Macau: Day One (Part 1)

09.03.14 (day)

2:30 am, and we were all already wide awake. Our flight was at 6:30am.

An hour-long taxi ride later, we arrived at the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal where we checked in our luggage and got our boarding passes. After breakfast at McDonald's (which seems to be our typical before-flight place to eat), we headed to the departure hall.

Now everyone can fly.

Boarded the small-ish AirAsia plane when it was still dark. Managed to grab a couple of hours of sleep even though I'm sure my leaky nose was annoying all the passengers on board. I woke up to this beautiful sight (I got a window seat hence):

yeah. Clouds, clouds, and more clouds. Pretty, isn't it?

At about ten, we landed safely in Macau International Airport. After the usual procedures, we took a cab to our hotel.

This place is not too bad, I must say. You've got to admit: they knew what they were doing when they
installed this amazing, speedy internet! *winks*

After checking in, we left the hotel immediately to check out the towns of Macau. Come to think of it... I'm not even sure what this place is called. *hides face*

But, to satisfy our growling tummies which had long digested our Sausage Egg McMuffins, we made our first stop at:

Mum had done her research and this restaurant seemed to be popular among food bloggers.

 Oh, and one thing! Macau still has many traces of its Portuguese influence from history. Its signboards and road signs have Portuguese words on them. How cute! Who knows what "Loja Sopa Da Fita" means?

a quick snapshot with my mother before we ordered our food

Soup noodles with prawn dumplings
(the amazing thing about these dumplings is that each one has at least two prawns inside!
That is way more than the pathetic half-prawn we find in KL dumplings)

Noodles with beef (I'd rate this the best out of the dishes I've tried in this shop)

Have no idea what this is, but apparently it is popular.
I find it a tad bit dry, though.

"Shui gao", which actually also means dumplings.
These were not too bad as well.

I don't know what these are called!
But they're sort of like fishballs. Quite yummy.

All in all the restaurant served quite good food, but it can be a little pricey. Generally, though, the prices of food in Macau are all slightly more expensive than the food you can find in Kuala Lumpur. Now I know that I should appreciate the cheap food in my homeland instead of complaining that the nasi lemak man has raised 10 cents a packet.

Once done with lunch, we did a little sightseeing. The quaint streets and alleys were kind of cute to me, especially since every sign board has little Portuguese words on them.

"Largo Da Barra"? "Ruinas De S. Paulo"? "Largo de Santo Agostinho"?
How interesting!

brother and I lepak-ing in the streets of Macau

*By the way, if you look again, my brother and I are actually wearing slippers, and he's in shorts. We got quite a number of looks since the temperature here is about 14 degrees Celsius. Yeah, not really a good time to wear slippers, but how were we supposed to know?

Next stop was Senado Square. It's basically a huge area with loads of branded shops and your typical tourist what-nots.

Senado Square

a typical tourist-y photo at Senado Square

Next: a cathedral known as St. Domingo's Church;

grand.

just one of the statues they have in there

 And get this: they have a confessional too! I've never actually seen one in real life before.

Outside, we passed by many food stalls, most of them selling food like this:

steamed then served in curry

 One of the many attractions of the place is the Ruins of St Paul's.

basically, all that's left is the front wall. It's quite beautiful, really.

another tourist-y picture!

Of course we had to try to include everyone in the family in photos, so we tried to take a selfie...

close enough?

In the midst of our many attempts, a kind stranger came up to ask us if we wanted her to help us take a family photo. Yes, please, thank you! 

success!

Oh, and one more thing: Macau is famous for a certain bakery called Koi Kei Bakery. It was made even more popular by a Hong Kong TVB Drama, and now they have opened branches practically on every street! Turn a corner and you'll most likely see a Koi Kei branch after having seen one a minute ago.

their pastries and sweets are delicious.
fun part was going in and trying samples non-stop. no one chases you out.

Another thing Macau is famous for is their pork burger by Tai Lei Loi Kei. They have them in KL as well, but the original one's where it's at! 

we ordered two pork burgers and one bowl of curry fishballs

it doesn't look too appetizing,
but take just one bite and you'll fall in love.
you'll overlook all its flaws and learn that true beauty comes from the inside.

these were pretty yummy too!

sibling love awww

Last stop: (I don't read Chinese)

they're kind of like crunchy pancakes.
quite scrumptious!

 

After this we made our way back to the hotel to get a rest. We were all exhausted from the early morning four-hour flight and walking around in the cold. 

*  *  *

And that's the end of our daytime expedition! 

The night time adventure needs a bit of explaining and I'm too tired to do so now, because of all the walking I've done today. Besides, Macau is much much colder than I expected, and my family is clearly unprepared for this kind of weather. We're only wearing hoodies in a temperature that requires parkas!

But that's okay. For the first time, I actually can't wait to feel heat.

MALAYSIA I LOVE YOUUUU.

P.S. Stay tuned for Part 2!