User:(WT-en) Marboy

About Myself:

Recent University graduate planning to travel around Asia before settling in a full-time job, like they say once your in a full-time job its impossible for you to find time to travel.

HotelsCombined has hired me to help spread the word about things to do in countries and cities I visit. You can see a list of hotels in Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Their engine searches for hotels rates across all major travel websites. It’s the most complete accommodation list I’ve come across for this area.

=Macau=

I am looking to travel to the following countries China, Hong Kong, and Macau, since basically they are all China yet unique in their own ways. China is just plain old China, Hong Kong with their British influence and Macau with their Portuguese influence. The budget for traveling will be tight since all the money for this trip will be from my part-time job during university. I plan on visiting Macau first since they call it the Vegas of the east, I decided this as the first stop because I might be tempted to gamble all my money left over if it was the last stop for my trip. The main strip of the Macau peninsula is lined with casino and hotels that stunning, most people visiting Macau are here to gamble especially Hong Kong residents since it only takes an hour by ferry between the two. While others are here to experience the beautiful Portuguese architecture left by the Portuguese influence which is prominent throughout Macau was my goal was since I cannot afford to travel to Europe. I planned my trip using useful information from the Macau Government Tourism Office which has useful information on Macau and Hotels Combined for hotels around Macau which would suit my budget. At the top of my must see is the Ruins of St. Paul, Temple of A-Ma, Kun Iam Statue followed by museums. You could say Macau is so small and actually you will be able to visit nearly every inch of Macau in one day, however you will not since their is so much to see in Macau since the Casino in Macau are truly amazing and will take up most of your time trying to visit each and everyone of them and the shopping in Macau is also simply amazing bargains everywhere to be found.

=Hong Kong=

The next stop for me was to catch a trip to Hong Kong, so I decided to catch a ferry and wanted the cheapest price I can find, I found that Turbo Jet provided the best deals for me, if you really want to save money make sure you plan your trip and secure tickets, since ticket prices vary depending on the time you decide to take a ferry. I also needed to find a place to stay in Hong Kong before arriving in Hong Kong or I would be walking from hotel to hotel looking for a place to stay. A sites that were useful to help find hotels in Hong Kong was Discover Hong Kong which is provided by the Hong Kong Tourism Board. It also had a lists of attraction and things that could be done while staying in Hong Kong.

=Taiwan=

After visiting Hong Kong I decided to make a stop over into Taiwan to visit some friends. It was not planned on my next itinerary however I was presented with a great deal when my friends from University that live in Taiwan offered to pay half of my airfare. Even though my friends live in Taiwan I needed to make sure that I would not break any Laws in Taiwan and researched what I needed to enter Taiwan as well as not breaking any laws by visiting Taiwan's Governmentsite. I also researched for the best and cheapest place to stay at while in Taiwan and found a few nice hotels, even though my friend offered me their lounge. I then booked a flight to Taiwan with EVA AIR, the flight would only take about one hour just about the same time form Macau to Hong Kong by ferry. So since I was in Taiwan I planned on visiting as much of Taiwan, starting with the worlds second tallest skyscraper the Taipei 101.

Taipei
First of many stops that I took while in Taipei, I was simply amazed at the sheer size of the Grand Hotel, the design of the hotel was simply stunning so simple yet so majestic this was reinforced when the hotel was lit up at night. I then went to the National Taiwan Museum to check out the library to see if they libraries in Taiwan was similar our ones, this also provide an insight of how different cultures have different views on the importance of education. I was amazed at the amount of people that were in there.

Hsinchu
Next stop was Hsinchu the oldest city in Northern Taiwan where my friend went to university at National Tsing Hua University before he studied abroad. The university was nicely designed and open which provide a good environment to study in. The transportation was exceptional good since there are extremely efficient bus serviced by hcbus right in front of the main gate that takes you straight to the trains. I asked my friend why there were so many hotels in Hsinchu even though Hsinchu was not a tourist spot, and he replied most people that come to Hsinchu are here for conference or business and leave straight after it has finished. Following on a quick stop at Taoyun where I went and enjoyed a day inside the Chung Cheng Aviation Museum which was an amazing site since they have an array of aviation history was breath taking.

Taichung
Driving from Hsinchu to Taichung was quite trip but made fun with a few of my friend stopping over in Miaoli, we ended up picking some amazing pieces of artwork on the way through. We were on a deadline to reach Taichung since we were heading there for a friends birthday at meeting them at Papa Mia Italian Restaurant, since she hasn't had Italian food for quite a while since from returning from overseas. We decided to that after the birthday party we were going to Fong Jia Night Market to look for some bargains before calling it a night. We had a huge day planned, first on the list was National Museum of Natural Science, followed by Taichung Winery so we can relax before we can admire the amazing artworks in National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts.

Hualien
I then proceeded to Hualien where another one of my friends lived and always say he is from the best city in Taiwan. I guess he is right I was amazed at the location right between Pacific Ocean and the Central Mountain Range. He wanted me to visit Hualien County Cultural Center to learn about the history and customs of Hualien, What I saw was quite remarkable the craftsmanship that was put into creating these sculptures at the Hualien County Stone Sculpture Museum which was located inside the center. He then asked me if I would like to join him on a Whale tour expedition I declined his offer since it was quite cold that day and also the fact I do not know how to swim was another factor. So for the rest of the time in Hualien I decide to enjoy the amazing scenery and food that they had to offer

Taitung
After a nice stay in Hualien I decided to head south along the coast not know my destination since I wanted to be surprised, I fell asleep in the car an by the time I woke up i was already in Taitung. Upon reaching Taitung my friend pull up into a hotel in Taitung, since he was quite tired from the drive. So the next day we headed to National Museum of Prehistory to learn more about the history of Taiwan.