Macau Adventures

Today, I will share with you our half day Macau trip.

Macau is part of our 3D3N Hong Kong trip - check full blog here. Of course, who would want to miss the "Vegas of Asia"? Not me, definitely! 😂

After our half day HK city tour, our tour guide dropped us at Hong Kong-China Ferry Terminal located at Tsim Tsa Tsui, Kowloon. Don't be confused, there are three ports in HK. 

• Hong Kong–Macau Ferry Terminal
• Address:202 Connaught Road Central, Central, Hong Kong Island
• How to get there: MTR Sheung Wan Station, Exit D
• Hong Kong–China Ferry Terminal
• Address:33 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
• How to get there: MTR Tsim Sha Tsui Station, Exit A1
• Hong Kong SkyPier
• Address:3 Sky City Road East, Hong Kong International Airport, Lantau

For the ferry ticket from HK to Macau, the fare varies whether you are travelling on daylight over weekday or weekend or night sailing. Since our departure is daylight on a weekend, we paid HKD 177 or PHP 1100 for Economy Class. However, this is already included in our tour package. Hihihi! For the complete list of schedule and fares, you may check this site - TurboJet

Passports ready. Here we go Macau!

Since Macau is technically a different country, we have to go through an Embassy interview again. Don't worry about that, they are kind. A lot of tourists are headed to Macau on that day too. We are caught up on long queue.

Queue for Embassy interview. 

Nice and clean ferry terminal.

The fastest way to go to Macau from HK is via Turbo Jet. Yes, it's a jet and travel time is approximately 55 mins. Can you imagine that? Yey! It's my first time to ride a jet. Let's go! 

Comfy seats, just like the ones on air bus.

Wide spaces.

First timer on a Turbo Jet :)

We slept for nearly 45 minutes all because we were tired from all the walking that we did earlier. When the captain was announcing our arrival in few minutes, our excitement comes kickin' again! 

Touchdown Macau!

Our tour guide will meet us at the lobby, so we went directly to the meeting place. 

This is not a mall, ahh-huh! This is Macau Ferry Terminal :)

We rode in a shuttle along with the other group of Filipino tourists. Our tour guide is very friendly. He speaks Cantonese and Portuguese very well. If you our wondering why I mentioned about Portuguese, well, Macau was once under the colony of Portugal. If you can see, the structure of the buildings are similar to that of the western style. Macau's currency is Macanese Pataca or MOP. 1 MOP = 1 HKD :) They accept HKD in Macau but MOP is not accepted everywhere in Hong Kong.

Our first stop is the very famous Ruins of St. Paul. This is a must-visit place in Macau. The facade is very charming and rustic. This has been listed as part of UNESCO World Heritage Site. Admission is free daily from 9AM - 6PM.

Undeniably beautiful. Classic.

Thanks to our tour guide, we have a picture together. :)

From the Ruins, you can see one of the most popular hotel in Macau - Grand Lisboa. It is a 47-floor and 856 ft tall hotel plated with shimmering gold color.

Meet Grand Lisboa, the tallest building in my background. 

Another famous hotel in Macau is the Galaxy Hotel. We were not able to tour around the hotel but we got the chance to take a photo when we passed by the area.

Stunning.

Our tour guide will drop us at the most famous hotel in Macau and we are really super excited to take a tour around this majestic hotel. We are on our own to explore the place and it started in the lobby with a Beauty and the Beast stage set up. :)

But where am I? :)

Oh yes! You got it right! Ola Venetian Macau Resort Hotel! :) Why are you shining shimmering splendid? ❤

Venetian Macau Resort Hotel is not just a luxury hotel. It is also a casino and a mall. Yes! A mall! So, let's start strolling! 

Casino Area 

(Sorry for the blurred photo. We were on the escalator while taking this shot.)

Too much photos here. Let's move to the other side. :) Are you ready? Brace yourselves! Warning: Pictures Overload!

And I admit, I was lost. I feel like I am on an entirely different world. How can this place be this beautiful? I'm in love. 😍

After hours of walking around the place, savoring the beauty and charm of the whole place, we decided to take a snack. Egg tart is very famous in Macau and we don't want to miss that. Since we are already here, we went to Lord Stow's and check their egg tart.

Even from afar, you can already smell the aroma that this egg tart splurge. True enough, it didn't fail us. It was very yummy! An egg tart costs around MOP 8 or PHP 40. This is a must try in Macau!

After our late afternoon snack, we decided to check out the view outside Venetian Macau. And yes, it was indeed as beautiful as it was inside. Let the pictures explain.

The hotels are just near each other and they are beautiful at night. When we finally had enough with Venetian Macau, our next destination is to watch the Dancing Water at Wynn Hotel. 

From Venetian Hotel, we walked to City of Dreams to avail of their free shuttle. Hahaha! It's amazing right? Most of the hotels in Macau offers free shuttle to various places. Just always ask the guard or concierge. :)  

We were dropped at Grand Lisboa - yes the one I mentioned earlier during our visit in the Ruins, and we have to walk around 5 minutes to Wynn Hotel. Here are some photos taken around while walking.

Wynn Hotel, Dancing Water

The show runs for around 10-15 minutes daily and it's for FREE! When finally we hear drums, tug! tug! tug! Here you go!

I am a lover of water fountain that's why I really love watching this. It dances with the music along with different colors. Beautiful. Once again, I fell in love with Macau. ❤

After watching the show, we rush to Macau Ferry Terminal to catch the last Turbo Jet to Kowloon. Glad we made it! We slept all through out the trip because it was only then we felt exhausted.

Ciao, Macau!

We had so much fun in Macau. It was a short but sweet visit. Until we meet again.

Hong Kong Adventures

Last July 2015, I finally had my first international trip. Maybe this is part of the so-called quarter-life crisis, isn't it? Hahaha! 😂 It took me several months to finally have the courage and made the decision that I'm going to start travelling outside the country.

The first place that comes in my mind is Hong Kong. I don't know why, but it sounds so sweet in my ears. Me and one of my closest colleague were in the office for almost 12 hours already when I suddenly stumbled on Cebu Pacific website and for some luck, they have seat sale - round trip fare at PHP 3400+ only. Out of nowhere, I told my colleague - "Let's book a flight to Hong Kong, are you in?" and she said, "Sure!" And that's how our adventure started...

Victoria Harbour

Here is our 3D3N Hong Kong story. 😎😎😎

Summary of Itinerary:

Day 1 - Arrival at Hong Kong (We had a late flight from Manila to HK)
Day 2 - HK City Tour, Macau
Day 3 - HK City Tour, Disneyland
Day 4 - Ciao HK :(

Estimated Budget: PHP 10k - 15k (excluding shopping Hahaha!)

Since it is both our first time to travel outside the country on our own, we opted to get a travel agency that will organize our trip and accommodation. We came across Crossing Borders Travel Services who made our lives and trip convenient. For only PHP 7000+, they took care of our land transfer (from and to HK International Airport), accommodation for 3 days and 3 nights, daily breakfast, tour guides - HK and Macau and Macau trip tickets. We got what we paid for! :)

Day 1

From the office, (yes - we still went in the office and took a half day leave. Hahahaha!) we took a cab directly to NAIA 3 for our 4:40PM flight. We arrived at the airport around 1PM, straight ahead to the check-in counters, paid the travel tax - PHP 1620 and proceed for the embassy interview. After going through all the due process, we took our lunch at Tapa King and head directly to the waiting gate. We can't contain our excitement. Yey! We are sooooo freeeee!!! 

Waiting. I can't remember if our flight was delayed, but I guess yes? 😂😂😂

This will be our plane. 

And while waiting, me and my friend Claire are having some random talks. It's a girl thing anyway. Given. Hahaha!

What are we talking about girl? Why am I laughing hard?

Claire Divine, my travel buddy.

And finally, after two hours of smooth travel, we can see HK from above.

Touchdown HK! :)

We proceed to the airport lobby and we got a lot of freebies! We have some discount coupons for the popular tourist spots such as Ocean Park, Madam Tussaud Museum, Victoria Peak, etc. After a couple of minutes, the tour guide finally found us and gave us some instructions for tomorrow's tour. He gave us the address of our hotel and directed us to the taxi lane. Unfortunately, there is no shuttle available. However, the cab fare was paid by the agency since it is included in our package. The airport is quite far from the heart of the city. From our hotel, it is nearly a 45-minute drive. The traffic is not bad. :) By the way, do not forget to purchase your Octopus Card! It's very convenient if you intend to really tour around HK via MTR. You can also use it in 7-11, K Circle and fast food chains.

This will be our home for the next few days.

• 60 Portland Street, Mongkok, Kowloon, Hong Kong
• Tel: (+852) 3610-8888
• Fax: (+852) 3610-8800
• Email: enquiry-hk@innhotel.com

Inn Hotel Hong Kong has just opened, so when we arrived, it is just a three-month old hotel. They are part of the Emperor Hotels Group.The location is an A+ because it's just a 5-minute walk from Yao Ma Tei MTR station and there is a K Plus convenience store nearby. The night market is also near - just a 10-minute walk. There are MCDO and KFC nearby, too. Really a good location! Check their site here: http://hongkong.innhotel.com/index.php/en/

Our comfy bed. Zzzz

After we checked-in and put our luggage in the hotel, we decided to take a walk around. Of course, it's our first night in this city! We don't want to just sleep. Hahahaha!

We were unable to try Starbucks here and for a coffee lover, that was very painful. </3

Okay, this is not EDSA North Bound. This is Nathan Road. 😜😝😜😝

I can't remember what time we slept, but yeah! We had a very good sleep. Thanks to Inn Hotel Hong Kong. :)

Day 2

The next day, we woke up with this view. 😍 Good morning HK!

Lego City? :)

We are scheduled to be picked-up by the travel agency at 7AM. Okay, let the adventure begin! 😎

We took our breakfast-to-go at MCDO which is just a block away from our hotel. 

 Let's be obedient in following traffic signs. :)

First stop is the Golden Bauhania Square and HKCEC. Just a little trivia, the Golden Bauhania is a symbol of the handover. The HKCEC or Hong Kong Convention and Exhibtion Center is like the Sydney's Opera House. Both are in Wan Chai.

 Golden Bauhinia Square

Hong Kong Conference and Exhibition Center

These are situated in front of the Victoria Harbour. Now, let's take that mandatory shot from Victoria Harbour. :)

Next stop is the Aberdeen's Fisherman Village. This is an old village sitting in the heart of the city. Ironic isn't it? But that's what makes this place beautiful. 

Time warp. 

Some of the floating house.

Within Aberdeen Harbour is the one of the world's most famous floating restaurant - the Jumbo Floating Restaurant. This has become one of Hong Kong's tourist attraction over the years as it continues to develop and now a theme park in the sea. Jumbo Floating Restaurant has been featured several times on Jackie Chan's movies - The Protector, The God of Cookery, Godzilla vs Destroyah and Internal Affairs.

This is beautifully lit up at night. You might want to visit it for dinner perhaps. Check their virtual tour here - Jumbo Kingdom

And since one of the boosting industry in Hong Kong is jewelry-making, our next destination is Hong Kong Jewellery shop. Unfortunately, picture-taking is not allowed inside. :( 

After the half-day city tour, it's our free time and yes we are on our own. Yey! What else are we suppose to do? It's the mid-year season and there are huge sales and discounts all over Hong Kong! SHOPPING TIME!!! :)

Hello Kowloon! 

The Big Apple

This ends our half-day Hong Kong city tour. We spent the rest of the day at Macau - read full blog here Macau Adventures.

Day 3

It's our 3rd day in Hong Kong and we are tour guide-less! It's time to explore Hong Kong more with our own strength and courage. Yey! Let's do this girl! 😎

We walked along the street and found our favorite breakfast spot - MCDO. Hahaha! Look at these cute minion-themed breaky!

After our quick breakfast, we started walking along the streets that made us feel like we are in France. Wait, we are in Hong Kong right? Let the photos give you the answer. 😉

Some photo ops in the underground pathway. Hihihi! Too beautiful to ignore.

It's hard to get lost in Hong Kong. I'm drowning on signage and directions and arrows. Hahahah! Of course, it's a good thing!

And finally, here we are. Avenue of Stars!

Salisbury (steak?) Garden

Lights, camera, action!

Jackie Chan's hands

There are a lot of stars and prominent figures here but we were not able to take a photo of them all. It's just so overwhelming! The breeze feels good. Yey! After taking a walk, we are bound to our next destination which is DISNEYLAND!!!! 😂😂😂 Sorry, I have to post my HK Disneyland adventure on my next blog. Too much feels, it should be on a different blog. (Pictures overload hahaha!)

Teaser :)

After our Disneyland trip, we decided to go back to Victoria Harbor to watch the famous Symphony of Lights. This show involves 40 plus buildings in both sides of the harbor wherein they flashed their lights synchronized with the music and it's for FREE! Yes, it's free! We were unable to take a video of the show because there are a lot of people - locals and tourists, but it was really beautiful! 

Since it's our last night at Hong Kong, after watching the Symphony of Lights, we decided to buy souvenirs and pasalubongs along the malls in Tsim Tsa Tsui.

Glad we were able to catch the last MTR trip and it's time to surrender out Octopus card. Whatever amount is left in your card, they will refund it to you. Just go to any MTR station. The nearest station to our hotel is Yau Ma Tei.

Goodbye Octopus Card

After having a full-packed day with all the last minute shopping, we didn't know where we got all those energy but yeah! We enjoyed the day a lot! However, all good thing must come to an end and this HK trip is not exempted. We started packing-up our things and had a good rest.

On our way to the airport.

We had so much fun, HK! I'll surely come back. :)