DAY 1 ~ Historic Center of Macau

Day 1 of our Macau Trip is a tour of Macau's Historic Center.

We are staying at the Sofitel Macau at Ponte 16 which was located just a short stroll away the Ruins of the Church of St. Paul, Senado Square and the Museum of Macau.

It was an easy walk through the side streets of Macau.  We simply followed the crowd.

It was an uphill walk to the Ruins of St. Paul.  It was a nice walk though, the street is lined with stores selling souvenirs, branded clothes and shoes and stalls selling local sweets and delicacies.

Tips: The best place to go "pasalubong" shopping.

Highly recommended are: egg tarts (simply the best I have tasted), sweets from Koi Kei and jerkies (there are dozens of flavors to choose from, try as many flavors before buying).

Finally reaching the tourists' magnet Ruins of Church of St. Paul

The Church of St. Paul was the biggest Catholic Church in East Asia at that time.  However, it caught fire during a violent typhoon in 1835 leaving just the facade standing.

Next beside the Ruin is the Museum of Macau. It is the biggest museum in Macau. It is located in the famous Monte Fortress, in the heart of the city and where the Portuguese first set foot. 

The museum is classified into three: (a) the Origin Macau's Civilization, from the Neolithic period to the mid 17th century, which is known as the 'Golden Period' of Macau; 

(b) Popular Art and Traditional Culture, which showcases Macau's traditions, culture and way of living; and

(c) Contemporary Macau
 

After visiting the museum, visitors may have a walk on walls of Monte Fortress, where one can overlook the whole city.

From the Museum of Macau, we walked  a bit and reached the Senado Square (Largo do Senado).

Too bad we had to miss the  A-Ma Temple and the Camoes Garden and Grotto.  Another day touring the Historic would have been great.

Follow my post on our Day 2 in Macau ~ Visiting Taipa Village and Casino Hopping at the Cotai Strip.

Dating My Ex (Macau Style) ~ SOFITEL MACAU AT PONTE 16

I spent 4 days and 3 nights with my Ex (now husband) in Macau.  Yes, it was difficult to leave my boys with my parents and I got a bit guilty, but later figured they will be fine (they are big boys now and besides, it was after all just 4 days).  

We flew via AirAsia and arrived at the Macau International Airport (MFN) at 11am.  RT Airfare originally cost P5500, however, I wanted a relaxed leg room and decided to pay extra (which rounded up to an additional P500/way) for "hot seats".   It was one of the best decisions we've made on this trip.

After touch down, we made our way to buy a local phone sim, since this mommy was dying to call check on her kiddos.

  There are various local brands to choose from (you can easily buy through a vendo-machine or approach the tourist travel desk located near the airport exit gates) and ended up buying this brand.  Service was good, but can't compare really since it was the only one we tried.

Macau is divided into 3 areas: the Peninsula, Taipa and Coloane,  reclamation created a 4th region which is Cotai (where most of the new casinos and hotels are located).

We decided to stay a night at the Peninsula and 2 nights at the Cotai area. 

There are free Casino shuttle buses outside, but all were far walks from the hotel we were staying at, so we simply took a taxi cab (cost us about HKD 100).  

Traffic was a breeze and we found ourselves inside  the Sofitel Macau at Ponte 16, which is our accommodation for our Day 1 in Macau. 

The facade of Sofitel Macau is very unassuming and modest, it falls shy in contrast to the other grand hotels we've passed by on our way from the airport, but the moment we came in and were ushered to the Executive Club floor level ~ everything levelled up (big time).

Service was splendid, from the time we stepped out the taxi cab, up to the moment we left the hotel the following day.

(I tell you the hotel itself was reason enough to go to Macau. We should  have never left for Cotai and should have just stayed in this area).

Let me tease your eyes with our fabulous upgrade suite

(we were celebrating our 15th wedding and my husband's birthday;  and front desk, gifted us with this wonderful-wonderful junior suite).

Our JUNIOR SUITE is huge at 72sqm. with a magnificent floor to ceiling waterfront view. 

It has a King Size bed, 37" LCD TV, DVD player, WIFI, Hermès bathroom amenities, spa bath pillow and free Smartphone service (which was very handy when touring Macau on DIY).

Look at the bed set up?   It was so pretty I pondered on just sleeping on the sofa.

The free to use smart phone (sorry can't take this one home)...

Full coffee and tea making facilities, or you can easily visit the executive club lounge area for free flowing brewed coffee...

Basic stuffs inside the closet :P

Yes its true Hermes toiletries...

Huge clean bath ~ separate toilet, rain shower and bath tub.

What about a movie while enjoying a hot bath?

They have thought of everything.  I don't want to leave anymore.

There is also turn down service "chamomile tea" with free laundry service for your first day soiled clothes...

The SURPRISE does not end there though :P

As if the huge upgrade was not enough, we also received these delicious treats...

They bake the BEST cake! 

My husband and I fought over the last piece (but of course he won, it was his birthday).

The BEST Truffles...

This box is ALL MINE!

The BEST macaroons.

Wow, we have only been in Macau for half a day ~ and I must have gained a pound (or more already).

We also have club lounge access with buffet breakfast, evening cocktails.

The lounge area..

We had afternoon tea, before touring Macau. 

We had the option of taking breakfast at the Club Lounge or the hotel's main dining restaurant the Mistral.  We decided to eat at the Mistral since it has a view of the hotel's pool, which I wanted to check out.

Breakfast with my "pogi" Ex...

Food tastes great as expected.  I think my husband had 3-4 full rounds.

The hotel pool is equally grand.  It lights up at night too as seen from our hotel window. So unfortunate we only have a night's stay. 

If you are looking for a hotel you can call home in Macau, I highly recommend staying at the Sofitel. 

You will definitely love its location ~ just a short stroll away the historic city center; the charm of the hotel and warm service of it's people (Kudos to Nikkole and his team, you guys made our vacation truly special).

SOFITEL MACAU is located at

Rua do Visconde Paco de Arco

999078 Macau

Tel: (853) 8861 0016

Fax: (853) 8861 0018

 E-mail: h6480-fo9@sofitel.com  

Touring MACAU starts NOW ~ please follow our Macau Adventure:

• Day 1 - Historic Macau 
• Day 2 in Macau ~ Visiting Taipa Village and Casino Hopping at the Cotai Strip
• Day 3 - Fisherman's Wharf, Grand Prix and Wine Museum and Macau Tower

Hotel Review: Osaka's Airport Hotel - Hotel Nikko Kansai Airport

It was an early morning flight out of Kansai to Manila for us; And the worrier Mama in me (too scared to be late for our flight), made me decide to book our last night in Osaka at the Hotel Nikko Kansai Airport. 

This hotel is a full service hotel, connected to Kansai Airport Terminal I.  It is near impossible to miss your flight from here (And if you are a sound sleeper, you can make use of a wake-up call just to make sure).  From Kansai Terminal I building take the lift to the 2nd floor and take Exit D or E.

Hotel Nikko will just be in front of you...

My boys kidding around (lol)

And directed to the hotel lobby on the ground floor.

Check in was easy.  

It took me only a minute or so and was immediately handed out our room keys.

Our room for our last night in Osaka is a Super Triple Room about 29sqm in size.

It fits three semi-double sized bed and comes with an air-humidifier and flat-screen TV.  There is also a complimentary WiFi, but I prefer using the one we rented via Klook, which was a lot faster than the hotel's.

Bathroom amenities were very good too...

The sachet facial wash and cleanser made their way to my hand carry bag.

Most of the available channels were in Japanese though, but that was fine since we were only there for the night and will be leaving early the next morning.  Besides, we were too exhausted from all the walking we did in Osaka (80+kms according to my eldest who was monitoring our walks) to even bother watch something on TV.

Look what's on TV... "Pokémon".

(Note: My eldest did a bit of Pokémon hunting in Osaka and was fairly happy with his catches).

After check-in, we toured the airport's department stores/outlets for last minute "budol" shopping.  However, I still ended buying most of my take home stuffs from inside the restricted area (after airport check-in).  I have compared prices and it most items sell cheaper inside.

Dinner was at  KYK Tonkatsu which was one of the best Tonkatsu I have tasted.   

Food is really so good, it deserves a separate write-up and a wonderful way to end our tour of Osaka's tasteful cuisine.

Breakfast which was part of our hotel package was at the Brasserie.   It was nice that breakfast was spread as early as 5am, giving us ample time to prepare for our 9am flight.

Breakfast was buffet-style and consists of Japanese and Western dishes using domestically produced ingredients.  Food is wonderful.  I love that everything is fresh and nicely prepared. 

We had awesome stay at Hotel Nikko Kansai Airport and could only wish for at least another day's stay. 

We will definitely miss Japan.
 
For booking inquiries, visit Hotel Nikko Kansai Airport website:
HOTEL NIKKO KANSAI AIRPORT


For travel tips, please check and follow our Osaka
and Tokyo adventure: 

>>>OSAKA JAPAN - SAYING HELLO TO TAKOYAKI
>>>TOKYO JAPAN - HELLO JAPAN