Showing posts with label Macau. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Macau. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Macau: What are your comments?

Click on a photo to read the related post.














This is my final post about Macau (for now) and I hope you liked my posts :-) I want my blog to be a source of information for those who search for travel info of the places I've been to, so I disabled comments on some posts. But you can comment now here and tell me, what is your impression of Macau as seen through my eyes. I know some of you have been there, so was your experience completely different than mine? Those who haven't been, would you like to travel to Macau? All I can say is, I had a great time and hope I can visit the city again one day. It's really worth to see, especially because of so much history.

What are your comments?


[Links: All about Macau here, My big Macau map][All photos by MKL, 2010]

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Welcome 51A, my hostel in Macau

Here's some photos and my review of the Welcome 51A hostel in Macau


UPDATE: I heard the hostel had to close in 2010. Not sure when or if they'll open again.

The Welcome 51A is a very nice little hostel in the heart of Macau. I went there in March 2010 and stayed over for 2 nights. I had a single room for myself with a big bed (see pics).

If you're in Macau for the first time, you may get a bit lost like I did! Unfortunately I had a very bad map. Macau is full of tiny little streets and lanes, it's good if you have a very detailed map. You can also save a map of Macau I made here [My big Macau map]. That one will spare you a lot of walking. Best is you ask the cabby to drop you off at Senado Square and then you just walk for about 10 min [follow the green path on my map] and you'll reach the Welcome 51A [click to enlarge the photo on the left]. Just remember that the hostel is located in a street, that is split in two tiny lanes, where they sell all kinds of stuff on the ground. Please check the photos below. The road's name is Travessa da Dorna.

The owner of the hostel is Amy. She's a very nice young woman (probably around my age) and she's fluent in Mandarin and English. They also have rooms for more people, like typical hostels. Last time I was there, it wasn't overcrowded, I haven't seen or heard many people. The whole hostel is located on 3 floors and some of the rooms have their balconies. I was lucky that I could have that one. I paid 399HKD per night (or same as in Patacas), which makes (as for May 2010): 40 Euros, 1620 NTD, 51USD, 71SGD and 166RM per night).

Ok, now have a look at the room and around the hostel:

My room: It's very big and air conditioned.

On the opposite side: The toilet and a shower and a cabinet with locks.

I had to go and check the view from the balcony. This is the street below.

The view to the left: One street gets split in two tiny lanes.

The view on the left: You can see the Grand Lisboa, if it's not foggy. It's a great view.


The TV needs some time to get a clear image. Most are Chinese channels, but also few US.

The hostel gives you blankets, but bring your own towels.

The window on the left should be kept open. On the right is the hostel's shampoo.

The hallway on the second floor with the narrow stairs.

The entrance to the Welcome 51A hostel.

This is the lane that leads to the hostel, if you come from the Senado Square's direction.

All in all, this hostel is really great. Within few minutes, you're near the Ruins of St. Paul's, Fortaleza do Monte or the famous Senado Square. If you stay here, you get to experience the real Macau, because you're right in the middle of its historic center. I really enjoyed my Macau trip also because of the hostel. So if you're a backpacker like me, your needs will definitely be satisfied. If you have any questions, feel free to ask below.

[Back to my MACAU page][All photos by MKL, 2010]

Monday, March 22, 2010

The Venetian, Macau

Currently the 4th largest building in the world

Imitation of the St. Mark's campanile

The Venetian in Macau is huge! At this moment (March 2010) it's the largest single structure hotel building in Asia and the fourth-largest building in the world by area. It measures 980,000 m2 (source). I'm glad I took the time to walk around this amazing building, first from the outside and then from the inside (check the link at the end of the post). The Venetian is like a city of its own. It's a hotel with casinos, shops, restaurants, entertainment, plus it has a design that resembles the famous Italian city of Venice. Sure, some may perceive it as fake or as kitch, but when you stand there in front of the building, you have to acknowledge, that it is an accomplishment. If not in an architectural way, at least it's a show-case of the capitalist megalomania in modern China, which may one day be a reminder, how capitalism went wrong? Who knows. We'll see. But I'm talking in terms of centuries, not decades.

Enjoy some of my photos of The Venetian Macau:

The main entrance for the cars and buses. Above an imitation of the Rialto bridge.

Rialto bridge from close.

The Venetian.

A small canal.

An imitation of the Doge's palace.

Just like Venice... but it's in Macau.

Like the Grand canal in real Venice. Well, not really.

The Doge's palace from the side.

City of Dreams on the other side.

I walk around the huge building to the other side, to another entrance.

And then I decided to go inside.

Do you want to see how the Venetian looks inside? Go to my photo blog and check...

My photos of the Venetian Macau inside here>>

[Comments disabled][All pics by MKL, 2010]

The Cotai Strip and City of Dreams

The other side of Macau: casinos.

This part of Macau is located on the islands Coloane, Taipa and on an artifical island named Cotai, that connects Co[loane] and Tai[pa] and derives its name from the first letters of the previously mentioned islands. Because the special administrative region Macau (or 澳門特別行政區 in Chinese) doesn't have land, it reclaims it from the shallow waters in its vicinity. And the Cotai Strip (see a map here) is one of the biggest projects in Macau. Casions and hotels are built on reclaimed land. It's just amazing to see this in real. I wondered where does the money come from? How big will this place get? Does this really have a future? Aparently it does, because Macau's casinos are breaking records year by year. Let's see some of the monumental buildings I saw there:

1 The City of Dreams

I took a free shuttle bus to Taipa, because the airport is on that side.

The bus brought me to the City of Dreams, a huge casino and hotel complex.

I was amazed by the sheer size of this and other buildings in the area.

The Cotai Strip was inspired by the Las Vegas strip.

It's amazing how much is built and how huge it is. I was stunned.

2 The Four Seasons Hotel


The Four Seasons is located on the Cotai Strip and is one of the best hotels in Macau.

3 Galaxy

A new Galaxy casino currently built and it's massive, but you have to see it in real.

5 The Venetian Macau,

a building, that really amazed me like no building in that area. More about it in the next post, it deserves it's own. You can read about the Venetian here.

Check my main Macau page>>

[Comments disabled][All photos by MKL, 2010][Links: Cotai Strip Wiki, MacauKiosk]

My Macau tour #5: Our Lady of Penha Church

On top of the Penha hill is a lovely small church, some say chapel


Our Lady of Penha Church is one of the sights I highly recommend to visit. Not only is the church very lovely, the top of the hill where the church is located is an awesome spot: You can see the historic center of Macau on the one side, the business district with the Grand Lisboa on the other and at last, you have the best view of the amazing Macau Tower, another landmark building. Enjoy some of my photos. With this post, my Macau tour is finished.

View of the old part of Macau. The high building on the left is Ponte 16.

The Macau Tower, Macau's tallest building. My photos of the building here>>

The top part of the Penha Church.

There was a couple taking wedding photos near the church.

A view of the Grand Lisboa and Macau's business district.

Macau Tower and holy Mary.

Our Lady of Penha Church and a lovely couple posing for photos.

Penha Church close-up.

Penha Church from below.

I also took many photos of the magnificent Macau Tower. Check my photo blog and see...

My Macau Tower photos here>>


[Comments disabled][All pics by MKL, 2010][Sources: Penha Hilll, My Macau map]

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