My Hong Kong & Macau Trip - Day 6 & 7

9 November, 2008
Today we going to leave HK and head to Macau. Before we leave to Jetty, there were still two things to do: 1) Buy a HK magazine 2) Buy Lou Po Beng ( A kind of biscuit).
We need to be in Macau before 1300, because we have paid to join a tour group to tour around Macau. We estimated our time properly. When we reach Jetty, bad news was, the ticket sold out??!!! This was an unexpected situation and we gonna miss the tour bus at Macau.
However, we were able to buy a a boat ticket with slightly higher price. Somehow, we miss the tour as well.
Upon reaching Macau, surprisingly, the tour agent met up with us and guide us to the spot where our tour bus was. By paying extra for cab, thanksgodness, we were back to track.
A-Ma Temple 媽閣廟(Portuguese: Templo de A-Má), situated on the southwest tip of the Macau Peninsula, is one of the oldest and most famous temples in Macau. Built in 1488, the temple is dedicated to the goddess of seafarers and fishermen Matsu.
The agent had told us that the name Macau is thought to be derived from the temple. It is said that when the Portuguese sailors landed at the coast just outside the temple and asked the name of the place, the natives replied "A-Ma-Gao" (Bay of A-Ma). Don't you think it is sound a like "Macau"? The Portuguese then named the peninsula - Macau. The temple was well described in ancient Chinese texts, as well as prostrated in paintings. It is also one of the first scenes photographed in China.
In 2005, the temple became one of the designated sites of the Historic Centre of Macau enlisted on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Next, we arrived a Portugal village. This is the only spot you can see the building architecture that express the essense of Portugal. Beside the building was a slopy road that lead to a church. Tell you what, a wedding was took part there! Best wishes to the new married!
A group photo before left this place! Next stop was the Macau Muzuem. I have a quick tour on it as Muzeum was not my type of place to visit. Just next to the Muzuem, is The Ruins of St. Paul's, Built from 1582 to 1602 by the Jesuits, the cathedral was the largest Catholic church in Asia at the time, and the royalty of Europe vied with each other to bestow upon the cathedral the best gifts. With the decline in importance of Macau, which was overtaken as the main port for the Pearl River Delta by Hong Kong, the cathedral's fortunes similarly ebbed, and it was destroyed by a fire during a typhoon in 1835. The Fortaleza do Monte overlooks the ruin.
I bought some Almond biscuit for my colleagues without wasting any minutes as the time the agent gave us was very short.
The tour ended and we head to our Hotel - Holiday Inn! It was a very nice hotel. As for budget concerned, we have 5 person in a room :(.
After a shower, we headed to Macau Tower, also known as Macau Sky Tower, is a tower located in the former Portuguese colony of Macau, now a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. The tower measures 338 m (1,109 ft) in height from ground level to the highest point. An observation deck with panoramic views, restaurants, theaters, shopping malls and the Skywalk X, a thrilling walking tour around the outer rim. It offers the best view of Macau and in recent years has been used for a variety of adventurous activities. At 233 meters, the Macau Tower's tethered "skyjump" and Bungy jump by world renowned AJ Hackett from the tower's outer rim, is the highest in the world. Unfortunately, when we reached that time, the bungy jump counter was closing. If this was not the case, I believe I will give it a shoot.
Next was the Venetian Macao, casino resort owned by the Las Vegas Sands hotel-casino chain . We went to the Venetian by bus as well through Jetty. There were special shutter from Jetty to the Venetian. We had our dinner there, and simple walk around in this grand building.
This was the last spot of our Macau trip. We headed back to Hotel around 2300.

10 November, 2008
Today, we going flight back to our own country. Ok, before I on board, again I had a Portugal egg tart that I missed a lot! Bye Bye! Macau and Hong Kong...I believe, we will meet again!

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