Graduation Trip (Day 1)

It was my debut overseas trip without the parents. Initially meant to be a trip of three, it became a trip of two. In fact, it was nearly canceled. A trip of many challenges but it made it all that precious.

The trip was a 6 days 5 nites trip to Hong Kong. First stop was Macau, land of casinos. We had booked the air tickets way back in February 2008 when AirAsia had their promotion. It costs only RM 179. Such a deal right ?

Sands Casino

Anyways, so we were at the LCCT airport and about to enter the boarding gate. Gee, I didn't know that Malaysia has become a rather technology savvy country. To check-in or whatever it is called, there is a choice of automated and manual entry. As it was the first time I traveled overseas via AirAsia, I didn't how it worked.

Ah, the land of casinos

Basically, you just need to insert your passport into a designated pocket and press your thumb onto the scanner and then you are ready to go !

It was kinda embarrassing when I didn't know how it worked. To make matters worse, I also went to the machine that was not working, so I was kinda trapped inside.

M-A-L-U-nya.

***

On the plane

The flight to Macau took approximately 4 hours. After we collected our baggage, we proceeded to the arrival hall. Our so-called driver was already there to pick us up. I don't know how they made it out, but they asked us whether there are 6 peoples. Apparently, my name plus cr4zyb3autiful's name added up to become 6 people ! And we're in a Chinese country with chinese names. Hmmph.



The Macau International Airport is located on the Taipa Island of Macau. Our hotel however, is situated on peninsular Macau. Yet it took only less than half an hour to reach the hotel.

The MetroPark hotel was much spacious than we thought it to be. It had a mini living room, an ok-sized tv and bathroom. Much better than the hotel we stayed in Hong Kong, which you will later see.

After settling down, we headed out for dinner. Our destination was Senado Square. Now, here is why you need to come prepared for a trip. We weren't sure what bus to take, where the bus stop is and where to get taxis. So we had to ask around.

In the end, we took the taxi. Their taxis are all Toyota Corolla, which is kinda like an above-average car in Malaysia. Once you enter the taxi, the flagfall charge is already MOP $13.00. That's around RM 6. Pricy ? Yes.



Actually, it wasn't really a distance from our hotel to Senado Square. By foot, I think it took around 20 minutes. (We walked back to our hotel later that night)



The Christmas spirit was still very much alive. And with the cold weather and the colorful decorations along the streets, I'm sure it would be wonderful to spend Christmas here.



But what I loved the most about Senado Square was its floors. The wavy design is absolutely stunning.


Along the streets of Senado Square, you will find lots of shopping boutiques and street foods. While you are there, one must-try chow is the two-layer milk curd. One popular place to try it is: Yi Shun.

We opted for the famous hot two-layer milk curd (热驰名双皮燉奶) (MOP $16) and hot ginger milk curd (热巧手姜汁撞奶) (MOP $18).



Personally, I prefer the two-layer milk curd, as it has an extremely rich milk taste. Cr4zyb3autiful on the other hand, preferred the ginger variety.

Another must-try food in Macau is the pork-chop bun. The popular place for it is Restaurant Victoria, but since we didn't have the time to travel there, we just randomly picked a hawker selling it at Senado Square.



It wasn't exactly to die for, but I like the crunchy texture and salty taste of the pork chop.



Well of course we didn't go off without trying the portuguese tart. We bought them from the same stall as the pork chop bun. It was rather small, but I like the flaky and buttery crust. Cr4zyb3autiful prefers the portuguese tarts back at home, but I beg to differ. You will see portuguese tarts again on Day 2, this time from a famous bakery in Macau.

After we have satisfied our cravings, we took a walk back to our hotel. Along the way, we passed by many breath-taking views of ... Casinos !

Grand Lisboa

So that was Day 1.