With seven times more revenue than Vegas, Macau is the new, clean, high-end, high stakes Vegas!
Friday afternoon after school, we hopped on a ferry and rode 65 kilometers (40 miles) west of Hong Kong to the island of Macau. Macau has a rich unique history as a Portuguese trading post. In the 1550s, Portuguese traders first settled Macau, which stayed part of the Portuguese empire until December 20th, 1999 when it reverted back to China.
Our first day in Macau, we took a tour of the old Portuguese area.
Our tour guide took us to visit the Lin Fong Temple (where the Portuguese governor was assassinated in 1849), the Kun Iam Temple (built in 1627), and the A-Ma Temple (where the island of Macau got its name because the Portuguese misunderstood the name of the island to be the name of the Temple).
Aliya was not so fond of the incense.
This table in the Lin Fong Temple garden was where the first friendship and trade treaty between China and the US was signed in 1844.
Then we took a tour of the old city wall,
where Asher enjoyed playing on the canons, trying to shoot the Casinos in the distance
Just below the old city wall, lay the ruins of St Paul’s Church (a 17th century Jesuit church that was destroyed in a kitchen fire in 1835).
After exploring the historic ruins, we meandered the old, narrow lanes of Macau for the sights, tastes, and smells of today.
Then off to the top of the hill to see the bungee jumpers leap from the Macau tower.
Our last stop on the tour was the A-Ma Temple, constructed in 1488 during the Ming Dynasty. Asher and Aliya were successful at making the water vibrate in the bowl, so now they will have good luck!
Later that evening, we were lucky to get tickets to see the amazing “House of Dancing Water”- a truly unique, completely water based, acrobatic diving show extravaganza! Think Cirque de Soleil on water with a Chinese influence! In fact, the show was created especially for the City of Dreams hotel in Macau by Franco Dragone, the director of Cirque de Soleil.
The stage is a giant water tank, with floors that move in and out. The most amazing scene was at the beginning when the floors opened up and an enormous pirate ship rose up from below with pirates leaping and flipping and diving off of it.
Although the show was a highlight, I think the kids favorite part of the whole weekend was our hotel – the Sheraton Macau – which is the largest Sheraton in the world with 3,896 rooms.
Asher and Aliya particularly enjoyed their kid themed room, with bunk beds, kid sized bathrobes, a Wii stocked with games, a box full of gummy bears and cookies, and kid bath accessories in the bathroom.
They also really liked the Dreamworks themed parade that went through the halls of the hotel shopping area every day at 3pm. Asher and Aliya loved how all the characters came up to them and gave them hugs/high-fives.
One of the things that surprised me about Macau was how clean and upscale it was. Every high-end fashion store was there. Even ones for kids!
I also really liked the sculptures that looked like balloon animals
On a cold and wet Sunday, before catching the ferry back to Hong Kong, we decided to go over to the Venetian Hotel
and have the kids run around and play at the Cube – an indoor playspace for kids.
The weekend was truly a magical one, filled with history and entertainment for all of us!