Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Trip to Macau..

I've been to Macau twice, once with my Uncle and Auntie and the second with my guy.

The difference is the first trip was more "gambling focused" and the second was alittle more "sightseesing focused". Let focus on the second trip since the first trip was basically just.. gambling..

We arrived in Macau via Tiger Airways, I told myself after the 4-hr plus flight to Taipei via Jetstar that I would never take another budget airline for such "long"distance flight.. Anyway, I gave it due to budget constraint and the limited flights going to Macau..

















The hotel that we stayed in was Casa Real Hotel, location was alright and overall it was value for $$..

There are few islands within Macau, the two main island that people visit should be Macau Peninsula and Taipa.. The hotel was located in Macau Peninsula whereas the airport was located in or just outside Taipa and to travel to our hotel, we need to pass Taipa..

Anyway, we decided to spend the morning in Taipa and check in to the hotel in the afternoon..

Qns 1) What do we do with our luggages??

Tip: Venetian is located in Taipa, in case you are not aware, Venetian is the replica of the original Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.. It is definitely a must see "attraction"spot in Macau.. Anyway to continue, you can leave your luggage at the baggage service area and start your tour!! Note: if the staff ask which room you are staying, you can just let them know that you are visiting the Casino..

1. First Stop: The Venetian








2. Taipa Village: Taipa Village is just walking distance from The Venetian.. Therefore, you don't have waste $$ on cab, some cab drivers will take the chance to "squeeze" more $$ by taking longer route or come up with some "imaginary" reason to hike up the fare.. (speaking from experience.. T.T..) You can ask the helpful staff from The Venetian, they will direct you..

Wanted to visit the Taipa Museum, which brings me to the next point, some days are free to visit the Museum, while some days you have to pay a very small nominal fee, however please note that they do not change.. Therefore, you have to bring exact change there.. In the end, we did not enter since we are short of change...







Anyway, travel down the Taipa Village and visited a pork chop bun stall (the pic above) that was supposedly famous.. The pork chop bun was nice!! Huge.. After lunch, we went back Venetian hotel and visited the Manchester United store!! Inside the store, there is a MU tour where you are able to play some soccer ball games, read the history of MU, see the replica of the player's room, etc..

*solely for Man Utd fans*







After the tour, we went to check in at our hotel using Venetian's shuttle bus (the blue buses from the pic on the top).. Shuttle bus are very common in Macau, provided by the various hotels.. They normally travel to and fro from their hotel to the ferry terminal... Thus travelling from Taipa to Macau Peninsula is convenient and F.O.C!!

After playing "hide and seek" with our hotel, to our dismay, we are not able to check in due to some problems !! But they did compensate us by upgrading us to a suite!! After looking at the room, we are TOTALLY fine with the delay, the only downside was we are staying for only two nights and we are leaving for Hong Kong.. We shld have stayed for 1 week or something..

During the delay of our hotel room, we went to Fisherman Wharf which was near to our hotel.. A few minutes away by walking.. Nth much, I suppose it was still developing.. We just stroll around and went back to our hotel to rest..




We came out for dinner and dinner was delicious!! Stroll around again to digest the very large amount of food and went back for a night rest.. Some pictures that we took... Enjoy!!





Will share part 2 of the trip soon!!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Before Tioman Trip

Before blogging on previous hotel experiences, just wanna share my upcoming trip to Tioman Island!! After the trip, will be posting some pictures, information etc.

I've research online and decided to go for the cheapest method to get to Tioman.
I am travelling on 7-9 August (SG National Day).. Ya.. I know.. Bad timing..

Budget Stay: Panuba Inn (RM 100 per day) - inclusive of the RM20 surcharge on wkend and public holiday..

Transport:

1. I will be taking SBS 170, CW2 or Singapore-Johor Express at Queen St. to Johor Bahru Larkin Terminal.

2. From Larkin Terminal, I will be taking S&S International Express (not sure the exact name), or any bus that goes to Mersing..

3. Mersing - a speedboat down Tioman!! WooHoo.. about RM35 for one trip and RM5 for some wildlife conservation fee

The above is the cheapest way to get to Tioman from Singapore. W/o the boat tix, I reckon it will cost about less than S$10!!

Hopefully the trip turns out well and it will really look exactly like the pic below!!!