Friday, November 26, 2010

Hong Kong - Day 6

4 November 2010 - Thursday
Was craving for dim sum again when we woke up. We were lazy to find a new place to have dim sum. We decided to go back to Tao Heung Restaurant at Carnavon Street, which we ate on Day 4 for another round of dim sum.

This time, we did not order so much because our itinerary today is to Macau, and we know there were lots to eat there. So we just ordered a few and save our stomach space.






Look at me, so energized and happy. No more sick-y look! So this proved that I've recovered! Haha!

After dim sum, we walked to the HK China Ferry Terminal located at Canton Road to catch the ferry to Macau. We then only realized that the Ferry Terminal is located at the 1st Floor of The Royal Pacific Hotel & Towers.

There were many counters to buy tickets from. Just choose any one which says 'Macau' One thing though, you need to be specific on which ferry time you want to be on.

And because of that, we just bought one-way ticket at 10.30am (HK$133/person). At time of purchase, it was already 10.15am but the lady selling the tickets say we can still make it.

After popping in my motion-sickness pill, we walked through the departure gate.

And to our horror, there was a long queue for customs check for tourists. We were like, shit!
It was already 10.20am, 10 more minutes to go and if we missed the ferry, then we would have to say bye-bye to HK$133 X 3 = HK$399!
We queued for more than 15 minutes and by the time we passed through customs, we were running like mad to the ferry gate. And boy, it was far!
My gosh, at that time I knew that I could not join Amazing Race because no way am I gonna run like mad again!

Luckily, we made it to the ferry! The ferry practically departed once we stepped into the ferry. Phew! And we went to our designated seat and slumped down our seat in gladness!
Look at hubby's face....tired from all the running!

It was an air-conditioned ferry, something similar to the Penang-Langkawi ferries but was smaller. And thus, you could still feel the ferry bumping up and down on the waves. Scary. Scary not because I was afraid it would sink. Scary because I hated this up and down feeling, made me want to vomit. Thank goodness I popped the sea-sick pill!

Then, there were people in the ferry distributing Arrival Forms. Darn! Which means I need to fill that up with the ferry bumping up and down. I quickly grabbed my pen and filled up the form as quickly as possible and then went back to sleep...erm...just closing my eyes actually.

Ferry ride was almost 1 hour. And I was glad when I stepped out of the ferry onto firm land! :)

Upon arrival at the Macau Terminal, we took a free Macau map. Then there was one tour agent who kept on pestering us to take his service. We politely said No to him but he was still persistent. In the end we just ignored him and went out way.

We took the bus outside the Ferry Terminal, Bus 3A to Senado Square.
Public buses in Macau accept both Macau Pacatas and Hong Kong Dollar, and just like in Hong Kong, no change would be given, so you need to bring exact change.
The ride there was MOP3.30 and we gave the driver HK$10 for the three of us.

There was an LED on the bus front which shows you the name of the next stop. It is written in Chinese and Portuguese. Some stops have English names too, like Senado Square.

Macau streets look like a small heritage town, something similar to Penang's Georgetown pre-war houses! And there were trishaws/rickshaws there too!

Upon alighting the bus, we saw this big and famous Choi Heong Yuen Bakery, which mum already gave us her biscuits shopping list. Since we do not want to carry packages with us, we decided to come back later.



But we simply could not resist the delicious looking Portuguese Egg Tarts that greeted us by the entrance.

Look how deliciously-caramelized are they!

We bought a few to try and it was really good!

We walked across the street to Senado Square. We can see many tourists there.

Senado Square is paved with a wave-patterned mosaic of coloured stones, created by Portuguese experts. From the main road to the church of St. Dominic, the pavement extends to the ruins of St. Paul's, making the heart of the city a pedestrian paradise.

The square is surrounded by pastel-colored neo-classical buildings, creating a Mediterranean atmosphere.


You can also see many shops lining up the way, Levi's, Starbucks, Body Shop, SKII, etc.


Some random lane off Senado Square. And on the right is the Church of St. Dominic.

Just follow the road and you can see signs which will lead you to St. Paul's Ruins.

After a few turnings, we came across the streets we read about. The street which was filled with all kinds of food; bakeries and all.

Bak Kwa (meat jerky) of all kinds. We had samples of Chicken, Beef and even wild boar bak kwa.

And outside their shops, the people there offered free samples of their food. And they were all in original sizes. Not cut into halves or quarters. Full-sized samples. We tried many things. Almond biscuits, egg rolls, etc.

Could not resist buying more Portuguese Egg Tarts. Looked too tempting!

And after walking up the food sample street stretch, you will see St. Paul's Ruins.
The great ruined façade and staircase to the church of the Mother of God - now popularly known as St. Paul's - is perhaps the most famous landmark of Macau, although all that remain is its magnificent stone facade and grand staircase.

So of course, it is a must-go tourist place in Macau.

Somehow I just love this place. Although there were lots of people there, it was still nice to take photos of the ruins.

Individual facebook-profile-photos are a must! :)

Photos with the hubby are a must!



Photo of the 3 of us together is a must - and it is rare!

We spent like more than half an hour there, walking up the stairs and taking photos.
By then, it started drizzling. Isshhhh....

Then we went back to the bakeries and bought two bags full of pastries from both Choi Heong Yuen Bakery and Koi Kei Bakery.

We then went to search for the recommended Yee Shun Milk Company for some hot and warm deserts. Found it after asking some locals for directions.

We ordered the Egg Pudding. I find it a bit too-sweet for me although the texture was nice and smooth.

Milk with Ginger Pudding. I prefer this more although I am not a fan of ginger. But I must say that I am slowly loving ginger-infused food!

And because there is this shop policy that every customer must order something, we were forced to order the Cold Lemon Tea Drink.

After that, next on itinerary was walk to Ponte 16 where the 5-star Sofitel Macau is located to visit MJ Gallery.
We were looking at the Macau map and we founf it rather confusing. The map was not detailed and many roads/streets were omitted from the map. Some were without road names.

We then saw a signboard and since Hong Kung Temple was in the same direction to Sofitel Macau, we just followed the sign.

We walked through alleys and lanes. We found Macau so quiet when compared to Hong Kong. Not many people were walking about in the streets.

Found the Hong Kung Temple and knew we were in the right direction.

After a while, we saw it - Ponte 16 @ Sofitel Macau!

It was a big and grand hotel. And we walked up the 2nd floor to visit the MJ Gallery.

The MJ Gallery at Ponte 16 – a luxurious integrated casino-entertainment resort - is Asia’s first and only Michael Jackson Gallery created posthumously. The premiere attraction of the precinct exhibits 40 over memorabilia of MJ including autographed posters, disc awards and stage costumes.

And you know what is the best thing about it? It is FREE! :)

You get to see the costumes he wore - from armour-like to rags and tatters.

His famous bling-bling glove

His bling-bling pair of socks

His other accesories

This is another themed section of MJ Gallery – the Time Tunnel that depicts Michael Jackson’s epic music career of his lifetime.

One of his platinum record awards. Noticed is a cassette instead of CD? ;P

More photos of the gallery



Shit. We two look like dummies beside MJ's figurine.

Min on the other hand looks more 'yeng'.

We decided to skip A-ma Temple because read many reviews that say it is not worth going. So next on our list was to Macau Tower.

Walking out from Sofitel, we walked about the streets, hoping to see if there was a bus 21 which would take us to Macau Tower.

We then walked about and these are some of the things we saw while walking.

The architecture of the buildings are different - Portugal influence I supposed. And the right photo shows a very old shop. I found it quaint and nice.

Also came across a shop that sells dried seafood. Their salted fish was outside the shop being aired.



More salted fish hanging on the rail on top.

We then stopped at the bus stop and saw that there were no buses that go through Macau Tower. In the end, we took a taxi there. Costed us only HK$24.

Inside the Macau Tower, there is a miniature Macau Tower.

Hubby & I bought the Macau Tower Ticket (for viewing) + Tea at 360 Cafe for HK$110.
If you only purchase the Tower Ticket is already HK$100. So HK$10 for tea should be not bad, right?
And my courageous Sis bought Tower Ticket + Skyjump for HK$1318. Yes, she was going to Skyjump off Macau Tower!

Hubby & I gave her moral support! Haha.
I would not jump even if you give me HK$1318!

Read about her Skyjump from her blog! She has got photos and videos of her jumping!

We were actually shivering up at the Outdoor Observation Deck, at 61st floor, which is at metres high. It was very windy up there and the temperature at that time was only 16 degree Celcius! And with the wind howling up there....we were really shivering while waiting for Min to finish her jump!

We then took the lift down to the 58th floor, to the Indoor Observation Deck, which is located 223 m above ground to see the view.

View was great, except that it was very misty that day due to the rain.

Sections of the Observation Lounge are fitted with glass floor letting you see the ground beneath your feet - 223m away! It was kinda scary when step on them. I imagined what if the glass fitting gave way? Then I would be falling 223m down! Issshhhh....

Weird thing is that I was not scared when I was on the Ngong Ping 360 Crystal Cabin with glass panel all around me. Haha!

Then we went for our high-tea set at 360 Cafe.

Was rather surprised that out HK$10 gave us such a hebat meal! Haha.
So glad we paid that HK$10!

The smoked salmon mini sandwich thingy was delicious. Cheesecake was so soft and melty. And chocolate cake was also great!

Came with a pot of tea

And coffee

After burping and with contented stomachs, we took a taxi to The Venetian in Taipa Island. Costs us around HK$50 I think.

The Venetian Macau is a hotel and casino resor and is a 40-story, $2.4 billion anchor for the 7 hotels on the Cotai Strip in Macau. The 10,500,000-square-foot (980,000 m2) Venetian Macao is modeled on its sister casino resort - The Venetian in Las Vegas - and is the largest single structure hotel building in Asia and the fifth-largest building in the world by area.

According to it's official website, it is said that it is large enough to hold ninety Boeing 747 jumbo jets, nowhere else in Asia will you find such a rare combination of facilities, attractions and amenities than at this 3,000 suite flagship property.

Wow...sounds super the impressive, right?
(photos stolen from Min's blog 'coz I was lazy to google for photos!)

And when we stepped into The Venetian, I was really impressed.

Every part was so beautifully decorated. The ceilings.

The grand chandelier.

Everything was superbly grand!

Love this photo of is three.

It boasts a 550,000 square feet (51,000 m2) of casino space – with 3400 slot machines and 800 gambling tables.
Everywhere you walk leads you to some casino area.
We did not spend a cent there. Nah...no interest in gambling. More interested to see the whole place.

When we walked towards the Gondola area, we saw this Venice-looking place. The sky looked so real there and I had to constantly remind myself that we were still at indoors.

Lovely wall architecture.

Even the street lamp looked so lovely here. And the performers gladly post with you.

Then we saw the gondola rides.
Gondoliers will serenade you as you take a leisurely ride under the surreal blue sky.

Their voice was really good. This is a lady gondolier singing.

This is a man gondolier serenading you.

The only problem is.....money! You need to pay like HK$108 per person for them to serenade you! Three of us is like more than HK$300!!!!

Pricing:
MOP108 (per ride) for adults
MOP80 (per ride) for kids

And there were many branded boutiques for you to shop from. We saw See's Candies there. Walked inside and saw the lovely chocolates. Sampled one of them and then we walked off. Damn expensive! Haha

We then walked and walked 'til we got lost. Really, you just forget time and lost your way. Every turning looks the same. And there is no signage to exits or lobbies. Just signage to go to shops!
We ended up in Four Seasons Hotel, Ventian. Asked the shop person for the Hotel Lobby and found our way out of the Venetian at last!

Then only we realized that it was still raining...more heavily in fact. We were rather tired by then. Decided to just skip Fisherman's Wharf since it was raining and dark. Difficult to take photos. So we took the Free Hotel Shuttle to the Taipa Island Ferry Terminal.

In Taipa Island, the only stop in Hong Kong is to Central Terminal. Bought the Ferry Tickets back at HK$175/person.
Luckily I remembered to pop my seasick pill, because I saw another lady passenger vomitted in the ferry.
Due to rain, the ferry was swaying and I knew if I did not pop the pill, I would have joined the lady!

Upon reaching Hong Kong Island, we took the MTR back to Tsim Sha Tsui. Had dinner opposite our guesthouse at Cameron Road.
Could not read the chinese name of the shop, but here is the photo of it.

Had their signature Chicken Rice, which turned out not nice at all!

The Fried Rice was OK and portion was big. As usual, three of us shared 2 dishes.

We were so tired that we forgot to jot down how much was our meal.

After that, hubby went next door at 7-11 and tried their 'fake' Sharkfin's Soup. It was delicious!

And that was all for Day 6. Goodnight!

Guess what? I posted almost 100 photos in this post alone!


Hong Kong - Day 1
Hong Kong - Day 2
Hong Kong - Day 3
Hong Kong - Day 4
Hong Kong - Day 5
Hong Kong - Day 6
Hong Kong - Day 7 (Part 1)
Hong Kong - Day 7 (Part 2)

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