Macao/ Macau 🇲🇴

I spent two days of my Chinese New Year Holiday in Macao, and I loved it!

A brief history…

Macao is a sovereign state of China. It is a peninsula and island area. It was leased to Portugal in the mid 16th century, from what I read, to help protect the country of China from pirates. In a treaty in the 1880’s gave Portugal the occupation and governance over Macao (depending on whom you ask). Then December 1999, Portugal transferred Macao back to China. This made Macao a Special Administrative Region. Macao has it’s own currency separate from China or Hong Kong. It’s national languages are Chinese and Portuguese. I understand why it is called the Las Vegas of Asia. There were so many casinos.

Altira Hotel 🏨

5 out of 5 starts. Totally recommend! I loved this hotel! The lobby was on the top floor (38th). You could look over the water. There was a wonderful spa (that I will fully take advantage of next time I’m there) with an infinity pool that was ranked in the top 10 by Forbes Magazine. The bed was so soft (okay, I’ll be completely honest, it could have had some mild give and I would still say that it was softer than a cotton ball… my mattress is like sleeping in a sleeping bag on wet ground). It had wonderful turndown service, that was rather shocking for me. I wasn’t expecting jazz music as I got back from taking pictures at the Venetian and the Parisian. I ordered Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict and French Toast. Super delicious.

Traveling through Macao

We didn’t stay away from the casinos. I didn’t win big, because I didn’t play lol! We ate lunch at one of the smaller casinos (City of Dreams, I think). It was traditional Cantonese food. We were able to watch one of the chefs pulling fresh noodles. We walked over to the Venetian and I was in awe of all the western stores (specifically Lush, Bath and Body Works, just because i wasn’t expecting them at all). Navika and I may also have gotten lost in the mall part.It was so pretty to walk through at night. I took so many pictures with the lights. When I walked out of the Venetian, there was a light show playing on the building (very similar to the newer Disney World Castle shows). Thursday, we walked to the Ruins of St. Paul’s and the Macao fortress. Everything was decorated for New Year and it was beautiful. I’m already planning my next trip.

Note** Coronavirus: every place I went to took temperatures of everyone entering. They won’t let you enter/ travel with anything above 37.3* C. I wore my mask except for taking picture, promise.