Macau - Sonya and Travis

I thought I would finally get to writing a conclusion to our China trip, only half a year later.

In total we spent a little under $10,000 Australian, for two people, 21 nights. Most of this consisted of airfares, $3000 return to Macau from Perth, and all domestic fares between China’s cities totalling about $2000. The hotels averaged about $100 a night due to being 4 to 5 star.

If we do plan to do it again (and we do), we would prefer to stay at inexpensive accommodation, as we both think expensive hotels are a waste. Time permitting; savings can be made on trains between cities.

The holiday served to give us a broad view of China most famous tourist sites, next time we will skip the big cities and immerse ourselves in more of China’s unfamiliar history and culture.

We have finally finished updating posts with our travel adventures.

Macau was our final destination before heading back home. We had one day (well, actually one night) to immerse ourselves in the Portuguese influenced culture. Arriving fairly late at night via a ferry from Hong Kong, our first thought was to try traditional Portuguese cuisine for dinner. After talking to our hotel reception, Restaurante Platão was recommended as good but a little pricey tradition Portuguese resturant. We decided to give it a go.

Restaurante Platão

Restaurante Platão was a cozy restaurant located off a side street from Largo do Senado.

We started with an entrée of traditional sardinhas assadas (grilled sardines), and a large bottle of Mateus wine. For the mains, again, two traditional foods were ordered; Potato and Bacalhau (codfish) pie and bife com um ovo a cavalo (literally meaning steak with an egg on horseback). The food was nice and a good change from noodles and rice. The bill ended up costing 500HKD, which we thought was quite acceptable.

Historic Centre of Macau

As previously mentioned, Macau has immense Portuguese influenced heritage. The Historic Centre of Macau consists of a number of historic Portuguese buildings and landmarks; with the most famous being Ruins of St. Paul’s and Largo do Senado (Senado Square). It was a bit of a shame that we had to view these at night, the bright building colours were not as evident as hoped and any photography was quite difficult. The lighting did make the Ruins of St. Paul’s look even spookier and Fortaleza do Monte (on a hill next to the ruines) which had minimal lighting was even scarier walking around at night.

The Venetian

Finally, how can you not venture into a casino when in Macau? With the name Eastern Las Vegas and actually having a higher gambling revenue than Las Vegas itself, you really can’t. From stepping out of the airport and being presented with the luxurious casino hotel’s courtesy buses, to not being able to turn anywhere without seeing in your face flashing lights and over the top buildings, the casinos in Macau are very evident. Sonya convinced me to check out the Venetian stating it as a must see. She was right, and it was quite enjoyable walking through the lavish interiors and manmade canals.