On HK day 2, we went on a one-day trip to Asia’s well-known gambling mecca and paradise for gourmands – Macau! Macau is a city with a combination of Portuguese historical heritage and traditional Chinese culture. It was an awesome one day trip from Hong Kong that’s only take a 55 minute boat ride away as Macau is completely different vibe from the big city of Hong Kong. Think of Macau as Asia’s version of Vegas but with old town Portuguese flare mixed around it.
Macau is one of the two Special Administrative Regions of China and is bordered on the province of Guangdong. There’s nothing that connects Hong Kong to Macau so a ferry is necessary although all that will change when they complete the bridge that will link the two cities.
What makes Macau unique is that it was former Portuguese colony and administered by Portugal from the mid-16th century until late 1999, similar to how Hong Kong was administered by the United Kingdom. However what once was a sleepy colonial city has now ballooned to become Asia’s gambling capital. There are many huge themed casinos there and the number of new ones will keep increasing.
i) Ferry to Macau - HK China Ferry Terminal
As mentioned in my previous post, visitors of nearly all nationalities (including Malaysia) can enjoy a visa-free stay of between 30 and 90 days. There are two ferry terminals in Hong Kong which provide ferry services between Hong Kong and Macau. We have chosen to go for the ferry terminal which is nearer to our hotel, Hong Kong China Ferry Terminal (Address: 33 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon). The other ferry terminal, Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal is located in Central (Address: 3/F Shun Tak Centre, 200 Connaught Road Central, Sheung Wan).
Direction to China Ferry Terminal :
1. Go along Haiphong Road (Haiphong Road located next to Grand Mosque Kowloon)
2. Walk straight forward to Horbour City (Will pass Kowloon Park on your right)
3. Continue walking until reached junction infront of Harbour City building
4. Cross the junction to be on the right side of the road and go along Canton Raod
5. Walk straight until reached to China Hong Kong City Shopping Mall on the left
6. Enter the shopping mall, go up the escalator to Level 1
7. Follow sign inside the mall to the ticketing counter
Direction to Hong Kong Ferry Terminal :
1. Take the MTR to Sheung Wan station.
2. Take exit D which will lead you to the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry terminal in the Shun Tak Centre (you have to take several escalators up).
Macau was geographically divided into three regions: the Peninsula and Taipa and Coloane. However, reclamation of the area between Taipa and Coloane has created the fourth region of Cotai. There are 2 ferry operators sail from Hong Kong to Macau where each departed at different terminal as follows :
TurboJET (www.turbojet.com.hk) - The Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal (Macau Maritime Terminal) at Peninsular
CotaiJet (www.cotaiwaterjet.com) - Macau Taipa Ferry Terminal
The islands and the Peninsular are connected by three bridges in Macau. Most people choose to take the ferry to Macau Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal in peninsular, where Macau Tower and historical sites like Senado Square, The Ruins of St Paul and Macau tower are. For those who chose to go to the outlying island, you may take ferry to Taipa Ferry Terminal instead. The attractions at Taipa include several extravagant casinos such as The Venetian and Studio City as well as the Old Taipa Village where most of the famous eateries reside. Shuttle bus services are available to connect tourists between the attractions in Macau.
Ticket Fare
TurboJET Economy = HK$164 (HK - Macau) / HK$153 (Macau - HK)
CotaiJet Economy = HK$165 (HK - Taipa) / HK$154 (Taipa - HK)
Operating Time
7.30am - 10.30pm (ferry operates every 30 mins)
We decided to take TurboJET to peninsular as it is close with the most of the attractions in Macau. We went out from hotel quite early around 8.30am to grab the morning ticket. The walk to the Ferry terminal took around 20mins.
Once successfully purchased the tickets (including returned ticket at 8.00pm), we passed through the immigration to the waiting hall.
Photo inside the terminal before entering the immigration counter. Don't forget to bring your passport!!
It was Saturday, however not much people here at the terminal. At least not as crowded compared to amount of people at the Peak Tram on the day before. We expected more people as it was weekend but good for us as we managed to buy ticket before it's sold out. Please mind that it is advisable to buy ferry ticket earlier especially during public holiday/weekends as the ticket selling very fast during that time.
Finally, we were allowed to board inside the ferry. My first impression was... it was big. Infact, it was the biggest ferry I've ever boarded (compare to ferry to Langkawi and other islands in Malaysia). Quite comfortable also. You can also buy meals inside the ferry. I saw most of the passengers ordered instant noodle... and it was very tempting as we just had an instant 3in1 milo and biscuits that morning. However, as it was not Halal so we didn't order and just distracted ourselves with looking the view outside the ferry and chit-chatting.
The journey from Hong Kong to Macau will take around 1 hour. Usually, the immigration forms will be distributed on the ferry. But if you missed-out or made mistake when filling the form, there is no need to worry. There are enough forms located at the immigration counter once you reached Macau.
Some of the views along our journey.
And these were among the views from the ferry when we nearly approaching Macau.
Finally after about an hour of journey, we reached the Macau Maritime Terminal.
Basically for this Macau trip, We had listed few places to visit here as follows :
1. The Venetian
2. Hard Rock Hotel
3. City of Dream
4. The Galaxy
5. Grand Lisboa
6. Senado Square
How to get around Macau
Most hotel-casino in Macau offer free shuttle bus services, so it was very easy to get around the city. Simply hop on and off the complimentary shuttle buses operated by the casinos to get to most of the major casinos and into town.
Once we cleared the immigration, we went to search for the shuttle bus services to go to our first destination, The Venetian.
There is no clear indication of the shuttle bus waiting/pick up area, so we had to ask around and found out that the line form near the immigration building exit was the queue for The Venetian shuttle bus.
The shuttle bus is free and you don't have to wait so long for the next bus. This is one of their marketing strategy to attract visitors to their hotels/casinos by providing free shuttle bus. So why not utilized it to the fullest once we got the opourtunity right ;D
About 15 minutes ride, we arrived at our first destination, The Venetian. As ussual, I will stop my writing here and continue on The Venetian on my next post. Be prepared for lots and lots of photo ok. Till then.....
Trip to HK, Macau and Shenzhen Fast Link Here
Preparation
Day 0 – Departure to Hong Kong and First Night at Chungking Mansion
Day 1 – Star Ferry Ride from Kowloon to HK Island
Day 1 – HKCEC and Golden Bauhinia Square
Day 1 – Repulse Bay and Stanley Village
Day 1 – Lunch at Islamic Muslim Centre, Ammar Mosque and Tram Ride
Day 1 – The Mid Level Escalator
Day 1 – The Peak Tram and Night at Victoria Peak (Sky Terrace 428)
Day 1 – End of Day 1
MACAU Day Trip
Day 2 – The Venetian, Macao
Day 2 – City Of Dreams and Hard Rock Hotel
Day 2 – The Galaxy Macau
Day 2 – Grand Lisboa and Senado Square
Day 2 – The Ruins of St. Paul’s
Day 2 – Macau back to Hong Kong
Shenzhen Day Trip
Day 3 – Starting Journey to Shenzhen, China from Hong Kong
Day 3 – Window of The World
Day 3 – Shopping at Shenzhen and back to Hong Kong
Hong Kong Trip Continues
Day 4 – Ngong Ping 360, Lantau Island
Day 4 – Aberdeen Floating Village and Jumbo Kingdom
Day 5 – Disneyland Part 1
Day 5 – Disneyland Part 2
Day 5 – Disneyland Part 3
Day 5 – Shopping at Ladies Market, Mongkok
Last Day – Avenue of Star
Last Day – HK Museums, 1881 Heritage and Back to Malaysia
Total Expenses
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