Macau Adventures: Day 3 - The Venetian Hotel

     It wasn't my first time at the Venetian but I was glad to be back.  I love the huge rooms and the opulence, and the fact that you can fit 6 people in the Bella Suite; more if you don't mind sleeping huddled like sardines on the bed, or sleeping on the floor.

     Anyway, Venetian is such a huge hotel so it's easy to get lost.  Good thing they give their guests maps for easier navigation.  While there are a lot of people milling around, once you get to the hotel wings, you'll see a staff checking people out, asking which room you'll go or asking to see your key card.  Security is good.

     As for the room, it's plush and very large.  You could do cartwheels in there.  The beds are kept separate from the sunken living room with railings.  There are two queen-sized beds and the sofa converts into a bed, too.  Just ask for extra sheets, pillows and a comforter if you want to sleep on it.  Oh, there are two tvs, too.

     Of course, the bathroom is huge.  The shower, toilet and bath are separate, with the dressing area taking up much of the room.

     My friends and I availed of Venetian's package which includes breakfast and one-way ferry to HK for two, a photobooth picture and 200 MOP shopping credit at participating stores at the hotel.

 This is the package we availed of.

     Our room has amazing views of the surrounding hotels but I think most of the rooms have equally compelling views.  After all, the windows are floor to ceiling and there are no uninspiring edifice in the vicinity.  At night, you'll get glittering lights from the nearby hotels.

 The Venetian is so huge we didn't even have the time to explore it in its entirety!

Like this place seen on our windows.

 City of Dreams, Crown and Hard Rock.

   

     There is another attraction at the Venetian that pulls people in, aside from its casino: shopping at the Shoppes at the Grand Canal, Shoppes at Cotai Central and Shoppes at Four Seasons.  These sections are interconnected so you could go from one section to another.

ASIA'S MOST UNIQUE AND OPULENT SHOPPING EXPERIENCE 

Experience the romance and grandeur of Shoppes Grand canal where guests are entertained by serenading gondoliers and enjoy performances by signature Streetmosphere™ performers with colourful antics of jugglers, living statues, musicians as they wander around the colourful Venetian streetscapes. Shoppes Grand Canal is a luxurious one-million-square-foot indoor mall with more than 330 stores featuring world renowned brands and the best boutiques from New York, Paris, London and Milan. From fashion, gadgets, jewellery, accessories to over 30 restaurants and an extensive food court, there’s bound to be something for you, for that special partner to something for the family.

MACAO’S ULTIMATE LUXURY DUTY-FREE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE

 With its addition of nearly 100 intimate boutiques and galleries, Shoppes Cotai Central, as part of Shoppes Cotai, Macao’s Ultimate Luxury Duty Free shopping experience, joins Shoppes Grand Canal and Shoppes at Four Seasons to offer a staggering 600 stores to choose from, the most in any one single location in all of Macao! This shopper’s paradise includes some exciting new first to market brands in Macao and is set in a refreshing environment abundant in natural light, with cascading waterfalls, green vegetation and rocky cliff sides.

  

A REMARKABLE LUXURY MALL THAT IS BEYOND COMPARE 

Shoppes Four Seasons personifies the bespoke elegance of the Four Seasons and is Macao’s first luxury mall, home to more than 160 luxury and designer brands like Audemars Piguet, Bottega Veneta, Cartier, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton. Every shop occupies a lavishly spaced area in which guests can truly enjoy the delights of shopping with bespoke service whereby guests can receive personalised attention from a shopping consultant, and rest assured that the Mall Concierge and limousine delivery service are always at the ready. For a comprehensive range of cosmetics, beauty & fragrance, DFS Beauty World, which features over 45 international cosmetic brands, to complete their new look.

     Of these Shoppes, the Shoppes Grand Canal is most frequented by visitors.  Why?  Because there's  an indoor canal with gondolas to take you around and the shoppes are Venetian-style which little arch bridges, lamp posts, and yes, the ceilings are painted with clouds.  

     Another reason why it's famous? Koreanovela addicts know the answer!  Boys Over Flowers had location scenes shot here.

Macau Adventures: Day 3 - Ferry to Macau

Screen cap of Google Map's street view of China Hong Kong City Building

     Yes, my friends and I decided to have an Amazing Race across China and its special administrative regions (SARs).  We visited, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Macau in our 4d3n tour last February.  It's a very crazy idea. I don't encourage anyone to do the same, especially for first-time travelers.

     Throwing caution to the wind, we spent a night in Macau just to be able to say that we've been there.  Well, I've been there before, but most of my companions were first time visitors of HK, China and Macau.  

     So, from our hotel, we took a shuttle going to TST.  The stop was very near the China Ferry Terminal.  It's very easy to find.  Just go inside China Hong Kong City,where the huge Esprit outlet store is located at the ground floor.  Refer to the photo I screencapped from Google Maps.  Entrance is beside Esprit, just go up to the short escalators until you reach the third floor, I think, where the booking offices are located.  From there, you can take your pick of ferry service depending on the time you want to depart. Most services leave even every 30 minutes, except for Cotai Jet which departs late in the afternoon if I remember correctly.  This ferry station also services passengers to Mainland China such as Zhuhai. [Update April 2014:  The Esprit outlet store relocated inside the China Hong Kong City Mall]

This is the floor where the ticketing offices are located. 

Departure Area at the China Ferry Terminal Station

     After buying tickets and while waiting for our ferry to depart, we ate lunch at Cafe de Coral, a fast food chain in Hong Kong which offers cheap meals, of course by Hong Kong standards.  The food there is quite tasty and they change their menus depending on the time.  After 2 p.m., no more lunch sets, for example.  Be sure to state clearly your choice of set meal and which beverage you want since not all cashiers understand English well.  You can point to the menu on the wall, then say if you want milk tea, or if you want cola (additional price).  You'll be given a printed receipt plus an order slip which you'll have to hand over to a staff at  a separate counter where roasted ducks are hung.  Wait for your order and hope that the cashier and helper got your orders right.

Well, what do you know?  Look at how dirty my cup was.  

Probably, the tea spilled.  It was just surprising that the staff were unconcerned 
about the messy cup and did not even bother to replace it.   

This was my lunch.  It was an oven-baked pork chop with pineapples and sauce poured over the rice.

Yummy, but there was too much sauce. 

     We picked First Ferry/Turbo Jet as our service provider.  It was the same company we used when I went to Macau in 2009 with my family.  It leaves every 30 minutes from 7am to 10:30 pm everyday. Makes you wonder how many gamblers, tourists, businessmen and locals shuffle to and from Macau each day.  Hmm.

     Anyway, I think we paid around HKD 150+ per person since it was a weekend.  But the ferry was not packed and it was a pleasant ride so we were able to take a nap.  About an hour later, we reached Macau! Yay!

      Once in Macau, and after passing through the immigration, we took the underpass going to the other side of the street to catch a free shuttle bus to our hotel, the Venetian.

The Venetian Hotel's Mascot was at the Ferry Terminal to welcome Macau's visitors!  

So cute!

The Free Shuttle to Venetian.

Thoughts: Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Macau With Friends

     Yes, we went to all those places with my friends last week.  For some weird reasons, my friends acceded going to Shenzhen.  I was not keen on the idea since most of my friends are first timers in Hong Kong.  They won't see much of Hong Kong if we cram it on a 4D3N trip.  However, I didn't voice out my reservations, except to our friend, who owns a travel agency from where we bought our land arrangements.  She travelled with us, too.  She said that it's okay.  Oh well.

    Anyway,  since I am not feeling particularly industrious, I will just note some of my observations during our travel in the meantime.  I'll start my detailed travel stories next week.

     So, here are my observations which I'll try to update if I remember something to add:

• It's cold in Hong Kong this time of the year.

Yup, knowing that, I was constantly checking weather forecasts and reports for Hong Kong starting the last week of January.  Apparently, just last week, temperatures dropped to 10C, a day before we landed in Hong Kong, then the weather got a little warmer, averaging around 15C to 18C.  So, I had on with me some cardigans, but with all those clothes for cold weather I bought, it was not enough.

• You see, 15C spells the need to wear winter garb in Hong Kong, and probably, the rest of East Asia.

It was cold, but not particularly cold.  It was way colder in Beijing when I went there late November where temperatures dropped to -5C.  I mean, 15C is just a little shy colder than in Baguio, right?  So, I was thinking, I don't need to bring my winter clothes and trench coat, that I don't need to buy winter boots.  Well, turns out that I was so wrong.  When we all got to the immigration at the Hong Kong International Airport, we were surrounded by Japanese and perhaps, some Korean travellers, who were fashionably dressed in their best winter clothes.  I mean, faux fur, shearling, winter boots, coat dresses, trench coats, scarves...you name it, they're wearing it.  My friends were wearing summer clothes despite my repeated warnings that it'll be really cold.  And what did my friends wear going to Hong Kong?  Flip flops,  sandals and stilettos.  In short, their feet were exposed.  Of course, people were staring at us.  Not only do we look stupid wearing summer clothes (like flimsy short-sleeved shirts, with no inner blouse and slacks or jeans), we looked dowdy compared to our fellow Asian travellers who were dressed to the nines.

• Hong Kong is a fashionable city teeming with fashionable people, locals and travellers alike.

As I've said, those Japanese and Korean fellow travellers who were lined up at the immigration counters with us were ultra-chic and appropriately dressed, whereas my friends were shivering in the cold and sad to say, we looked like the posh Asians' domestic servants.  Perhaps, that is the reason why my friends were questioned quite a lot by the immigration officers. 

Also, it should not be forgotten that Hong Kong is so fashion-forward.  That is the reason why I bought all of my new clothes and the most fashionable ones at that.  And, I was forced to put on a trendy lipstick so I'd look presentable at the very least.  Well, normally, when I travel to Hong Kong and Taiwan, I put on make up because people are wearing make-up and it's almost a politeness expected of you to be wearing some.  It's especially true in Japan as well, and perhaps, even in Korea.   If you don't like to put on some make-up, be wary that there is a marked difference being a fresh-faced beauty and having an oily face.  Oiliness is next to ugliness.  Or being make-up free and looking like you just got out of bed.  Besides, winter is a great time to wear make-up.  It won't melt, like it usually does when I'm in the Philippines.

Anyway, I was wearing rubber shoes when I got to Hong Kong only because my winter boots have been rendered useless.  It was not fashionable but at least, it was comfortable and apt for the weather.  So while I was a little cold wearing just a long-sleeved shirt and thicker cardigan, my hair was at least pretty (it has a great color, with highlights) and I looked somewhat passable.  On the other hand, the rest of my stay, I made up for my near fashion faux pas on our first day in Hong Kong.  Well, my clothes were still not warm enough but at least, I looked really good in my opinion.

So, if you're thinking that no one really cares how you look when you travel, you're just kidding yourself.  At least in Asia.  Well, people may not particularly care, but that will not deter them from staring at you in open amusement, pity, or even disgust.  I mean, if you want to be gawked at from head to foot, then, whatever floats your boat.  At least you've been forewarned. 

• Shenzhen and Macau is not as fashionable as Hong Kong.

Yay, finally.  In both these places, it is easier to fit in.  In Hong Kong, if you're not that fashionable, you stand out a lot easier, like a moving target.  Perhaps, that is the reason why touts along Nathan Road constantly badger you if you "want to buy a copy watch." 

• Don't buy cameras and electronics from shops along Nathan Road with flashing neon signs.

My friend wanted to buy a camera, an LX5.  It was her first time in Hong Kong so when we passed by those camera shops along Nathan Road, she half-dragged me to side so she could browse one of the stores.  I dragged her harder and told her that it's a no-no to buy there unless you want to end up paying more than the mall price.  In fact, you shouldn't buy cameras in any stores in Hong Kong with those flashing neon signs.

• Exchange rates are better at Mirador Mansion.  

Compared to money changers at the airport, malls or banks.  Pinoys generally flock to Wing Hoi money changer in Mirador but we usually just go to a Western Union money changer in Mirador since one of the staff is a Filipino, and thus, it makes it all the more easier to ask questions not just about foreign currencies, but as well as general inquiries regarding Hong Kong.

• Hong Kong is not for the lazy.

As with other developed Asian countries, Hong Kong is not for the lazy.  You have to walk, walk and walk some more to reach the proper bus stop, MTR station, malls, attractions, etc., unless you have money to pay for cab fares.  And if you want to mall hop, of course, you'd have to make use of those legs and feet God has given you.

Having a leisurely walk on rush hour in TST or Mongkok?  Good luck to you; you might just get bumped by people walking fast. 

• There are homeless people in Hong Kong, too.

Like any other place, Hong Kong has homeless people, too.  I've seen a couple of homeless people huddled under sleeping bags under flyovers.  So, Hong Kong is not all glitz and glamour.

•  Don't assume that English is widely-spoken and understood.

While Hong Kong used to be a  British colony, you'd be amazed to realize that more often than not, your words couldn't be understood by cabbies, store clerks, cashiers, etc.  Well, except perhaps at the malls, nice restaurants, tourist-centric places or shops.  Don't worry, you can always point and show, which I did at McDonald's.  So, it's better to ask your hotel's concierge to write down the places of your destinations.  Or better yet, use public transportation since they have English announcements and signs inside rather than taking cabs.

• Use the hotel's shuttle services in Macau. 

Yes, a lot of hotels in Macau have free shuttle service.  The moment you step out of the ferry terminal, you can catch a free shuttle to your hotel.  Want to go from one place to another?  Shuttle service is best.  From The Venetian, there's a shuttle to the Sands which is near the Fisherman's Wharf.  Want to go to San Malo?  Take the Cotai connection from Venetian to the Galaxy and take the shuttle from there to San Malo.

•  Half-day tour in Shenzhen? Go to Splendid China to watch the shows.

 If you're on a group visa, and wishes to go to Splendid China, skip the 5pm show and tell your tour guide you want to take pictures of the miniatures instead.  It's the Phoenix show that really matters and you should not miss it.

• Try not to buy from the factories you visit in your tours. 

 I mean, for jewelry, watches, jades, etc.  Except when the products are just cheap assorted general merchandise or trinkets.