HKG Airport direct to Macau with only 1 immigration process.

This is how to bypass going through 2 immigrations on arrival if you are planning on going to Macau.

When you finally land at HKG, DO NOT GO THROUGH IMMIGRATION AFTER LANDING but instead, look for the E2 Transfer Desks. Walk over to the Airport Direct Bus to Macao – HZMB bus ticket desk. This is the SkyPier Terminal Transfer Coach service. There you can buy your ticket (Child & Elderly $210HKG ($38CAD); Adult $280HKG ($49CAD)) and they will retrieve your baggage via your baggage receipt from your boarding card.

The gate to the bus is around the corner from the ticket desk where you will have to show your tickets once again. Once through the gate (when it opens for your departure time) you’ll go down a long escalator to the people mover which will take you to baggage reclaim at Sky Pier. Collect your baggage (there will be an attendant who will handle your baggage) and wait (1 luggage pp). Board your bus and go. In Macao, you go through immigration then take a courtesy bus to one of the hotels.

This bus crossing is the world’s longest sea crossing bridge-tunnel system stretching 55KM.

There is a cheaper option via the HZMB Shuttle Bus (also known as Golden Bus) but you will need to exit the airport to take it.

Booking Teamlab

You can purchase tickets in person as it isn’t as popular as the ones in Japan or you can purchase online via their website or Klook

Macau – Restaurants & Food

I didn’t have enough time to try all these restaurants but all came highly regarded especially if you are looking for an authentic Macau experience tasting Macanese food. The Macanese language is nearly extinct but pockets such as Macau, try to maintain their culture and language as much as possible. You would think Macanese food would just incorporate a fusion of Portuguese and Hong Kong style cuisine however when the Portuguese were sailing the seas, they also grabbed influences from African, Malaysian and Indian cultures creating the fusion you see today.

04/07/25

YYZ – TPE – HKG – Macau

21°C in Taipei, 21°C in Hong Kong

The day of transit galore. Toronto – Taipei – Hong Kong – Macau.

I flew with my parents overnight via Eva Airlines from Toronto. We had a quick stopover in Taipei (sort of quick security check once again for transfers) and made it to Hong Kong for 830AM. 

Landing in Hong Kong, we were able to transfer into Macau without going through Hong Kong immigration by going directly to the E2 transfer bus desk in arrivals. We took the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge bus via SkyPier Terminal Transfer Coach service.

You get a sticker you need to wear and another to place on your checked bag. The boarding gate is just around the corner past the SkyPier terminal ferry service. You scan through and go down the Escalator and take the SkyPier terminal train. The terminal train feels kind of like the Spadina streetcar underground portion. – short and sweet.

We arrived at the SkyPier and it was nearly empty. Our checked bags came down the belt and a porter took them to the bus for us. Turns out it is also super quiet and basically a private ride for the 3 of us. It was a really foggy day so everything fades off into the distance. 45 min ride over covering 55KM.

After going through Macau Immigration, we walked over to the left side of the port to catch one of the complimentary shuttle buses that transfers you to different casinos at no extra cost.

Macau is known as Asia’s Vegas and even has similar structures. We stayed on the Taipa side (south side) so we took the shuttle to the Venetian Macao and walked from there to our hotel. Waiting for us on arrival to the Venetian, my brother Andrew (who resides in Thailand and is the first to join for this trip). We walked to our hotel and of course with European influence, some cobblestone roads which is horrible for roller luggages to go over but also some really slow outdoor moovators.

We stayed at the Asia Boutique Inn. We walked over to our hotel to drop off our things and hit the ground running. First things first – food – more specifically cha chaan teng.

A trip to Macau / HK isn’t a trip without going to a cha chaan teng (hk style diner). With an ode to the older era in decor, Macau Cha Dong 馬交茶檔氹仔 is a modern day cha chaan teng. We ordered the Pork chop bun x2, Portuguese baked fish in tomato sauce, ice coffee and hot hk milk tea x2 all for 159MOP ($28.43CAD) for 4 people. All were great flavours and also very light especially the baked rice and porkchop bun.

With food in our bellies, we walked back over to the Venetian Macao specifically to the Cotai Expo – Exhibition wing (it’s a super far walk if you are coming from the west lobby, go up the Escalators, make a right and continue past reception until you reach) where Teamlabs SuperNature is located. (MOP288- $51CAD). There are 2 additional rooms that require additional cost to visit (we did not go). I have only experienced the outdoor Botanical TeamLabs in Osaka, Japan so this was a fun treat for myself and to take my parents to. The perks of going to Teamlabs in Macao over Japan is there is less of a crowd and if you wanted, you could purchase tickets day of in low season. This location also requires closed toe shoes so no wading in water like the Tokyo counterpart.

My parents liked the experience. One of the rooms covered in the original ticket price was closed though and they didn’t mention it was. We also couldn’t find the floating flower room (which is an extra cost) but we didn’t even know how to stumble upon it. My favourite room was called the Infinite Crystal Universe.

When we finished our TeamLabs experience, we walked back to the west lobby at the Venetian and took the casino shuttle to sands Macao (the north island). We walked over to the Fisherman’s wharf that is designed to look like the Coliseum in Rome and is right by the water.

Being the person who likes walking everywhere and with my parents agreeing (which they later regretted) we walked 45mins instead of taking the bus to visit the location where my mother’s former childhood home was.

Some of her family members visited a few years back but and took photos of their former home however this time, we weren’t as lucky as the family home was torn down with only remnants  of its existence remaining. The street sign, the facade of the back door and segments of tiles that showcase different sections of the old home remained. It was an incredibly long 2 floor house unit where the front of the house (Facing the main street) was rented out and the top floor had extended family living in it.

Close by to my mother’s childhood home are the Patane Houses (colourful row houses) – similar to what my mother’s house would look like. We made our way to the iconic ruins of St Paul and climbed up the steps to the top. We walked over to Senado Square to take in the views and bought some fresh jerky.

Finished off our night with dinner at Belos Tempos (老地方) to try Macanese dishes. We got Lingua Indiana (beef tongue with yeoh tiew in sauce), African chicken wings, Tacho (they gave us a smaller portion but it was still pretty big), pork minchi w rice & cod fish cake 607MOP (108.54CAD) for 4 people. The food was good and had distinct flavours. I think the Lingua Indiana was my favourite dish.

We hopped on a bus to head back to the hotel. Last stop was to Rua do Cunha. We got Portuguese egg tarts at the OG Lord Stow’s Bakery – 1 tart for 11MOP, 6 tarts for 65MOP or 12 for 130MOP. I also got the taro ball oolong milk tea from Mutsin 沫鮮 33MOP.

04/09/25

Macau – 21-23°C

We started off the morning exploring the Coloane village area, the southernmost part of Macau.

We went to Lou Van Fai Kei Restaurant 路環輝記美食茶座 – a locals frequent spot for breakfast. We arrived at a weird in-between time so many items for dim sum were sold out and other items were not available until 10AM.

We ordered steamed chicken, steamed meatballs, steamed ribs, pineapple bun w butter x2 (super light and fluffy), half a chicken and tea 130MOP.

The original Macau location of Lord Stow’s Bakery is located in Coloane. We walked around the Coloane Village area with it’s yellow European styled buildings mixed in by the water and then made our way back up to the Taipa area.

The bus is rather convenient (6MOP) and the route we took to Coloane from Taipa basically showed us all the ginormous buildings around the island such as Studio City, the Londoner, MGM, the university etc.

Back in Taipa, we walked through the Wetlands in Avenida da Praia where there is a walking path within the wetlands showing great contrast of massive casinos on one side and old 1921 built colonial house in a green hue that are the Taipa houses.

We walked through the former Iec Long Firecracker factory site before making our way to lunch. We ate at Wengo Coffee & food. We got oxtail tomato soup w macaroni x4 + hk milk tea x2 & 1 ice coffee 173MOP. The restaurant is cozy but busy.

After lunch we wandered around the Taipa area and well, it’s a small place and we walked the entire area fairly quickly. We went back to the hotel and rested for a bit.

For dinner, we went to Restaurante Litoral Taipa. We ordered the baked duck rice 148MOP, roasted pork knuckle 180MOP & Stewed Monk fish w/rice 258MOP. The baked duck rice was my fave – smoky and lightly sweet and the rice in the clay pot got a little crispy like the classic clay pot rice dish. This place is a little pricier and also hits you with a service fee. This is definitely a touristy spot but the flavours were pretty good.

We finished the night with fig & honey as well as hazelnut + port wine ice cream from Macalhau.