The Macau Package
I've always wanted to make a trip to Macau to visit the Ruins of St Paul - the haunting facade of the church fascinates me. Happened to stumble upon a
summer package offered by the Venetian Macau (Jul-Sep being their low season). The package was indeed good value-for-money and so we brought along mum and dad as well. A 3D2N stay at The Venetian's luxury Royale Suite plus 3
meals (BLD), HKD200 shopping voucher, free tickets for the Dinosaur Live
Exhibition and a free gondola ride as well as a Tiger Airways round trip ticket (capped at S$150) – all
for S$498/pax.
The suite is really “luxury”! The toilet alone is bigger than my bedroom! It’s the
biggest hotel room I’ve ever stayed in my life. The buffet BLD spread was
really good – B at the huge Cafe Deco Macau, and L&D at the Bambu Chinese
Restaurant. Lunch was priced at HKD158(S$27) and dinner HKD258(S$43)
(excluding taxes).
The gondola ride was ok but I won’t fork out HKD118 for that
12-minute ride. The Dinosaur Live Exhibition was a let-down (a 3D show on a
small screen, we had to sit on foldable chairs, and the dino displays were
nothing to talk about). I would have cried if I had paid HKD80/adult for that. Enough said about the package. Now for my impressions and observations
of Macau.
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The Arrival Hall was pretty small.
Turn right when you come out to get taxis and buses. |
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| This is where the various hotel shuttle buses are. |
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| The Venetian Macau |
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| The Royale Suite - the bedroom and the living room |
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| The luxurious bigger-than-my-bedroom toilet |
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| The gondola ride with the singing gondolier |
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| The dinosaur whispering sweet nothing to Dad |
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| Buffet breakfast at Cafe Deco Macao |
Macau Casinos
Casinos were a dime a dozen – big ones, small ones, they
were at almost every turn of the corner. We took a self-conducted tour of the bigger
casinos in Macau – Lisboa, Grand Lisboa, MGM being the main ones, skipped Wynn (and regretted),
dropped by a few smaller ones like Rio and Starworld. At Cotai, we stayed at The Venetian so it’s a no-brainer than we must explore the place. For that matter, anyone
who visits Cotai will definitely visit the Venetian – either to stay, to shop,
to eat or to take a look.
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| Casino Lisboa by day |
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| Casino Lisboa by night |
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| Grand Lisboa |
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| Grand Lisboa |
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| Grand Lisboa |
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| Grand Lisboa by night |
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| Wynn |
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| MGM |
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| Right at the very centre of The Venetian (The Great Hall) |
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| Galaxy as viewed from The Venetian |
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| Lions having a bad hair day at The City of Dreams |
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| Fascinated by mermaids! |
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| Lucky crystals at the Galaxy |
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| Mum at the Main Lobby of The Venetian |
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| The Venetian calls this the Colonnade |
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| Impressive artificial sky at the food cour |
There are shuttle bus services that connect one hotel to another, so there’s no shortage of free transport for that matter. It looks to me like there's a collaborative effort among the big players – you scratch my back, I scratch yours and we are both happy scratching each other. I let your buses bring gamblers/visitors to my hotel/casino, you do the same for me and we will both laugh our way to the bank. In a sense, everyone benefits from this arrangement. Many things to learn from here.
Eat, Shop, Explore
Normal food seems expensive in Macau compared to Singapore.
An average meal in a food court will set you back HKD50-80 (S$8-13) on the
average (no drinks included).
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| Duck rice was HKD85 here |
Macau isn’t really a place to shop unless you’re on a
branded-goods acquisition tour. Lots of branded apparels and bags out in the
streets and in the hotels. There seems to be a penchant in Macau for expensive
watches – saw many shops displaying all kinds of such watches. Many mobile and laptop
shops too.
Senado Square - probably the most crowded place in Macau - is the best place to shop for souvenirs and local delicacies and products. Soak up the touristy atmosphere by squeezing into the many small lanes and shops to buy those must-give-to-my-relatives souvenirs. The local delicacies don't really suit my taste but I saw many carting away big bags of almond biscuits and the likes. Shop around and compare prices, especially for souvenirs. The same set of keychains were going for HKD40, 50 and 80 at different shops.
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| Here we are at Senado Square |
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| Senado Square and its unique tile patterns |
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| Crowds everywhere |
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| BBQ pork and beef Macau-style |
Ruins of St Paul - finally reached the place I've always longed to visit. The crowds did dampen that exhilarating feeling a bit but thank goodness it was a sunny day. We also hopped to the Mount Fortress next door - nice place with great views of the city.
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| Ruins of St Paul |
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| Canon at Mount Fortress |
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| Panoramic view from Mount Fortress |
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| Another view of the city from Mount Fortress |
One of the must-do things in Macau is to taste Lord Stow's Portuguese egg tarts. A good thing that they opened a branch in the Venetian Shoppes - it was good. And of course we still had to buy some obligatory pastries and BBQ pork/beef back home.
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| The branch at The Venetian Shoppes |
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| Koi Kei Bakery - probably the most famous in Macau |
All too soon it was time to go back home. The Departure Hall was bigger than the arrival. The shops inside the Departure Hall were good for taking up waiting time but as usual, prices are inflated.
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| Inside the Departure Hall waiting for our flight |
