MERRY X'MAS !

WISHING EVERY ONE A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY COMING NEW YEAR!

LET THERE BE PEACE ALWAYS ON EARTH. THE PEACE THAT WAS MEANT TO BE IN PERFECT HARMONY!

MACAU - RUA DO CUNHA

From our hotel, we used the long auto-walkways to "Rua do cunha", a popular street in Macau.  

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Rua do cunha is a very narrow pedestrian street in Taipa village of Macau mostly frequented by tourists. 

The street has many small shops selling all sorts of cookies, like almond cakes, Phoenix egg rolls, coconut flakes, peanut candy and etc.

 Delicious braised meat (jerky)

A popular local cafe but with a funny "Chinese" name.

We had our dinner at this restaurant Galo (公雞餐廳)

 I like the their good luck rooster placemats.

The super bock, a Portuguese brand of lager - a mild but tasty beer.

 

A good dinner and followed by "Durian ice-cream and pudding" at Mok Yi Kei, a popular desert shop in the area. 

 According to the brochure, Mok Yi Kei has been here for eight decades

We had a pleasant night walk enjoying the night view of "Cotai area" before we called it a night.

HONG KONG - MACAU

On Day 3, we went to Macau by sea. The high speed turbo jet vessel took about 60 minutes to reach Macau, 71 kilometers from Hong Kong. 

The Turbo jet's economy cabin.

Macau ferry terminal.

Leaving the ferry terminal by the hotel's shuttle bus.  

Passing through the Macau Peninsular - Grand Lisboa hotel, the tallest building in the background. 

 The Venitian Macau, our accommodation for 2 nights.

When we arrived, it appeared as though there were no hotel staff present to meet and greet guests as in other hotels I have been to. A porter service was also not readily available and we had to find our way to the reception on our own. The queue to the reception counter was "a mile long" and no staff were attending to the waiting guests. In my years of travel, I have never experienced such poor treatment by a 5 star hotel. It took me about 45 minutes to finally reach the counter. I did not receive any greeting or words of welcome from the receptionist. He just asked for my passport. It took him about 15 minutes to complete the check-in but with discrepancies. In issuing the room card keys and hotel passports, he failed to include all the deals in our confirmed "Ice world package" which should include, a one way free ferry tickets from Macau to Hong Kong, daily breakfasts or lunch, MOP300 voucher for shopping, free wi-fi in room and the tickets to their Ice World show. It took another 15 minutes to rectify this.

We were given a non-smoking suite in the South tower. 

 

 A spacious bath room.

However, the toilet had a strong scent of cigarettes. Obviously, the previous guests who had broken the room's non-smoking rule.  

 View from our suite.

Within the same hotel building, there is a huge shopping mall and a wide selection of restaurants including a food court.

Gondola rides inside the building.

The only Christmas tree I saw in the hotel at one of the entrances to the casino.

 Majority of the gamblers were Chinese from the mainland.

 

In the evening, a family friend drove us to Coloane, an old village with many Portuguese-style houses and narrow lanes.

Our friend recommended to try the "Macanese" cuisine at this restaurant. 

Next to the restaurant is the Chapel of St. Francis Xavier.

Mainland China is just across the bay. 

The dinner was very good, we had the popular stewed chicken, beef ribs, a Bacalhau dish, mixed salad and a special fried rice. 

A mango fruit cake for my birthday.

After dinner, we went on "a night tour" driving thorugh the Macau peninsular.

The Galaxy hotel next to our hotel was putting on a "light show" when we returned.

We had a very good evening in the Coloane village. The dinner was delicious and the night drive was superb. It could have been a prefect day if not for the poor and unfriendly service at the Venetian Macau.      

HONG KONG - DAY 2

The next day, we took the hotel shuttle bus to "Tsim Sha Tsui", one of the main shopping districts in Kowloon, Hong Kong.

 Heavy traffic even after 10:00 AM.

 There are many of these high rise apartments on the way.

 The view of Hong Kong island near Tsim Sha Tsui.   

 

I have not been to Hong Kong for 25 years. While I found most of the street names have remained unchanged, there are many new express ways and by passes. Tsim Sha Tsui has totally changed and I could not recognize any of the buildings except for the Holiday Inn Golden Mile. The area has many new buildings which house shopping malls, arcades and restaurants. 

In the evening, we moved to Mong Kok for supper before returning to our hotel.

We had a look at almost all the small restaurants, street vendors and cafes as if we were on a familiarization tour.

 

 All sorts of food for eat-in and take-away.

Mini buses are still a common public transport in Kowloon.  

We had a good day outing with plenty of food from breakfast to dinner and supper.

 White radish cakes 

Beef tripes 

Other "dim sum"

 Portuguese chicken curry.

Portuguese egg-tarts

 Roasted Goose.

  Roasted Pigeons.

 Roasted Pork belly.

 

 Boiled "Gyoza" (dumplings.)

 Sweet and sour soup

Fried "Gyoza" (dumplings)

Hong Kong, to me, is the land of food. You can get any type of cuisine but of course, Hong Kong is best for its Cantonese cuisine. If I could stay a week or two longer to enjoy all the delicious food available, I guess I would be putting on a few more kilos at least!