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Hello All, Just a quick note to say that I haven't been blogging here for a while because Peter and I decided to get our own doma...
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Shanghai Day One: Touchdown
Early this January, there was a Piso fare from low cost carrier, Cebu Pacific, and since I couldn't resist the chance to grab a sale, I booked a ticket to a random destination, which was for Shanghai.
I had no clue what to expect from Shanghai, other than it used to be a colony of my beloved England, and that I watched a show on the travel channel about it. I just know that I need to have a visa to get in the country (ahh yes another obstacle I had to get through).
The flight arrives at 12mn in Shanghai and to save on costs for the hostel and the taxi from the airport, we decided to find a quiet place to stay and sleep.
I did not get enough sleep on the plane ride to Shanghai so when I found my spot to sleep on, I just put on my eye patch, my socks, and the sarong and Zzzzzzzed.
I woke up at around 5am (slept around 130/2) because the sound of the hoover cleaning the floor was quite annoying. It was also surprising for me that their sunrise is very early! Sleeping in the airport could be a good experience too, something I would definitely do again.
After changing our money (bloody hell, you have to pay a 50rmb service charge for any foreign exchange transactions done in the airport) - such a shame too as my ATM is not being recognized by any foreign bank at the ATM! Gaaah!
Got a Shanghai Metro card, then boarded a metro line 2 to East Nanjing Road. It's quite overwhelming as there are obviously a lot of people in China! The metro also takes forever to get from the airport to the city center with an interhange somewhere so watch out for that and allot ample time to get to/from the airport.
After finding the hostel of my friend - Blue Mountain Bund Youth Hostel at South Shanxi Road (near Exit One of the East Nanjing Road Stn), dropping off our bags and off we went to explore the city.
First stop was to just find breakfast! I was really, really hungry at the time and we ended up at KFC in East Nanjing Rd: something that's familiar to me, and was the first restaurant we saw! Got a burger of sorts plus an egg tart (for around 20RMB), and off we went to explore East Nanjing Rd.
Initially, I wanted to go and walk around the Bund area, but we ended up on the wrong direction and ended up at People's Square!
Explored the area for a little while before hopping on the Metro to Lujiazhui (Metro Line 2) to officially begin our tour!
I had no clue what to expect from Shanghai, other than it used to be a colony of my beloved England, and that I watched a show on the travel channel about it. I just know that I need to have a visa to get in the country (ahh yes another obstacle I had to get through).
The flight arrives at 12mn in Shanghai and to save on costs for the hostel and the taxi from the airport, we decided to find a quiet place to stay and sleep.
I did not get enough sleep on the plane ride to Shanghai so when I found my spot to sleep on, I just put on my eye patch, my socks, and the sarong and Zzzzzzzed.
I woke up at around 5am (slept around 130/2) because the sound of the hoover cleaning the floor was quite annoying. It was also surprising for me that their sunrise is very early! Sleeping in the airport could be a good experience too, something I would definitely do again.
After changing our money (bloody hell, you have to pay a 50rmb service charge for any foreign exchange transactions done in the airport) - such a shame too as my ATM is not being recognized by any foreign bank at the ATM! Gaaah!
Got a Shanghai Metro card, then boarded a metro line 2 to East Nanjing Road. It's quite overwhelming as there are obviously a lot of people in China! The metro also takes forever to get from the airport to the city center with an interhange somewhere so watch out for that and allot ample time to get to/from the airport.
After finding the hostel of my friend - Blue Mountain Bund Youth Hostel at South Shanxi Road (near Exit One of the East Nanjing Road Stn), dropping off our bags and off we went to explore the city.
First stop was to just find breakfast! I was really, really hungry at the time and we ended up at KFC in East Nanjing Rd: something that's familiar to me, and was the first restaurant we saw! Got a burger of sorts plus an egg tart (for around 20RMB), and off we went to explore East Nanjing Rd.
Initially, I wanted to go and walk around the Bund area, but we ended up on the wrong direction and ended up at People's Square!
Macau: an Introduction
As promised to my friends, I would try and chronicle my travels. So, for 2010, I decided to go abroad and fly back to Hong Kong and make a side trip to Macau as well.
Introduction
Macau has three islands Macau Island, Taipa, and Coloane. However, recent developments in Macau meant that the Cotai strip - a manmade reclamation area that houses some of the biggest casinos in the area, joined the Taipa and Coloane islands. Why is this Special Administrative Area of China so unique and popular to tourists? Well, first off, its got a ton of casinos -- something that Hong Kong and even the mainland lack. Some locals go to Macau for the weekend so expect hotel rates to rise! Some parts of Macau are also World Heritage sites - well, I think that's enough for me to go, right? History, history, history! Its got old churches, and other places worth mentioning.
Planning Your Trip and Tips
When I booked my tickets, I just had some dates in mind. I decided to book immediately because a local airline [Cebu Pacific] was holding dirt cheap airfares! Anyway, I went there around July -- which is a boiling hot time to go, so not very ideal if you hate the hot weather! Try going there in the colder months, October-March!
How many days is ideal to stay in Macau? It totally depends on you! If you want to just check out the historic center, then a day is enough, but if you want to check out some of the casinos out there, then two days would be more than enough. In my case, I went to the historic areas in the morning, whilst going to the casinos at night. If you also want to check out the other islands, Coloane and Taipa, then three days at the most. I wouldn't recommend staying in Macau for more than three days because I got bored. If I were you, I'd want to plan a trip to Zhuhai [if you have a mainland China visa], or to Hong Kong too. Most visitors tend to go to Hong Kong as there are far more activities and tourist areas to go to!
Getting There
There's three ways to go to Macau: you could go by land, air, or sea. Macau is easily accessible from Hong Kong, and you have the option to enter through Hong Kong and take a ferry to Macau [which lasts only for an hour and the option that most people do], or to ride a helicopter from HKIA to Macau's airport or the heliport near the ferry terminal. Macau is also accessible from Mainland China - via Zhuhai. Just taking the bus from Guangzhou [Zhuhai] into Macau is a breeze. And the last option: by air. There are several airlines flying to Macau. I come from Manila so Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines land there. The airport is in Taipa, which is around 30 minutes to an hour away from the Macau Peninsula.
The airport - do note that the airport is very, very small! Once the plane lands, it taxis for around 10 minutes before it reaches the airport terminal. Once you alight from the plane, it's a short walk and there's customs! Normally there's loads of people around, which could take you around 30 minutes or more to clear. After customs, you can claim your baggage, and you're finally off!
Transportation
Unlikes the other tourist destinations, Macau has no MTR! To get around the city, you have to walk, take the bus, or hire a taxi. Or there's the open secret of using the free shuttle buses offered by the casinos and walking to the nearest sight! teehee. Thing is, you've got to plan your itinerary and where you're going very, very carefully to make the most out of your time and money! =)
Getting Around, Research, and Resources
When I arrived in Macau, there are no maps in the airport. So, how would you get to your hotels? There are three options: 1. Hotel pickup. I'm not sure if all hotels do this, but this is not the option we took as our hotel has no option for this. 2. Taxi - too bloody expensive for me but it is the most convenient and 3. Take the AP1 bus somewhere and transfer to another bus or just walk to your hotel. The latter is the one I chose, as its very, very cheap - 4.20 MOP from Taipa/airport to the Ferry Terminal in Macau Peninsula!
Anyway, I also survived by downloading and printing a map of Macau from the Macau Tourist Office.
You could download the maps here --> http://www.macautourism.gov.mo/en/download/map.php
Both the Macau and Taipa/Coloane maps are made of four pages each, and you have to assemble each of them like a jigsaw puzzle. You just need a bit of patience, a table, and some sticky tape and you're on your way! This way you could get a birds eye view of Macau and plan your trip accordingly.
On another blog, I'll try and group together all the activities you could do so you won't have a hard time to do so =)
Other information, you could download/get from the Macau tourism website --> http://www.macautourism.gov.mo/en/discovering/sightseeing.php
If you're bloody obsessive-compulsive like I am then it's also worth research, research and research!!
Zero Fares for Cebu Pac.
That's right. Zero fare for international/domestic flights for CebuPac.
I'm very tempted to go to Vietnam. Hmm..... Gotta check the trusty old bank account if I've got funds
Just checked, I've got none =)
But nevertheless. Will that stop me? I sure hope not!
Will post again if I've *gulp* booked a flight already!