Welcome to Macau

{Sunset Goddess Manila’s Reminiscing Macau 2008 Series. Click here for the TRAVEL GUIDE.}

The grand ceiling of the Venetian Macao

In 2008, I went to Macau for the first time. The trip was courtesy of a generous benefactor, who gave this treat t for me having just passed the Bar exams for lawyers.

We made our travel arrangements through Rakso Travel–I think partly because we didn’t want to be bothered with making the arrangements.We chose to go to Macau because at that time, it was still a not-so-common Asian destination. We flew via PAL.

Here’s me waiting for our flight to Macau in NAIA 2. Didn’t eat my Delifrance egg sandwich because it tasted funny (Note: Beware of sandwiches with mayo especially before the beginning of a holiday).

We stayed at the Venetian Macao, which at that time was still fairly new.

On the way to the hotel. At that time the City of Dreams was still under construction

at the entrance to the Venetian Macao

the lobby

One of the more remarkable things about being in Macau was that really, most of those in the hotels and restaurants were Filipinos, something that one won’t really experience anywhere else. From front desk officers to servers and cooks, one could experience the warmth of our kababayan, especially when one is wearing the Adidas Philippine flag jacket. =)

Now for pictures of our Royal Suite in the Venetian Macao (the hotel is all-suite and this is actually the most “basic” accommodation in the property). The decor is gilded gold & has that “muebles italiano” feel. Still very luxurious—I had no illusions of a boutique/ minimalist design 🙂