Spotting Macau: DAY 4

maybe you would like to read this first - Spotting Hongkong: DAY 3

After eating the remaining cup noodles, brought from home, for breakfast, we rushed to Senado Square for our last hours of tour. We still have few more places to go: Ruins of St. Paul, Monte Fort, Macau Museum, A-Ma Temple, Macau Tower Observation Deck, Macao Sands Hotel, and The Fisherman's Wharf. 

Ruins of St. Paul

We first went to Ruins of St. Paul, which was quite a walk from Senado Square. Along the way, we saw the famous store Pastelaria Koi Kei. We bought their signature snack items such as egg tarts (MOP 7/piece), almond cookies (MOP 84/box), peanut candies (MOP 24/pack), and egg rolls (MOP 24/pack). It was always jampacked with buyers and it could be evidently proven as most people we saw were holding at least one paper bag from the famous store with their hands.

around 7 AM on a Monday in Senado Square

Ruins of St. Paul: Macau's famous tourist spot

Monte Fort and Macau Museum

The Macau Museum was closed during Mondays so we did not have the chance to get inside; we just took pictures outside. You can skip Mount Fortress or Monte Fort, in my opinion. There's nothing much to see here, except for the picture below and people doing their morning exercise routine.

A-Ma Temple

Going here: Bus from Hotel Sintra to A-Ma temple (for bus numbers, refer to the information post located in every bus stop) for MOP 3.20

We planned of going here because we want to try the famous A Lorcha Portuguese restaurant for an early lunch, but unfortunately its opening hours were 12 noon onwards. We were able to buy refrigerator magnets for MOP 16 each. As to the temple itself, there was no wow-factor (well, it didn't have to be).

Macau Tower Observation Deck

Fee: HKD 98 in CTS vs. HKD 120 in Macau Tower ticket booth for 58/F and 61/F Observation Decks

Going here: public bus from A-Ma Temple for MOP. 4.20

We planned trying their 360° Cafe lunch buffet here but, according to some people who have tried this before, there was nothing great with regards to the food served, except for the view on top while having your meal. We decided to skip this one instead.

For thrill-seeker people (definitely not me), I believe this one is for you. There are lots of activities that would give you the adrenalin rush you are longing for, from Sky Walk to Bungy Jump.

still at 36th floor

obviously acrophobic

the tower's miniature version at the back

Macao Sands Hotel and The Fisherman's Wharf

Going here: took public bus to Grand Lisboa for MOP 3.20 and free shuttle from Grand Lisboa to Macau Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal; walked to Macao Sands Hotel

Thank you Macao Sands for giving us free bottled mineral water! The Fisherman's Wharf was one of the tourist spots you should not miss. The architectural structure was great, felt like I have been to Rome. Since it was a very hot Monday afternoon, there were only VERY few people roaming around the area. We had our lunch at New Camoes Restaurant, another Portuguese-inspired diner to die for.

yummy grilled lamb chops!

Bacalhau: famous Portuguese dish

delicious but could be easily fed up

Going to Macau International Airport

Make your way to Venetian Hotel (In our case, Hotel Sintra offers free shuttle service to City of Dreams and the latter has its service to Venetian Hotel) because it offers free shuttle to the airport.

The unexpected DAY 5

Upon reaching Macau International Airport, we were all very surprised to know that our flight back to Manila via SEAir was changed to next day at the same time! According to their Sky Speed ticket history, we were not contactable. The funny thing was, our flight was changed about four (4) months from our travel date! It seemed that they just wanted to close the incident ticket right away since they never tried to reach the mobile number nor the email address indicated during those four (4) long months. Well, this can be charged to experience because none of us ever thought of confirming our flight schedule beforehand. 

Where we stayed on our additional night: Best Western Hotel Taipa (MOP 550/night)

Going here: took a bus from airport to Macau Science and Technology University for MOP 4.20 each. Met three college Business Administration students (a fine lady and two gentlemen) who migrated from China and there they accompanied us to Best Western Taipa. It was not walking distance from there (I can see my sister's face dead-tired), but I had fun talking with the girl and her stories about how beautiful Macau is and her rants about Hongkong. The men even carried some of our baggage (how accommodating they were). Forgot to get their names but hopefully they will be able read this blogpost and get in touch with me in someway. I was building the image of Philippine tourism to them.

What we did on our extra day: Relaxed our painful muscles

Where we ate: dinner and buffet breakfast at the hotel's restaurant

Verdict: Be sure to get the non-smoking floor if you do not smoke.  The bed was uncomfortable for two people. Hotel Sintra was way better in terms of location and room comfort.

Flight back to Manila

The next day was so foggy and cold. Really a bed weather and I could feel that the climate gave my hair a good day. Strolled a bit in Taipa with my brother-in-law while waiting for the shuttle. Best Western Taipa offers free shuttle service to Venetian Hotel, but exclusively for hotel guests only. Since we had more time allowance, we decided to stroll and take more pictures at Venetian Hotel. We left our luggage to their designated counter for free, even if you were not a hotel guest (that's how accommodating they were in Macau).

We had our lunch at Macau Airport's food court. I have eaten a large shrimp ball there which was very tasty. I bought a smaller box of Almond Cookies in the airport for MOP 37.

As expected, our flight back was delayed, but we never expected it to be that much like for two hours (Thank you SEAir, I will never fly with you again unless you give a good airfare deal to Basco). We arrived in Clark International Airport at about nine in the evening, picked up the car and ate late dinner at Jollibee in the Expressway. We got home by past eleven already and prepared for tomorrow's back-to-reality.