http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Macau , Macau en-us Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:50:42 +0000 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:50:42 +0000 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 1030 this time at http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-454303.html After a day of being lazy again which followed a day of mountain climbing I decided I would get up and head to Macau for the day.I left the house around 0900 and headed to Shueng Wan not sure if that's the right spelling but the Macau Ferry port anyway. I arrived a little before 1000 and purchased my ticket for the 1030 boat and then waited for a little while to see if the German gu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-452524.html Hello I'm in Macau Guilin was a nice place and about 30 degrees it's good to be warm I find. I'd taken a soft sleeper and it was lovely I bunkered down for the full 30 hour journey with my noodles and oranges and slept for a good 20 of those hours. I think the Chinese people in my cabin thought I was ill and so brought me hot water every now and again. Train down there arrived four hour http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-450912.html Armed with only our Wikitravel knowledge of Macau and Zhuhai Hubby and I went ahead with our semi backpacker journey to these 2 places. Good thing he has a few days off from work due to the National Day celebration in China and also due to the Mooncake Festival.Day 1 We hired a private car to take us to Zhuhai which is a city in the mainland that borders with Macau to the south. Our specific http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-443674.html Aloha Earthlings I have sat down to write this blog entry three times now. I really hope I get through it this time... Irsquom not sure what to write anymore. The lsquostrangenessrsquo of my life isnrsquot strange anymore. I have to think about is interesting when it used to be painfully obvious. Life as I know it involves eating pig spine dealing with typhoons flirting in Cantonese http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-437134.html I checked the weather reports last night and it seems that a Typhoon warning is in effect We've already seen results of it and it is only getting worse. Since that is the case I decided to see Macau a few days early. I think that if it were not for the weather warning I wouldn't have chosen to go on a Sunday. Too busy. There were many families with suitcases on their way to Macau sort of l http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-436247.html Ferry from Hong Kong Island to MacauArrived MacauVisited CasinosSaw ruins of St Paul'sSaw Mount FortalezaWon 2000 HKD in Grand LisboaFlight from Macau to Ho Chi MinhFlight from Ho Chi Minh to HanoiArrived HanoiSaw LakeWandered round the marketsNight bus from Hanoi to Sa Pa http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-428052.html Only forty kilometres from Hong Kong Angela and I decided a day trip to Macau would be an interesting diversion and so we made our way to the dock to catch a high speed ferry. First established as a trading post in the sixteenth century Macau or Ultra Marino as it was then called became a colony of Portugal in 1887 remaining so until 1999 when it was finally handed back to China.Our journey http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-425216.html The Kitschiest Place on Earth If Walt Disney is the happiest place on earth then Macau is the kitschiest place on earth. We took the one hour Turbo Jet ferry to Macau the eastrsquos version of Las Vegas. It was a Portuguese settlement and it apparently is a unique intersection of European and Chinese culture hopefully more so that Malaca in Malaysia. I heard we could get Sangria so tha http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-424620.html In October of 2008 Jeanine I went to Singapore to visit Jeanine's former colleague Jazz while she was on an expat assignment. After we toured singapore for several days we all went to Hong Kong together. From Hong Kong we took a ferry to Macau. It was a lovely trip with some notable hiccups. For example We had to fly in a day late and we spent the first night in Japan due to a typhoon in http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-424207.html There are many more things we could have done in Hong Kong but we couldn't resist to the temptation to go and visit Macau.Macau is mainly known for its casinos.When you arrive in Macau free shuttle buses are waiting for you to bring you straight away to a casino. Instead we consulted our little pocket guide and paid a few pennies to take bus 10A that brought us to the centre.We discovered the ve http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-415443.html My stay in Macau was quite pleasant. I wandered the streets for a few hours during the daymdashwandered till I was properly drenched in sweat and would then return to the homestead and watch dvds till I couldnrsquot see straight. I managed to get through seasons 14 of Entourage and got to see a little of season 4 of Prison Break before I departed.Macau has a lot of Portuguese influence which http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-412092.html The taxi drops me off on a street corner I quickly recognize the store names 711 and McDonalds that are marked on my map. I throw my pack on my back and set off to round the corner. I find the lobby with glass doors and waltz in before anyone asks me any questions. I find the apartment number 20th floor and ring the bell anxiously awaiting what I will find. Suraj opens the door with a big s http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-410157.html Travel days for me are never dull. I donrsquot know if it is because Irsquom blessed with ldquogood luckrdquo or if it is because Irsquom my fatherrsquos daughter and particular people and situations gravitate to me like flies to shit. Maybe itrsquos my uncontrollable urge to smile and laugh when I have no other response or my awkward way of not quite saying no more http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-410152.html Macau reminded me for some strange reason of Andorra.Outwardly they haven't got much in common Andorra is a beautiful mountainous land set in the midst of the Pyrenees and Macau is a hilly humid coastal resort.Perhaps it is the fact that neither would exist with any sort of independence or income if they hadn't learned to lure people there and take their money.In Andorra which is fast beco http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-409294.html Ola readers.Todays adventures took me to the Special Administration Region SAR of Macau.It was an early start. The pick up time for this tour was 730am. Another day without a sleepin. Ah well could be worse. I could be getting up early to go to work.I was up around 630am to get ready. The bus arrived around 740am. We had a few hotels to do pick ups along the way.By the end of the pickups we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-404923.html During a brief April holiday my friends and I decided it was finally time to check out Macau. It was only a short ferry ride from Shenzhen and after finding all the affordable accommodations taken took a day trip instead of spending the whole weekend there. Best decision ever. Macau was meh. To be fair we really didnrsquot plan anything. We boarded the ferry sometime around eight in the morni http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-404280.html Day 4The circular fountain was centered in the plaza that lay at the end of a cobblestone street lined on both sides by colorful buildings that once housed various Portugese businesses but today are occupied by shops like Haagen Dazs and the Body Shop. Macau has a distinctly old world European feel at its core and for the day I felt like I'd left Asia and could have been roaming the streets of http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-401827.html PreMacauEventsJust another we will miss the flight scare feels like crying just the thought of ita.k.a huhuhu i don't want to waste PHP9000Of course we still made it to the Airport we were the last ones to board. Just to be informed that our flight will be delayed for 30 minutes. Our plane finally took off at around 830ish. It was just a small plane just as small as the ones used http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-387873.html June 1618 2007Found my way from the Guangzhou train station to the shuttle bus that takes you to Macau. It was suppose to be at this big hotel but because of renovations they moved it across the street at some exhibition place. I had trouble finding where to buy the tickets cause it was tucked away in the parking lot. The ride was about 1h30mins if I remember correctly. Got off at customs an http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-383820.html