We had at most 2 hours to rest in our rooms at Ponte 16 after our afternoon visit at A-ma Temple. We need to rest and re-fresh as we’re going to one of the popularly known resorts in the Macau, the Venetian Macau. It’s the sister hotel resort of the same casino resort in Las Vegas but this one is bigger. In fact, it’s the largest single structure in the whole of Asia and the fifth largest in the world. Talk about extravagance.
We found ourselves back at the Cotai Strip for the Venetian Macau. From a distance, the Venetian shines with its exuberant structure lighting, also shimmering on the reflecting waters. Our coach dropped us off at the entrance. It was really cold inside, which seems to be the case with any other hotels in Macau. We were given free time to roam around for at least an hour since the Cirque du Soleil show would be starting at 8 in the evening.
Our guide, Joao, led us through the lavishly detailed resort interior. Everything seemed to be glowing like gold. We passed through the busy casino grounds were photography isn’t allowed. We made our way to this grand center hall/lobby where every hallway seem to connect. Luxuriant is all I can say. From here on we explored on our own.
The Sun Luca Canals is where the sky is always sky blue anytime of the day and the canal waters never seem to run dry. Of course they are artificial, a recreation of the famous scenic canals of Venice. They say it’s similar to the ones in Las Vegas except that here in Macau, they have 3 canals. Well I went around following the San Luca Canals then entering the corners through inner hallways to find anything interesting only to find myself on the same spot where I was. Well everything looks nice but it’s all glitz.
The Cirque du Soleil on the other hand is another story. I got there early to find some of the guys already sitting there by the floor, probably tired from roaming around as well. Cirque du Soleil or “Circus of the Sun” is a famous entertainment circus show with several shows around the world running on different themes. Here in Macau, we have “Zaia” a story or a young girl in a spectacular world of flying bears, planets, stars and otherworldly creatures.
Zaia is one spectacular show that I really enjoyed. No wonder it has a steep price tag on its tickets costing from the cheapest MOP$ 388 to the VIP MOP$ 1288. The show was really engaging and the music just brings out the right mood. I would watch it again given the chance. Charina of GMTO Philippine had seen this show a few times and said that each time they would change a few parts and sequences.
For late dinner we went back to the Old Taipa Village neighborhood where Antonio Coelho’s restaurant Antonio Restaurant (See Happyfoodies.com) can be found. It’s where we got to taste his cooking using the ingredients he bought early this morning at the Red Market. It was a great dinner performance to end the evening.
Ferdz Decena is an award-winning travel photographer, writer and blogger. His works has found print in publications such as Singapore Airlines’s Silver Kris, Philippine Airlines’ Mabuhay, Cebu Pacific’s Smile and Seair InFlight. He has also lent his expertise to various organizations like the Oceana Philippines, Lopez Group Foundation, Save the Children and World Vision, contributing quality images for their marketing materials.
