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  • Category: Macau

    • To bungee jump or not

      Posted at 4:08 am by witsandnuts, on March 18, 2009

      Continued from visit to:
      Ruins of Saint Paul, A-ma Temple and Kun Iam Statue
      Museu De Macau
      Macau Fisherman’s Wharf

      leaning tower

      Our visit to Macau Sky Tower is the last and the highlight of our one-day Macau tour. It’s a convention cum amusement center. I have not done my research before going there. Hence, I had zero expectations and was totally impressed as I did set foot. An Italian exhibit culminated few days before our tour. We are lucky that this leaning tower of Pisa side by side Macau Tower was still on display. Perhaps they kept these for the Christmas season as an added attraction.

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      Posted in Macau, Travel | 0 Comments
    • Wharf with me

      Posted at 6:19 am by witsandnuts, on March 16, 2009

      Continued from visit to Saint Paul Ruins, A-ma Temple and Museu De Macau

      Dyanie asked in one of my previous posts how the ferry looked like. Here are some of the photos that I took while in the turbo jet. I could say that the almost 40-minute ride from Hong Kong Terminal was a smooth one.

      Turbo jet collage

      Although I wanted to invest on nap I did not because I enjoyed peeking in and taking snaps during the ride. On board in turbo jet, we already caught a glimpse of Sands Macau. A strong cue that Macau’s economy is mainly dependent on gambling industry among other things.

      sands vegas

      taken while inside turbo jet

      The tour guide earmarked our lunch to be spent in Macau Fisherman’s Wharf. While in the bus, we were oriented about the things that we will be seeing, a visit to Casino Babylon included.

      babylon casino

      Casino Babylon is the oldest casino boutique in Macau. We never really got to play inside because you will never find it as part of any day or night tour package. Especially in our group wherein there were Singaporean, Indian and Filipino who are not yet of legal age. While the guard was busy making a big deal on why our group went in despite of these underage charming fellows, I managed to take only one photo while inside the casino.

      inside babylon casino

      After our guide made the necessary explanation to the casino personnel, i.e. that our group was just passing by as part of the tour, we proceeded to the Macanese buffet waiting for us.

      Car-dining table

      Honestly, I didn’t like the food at all that I didn’t care to take photos of it. I bet they are not the finest Macau dishes. The consequence of being in a package tour is you have to go with the flow, normally lunch or dinner is more than economically considered. But the dining area is interesting enough to counter this flaw. I enjoyed the fancy car-dining set-up and the sight of shoe store as I did look down.

      shoe store

      After lunch, we were given almost sufficient time (I realized later on that there’s so much to check here). Our group dispersed and we started appreciating the different corners of Fisherman’s Wharf.

      rocks hotel

      I didn’t know that this is actually a theme park. The first ever in Macau. It became glaring only when I started to see structures inspired by different theme buildings: Italian, Spanish, etc.

      3

      It was like walking through the different eras or quasi world tour, whichever way you’ll feel.

      5

      6

      9

      If I’d get a chance, I want to revisit this at night time. I can just imagine how livelier the whole place will be once it is all lighted up fancifully. They are also holding shows in that late afternoon which we did not catch because of time limits.

      Macau Fisherman's Wharf

      One of the finest attractions here is Vulcania.

      volcano

      It is a replica volcano that will instantly get your attention even if you’re outside the Fisherman’s Wharf.

      artificial volcano
      (Taken while in the bus)

      twilight shoes

      The best spot to rest your tired feet and senses is here. It was breeze.

      12

      Our meeting place was in front of Casino Babylon. The woman waving the flag (read as: hurry!) is our guide. I was late for our call time. Ako na lang pala ang hinihintay (blushes). I almost forgot that I was not in a DIY tour. Enough said, nakakalibang yung place. 😉

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      Posted in Macau, Travel | 0 Comments
    • Museu De Macau

      Posted at 11:25 am by witsandnuts, on March 11, 2009

      museo de macau 3

      Continued from visit to Ruins of Saint Paul, A-man Temple, Kuan Iam Statue

      Museu De Macau is steps away from Ruins of Saint Paul. Being on a package tour has twin effects, the time constraints and efficiency. Our tour guide allotted us two hours to visit the ruins and museum. I suggest that you see the ruins first because there’s a tendency that you will be unmindful of the time once you’re inside the museum.

      The museum allows non-flash photography. But I noticed that not too many were taking photos. The visitors are multi-cultural and I assume that the interest in checking the bits of the museum will vary with the orientation, intensity of exploration, and basis of comparison. I also noticed that some of the museum’s keepers are Filipinos. I chatted a little with one of them and claimed that there are so many kababayans (fellow Filipinos) in Macau now.

      macau museum2

      The first area showcases rebultos (images) of old Chinese people, those of Jesus Christ and other traces of Christianity. This is not surprising since Macau has been under the colony of Portugal for a long time.

      Macau Museum Collage 2

      In addition, the Myths of Macau, a model trike and an area with TV featuring the history of Macau (reminds me of Lights and Sounds Museum in Intramuros) can be found in the main area.

      trading

      There’s a miniature of old trading that happened centuries ago.

      Chinese dolls

      One of the most interesting displays here are the seemingly Chinese ‘dolls’. They are eerie and great to look at.

      Macau Museum Collage

      Traditional dresses, postal box, spices, pro-forma kitchen are also on display.

      macau food 1

      Of course, there is a showcase of artificial Macau food. I wished these were real and will then go out of the glass wall. I remember when I was a kid when someone feels cheated, he’d say “Lutong Macau”.

      Lutong Macau refers to anything preconceived or planned and is bound to occur. The phrase might be from the local experience that Macau Chinese are known for their style of cooking and restaurants who promote the cuisine-prepared ingredients even before it is ordered.

      Cries of Macau

      As we turned to the other corner, this lady scared me a bit. I don’t know why, maybe it’s just my imagination. But I find the museum’s arrangement of displays to have a little eerie effect. Also, there are life size structures of local vendors during old Macau. They are all situated in the booth “Cries of Macau.”

      brands of matchsticks

      A substantial amount of display is devoted to history of firecrackers. There was a time that Macau became one of the largest exporters of fireworks.

      house

      The museum also offers a two-storey fancy row of houses.

      living room

      A traditional living room in Macau. I liked it a lot especially the paintings.

      very binondo

      As of present time, this is how the houses in Macau generally look like. It’s very Binondo. I took this while we were walking back to the tourist bus as we were headed to the Fisherman’s Wharf (details in next post).

      motociclos

      I also noticed that motorcycles are very popular there. As a side note, most of the signs are still written in Portuguese. Just like on this motociclos parking.

      I have visited Museu De Macau before our very own Museum of Filipino People. I’d say the latter has more to offer and is at par with cleanliness of Macau’s. Here’s a very good video of Old Macau (1960s). I think this would speak better than the museum. I’m not a Macau local, but I felt having a trip down history after watching it.

      http://www.metacafe.com/fplayer/yt-SRCxnx8Q5v8/old_macau_in_1960.swf
      Old Macau in 1960 – The most amazing bloopers are here

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      Posted in Macau, Travel | 0 Comments
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    • About witsandnuts

      Snapchat-5703935704258315256 Marhaba! That's "hello" in Arabic. I am an expatriate based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). I started writing about my adventures and misadventures few months before arriving here at winter of 2008. I have 2 cats and a dog who live harmoniously together. I am also surrounded by kindhearted, crazy, funny and indescribable humans! I was a dormant blogger for almost 3 years because of countless reasonable justifications like watching football, postgraduate studies, sleeping, traveling, caring for the world, and more! :) I am just so happy that I am back! It is never too late to catch up with the people and things we really care about. Feel free to look around.
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