Celebrating New Years in the "Vegas of the East"

Macau: The Las Vegas of the East

The party capital of China, is a mix of extravagent night life and fascinating culture. From the day one of my trip till the very end, I have been nothing but mesmerised by the city. It is Vibrant, charming and picturesque. 

How To Get There:

So since I have been there just once, I know that getting direct flights to macau can be a little tricky. They're long and tiring and may have a lot of stops in between. There i would suggest people to get there the way I did. So what you do is, take a fight to Hongkong and from there it takes about 1 hour to reach Macau by ferry. Cotai Water Jet is genrally the ferry that is available for the Hongkong-Macau Travel service. There is one Ferry available every hour. 

The advantage is that, in that one hour, you get to see the beautiful shoreline of Macau from the waters.

Where to stay:

Macau has a Number of good hotels. However, if you want the first hand experience of their culture, it is advised you stay in either The Grand Hyatt, The Venetian or Galaxy. I stayed in The Galaxy for about a week and it was such a mesmerising experience, that i just did not feel like going bac home. The hotel is big and classy and has some or the other show going on at the end of every corner. The cost, however, can be a little expensive. I stayed in the Galaxy Suite which costs approximately 30,000rupees in the Indian currency. The pictures of my hotel and room are given below.

(This picture has not been taken by me) 

What to See:

1. The Art Gallery

So the first thing we did on our first day was get on a "Hop-on, Hop-off" bus. It starts right from our Hotel and takes a round of the city. It is a double decker bus which stops at amost 6-7 places and gives you about half an hour at each. We chose to spend most of our time in the Art Gallary. It covered four to five floors and had a variety of objects on display. While the topmost floor had a section devoted to the ancient Chinese pottery, the first floor had a display of the weapons and sheilds they used during war. The paintings by all the chinese artists were given the whole second floor and the plates and dishes were given a section on the third. It was the most beautiful potryal of art that I've ever seen. Each and everything seemed so surreal and beautiful that unknowingly I must have spent around four hours in there.

The next picture was taken right outside the Art Gallery.

2. St. Dominic's Church

Well, wherever I go, I make a point to visit atleast one religious place. Because i believe, that you can gather a lot of information about the culture and beliefs of the people from there. So its not a "must see" but you can go if you want to. The church has a beautiful shrine of Lord Jesus and the interiors look mid century European. 

The surrounding area of the church is also very lively. Since it was christmas when i went, the whole area was lit up with fairy lights and decorated with the christmas tree. They even have shopping outlets on the way leading upto the church. So i would genuinely request all those people who would like to experience the true spirit of christmas, do visit the place.

3. The Venetian Hotel

Its one of the most popular hotels in the world! Even though the stay can be really expensive, you are more than welcome to come visit, wak around, shop and explore the hotel. It has a whole italian-venetian interiors and its beauty takes your breath away, take my word for it. It is Huge in size and when you are inside, you almost forget that you are in a Chinese country!  It is a "Must See."

And guess what! You can even take a Gondola ride inside.

4. The House of Dancing Water 

So this particular water show takes place at The Grand Hyatt. Now this hotel is a must see in itself. Its classy, has numerous brands for shopping and if you can stay there, theres nothing like it. However, this water show is extraordinary. Since photography was not allowed inside, I cannot provide you with the picture of the performance, but I can garuntee you that they make each penny spend on it worth. I had the tickets to the very front seat and we were given towels to wipe of the water that might come onto us (its barely anything) but the special effects used literally left me in an awe. The theatre is BIG. Im guessing that the capacity must have been for over 500 people at once, and the place was house full. This show has two shows (I'm not sure, but atleast I'm sure about these two), one at 5pm and the other at 8pm and it goes on for about over an hour. Please, do not miss the chance to see that!

The picture below is of me waiting right outside the entry of the show and you can see for yourself that the interiors and the hotel is worth a glance. 

5. The Broadway

I went for this show called 'Viva La' at the Broadway. And honestly, I have never seen something so vibrant. It was a musical, so they had lots of music and dancing. The music was foot tapping and they even had short skits and magic acts which were highly entertaining. If you are a theatre enthusiast, do go for atleast one show. 

Apart from that, the broadway campus was full of restaurants and cafes. The rates are also reasonable. I tried these steaks and hot dogs from a shack and they were so good that being the big foodie I am, I couldn't help but order almost half their menu. They cook right in front of you and you can choose from the variety of sauces and the toppings they have!

6. Casino

So, I am 18 years old. I have absolutely no idea as to what happens inside or how it works (Or atleast thats how I am supposed to pretend), but accorsding to what what I remember, my dad had said that the Galaxy Casino was the best. All I know is, if you're staying at Galaxy Hotel, it is very, very convenient for you to spend time in the casino. Me and my parents would come back to the hotel late at night after roaming around the city the whole day, and then at around 11pm till 3pm they would go and spend time there, without having to worry about leaving me, or taking a ride back to a hotel far away, or being tired. 

7. Ruins of St. Paul

Yes, this historical building is famous for being ruined! 
We had hired a guide on our third day, who took us to the ruins of St.Paul and told us about its history. So, the according to the story, the church of St. Paul was built in 1580, in an oriental style of architecture. But it was baptised in fire three times to have caused the damage. It is now mere ruins. However, even though it lies in ruins now, the stone facade has its symbolic meanings carved well enough to tell the story of its glorious past. Below you can find the picture of this beautiful historical church. We went in the evening to visit the place and it was almost about to close, so I would suggest that you go way before that if you want to have a good look at it.

8. Visit the A-Ma Temple

Like I said before, I believe that a religious place can tell a lot about a city's history and traditions. And so I decided to visit the most famous the A-Ma Temple, which is believed to be the temple where Macau’s name is derived from. It’s the oldest temple in the city and is dedicated to the goddess Mazu, protector of seafarers and fishermen. The temple consists of the Gate Pavilion, the Memorial Arch, the Prayer Hall, the Hall of Benevolence, the Hall of Guanyin, and Zhengjiao Chanlin (a Buddhist pavilion). The variety of pavilions dedicated to the worship of different deities in a single complex make A-Ma Temple an exemplary representation of Chinese culture inspired by Confucianism. If you wish to get to know the city from its roots, I believe now you know where to start from.

9. Heightest Commercial Bungee Jump

There’s one BIG reason why adrenaline junkies often flock to Macau and that’s because it’s home to the Guinness World Record holder for the Highest Commercial Bungy Jump in the world. Situated at the top of the striking Macau Tower, jumpers leap from a platform approximately 200m above the ground and experience the ultimate free fall experience. This is the ultimate in daredevil thrill-seeking. However, for people like me who are not very inclined towards jumping off buildings can try the alternative, that is, Skywalk. It left me spell bound. The experience makes you feel light on your toes for sometime and the whole view is so mesmerising that you no more understand if you'd ever want to do this again! If you go to Macau however, this is again a must try!

My New Year's Eve

It was a whole new city for us and we did not know where to celebrate our New Year's Eve, so we decided to consult the hotel's help desk, where they told us about all the events happening across the city. Since the broadway was right in front our hotel, we decided to get passes for the party there. We took our time and got ready, totally oblivious to what was going to happen there. Being born and brought up in India, I only knew English and Hindi. And to our surprise when we arrived at the party, we saw that it was actually a chinese concert where some artists had some to perform their songs.

Now normally, something of that sort would've upset us, but watching all those people dancing and enjoying the foot tapping music just brought out the festive mood in us. Even though we understood nothing they said, we had one of the best nights ever. 

The amount of happiness and joy this trip got us is priceless. Its become my favourite city and I would absolutely love to go again if given a chance. I genuienly have always believed in the phrase "You Only Live Once," and Macau made me live upto it.