8D7N - Macau - SZ - HK

This is a 8D7N itinerary to the eastern part of China. We have been through this route before hence it is easier for us to plan. However, every trip still brings enjoyment and laughter because it is still a holiday! Singaporeans love holidays.......
Day 1 -3: Macau
Day 4 - 5: SZ
Day 6 - 8: HK

We departed Singapore on the 18th of December 2012. The flight is 1235pm. We catch the MRT to Changi airport with our barang barang and set foot in Macau at 420pm!

We stayed in this beautiful hotel. It is called Ole London. Website is here: http://www.olelondonhotel.com/en/index.aspx
I can say it is really value for money. There is triple room for parents bringing one child but of course mostly is couple room or double room.

Day 1:
From the airport there is free transport provided by all the casinos. Choose the one going to Pu Jing. It should be green in color. By the time we reached the hotel, we are famished! There are a couple of chinese restaurant nearby and we ate the one just opposite of the hotel. See pic!

All of the food are fresh. Amazing!
That is for dinner. The next day we went for breakfast! Sumptuous one! Look at this! All types of dim sum. Fish head also can be a type of dim sum. Anyway, for those who enjoy a run, I ran from Ole London hotel to the Macau tower convention and entertainment center and back. The run crosses some shophouses, the ma zu temple, a bridge and lastly reach the Macau Tower. And same route back!

And along the shophouses, I found this food enclave. Dim sum style:

And with a full stomach, we went to the famous Ma Zu temple. Remember, it is along the running track that I had proposed just now.

 The temple is built on a hill. And on top of this hill is this tranquil place which I think is for martial artists to practice or hone their skills.

Superb! For the remaining of the days we explored the casinos. Grand Lisboa, Lisboa and Wynn.

Day 2:
The next day, same breakfast at the same dim sum place and we venture to Cotai. But first, we went the Fisherman's Wharf (Recent Runningman Episode, 17 Fen 2013 was filmed here! Daebak!).

This place is very near to the Ferry Terminal. Hence, again we boarded the free shuttle service to CoTai where casinos such as City of Dreams and the Venitian were.








In Cotai, there is an air of serenity. Long gone are the hustle and bustle of city life. There is a market street in Cotai and we ate a portugese meal here!

As you can see, we are too hungry to take picture before we eat. I forgot the name of the restaurant but there are many good ones along the road from the market street to the Galaxy Casino. From the Casino we take the free shuttle to the Venetians.

Day 3: The night for Day 3 is reserved for the highlight of Macau! How can anyone miss this?! ---- Macau (Yat Yuen) Canidrome Club. Basically, it is dog racing game. One will have to take a bus to this place which is not in Cotai. Please check with your hotel reception or online to see if there will be races on the days which you are in Macau. Every bet is HKD10. Good luck to all!

Day 4:
Next on the plan is Shen Zhen (SZ). We took a ferry from Macau to SZ. Please do bear in mind that there are a lot of mainlanders going to board the same ferry as you do. There are only one tour agency selling the ferry to SZ and two tour agencies selling ferry tickets to Hong Kong. For those that would like to skip Shen Zhen and make it a 5D hoilday, you might want to take the ferry to HK.

Anyway, we went to SZ via turbojet.

And we reach Shekou which is the ferry terminal of SZ. You might want to buy a package deal with the customer service center in Shekou ferry terminal. That is what we do and they arranged a hotel with us and fetched us to the main city area which is Luo Hu. The journey is about 2 hours. So please do take a taxi and not the train if you are like us who would sacrifice a bit of money for some comfort. They bring us to a van and we were on our way to Luo Hu!

Luo Hu is known for their textile business as many Hongkongers will buy their clothes from this place. Merchants sold their goods in large bags similar to the place called Dongdamen in Korea.

After walking nonstop for 4 hrs, it is time for dinner. We found this great restaurant that sells fantastic Chinese delicacies. Its roasted pork is a must-try. Succulent!

Please order all of the food that you can see in the picture as all of them are good. Not one to be missed.
In SZ, for those who has never been to This place called Shi Jie Zi Chuang, it is worth a visit. But if you find that you have too many things to buy, I suggest that you might want to forget this sight seeing place. For those that would like to go, it can be reached by train - Line 1 Platform of Shi Jie Zhi Chuang Station.


Day 5: Shopping!!!
I am a badminton fan. In the entire Luo Hu area, there are only 2 Li Ning stores that sells badminton rackets. Big Shopping centers also distribute these goods. 


This place sells almost everything. From clothes, accessories to sports wear and even electronic gadgets. You name it, they have it.

This racket which I bought in SZ, it is cheaper by S$100 vs you buy it in Singapore.

Day 6:
After shopping in SZ, it is time we proceed to our final destination - Hong Kong (HK). For first timer, you should spend more days in HK but for repeat visitors like me, we feel that 2 days is enough. This time round we went to Lan Ya island. Please note, this is not the famous Lantau Island.
HK is well connected via MTR (Mass Transit Rail). Buy the Octopus card at the custom for convenience and rebates and discounts. By the time we checked into our hotel (Ah Shan hostel), it is already quite late. Hong Kong is as congested as Singapore.

Anyway this is the place where we stayed. It is right at the heart of Mongkok. There is one Cha Can Ting - Feng Wei Yuan, HK style restaurant just opposite the hotel which serves really good egg tarts.

Day 7: Hiking day
Tian Xin harbour is the place where we took the ferry to Lan Ya Island. Berth 7.

This is a place for hiking. And so we did just that.

Day 8: Home Sweet Home

This Trip is all mostly food. As a typical Singaporean who eat and shop where ever we go, I have this piece of advice for those food lovers:

Which means, it takes more than these 8 days to give you that big tummy of yours! So EAT happily!

I hope I will be able to continue to update this blog when I have the time with the same person as well. We are having some problems now. But I hope it will be resolved soon. Till I write again, be safe...

4 Days 3 Nights - Just Bangkok

It has been quite awhile since I update this blog. This Bangkok (BKK) trip is in October. I proudly present to you our Flight schedule!

(A side note: If you happen to have the option to choose between Jetstar / Airasia vs Tiger, please choose the former. A simple reason - More leg space)

Ok our journey to the land of thousands smiles hovers only in Bangkok. Of course, if you have time you may want to explore Pattaya but that will be another adventure which I will not be talking about it here. 

It is a 4N 4D trip. But typically, we have only 3 days, 20, 21 and 22 as the first and last day is for our flights.We reached BKK at 2359hrs. And took a taxi, please check that these uncles use the meter, to the hotel. We stayed near Platunum Mall. I do not really have the address and pictures of the hotel. But I can recommend that for those who are on a tight budget can try the hotels in Khaosan area. Some photos:

We bought a tour package with the hotel that we stayed in. We chose the tour of the river market and the Tiger temple tour. This is a one day tour. Convenient and good. Most hotels have such tour packages. If not, you can always search for it in Khaosan where there are plenty of tour agency. However, prepare to haggle for a more competitive price. Hotel tour packages might be a little more expensive. Our tour is about 2000 Thai baht per pax.


Here are some pictures of the river cruise with the traditional market. Trust me. It is worth it.

Hungry? Here is our breakfast!

Who can forget the souvenir shop? But there is this interesting artifact.
A masterpiece indeed!

Next come the highlight of the day! The Tiger temple!

It was said that this monk started to rear these tigers and the continuation of it lead to 20 of them being captivated. I can show you a video of how these majestic creatures perform.

So smart!
Now here is the video!

The temple is also a zoo where one can see bear, goat, cow chicken etc. Ok, it should be called a farm.

To end the tiger temple excursion, there is this pony that followed us to the exit of the temple. Nice!

We runded up the night with some shisha and beer and call it a day. The rest of the days are spent shopping which should best be written by my girlfriend who is a shopaholic. I hope this post will be edited by her and can cater to more female viewers.
Bangkok is center for shopping, excursions, and prayers where one can visit the 'Wats' ( which means temples). Hence, you can try bringing your love ones to the places as mentioned above!