My Blog World: October 2017

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Macau - A Sight-seeing Trip To Asia's Gambling Mecca

Welcome to Macau!

In this blog I'm going to show you Macau. For those who haven't heard of it, here's a food for thought:

Macau or otherwise spelled as Macao, is an autonomous region situated in the southeast coast of China. If you know Las Vegas in USA as the gambling capital of the world, be amazed that this once sleepy fishing port has grabbed the title, according to reports.

Being Asia's popular gambling Mecca, of course, big and small time gamblers sail to the place which is just an hour away by ferry from Hong Kong!

Unfortunately, my friends and I didn't go there to gamble because first, we don't have the capital. And second, we don't advocate gambling.

We went there as a side trip from Hong Kong to immerse in its beauty even for just a day only. This city inhabited by less than 600,000 people, is home to cobblestone lanes, colonial mansions and buildings, churches, parks, temples and many more. Both Chinese and Portuguese motifs and influences are so apparent in Macau.

To get to Macau, you have to take the ferry. It's good that from where we billeted along Jordan St., it was only one ride to the ferry terminal. The best thing, you need not secure a visa; just your passport will do if you're in HK. At the ferry terminal, everything was so systematic and fast. Note the cleanliness.

So here, again, I won't be wordy but, more of picturesque-ky. Enjoy my pics!!!

Enjoying the ferry ride

1st stop at the iconic ruins of St. Paul's Church

Senado Square

A closer look at the ruins

Macau Tower

At the entrance to Macau Tower

Cobblestone pavement in city square

Popular landmark at Senado Square

The Venetian Macao, world- renowned gambling complex

EXHILARATING SIGHTS AT THE VENETIAN MACAO

We didn't even try the gondola ride as it was quite pricey

OTHER CASINOS WE CHANCED UPON

CHURCH/TEMPLE/SHOPPING CENTERS

OTHER INFLUENCES: CHINESE/JAPANESE/PORTUGUESE

So, there you have it folks...I have just toured you to Macau in a matter of minutes. Everything in the city is worth the shots. For sure, you'd take more than enough pictures when you yourself get there.

Ocean Park Hong Kong - You've Met My Expectations

Hello travel-fanatic friends all over the world!!!

As promised, I am sharing with you my experience at Ocean Park Hong Kong. Seems like it was only yesterday when my buddies and I visited the place yet, it's been around 7 months after that I'm writing this.

Y'all know I've been so busy with full-time job as a professional writer, then I went to Cebu for a much needed week-long vacay in September, wrote reviews for Tripadvisor, then spent some time to my long-overdue free eBook, and on top of all these, just started our online travel business (Facebook page Trouvaille Tours Davao)...Whew! With all these tasks, who can sit down and write her thoughts about travelling?

Well anyways, it's here now whether you like to read or not!!

Since it's my first time to be in an ocean park (Philippines has got one in Manila), I had high expectations of Ocean Park Hong Kong. And true enough, the park was beyond my expectations. At first I only imagined aquatic life in all its splendor, but then, I saw more than that. Since I cannot fully express my experience in words, I have to share it with pictures:

That's the most iconic view of Ocean Park in Hong Kong

I think the most exciting moment was my first cable ride ever. I've been on a plane many times before but being on a cable car is much more fascinating. You're on top of the world and yet, oh so near! The views down below the Hong Kong skyline is just so magnificent. Again, words aren't enough, so please witness my exhilaration through these photos:

Truly, Hong Kong in general is dream-come-true for first-time travellers abroad like me. I remember what our Chinese tour guide said - that HK lives on tourism and what keeps their tourism alive is the word-of-mouth promotion of people who have been there. Now, I'm doing my share. Why don't you go, too and see it for yourself?

AQUATIC LIFE IN OCEAN PARK

Soooo eerie down there and cold...