Day 5 - Macau

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Macau today

As we had so many things go wrong with our room, firstly a blocked drain in the shower and a broken shower head ( which was fixed straight away) then a broken towel rail ( also fixed promptly but the thing that couldn't be fixed was the refrigerator, the only part of it that worked was the light. We were moved to another slightly bigger room but this time on the 17th floor, we were previously on the 7th. The reception staff asked us to pack our bags leave them in the room and they would move us while we were out. So good news to come home to that day, we could have cold drinks again 😊

It was so hot and humid again today and unfortunately the smog/mist had moved right in so even though we had an hour jet boat ride to Macau, we really couldn't see much of the islands or buildings on the way. My geography is so bad, I really didn't know there were so many islands in and about Hong Kong.

Macau was once a Portuguese Settlement but was handed back to the Chinese in 1999. We had a "sort of" private tour, we hired a car and the driver took us to most of the popular sites.

First off was "Fisherman's wharf" where there are replica ruins and other world famous replicas, such as roman amphitheatre, Arch of Constantine, the Corridor, etc.

Next the Statue of Kum Iam, know as the Lady Buddha. It was unveiled on 21st march 1999 weighs about 50 tons and measures 20 metres high. It was designed by a Portuguese architect Cristina Rocha Leiria with UNESCO support in order to promote "mutual respect and friendship among all peoples and civilisations" Kun Iam is a deity embodying love, mercy and compassion"

Next we went to A-Ma-Temple, a very old temple almost like it was carved out of the rock face.

Next stop St. Augustine's Square, where we wandered at leisure amongst all the little streets until we eventually came to the "Ruins of St Paul's" It was too hot and too many people so I did not climb the stairs but was content to take photos from the bottom of the steps.

We also saw "Santa Casa de Misericordia" "Holy house of Mercy, established by the first Bishop of Macau in 1569. It was the first "western Style" clinic.

Then there was St. Dominic's Church, founded in 1587 by three Dominican priests who originally came from Acapulco.

The driver next stopped at the High Tower, where people can bungy jump ( sort of). It is a Hackett enterprise. We definitely did not want to bungy jump and it cost the equivalent of $20AUD just to go up in the very fast lift to the top to be able to see and take photos of the views over Macau on one side and China ( which is very close) on the other side. As it was a very smoggy/misty day we opted not to do this .

Next we were driven to Cotai where all the casinos are, and what Macau is also famous for. They were incredible, there were about four all joined together and we just strolled through them all ( The Venetian, Parisienne, Galaxy and the Sands.

We were looking for the Portuguese restaurant the driver told us was excellent but by the time we found it 2.45pm, the buffet closed at 3pm, it was too late, so we just opted for drinks and something light.

We had a small flutter on the Poker Machines. Clem put the equivalent of $6AUD in and I doubled it in a few goes, but then we lost it all, 😞

The whole complex was so crowded and the noise level was loud, even in Las Vegas I had never heard anything like it. There are also 45 different Duty Free Stores there,we really didn't bother to even look. It would be nice to stay in Macau for a few days as there was lots more to see and Clem does like the Casinos.

We decided to catch the free bus back to the wharf, as when the driver dropped us off here he explained that was how we would get back. I suppose they can't have the driver hanging around for hours as some customers would want to spend a long time at the Casinos, the last Jet boat back was at 2300.

When we got to the wharf we thought we would just be assigned seats on the next Jet Boat, like when we came over, but we were put in another line. The young Chinese man in front of us in the line explained that as our tickets had no specified time on them we had to stand in the standby line, but he said usually all on standby got on. As there were so many waiting in the boarding area with designated times, we were actually lucky we got on as we were near the front of the line. Once again we couldn't see much because of the smog/mist, so had a bit of a nana nap.

We were once again exhausted not so much from walking etc, but the humidity is draining. We decided to forgo our usual tradition of eating Asian food and ate at the Italian restaurant next door to our hotel. It was excellent and on a Monday it is 2 for 1 meals, so a win all around.

Another great and exhausting day and another bucket list item ticked off

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