Macau (Macao)

With the end of the summer holidays coming to an end we thought it was a good idea to take a few days and go visit Macau. It's very easy to get there, Paul had a couple of days off and timing just worked really well. It's about 50 mins from HK by ferry, which go every 15 mins or so.

So Monday morning we got up, packed and headed off to the Ferry terminal - with passports as you still need to go through passport control !! Last time Paul and I went was for about 8 hours so no luggage, this time we had a suitcase.....for 2 nights....needed all bases covered obviously !! The ferries were full - I thought we'd be able to turn up get tickets for the next trip and away we'd go - that's what happened last time. We got there for 10am - ferry was at noon. That's ok - went to the coffee shop (aka Starbucks).

There were alot of people heading to Macau so the ferry terminal in HK was busy. There's a couple of options for the other end at Macau - Taipa which is the close to the centre of town or the Cotai Strip - which is where we were staying. We stayed at The Venetian which I understand it to be the 4th largest building structure in the world - it is HUGE !! There's 3 canals - complete with gondolas that you can go for a ride in, 330 shops, 3,00 suites and of course, the casino !!

This was our place of abode...the outside view is just from one side...

.....wandering around the shops....someone wasn't happy....

....one of the four pools. The girls just love being in the water but this particular pool was more like a warm bath - not what you really wanted when the temp was about 32 degrees....Victoria has just grown in confidence with being in the water and this trip she thought it was a great joke to put her face in while floating.....impressive....

....and for the kids is 9,000sq foot indoor playarea. There were 3 slides - Hannah could go on two of them, Victoria was too little so she had her own area to play in.....they had to wear the blue uniform.....

One of the highlights for me was to go wandering around the center of Macau. It was under Portugese rule until 1999 and then handed back to China - similar as to that of HK. But the European influence is everyone - standing in a square you could be anywhere in Spain or Portugal. Street signs are in both Chinese and Portugese and more commonly with English added. It's just so vastly different to that of HK and they were under British rule until 1997 !!! Some sights....

...in the foyer of the Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino - it's very art deco....


...the Largo do Senado (Square of the Senate) in the heart of Macau


....a side street off the square

......the Church of St Dominic



.....Ruins of the Church of St Paul

There's alot more to see and do in Macau. Hopefully we'll get back to do some more exploring. And yes, Paul and I got to the casino......but wasn't our lucky night !!

Meet the teacher

I know that I haven't written in a while but a month ago - NOW that is slack. I have abit of catching up to do...

Today I took Hannah to school to meet her new teacher. Monday is the start of not only the new term BUT the new year - to me a strange concept as doesn't the school year start in January !! It seems quite logical as January is the first month. She has moved up to reception class, where they really start focusing on getting them ready for school. She is no longer a Ladybird but a Barn Owl!! She is in the same classroom as last year but has a new teacher - Miss Tracey. Many of her friends are in her class so I don't think Monday will be too traumatic for her. She has her own hook for her school bag and was so excited about that. I think it's going to be a good year for her. I got told that they've changed the way that they will be teaching Mandarin and instead of once a week for 30 mins they're now going to be doing it twice a week !! Plus Hannah attends a story and craft session once a week which is completely in Mandarin. I've noticed since she started this there are the odd words of mandarin coming out - see I know mandarin Mummy !! I have NO clue if it's a real word or a made up word !! but if she's comfortable using them that's fantastic. The real beauty of it is that she has an echo !! We must be doing something right.

Photos and summer update next up.