Blogs from Macau, Asia - page 8

Day 144: Tuesday, April 20th, 2010. Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Macau, Macau. Per Intrepid notes, "In the morning after breakfast on day 2 we take taxis to the ferry terminal where we board our ferry to Macau (approx. 75 mins). After arriving in Macau we take taxis to our accommodation.

Sometimes referred to as the Las Vegas of the East due to the recent proliferation of casinos and nightlife hot spots, Macau nonetheless has some fascinating history to discover. As a former Portuguese colony only handed back to the Chinese Mainland in 1999 there is a unique fusion of Mediterranean and Asian influences in the architecture, culture and food.

We take a walking tour through the tiny charming streets of Macau to see the colonial architecture up close as well as sample some of the local snack ... read more

Earlier in the week Elyse and I had switched our classes around so that we had Friday off. I made sure to let all of the teachers know that it was my birthday on the 27th. I figured they might get me some ridiculously large basket of fruit, chicken claws, or something uniquely Chinese. Yeah, but no; nothing at all is what I got. No "have a good birthday" or "have fun." I guess its pretty standard that most of the teachers at our school hardly acknowledge our presence nor even are concerned with us in the least bit. They pretty much suck. On Thursday we headed to Martin and Stay's house since it was closer to the Shekou Ferry Terminal. The only catch was that the woman who owned the villa only accepted cash and ... read more

This is my first time in Macau as a real tourist. When I was little, I came to Macau with my family a few times. However, my father would spend the whole day in the Casino, abandoned my brother and I in those beat up arcades. Sad.... read more

Having felt as though I'd missed out on a lot of the things I wanted to see and do in Macau, I decided to take another trip over the Gambling islands. My intentions were to visit the same attractions that I had planned to the previous week, without rushing or missing any. So, the first step was to get up earlier and leaver earlier then before, last time I was on a ferry at 10:30, this time at 08:30. As is a great custom of mine, I slept on the ferry, an hours trip is perfect for a little recovery nap. With my hood over my face to block light, and iPhone playing the sounds of Arcade Fire into my ears the droning of the Chinese was was drowned out. I woke up shortly before the ... read more

After the night train from Xiamen, I took the bus to the coach station in Guangzhou. That went very well and by that way I had a nice tour through the outskirts of Guangzhou. The bus stopped right at a ticket booth for the bus to Zhuhai, the border town to enter Macau. So within no time, I was on the next bus. Then I had to take another bus to the real border. It was a bit of a search, but finally I found it. Having crossed the border, I realized that I didn’t write anything down of the hotel I had booked beforehand, so I tried to find a place where they have internet or wifi, but these two things are very scarce in Macau (strange!). When I finally found a tourist information office, ... read more