Valentine's in Macau

With another Cebu Pacific seat sale, we decided to spend our Valentine's somewhere cold, with good food and historical attractions.  Macau fit the criteria. Besides, we missed to visit the place in 2009 from Hong Kong. It is just one ferry away but since we were there on a Christmas holiday, we ran out of ferry tickets.

Anyway, we got another opportunity to travel  to Macau on Feb. 14.  We arrived in the evening and after we checked in at Macau Masters Hotel, we went to Senado Square which is just a 6-minute walk.

The hotel is also very near the bus stop where shuttles going to/from the City of Dreams and Venetian Resort stop by. 

We woke up to a 10C cold and foggy weather, barely seeing mainland China from our room.

We headed to the Venetian Macao Hotel and Casino.  As its name suggests, it is a perfect copycat of Venice, inside, 

and outside.

 

Well, I just based it on pictures, I haven't been to Venice :(

We took our early dinner at the resort's food court,

and headed for the free shuttle to return to the hotel. 

Also ended the day with a midnight snack of the famous pork bun.

The following day was the highlight of our trip as we finally visited the old and modern architectures of the city.

Ruins of St. Paul (16th c.), a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Fortaleza do Monte, fort built in the 17th century.

St. Francisco barracks at the Jardim do Sao Francisco (16th c garden)

Lotus Garden...

...with the view of the Guia Fortress, a 17th c. colonial military fort, chapel, and lighthouse complex,

and just across the Grand Prix Museum.

Macau has interesting modern architecture like the Grand Lisboa

Not sure what this is called but it sure is fascinating.

There are also creepy ones like the Guan Yin Statue not far from the MGM building.



It was supposed to be a good day given the beautiful historical and modern buildings that we visited. We found a seemingly authentic Chinese resto, packed with locals and accepts visa payment, which to us mean that they accept foreigners.  We were asked to sit but the rude waiter threw the utensils and menu.  The utensil even fell on the floor! I shouldn't have picked them up. Hubby and I looked at each other and made a signal to each other to leave. I told him in our language that I was worried that they might spit on or do something with our food. So we left. I didn't even bother to take a photo of the resto because I was so furious! But someone told me later that I just might have misunderstood the behavior of the waiter; that the Chinese are relatively "rude." But we never experienced the same when we were in Hong Kong and even during the rest of our stay in Macau!

As we searched for a new place for dinner, we passed by the Fisherman's Wharf, with, again, a captivating replica of Rome's colosseo and ampitheater....again my observation based on books as I have not personally seen the colosseo.

We ended up dining at  A Lorcha Restaurant which serves Portuguese cuisine. We enjoyed the meal and most importantly, the friendly staff made our dining very comfortable.

On our last day, we returned to Senado Square again to see the architecture in broad daylight, and told ourselves that it will be the last time that we will step foot on this city.