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Day 1 - Have you been OUTSIDE Disneyland?
Day 2 - Ocean Park: See Hong Kong's National Treasures!
Day 3 - Get Up Close and Personal with the Giant Buddha at Ngong Ping
Day 4 - Shopping Galore at Sham Shui Po and Temple Street
Day 5 - How to Get to Victoria's Peak and Avenue of the Stars
Day 6 - Fast Passes: The Secret to Disneyland
Day 7 - How to Get Around Macau for Free
Day 8 - Party the Night Away in Lan Kwai Fong
This was the day we visited Macau, and now that I'm writing about it, I think I finally remember what we did the morning of our fifth day, before we headed to Victoria's Peak. We looked for the Hong Kong Ferry Terminal to Macau so that when the day arrived that we were to go there, we wouldn't get lost and waste time.
The main Hong Kong Ferry terminal was in Shun Tak Centre, and to get there, we got off at Sheung Wan MTR station. Shun Tak Centre was a mall, so when we headed for the terminal, we passed several shops and fast food stores. We had also already bought our tickets then so that all we had to do was board the ferry. For a list of Turbojet schedules and fares, click here.
We got there a little earlier than the time stamped on our ticket but we were allowed to ride the earlier trip since the Turbojet departed every 15 minutes. The ride to Macau took approximately an hour and a half and when we finally arrived, we didn't know where to go first.. Hehe..
Unlike in Hong Kong, where we had Tata to guide us, we didn't know how to get anywhere in Macau. Fortunately, a Filipina approached us and asked if we were tourists. She offered to tour us around Macau for HK$100 each. We were wary at first because it might be a scam, but in the end, we agreed. It turned out to be a good decision, after all.
First, our tour guide, whose name was Melody, took us to Fisherman's Wharf, which was only 5-min walk from the Ferry Terminal. We took photos of the Tang Dynasty Fortress and Vulcania but didn't go inside the amusement park itself. We were already hungry and wanted to leave our things in the hotel first.
When Melody found out we were booked at the Metropole Hotel, she took us back to the ferry Terminal to wait for the shuttle of the Grand Emperor Hotel because it was very near the Metropole. This was our first taste of how we would actually be doing our tour of Macau, through hotel shuttle services.
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| Gold Bars in the Grand Emperor Hotel |
We arrived at the Grand Emperor and Melody pointed to the floor where a dozen gold bars were displayed. We walked around the lobby for a bit before heading for the Metropole.
Our room was small but still comfortable, with two double beds, a TV, a bathroom and some furniture. It suited us just fine for an overnight stay.
We headed out again to tour with Melody. She took us to see the Sands casino, where Diw tried her hand at the slot machines. She didn't win, though and in my opinion, it was boring. She was just pressing one button again and again. I don't know why some people enjoyed gambling so much.
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| Sands Casino |
After lunch at a nearby KFC, we went to the Lotus Square to see the sculpture of a golden "Lotus in Full Bloom". This lotus was actually made of bronze.
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| The Golden Lotus |
When we arrived at the Macau Tower, Melody told us she would just wait for us and we agreed that she would be back after an hour. The admission fee to the observation deck (levels 58 and 61) in the Macau Tower cost HK$90. It was open from 10am-9pm on weekdays and 9am to 9pm on weekends and public holidays.
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| The Macau Tower |
For the less daring, but who still want to experience the thrill, you could sky walk around the tower with a harness and a guide. Or, you could also do the mast climb and climb the tower from the outside. We still didn't do wither because it was expensive and I figured I could try the sky walk in Cebu some other time.
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| View from Macau Tower |
I guess, the view would be better at night, like in the Hong Kong Sky Terrace, but on the other hand, we also wanted to see the casinos in the evening when they're all lighted up.
When it was time to go, we waited for yet another shuttle bus to go back to the ferry terminal to visit The City of Dreams. By now, we were getting used to this mode of traveling and the best thing about it was it was free!
At the terminal, we boarded the shuttle bus to the City of Dreams and as we did, a guy handed us tickets to the Bubble Show. This was what Melody wanted us to see. When we got there, the lobby had a huge virtual "aquarium" with a holographic-like projection of a mermaid who appeared and disappeared randomly. We didn't get to observe her for long because Melody was urging us to go see the Bubble Show first because it had a scheduled time.
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| Dragon's Treasure at the Bubble |
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| Dragon Kings |
We exited the Bubble only to go back to where the mermaid was to get a photo of her. However, by then there were lots of tourists doing the same thing and we couldn't take a photo without having many other people in the shot as well. So I gave up and just asked Diw to take a shot of me against the watery background. Without warning, the mermaid appeared right beside me and Diw took the shot just in time. That was pretty lucky.
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| Mermaid at the City of Dreams |
The theme of The Venetian is obviously Venice, with its system of canals and gondoliers. We strolled along the Venetian shoppes beside the canals and marveled at the artificial sky above us.
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| Artificial Sky at the Venetian |
I couldn't remember exactly how we got to St. Paul's because it seemed to me we did a lot of walking and the final street leading to St. Paul's was slanted several degrees, so I was almost breathless when we finally got to the top. By this time, it was already late afternoon and we were taking advantage of what little light was left to take our photos.
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| Ruins of St. Paul |
It was now evening and time to see the casinos! But before that, we still had to see one other attraction at the Wynn Hotel, or rather two attractions because outside the Wynn was the Dancing Fountain, where the water performance was timed to the music. However, we didn't really take the time to view the entire performance but instead hurried to see the Dragon of Fortune and the Prosperity Tree.
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| Dancing Fountain |
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| Wynn Hotel Prosperity Tree |
Tired from the day's activities, we finally opted to go back to Metropole. We thanked Melody profusely for showing us around. We never would have seen some of the best attractions we hadn't even heard about without her.
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| Macau Casinos |
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