Photo of the Week - The Macau Tower, Macau

On a tour of Macau we were taken to the Macau Tower. We didn't have any desire to go there before, but were happy we did. The tower gives you a lovely view of Macau, and China. There were many activities available including bungy jumping and the Sky Walk (where you walk around the outside of the tower).

It is worth the visit if you are visiting Macau.

Macau Tower peaking through the Trees

But I do have to say, Toronto's CN Tower is still taller! (yes we are from Toronto, Canada)



For more information on Macau, try the Lonely Planet Guide for Hong Kong and Macau.

Our Arrival in Macau and The Venetian Macau

Miles, Warren’s awesome Casino host was there waiting for us with a sign and a great big smile. It was awesome! He helped us with our bags and off to the Venetian Macau we went. Since we arrived in the Macau Ferry Terminal – on the main island of Macau we had to drive to the Cotai Strip where the Venetian is located.

On route we could see the MGM Macau and the Wynn, also the Sands and the Grand Lisboa. And of course the Macau Tower. We then crossed one of the really long causeway/bridges to the Cotai Strip.

The Cotai Strip is actually a newer area of Macau. It is on the Peninsula and is connected to mainland China. In fact from our room we could see China. Yes “we could see China from our room” tee hee.

As we approached the Venetian you could see the similarities to the Venetian in Las Vegas in the archetecture, but the shape of the hotel is different, also there are natural bodies of water and mountains around. Not to mention that there was only one other property open across the street from it. You could see the start of a "Las Vegas style" strip forming, but it is years off yet.

The Venetian Macau was completed in 2007 and is the same but different from the Venetian in Las Vegas. The same in that it “felt” like the Venetian, but didn’t always look like it. The rooms were the same and the Grand Canal Shoppes feel like the Venetian, but they were laid out differently and have many more shops.
Warren was excited to play as things are done differently here. And he loves playing baccarat with people from Asia... Well we certainly are in the right place!

We found that everyone was very friendly and the service is superb at the Venetian Macau. The other visitors, players and tourists found us interesting and were curious as to where we were from.

We went for a walk around the casino and Grand Canal Shoppes. I have never seen a property as big as the Venetian Macau. The casino is beautiful and well laid out. They did a good job of "making it hard to leave". I think the casino is about 4 times the size of a regular one.

Also the games are mixed differently than you would find in Las Vegas or other North American casinos. Most of the games are luck based, which coincides with Chinese culture. 70% of the tables are Baccaratt where as in North America only about 10% of table are. Also they love other luck based games like Sicbo, Carribbean Stud Poker and Roulette. In fact it was hard to find a blackjack table, there are only a few.

Unfortunately it is forbidden to take photos inside the casino so most of our pictures will be of the hotel and the Grand Canal Shoppes.

There are canals for gondola rides - 3 separate ones - and over 300 stores. It is the largest complex in Macau.

Check out more photos from Macau:

www.flickr.com

Wow what a difference 16 hours in a plane makes!

It's hard to believe that after only a 16 hour flight, we can be on the other side of the planet! Especially as we were in business class due to my hubby's amazing obsession with air miles :-)

We had an awesome flight from Toronto to Hong Kong, then a bit of a wait for a ferry from the Hong Kong airport to Macau. It as absolutely pouring with rain when we arrived, and I was concerned about the ferry crossing.

The one thing that threw us off guard was how serious they are taking the H1N1 outbreak. We had to fill out a form declaring our health - although we didn't really need it as we didn't end up going through immigration.

The second we arrived and walked off the plane, many people had face masks on. To be honest it was a little disconcerting. Most of the people working at the airport had them on. And it made it hard to understand people. We couldn’t see their lips, and they seemed to talk quietly.

Apparently Hong Kong and Macau were experiencing a Typhoon 3. It was some intense rain!

I have to say that they have things very organized at the Hong Kong airport. We got off the plane, had a short walk to the Turbojet desk to buy our ferry tickets. We gave them our baggage claim tickets and they transferred our bags to the ferry for us.

We didn't have to go through the health check or through immigration -we went through another security check which didn't make sense to us, but what do we know.

We sat for a couple of hours checking our email on the free Wi-Fi, and then got on a bus that took us to the ferry terminal.

We chose super class as it wasn't much more it cost and Warren isn't a fan of boats, it was a good choice. We got to sit upstairs on the ferry, many less people they served a snack (it tasted like an egg/tuna salad sandwich on a a sweet bun, a yogurt, a mousse like dessert, and an orange drink-much like a McDonald's orange drink we used to get as kids).

The ride was rough due to the Typhoon. But it was only 45 min. I crashed and don't remember much of the ride. I only had 2-1 hour naps on the plane and it was 4:30 in the morning after all. Well for me anyway. Warren got about 4 hours sleep so be was doing much better.

The best part of the super class was that we got off the boat first. That allowed us to be first in line at immigration. We were shocked by how many people came in the line after us. It was crazy!

The silliest part of the whole journey was what came next... The porters took our bags off the ferry and then brought them to a waiting crowd of people. We hadn't seen our bags since Toronto so we were concerned when after the first 4 carts our bags weren't there.

Thankfully they came on the next cart and we were off....

Planning Our Romantic Trip to Macau, Hong Kong, KL and Thailand

Every summer we try to plan a larger trip. Last year was Australia and Hawaii with Montana, Year before was a Romantic Hawaii cruise and stay on the Big Island. The year before was a trip to NYC and a cruise on the Norwegian Dawn .

This summer, due to great airline mile accumulation and deals, we have chosen to go more exotic and romantic, and have planned our trip to Macau, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Thailand. Montana wanted to go to camp all summer, so that gave us some great options.

I spent a month working in KL, Malaysia a few years back and loved it. Warren has not been to Asia yet, but has always been drawn to it. We have friends that moved to Hong Kong last year, so we will visit them and I have friends that I worked with in Malaysia a few years back that we will also visit.

The flights are booked, hotels are booked, and now the question we are asking is: "what shall we do while we are there?" So I started researching.

Do you have any ideas that could help? I would love to know what you have done, or would want to do in Macau, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Thailand (Bangkok and Phuket).

Or do you know a great site for reviews and video of awesome and romantic things to do in these places. We like to have experiences more than sight see if that makes sense.

- please comment below and share with us!

I found this video that gives us an idea of Hong Kong



Watch more Hong Kong videos at tripfilms.com

Is it time for a Romantic Vacation with your significant other? Check out these Romantic Escapes at Expedia!