ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Visiting Macau: Heritage, Casinos & Pastries

Updated on April 7, 2013

From Hong Kong to Macau via Ferry

From where I stayed on Nathan Road, we walked to China Hong Kong City where we boarded a ferry to Macau. Everything moved like clockwork and we breezed through immigration and took our seats. The ferry was comfortable. However, do bring along a sweater as it can be cold. In just about 1 hour, we had already reached Macau and landed at the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal. Do note that immigration might take up to 30 minutes though.

From the terminal, we then headed out to where all the shuttle buses are (Most casinos/hotels provide free shuttle buses). Some are on the same side on the road. However, certain shuttle buses like the ones to Venetian are across the road. Take the underground passage which will bring you across the road safely. You will see an escalator which will bring you down the passage when you exit the ferry terminal.

Dragon Boat Racing at Nam Van Lake

Nam Van Lake

As I was there on 6 June 2011, we took bus 23 and headed to Nam Van Lake to watch the dragon boat racing held in conjunction with the Tuen Ng Festival/Dumplings Festival/Dragonboat Festival. It was really amazing to see how fast they could row and how united the teams were. They had to be fast and row at the same rhythm in order to win. From Nam Van Lake, you will notice the Macau Tower standing majestically in the skyline.

A-Ma Temple

A-Ma temple

After watching a few laps of the dragonboat races, we then headed to A-Ma temple (Ma Kok Miu in Cantonese). It is situated on a slope so to reach the top, you need to conquer a few flights of steps! Just a few blocks away from the temple, are some of the most famous Portuguese restaurants in Macau. We decided to have lunch at Litoral before heading to the Historic Centre of Macau.

Historical Senado Square

Historic Center of Macau

After lunch, we took a bus to Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro (better known as San Ma Lou to locals). Its Chinese name literally means New Road. Here you will find many jewellery shops and also the famous Yeeshun milk pudding shop.

From here, you can take a leisurely walk leading to places like Senado Square, the Ruins of St Paul and the St Dominic's Church.

Cannon pointing towards Grand Lisboa

Picture taken at Mount Fortress
Picture taken at Mount Fortress

Exploring Senado Square

Around the Senado Square area, you will also see many shops selling local pastries. Notable ones include the Portuguese egg tarts, almond biscuits and the egg rolls with seaweed. As you walk along the streets, you will notice people giving out samples of the pastries. They are free and you sample as many as you like before deciding to buy! From my observation, Koi Kee has the most number of branches within the area. I counted 9 in total!

Besides these pastries, another famous Macau specialty is the Pork Chop Bun. The most famous stall is at Taipa but we did not manage to try it...oh well! Another time then....

Casino Lisboa

Casinos everywhere....

When you step into Macau, one thing that you will observe is that casinos are everywhere. Some big, some smaller and the majority of casinos would have its own casino. The exception would probably be my hotel, the Metropark Hotel. From Senado Square, you will be able to spot the unique Grand Lisboa even from far. One unique thing to note is that some of the cannons at the top of Mount Fortress seem to be aiming at Grand Lisboa!

Besides the Grand Lisboa, we also crossed over to the Lisboa Hotel, Babylon at the Fisherman's Wharf and the Sands Macau Hotel & Casino. Even if you are not a gambler, you can spend some time at the casinos as there are frequent performances inside.

To find out what else I did in Macau, read on here.

Macau Map of Places I Have Visited

A
nam van lake:
Nam Van Lake, Se, Macau

get directions

B
A-ma Temple:
A-ma Temple, Sao Lourenco, Macau

get directions

C
Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro:
Av. de Almeida Ribeiro, Macau

get directions

Known as San Ma Lou to locals.

D
Senado Square:
Senado Square, Macau

get directions

E
Ruins of St Paul:
Ruins Of St. Paul, Macau, China

get directions

F
St Dominic's Church, Macau:
St.Dominic's Church, 1 Travessa do Soriano, Se, Macau

get directions

G
Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal , Macau:
Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal (XZM), Se, Macau

get directions

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)