Macau, Macau Day Tour
Early morning on May 29, 2009, we were supposed to go to Macau, also spelled as Macao, but we postponed it because it rained so heavily. At that time, I was quite craving for some dim sum dishes, so we decided to have Yum Cha at Federal Palace in Citygate. After Yum Cha, we went shopping at Citygate in Tung Chung.
After shopping, we went back to my sister’s place, and eventually went to see the Big Buddha in Ngong Ping Village in the afternoon. After our tour in Ngong Ping Village, we had dinner at Golden Siam Thai Cuisine in the evening.
The next day we went to Macau for a day tour. We wanted to see how Macau changed since 1993 and 1994. Hub went to Macau in 1993, and my mother, my sister and I went to Macau in 1994.
We took the TurboJet fast ferry boat from Central, Hong Kong to Macau. The boat left Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal at around 9:15am. We arrived in Macau at around 9:16am. Traveling time from Hong Kong to Macau with TurboJet was only about an hour.
We needed to go through the immigration when we arrived at the Macau Ferry Terminal in Macau. The queue was a little bit long but it was not that bad. After the immigration, we went to the tourist information center and asked for a map of Macau.
We took the bus outside Macau Ferry Terminal going to the center of Macau. I just cannot remember the number of the bus. We got out of the bus when it stopped at the Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro popularly called by the residents as San Ma Lo (New Street).
We started our Macau / Macao tour from Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro (Almeida Ribeiro Avenue) going to the Ruins of St. Paul’s. It was not that difficult to find the Ruins of St. Paul’s. There were street signs going to different tourist attractions in Macau like the St. Dominic’s Church (Igreja de São Domingos), Ruins of St. Paul’s (Ruínas de São Paulo), Senado Square (Largo do Senado), St. Augustine’s Square (Largo de Santo Agostinho), and Macau Cathedral (IGREJA DA SÉ) among others.
We passed the streets and places like Rua dos Mercadores, Travessa do Soriano, Largo de S. Domingos (St. Dominic’s Square), Rua de S. Domingos, Rua da Palha, and Rua de S. Paulo to reach the Ruins of St. Paul’s.
We went inside St. Dominic’s Church located at St. Dominic’s Square. St. Dominic’s Church is a Catholic church and a place of worship of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. St. Dominic’s Church was founded by the Spanish friars who arrived in Macau from the Philippines in 1587. The Spanish friars were soon replaced by the Portuguese clergy.
From St. Dominic’s Church, we went to the Ruins of St. Paul’s. The Ruins of St. Paul’s refer to a facade of the original St. Paul’s Cathedral. The Cathedral of St. Paul was destroyed by a fire in 1835. The Ruins of St. Paul’s are probably the most famous landmarks in Macau.
We did not go inside the Mount Fortress (Fortaleza do Monte) nor at the Macau Museum (Museu de Macau) near the Ruins of St. Paul’s as we we were a little bit tired from walking. Despite that, we still continued walking from one place to another.
From the Ruins of St. Paul’s, we went to the Cathedral of Macau (Catedral de Macau) also known as Sé Cathedral. The Cathedral of Macau is situated at Largo da Sé where the Bishop’s Palace is also located.
From Largo da Sé, we then went to Grand Lisboa passing by Calçada de S. João, Avenida de Praia Grande, Rua do Dr. Pedro José Lobo, Rua do Commandante Mata e Oliveira, and Avenida do Infante D. Henrique. Grand Lisboa is located along Avenida do Infante D. Henrique and Avenida de Lisboa.
From Grand Lisboa, we went to Wynn Macau crossing Avenida de Lisboa and the Roundabout or Circle on Praça de Ferreira do Amaral. Wynn Macau is located along Rua Cidade de Sintra just across Casino Lisboa.
We got tired from walking the whole day so we did not go anymore to the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel on the other island at the Taipa Island where the Macau International Airport is located.
It was past 4:00pm when we decided that it was time go back to Hong Kong. It was a good thing that there was a complimentary shuttle service which was provided by Wynn Macau going to Macau Ferry Terminal.
We again took a TurboJet fast ferry boat which was scheduled to leave Macau at 5:00pm but there was a little bit of delay. I had no more idea what time did we arrive in Hong Kong. Traveling time with TurboJet from Macau to Hong Kong took an hour only so it was still fine.
When we arrived in Central Hong Kong, we decided to have dinner at Nha Trang Vietnamese Cuisine near Lan Kwai Fong as we were already almost around the area anyway. After dinner, we proceeded to the bus stop at the Pedder street near the Landmark, took the bus instead of the MTR going back to Tung Chung.
We arrived in Tung Chung in Lantau Island just before 9:14pm.
The next day, we flew back to Switzerland via Paris, France.
Related Links:
Macau, in Wikipedia
Taipa, in Wikipedia
[...] of the churches at the Historic Centre of Macau in Macau Peninsula that we visited during our Macau Day Tour on May 30, 2009 was the Convent of St. Dominic’s commonly known as St. Dominic’s Church [...]
[...] visiting St. Dominic’s Church at the Historic Centre of Macau in Macau Peninsula during our Macau Day Tour on May 30, 2009, we went to the St. Paul’s Ruins or the Ruins of St. Paul’s. St. [...]
[...] with its 66 Stone Steps and simply looking tirelessly at the Ruins of St. Paul’s during our Macau Day Tour on May 30, 2009, we continued our walk. Along the way, we saw a nice fountain and a church at Largo [...]
[...] have not been to a lot of places yet in Macau Peninsula during our Macau Day Tour on May 30, 2009 when we got hungry. After visiting Macau Cathedral, we could not find a restaurant [...]
[...] our lunch at the Grand Lisboa during our Macau Day Tour on May 30, 2009, we went to another casino hotel, to Wynn Macau. We were lucky enough because just [...]
[...] left Macau at past 5:00pm after our Macau Day Tour on May 30, 2009. We arrived in Hong Kong at past 6:00pm already as the traveling time with TurboJet [...]