Macau

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.

The Arrival Hall was pretty small.
Turn right when you come out to get taxis and buses.

This is where the various hotel shuttle buses are.

The Venetian Macau

The Royale Suite - the bedroom and the living room

The luxurious bigger-than-my-bedroom toilet

The gondola ride with the singing gondolier

The dinosaur whispering sweet nothing to Dad

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.

Casino Lisboa by day

Casino Lisboa by night

Grand Lisboa

Grand Lisboa

Grand Lisboa

Grand Lisboa by night

Wynn

MGM

Right at the very centre of The Venetian (The Great Hall)

Galaxy as viewed from The Venetian

Lions having a bad hair day at The City of Dreams

Fascinated by mermaids!

Lucky crystals at the Galaxy

Mum at the Main Lobby of The Venetian

The Venetian calls this the Colonnade

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).

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.

Here we are at Senado Square

Senado Square and its unique tile patterns

Crowds everywhere

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.

Ruins of St Paul

Canon at Mount Fortress

Panoramic view from Mount Fortress

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.

The branch at The Venetian Shoppes

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.

Inside the Departure Hall waiting for our flight