Category: Macau

15 Things To Do In Macau

Earlier this month, thanks to an invitation from the Macau Government Tourism Office, I had the chance to re-visit one of the most unique cities in East Asia.

It was not my first trip to Macau. Previously, it was mostly as a transit point to Hong Kong. Back in those days, Macau was known as Asia’s most notorious town – a somewhat pale Chinese imitation of Las Vegas.

That was the case ten over years ago.

Visit Macau today, and what you’ll see is a fascinating juxtaposition of modern glamour and old-school hip, a melting pot of Chinese and Portuguese influences, and easily the best food flavours this side of China.

Macau is the world’s most densely populated region and one of the world’s richest cities.

Lonely Planet named Macau one of the Top 10 Regions to visit in ’15. I agree.

In honour of that, here are 15 things I think everybody must do when they visit Macau.

 

15. Snap a Selfie at the Ruins of St Paul, Senado Square

To go to Macau and not see the Ruins of St Paul, is like going to Paris and not seeing the Eiffel Towel. This is the definitive symbol of Macau and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The surrounding Senado Square was and still is Macau’s urban centre for centuries. Flanked by pastel coloured neo-classical buildings, it’s the perfect place to get lost in the many shops and restaurants surrounding the square.

14. See a bit of Old Portugal

Not far from Senado Square are many churches and buildings left behind by the Portuguese.

My favourite of all is St Lawrence Church.

Saint Lawrence is the patron saint of sailors, and the church was commissioned by Portuguese who arrived in Macau after living inside a ship for months. The result – a church that looked like the inside of a boat.

 

13. See a bit of Old China

Opium dens, clan halls, pawn shops and whore houses.

Every Chinese town has an unsavoury past, but Macau doesn’t shy away from it. If anything, Macau preserves those buildings almost in their original conditions. As I stood in the middle of the lane to have a quiet moment to myself, it’s as if the hustle and bustle of the bygone days is still lingering in the air.

The Footsteps into the Historic Centre walking tour is the best way to experience this side of Macau. Entrance to the buildings are all FREE!

FREE. Except for the whore houses.

 

12. Light a Joss Stick at A-Ma Temple

Although fairly austere by Chinese temple standards, A-Ma Temple is significant in Macau’s history for the fact that it is where Macau got it’s name from.

Story goes like this: many years ago the Portuguese sailors made their first landing just outside the temple. They asked the locals where the heck they were and the locals replied "A-Ma Gau" (Place of A-Ma). The rest, as they say, is history.

Heng ah, the locals didn’t reply, "GWAI LO! NEIH YAO MAT YEH!?"

Note: You can walk from Senado Square to A-Ma Temple, passing by all the sights above, by following the "Crossroads of China and Portugal" Walking Tour.

11. Drink the Best Tea in Macau at Long Wa

Located just across the road from the Red Market, Long Wa is the last authentic Chinese tea house in Macau.

The dim sum breakfast, although limited in variety, tastes far better than any dim sum you can find in Malaysia. But the main reasons the locals come here, is for the tea.

 

10. Get the Perfect Instagram Shot at Taipa Village

The narrow streets of Taipa Village are lined with beautiful pastel-coloured buildings.

Put your filters on, cos every shot you take is gonna fetch you 30% more Likes.

 

9. Go Food-Hunting at Cunha Street

The closest thing to Changkat Bukit Bintang in Macau is Cunha Street. Authentic street art, shops selling typical tourist souvenirs, hipster cafe joints serving siphon drip coffee.

8. Ogle at Giant Pandas

Yes, I know you got Giant Pandas in your zoos. But these cute pair of pandas in Macau is guaranteed to make you happy.

See, their names are Kai Kai and Xin Xin. DOESN’T THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY ALREADY?!

7. Stuff your Face Silly with at Restaurante Litoral

There’s no shortage of good food in Macau. Having said that, in my four days there, I had my best meals at Restaurante Litoral. This is authentic Portuguese food at its best, and I ain’t talking Nando’s.

If unsure, order the curry crab, with a side of freshly baked bread. It is DA BOMB.

 

6. Taste the Original Egg Tarts at Lord Stow’s

While we’re still on the topic of food, don’t even think about leaving Macau without first tasting Portuguese egg tarts from the original inventors of Portuguese egg tarts.

The original bakery is a little out of the way in Coloane, but it’s worth the hassle to make the pilgrimage just to see why the whole world has gone crazy over Portuguese egg tarts.

5. Take a Silly Photo at Pier16 3D Macau, Sofitel

Because why wouldn’t you want to trick your friends into thinking that you went to Macau to become an emperor?

 

4. Catch the Special Event of the Month

If you look up Macau’s tourism calendar, there’s bound to be either a special event or a concert every single month of the year. The month of September features Macau International Fireworks Display Contest, and is universally acclaimed as one of the best of its kind.

 

3. Soak Up The Atmosphere in SoHo

There’s no denying that everything on The Cotai Strip is artificial and manufactured. But as far as man-made entertainment goes, SoHo at the City of Dreams keeps it interesting with food, art and interactive games set in a atmospheric Brooklyn street.

 

2. Watch the House of Dancing Waters

Words cannot describe how breathtakingly amazing this show is. Part circus, part theatre, part ballet – it’s by far the best permanent attraction in the Strip. Little wonder that every show is packed to the max every single year FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS.

DON’T THINK. JUST GO WATCH. GO!

 

1. The One Thing Macau Is Famous For

Well, it’s Macau!

Venetian Macao Gala Dinner

When you’re invited by the 3rd richest man in America for dinner, you know even the food you’re eating is gonna be different.

You see her smiling now, but half an hour later she was shivering uncontrollably because of the aircond

Immediately after Venetian Macao‘s grand opening extravaganza on the 28th August, the invited guests emptied the arena straight for the casinos, while the few special ones were ushered into the Venetian Ballroom for an exclusive Gala Dinner.
Now I have been to some big dinner banquets before, but this is just too impressive for words. Not even my camera could capture the splendour and opulence we’re enveloped in.

The Venetian Ballroom housed almost 400 dinner tables for 4000 guests. There’s an attendant in sight every corner. Each table is intricately decorated with flowers, candles and utensils from the East and West.
We even get a souvenir in the form of a masquerade ball mask bracelet.

In front of a ballroom is a theatre stage adorned with red curtains. We can only wonder what treat is in store for us behind those curtains.
It’s beautiful.

Even the Thai girls I shared the table with are beautiful.

Gotta love the image on the cover of their dinner menu.
It shows a European-style masquerade ball mask on the left halve versus a Chinese Opera mask on the right halve. It’s a fitting reference to Las Vegas Sands Corp establishing itself in Macau, China.

The gastronomous delight on offer.
Coming from a humble little town of Kuching where cheap hawker food is so embedded into our everyday life, I must say I’m not used having such expensive dishes. I gained 3kg in 3 days in Macau, and this is why.

First item on the menu is the appetiser: Atlantic Lobster with Sea Urchin Tofu.
Lobsters for appetisers? Sea urchin tofu? In some places, we call this the main course already!
I got so excited I swallowed down two bowls of those. Divine!

Entertainment for the evening comes in the form of a live performance from the original cast and ensemble of the Phantom of the Opera from Las Vegas.
It was a short performance but they did all the well-known scenes, including the romantic duet “Say You Love Me”. Too bad the crowd was busy chattering and indulging in the food, paying little attention to the performers.

Next came a soup interestingly named Buddha Jumps Over The Wall.
It’s a Chinese soup with all the expensive ingredients like abalones, scallops and shark’s fins all thrown in and stewed in a pot for two full days. Whoever invented it called the soup that way because they claimed it tasted so good, even a vegetarian like Buddha would jump over the monastery wall to steal a sip.
Controversial, I know. But I don’t think it’d have the same effect if it’s called Jesus Jumps Over The Wall.

The main course is a fantastic dish comprising of braised abalone and seared prime beef tenderloin served with foie gras.
Knowing that shark’s fins and foie gras was served to some 4000 guests in attendance is enough to send any animal activists up in a frenzy. But they were so darn good, I gladly helped the skinny Thai girl next to me finish the dish.

Venetian Macao certainly saved the best for last. After the main course, We were served the most unusual dessert dish I have ever seen in my life.
On a long plate were some strawberries, a slice of Tiramisu cake and then there’s this.

What is this, you ask?
My friend, this is what they called Bird’s Nest Creme Brulee. Served with Gold.
Yes, GOLD. An actual sheet of pure GOLD!
This is ridiculous. I’m used to finding stawberries and ice-creams on my dessert. But what in the world is a sheet of GOLD doing on my dessert!
Gold is meant to be worn as an accessory to show off how rich you are. NOT EATEN AS DESSERT.
Heck, I didn’t even know you could eat gold!

But yes, eventually after overcoming my surprise finding gold on my dessert, I took a bite.
It was tasteless. But weird knowing that there’s a piece of gold metal swimming in my body now waiting for digestion.
Or maybe the gold I ate wouldn’t even be digested.
In that case, there’s a chance whoever handles the plumbing at Venetian Macao might shift through the shit to look for the gold sheet and make himself a gold ring.

There was still a big plate of chocolate truffles to go around, but by this time it was getting quite late and most of the guests have left already.
I later helped myself to all the untouched truffles left on the tables as I watched the entertainment on stage.

It was really great ‘cos unlike in the stadium-like Venetian Arena, we get the chance to go up close and personal with the performers.
I got so ridiculously close to them, I could even see the hair in their nostrils.

What the hell, right?

Diana Ross is definitely one of the most impressive 63-year-old grandmother I have met. It was surreal to be physically inches away from such a legend.
If you’ve watched Dreamgirls before, the movie was pretty much based on her life and career, with Beyonce’s character playing the role of Diana Ross.

Someone’s hand touching Diana Ross’ left boob

She belted out classics like I’m Coming Out, Baby Love and finishing up with I Will Survive – a song that even up till today is a major hit.
How many 63-year-olds you know could move and sing like that?
I can’t imagine my mom doing that, and she’s not even 63.

For the second time in the evening, Grasshoppers came out again.
Dammit somebody’s gotta call the pest controller.
I know I’ve said some pretty nasty things about Grasshoppers, but you gotta give them credit lah.
I mean, not a lot of people I know would dare to go up on stage wearing THIS.

What do you call that thing? SANITARY PAD FOR MEN?
Grasshoppers have always been known for their energetic dance moves, and they didn’t disappoint tonight.

This one they called it, “Rooster Crows In The Morning”

I believe this one is, “Mommy! I Want Candy!

Finally this one is called, “Scare The Shit Out Of Your Backup Dancer”

Alan Tam’s performance was in contrast, a lot more subdued.
Too bad I don’t listen to Cantopop a lot, so I’m not familiar with many of his songs. For the finale, the crooner sang Pang Yao (“Friends”) – a fitting end to the most amazing evening.

Here’s an edited video of Diana Ross, Grasshoppers and Alan Tam’s performances during the Venetian Macao Gala Dinner.

Anyway, this finally concludes my multiple blog entries on my Macau trip.
I must say, getting a media invite to the Venetian Macao’s grand opening is almost like winning jackpot in the lottery. The resort must have spent at least RM10,000 on each of us. Flights, rooms, food, everything. I almost feel obligated to ask my readers to buy a ticket to Macau and visit The Venetian right away.
We’re literally treated like kings. I have no idea when’s the next time I’m even gonna get something similar.

It was so amazing to stay in a resort that was almost made of gold. We’ve seen gold, touched gold, EVEN TASTED GOLD.
On our way out of the Venetian Ballroom, we’re even given a gift from the hotel as souvenir.

What! MORE gold!

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Venetian Macao Grand Opening Concert

When you’re invited by the sixth richest person in the world for a grand opening event, you gotta be expecting something extra-ordinary.

Sheldon Adelson did not disappoint.
Quite simply, the grand opening ceremony of the Venetian Macao Resort Hotel was hands down the grandest and most amazing event I have ever attended.
Like I said before, it really is good to be a blogger.

The who’s who of Hong Kong and Macau were all in attendance for this monumental event.
It was clear that I was grossly of under-dressed of the lot.

Everyone was looking fine in either their tuxedo or evening gown.
If they’re not in their tux or gowns, they are in their national costumes.

These are journalists from Japan. As cute as they are, they aren’t actually the most eye-catching international journalists we had.
The Taiwanese journalists are definitely the hottest among the international media contigent. They are so hot, I didn’t even take any pictures of them.
I tried, but my camera melted before I could hit the shutter.

The opening concert was held at the Venetian Arena – an indoor stadium located within the same resort complex.
I’m still amazed by how they managed to fit everything so close to each other.

The Venetian Arena is just across the corridor from my lift lobby. Total walking time to get from my room to the arena: 2 minutes.
Any closer and they might have to do the opening ceremony in my hotel bedroom.

When I got to the arena, an act was already underway, featuring a troupe of China girls beating on drums.
Somehow these dragon ladies made girls-beating-on-drums less lesbian than it looks. In fact, their performance was so great I thought that was already main event of the opening ceremony.
But no, that was only a pre-show appetizer.

The show began, and out comes the emcee Astrid Chan.
Astrid is a TVB actress quite popular in some of the Hong Kong soap operas shown here. Coincidentally, I bumped into Astrid Chan during my trip to Hong Kong last year.
Damn TVB actress keeps stalking me.

The theme to Venetian Macao is “Renaissance Venice”, and we were treated to a parade of dancers coming out looking very “Renaissance Venitian-like”.
Gotta love their elaborate outfits.

Gotta love their models too.
The performance line-up to the Venetian Macao’s grand opening event was so secret none of us knew who to expect. Before the show, all I heard was that Cirque du Soliel will be performing and that Andy Lau turned down an offer to sing 6 songs for HK$6 million due to a conflict with his concert schedule.
THAT’S A RM500,000-PER-SONG DEAL ANDY LAU TURNED DOWN.
I had to pay other people that much money to hear me sing.

As the curtains were raised, we were treated to a surprise in the form of Taiwanese superstar diva Zhang Hui Mei!

A-Mei sang two songs, “Gei Wo Gan Jue” (which translated to English as “Give Me A Feeling”) and the perennial karaoke favourite “Lei Hai” (Ummm… “Ocean That Cries”? Chinese song names are weird that way).
All I gotta say is that A-Mei’s performance is a lot better than some of the torture I had to endure in karaoke joints *cough*nicole*cough*.

I’m not sure how much of her performance the international audience understood. But I was still reeling in awe over having watched one of Asia’s top artists sing live when they announced the second performance of the evening.

DAVID TAO!
Here’s one guy whose music I actually listen to. At the height of his career, David Tao’s popularity could rival that of Jay Chou.

David Tao sang two songs as well, “Zhao Zi Ji” (“Finding Myself”) and another perennial karaoke favourite “Ai Hen Jien Dan” (“Love Is Easy”).

He also spoke in fluent English in front of an international audience about how it was his first time in Macau and how he felt under-dressed in front of all the tuxes and frocks.

The show took a break from all the singing to showcase a performance by world renown acrobatic act Cirque du Soliel.
I’ve heard a lot of about this circus troupe but I have never seen them performed live.

Actually, to call the Cirque du Soliel a circus act is an insult. They may have performers dressed as clowns, but the feeling they gave me was a lot more surreal. Their acts do not just involved death-defying acrobatics, but it was a combination of that and theatre and opera.
The Cirque du Soliel will take up residence at the Venetian Macao beginning next year.

After two HUGE acts by A-Mei and David Tao, and an exhilirating performance by the Cirque du Soliel, the audience at the Arena was left wondering what else the Venetian Macao could do to top that.
Is Gwen Stefani gonna come on stage and sing “Wind It Up”?
Will Justin Timberlake bring his Sexy Back to Macao?
Or will Andy Lau squash those rumours and make a surprise apperance?
We all await with bated breath as the emcee announced the next performance by none other than…


GRASSHOPPERS.
Oh. My. Goodness.
Why Sheldon why!

If the year was 1992 and I was still studying in my primary school, MAYBE I’d still get excited over hits such as “Bao Bei, Dui Bu Qi” (“Sorry baby”) and “An Lian De Dai Jia” (“Cost of A Crush”).
But these guys disappeared from the Cantopop circles for the longest time, and then suddenly decided to make a comeback. Problem is, they weren’t even that big to begin with! To have Grasshoppers come and perform is like the equivalent of having VANILLA ICE come on stage and sing “Ice Ice Baby”.
Sorry guys, you came fifteen years too late.

A lot of the ang moh audience members actually left during Grasshopper’s performance.
Thankfully the torture didn’t have to last long. From above the ceilings, a contraption descended onto stage and out comes Alan Tam to save the day.

Alan Tam only sang one song on his own.
He spoke in VERY broken English, saying that the Venetian Macao is a place where dreams come true. And tonight, a dream of his own has come true.
He then introduced the biggest surprise of the evening.

DIANA ROSS!
Specially flown in all the way from the USA!

Alan Tam and Diana Ross sang “Endless Love”, yet again ANOTHER karaoke favourite.
Diana Ross was wonderful. Her flawless voice gave me the goosebumps throughout her performance.

“Endless Love” is a timeless love song that has been performed many times by many different people. None of them does it better than the original singer Diana Ross herself.

As a fitting end to the grand opening concert, Diana Ross performed her number one hit classic from the 70s, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”.
I actually forgot how this song sounded like after watching American Idol contestants butchered it so many times.

You gotta give credit to Diana Ross. The woman is 63 years old and she still grabbed the attention of the entire arena full of audience like she was still 20.
A woman may age but her voice clearly doesn’t.

Click to check out the video I took throughout the evening.
Of course, the point of this whole concert was to celebrate the grand opening of the Venetian Macao.

At the Feng-Shui-master-recommended auspicious time of 7:18pm on the 28/08/2007, Sheldon Adelson and his team declared the Venetian Macao Resort Hotel officially open.
Las Vegas has well and truly landed in Asia.

For me though, the night has only just begun. 😉
[to be continued…]

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The Venetian Macao

A fortnight ago I was in Macau, enjoying luxury like I’ve never experienced luxury before.

I was one of about 1,250 invited media guests flown in from all over the world to witness the grand opening of the Venetian Macao, an expensive and ambitious project spearheaded the Las Vegas Sands Corporation.

Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

These are the same guys who had won the lucrative bid to open the first casino in Singapore, The Marina Bay Sands Resort in 2009. They also operate several casinos and convention halls around Las Vegas, including the original Venetian of which the Macao one is based on.

Throughout my stay here, I could not help but to be in constant awe of the sheer size and enormity of the project.
It was monolithic. Truly unlike anything I have ever seen before.

The hotel lobby

The Venetian Macao is the second largest building in the world and the biggest integrated resort in Asia.

The entire complex boasts a total floor space of 10.5 million square feet. They call it the first true integrated resort in Asia, featuring 3,000 hotel suites, 1.2 million square feet of convention and exhibition space, 1 million square feet of upscale retail space, 550 thousand square feet of casino space, a 1,800 seat theatre and a 15,000 seat arena, all housed under one single roof.

Frankly, I don’t know exactly how big “10.5 million square feet” is either, but imagine this.
Imagine the most luxurious hotel suites in Mandarin Oriental, the largest convention halls in KLCC, the biggest upmarket shopping mall in Starhill Gallery, the entire Genting casino (times two), the whole KLPAC theatre and the whole Bukit Jalil Indoor Stadium ALL COMBINED under one single building.
Give it a classic Venetian makeover and put it at one minute drive away from KLIA, you’ll get the Venetian Macao.

The man behind all these is Mr Sheldon Adelson, the chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp.
Sheldon Adelson also happens to be the sixth richest man in the world and third richest in the USA according to Forbes Magazine. He ranks in after Bill Gates and Warren Buffet; but way ahead of Steve Jobs, Google founders and all those Hollywood A-list celebrities.

You gotta hand it to him.
Here’s a guy who was born into an immigrated family, started out dirt poor selling newspapers at the roadsides to earn a living when he was 12.
Through hard work and determination, he made his first big break selling exhibition space for a computer convention. Now he owns and runs one of the biggest integrated resorts in the world.

At 74 years of age, Sheldon Adelson shows no signs of slowing down. His first Asian project, the billion-dollar Sands Macao Casino broke even in just one year. Over the next few years, Las Vegas Sands Corp will continue to invest heavily in Macau, China and Singapore.
Here’s a guy who predicted that revenue in Macau will soon surpass that of Las Vegas, famously saying that “Las Vegas should be called America’s Macau”

As amazing as the Venetian Macao already is, it is only the first phase of development among a much more grandoise scheme. They build the resort on a reclaimed land, by filling up the sea with enough sand to build the Egyptian Pyramids.
The new land is called Cotai, and The Venetian Macao is the crown jewel of a stretch of road nicknamed the Cotai Strip – the stretch of road that will bring Las Vegas to Asia.

In the years to come, Cotai Strip will be populated by seven other famous resort hotels, greatly expanding the casino, convention and retail space.
At the moment, Macau is mostly a side-excursion when people go to Hong Kong. Travellers to Macau rarely stayed for more than a day. But the Cotai Strip is gonna change that, and Macau is gonna radically transform into a place where people would stay longer and spend their big money at.

Have you ever seen escalators that curve?

Despite the sheer magnitude of the resort, somehow they managed to keep everything within close walking distances to each other.

This is my hotel suite.

From here, I’m only a lift ride away to the entrance of the World’s Largest Casino.
As huge as the casinos are, they are only a tiny part of the entertainment they have on offer. There are so much more things to do there besides gambling.

If there’s something going on at the convention halls or the Arena, I’m just a few steps away to watching it live.
Already, Roger Federer vs Pete Sampras and an NBA basketball match are scheduled in the Arena.

Like on the Grand Opening night, we were treated to several surprise performances by well-known Taiwanese and Hong Kong singers.
But that event deserves an entire post on its own, another day.

If I feel like a bit of retail therapy, the Grand Canal Shoppes are close by on the second floor, carrying everything from affordable brands like Bossini all the way to cutthroat expensive ones like Tiffany’s.

The retail space at the Venetian is larger than any shopping malls in Hong Kong. Considering how big shopping mall already are in Hong Kong, that’s saying a lot.

The resort has gone through great lengths to actually fool you into believing that you are shopping in old time Renaissance Venice, Italy when you’re not.

It’s beautiful. They even went as far as to have artificially hand-painted blue skies onto the ceiling. I kid you not.
So even if it’s pitch dark or raining heavily outside, you’d still happily think its cool and sunny inside.

Of course, the fake skies can cause a bit of problem when it comes to stray helium balloons though. 😛

The signature of the Grand Canal Shoppes is three 490 long water canals along the cobblestone walkways. They even have Italian gondolas and serenading gondoliers to transport you around.

It has become quite a trend of newlyweds to take the graceful and romantic glide down the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy and here they have faithfully re-created the experience.
Yes, I know there are Venetian gondolas in Genting too, but these ones are so authentic, they make the gondolas at First World Plaza looks like some cheap 20 cent children’s ride.

What I love about the Grand Canal Shoppes are not the shops, but tireless street performers present all day long to entertain the shoppers.
As much as this whole “Disneyland for Adults” is artifical and man-made, you gotta love their elaborate costumes and attention to detail.

There are opera singers, stilt walkers, jugglers, and my favourite… a human statue.

The purpose of the human statue is to just stand there and not move at all.
Like a statue.

After 15 minutes.

After 30 minutes.

1 hour.
I swear I heard him snore.

Such an easy job.
When I grow up, I wanna be a human statue too.

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Where I’m Staying These Four Days

This is where I’m currently staying in Macau.

This monstrosity of a building is the Venetian Macao Resort Hotel.
Built on what was previously nothing but a body of sea water, this building is now officially the largest inhabited building in the world. Also in it is the largest casino in the world, and the largest convention centre in the whole of Asia.

We arrived here late last night, and throughout our stay we were virtually continuously in awe non-stop. It is truthfully unlike anything else we have ever seen before.

The 13 of us from Malaysia is only a small part of a total of some 1,250 media and news crew from all over the world. We aren’t even the VIPs but already we feel like we are treated like kings.
The hotel suite is easily the most lavish and luxurious I have ever stayed at.

They called it a suite, man. Not rooms, SUITES.

It is the best hotel accomodation my blogging has given me. Considering I have been put up in really impressive hotels like the Hilton KL and Swissotel Singapore before, that’s saying something.

In-room broadband internet is free and there’s even a freaking fax/printer/scanner/copier 4-in-1 machine in the room! And we’re talking about the cheapest room they have available.
This is probably the only chance in my entire life that I’ll be staying here because I’m I would’ve never be able to afford paying for something like this on my own.

One night in the Venetian Macao would cost at least HKD$5,500++. That’s almost like RM3,000 a night.
But not to worry. If you book now, you can get a room at a special introductory rate of HKD$1,088++. That’s only RM600 a night!

A lot of work are still yet to be done, and clearly the workers have been working frantically around the clock.
The grand opening of the resort is scheduled to open tomorrow, on the auspicious day of 28/08/07. Coco Lee, Hacken Lee, Alan Tam and the Cirque de Soliel are all scheduled to perform.

Queen Amidala meets Anakin Skywalker in Korea

I just witnessed a traditional Korean wedding taking place today. On the opening day itself, there will be three more weddings, one of which will be between a Sarawakian couple.

I’ve got a full day tomorrow and there’s a lot more to cover, but rest assured – you’ll read it all at kennysia.com

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Macau

This will be the last of my Hong Kong travel adventure series, as I’m sure everyone is pretty sick of it by now.

Day 4 of my trip, I found myself a few hours to kill before I had to head to Macau Airport to catch my flight back to Malaysia. In case you’re wondering, the only reason why I went to Hong Kong via Macau is because it’s a lot cheaper to travel that way.
Last time I was in Macau, all I did was donate unnecessary funds to the Sands Casino. This time round, I decided to do something more productive and pay their town centre a visit.

My journey starts at Largo do Senado, the focal point of Macau’s historic centre.
If you’re a fan of colonial architecture like I am, you’ll immediately fall in love with this place at first sight.

Macau is a poor man’s version of Europe, but it’s buildings are just as every bit as stunning. If I can’t afford a European holiday for honeymoon, this will be where I bring my wife next time.
Confirm divorce the next day.

Hey look, it’s the Golden Arches™ in Macau!
Wonder what they sell in there.
The Big Mac-au? Hur hur.

The McDonald’s here are promoting something I’ve never seen before called “Fan-tastic”. These are rice burgers, where they have glutinous rice patties in place of buns.
The rice burgers come in either chicken or beef version. The beef variety looks more tempting so that’s the option I went with.

It really does taste fantastic!
Kinda like bak zhang with teriyaki beef fillings instead. Another way to describe is like eating beef rice without spoon. Definitely a must try if you’re in Hong Kong or Macau.
Maccas in Malaysia gotta stop selling whatever bullshit Foldovers and start selling some RICE BURGERS dammit.

Macau is lucky to have some of the most beautiful and well-preserved churches in the region. There’s something inexplicably romantic and serene with these old-school churches.
I’m born and raised in a Buddhist household, but I often find myself a lot more fascinated with Christian history instead.

I admit, my fascination in large part is due to conspiracy theories like the Da Vinci Code.
Yes, I know the story is fictional. No, I don’t like to be preached to thankyouverymuch.

This is the national monument of Macau, the eerie ruins of St Paul’s Cathedral.
Apparently some typhoon blew the whole church away. All that’s left of it is its intricately-carved stone facade.

Eh, how come Macau can have a 400-year-old building as their national monument, and all we Kuching people have is a giant cat?

It’s not easy being a statue. Your head becomes a landing pad for errant pigeons.
Anyway, I spotted quite a few odd things around the area. Like this other strange statue.

What the heck is thing? I tried looking for signs explaining what this is and how it got here but there was no clue!
My guess is that it’s Macau version of a chao ah lian talking loudly on her handphone.
The tourist attraction is not the only thing interesting here. Some of the tourists here fascinates me as well, especially with the way they pose.

This one looks like she’s saying “WTF?”

I don’t know what this girl’s problem is but she took like 20 different photos of various poses with that statue.
I wanted to take a photo of the statue as well but I was tired of waiting her to budge after 10 minutes, so I took a photo of the statue with her in it.
There, I hope you’re happy now.

No trip to Macau is complete without sampling their famous portugese egg tarts. They are simply. the. best. It’s totally unlike any kinds of portugese egg tarts you could find in Malaysia.

It’s so good that I bought one whole big box of portugese egg tarts for my mom. Then I fell down and all those egg tarts accidentally ended up inside my stomatch. 😛

Well, 4 days and 3 nights later, I was ready to come home. Hong Kong has been great fun, but I do miss home and I do miss speaking Hokkien instead of Cantonese.
Man, I must have spoken more Cantonese here than I ever did in my entire lifetime. And I’m not even good at it.

When I was taking a taxi to the Macau Ferry Terminal, the taxi driver asked me in Cantonese, what I was going to Macau for.
I meant to say to him, “I’m going to Macau to thak fei gei (ride a plane).”
But being the noob that I was I replied, “I’m going to Macau to da fei gei (masturbate)”

You should see the look on his face. PRICELESS.

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