Macau

Tuesday 18th August - Our planned fast ferry from Hong Kong to Macau was, and before we knew it, we'd walked from the ferry terminal to our hotel, the Casa Real (Casino, like most in Macau) and checked in. If the room was anything to go by, this place knew how to impress. More on that later.

This is my second country on this trip, and my second bilingual one at that. Hong Kong was Cantonese/English but Macau is Cantonese/Portuguese.

For dinner tonight we went to the Fisherman's Wharf for a wander, expecting to get a feel for 'old Macau'. Fisherman's Wharf sounded historic, but what we experienced was like getting stuck on a movie set or the Trueman Show - everything around us was fake and recently built. It was a weird feeling. Not a thing out of place, fake palms and piped muzak made everything just too perfect such that it was weird.
Macau might not have soul, but Amanda had it for dinner. Her sole came with lemon sauce at the Portuguese restaurant we stopped at for dinner, complete with a jug of Sangria.

From Fisherman's Wharf, The Sands Casino dominated and so, 'when in Rome', or in this case Macau, we went to have a wander through the casino. Does this place have the "World' biggest chandelier"?

The majority of the tables were Baccarat, but I tracked down the only craps table and had a couple of bets before I was reminded why it's called craps. It's what you say when you lose.
I don't really 'get' gambling, but hoards of mainland Chinese obviously do, which has fuelled the masive growth of Macau in the last decade. It aims to rival Vegas, but doesn't have the 'feel' or authenticity that Vegas has. Vegas has a 'strip' of casinos and lots of shows, many of them free. Macau seems to have the glitz, but no real heart.
On arriving in Macau, you are greeted by a big ugly 'volcano' apparently. It is just a brown monstrosity and I was unable to ascertain if, like the Vegas volcano it copied, it is meant to errupt and is just broken, or if someone forgot the important bit that makes it a volcano and not just ugly.
A martini nightcap on the roof-top bar of the Rocks Hotel on the Macau waterfront rounded out a pleasant, even if Disney-like evening.

We're here for two nights, so today is our full day to explore.
Catching our first of many buses today, we went to the main square of the old Portuguese part of town. We wanted to get as far away from the "fake" and casinos as we could. Beginning with the centuries old ruins of St Paul's where only a facade remains,

we toured the Macau museum, giving us a history of it as a Portuguese colony, not just a gambling grotto for Chinese.

A surprise lunch of kaiten sushi, gave me the smallest baby octopus I have ever seen. Most fish have a minimum size limit, but not poor octopus.
Time now to walk off our lunch and boy did we do that. Along the waterfront through the local's areas we passed tradespeople from rope sellers, mechanics and clusters of pungent prawn peelers.

Eventually we arrived at the temple of A-Ma.
Another local bus from here took us to the tip of Coloane. Macau is really 3 islands - Macau, Taipa and Colane, all joined by bridges or causeways.
The little town here was so removed from the bussle of Macau it was a respite. We purchased the obligatory local delicacy of egg custard tarts and sat by the waterfront to enjoy them. It seemed to be a storm water outlet, so it wasn't the most pleasant place to sit, but we could look across the water and see mainland China and ponder what adventures it might hold for us tomorrow.
We wandered along the waterfront and then explored some quiet backstreets and laneways, all the time with the place to ourselves. Sometimes it doesn't take too much to escape the madding crowd.

I didn't mention the weather in Hong Kong, but since arriving, it's been hot and humid, and Macau is no different.

We caught buses, (More than we should have, but that's a joy of travel.) to the ferry pier to book tomorrow's ferry to China, before walking back to our hotel. This walk was easy, because of an elevated walkway, but apart from that walkway from the ferry terminal, Macau is one of the most pedestrian un-friendly places I've seen. Great for cars with elevated ramps and minimal lights, but a nightmare for cyclists or pedestrians.
On the subject of quality of life, I'm not sure what people in Macau do when they want to throw a frisbee or kick a football. Even New York has Central Park, but Macau is devoid of parks, even in the non-casino areas. It must be a strange existence.

For dinner tonight we chose a restaurant in the hotel before heading out. WOW! What is it with investors that they can build a beautiful hotel, but forget to staff it with professionals? Our meals were cold and raw! No one offered us a drink other than the water glasses they kept topping up.
We walked to the Grand Lisboa Casino for a wander and a drink, but not a bet tonight.
Our efforts at ordering a drink were met with blank looks from the muppets behind the bar, even though we were pointing to it on the cocktail list written in Chinese. They rang someone, who came and made it with lime cordial instead of juice. Eventually we got our Kamikaze with vodka, Cointreau and lime juice just like it should be. Why is it so hard? This is not rural Tibet, yet.
Tomorrow morning we waited over an hour for our room-service breakfast and when it did arrive it was cold.
Here's a shop I thought you'd like
Thursday 20th August - Today we travel from Macau to Lijiang in Yunnan provence China.

What adventures await? Will they even let us in?
All this and more in my next blog - Lijiang and a trek through Tiger Leaping Gorge.