 1626, this was the city's principal military defense structure. The fortress was equipped with cannons, military barracks, wells and an arsenal that held sufficient ammunition and supplies to endure a siege lasting two years.
View of Grand Lisboa Casino from Mount Fortress
Museum of Macau at the Monte Fort and opposite St Paul's Ruins. The museum has a vast number of objects of great historical value.
Another view of Ruins of St Paul's
Luis de Camoes garden is named after a 16th Century poet warrior, who is supposed to have visited Macau and written some of his epic tale “Os Lusias” whilst living here. The garden itself, other than a small grotto containing a bust of the main man himself, really doesn’t seem to have much to do with him beyond the name as the rest of the park is taken up by some really nice landscaped gardens, fountains, small ponds and children’s (dilapidated) playground in the Eastern border.
Bust of Luis de Camoes
Casa Gardens is a small park located in the mainland area of the city. Built some time around 1799, the park was once the home of the wealthy Portuguese merchant Manuel Pereira and also the residence for directors of the Macao Branch of the English East India Company. Today the property is the headquarters of the Oriental Foundation, a private cultural institution involved in local and regional community and cultural affairs.
St Dominic's Church - Is one of the most beautiful churches in Macau. You will never miss this yellow and green Church right in the middle of Senado Square. It was founded by three Spanish Dominican priests from Acapulco in Mexico in 1587. It was renovated in 1997 and opened to the public with a museum, on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floor. The museum shows paintings, sculptures and liturgical ornaments that illustrate the history of the Roman Catholic church in Asia.
Inside St Dominic's Church hall
The back garden of Leal Senado Building
A-Ma Temple - The A-Ma Temple, located in the southeast of the Macau Peninsula, is the oldest temple in Macau. It was constructed in the year of 1488 of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to commemorate Mazu, the sacred sea goddess who blesses the fishermen of Macau. To reach here we decided to take the local bus from Senado Square instead of walking as the distance is quite far. Nearby is the Maritime Museum. From here we took another local bus to the Lou Lim Leoc Garden.
The most Chinese of all of Macau's gardens is the Lou Lim Ieoc Garden. It was built by a wealthy 19th century Chinese merchant, Lou Kau, and was inherited by his son Lou Lim Ieoc in 1906. When the family fortunes declined the garden fell into ruins, but it was eventually purchased and restored by the government and opened to the public in 1974.
The garden is modeled on those of Suzhou, the most famous of all Chinese classical gardens. Enclosed by a high wall, it is a miniaturized landscape with narrow paths winding through groves of bamboo and flowering bushes, under moulded concrete "mountains" to a large pond filled with golden carp and lotus flowers. A nine-turn bridge zigzags across the pond (according to legend, evil spirits can only move in straight lines) to a large pavilion combining Classical and Chinese architecture elements. There are frequent art and craft exhibitions in the pavilion, which also serves as an auditorium for recitals during the annual International Music Festival.
The nine-turn bridge zigzags across the pond (according to Chinese legend, evil spirits can only move in straight lines) to a large pavilion combining Classical and Chinese architecture elements.
One of the many art pieces that are exhibited in the pavilion during our visit
Accommodated in a beautiful colonial house, right next to the garden, the recently opened Macau Tea Culture House (Casa Cultural de Cha de Macau) tells the story of Macau's rich tea culture through a range of exhibitions, and seek to study promote the study of tea cultures worldwide
Antique furniture in the Tea Culture House
Unfortunately tea is not served here!
From Lou Lim Leoc Garden we walked towards the Guia Hill and Guia Fort which is about 10 minutes from the garden.
Guia Fort, built in 1637-38, occupies the top of Guia Hill, the highest point in Macau.It was designed to defend Macau from attacks from the sea. The light house in Guia Fortress is the main attraction of the park. It was used to light the south china sea, a while back when the Portuguese used to occupy the place. NBuilt in 1865, it is the oldest on the China coast.
A chapel, dedicated to Our Lady of Guia, is also located beside the light house, which is now turned into a museum, showcasing the original walls of the church, plus a few other artifacts that was contained in the chapel.
The Macau Cable Car has been installed to carry the tourists from the Flora garden to the top of Guia Hill and then return. The Guia Hill offers spectacular views of the city, harbor and the sunset. The Guia Hills offers the best views of the landscape in Macau that includes Pearl River and the surrounding Islands. Those who want to get to the top of the hill without climbing by foot can use the cable car of Macau. The flora gardens on the other hand offer shaded trees along the paths, zoo and an aviary. We choose the cable car as we have been walking the whole day.
One of the cannons on Guia Fortress
Harbour view from Guia Fortress
Plants growing on the walls of Guia Fortress
One of the underground tunnels at the Guia Fortress
View from the highest point from the Guia Fortress
An old ship anchor on display at the Guia Fortress
We then board the local bus back to Senado Square and dropped by the Emperor Hotel to view the solid gold bars embedded in the floor of the hotel lobby
The hotel boasts its “golden avenue”, the only gold-laden pavement in the world. It has 78 pieces of 1-kilogram gold bars put beneath the ground in the hotel lobby.
Golden carriage outside the Emperor Hotel.
In the evening we took the free shuttle to the City of Dreams which has three hotels side by side, the Crown Towers, Hard Rock Hotel and Grand Hyatt Macau. We wanted to see the House of Dancing Waters, which is a HKD2 Billion production. But unfortunately it was closed for renovation during the time. The cheapest ticket is HKD480. We end up watching the Dragon Treasure show, which is first of its kind multimedia Macau attraction. While waiting for the show to start we watch the see the mermaids come to life at the Vquarium and had a buffet dinner in Food Paradise which comes with a free ticket to the Dragon Treasure show. We just need to buy one more ticket.
Memorized by mermaids at the Vquarium
Buffet dinner at Food Paradise. Food Paradise offers over a hundred varieties of delicious foods from Canton, Shanghai, Portugal, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and also including fresh juice, specialty drinks and desserts.
Dragon Treasure show. For ten minutes, you'll be transported to another world as the four Dragon Kings explore the mysterious powers of the Dragon Pearl and introduce you to their magical kingdoms. It all takes place at The Bubble - a dome-shaped theater that is an iconic landmark at the City of Dreams.
Probably the longest limousine in the world that is owned by Hard Rock Hotel. Can only take the picture from a distance. Not allowed to get closer to it.
Day 4 (28th Oct 2011) Macau
Today we will begin our Casino hopping again. Not to gamble but to take pictures of the many unique and colorful decorations of the casinos and hotels that the casinos are located. We begin with the Pharaoh's Palace Casino located at the Landmark Hotel, which is a short walk from Metropark Hotel that we stay.
Our next stop was Star World Hotel which is diagonally across the Landmark Hotel
Model of the Galaxy Hotel on display at the Star World Hotel lobby
The Venetian Macau is a hotel and casino resort in Macau owned by the Las Vegas Sands corporation. The Venetian is a 40-story, $2.4 billion anchor for the 7 hotels on the Cotai Strip in Macau. The 10,500,000-square-foot (980,000 m2) Venetian Macau is modeled on its sister casino resort – The Venetian in Las Vegas – and is the largest single structure hotel building in Asia, The 6th largest building in the world by area and the largest casino in the world. It is also home to the second largest Venice in the world, the first being the city of Venice, Italy and the third being The Venetian in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Venetian also boasts the largest number of Filipino gondoleers in the world
From Venetian Macau we took the free shuttle to Taipa Village. Chinese shophouses, Portuguese style offices, small temples and a former firecracker factory share the narrow streets and alleys of this busy, colorful village.
Entrance to the busy food street in Taipa Village
One of five Taipa Houses Museum built in 1921 and is now restored and used for different purposes
Having my taste of the famous Portuguese Pork Chop bun
Close-up of the famous Portuguese Pork Chop bun
This is the restaurant (Tai Lei Loi Kei) in Taipa Village that sells the famous Portuguese Pork Chop bun
Night scene of building next to the food street, Taipa Village
Night scene of the entrance to the food street in Taipa Village
From Taipa Village we took the free shuttle to Galaxy Macau
Some pretty models at the entrance to Galaxy Macau
Colorful prisms at entrance of Galaxy Macau
Main Lobby of Galaxy Macau
Galaxy Macau
Galaxy Macau
Galaxy Macau
The last casino we visited is the MGM Macau at Central Plaza. We wanted to watch the Lights and Sound Show which is on nightly but unfortunately it was not on that night.
We then took some pictures and walked back to our hotel. That ends our trip to Macau. Next morning after breakfast we took the free hotel shuttle to Macau Maritime Terminal to board the jet to back Hong Kong to continue where we left off.
No comments:
Post a Comment