MACAU | Of dragons, treasures and City of Dreams

Still reeling from the excitement brought about by our earlier visit to the grandiose Venetian Hotel, we cheerfully made our way outside, amid light shower of rain towards our next stop, the City of Dreams.

Getting to the City of Dreams from the Venetian Hotel is as easy as scoring cheap tickets during a seat sale; you just have to drag yourself across the not-so-busy street. After that, four towering buildings of steel and glass surrounded by a lush garden harboring a refreshing fountain in the middle will welcome you. From hereon, it’s just a matter of a few steps until you reach one of the entrances to this sophisticated hotel.

Two smartly dressed doormen greeted us with a smile and opened up the doors to the casino. Since we don’t have a clue where the “FREE” Bubble show – our only reason why we went here in the first place – was located we asked one of the doormen where it was. It turned out he’s a Filipino so we didn’t have any trouble drilling him for directions.

Following the directions of Kuya doorman, we took the path to the left, passing by a large spherical water installation called The Bubble Fountain as well as a number of high-end boutiques and finally ending up in front of a ticketing booth.

The supposed-to-be free show

Being the organizer of this Hong Kong – Macau trip, I took the initiative to ask the lady manning the booth where the FREE Bubble show was. To my dismay, she told me that The City of Dreams was not offering any free shows called the Bubble show and asked me if what I meant was the show inside The Bubble Theater instead.

Confused, I asked her again just to make sure that we were on the same page – I was pretty sure there was a free show, having come across it during my research prior to the trip – but she still insisted that the only show being performed inside The Bubble Theater was the Dragon’s Treasure. Tsk tsk tsk. So much for hoping to watch a free show! LOL!

Since we were already there, we just chose to watch the Dragon’s Treasure instead. And good thing we did because the show was  mind-blowing! Every single cent of the HK$50 we shelled out for the ticket was worth it.

With tickets purchased, we spend the 5 minutes waiting time taking pictures and reading the summary of the show. Soon, we were heralded by a couple of male ushers inside a large dome theater.

A jellyfish-looking chandelier suspended on the ceiling caught our attention as we stepped inside the softly lit dome theater.  It kept bobbing up and down for a few minutes before being replaced by a colorful spaceship-looking light fixture with matching water sprinkles on it. These kept us entertained as we wait for the show to start.

Anticipation and excitement made butterflies in my stomach as the lights inside the theater turned dimmer by the second.

Melancholic music filled the air as the show finally begins. The spaceship-looking lantern came out once again, bringing with it cascades of water curtains while different colors played out in the background. Slowly, the 360-degree domed theater came to life as 4D-images of the  Chinese zodiac swirled around and came to view. Then came the golden dragon and the shower of coins.

To summarize it, “Dragon’s Treasure” revolves around the magical world of  four Dragon kings as they explore the mystical powers of the Dragon Pearl. With state-of-the-art CG animation, mind-boggling special effects and sweeping musical score, Dragon’s Treasure will surely take you on a journey that exceeds the limits of imagination.

We had a blast watching the entire show. I have never seen anything like it before and it made my inner child giddy with glee. It was  just so amazing that we couldn’t help but to utter excited shrieks every now and then. LOL!

It was indeed an out-of-this-world cinematic experience; a CG animation on steroids! =)

Anyway, here’s a video clip of “Dragon’s Treasure” so that you will have an idea how fascinating the show was. Special thanks to my friend and travel buddy, Zeigmund Kua, for taking this awesome video.

PS: Kindly ignore our annoyingly excited voices in the background. =)

————————————————
City Of Dreams
Estrada do Istmo
Cotai, Macau
Tel: (853) 8868 6688
Email: contactcentre@melco-crown.com

6 Days Hong Kong and Macau Adventure. March 7-12, 2012. A series of articles featuring my first overseas trip in Hong Kong and Macau, with Cess, Zig, Ate Bhing and Kuya Jorge.

+ Day 0 – HONG KONG | Touchdown to Hong Kong
+ Day 1 – HONG KONG | The noodles, the tram and the foggy Victoria Peak
+ Day 1 – HONG KONG | Madam Tussaud’s Wax Museum
+ Day 2 – MACAU | The Venetian Hotel
+ Day 2 – MACAU | Of dragons, treasures and City of Dreams
+ Day 2 – MACAU | The Grand Lisboa
+ Day 2 – MACAU | The historic Largo de Senado and the iconic St. Paul Ruins
+ Day 2 – MACAU | The Fortune Diamond Show at The Galaxy Hotel
+ Day 2 – MACAU | The pimple encounter and the Wishing Crystals

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 Joanna Jane Liwag