i'm back! happie n gloomy at the same time.. glad to be home but sad to leave the place.. indeed singapore will be a much better place but still.. i had a great time over there. truly impressed with the architecture over there though there were times i worry about the safety. most of the buildings r standing above the sea with water rushing in through the gaps of the pillars. the road infrastructure is amazing, with roads criss-crossing over one another. my guess is bcos they haf limited land. anyway shall blog about my 1st trip to Macau n my 1st exprerience on the budget airline. be warned. it's gonna be a long long entry.
11.05.06 (Day 1)reached the budget terminal at 0800, checked in our luggage b4 exploring the newly set up terminal. basically there's nothing much over there but it looks more refreshing compared to the other 2. i assume it's bcos of the colors they use, brighter n more lively. other than the fact dat the transit area is quite small with little shops which can be covered in 20 mins. rest of the time was spent waiting for the gate to be opened. finali the gates opened n we hafta climb up the connectors onto the plane. thankfully it wasnt raining. quite an uneventful 3 hr 45 mins ride n the journey was pretty smooth except for the landing.. i guess the problem lies with the airport runway cos it seems quite bumpy? checked into Casa Real Hotel, 4 star rated if i'm not wrong, n my sis n i were given a room in the highest level. woo~ fantastic view spread out in front of us! n the concierge ppl r quite friendly. in particular there's this chinese guy who seems quite interested to chat my sister up. hoho. then there's another philipino guy who was quite helpful n offered to take our luggage up to our room. after dat he even asked me whether i'm still studying n blah blah blah.. told mi stuff about himself too. haha. funny guy.. after dat the dae was spent at the departmental store nearby, new yaohan before going for the company dinner at the hotel's pena restaurant. things at new yaohan arent exactly cheap. in fact i tink it's comparable to singapore. after dinner, some of us went to fishermen's wharf. i tink it is akin to sentosa. saw a funny bird-man along the way n took foto wid him. after which went back to the hotel n i realised dat the air quality is horrible. my bath water is almost black. expense of the dae was lunch onli. i guess i'm not too much of a spendthrift? lol. lights out at 0100 after watching some shows on tv.
12.05.06 (Day 2)woke up at 6. couldnt get a proper sleep, woke up twice in the wee hours n i even dreamt of perry. weird dream. went for the breakfast at the same restaurant. oily food they serve.. went to the casino since we r still early. first time in a casino! i lyk those bankers cos they all look so smart. lol. anyway met some of my sis' colleagues at the lobby to go to zhuhai, a province in china. crossing the customs is juz lyk us crossing to jb. the ppl there r reali lyk hoards of ants, squeezing here n there.. n i feel dat the ppl there r quite selfish. they haf no regards for other ppl. perhaps it's bcos they haf too many ppl to be bothered about other ppl's lives.. anywae the traffic there is horrible too. zebra crossing seem to serve any purpose. the cars predominate over the pedestrians. went our separate ways since shopping done in a big group is much of a hassle. so my sis n i explored on our own. juz through the customs n there is a huge underground shopping mall lined with stores selling gadgets, food n apparels. heard dat a 2 GB mp4 is sold at only less than S$200. good bargain yeah? anywae too many things in a mess gives us a headache so we made our way out n went to the lotus street. out on the street the sun shines brightly with cooling drifts of wind. many shops along the way with good bargains. walked till my legs almost drop n the yields of the day are a bag, 3 tops, 1 bottom n a pair of shoes. turned out mi n my sis were the ultimate winner for shopping. we were the onli ones lugging bags of stuff back to the hotel. hoho. lesson learnt: be firm in ur bargaining n alwaes start wid 1/3 of wat they quote u. finali made our way back past the customs after our fruitful trip. couldnt wait to rest our tired feet but the customs clearing was dreadfully slow. i guess those officers r pretty bored. take a painstakingly long time juz to chop on the passport. need to check the photo not once, twice but 3 times. duhx.. cant they see a queue forming n yet they onli opened up 1 lane?! duhx.. anywae finali reached the hotel. rested for 1 hr while waiting for another ger. when she's back we went to senado square as it was recommended for shopping. by the time we finished our dinner at a chinese restaurant, it was past 8. realised most of the shops r closed except for the boutiques lyk bossini, giordano n S&K. no point shopping there cos the price n design r comparable. n so some of them decided to buy some food specialties there. mi n my sis were waiting at a fountain there when we met the philipino concierge. wat a surprise! n he recognised mi first. asked him if there's any nice place around but he said there's nothing much. after everyone has bought the foodstuff, we took a taxi back to the hotel. another lesson learnt: never trust the taxi drivers' recommendation. rest of the dae was spent packing the stuff into our bags n gossiping. sis was telling mi the concierge seems to notice mi alot? hoho. lights out at 0200.
13.05.06 (Day 3)woke up at 7 since we were too early yest. i dreamt of beckham cos the nite b4 i saw a painting of his. lol. went for breakfast then made our way to zhuhai again. cos basically there's nothing to buy in macau, onli casinos aplenty. walked till our legs r breaking n our backs r aching. at least the clearing of customs is much faster todae. though i nv fail to wonder wif there's something wrong wid my passport. the officer never fail to flip through many times b4 deciding to stamp it. 1 even commented my p1 foto looks different from now.. obviously rite.. unloaded our stuff back in the hotel then my sis fren n i went back to fisherman's wharf to change my sis' purchase. my sis is feeling lazy so asked mi to go lo.. took some more fotos over there cos the other nite was too dark. was attacked by a blue monster. cornered mi to a wall n even hit my butt after dat. i tink he muz be a guy cos he onli doest dat to gers. made our way to the red market after dat. it was said dat there's cheap stuff to get over there n it opens at 1600. but we were cheated. by the time we reach there, about 7, most of the shops are preparing to pack le.. so sianx.. but i envy the ppl over there. their lifestyle is pretty laid back n relaxed. n so we had no choice but to head back home at 2100. anywae the gains of the dae are a cap, 3 tops, a pair of shoes n a bracelet. weather is getting chilly, unlike the past few daes which haf been warm. wanted to roam the streets but cant take the cold. took the time to pack luggage n watch tv. lights out at 1200.
14.05.06 (Day 4)
woke up at 7 went for breakfast at 8. met 2 of my sis colleagues to go to the st paul's ruins. it is a must-go when in macau. n luckily we were early n managed to reach b4 the crowd gathers. shopped around further b4 going back to the hotel to check out n go for the company lunch. lunch was yummy-licious but we were stranded for 3 hours. couldnt travel far n so had to make do with the new yaohan nearby cos there arent any other shops around our hotel le. bought a pair of canvas shoes which i had eyed since day 1. less than S$20 n it's disney! lol. went back to the hotel n claimed our luggage. boarded the bus n we were on our way. the macau international airport is quite small i muz sae. onli 2 duty free shops, an eating place, 1 chocolate shop n 2 lounges.. luckily the boarding gate opened about 1 hour later. queue was moving lyk a snail.. sigh.. finali we r on our way home. the journey was fraud with turbulences. Barely 20 minutes after take-off, the first round set in. slept through it n by the time the signal for seat-belts to be fastened was turned off, everyone made a rush for the w.c. felt nauseous throughout the 3h 35 min flight cos of the bad turbulence.. n the guy sitting at the same row behave weirdly. keep looking in our direction. juz lyk the guy on our flight to macau. yucks! weirdos! landed at the budget terminal n were picked up by my sis n her hubby. baby daffodil seems angry wid us. oh-oh.. hopefully she'll feel better tml. i'm feeling fat from all the buffet breakfast.. die die.. i'm becoming a pig..
i'm beginning to miss the time i had in macau. there's this very cute guy with dimple who sold us baby clothes. n also some of my sis colleagues who haf been nice to mi. in particular i miss a baby. so cute! but dun tink i'll see any of them anymore.. well.. meeting & parting r all part & parcel of life.