China-Macau-Hong Kong Trip 2008 - Day Five (11th Oct 2008)

Ah yes, as promised the more interesting part is here.

We woke up rather early that morning to embark on the final leg of our journey in China. After having another too-much-to-eat breakfast with Ms Poon, we went down to Zhongshan City (中山市), the birthplace of the founder of modern China: Dr SunYat-Sen (孙中山). The city was formerly named Xiangshan (香山).

The actual building that Dr. Sun was born

The actual site where Dr. Sun was born

There's a statue of Dr. Sun when you step into the museum

I thought this is a very powerful quote by former-Chinese President Jiang Zemin. For those who cannot read Mandarin, a rough translation is as follows: "In the past century, the Chinese people, on the road to progress, have experienced three major historical changes, giving rise to three great people of the times: Sun Zhongshan, Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping."

And that's us outside the museum

We were supposed to meet up with our "bodyguards" for the next 2 days, 3 of Mr Yau's children - Flora, Doris and Jackie, outside the memorial. However, since they were coming up from Hong Kong, it made more sense to meet them closer to Zhuhai (珠海), where we proceeded to have lunch at downtown Zhuhai. After lunch, we crossed over to our next destination by land: Macau (澳门)

It took a while to get through Customs. A little joke that I thought of was that some Customs officers already had lunch, thus doing things more slowly, whereas some had yet to go for lunch, which explains their faster-moving queues. Haha! By the time we crossed over, it was already 3pm.

Just outside of the Customs checkpoint was the bus terminal where shuttle buses waited to bring incoming visitors to the various casinos and Integrated Resorts (IRs) around Macau. It didn't take much difficulty to find ours, since it was the largest: The Venetian, Macau

Arriving at the IR's West Lobby, this is where we checked-in

It's a Saturday, but that alone doesn't explain the crowd

This is the bedroom, very grand indeed.

This is the living room, with an AIO printer and wireless router on the desk. It's a full suite, costing around S$550 per night.

The view outside the window: It's a mini-golf course below

Of course, a grand suite has a lavish toilet too. This is what you see when you enter (that's me in the mirror)

Shower cubicle and bath tub on the left

Dressing table on the right, and behind the door is the WC

We didn't have time to walk around the IR proper. It was already 4.30pm by the time we had settled in the room and washed up. The sun was setting, there wasn't much time left, so first things first, the Yaus had to bring us to do the "tourist-thing" since it was my first time there: a snap tour of the city.

A view of the Grand Lisboa, owned by Stanley Ho

A very familiar view of Macau for those who have been there before, because behind it is...

If you haven't been here, you haven't been to Macau: St. Paul's Cathedral (or what's left of it). That's me (wearing red hoping to get lucky in the casinos later), along with my 2 "madams" and 1"ah-sir": (L to R) Jackie (Mr Yau's 2nd son), Flora (eldest daughter) and Doris (3rd daughter)

That's us on the cannon platform which overlooks St. Paul's

I thought this is a very interesting candid shot of the 3 of them, all checking their cameras after they have snapped their fill. They're more into the "tourist-thing" than I am, haha!

This is a place called Fisherman's Wharf. It is right beside the sea, and you can see the huge bridge linking the islands in the background.

There are quite a lot of restaurants on both sides of Fisherman's Wharf


That's Dad with the 3 of them

At the end of the stretch, there's even a mock-up of the Colosseum in Rome

A view of the Sands Hotel, another project owned by the Las Vegas Sands Group

And this is one of the casinos in Macau, along the Fisherman's Wharf.

After this, we went for dinner downtown at one of the more famous restaurants. No private room this time, but still first-class food. I had my first taste of sea worms, which were baked with eggs and seasoned with spices. I couldn't taste anything out of the ordinary. Needless to say, our plates were never empty.

Now that dinner's taken care of (like I said, food is never an issue), we went for a walk around town. Macau's nightlife is bustling, lights everywhere! We went to buy some almond biscuits, then dessert. Just a stone's throw away was the Grand Lisboa and Casino Lisboa, 2 other landmarks of Macau.

The brilliantly-lit Grand Lisboa Hotel. Lights run along the lines and change colours frequently.

And right opposite it is the Casino Lisboa

After the trigger-happy camera-snapping that ALL 5 of us engaged in, we crossed over to another IR, the Wynn. Stepping in, it's easy to see that it's different from The Venetian.

From the Wynn, this picture illustrates the running lights on the Grand Lisboa better. That's the Macau nightline for you!

Stepping into the lobby of the Wynn, you can see the red-carpeted floor

Of course, shopping can be rather limited if one has budget constraints... Even their souvenir Wynn polo-tees are from Burberry

At one of the open areas, there's this beautiful and massive carving on the ceiling with all 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac

And below it is a globe-like structure

The top opens up in a circular-fashion, revealing a large screen. This screen then opens up to reveal...

A giant chandelier descends from the ceiling

And from the bottom, the globe-like structure opens and a golden tree rises from the bottom

The leaves are illuminated in the 4 colours of the 4 seasons. Nothing much, just a gimmick for people to throw money into the tree.

Outside the Wynn, there's a more spectacular show that's free, and definitely more eye-catching: the music fountain, a display of water sprouts and pyrotechnics

It helps to know the song they are playing to ("Holding Out for a Hero"), that's how I managed to catch some of the high points of the display.

Taking a cab back to The Venetian, we walked around the gaming floor and the Grand Canal Shoppes, just to look around before turning in.

This is the main lobby of The Venetian

Beautifully-painted ceilings

The mandatory photo-taking

The only shot I took of the gaming floor

The Grand Canal Shoppes take up the entire 3rd floor of The Venetian, which I can assure you is probably an even bigger floor area than Ngee Ann City. This is the main shopping area and has fake canals running through certain stretches. The shops are more mid-range, with brands like G2000, Zara, Esprit, Levis, Nike and so on, definitely more wallet-friendly than Wynn or even Four Seasons, which is next door. The entire area has a fake sky and is dimly-lit to emulate Venice in the evening, a good excuse to turn on the lights!

Well, who can leave out this "restaurant"... Haha!

There's even a huge foodcourt serving dishes from all over the world. Suitable for people on a budget or for those who didn't make it downstairs at the casino... Haha!

It's probably quite an honour for our cuisine to be featured here. It looks authentic too!

That's the view of the corridor from my room. Typical of the walkways that bring you to one of 3,000 rooms in The Venetian!

I wanted to try my hand at the table, but I was simply too tired. Besides, with such a comfy bed awaiting me, and an accumulation of late nights all the way, I gave in.

Little did Dad and I know, our 2 "madams" and 1 "ah-sir" sneaked down to the casino after sending us to our room.

Photobucket: Sun Zhongshan Memorial

Photobucket: Macau