Macau Tour, Day One

I wanted to present our trip to Macau in terms of heritage (Cantonese or Portuguese), structure, or activities to do there but my lack of knowledge on its history and the Macanese's way of life prevented me from doing so. Posting what was on our itinerary, which our tour guide made, was the best way, I thought.

THE COLOANE VILLAGE

From the Grand View Hotel in Taipa where we checked in and slept upon arrival, our tour guide brought us to Coloane the following day. We saw some Portuguese having al fresco breakfasts  in a small restaurant on the way to the village (my first time to see Portuguese!). There were small shops selling souvenirs, fishing gears and fresh produce. Because we came there a bit early, there were less people, less cars and we had some of the famous sites all to ourselves.

While exploring Coloane, we ate these yummy egg tarts which we bought earlier from the famous Lord Stow's Bakery. We proceeded to Tam Kung Temple but sadly, we weren't able to take good pictures of it.

A-MA TEMPLE

We went to A-ma Temple next. We can walk all the way up to the temple but since time is precious on tours like this, we took the bus that was waiting at the entrance. It's free but the bus had to leave and go back to the entrance to pick up more visitors. Tip: Once you're finished with sightseeing, check the arrival of the bus on the temple from time to time. Or you'll end up walking to the exit and wasting precious minutes of stroll time.

A beach was waiting for us had we gone down these steps. But we didn't. Aside from the fact that we didn't bring any bathing suits, it was 10 deg C at that time!

On the way to the statue, we found these leaves with names of visitors written on them.

The A-ma statue

SEAC PAI VAN PARK | GIANT PANDA ZOO
After writing our names in the leaves of plants in A-ma Temple, we proceeded to the Giant Panda Zoo. I was so excited because that would be the first time I would see a panda. Good thing there were Filipinos working in that zoo. They told us the right time to enter the pavilion, and that's when the pandas go out to feed! (There were instances that visitors don't get to see the pandas because they're sleeping so better check out their feeding time first.)

The entrance to the zoo is free but the Panda Pavilion ticket cost MOP 10 (Php50 +-)

PORK CHOP BUN 

Prior to going to Macau, we searched online for must-do things there and most tourists recommended eating the famous Pork Chop Bun. So after our hectic day tour and before going back to the hotel to change clothes for our City of Dreams stroll, we dropped by this little restaurant where yuppies flock and enjoy its hot soup and this bun.

Don't forget to drop by and order this Pork Chop Bun when you go to Macau. So yummy!

Because we wanted to make the most out of that tour and we knew our tour guide would have to work either the next day or on our last day there, we made the most out of every minute. We just washed up, changed clothes and proceeded to The Venetian Macau and the City of Dreams.

THE VENETIAN MACAU

THE CITY OF DREAMS / HARD ROCK HOTEL

We went home really tired but very happy with all the sights we've crossed out on our list. Having a tour guide really helped. It saved us so much time.