A memorable trip to MACAU!

Macau

It was a paid trip of sorts… As it was an official cum pleasure trip… Official because my 15-day on-arrival visa in HK was expiring and so, I had to re-enter HK… The easiest way to do this is to go to Macau, which is about an hour away from HK (if u travel by ferry) and come back! I was accompanied by a colleague and a native of HK, Mervyn!

Now, a couple of really interesting things about Macau. It has a different currency called the MOP, but HK dollars also work! And, the biggest revenue-earners in Macau are the casinos. Yes! You look left and you look right, and all you can see are casinos of all shapes and sizes! According to Mervyn, the biggest casino there is about 15 stories tall and is called the Sands Casino! Gambling is encouraged in these parts so much (for obvious reasons), that there are free shuttle services from the ferry point to the casinos!!

Macau at night

So, then the first place we went to was called a Fisherman’s wharf! It is a huge mansion of sorts, with lots of rides for kids and dozens of games for the grown-ups. Also, u have a man-made volcano!! It looks amazing!! We decided to have lunch in some of the restaurants there…. after a lot of searching around, there was only one restaurant that served just one vegetarian dish Italian Pasta with mushroom sauce! They say, not everyone can make good italian dishes! They were so right!!!! It was YUCK! Anyways, i was hungry, so just managed to eat bits and pieces of the so-called-pasta!

After that, we decided to go to the centre of Macau, which has a few heritage points. The most prominent amongst those is the Ruins of St. Pauls. It just so happenend, that there was a church there and a college called St. Pauls Cathedral and about hundreds of years ago, it caught fire and now there are only ruins! But, it is still considered sacred.

So, then we went to the market, did a bit of shopping… Macau is famous for Chinese cookies.. I tasted them, but dint quite like it… but, the kind of crowd at the shop suggested that the ppl here are really fond of them!

Came back by the ferry… And it was good fun but m really really tired… and just dont feel like getting up or going anywhere today!

This entry was written by Nova, posted on October 21, 2007 at 4:04 am, filed under Chinese, Fact Files, Hong Kong, Travelogue, Trips. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

13 Comments

  1. ami
    Posted October 21, 2007 at 5:55 pm | Permalink

    hey sweetie!
    didn’t get a chance to call you before you left… do keep posting your adventures :)

  2. Sathish
    Posted October 21, 2007 at 6:52 pm | Permalink

    So thatz the new menu u tried :)

    And no visit to Casino?! :-?

  3. Gaurav Singhvi
    Posted October 22, 2007 at 9:32 am | Permalink

    oh great… Macau is known as the Las Vegas of the east because of the Casino’s…

    should have burnt some money yaar… official trip tha na… ;)

  4. Anamika
    Posted October 22, 2007 at 11:26 am | Permalink

    :) great going nova. Enjoy all the new places. And honey, carry an apple or two the next time you venture out in the city. Atleast you wont starve!

  5. Nova
    Posted October 23, 2007 at 1:30 am | Permalink

    @Ami: M having a nice time here girl… a new culture.. its interesting :)

    @Sathish: And yeah, what would I do in a casino!? Ok lets do this… y dont u give me some money and ill “invest” it in the casino for u :P

    @Gaurav: Abbey paise to hone chahiye burn karne ke liye :P

    @Anamika: Thats a very useful tip… Thanks :)

  6. Poonam
    Posted October 25, 2007 at 8:35 am | Permalink

    Hey, Neha personal experiences like this make the blog enriching… It was what a reader looks forward to read. Thanks for providing it. :)

  7. Nova
    Posted October 25, 2007 at 8:57 am | Permalink

    @Poonam: M glad u liked it Poonam :)

  8. VirtualDream
    Posted May 28, 2008 at 10:28 pm | Permalink

    Hi, I found your blog via Google and was interested in knowing which hotel(s) you stayed at while you were in Macau and Hong Kong. I leaving next week for China and plan to visit Macau for a day/night and Hong Kong for 3 days. Do you have any recommendations as far as hotels go? We don’t have a wad of cash so won’t be staying at the Venetian or Sands which are super expensive. By the way I am from Canada, I believe there are no visa restrictions for me to enter Macau and Hong Kong … I got the multiple entry just to be safe. Thanks, VirtualDream

  9. richard cosgrove
    Posted June 4, 2008 at 6:45 pm | Permalink

    I just got back from Hong Kong. I stayed in a 5-star hotel called YMCA International House on Waterloo. The price was only $70.00US. Contact them ahead of time. A trip to Macau can be had for about $17.00 on a ferry every half hour. The trip takes about an hour by boat. Don’t be afraid to take a cab, it is only about $6.00US to anywhere in Macau.

  10. Sandeep R
    Posted June 9, 2008 at 11:39 am | Permalink

    Hey looks like an awesome place.. vegas of east huh? :)
    being a veggie is a pain..

    and about chinese cookies, i’ve had my experience :D

  11. Nova
    Posted June 10, 2008 at 6:44 am | Permalink

    @VirtualDream: I am so sorry I missed your comment. I hope I am not too late. In Macau, we never had to stay over night. Even when we did, we just spent it in a casino. In HK, I stayed in a hotel called “Newton Inn” in North Point, HK.

    Hope this helps! Yes there is unlimited free entry for most countries to Macau. That shouldnt be a problem

  12. Nova
    Posted June 10, 2008 at 6:45 am | Permalink

    @Richard Cosgrove: Thats useful info. Thanks :)

    @Sandeep: Oh yes! The amount of revenue they generate is more than LV. Lol! They are a fun experience, arent they? ;)

  13. Sandeep R
    Posted June 10, 2008 at 9:03 am | Permalink

    they are more of disgusting experience.. ya it’s fun when someone else eats them :D

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