Macau

Macau

9th -10th August

Getting to Macau from Hong Kong was very easy

The Turbojet ferry takes you there in one hour

Plenty of free buses between the hotels and the ferry port

There were always queues but they never lasted long

We were staying at 
The Venetian

They gave you a map when you checked in...this is the biggest hotel I have ever stayed in, it needs it's own map!!!

The hotel entrance is 4 lanes deep

"Dinosaurs Live" is the show on at the moment

 So they have a full size dinosaur in the lobby

 They have replicated Venice, the pictures do not do it justice...

It reminded me of The Truman Show

 They even have gondola rides

 and street entertainment

  Back in the main hotel all the ceilings were painted

  Did I mention this place is MASSIVE!!

Lost again

  The view from the hotel room is not great but we didn't spend much time there

 Rihanna is playing here next month and Justin in October

Out and about in Macau

We took the ubiquitous bus tour...and Why Not!!!

Plenty of art deco buildings, this one looked as if it is about to be restored

The old town felt like you could have been back in Europe with plenty of Portuguese influences

 It was only handed back to China in 1999

 You can Bungy jump from the top of the tower

Some of the other hotels in Macau

The MGM

 Afternoon Tea at the MGM

The Lisboa

 A fantastic looking building 

 The Lisboa reception 

The old Lisboa, looking a bit dated now

The Galaxy Hotel had a competition to win a GOLD Mini!!!

Some of the older hotels really shouldn't have bothered

Just so you know..you can't smoke in the Non Smoking areas!!

Some randoms photos of me and the wife

Daytrip to Shenzhen

Shenzhen

8th August 2013

Shenzhen is one of the most populous and richest cities in China. It is situated in Guangdong, on the Hong Kong border about 40km north of Hong Kong Central

Getting to Shenzhen from Hong Kong is relatively easy. You take the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) from central, you have to change trains a few times but is straight forward clean and cheap (40 HKD) and takes about an hour

They even have news on the trains

   Getting into China - You need to buy a 5 day visa at Shenzhen station, its a bit of a administrative process but not too painful. Fill in the visa application form and go to the first counter hand it over with your passport, go to the second counter and pay ¥403 then go to the third counter and collect you passport with the visa...you can now enter the Special Economic region of Shenzhen

They even have news on the trains

The wife had read the guide books and one said that you are 8 times more likely to get mugged here than in Shanghai so she was on her guard. There were the usual number of people offering to take you to shops or tours but nothing too intimidating

The Train Station

We decided to get our bearings first so headed to the Shangri La (opposite the train station) for a cup of coffee. We were not entirely sure why we were here or what we wanted to do. So we ended up just going for a walk

The Train Station

The Police

There are a significant number of shopping malls, all very much the same as everywhere else in the world and we ended up leapfrogging between them as 20 minutes outside in the heat was about as much as we could handle before heading inside for some air conditioning

After a day of wandering we headed back to the train station, where we were told, we would find the best market

This has 10 floors of separate units selling (I assume mainly fake goods) clothing, hand bags, watches, electrical items, paintings...and everything else in between.  I reminded me of the Silk Market in Bejing. You have to negotiate for everything and I'm sure I paid too much ¥200 for 3 Polo shirts

What I noticed was:

1) the quality is actually very good 

2) The attention to detail, it has all the labels and even the carrier bag is branded

Nappies, powdered milk and Yakult!! seemed to be very popular

Over all, the wife wasn't that keen on Shenzhen. I think she never let her guard down after reading to watch out for muggers. I found it reasonably clean, safe and modern and I think there is more to see and do here but this was only an exploratory visit. We will be back

Heading back home

The Boarder on the Pearl River Delta