#  >  > Travellers Tales in Thailand and Asia >  >  > China, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Macau Travel Forum >  >  Meandering in Macau (Dec 2012)

## katie23

Tis the season to be jolly! Fa la la and oooh la la!  :Smile: 

Four years ago, my sister and I traveled to Macau. We stayed (couch-surfed) at the apartment of a good friend of hers. We stayed there for three days. On the second day, we took a ferry to HK and went to HK Disneyland. It's been quite some time since these pics were taken (mostly by my sister on her camera), but there aren't too many threads about Macau.  Also, we went there during Christmas season, so there's a certain nostalgia for me to post these pics now. 

People associate Macau with gambling, since it's known as the "Las Vegas of Asia", but as I've found, there's more to the place than the casinos. There are family-friendly (and kid-friendly) sites too.  In case people have an idea of visiting HK, you may want to include Macau in the itinerary, since it's just one hour away by ferry. 

About Macau from wikipedia:
Macau, also spelled Macao, officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the western side of the Pearl River Delta in East Asia. Macau is bordered by the city of Zhuhai in China to the North and the Pearl River Estuary to the East and South. Hong Kong lies about 64 kilometres (40 mi) to its East across the Delta. With an estimated population of around 647,700 living in an area of 30.5 km² (11.8 sq mi), it is the most densely populated region in the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macau

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## katie23

Macau Special Administrative Region is composed of two islands: Macau and Taipa. The airport is on Taipa island, while the ferry terminal to HK is on Macau island. There are bridges to connect the two islands.  Our friend's apartment was in Taipa island, around 20 min from the airport by taxi. Here's a map for reference.  Map is from wikipedia.

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## katie23

We arrived on the night of Dec. 26th. The taxi passed by the Galaxy Casino-hotel on the way to friend's place. As with most casinos, it was very glittery.

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## katie23

After some catching up, we drifted off to sleep, as we had planned a long day of sightseeing for the next day.  On Day 1, we just walked along the neighborhood until we reached the bus stop. Here are some scenes along the way.

It's a residential area, so there are many condos.

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## katie23

More condos


Rubbish to be collected. I found the city to be very clean.

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## katie23

There was a mobile library for kids. Please do not quote this post! 

It was winter, and the temps were around 15-18 C. Quite cold for us, since we came from PI where it was 25-32 C, thus the thick jacket (provided kindly by friend-host!).


Friend-host said that we need not buy/bring thick jackets, since she had lots of jackets that we could borrow - we were all of similar sizes.

The official languages in Macau are Chinese (Mandarin) and Portuguese. Macau was colonized by the Portuguese from the mid 16th century.  The signages are in Mandarin & Portuguese, however, most ppl on the streets spoke Mandarin only. A few spoke English.

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## david44

Coloane beaches were deserted in the 20th century before bridges
I enjoyed Macau before the Commies took over great food good fun.
Thanks Katie

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## katie23

The currency in Macau is the pataca. If you come from HK, they WILL accept your HK dollars. However, in HK, they will NOT accept your Macau patacas, since patacas have slightly lower value (1.25 pataca ~ 1 HKD). 

We changed money at some exchangers near this street temple


It was near the Grandview Hotel

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## katie23

It was cold and cloudy in Macau, but that added to the "winter" feeling. This was the Macau Stadium (Estadio de Macau).


bus station near Estadio de Macau

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## katie23

Since we had local knowledge, we took buses to the different sites in Macau. There's no MRT in Macau, so it would be a bit tough to ride buses if you didn't know their routes. Fortunately, our friend-host told us which buses to take, and planned the itinerary for us! She wasn't able to join us since she had to work, but she gave us maps and directions. You can also get maps of the city at the airport or from hotels. If you don't know the bus routes, you can take taxis. 

at the bus station


Macau bus

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## katie23

Our first stop for that day was this. It has a long name. I just call it Panda Park.


The pathway was nicely decorated with poinsettias


Please DO NOT quote these posts! These were taken 4 years ago, long before I joined TD, and some pics included me/my sis, since they weren't really intended for public consumption!

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## katie23

Macau is a Special Administrative Region of China. Most ASEAN citizens don't need a visa to enter Macau. As Fil citizens, we were visa-exempt. 

The park was fairly large, and there was a plane on display.


There was ongoing construction back then. This building must be operational by now.

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## Nicethaiza

Great thread as always Katie..That's you in pictures?

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## katie23

There's a mini zoo in the park. The park itself is free of entrance, but if you want to see the pandas, you have to pay a fee (forgot how much).

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## katie23

@david44 - We didn't go to the beaches in Coloane due to lack of time. Maybe next trip...

@za - The pics are either of my sister or me. Heh.  :Very Happy:

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## katie23

Some flamingoes


This leads to the pandas. They have their own enclosure.

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## katie23

Some decorative pandas along the way. Many places for photo ops.  :Smile: 


Inside, there's a television which plays a film about the "daily life" of the pandas. Again, pls DO NOT quote this post.
If you look closely, the panda is lodged between the rocks, on the right side of the pic.

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## katie23

Panda bday cake during 3rd birthday.  :Smile:  Still shot taken from the film.


Who says you can't have your cake & eat it too? Pandas can!  :Very Happy:

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## Luigi

> There's a mini zoo in the park


Sure that wasn't the restaurant? Choose before you dine.  :Smile: 


It looks just how I remember China.... Gray!

Very nice thread, thanks.

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## katie23

I think we were there ~10 or 11 am. The pandas had eaten and were already sleeping. (lazy pandas!) It's best to go there during early morning if you want to watch them feed.


ppl watching the panda sleep  :Very Happy:

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## katie23

After watching those lazy pandas sleep, we explored the other parts of the park. King Willy was there too! Very macho he was.  :Very Happy: 



For those who like birds...

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## katie23

More places for photo ops


There was a Natural & Agrarian Museum. We checked it out (but no pics inside).

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## katie23

E proibido fumar!


It was a good place to walk around

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## katie23

@Luigi - to be fair, it was GRAY because it was winter. Cold too, around 15 degrees. (cold for me). When we went to HK the next day, it was sunny. 

What I don't like about winter (and I have experienced snow & winter) is that most people are wearing black or gray. So depressing! So this red truck & the lil girl's jacket were welcome sights. (I also remember Spielberg's "girl in red jacket" effect in Schindler's list.)

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## katie23

We rode the bus to get to another part of Taipa island. Our mission: to look for Lord Stow's Cafe and buy some egg tarts (was recommended by friend-host).

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## katie23

Sis and I were talking and then these two guys (we thought they were Chinese), also talked to us in our native tongue! Pinoys in Macau!  :Smile: 


Thumbs up for Pinoy staff at Lord Stow's Cafe!  :Smile:

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## katie23

These are the famous egg tarts from Lord Stow's Bakery. More famous than LT's pies!  :Very Happy: 


IIRC (if I remember correctly), the crust was just right - flaky and delicious. The filling was very good too. I've also tasted egg tarts in HK, but they weren't as good as Lord Stow's.  

That's all for now. Will end tonight with these (cream) pies. Heh. To be continued...

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## Cujo

Awesome thread and great pics. I live right there next door (Zhuhai) and I never see this.
And Luigi, yes, it's usually blue skies and sea, nothing like what you think China's like. (Zhuhai as well)

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## fishlocker

Grear stuff Katie. Just curious but do they decorate tha Malls and shops in Christmas fashion? I found it a bit strange here in Laos. I guess anything for a buck is the rule the world over.

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## Cujo

> Grear stuff Katie. Just curious but do they decorate tha Malls and shops in Christmas fashion? I found it a bit strange here in Laos. I guess anything for a buck is the rule the world over.


Being an ex Portugese colony they celebrate all the christian (Catholic) holidays.

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## katie23

Cheers sheriff kuju & fishy! The sheriff is right - Macau was a Portuguese colony, so there are many churches scattered in the territory and the official languages are Mandarin and Portuguese. The malls and casinos were decorated with Chrissy stuff too.

So to continue, after a short snack at Lord Stow's Cafe, we just walked along the alleys and side streets. I think this area was Coloane, the southern part of the island. It has a more "provincial" feel. The big condos & casino-hotels are in Taipa, the northern part of the island. 

Again, please DO NOT quote this post!


We saw a couple having their wedding photo shoot (I think we saw 3 couples that day).

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## katie23

Grrr. My net is $%&@ again. Can't post pix frm laptop - pix won't load. Am on fone now. Will try to post pix later. Thnx for the greens. Cheers!

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## beerlaodrinker

> Grear stuff Katie. Just curious but do they decorate tha Malls and shops in Christmas fashion? I found it a bit strange here in Laos. I guess anything for a buck is the rule the world over.


never found laos to be overly xmasy at all, you wouldn't even know its xmas eve unless you get on the piss with expats, but you know it's xmas day by the hangover, bah humbug.

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## Cujo

Katie did you get to here




And the ruins of the old fort?


Some wonderful historc relics in the basement of the fort.

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## katie23

@BLD - cheers and bah humbug to you too! Maligayang Pasko!  :Wink: 

@kuju - yes, we explored Macau island on Day 3 - St. Paul's ruins, the fortress, Ama temple, the Grand Lisboa casino - all touristy stuff. The pics are still of Day 1 - we explored Taipa and Coloane. Day2 was HK Disney.

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## katie23

So to continue, near that wedding couple, we saw a (Chinese) Buddhist temple.


It was pretty standard as Chinese temples go. It's common to see those yellow coily thingies hanging on ceilings of Chinese temples. What do they symbolize? (I don't really know, since I'm not Buddhist - maybe someone here would know?)

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## katie23

We just wandered along those alleys, then saw the sea at the end of the tunnel...


It was windy that day... bad hair day.. heh.  :Very Happy: 


Please DO NOT QUOTE these posts!

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## katie23

There was a library nearby...


And a church... this is the church courtyard


Again, please DO NOT QUOTE these posts!

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## katie23

Photos of the church


We went in and said a lil prayer...


church facade

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## katie23

We just wandered around a bit more. I liked these cobblestones (if they can be considered as cobblestones). 


Back on the bus to the city center (Taipa)

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## katie23

We got off at a bus stop near this area, and decided to check it out. Jardin da cidades las flores.


There are Chinese pagodas and a pond, quite nice.  


A nice respite in the city and its skyscrapers


This area reminded me of the Chinese pagoda/garden in Sydney.  I haven't been there, but I saw it in pics of a Pinay blogger. I think it was Nina from justwandering dot org. Very helpful stuff from Nina and from Gail of Thepinaysolobackpacker.  My friends and I stayed at the same hostel/guesthouse that Thepinaysolobackpacker stayed in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.  One of my older threads, if anyone is interested.

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## katie23

In that area, there was a playground as well


Good onya, lil girl. Enjoy your childhood!  :Smile:

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## katie23

Near that area were some food establishments. No Jollibee, so we settled for this instead.  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):   :Very Happy:  We didn't eat there. 


There's a Jollibee in HK - lots of pinoys there during Sundays (from what I've seen on the news/net).  Other ppl say it's crap, though. I don't mind.  :Wink:  Jollibee has come a long way from being a small burger stand, to feeding Pinoys all over the globe with their crappy burger and crappier sweet spaghetti. Good onya, Jollibee!  :Very Happy: 

Again, please DO NOT QUOTE this post. That pesky girl keeps appearing in the photos. Pardon the intrusion.

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## katie23

Since we had a map, we just walked along until we found this shopping area.


It was across these skyscrapers. More ongoing construction at that time. Those buildings would prolly be operational by now.

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## katie23

So we crossed the street to get to the other side...


There were many shops selling all sorts of touristy items... being girls, we looked around  :Wink:  
I love this kind of stores! Am more comfy buying here than in high-end places. 
Btw, this area is called "Old Taipa Village". 


Again, please DO NOT QUOTE this post.

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## katie23

There were stores selling different types of beef jerky. We bought some of that on our last day.


This is a famous bakery - Koi Kei. Their almond cookies are very good, as well as the cookies wrapped in seaweed.  They give out free samples and we bought some of their products during the last day. There are similar touristy stores in along the pathway to the St. Paul's ruins.

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## katie23

After a late lunch in one of the noodle shops there, we were again ready for more sightseeing. At the back (or side) of those shops was this upward path.


It led to a courtyard and a church.


Another church... most of the churches were painted in yellow.

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## katie23

After wandering around that courtyard, we saw this path... led to another park.


When you go down, you can see the casinos in the distance.

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## katie23

This area is called "Old Taipa Houses". There were typical Macanese houses on show.


Pleasant for a stroll. Some of the houses had exhibits inside (free & for-pay). We went to a free one.  :Wink:

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## katie23

Macanese house = Casa Macaense


Saw another wedding photo shoot. Girl was quite pretty.  :Wink:

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## katie23

Time to explore the park. Saw lots of wooden sheep.  Dickie, this is for you. Sorry they're not white and fluffy.  :Very Happy: 


Tried to get a pic of the windmills, but there's this pesky girl again...


Again, please DO NOT QUOTE this post!

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## katie23

We used this 'walkalator' to get to the casinos... that building is The Venetian (casino-hotel-mall)


Galaxy Casino-hotel

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## katie23

This is another large casino-hotel that could be seen from one side of The Venetian.  Don't know the name.


I liked these windows at The Venetian hotel..

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## katie23

Other large casino-hotels as viewed from The Venetian


Crown hotel and City of Dreams. There's a (new-ish) City of Dreams near Mall of Asia (in PI), but it's not as grand as this.

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## katie23

Close up of the windows. I liked how they tried to mimic the houses in Venice.


There was fake snow in the vicinity of the casino-hotel. What do they use for this fake snow? Anyone? Is it the same stuff used in movies (snow-machines)?


Please DO NOT QUOTE this post!

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## katie23

We went inside The Venetian and explored a bit. No pics for now, since we went back there on Day 3 and I'll post pics from that time. The Venetian was very opulent, lots of gold glittery paint, and the ceilings were painted with reproductions of paintings of Italian ceilings from the Renaissance (sp?) period.  We also visited the other nearby casino-hotels, and the lobby/front areas were very opulent.  Being girls from the province, it was very gold and glittery and opulent for us! We didn't take many pics and just took in the opulence. No wonder that people like to go to casinos - because of the lights, the chance of winning, etc. 

However, "all that glitters is not gold" and I know of some old relatives who lost land due to gambling.  My sis and I didn't gamble, since we were kuripot (kee neow?) backpackers and we wanted to save our hard-earned $$ for food, transpo and souvenirs - more important stuff! Personally, I have an aversion to gambling, since when we were kids, our dad drilled into us that "gambling is bad!" and that we had some relatives who lost land due to gambling addiction. They were poor country folk and land was all they had - which they lost due to gambling.  

We watched the lights show at The Venetian, then took another bus to get back to our friend's condo. Then a quiet dinner and much needed rest! It was a long day of sightseeing!

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## katie23

This is NOT my video, I got this from utube. I'll show it so that you'll get a feel of the lights show at The Venetian casino-hotel. There are many other vids on utube, if interested. I don't know if this one's good as I didn't see it in full. 

Let's see if this works...

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## katie23

Did it work? If it didn't work, then my apologies. You can view the vid on utube. 
End of Day 1 for now... Day 2 was the trip to HK Disneyland.

to be continued...

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## Norton

> Did it work?


Worked just fine. Another great travel thread katie. Thanks.

Maligayang pasko.

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## Cujo

From 2012? Bit late isn't it.

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## beerlaodrinker

better late than never

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## grasshopper

Nice thread as per, Katie. Just wondering about the ban on quoting - are you or your sis claiming copyright or just wanna protect the babe in the pics? She looks maganda to me but has a strange head that keeps changing. The windswept looks okay to me as well.

 :Wink:

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## katie23

Thnx for the replies and the greens. It's lunch break of my last working day for the year and I'll try to post some pics. Tomorrow I'll be leaving for the province and the holidays. Won't have much internet there, and I'll be busy with festivities. 

@Norton - thanks for the luv. Maligayang Pasko rin sa iyo at iyong pamilya!

@BLD - thanks for the back-up. Now I know why cujo is called the 'sheriff'. lol

@cujo - it's clearly stated in the thread title, and in my OP, and the date stamps, that the pics were taken FOUR years ago. I didn't want to share these photos before bcos they had lots of me/my sis in them. However, I showed them now, because it's Christmas and I'm feeling Christmassy, and this was a holiday trip that my sister and I enjoyed. We had good bonding moments (and some arguing too! lol, but we kissed and made up).  I'm trying to show the Macau that is not commonly seen by tourists, since they usually just see the casinos or the old Portuguese city center (Senado Square, St. Paul's Ruins, etc.) Now, if you don't like seeing OLD pics, you can just shove it! And a Merry Christmas to you too!  :Smile: 

@grasshopper - re: the no quoting, it's just for the pics with me/my sis in them. The person you see on the pics is an ordinary working girl and I don't want her to be associated with Sophia or smoochi. (Heck, maybe Sophia is now a mamasan at smoochi! lol)  As for her looks, I don't know if she's "maganda", but she has a maganda heart. Heh.  :Wink:

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## katie23

Day 2 - trip to HK Disneyland

So the next day, we were up bright and early to catch the ferry to HK. Since our friend's condo was in Taipa island, we had to take a bus, which crossed the bridge to Macau island where the ferry terminal is located. Crossing the bridge...


View of Macau Tower. You can do bungee-jumping there.

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## katie23

New ferry terminal


Inside the ferry terminal. @Fishlocker - this answers your query about xmas decorations.  :Smile:

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## katie23

The ticket booths. We took the 8:30 am ferry to HK. Jacket is from friend-host.  :Smile:  Thick & bulky, but it kept us warm.


Inside the ferry. It was smooth sailing and took ~ 1hr.


Again, pls DO NOT QUOTE this post!

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## katie23

For those who like boats. I think this was still on the Macau side. 


Before you ride the ferry, you'll go through immigration to be stamped out of Macau. Then upon reaching HK, you'll be stamped in to HK. I found it cool and I got 2 additional stamps on my pp!

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## katie23

This is on the HK side already, near immigration.


View of the HK skyline from a glass window.


Before this trip, I had visited HK on a separate trip (but my sister hadn't), so I was already familiar with the HK railway system. So I was the guide during the short journey to Disneyland.

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## katie23

The HK ferry terminal is near (inside?) a mall, so we explored it a bit.


This photo now reminds me of Luigi's supposed "xmas gift" to me, the tutu. Heh. I like the black/red one.  :Very Happy:

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## katie23

Map of HK MTR (mass transit railway) system, but I don't know if it's updated. Got it from the net. From Sheung Wan station of the island line (ISL, dark blue), we needed to get to Disneyland.  It took around 45 min with all the walking and transfers.  I remember timing our journey/train ride, since we had already purchased the return ferry tickets and we didn't want to be left by the boat!

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## katie23

To the trains... I think this was one of the interchange stations.


Inside the HK MTR. It was a bit early (and a weekend, I think), so not much ppl.

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## katie23

At Sunny Bay station, you'll have to change trains to the Disney line. In the Disney train car, even the hand grips were Mouse-shaped.  :Wink: 


The windows were also Mouse-shaped.  :Smile:

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## katie23

People alighting from the train. It was the xmas holidays, so the place was bursting w/ ppl. 


At HK Disneyland. At this point, sis and I were both very excited. We grew up with  tales of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Bambi, Pinocchio & the Little Mermaid. We were both kids at heart.  :Smile:

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## katie23

It was cold and gray in Macau, but it was blue and sunny in HK. Great day for a visit!


Even the grass was Mouse-shaped.  :Smile:  Pls do not quote this post!

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## katie23

House of Performing Arts.

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## katie23

This is the long queue to have your photo taken with Mickey & Minnie.


We didn't want to wait for that long, so we just passed by the couple.

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## katie23

Everywhere, souvenir shops are scattered to deprive you of your $$.  :Very Happy: 


Since it was the holidays, the lines everywhere (to get photos with the mascots, to the rides) were soooo long. For every ride, we waited 1-1.5 hrs. We didn't know about the fast pass then. I think it would be best to visit Disneyland when it's not peak season.  However, even if it was tiring, we both enjoyed the Disneyland visit. If you have young kids or teenagers, then they'll most likely enjoy it. 

More pics later... to be continued...

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## katie23

The parade on Main Street. Even if you're not young (or young at heart), I think you would enjoy this.  :Smile: 


I think some of the actors/dancers are Pinoys. Heard some of them talking about breaks, day-offs, being tired from dancing, when's the next shift, etc.. while we were on the train.

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## katie23

It was a bright sunny day, and we were able to get good photos.  The Disney princesses...


Toy Story float

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## katie23

I had fun watching the Toy Story movies with my nephews & nieces when they were a bit younger. To infinity & beyond! 


These are Davis K., Ltnt and Norton when they were younger.  :Very Happy:   (btw, where is Ltnt now?)

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## katie23

The Sleeping Beauty castle (or is it Cinderella's?). Accdg to story, Walt Disney was inspired by the Schloss/Castle Neuschwanstein in Bavaria, Germany. To our yerman members: Stroller, Herman & esp. Takeovers, Froehe Weinachten!  :Smile: 


please do not quote this post!

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## katie23

Picture taking with Pooh


Merlin's house.. I didn't know that Merlin belonged to the Disney Universe. heh..  :Smile:

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## katie23

Since this was Disneyland, it was capitalism at its best. 70 hkd for roast chicken leg + rice!


Btw, it may not be pricey if your currency is euro or usd, but since we earned in pesos, for us it was expensive. But what the heck.. it's Disneyland!

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## Norton

> These are Davis K., Ltnt and Norton when they were younger.


Agent green.  :Smile:

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## katie23

Disneyland hires gweilo/falang ppl for the "face actor" roles. I've read somewhere that the face actors earn more than the costumed actors (e.g. costumed as Goofy, Mickey, etc). I think it was an article about an American student who had gigs as a Disney princess in one of the US Disneylands.  She was initially a cashier, but was offered a "face actor" role as a Disney princess because she was pretty.  Anyway, here's Tinkerbell. She was pretty and petite.  :Smile:

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## katie23

^^ Cheers, Norton! Here are the rides for the men in green.  :Smile: 


Toy Storyland

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## katie23

So we just wandered & rode some rides until nighttime.. it's a big place but the one in California is said to be bigger.  This was the carousel at night.


Tomorrowland, with some space-themed rides

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## katie23

The castle at night


Nighttime on Main Street

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## katie23

At around 7pm (I think), there was artificial snow on Main Street. It was nice, since it was also cold by then - enhanced that "winter" atmosphere.


HK Disneyland at night

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## katie23

Merry Christmas from HK Disneyland!


There are fireworks at 9pm, I think, but we didn't stay to watch that, since we had to return to the ferry terminal to get back to Macau. We were told to be at the ferry terminal ~30 min before the departure time, since boarding passes had to be issued. That's it for Day 2.  As I've said before, it was a tiring day at HK Disneyland, but we enjoyed it!

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## katie23

Day 3 - Exploration of Macau Island

Since we got back to our friend's apartment a bit late the previous night, we decided to take the next day a bit easy. However, it turned out that we still did a lot, since it was our last day and we wanted to maximize our time in Macau!

So we again took a bus which crossed the bridge, then got off at the central area, where the casino-hotels are, for some photo ops. This area looked very beautiful at night, with all the lights.



Here's the Wynn casino-hotel

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## katie23

The Grand Lisboa casino-hotel. Please do not quote this post!


Still the Grand Lisboa... it looks more impressive at night. No nighttime pics, unfortunately, as we were on the bus back from HK.

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## katie23

From the area of the Grand Lisboa, we walked along this street to get to the "old town" (Portuguese section). The walk took 15-20 min.

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## katie23

This is Senado Square. Sorry, these two ladies got in the way...


Again, pls do not quote this post!

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## katie23

The next few pics are from the old Portuguese section of the city. It had beautiful colonial-style buildings. There was a stage set up for xmas events at the time.


An institute...

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## Norton

> Again, pls do not quote this post!


Ok. Identical twins I see.

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## katie23

Ruins of St. Paul's Church

The Ruins of St. Paul's (also known as Sam Ba Sing Tzik) stands adjacent to the famous Mount Fortress and Macau Museum. The front façade and the grand stone stairs are the only remains of the greatest church.

First constructed in 1580, St. Paul's Church caught fires in 1595 and 1601. However, reconstruction started in 1602 soon after the church was burnt down. Completed in 1637, the church became the biggest Catholic Church in East Asia at that time. Unfortunately, a violent typhoon hit Macau in 1835 and the *church caught fire for the third time leaving its glory a history*. According to historical materials, St Paul's Church, built with white stones, had a grand vaulted roof. It had three magnificently decorated halls.

More info here: https://www.travelchinaguide.com/att...acau/ruins.htm

These are the ruins of St. Paul's church. Those pesky ladies again...  :Very Happy: 


Again, pls do not quote this post!

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## katie23

> Ok. Identical twins I see.


Nope, not twins. She's older. But yes, we have similar features.  :Smile:

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## katie23

The view from the top of the steps of St. Paul's ruins.  At the alley going to the ruins, there are lots of souvenir shops selling trinkets & food (beef jerky & cookies). 


There was a small temple nearby, we explored that too.

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## katie23

The Mount Fortress (Fortaleza do Monte) was also nearby.  

Mount Fortress is built on top of Mount Hill, which rises 52 metres above sea level. The fortress covers an area of approximately 8,000 square metres, in the shape of a trapezoid. The four corners of the fortress protrude to form bulwarks. The northeastern, south-eastern and south-western walls are built on 3.7-metre-wide granite bases. The walls, 9 metres high narrowing upwards to 2.7 metres wide at the top, are made of solid rammed earth, further strengthened by a thick stucco of ground oyster shells. The parapets were crenulated for the installation of 32 cannons and the two corners of the southeast wall have watchtowers. The walls facing the Chinese Mainland do not have any battlements, indicating that the fortress was built only for defence against attacks from the sea.

More info here: Macao Heritage Net

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## katie23

We were running out of disk space on the memory card of the camera, so we had to delete lots of pics. We left the important ones, which had us in them. So I don't have pics of the cannons alone. So here are those pesky ladies again at Mount Fortress...



pls do not quote this post!

This was inside the fortress... there was a coffee shop, I think (can't remember exactly).

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## katie23

There was a museum at the basement level of the Fortress, and we viewed the free exhibits outside. The ones inside were not free. After the Fortress and museum, we wandered along some side streets and came across this church.  It was painted yellow again.



Church courtyard

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## katie23

We also came across this theater - went inside and had a look. It's used for some mini concerts and plays.


Vicinity of theater


There was also a seminary nearby

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## katie23

After all those colonial-type buildings, we took a bus to bring us to another type of architechture. Our next stop was A-ma Temple.

A-Ma Temple, located in the southeast of the Macau Peninsula, is the oldest temple here. Approximately four hundred years ago the Portuguese landed on a sea promontory near a temple. They asked the local inhabitants the name of the land, but the locals misunderstood, thinking that the Portuguese were asking for the name of the temple. So they answered 'Ma Ge'. Later, the Portuguese translated the named into 'Macau' and used it to refer to the land. The temple is one of the three famous Buddha halls in Macau. 

The A-Ma Temple was constructed in the year of 1488 of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to commemorate Mazu, the sacred sea goddess who blesses the fishermen. It is said that the goddess was called Lin Mo, and that she was born in Putian City, Fujian Province, and was more intelligent than other children her age. She could predict good or ill luck and after her death she often helped merchants and fishermen ward off calamities and turn danger into safety. Now there are a number of folktales about the great goddess narrated in the littoral lands.

More info here: https://www.travelchinaguide.com/att...macau/a_ma.htm

When we got to A-ma temple, there was a Lion Dance.  :Smile:

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## katie23

A-ma temple. It was a large temple complex. Since these were taken in 2012, there were no selfie-stick wielding tourists then. Now, in almost every tourist site, you'll see the selfie sticks...


Pls do not quote this post!

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## katie23

Interior of the A-ma temple. Those yellow coily thingies were present again.


Exterior of A-ma temple

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## katie23

The Maritime Museum was just across from A-ma temple, so we took a look.

We didn't enter and just took pics outside.

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## katie23

By this time, we were getting tired and hungry, so we took another bus to take us to Taipa island and The Venetian hotel, where my sis wanted us to have lunch.  She also wanted to take more pics of the area.  

Interior of The Venetian casino-hotel. It was very gold, glittery & opulent!


One of the paintings on the ceiling - Renaissance (sp?) style

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## katie23

It had a large casino.. you can see the sluts.. er.. slot machines, in the distance.  :Very Happy: 


The tables...


As I've said in earlier posts, we didn't gamble. At this time, I was already tired & hungry and just sat down at a table in the food court.

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## katie23

The Venetian also has a mall inside, high-end shops. There are also gondolas that you can hire...


This was the food court - it had a nice "sky". The "buildings" were beautiful too.

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## katie23

After a late lunch and some rest, we went out to explore the exterior of The Venetian.  There were some gweilos/falang hired by the management to be in costumes and be there for photo ops.  I think it's to mimic the "Carnevale" in Venice. 

The girl on the rightmost was very pretty.  :Wink:  I wonder if this was a good gig for these peeps?


Some other ppl in costumes

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## katie23

Exterior shot of The Venetian casino-hotel


Galaxy casino-hotel at twilight


After a very busy day, we went back to our friend's apartment to pack our stuff, as our flight was leaving that night.

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## katie23

Waiting at the departure area of Macau airport...


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone! Rock on!  :Headbang:   :bananaman:

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## Yemen

I enjoyed that Katie.

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## Loy Toy

Thanks Katie and a Merry Christmas to you.

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## Sumbitch

> Great thread as always Katie..That's you in pictures?


gotta love those photoshopped faces, doncha?

Onya, katie. Where and when is the next trip?

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## patsycat

Great thread as usual, Katie!!

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