Macau: Venetian Tour on Day 3

Macau - Venetian - Casinos

That was a fast ride! Maybe we had slept so tight with our tired bodies and high spirits that we hadn't noticed we were already in the Macau territories until the captain announced our arrival about 3pm of Sunday. Upon reaching the port arrival area, a lot of fellow Filipinos eagerly approached us and were soliciting their services to tour us around Macau for a fee..no way! 

We walked our way though and confident that we can tour ourselves around the peninsula by ourselves. FYI..We made advanced extensive researches back in the Philippines and even printed DIY itinerary for the whole journey (budget travelers as we were, harhar!).

At Macau Ferry Terminal..below is the one going to the Immigration Line

What is so convenient in Macau are the vast number of free shuttle services catered by well-known hotels ranging from 3-star to 5-star hotels in downtown peninsula. So even if you're not a guest/client, just ride any shuttle bus, pretend like a guest, drop by any place downtown and walk to your destination of choice. In our case, we were booked at Hotel Sintra so there's no need pretending: )

If you're coming from the airport, here's what I read..

"The Lonely Planet claimed that there is an Airport Shuttle bus. WRONG! There is no such thing. Technically, well, yes there is. The public bus service runs a line called AP-1 which will bring you out of the airport into the city (or to the airport from the city) at a flat cost of $3.30 patacas (circa May 2005). What you don't know is that this bus service is one of the most loop around service you will ever get as it virtually stops at every major tourist point in Macau. A journey could take you 40-50 minutes whereas a taxi could take only 20-25 minutes. And some of the bus drivers may not understand English. If you have time to spare and don't mind seeing Macau or if you are really intent on saving a few patacas (or HK$), well, don't let me stop you. The bus stop is right outside the airport, on the extreme left hand side after you get out from the Arrival Hall.Route: Barrier."

Walking towards the Hotel Sintra shuttle parking area..

We can't find the shuttle bus! We look from bus to bus but the Sintra service was nowhere to be found! We were waiting for about 15 minutes..and so we decided to bypass the waiting line and got near the road. Alas! we found the Sintra Bus waiting beside the open road..and there we go!

In our hotel room..as soon as we checked in, we studied our maps, packed our body bags and got ready for our Venetian tour! Wasting time for idle moments is not included in our vocabulary..we're here to explore and we stick to that goal: )

Luckily, the hotel's guest relations officer is a fellow Pinoy and he led us to the right directions and to the shuttle bound to City of Dreams. And here's the free shuttle ride..

took some pics from inside the bus..the view from afar of the Macau Tower

This is how a bus in Macau looks like inside..so new, so clean with wide glass windows!

That's the Venetian from afar..

Hotel Galaxy

And here we are..happy! The bus dropped us at the City of Dreams, just a few steps from bridge across the Venetian. This looks like a Vegas style casino resort in Macau which promises an unrivaled gambling experience, gourmet dining in its finest, and high end entertainment for tourists with happy wallets: ) We believe that we do not belong to any of the said brouhahas but we managed to have some photos more than enough to experience the luxury a place like this can offer!

We were just so fascinated by this huge virtual aquarium, and a group of people looking also at the big screen. At a random moment, a mermaid suddenly swam around, seems to be looking at the her spectators and making hand signs attracting us to join her inside haha! So I wonder what's inside? : )

Look! The mermaid poses with my friends as I took this shot!! Amazing!!!

There's a Hard Rock Hotel inside the City of Dreams..we felt so rich! : )

I found this structure below interesting..they put up a stylish gigantic tower like this to put the billboard sign of the City of Dreams up there and the "No Smoking" sign below which says "Non-Smoking Gaming Tables Available at City of Dreams". Great ad!

The view of the Venetian from the City of Dreams..this place has a lot of wide spaces, picturesque pavilions and clean surroundings, makes me wanna lie down the road, just feel the wind and look at the clouds above the sky!!

We were walking around 5pm and the surroundings got a little foggy as seen in the photo above.

Outside Venetian..frontal view. The whole complex is exactly a picture of Venice as most people say..the magnificent architecture from the outside is as magnificent as the inside.

Outside Venetian..left wing

This is the famous golden globe found right in the middle of the lobby straight from the entrance door.

A number of guests walking towards the gambling area..the ceilings, the pillars and the flooring are so grandeur!

We don't wanna miss this fantastic gondola ride just for experience: )

The Shoppes Canal which amazingly have been built at the second level.

While waiting for our turn on the gondola rides, we tour around the place and took lots and lots of photos of the Shoppes Canal..

Guess you're wondering why the sky's still up even if it's past 6pm already..there's no evening inside the Venetian..the sky is just a faux..a painting on a curved ceiling with outside air and natural smell also pumps in really makes the place awe-inspiring! We even took a lot more minutes to realize that they were really faux sky! hahaha! Looks can really be deceiving sometimes: )

Waiting for our turn to the Gondola..and we got this Italian woman as our gondolier.

And oh! She started to sing an Italian song! We can't help ourselves first but grin! that really surprised us..they made everything just like in their Italian namesake.

Photos of Filipina gondoliers! We're really talented jack-of-all-trades people aren't we? hehe!

We spotted Marco Polo loitering around..hehe!

Luckily found one restaurant offering great food on good deal..we're really starving!

Even the restroom is covered with gold!

This is it..Venetian complex scenario at night

We're going back to the City of Dreams lower ground floor where the free shuttles bound to downtown Macau were parked and departing until 12 midnight.

Downtown before going back to our hotel, we still didn't want to call it a day..we managed to walk through the arrays of grand casinos up to the well-known MGM Building.

The Grand Lisboa

Trishaws on the side streets..and they are not for general patronage, if you know what I mean? : P

We finally got to our feet at 11pm..tired and so sleepy, we went walking back to Sintra Hotel and call it a day!

Happy Trip!

Day 1: http://hazelovestraveling.blogspot.com/2011/10/hongkong-exploring-city-on-day-1.html

Day 2: http://hazelovestraveling.blogspot.com/2011/10/hongkong-exploring-city-on-day-2.html

Day 3: http://hazelovestraveling.blogspot.com/2011/10/hongkong-exploring-city-on-day-3.html

Day 4: http://hazelovestraveling.blogspot.com/2011/10/macau-city-tour-on-day-4.html