MFM/HKG Day 2 - 19 Aug 2011

19 Aug 2011 (Fri):

On the agenda today: Macau Tower, A-Ma Temple, Maritime Museum, Senado Square, Venetian Macau.

We woke up ard 730am. After a wash up, we went to the breakfast dining area. Breakfast were not of a scrumptious spread but we were not fussy people anyway. We has toast with ham & cheese, jam & butter, juice & tea.

Taking a bus to Macau Tower was an experienced as we had to ensure the correct bus to take, the correct place to board the bus, the fare that we had to pay & also making sure, we have the exact change. We looked thru our map & found that just behind our hotel, there was a bus stop to Macau Tower just outside Holiday Inn Hotel. We then had to figure out which side of the road to board the bus from. We do not want to end up on the wrong direction.

Bus # 21 from Holiday Inn brings you to Macau Tower.

Then we had to dig our pockets for the exact change : MOP$3.20 per person ~ SGD$0.50/person = SGD$2. This was the amount we paid for each bus ride we took. Macau Tower to A-Ma Temple & A-Ma Temple to Senado Square. The Maritime Museum was just next to the temple & we walked back again from Senado Square.

There was always an announcement telling you what the next stop would be & u have to press the bell in advance to inform the driver your wish to alight. We alighted right outside Macau Tower. To our dismay, it was closed. The viewing gallery was only opened from 10am onwards. We had an hour to spare. So we spend the time by walking on the grounds, taking fotos & browsing ard on the 1st level - the 4th level. Of cos, there was nothing much.

Admission to Macau Tower was @ MOP$240 for 2A & 1C & another MOP$60 for a child. Remember i mentioed i kinda regretted to wake up so early this morning. Had i known Macau Towers only open at 10am, we cld hv slept till 8.30am. At least another extra hour of sleep.

Inside the bus. Practically the same as buses in Singapore.

Outside of the towers.


Finally, the gallery was opened & we took the lift up to the 58th level. There was this see thru glass on the floors which looked right down to the sea level. Yikes! I dare not set foot onto the glass at all. Daddy was daring enough. He stepped on it & looked down & told us that there was nothing to be afraid of. Both Lionel & Rachel were also skeptical of it & were not in the least bit daring. Daddy had to sort of drag Lionel to stand on the glass.... and he did it. Rachel, clinged onto me & tried to pull me away from it. But Daddy told her if Lionel can do it, then she can too.

Haha... do u think she wanna lose out?

As for me, well, after a long pause, i finally overcome my fear & stepped on the floors too. Hehe... i even looked down & told myself there's nothing to be afraid of.



A video of Rachel dancing to the music.

There was supposed to be this Hello Kitty kinetic robot show cum demo but it was not opened yet. Daddy took off the covers & had both kids to take fotos with Hello Kitty. ( and "invited" a worker to give us the " what the heck are u doing " look)

The view from the 61th level viewing gallery. From here, you can see Grand Lisboa & even Taipa Island. Daddy wanted to try the bungy jumping but apparently no one sign up for it. And moreover, it was not cheap. Cant remember the exact amount but it was something like HKD$2K plus for a package - bungy jump + sky walk OR bungy jump x 2x, day & night.

" Live on the edge when you can jump ".... no no no, it should be " Why live on the edge when you can jump off " Haha.... the words were cropped off when i did this collage thingy.

Next stop, we took bus # MT4 to A-Ma Temple. Alternatively, bus #18. The bus stop was just outside Macau Towers. Again, we prepared the exact change; MOP$3.20/perosn. We asked the bus driver if this was the correct bus to board & he told us this bus will stop at the terminal. All we had to do was walk to A-Ma Temple, approx 10 mins walk.


A-Ma Temple was very crowded, even on a normal day. There were many tourists about & we held on to both kids tightly. Cant imagine if its on the 1st & 15th day of each month or on important occasions. We took fotos, prayed for a safe & smooth trip & had ice creams.

Next we went over to Maritime Museum. Phew! This was air-conditioned. It was very welcoming after a hot day at the temple. The ice creams didnt helped much. We paid MOP$10/A. Children below 11 yrs old were FOC. Cool!

Lunch time! We walked to a nearby cafe - 雅香咖啡缅甸美食. I had cury chicken rice, daddy has pork chop rice in cocconut paste & both kids shared a bowl of noodles. Total bill: MOP$123. OMG! A simple meal like this can cost you SGD20 equivalent!!!

Weather was really hot. We perspired like crazy & all our clothes were soaked thru. I asked the kids if they needed to change into another piece ( i had it ready packed in the backpack daddy was carrying) but they were ok.

We proceeded to Senado Square. You can take bus #10A, travelling distance abt 10-15mins. Stop @ Av. Infante D. Henique Road. Alamak! Take note - the bus stop was at least 10 mins away from where we wanna be at, so we have to back tracked to SS. Grrrr...

Top: @ the cafe next to A-Ma Temple.
Bottom: Father & son had a game of Angry Birds Rio/ Season

Rachel fell asleep on the bus & Daddy was too tired to carry her while we were at SS. You see, i had plans to vsit Lou Kau Mansion & St Paul's Ruins. So we decided to cool off @ MacDonalds but boo hoo hoo, it was packed with people. Not even an empty seat available. Daddy was fed up of waiting and suggested going back to the hotel. But i was adamant cos St Paul's Ruins will not be nice in the night. ( Not that i know how its like in the evening but i know my camera wld not do a perfect job. You'll get to witness its hopeless work tmr @ Disneyland, HongKong.)

Finally, Daddy found an empty table & luckily it was the long cushioned kind so Rachel was lay down to sleep while Daddy & Lionel had a game of angry birds. Lionel was a pro in this game & he taught Daddy the tricks. As for me, i wldnt sit for very long, so i went down to do a little shopping by myself. Without Daddy ard to nag, i lugged back a few shopping bags. Haha... he cant say anything. The damage was done. Kekeke...

Lou Kau Mansion. Admission was free but it was a hopeless waste of time. Nothing special to me. (ahem... to my fren who recommended this place to me... wait till i see you..)

We followed the directions to St Paul's Ruins. Boy!!! It was literally a squeeze thru. Thousand & thousands of people. Finally, the ruins came in view.


We even bypass the much talked abt pork chop bun but as the queue was long, we did not buy & try.



The road leading to St Paul's Ruins. Daddy & the kids stopped to take a break & had egg tarts while i took this video.

After this, we made our way back to Koi Kei Bakery to buy our stuff. We bought egg rolls, almond biscuits. They were on promotion. 2 boxes for MOP$58. Usual Price MOP$64.

We walked back to out hotel for a rest & bath. At abt 7pm, we took the hotel shuttle bus to the ferry terminal. We wanna buy our ferry tickets to HongKong tmr. First sail @ 7am but we chose 830am instead. MOP$173 per person, regardless of adt or children. We had to check in by 8am.

Then we took the Venetian Macau shuttle bus to its premises & had our dinner there.


The sky, made to look like the real one outside. Kinda quiet inside the grounds. Before i came here, i was thinking how grand it was, from watching promotions on Venetian Macau to TV dramas filmed here.. but after i am at the real thing, its nt so grand after all. Even the gondola boat ride, there was nothing special to it, even with the man singing. Check out the below video.



We ended our night soon & took the shuttle bus back to the ferry terminal & another shuttle bus to our hotel. We had to wake up early tmr & it will be another full day event. Tomorrow on the agenda, Disneyland. *wink*