Good morning Hong Kong! We slept about 8 hours and were up and ready to go. Breakfast is included with our stay – though we noted for hotel guests it was normally 100 Hong Kong Dollars (HKD), about $14.00 CDN, it was still a steal! It was a full service buffet with all the regular western items such as assorted breads and pastries, all the breakfast meats, an "egg' chef who did omelettes or eggs to order, as well as all the asian specialties such as dim sum, salmon, congee then all the fresh juices, cheeses, cereals, yogurts and fruits.
We checked out a bit more of the neighbourhood before coming back to the hotel to check out. Game plan today – head to Macau!
The Ferry terminal was downstairs right in our hotel – perfect! We boarded the 1 p.m., “First Ferry Company" Ferry with several hundred other people for the one hour crossing to Macau.
It is located 60 kms or 37 miles south west of Hong Kong. It consists of the Macau Peninsula and the islands of Taipa and Coloane, which are now connected by landfill forming the Cotai Strip.
While waiting for the ferry, the information board noted it was 30 C with 76% humidity – how hot is that? It was so hot Greg couldn’t wear his Rider hat! Macau and Hong Kong are noted as having “humid subtropical” climates with average relative humidity between 75 – 90%. Before we left the computer said the average June temperatures here are average daily highs of 30C and lows of 27C with average humidity of approx 85%.
Macau is the other “Special Administrative Region” (other than Hong Kong) of the People’s Republic Of China. We had to clear Customs and Immigration on arrival.
Originally a Portuguese colony, it reverted back to the Chinese in 1999. Its noted there have been inhabitants here since 200 BC or so, but the place really started to take shape after the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century.
On arrival into Macau, after a little confusion we found our hotel. Greg was not impressed by the lack of street signs! Once settled into our room, we set out to explore some of Macau – always thought as an exotic location like in a James Bond Movie (The Man With the Golden Gun)! What we found was a mix of hold Macau and the new Macau. Tourism and Gambling are the main drivers of the Macau economy. With the Las Vegas folks starting to open up properties here, its quite the contrast between the old and new. English or non-asians were also not the norm in the Old Macau properties.
One of the things we noticed was they don’t have the big show lounges like in Vegas – no Cher, no Elton John, no Cirque de Soleil! Just gambling, and mostly at gaming tables. Baccarat looks to be the preferred game here (see, very James Bond again!) The other thing was how smoky some of the casino floors were. Many of the older Macau casinos were staged in multi floor gaming areas, unlike Vegas when its generally front and centre when you walk in and its all in one large expansive area. In many of the older hotels we actually had to look to find the casino areas, that was amazing to us, as some seems to be very tucked away.
In the new Grand Lisboa hotel, they had several interesting artifacts in its huge lobby. A few notables were the very intricate wood and jade carvings on display.
Check out the picture – amazing it’s a carving, but it was still attached to the wood it was carved from!
After an extensive walk about – we have never seen such a high concentration of jewellery anywhere else we have gone – then it was another adventure – to decide on supper! We ended up in a café in the Holiday Inn, next door to our hotel. It, and its staff was totally Chinese. Greg went with what Eve ordered for a very traditional meal – a seaweed soup, chicken for Greg and a sort of meat “cake” for Eve. This isn’t anything you would normally get in a North American Chinese restaurant…..unless you were eating with the owner and his family J
That’s it for today – Eve more wiped than Greg – time to retire to the hotel, time for “homework” and sleep!
Tomorrow’s destination: Venetian Macau Resort, in Taipa on the Contai Strip – from the Venetian folks in Vegas – they say this facility is large enough to hold nine 747 jets and the casino itself is 3 times larger than its counterpart in Las Vegas!
First day in Macau
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Macau, Macau, China
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Comments

2025-02-17
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Brian Lee
2011-06-20
Hey Greg and Eve!
Love the blog! Would love to know more about the awesome shops and more of the sites that you're seeing.
Looks like you guys are having an awesome time. Did you guys get to see uncle Joe/aunty Marina in HK?
Take Care - Brian et al.