Macau and Zaia

Daniel's aunts helped us arrange an overnight trip to Macau, and today's the day (Sunday) that we head over there. We packed up our belongings and checked out of our room in Mongkok. Since we had some time before we departed, we met Ray for breakfast at a Hong Kong-style cafe. (Eggs, toast, Ramen noodles, Spam, a great way to start the day!) We took the subway over to Central and found our way to the Macau ferry terminal.

The trip to Macau was quick, about an hour on a high-speed hydrofoil craft. It was a very smooth ride, unlike the bouncing around the boat did while docked at the pier - I was beginning to wonder whether I'd have to use that seasickness bag tucked in the seat pocket in front of me.

We arrived in Macau to a bit of a mess. Macau's Gran Prix was being run on Sunday, and part of the track was the roadway past the ferry terminal. The departure point for the hotel shuttle buses had been moved a block away. With all the traffic snarls the race was causing, it took about 20 minutes for a bus to come pick us up, and some additional time to find our way back out onto the main roadway and away from the congestion.

Check-in at the hotel went smoothly, and we dropped off our overnight bag in the room and headed back out to start exploring. Our hotel, Sofitel Ponte 16, was rated 5 stars and is located near the city center, very posh yet convenient to some restaurants and historic sites (and had no free Internet, of course). Daniel's sister-in-law had recommended a number of good places to grab snacks, and we wandered the streets eating and taking photos.

We had 5:30pm dinner reservations at Platao Macau, a restaurant that was highly recommended in the guidebook. We took advantage of the warm weather to eat outside. The food did not disappoint: soups, a mushroom appetizer, leg of lamb, duck fried rice, followed by cake and Mango pudding.

We took a shuttle bus over to the next island to see the casinos. Macau has recently seen an explosion in the construction of Vegas-style resorts. We didn't go there to gamble, though. Daniel's aunt had suggested tickets to Zaia, a Cirque du Soleil show playing at The Venetian (a much grander version of the same resort in Vegas). The theater was only about one quarter full - as in Vegas, another show had recently opened that was drawing the crowds away from the older shows. We greatly enjoyed the acrobatics and music, although I have to admit I did nap through a small part of it.

Afterwards, we wandered around The Venetian and nearby casinos (Hard Rock, City of Dreams) before catching the shuttle bus back to our hotel and crashing for the night, the end of yet another satisfying day.