Zhuhai/Macau Trip

Yup, I'm back from the trip. Not really enjoyable due to far too many incidents over there. Well, I guess it'll so much better to go which a group of friends on a free and easy trip. I wish to go Hong Kong and Macau again. Let's KIV.

Putting those incidents aside, let's focus on the merry stuffs.

Zhuhai

You can walk across the border to Zhuhai from Macau at Gongbei port. It might sounds easy but it's isnt that easy. Have to keep a look out for pickpockets who are easily camouflaged in the huge, horrible fast moving crowd. Felt like we were high-class refugees rushing through the huge crowd with our luggages. *laughs*

Zhuhai is basically much much smaller than Singapore and there's isnt much sceneries over there. Fisher Girl statue is a symbol of Zhuhai. It's basically an status of a girl holding on to a pearl high up in the air with both hands. If I'm not wrong, it's located near or at the Lovers' Road. Others places like the New Yuan Ming Palace, the Wax Museum and the Meixi Royal Stone Archways are some tourist attractions.

We went to the Gondbei Underground shopping mall which claimed to be one of the largest shopping mall in southern china. The stuffs over there are selling at a rather low price, so it's ok even there's no sales or even if you dont wish to bargain. Bought some DVDs and accessories over there. Oh, there's lots of imitations over there selling at super cheap prices and not to mention, you can always bargain. I'm not a fan of branded goods, and not to say imitations, hence, while many flocked and fuss over the 'branded' goods, I rather buried myself in accessories. After all, I love accessories more than clothes and cosmetics.

Not much to comment on the food, cause being in a tour group, you cant get to taste much of the local delicaties. But it's mostly seafood with oysters, prawns [small prawns], crabs [really small crabs] and common stuffs like vegetables [really just plain vegetables only] and meat. Saw some interesting stuffs in Zhuhai supermarket. The durians over there dont have durian smell at all, and it's BIG!!! Was basically putting my nose at it's spikes and yet I dont smell anything... Hmm... Wonder if it's the correct way to smell durians. But since I'm not buying, I cant open up the durians. The mangoteens are really small as compared to what we see here. Cute actually. Look at the photos, acutally, it the picture dont do justice to the original outlook of these two fruits. Call me caveman but these 2 really surprised me then.... Oh ya, we bought back some Lay's potato chips and guess what? We bought cucumber-favoured chips, french chicken favour and the normal Texas BBQ favour back to our hotel. Personally I love the cucumber-favoured chips. It's great!!! Refreshing!!! At the first bite, you can taste the refreshing cumcumber taste and what comes next is the potato taste. It's so unique and delicious!!! When can I taste it again??? I'm missing it already... Oh ya, for caffine addicts like me, pls do bring along ur 3-in-1 coffee. I totally experienced cold turkey for the whole journey because coffee in Zhuihai taste like coffee-flavoured-water [too dilute to curb my desperate need for caffine]. Can you imagine the excitment when I finally found Starbucks in Maccau? Ya... Many couldnt stand me... haha...

Once mention Macau, one has a vague idea of it being an aspiring Las Vegas to-be or even Asia's Las Vegas. Yes, it's famous for it's casinos. First time stepped foot into a casino and had my try in Jackpot at the Venetian. Well, needless to say, I dont have much luck. haha... Cant really judge coz I only tried 2 turns and it cost less than a dollar when converted to Singapore dollars. I simply couldnt stand the cigrettes smell in there. Simply chocking... Macau has the glitz, the glamour and the flashing lights. I've never set foot onto Hong Kong but the glamour and fancy high-end casinos in Macau managed to wow me. Let's put those small, and unknown casinos aside and talk about the luxury casinos like MGM Grand, the Venetian, the Grand Lisboa. Reached Macau at night, exhasted from all the walk in Zhuhai but anyway, went ahead and walked over to MGM Grand with my cousin to find Jason[my cousin's ex-colleague]. Lesson learnt, never believe the receptionist at the lobby about how near and easy to walk over to the another place. We were told that it's an easy 20 mins walk from our hotel to the MGM grand but instead we took about 45 mins. Mind you, we didnt lost our way... Met up with Jason who's a nice busy man. And his treat made the walking trip all worthwhile. Why? Guess what? He treated us delicious-heavenly cakes from the cafe in MGM Grand. My cousin said that I'm just too easy to buy-over.... Just a few cakes and I'm going gaa-gaa over Jason... Haha... Actually, sad to say, if you ask me what I remember about him, all I can say that he's really busy, and I love his choice of cakes. whaha... Back to the main topic... The view just inside the hotel was exquisite, charming and breath-taking. It seems to be in a fantansy. I was trying hard to take clear and sharp photos with my exhausted, shaking hands [the anti-shock function in my camera dont seems to be working with my shaky hands]. There's lots of beautiful art pieces but I didnt took any photos... Was far too exhausted... But nevertheless, the art pieces are all captured in my memories... The Venetian is another place which I was truly impressed. It's a 3-in-1, equipped with casino, hotel and shopping mall. And what's impressed me most is the interior design of the mall. We reached there at night, but mind you, my colleagues even had 'illusions' in there... Why??? Let's the photos do the talking...

The Grand Lisboa... I call it 'partial-macau-durian' [does it look a bit like our esplanade but only much prettier?] The lights are beautiful.. Changing every few seconds... Caught these photos when we were walking to the MGM Grand.

Isnt it amazing??? It was night-time when we reached the Venetian yet, the interior projected the different time of the day using lights and the cloud-celling. Really WOW-ed me...

The Venetian... Isnt it a beauty?? The buildings... Inside the Venetian itself... Btw, this part is the shopping malls itself....

I wasnt such a great fan of cakes then... But now... I am... But I'm rather fussy had high-expectations for cakes... All thanks to Jason that I'll get to enjoy these... Let me emphanise again...

THEY TASTE HEAVENLY!!!!

An comparsion... We got the Coffee-waltnut cake from the cafe in our hotel just to get the forks for our heavenly cake. I insisted on getting the cake for the forks... Coz, it's far too unsightly to just bite it like that without forks... Ya... Call me bo liao... Btw, the cake that we got ourself just simply cant fight with those got from MGM Grand.. Be it the looks, the taste... Even the packaging... Arh... I'm missing the cakes!!!!

In Macau, even if you are not a gambler, it's a great place to go with a group of friends for shopping, esp now is the sales period over at Hong Kong and Macau. Senado Square is a great shopping pardise but for non-shopaholics, the charms of the the pastel-coloured colonial style buildings will attract you [as least it did attracted me deeply].

If you appreciate historical buildings and cultures, you'll love the Ruins of St. Paul's Church and the Gula Lighthouse. The lighthouse has a old western touch and it's located at the highest point of the city. From there, you can see the Grand Lisboa. It's an other view when we reached the top of the lighthouse. The sky was equipped with it's dark clouds and threatening to rain. I even saw lightings up there. Being a 'scary rat', that's the call for me to slow jog down and get back to the safe and cozy bus. *laughs*

Language wise in both Zhuhai and Macau, it'll be great if you can master cantonese. Else, you'll be really at a losing end. Yes, sad to say there's a difference in the services and prices between those who know how to communicate in cantonese and those who dont. Though communication could be done with chinese but still... There's a obvious difference...

If I still have a chance to go back, I'll go to the Macau Tower. Missed out the chance to go over there. The next time, I'll see if I coud find the courage for the bungee jump or just simply take a Skywalk. Bungee jump is something that I'm really tempted to try but lack the courage to.. I'll need some company!!! The skywalk is fun if you are doing it with a group of friends. Well, that is, if the glass dont crack or even worse, break under my weight and again, I do have friends to accompany me to go. I know that I'll be shivering up there but guess it'll be fun anyway. I'll still go to the MGM Grand. For I'm kicking myself for not insisting to have a look at the casino. For the cakes again. I swear, it's really great!!! I have no idea about the prices though... The Venetian is a great place too... And this time round, I'll go for the boat ride. *Giggles* Reason being??? *haha*

Though came back to Singapore and totally stressed up and got sick too but putting those aside and all the unhappy incidents aside, it's an enjoyable trip. In a way, I earned a MC yesterday... And lots of sleep due to the drug effect of the medicines... Anyway, it's was an eye-opening experience.