My first day in Hong Kong was almost a blast. I already enjoyed the few places we have visited.With less than 4 hours of sleep and aching legs, we went to our second destination. Welcome to the Las Vegas of Asia: Macau!

Macau is under the special administrative region of China, similar to Hong Kong. Being a special administrative region means having a degree of autonomy, separate political system, and its own capitalist economy. Macau used to be a colony of Portugal, while Hong Kong was under the Great Britain. Having been influenced by these two European countries, the systems and the economy of these two regions are somehow different from China.

If you are visiting Hong Kong, I highly suggest a day in your itinerary for Macau. It's a must see place for an Asian tour.

So how do you reach Macau from Hong Kong? Take the MTR or the train
 
 Take the Ferry from Hong Kong to Macau
Don't forget to bring your passport when traveling to Macau from Hong Kong. As I have mentioned, it's considered as another territory.

I fell in love with the road and bridges in Macau. Everything looks so wide, clean, organized and most of all, no trace of traffic.

You can see the best and the grandest hotels in Asia in Macau. For my Asian friends who cannot afford a plane ticket to Vegas, Macau can serve as the next best substitute.

Hotel hopping is the one of the main activities you can do in Macau. As soon as you move out of the Ferry Port, free shuttle buses to the different hotels are provided. You can take your pick among Hard Rock Hotel, MGM Grand Hotel, Regency Hotel, Grand Lisboa, Wynn Macau and the famous Venetian Macau Resort and Hotel.

We chose to explore the Venetian Macau Resort and Hotel.

I was totally mesmerized. Venetian is so far the grandest hotel I've ever seen.

Here are more jaw dropping pictures from the hotel



The Venetian in Macau was modeled from its sister branch in Las Vegas. Both are owned by Las Vegas Sands Corporation together with The Palazzo and Sands Casino Resort in US. It boasts more than 40 floors, 3,000 suites, 3,400 slot machines and 800 gambling tables. Staying at The Venetian is obviously as expensive as gold. If you have the luxury of financial resources, I would recommend a stay here. However, for budget travelers like us, exploring The Venetian for a day would be enough. Except for the suites, visitors are allowed to explore the magnificence of the place.

Aside from sight seeing, you can also enjoy shopping at The Venetian. The shopping area is called as The Grand Canal Shoppes where you can find branded to signature items such as Zara, Mango, Lacoste, Esprit, Giordano, Adidas, Fila, Bossini, Victoria's Secret, Nine West  and the Nuance Watson Duty Free. You can find the complete list of shops here.    
You can also try a gondola ride to achieve that total Italian experience.

In case you get hungry, The Grand Canal Shoppes offers a relatively cheaper choices in their food court.
 

The painted clouds, lamp posts and the Italian inspired structures made me want to stay here forever. 


After satisfying our eyes with the great Venetian, we went out and explored the real city of Macau. A day to explore Macau may not be enough especially if you have to figure out directions and locations. Our last stop was the ruins of St. Paul Cathedral.

The ruins of St. Paul serves as the facade of the Church of Mater Dei built between 1602 to 1640. The place was destroyed by fire in 1835 leaving the facade as its mains surviving structure. Ever since the place was listed in UNESCO's world heritage sites, it has become a major tourist destination.

A view of the city from the cathedral

After taking pictures of the Cathedral, don't forget to try the egg tart, Chinese ham and other local delicacies downtown.

That's it for my Macau trip!

This is only Day 2 of my Asian tour. On my third post, I will share my experience about the land of happiness and fantasy.

P.S.
Gabby of The Late Young Family gave me this badge

Thank you Gabby!

The badge originated from Germany and it is given to "up and coming" blogs who have less than 200 followers. According to Gabby, Liebster is a German word which means dearest or beloved.

I am passing this badge to five other blog friends who deserve it. They are
1. Amanda of Life Since Then ~
3.  Jen of Sadie Inspired