Macau, Day 1 (2009, Apr 17-18)

Macau, here I come! A long planned trip with 7 travelmates. A couple of times we had to revise the itinerary due to Airasia's on-off policy on the route. Had booked the tickets since 2008 May, our initial itinerary was Jakarta-Batam, Johor Bahru-Macau. But since October 2008, Airasia discontinued Johor Bahru-Macau route for whatever reason-only-Airasia-knows. Luckily we got promo tickets from Vivamacau by the end of October. It was a night flight and we reached Macau by midnight (around 1 in the morning). Well, it was special promo rate. What do you expect :)

The airport's runway was built on a strip of reclaimed land in the sea, adjacent to Taipa Island, where the main terminal and air traffic control facilities are located. The runway is connected to the apron by two causeways. From my window, I saw rows of brightly-lit casino towers welcomed us as we landed smoothly at Macau International Airport/Aeroporto Internacional de Macau/ 澳門國際機場.

Mr. Nice Guy had waited for us at the Arrival Gate. He's our travelmate's uni-mate. A very nice guy indeed so let's just call him Mr. Nice Guy. He even let us girls stayed in his apartment free-of-charge. We are truly blessed with great friends. Stayed overnight at his place before departed for Zhuhai the next day.

澳門國際機場

 Departed from Jakarta by 19.10 and reached Macau by 01.00 am local time.

Macau International Airport

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Macau-CIA_WFB_Map.png

The Macau International Airport's runway was built on a strip of reclaimed land in the sea, adjacent to Taipa Island, where the main terminal and air traffic control facilities are located. The runway is connected to the apron by two causeways.

Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China consists of the Macau Peninsula 澳門半島 itself and the islands of Taipa 氹仔島 dang4zai3dao3 and Coloane 路環島. Initially Taipa was connected to Coloane Island only by the Estrada do Istmo 路氹連貫公路; but the town Cotai, built on reclaimed land, has now essentially connected the two islands into one piece of land which is home to newly constructed mega-resorts, casinos, and convention and exhibition centers as of 2006. Taipa is connected to Macau Peninsula by 3 bridges (Ponte Governador Nobre de Carvalho Bridge/Macau-Taipa Bridge 嘉樂庇總督大橋 / 澳氹大橋, Ponte de Amizade/Friendship Bridge/New Macau-Taipa Bridge 澳門友誼大橋 and Ponte de Sai Van/Sai Van Bridge 西灣大橋. Macau Peninsula borders the Zhuhai Special Economic Zone 珠海經紀特區 in Mainland China. The main border crossing between Macau and China is known as the Portas do Cerco (Barrier Gate 關閘 guan1zha2) on the Macau side, and the Gongbei Port of Entry 拱北口岸 on the Zhuhai side.

Taxi Charge

Taxi Surcharge for Luggage

MOP 3 surcharge per piece of luggage in the taxi trunk.

Our room

 Since it was free-of-charge, the room was shared by 3 girls. Was a cozy room though.

Mr. Nice Guy's 3 Bedroom Apartment is  located at Taipa near Macau International Airport.

Living Room

Purple Apartment Blocks... I love the color :)

Purple Blocks

Turquoise Apartment Blocks

View from Kitchen

我的夢 My Dream

View from Kitchen

Us girls heading to Zhuhai Border.

Bus Stop Lane

Dump Truck

Streets of Macau