CutiCuti: Macau Part 2

Assalamualaikum. 你好

Previous post (here).

Oleh kerana hari ni aku free dari sebarang aktiviti yang mau guna tenaga secara extreme...why not kasi habis entry for my Hong Kong trip; so I psycho-ed myself. Ndaklah nampak totally pemalas tegar stay rumah buat bodoh jak di kala weekend. 

Still cerita di Macau. Kunun buat tekateki mana next destination after Senado Square. Poyo sangat! UNESCO site yang sangat famous & landmark paling glamour for Macau. Beli fridge magnet memang mostly design bangunan tu.

Still drizzling masa kami menapak menuju destinasi tu. Kalau mau tunggu hujan totally stopped, risau pula ndak sempat explore other places. Orang pun super ramai, ada certain tempat tu crowded gila. Jalan pun serupa macam ikut traffic light, lems. Semua berpayung, comel! Aku jak refuse berpayung sebab rasa diri macho gila thus jalan tepi² kedai jaklah. Bosan ok sharing payung, jalan jadi lagi lambat. 

Few minutes of walking from Senado Square, akhirnya berdiri depan bangunan ni. One of the two buildings in Macau yang memang dalam wishlist. Alhamdulillah, Allah makbulkan! 

"Ruins of St Paul. First constructed in 1580, it was burned twice in 1595 & 1601. Reconstruction began in 1602 & completed in 1637. It became the biggest Catholic Church in East Asia at that time. But, the church caught in fire once more in 1835 when Macau was hit by a violent typhoon. And that was the time this church left its glory to history."

It's so easy to reach this site. Berlambak signboards; jadi hanya perlu peka & follow the sign. Aku ndak sempat bercinta sama signboard kali ni because we're running out of time. Furthermore, we didn't want to be stuck once more in a heavy rain. Sementara masih drizzling, baguslah teruskan perjalanan. 

This church was built with granites. The baroque facade is rich in ornamentation but with classic oriental characteristics. More info here.

We were supposed to walk up the stairs & visit Monte Fort; situated near this ruin. But because it started to rain again...we decided to leave the site. And continue our journey to the other side of Macau. Kita menyeberang via jambatan Macau!

Cepat² selca as of to avoid from being showered again. Bunda berduck face bagai, sungguh! And sila jangan berharap untuk ambil gambar without the orang²an as the background. Massive photobomb happened here. 

Once again, kejadian di Avenue Stars berulang. Dalam kami berselca dua beranak, posing sukajiwa regardless crowd di belakang; suddenly we were approached by a Korean. This time it's an Ahjussi. Offering to take our pictures. Macam² pose dia suruh kami buat ok! And later he asked his friend to take his picture with us. At first I thought, he will ask us to take his picture after taking ours...but when I said "Ahjussi, camera naenwa." he replied "Gwaenchanhayo". Aku pun sungguh rasa terhutang budi walau banyak gambar blur; kami belum habis posing Ahjussi sudah klik klik...I forgot how many times did I bowed & thanked him. "Kamsahapnida kamsahapnida". Fuh, nasib baik tau few Korean words untuk berbasa-basi. 

We were already at the facade when suddenly we heard the thunder. Ok, time to go. Simpan niat untuk explore jauh ke atas, insha Allah datang lagi one sweet day. Janji tu aku buat separa hati sebab memang belum ada intention to repeat Macau. Well, in few years to come perhaps. Who knows right.

And it rained just on time we reached the ground. Ramai gila orang jatuh di tangga tu ah. Kesian; untuk orang tua of course. But untuk yang muda mudi yang terlampau excited berposing? Aku ketawa dalam hati. Karma tiup, aku yang macam nangka ni pula jatuh bergolek. Lagi sungguh kesian.

Back to Senado Square once more, the sun came out. Panas terik! Aigoo main emosi betul lah weather Macau sama kami. That's St Domingo's Church behind me; the 31^st world heritage site of China.

"Constructed by the Spanish Dominican friars who worshiped St Damingo & Lady Fatima (a Portuguese goddess who represents Virgin Mary) in the mid 17^th Century. The church becomes one of the performing grounds of the Macau International Music Festival; held every year. Behind the church's main building, there is a small museum housing famous marbles & legacies of St Paul's Cathedral." 

Walking on the very street where my favorite Ji Hoo once walked. Told u, regardless where I am...jiwa Kdrama harus tersemat di hati.

The famous fountain in Senado Square. 

From here, we walked ahead heading to Grand Lisboa Hotel. It's the left turn u should take upon exiting the square. According to my itinerary, we're going to take the public bus from the bus stand in front of the hotel to The Venetian. Another Boys Over Flower filming location!! 

For the umpteenth times, heavy rain came after the sunshine! Lucky this time it poured soon after we reached Grand Lisboa! As we're pretty wrecked, we went inside the hotel. Pinjam restroom hotel mewah; the least we could do here. Mau masuk casino, duit nan ado. Jangan berangan untuk stay walau semalam kan. So kita buat yang termampu saja. Sob.

The hotel's interior decoration definitely put us to endless wow; just like what its exterior did to us. Amazed we were. Such intricate & detailed ornamentation. 

Other tourists joined us as well. The wind was so strong that no one dared to stay outside. The lobby area was a bit packed at this time. Yang berteduh dari hujan, yang memang ikut tour untuk explore this grand hotel, yang memang datang untuk berjudi...and that included yang masuk untuk tumpang ber-restroom. Eh?

Bunda & I had the same question as we passed by the reception area. Sangat curious! We looked at each other & started asking 

"How did they clean all those dangling crystal lights? Certainly they need weeks or months to clean those." 

Ouh such kepochi dua beranak itu kan.

Lavishly decorated restroom! Boleh tidur & menari golek² atas lantai! We spent more than 30 minutes in here. Berurusan itu ini...siap cuci muka bagai. Nasib lah ramai manusia masuk lepas tu, kalau ndak harus aku ambil peluang kasi kering jeans yang lencun tu. Imej kena jaga although chances to bumped into them again is highly zero. 

Siap berdandan, we went out only to be greeted by heavy pour. It has gotten pretty heavy. Angin makin kuat; siap ada bunyi macam orang bersiul. We waited for the rain to slow down a bit. The bus stand is just opposite the road (right side) but with such strong wind & lightning...we dare not to go. 

Few minutes of waiting, the rain suddenly subsides. Kami pun apalagi, lari pecut crossed 2 traffic lights in front. In the middle of the road, while waiting for the green light sempat lagi snapped gambar Casino Lisboa. Pantang!

View of the Grand Lisboa from the bus stand. Memang betul grand! The onion-dome can be seen from St Paul's Ruin tau. I wonder how it looks like during the night. Memang cantik; based on pictures yang orang upload. Dengan mata kepala sendiri jak belum menyaksikan. Gitu! 

We rode the bus #25X from the Praca Ferreira Amaral bus stand. Rain started pouring again as we hopped on the bus. Punah harapan untuk ambil gambar Macau Tower & Macau Bridge. Dari dalam perut bas cuma nampak kabus di cermin. 

Journey from Grand Lisboa to The Venetian took about 30 minutes. The bus dropped us at the bus stop just across the road from The Venetian. View of the picture is a passage to Hard Rock Cafe Hotel & City of Dreams.

Traffic was pretty slow but we managed to arrived within the time of arrival that I estimated when drafting the itinerary. I could say that public transportation in Macau is quite reliable. Based on my experience that is; considering I was there during the summer-rainy season. And not to forget, that guy at the ferry terminal did warned me traffic could be worst during the weekend; apalagi kami yang mau naik public bus ni. 

Fortunately I didn't buy his words. And chose to stick with my plan.

Finally, jejak kaki di tapak The Venetian. I climbed the very stairs Jan Di climbed in the drama. Just to meet her beloved 'cold-hearted' Gun Pyo. Whilst me, mendaki tangga demi menjejak 'foot prints' cinta hati ku si Ji Hoo. Parah!

Just how I always imagined it to look like. Perfecto! 

I entered the building with smile stuck on my face. When I first watch this drama, I asked myself...will I ever set foot upon this place. And years later, there I was! Alhamdulillah.

All this while, reading people blogged about either The Ruins or The Venetian caused serious 'damage' to my system. Let alone seeing all the beautiful pictures they attached to complete their stories. Berdarah mata! 

And now, I am jealous no more for I've had my chance. Both places pula tu aku dapat cover in a day! Syukran Allah for granting my wish. Dream big!

eryantierdabdulkarim