Macau-Hong Kong Trip

Just got back last Friday from a short trip to Macau cum Hong Kong. To make a long story short, it was sorta of a last minute free&easy 4 days 3 nights trip to Macau...

Day1:

Flight to Macau was at 9am but I only took the bus down to KL on Monday night after work and reached KL at the crack of dawn. We flew Air Asia and the journey took us about 4 hours or so. The itinerary included a free half-day tour on the 2nd day but since it was only 2pm, we decided to explore Macau ourselves. And good thing we did because to be honest we actually covered the few main spots in Macau in the first day and people were starting to complain of being bored in Macau. LOL, well there's nothing much you can do in Macau unless of course you are into trying your luck at the cards which will definitely have you occupied for as long as your pockets aren't empty. Plus the number of casinos around could really make your mind go bonkers!

Anyway, we stopped by Macau Tower where you can actually perform bungee jumps IF you had the nerve. I didn't have the guts so I only tried out the skywalk - that's walking at the outer edge of the tower @ 61st floor. The view was not too bad but could have been better if there were no haze enveloping the place. Next, we moved on to the famous St. Paul's cathedral or what was left of it after a big fire in 1835. It's a must-stop to prove that you'd been to Macau! :P

It was evening by the time we were ready to leave St. Paul's. After a quick rest and freshening up at the hotel, we took the free shuttle to the famous The Venetian Macao. Indeed it was a HUGE Venice-themed place (canals and gondolas included) that housed suites, convention space, retails, an indoor arena for entertainment/sports event as well as the world's largest casino under it's roof. Very nice place I must say with the lightings and cloud-painted ceilings that made me feel as though it was still day time even though the watch said 11pm!

Day2:

We decided to skip the Macau tour and to go over to Hong Kong instead, which was an hour ferry's ride away. Took the opportunity to grab 40 winks since relatively nothing much to view except the sea :P

After lunch at Mongkok, it was time to take the tram up to the famous Victoria Peak where Madame Tussauds' wax museum was located. Mmmm very good view of Hong Kong from up here which of course just meant a bunch of super tall skyscrapers all over ;) Madame Tussauds was not as big as I'd expected and up close, not all the wax figures looked exactly like the celebrities/famous ppl they were sculpted after. Managed to have a drink at a cafe overlooking Hong Kong too..not bad, eh? ^_^

By 6pm, we had taken the tram down and a taxi to Victoria Habour, a common spot in TVB dramas :P And by 7pm, we had travelled over to Avenue of Stars @ Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. The Avenue of Stars was modelled after the Hollywood Walk of Fame and located along waterfront with a panoramic view across Victoria Habour. Though most of the stars I saw on the pavements were of actors/actresses/personalities that I had never heard of :P. We "loitered" until 8pm to view the Symphony of Lights display, an ochestration of music, decoration of lights from 44 participating buildings and laser lights display. Nothing very spectacular but I guess it was again a must-see for all first-timers in Hong Kong...

Night life in Hong Kong was next and where to but the famous Lan Kwai Fong, where rows of pubs lined the street - some of them had dress codes even! Nothing much really and we decided to call it a night after a quick dinner there.

Day3:

The entire day was dedicated to a trip to Disneyland. It rained in the morning but stopped right before Disneyland opened its doors at 10am. Then it was super hot all the way thru..I even got sunburned! The place wasn't extremely big and 1 day should be sufficient unless during the weekends or holiday season where it should get pretty crowded and queuing time drastically multiplied. After the fireworks, we caught the ferry back to Macau. What an exhausting day...

Day4:

Time to say bye bye Macau.. hello again, Malaysia :)

Overall, the trip wasn't too bad but perhaps was a tad too short as I ran out of time to include more places of visits into the itinerary. Also, no time to walk the streets or to try the local delicacies and definitely no time for shopping though on another note, I'd better think twice about shopping with the price of things over in Hong Kong. Food that I managed to try was ok except for that lunch on the first day in Macau (prison food is what I called them). Weather was almost similar to Penang (30-ish degrees during the day and 27-ish at night) which meant I almost melted walking around and there was a LOT of walking involved as usual - my entire year worth of walking, that's what I always said. Would I go there again? I might after I'd been to everywhere else..or if I get another free trip :P

P/S: Will upload more pix in Facebook/Multiply soon...wait for it ya! Checkout out the pix in my Facebook! :)