Family trip to Macau (Dec. 26, 2006)

Christmas 2006 was made a whole lot more special and memorable by the fact that I went to Macau and Hong Kong Disneyland with my mom, my older brother Chummy, and my two nephews Ciera and CJ. It was great that I got to have this fantastic experience before I end up being thousands of miles away from my family and friends for several months.

My mom and I had been thinking about going to HK Disneyland for a while, but we more or less decided in October or November that we would push through with it end-December. My mom then found out from a colleague that it would be much cheaper if we fly to Macau via Tiger Airways then take a ferry from Macau to Hong Kong. The airfare to Macau combined with the ferry ride probably saved us P8,000 per person, and with 5 of us, that sums up to about P40,000 savings. It’s actually a special administrative region of China, and just like Hong Kong, Filipinos don’t need a visa to go there.

If we weren’t with my nephews, we probably would’ve spent more time in Macau. It used to be a Portuguese colony so it provides a unique combination of Eastern culture and Western civilization. The Historic Centre of Macau has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it includes the Ruins of St. Paul’s Cathedral (possibly Macau’s most popular tourist spot) and the Fortaleza do Monte, or Mount Fortress. It would’ve been great too if we got to visit the Macau Tower and check out the awesome views from the observation deck. However, these are things that are best saved for a time when my nephews, who could care less about historical sites and relics at their present age (5 and 7), aren’t with us.

So we decided that we would spend only one night in Macau, and just visit the Macau Fisherman’s Wharf while we were there. Macau Fisherman’s Wharf has an amusement park that is open until 10pm (or, we were told, possibly even later than that if there are still a lot of people who wanted to enjoy the rides). Normally that would be past my nephews’ bed-time but we were on holiday and they were excused from having to sleep early.

We get into our hotel, the Camino Real, at around 630pm and we settle down a bit before taking a 5-10 minute walk to Fisherman’s Wharf. It was dinner time so we decide to head to the Legend Wharf where there were a lot of really nice restaurants. We decided to eat in an Italian restaurant for pizza. The pizza was quite good (it was actually like your basic focacia but larger and with a lot more toppings) and the service was really good. After which we take some pictures in the Legend Wharf on our way to amusement park area.

The amusement park has two main areas – Aladdin’s Fort and Vulcania. Aladdin’s Fort has four main rides, each costing 20 MOP (or Macau Pataca, 1 MOP = P6). They had discounted rates if you buy a pass for three rides, and a further discount if you buy two tickets instead of one. We decided that I wouldn’t get on the rides so that I could take pictures of them instead. They first get on the Magic Carpet Ride…

…then head to the Flying Camels….

…before rounding things up on Aladdin’s Express.

Our final stop for the night was Vulcania. We were actually lucky to see a ‘volcanic eruption’ – I don’t know how frequently it happens, but during the entire time we were there, we saw the volcano spew fire only once. Even from the ground, you could feel the intensity of the heat, and it makes for a dazzling show at night, especially when you aren’t expecting it.

There are two rides in Vulcania: Dragon Quest, which was like a roller coaster that goes through caves under the volcano, and the River of Fire, which was a boat ride through an underground river. We opt to take just the River of fire. I have to say, it was a very good ride. Very well constructed and interesting enough even for an adult. It’s not really wild or crazy or anything, but it does go through a man-made river that twists and turns through a man-made cave, and the darkness and the water add another dimension of fun to the experience.

Before heading back to the hotel, we all decide to take a trek up the volcano and take a few more pictures.

You can’t really go to the top, but you get high enough to have a pretty good view of the city and all its brilliant night lights.

It was already past ten, the kids were getting antsy, and we had to go to Hong Kong the next day so it was clearly time to head back to the hotel. I told my mom that we should visit Macau again, without my nephews, so that we can see the rest of this fascinating city

Oh and click here if you want to check out more photos of our trip in my online album. Yes, I am actually in this trip and yes, you will see a couple of pics with me in it. =)