Results tagged “Hotels” from East Asia 2017

Slept through til 07:11 which was nice. Definitely a good comfortable bed.

We went down to Festiva again for breakfast.

Then we packed ourselves up and checked out around 10:45. Went outside and hopped on a shuttle bus to the Taipa ferry terminal. At the terminal we went in (it was 11:15) and got tickets for the 11:30 ferry. A very quick trip through immigration and pretty much straight onto the ferry.

Our ferry back to Hong Kong
Our ferry back to Hong Kong

The ferry trip was pretty grey. We passed between Lantau Island and Cheung Chau. And then we were back in Hong Kong!

Hong Kong from the ferry
Hong Kong from the ferry

Getting through immigration was nice and simple, but getting out of the ferry terminal was not. You end up in the middle of a shopping centre with no clear exit. Even when we found a way outside, you end up on Connaught Road with no way to cross it! This city is really not very pedestrian friendly, unless you happen to know your way around shopping centres and know where all the internal overpasses are. Mind you the city is not very car-friendly either, as all the little streets turn into car parks for most of the day. I don't know how people stand it. Anyway, after battling our way along narrow footpaths, and giving up and walking along the road for half of it, we ended up at the hotel.

The room is small but adequate (bed is tiny haha). They nicely provide an android phone for local calls and data, although it's locked down so you can't just tether your own devices to it (well maybe you could if you looked hard enough). But it was useful for maps and browsing.

Our room in the Butterfly Hotel
Our room in the Butterfly Hotel

View from our hotel room
View from our hotel room

After we'd settled in we headed out for a late lunch. As is tradition we went to Dim Sum Square for crispy pork buns!! (and other things too). There was a small queue outside waiting to get in. One of these days the restaurant is going to move again to somewhere much bigger..

Happy hour, save water, drink beer!  Sign outside a pub on Wellington St
Happy hour, save water, drink beer! Sign outside a pub on Wellington St

Crispy pork buns at Dim Sum Square
Crispy pork buns at Dim Sum Square

After lunch we hopped on a train to Causeway Bay to go see a movie. Our Octopus cards still had a bit of money on them, and it was kinda cool to know exactly what we had to do to get there, even knowing which direction to go without looking at a map. Of course at the other end it's a different story, because once again we had to negotiate shopping centres. In the end I found a concierge desk and asked where to go.

The movie we saw was Martin Scorcese's "Silence" about Portuguese Jesuit priests in Japan in the 17th century. I found it difficult to watch mainly because I don't know what I'd do if I was tortured for my faith. They also had a scene shot in Macau, where we'd been literally yesterday.  That was pretty surreal.  A good, but quite long movie.

After the movie we took a train back to Sheung Wan. Picked up beer and chips at a 7-Eleven for dinner, because we're classy like that. Washed hair and in bed by 21:00.

Stu and Karen at Times Square in Causeway Bay
Stu and Karen at Times Square in Causeway Bay

Times Square, Hong Kong
Times Square, Hong Kong

After getting to bed at midnight local time, 03:00 our time, I woke up at 04:00 with hurty and that kept me awake for an hour. But got back to sleep and slept through til 08:00. The bed is very comfortable although the pillows are super squishy. On the desk there's a couple of multi-style power outlets which take all our devices without needing adapters. Stu has an outlet by his bed but I don't. There's a multi-style shaver outlet in the bathroom too which lets me put a nightlight in there. The nightstands also have little nightlights underneath them so you can see the ground if you need to get up when it's dark. Quite handy. Somewhat annoyingly the carpet is mostly brown except for these big dark brown butterflies which makes it look like there's something there that you need to not trip over heh. There's a little room with an ice machine and a drinks and snacks vending machine.

Also, our room is "city view" which is north-facing towards the peninsula. Except. Just north of here are a whole stack of apartments taking up most of the horizon, so you can only see about three buildings of the city. We'd probably have been better off with a view of the rest of the hotel complex. Also the glass is about five layers thick and highly reflective on both sides, so all lights get reflected back and forth which really kills photos. Oh well.

View of Taipa from our room at the Galaxy Hotel, Macau
View of Taipa from our room at the Galaxy Hotel, Macau

Panorama of our view towards Taipa from our room at the Galaxy Hotel, Macau
Panorama of our view towards Taipa from our room at the Galaxy Hotel, Macau

After getting up at 08:00 I downloaded the previous day's photos and GPS track and wrote up a blog entry. We were ready by 9:30 then headed downstairs to one of the restaurants in the complex that's attached to the hotel. We didn't have breakfast included with our room, so it was 160 MOP each extra (plus an extra service charge hrmm). But we did fill up on lots of nice food which means we can skip lunch.

After breakfast we had a wander around the ground floor of the complex, looking at the shops and even going into the Apple store.

Model of the Galaxy Hotel complex, Macau
Model of the Galaxy Hotel complex, Macau

11am sound and light water show in the Diamond Lobby of the Galaxy Hotel, Macau
11am sound and light water show in the Diamond Lobby of the Galaxy Hotel, Macau

Came back and got ourselves ready, the headed out to Coloane. There's a bus (26A) which leaves right outside the hotel to go down to Coloane for 4 MOP each (actually 3.60 but they don't give change - you just drop coins in the slot by the driver when you get on for the price indicated on the electronic readout. I guess it'd mean if you lived at one end of the run and only wanted to go a short way you'd still need to pay the full fare for the whole length of the trip. If you lived at the end of the run you pay less).

Front entrance of the Galaxy Hotel, Macau
Front entrance of the Galaxy Hotel, Macau

At Coloane we hopped off the bus and then just wandered. We came across Lord Stow's quite quickly, so went into the "garden" and ordered three of their famous Portugese egg tarts as well as some drinks. The tarts were indeed quite good.

Lord Stow's famous egg tarts
Lord Stow's famous egg tarts

Then we just wandered up and down the water front looking across to China, at the St Francis Xavier church and a couple of temples.

Largo do Matadouro street sign
Largo do Matadouro street sign

Stu looking at the view across the water to China
Stu looking at the view across the water to China

Coloane waterfront
Coloane waterfront

Portuguese pavement of a ship
Portuguese pavement of a ship

Chapel of St Francis Xavier
Chapel of St Francis Xavier

Eduardo Marques Square
Eduardo Marques Square

Lion outside Tin Hau temple
Lion outside Tin Hau temple

Tin Hau temple
Tin Hau temple

Tin Hau temple
Tin Hau temple

Inside the Chapel of St Frances Xavier
Inside the Chapel of St Frances Xavier

Then hopped on another bus back to the hotel (5 MOP each on the way back).

Except I didn't go all the way back to the hotel. I hopped off outside the Parisian and had a look at the Eiffel Tower and then inside the lobby. Wow. Epic. I thought I might see how much it was to go up the tower, so started following the signs. I got led on a very long walk through all the shops which was super annoying. When as it turned out, the lift just off the lobby would have taken me straight up. The price was 100 MOP to go up ($20) but because it was such a grey and murky day I didn't bother.

Eiffel Tower outside the Parisian Hotel
Eiffel Tower outside the Parisian Hotel

The Parisian Hotel
The Parisian Hotel

Lobby of the Parisian Hotel
Lobby of the Parisian Hotel

Lobby of the Parisian Hotel
Lobby of the Parisian Hotel

I tried to find a way through the hotel over to the Venetian but it was all too hard so just walked around the outside. The Venetian is also pretty insane, but so big I had trouble finding the canal. I think it follows the path of the shops, but by this time I was a bit over it and just wanted to get back. I tried to find a way to the western lobby so I wouldn't have to walk all the way back outside and around but they certainly don't make it easy. In the end I had to walk through the casino to get there.

St Mark's Campanile outside The Venetian Hotel
St Mark's Campanile outside The Venetian Hotel

Rialto Bridge outside The Venetian Hotel
Rialto Bridge outside The Venetian Hotel

The Venetian Hotel
The Venetian Hotel

Lobby of The Venetian Hotel
Lobby of The Venetian Hotel

Lobby of The Venetian Hotel
Lobby of The Venetian Hotel

Lobby of The Venetian Hotel
Lobby of The Venetian Hotel

San Luca Canal, The Venetian Hotel
San Luca Canal, The Venetian Hotel

The Great Hall in The Venetian Hotel
The Great Hall in The Venetian Hotel

The Great Hall in The Venetian Hotel
The Great Hall in The Venetian Hotel

Came back to the hotel and chilled out for a while (at this point I'm up to 13000 steps!).

Then we went downstairs and had a wander around the rooftop resort area with all the pools. There's a bit of a wind-tunnel between the buildings which makes it super windy in places. I'm not sure there'll be any time to go for a swim though.

Pool on the rooftop of the Galaxy Hotel
Pool on the rooftop of the Galaxy Hotel

Gardens on the rooftop of the Galaxy Hotel
Gardens on the rooftop of the Galaxy Hotel

The Galaxy Hotel
The Galaxy Hotel

Water rapids course on the rooftop of the Galaxy Hotel
Water rapids course on the rooftop of the Galaxy Hotel

Wave pool and beach on the rooftop of the Galaxy Hotel
Wave pool and beach on the rooftop of the Galaxy Hotel

Then we went across the road to wander through the old Taipa village. We ended up at a place called Corto for dinner and had their suckling pig stuffed with rice. It was nice, but the skin was a little burnt in places. I guess that's just the way it's done, but I didn't like the burnt bits. The rice was awesome though - lovely flavours and quite smokey. We also had a cabbage dish flavoured with fish which was quite nice.

R. Gov. Tamagnini Barbosa streetscape
R. Gov. Tamagnini Barbosa streetscape

Baked Stuffed Suckling Pig w/Rice Portuguese Style at Corto Portuguese Restaurant
Baked Stuffed Suckling Pig w/Rice Portuguese Style at Corto Portuguese Restaurant

Stopped in at a 7-Eleven on the way back to pick up some snacks (so I have something to eat in the mornings in the several hours I have to wait for breakfast) then back to the hotel.

Galaxy Hotel entrance by night
Galaxy Hotel entrance by night

It was about 19:30 at this point and I'd really wanted to go for a wander around the area at night to see the casinos all lit up, but I was just too exhausted, so collapsed into bed early (like 20:30 early).

Had a fairly civilised first flight of the day - 09:00. So we woke up at 6am and got ready, and Chrissie arrived at 07:00 and we were out the door by 07:10.

Had a spot of breakfast in the Qantas club before boarding. And saw "Airforce 2" on the taxiway as we were boarding.

Stu and Karen on the plane at Canberra Airport
Stu and Karen on the plane at Canberra Airport

Sadly planes were taking off to the south, so our seat on the left side of the plane didn't give us a view of Canberra city.

Looking towards Melbourne CBD
Looking towards Melbourne CBD

We arrived at the gate in Melbourne exactly one our after leaving the gate in Canberra.

In Melbourne, security was pretty quick, although Melbourne should follow Canberra's lead and have lots of convenient benches before and after security to organise all your stuff. The space after security in Melbourne is very pretty much non-existent which makes it a bit awkward to repack your bags.

Immigration was completely boring - you just stick your passport in the machine, have your photo taken, then dump your passenger card in a box.

Our next flight was due to board at 10:30, so we went straight to the gate. But after standing there for half an hour they finally made an announcement that there was a problem with one of the cargo doors they were looking at, and it would be another 45 minutes before we boarded. So we high-tailed it out of there and went for a drink and snack in the Qantas club. Much more relaxing. In the end they didn't board until 13:00 with pushback at 13:27 - over two hours late.

Karen at the Qantas Club at Melbourne Airport
Karen at the Qantas Club at Melbourne Airport

On the flight I had tortellini for lunch which was quite nice, but quite filling. Later on they had noodles for a light dinner. With icecream and fruit in between.

I watched Moana first up. Nice enough movie, not sure how it'd stand up to repeated viewings. It was visually stunning though, would be nice to watch it on a bigger screen. Stay for the end - shiny! Next up I watched La La Land. Which to be honest for the most part I found really .. boring ..! The songs just didn't grab me and the whole first scene I'm going like "what's the point?". Meh. I did like the camera work on some of the scenes though - lovely long takes reminiscent of the old school days of movies. Next I watched Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them which I enjoyed. Little references here and there to the Harry Potter world (including a teensy bit of John Williams' score), but able to stand on its own. Finally I watched three episodes of season 10 of Big Bang Theory.

Given that we were two hours late leaving, we landed in Hong Kong at 18:47 local time - only an hour late. At the airport we headed to the Macau ferry ticketing area to get tickets for the 21:00 ferry to Macau. Then had to sit around the airport for an hour which was a bit boring. But not for as long as if our flight had been on time! Sat next to a super annoying Vietnamese guy who was facetiming his girlfriend but he wasn't really talking (and neither was she), he just had her on video with the volume up really loud so all the background noise was super loud and annoying. In the end we moved to a much quieter spot.

At 20:30 we were able to catch the people mover to the ferry terminal. We had allocated seating on the ferry (they gave us seats at the front but on opposite sides of the aisle, with noone in the window seat) but the ferry wasn't full so I took the window seat next to Stu. The ferry ride was a bit boring - it was dark and rainy so there was really no view. Took a bit over and hour to get to Macau (would have been quicker if we hadn't had to do a go-slow because of the airport extension work going on). Then a bit of a walk to the arrivals hall, and we walked in to chaos. A couple of ferries had arrived at once so there was a room full of people. It was *somewhat* organised but a bit stressful getting through immigration (and sadly no stamp for the passport). Then to go pick up our bags. It's a little bit nerve-wracking because you never actually see your luggage when you get off the plane. You give the ticket office your baggage receipt from the airline and they go and get your bag and put it on the ferry. So it's a little bit scary wondering if your bag will turn up. Fortunately it did, as if it hadn't we'd have had to spend the next couple of days shopping for clothes, which is noone's idea of fun.

The hotels all have shuttle buses from the ferry terminal, so we went out and across the road to find ours. The relatively short drive to our hotel took us past the Parisian and the Venetian which are pretty over the top themselves. Finally we arrived at ours, and really the whole place reminds me of Vegas. Absolutely over the top. Just insane. Checked in and came up to the room. But it was nearly midnight so we just had some noodles from the mini bar and the single beer (complimentary mini bar, as least on the first night) and collapsed into bed.

Diamond lobby of the Galaxy Hotel, Macau
Diamond lobby of the Galaxy Hotel, Macau

Our room at the Galaxy Hotel, Macau
Our room at the Galaxy Hotel, Macau

Bathroom in our room at the Galaxy Hotel, Macau
Bathroom in our room at the Galaxy Hotel, Macau

Toiletries in the bathroom of our room at the Galaxy Hotel, Macau
Toiletries in the bathroom of our room at the Galaxy Hotel, Macau