Day 1: Macau

The thing I've been planning for more than a year now finally happened! That's about two or more things crossed off my bucketlist. Here's part 1 of 7:

The 6th of this month, three wanderlust (the model, the beauty and the peculiar) set off on an adventure that really wasn't meant for just the three. They pushed through even with the abandoners getting off the boat. //Trying to make the abandoners jealous of what they missed out lol

The companions: Belle the bff model slash photographer and Ri the beautiful shopaholic with superb diet control

The immigration scares the hell out of me for some reason so the whole time whilst waiting for the check-in time, I was really nervous. Mostly because my passport didn't meet the 'atleast 6 months' before expiry cut. I tried the online check-in and it wouldn't accept my passport expiry. Imagine my horror.

And then came the time when I had to face the immigration officer. He asked me sooo many questions that I ended up making my companions wait (even though I was the second one out of us three to face the immigration officers). I wonder if the officer was just privy of my life tho - this is me consoling myself.

Our first day in a foreign country without guardians pretty much was eventful. At the airport, we got yelled at twice. TWICE. One for taking photos at the immigration. Second, for using the wrong bus door.

Originally, we were trying to locate Hospedaria San Va (Hotel San Va) in Rua da Felicidade and the nearest route to that by public transport was Rua das Lorchas. Lugging with us 2 trolleys and a backpack, we gave up trying to find the Hospedaria (because we're so cheap-ass we constantly think we couldn't afford to split a taxi fare).

So we scoured Rua das Lorchas and found Home of Macau (named as Your Home is Macau in google maps) - Rua de Ponte e Horta, n.o 4, 2 Andar, A, B e C - as the cheapest one. Not as cheap as HK accomodation but for a place known for casinos such as Macau, $200 per head per night in a double bed is probably as cheap as it's gonna get. That and hello 3 flights of stairs. No elevator.

In the end, we never really did find Hospedaria San Va but we found Rua da Felicidade!

One of the hardest thing we had to do in Macau besides communicate is finding coins. You cannot have your bills changed to coins in stores. Heck 7/11 wouldn't accept my $500 for a $7 gum TT_TT

I bet we looked like poor kids because a Filipino OFW gave us $18 worth of coins lol. Hence, we were able to ride buses.

From Rua das Lorchas, we walked to Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro or San Ma Lo as locals would call. It's near Senado Square. We planned to go to Flora Garden but took the wrong bus and ended up at residential areas near "The Border". Sooo, we went back to San Ma Lo.

R. Dos Cules, near Senado Square, is pretty much Filipino Community. You'd feel at home passing there!

$9 Egg tarts at Choi Heong Yuen Bakery

#Followmeto Senado Square 

Yes, I am the navigator in the group :D

Around Senado Square or Largo Senado, you will also find: Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, Macau General Post Office, St. Dominic's Church, Yui Seng Lonh Mou (Mentioning only places we've been to. Also, they aren't all as near as I seem to be telling them)

I just have to include the best thing that happened to me in Macau: Grilled Squid. I did not regret letting go of that $35 for a pack. I just wish I could've bought more.

Infamous Ruins of St. Paul

A random nook near The Ruins. From here, we walked to Praca Luis Camoes to take a bus to Galaxy. We passed by Saint Anthony's Church on the way and got a glimpse of Cemeterio Protestante. 

Galaxy

Ola $45 ice cream!

The Venetian is surreal! We arrived near midnight and the all the shops were almost closing but super awesome buildings inside their buildings lol. This is literally where you'd forget what time it is.

Because me and my friends are football fans, we all went gaga over this store (see my beaming face). Though we never did buy anything lol

The biggest challenge during our Macau trip just had to happen on the first day, at midnight nonetheless. It was like the last bus there is from The Venetian to the main island. The problem? Everybody at the Venetian, at the bus - even the bus driver - cannot speak English. With no choice, we boarded the bus to who knows where. We ended up yet again at "The Border". We could see the Zhuhai sign. No exaggeration!

We were panicking the whole time but thank God the two persons I was trying my best to converse with (using sign language, not Chinese mind you) tried their best to help us get back. The guy beside was laughing at me while conversing with me. And I tried my best and all the Chinese I could extract from me to understand what he was saying. Swear.

From this experience, I became so resolved in learning Mandarin. Might enrol into classes idk yet.

Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6&7