Macau highlights

It's been really long since I went to Macau (over 10 years) and the sights & scenes have changed so much. In my vague memory, things were less rowdy and commercialised, like an quaint old but now, it's like a bustling city, thanks to the increase in foreign casinos I believe.
I was there only for 1 day/night.

The Venetian
We stayed at The Venetian and following an upgrade of our rooms for about S$30 per person (we stayed four to a room), we were pleasantly greeted with a enormous suite the size of a 4/5-room HDB flat equipped with 2 toilets (1 without shower), 1 walk-in wardrobe, a pantry area, a living room, a small dining area, 2 queen-sized beds, 2 TVs and a foyer. There was even a free supply of Nespresso coffee. It took us a while "touring" and taking photos of the room. Haha...

If you have been to the Vegas Venetian, you would have seen the re-creation of the Venetian landmarks inside the hotel. It's the same here, as you stroll along the "streets" under the "Venetian skies" watching gondolas float by. On the exterior, you see replicas of Rialto Bridge, Doge's Palace, Procuratie Nuove and San Marco, among others.

Well, one wouldn't have come to Macau if he/she didn't visit the ruins of St Paul's. The grand stoic facade stands firm after centuries, even with nothing else left but ruined pillars (now encased in glass enclosures, which honestly reminded me of tombs). There's a steel staircase and platform behind the facade where you can climb up and peek through the windows, but it was pretty scary for me (can see through the grill) as I'm afraid of heights and tried not to look down. It seemed a custom to throw coins on the window sill for luck, but I didn't lah.

 

City of Dreams and the Dragon's Treasure

Just across The Venetian was City of Dreams, and that's where you watch the shows. Seeing the posters and trailers of the resident show "The House of Dancing Water" was very enticing, but alas, we weren't staying long enough to catch that. But we did catch the free "Dragon's Treasure" show at their Bubble auditorium. And my, what a beautiful show it was. It was like watching an Omnimax show, and the special effects were simply amazing. You're like in an underwater world, and there were stone dragons, each when they came alive, brought you to different worlds.

Walking round the building (there weren't many shops, as compared to Venetian), you can see that their man focus is on digital effects and water theme. There was a rather interesting mermaid panel where the mermaids would appear and disappear. They looked quite real.

Food
Well, as we were only there for 1 day and night, there were only so many meals we could have. A rather late lunch brought us to 祥记面家 (Loja Sopa Da Pita Cheong Kei) at Rua Da Felicidade. Maybe I should have ordered the char siew noodles instead which seem a popular choice. Their char siew were a bit different from the usual. I ordered the 牛腩面 (beef brisket), which was ok. Somehow I didn't really like the stock or overall taste. Hmm...maybe Macau noodles taste different.They had a rather unusual deep fried fish ball. The portions were very small though.

Well, coming to Macau without eating Portuguese food would be strange, and we ventured to this place called Restaurante Fernando at 黑沙. We found the food a tad salty though, but the waitress did warn us. Well, of course you've got to eat the Portuguese suckling pig (we only ordered a small portion). The fish was cured, which was very salty. And of course, when we heard there was sangria, we couldn't resist it, although I felt that it would have been nicer a little more fruity.

 

Well, one last meal for me was lunch at Treasure Palace, at City of Dreams. Most of the food was really nice, and I loved the 烧肉 (roast pork). The skin was so crispy! The roast duck (or goose?) was pretty good too. The chicken wings were pretty "power" hot. Didn't take that many photos as we were busy eating.

Oh a last snack I had was the famous Lord Stow's Bakery portuguese egg tart, where it supposedly originated. We had wanted to visit his ex-wife's shop Margaret's Cafe e Nata the previous evening, but alas, we just missed the last tart and they were sold out. Ah well, maybe if I visit Macau again.

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So I guess that's all for my trip yeah?