Sze Wan: HK & Macau Day VI - The Historic Centre of Macao

This was a short day. Most of the time spent on waiting and traveling.

We left hotel for Tsim Sha Tsui Pier but only to discover that we were suppose to board our craft from the Hong Kong China Terminal. We arrived at the terminal soaked in our own sweat, carrying our luggage and for me I have to balance my drink, coffee from McD.

When we arrived at the terminal, it was very crowded. I guessed those must the the Casinos' frequent guests. Most were elderly and traveling in either a pair or quadruplet. We managed to get tickets to travel at 1pm...we have to wait for almost 2 hours and yet we have to pay more for that.

the seat were very comfortable

the ferry at Macau terminal

We finally arrived at Macau at close to 2pm but we were stuck in the terminal for quite sometime for custom clearing. At the terminal, I saw another interesting auto-teller machine. This time, the machine was by CTM, a local telco company. The machine has sim pack, prepaid card, Nokia 1650 handset and the most unbelievable item, Ipod Nano 8GB. I could not believe my own eye for a while. I was staring at the Ipod Nano for some time to see if those were real. It was sold at $1200 which was approximately RM600. "How safe is Macau?", I asked myself. If any telco would dare to put up such a thing in Malaysia, the whole machine would surely be gone over the night.

I could not believe to see Ipod Nano to be sold on auto teller machine

Then at the Tourist Office, we were happy to learn that our hotel for the night, Metropark Hotel did provide free shuttle transfer for us. So we board the bus and got to our hotel. Finally we got a decent room for a night in our trip. The price that we paid was the same for the lousy and stuffy room at Tai Wan Hotel in Hong Kong. We dropped our luggage then headed out right away.

We walked to the Senado Square. We only managed to admire the exterior of the "Leal Senado" Building and Holy House of Mercy. Then we visited the St. Dominic's Church. This church was filled with devotees and visitors.There was a small Museum of Sacred Art at the back of the building.

at Senado Square

St Dominic's Church

Then we walked into a less traveled path to the Cathedral and Lou Kau Mansion. The mansion was the home of old chinese merchant. It was a typical traditional Chinese house. It was a 2 stories building and the house was separated into few area and each with an open space compound in the middle for better lighting and ventilation.

in front of Catheral

so Christmas in Macau

typical Chinese house with high roof and carving....narrow structure with high roof

We then headed to the Portugal Embassy building but we got the wrong route which lead us to discover a hawker stall selling traditional Maltose Candy. The maltose was so sweet and thick. It came with 2 pieces of biscuits. Moving on we discovered stalls selling famous local snack雞蛋仔 and fruit juices. The 雞蛋仔 was crunchy at the side. It was made of flour batter with eggs and sugar. This snack was not as good as imagined but really very filling.

the maltose candy stall

sweet sweet sweet Maltose

my 雞蛋仔

While enjoying our food and drinks, we decided to continue to Macau Museum and Mount Fortess. We asked around for directions and walked very fast rushing up the hill. We took the wrong route, passing through housing area...climbing tiring steps....and when we finally arrived at the museum, we were told that the museum was closed. We arrived there about 15 minutes before the closing time but the last admittance time was 30 minutes prior....really a waste...

Anyway, we had more time for the fort then. We walked round the fort and enjoyed the busy city of Macau after dark. The neon lights from the casinos became so lively from the top of the hill. It was really a very beautiful city after dark. With the cannon and the buildings on the background, we could have lots of great shots here despite the drizzle.

St Paul's ruin front the fort

Macau Museum

going to shoot Grand Lisbao down?

We walked downhill to see the St Paul's ruin. We could only admire the pieces of it. The gate was close and we were not allowed into the building compound. Spent a lot time photographing here as I could not find good cameraman to take good shots of me here.

with my great travel companions

introducing the wall of ruins St Paul

On our back to our hotel, we stopped by at the famous bakery or souvenir shop, 鉅記餅家. I bought my first Macau Portuguese Egg Tart there. They were delicious. I have also bought home 6 boxes of almond cookies. My mum and sis have reminded me so many times before my visit that I must buy home almond cookies and they must be from this bakery only. I have tried some when I was there too...so anyone wish to get souvenir back from Macau, then Almond biscuit from Koi Kei Bakery would be superb.

tart from Koi Kei...yummy

the Largo Square after dark

In the evening, we went to the Grand Lisbao Casino....we were not really into gambling but we thought this visit was essential....a must to see in Macau. And indeed, that trip was eye opening. The casino was really very big....not sure if it was times bigger than Genting but surely more interesting than Genting....for at least they have pole dance here...And they have a special corner for new gamble, providing free gambling tuition class...haha....but not for me, I tried playing on the machine...really small bet....HKD0.20 per game. So with HKD20 notes, I got to spent very long time there....this game was cheaper than playing video games at video center....:P