Now for my favorite part of our whole Hong Kong and Macau Tour! I actually like to explore historical places better than going through themed attractions. I feel more at home walking through old streets and districts. We woke up very early that morning to catch the ferry to Macau at 7:15am in Hong Kong’s Macau Ferry Terminal. The travel time took around one hour … I slept through the whole ride. We were already in Macau when I woke up :)

During our arrival at the Macau Ferry Terminal, we first went to their tourism office to get brochures and maps. We were told that it wasn’t necessary to change your HK$ to Macau Patacas since HK$ is widely accepted in Macau. In fact, the businesses there prefer it since 1HK$ has a set value of 0.97 Patacas, which gives them a little profit.

After going through the tourism office, we took the Venetian Macau Free Shuttle across the road (via an underground pedestrian walk). Almost all casinos and major hotels in Macau have free shuttles, you can just hop on even though you’re not planning on staying at the hotel or playing on the casinos … just don’t tell the driver that, though. You can actually do an entire tour of Macau without spending a dime on transport.

Urban Views of Macau aboard the Shuttle to Venetian Macau

The shuttle took us all the way to Venetian Macau in Taipa (across the bridge). Before exploring this humungous hotel and casino, we left our baggage at the concierge (complimentary). The hotel interiors are equally as impressive as how its exterior grandeur. We walked through the grand corridors to the Shoppes Canal, undoubtedly the Venetian Macau’s most famous attraction.

I was actually shocked to find out that the Shoppes Canal is totally indoors! I always thought that it had an outdoor setting. I was surprised to find out that the sky (that I see in pictures) is just a painting over curved ceilings.

Most of the shops are high-end … but good thing they have affordable dining options, since we were already starved after all the walking.

After filling up, we then went to their casino to play some slot machines. Before entering, one of the casino attendants stopped us and requested to take a look at my sister’s passport. We were surprised and was wondering what could possibly be wrong. Since the attendant didn’t speak fluent English, she didn’t bother to explain why she stopped us for the passport. She continued … taking a close look at my sister’s passport… did some mental calculations for about 15 seconds, returned the passport with a smile, and directed us to enter. We later realized that she must have thought my sister was a minor and not allowed to go inside the casino, we just laughed because although my sister is short and looks young for her age, she’s already an accomplished doctor.

If time permitted, we could have spent an entire day in the Venetian Macau just to take pictures but we wanted to visit more places to visit in Macau so we had to move on to our next destination, Senado Square and the famous Ruins of Saint Paul Cathedral in Mainland Macau.