Sunset on the bus ride to Macau:
Not too crowded - yay!
A quick two hours later, we pull into Macau, exit Chinese territory, and go through customs to Macau. That was an experience. Customs and immigration are almost always a pretty orderly affair. Stand in the right line, no cameras, no cell phones, no jokes, answer their questions, and then you're on your way. Not here. We went through Chinese immigration to exit the territory as usual - but before we could enter Macau, we walked through...a shopping mall. Jewelry, cell phone covers, chocolates, and other random trinkets were hawked for sale as we're trying to decode the signs to which way actually points to immigration.
A mall? Or immigration?
Macau is a fascinating place, which I'll admit I was pretty ignorant about prior to this trip. There appears to be some historical disputes about when Macau belonged to whom, etcetera, so here is the quick run-down. A Portuguese colony since 1530s, Macau was the last European territory on continental Asia until the handover to China in 1999. As such, it has this amazing blend of Portuguese/Mediterranean influence while being a territorial area of China. I'm really enjoying China and exploring all the nuances and treasures the country has - but a little touch of Europe was so lovely.
Because it was my Love's birthday and life is too short not to use hotel points, we splurged and spent some of those hotel points he accumulated over years of travel, and spent the first night in the Grand Hyatt Macau. We may have dropped a line about it being Husband's birthday (totally true!) and our honeymoon (pretty much true! We moved right after the wedding and have been on-the-go ever since!), which resulted in a chilled bottle of Vinho Verde Spumante waiting in our room and a decadent chocolate cake/brownie/amazing dessert delivered later. WOW. The weekend could've ended right there and it would've been enough.
Delish treats:
Macau is geographically a few different areas - there is what I'll call "main Macau" and that's the northernmost point, right after you enter from China. Then there are two bridges connecting south to Taipa and Coloane.
Map:
We were staying near Taipa, right after you cross the bridge. Taipa hosts what can be called the new Vegas part of the territory - and it's also host to the old Taipa Village! So a mix of glitzy, huge, way-more-over-the-top-than-Vegas hotels, just a ten minute walk from cobblestone streets, hundred-year-old colonial houses, back alleys that look like they were just plucked out of Portugal...amazing. Needless to stay I was pretty much overloaded in joy and sensory absorption the entire time.
We went out to the Grand Lisboa Friday night and enjoyed a Portuguese chicken dinner before heading over to the MGM Grand. I should mention that November 15-18 is the Macau Grand Prix, and the city had already set up racing stands, road barriers, and so on.
Race stands & barricades:
We went to the Leo Bar at the MGM because we heard there was a great live band. The band was on a break when we got there, so we started chatting with the guy next to us. He was in town for the Grand Prix, and knew pretty much every driver, racer, and team and kept us entertained with racing stories from all over the world (not a sub-culture I knew much about before, but pretty fascinating).
Saturday morning after a hike out for breakfast and some pool time, we were plotting our next move. We hadn't booked more than the first night in Macau, so we could play it by ear and either leave early for Hong Kong, or stay another day in Macau. After a great first day we decided to spend Saturday in Macau as well, which turned out to be an excellent decision. The Hyatt unfortunately was full Saturday because of everyone coming into town for the race, so Husband found another hotel he could use points at and we packed up our bags and walked 10 minutes down the road to the Conrad. We kept the winning streak going and again mentioned the birthday/honeymoon weekend. Turns out the hotel only opened six months ago, and the woman checking us in said that since it was our first time staying there, she went ahead and upgraded us to a suite. WHAT!? Incredible. We're not even paying a dime for this room! She showed us up to our amazing room and my mouth dropped. Don't know if I've ever stayed anywhere as fantastic:
We wanted to see the Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral, and headed down to see if the concierge could write down the address for us in Mandarin to show the taxi driver. Not only did the concierge know our names already (!!!) but to our delight, he informed us there is no point in taking a taxi anywhere on Macau - just take the free shuttle buses that every hotel/casino offers to every other hotel/casino! He showed us which casino was closest to our destination, and from there to walk 10 minutes off the main square. Love it.
Bus depot (similar ones at each hotel):
Husband was charged with navigating us from the casino to the ruins. We hopped on a local bus for part of the way, and later trekked in and out of twisting back alleys.
The journey:
On the right track!
And it was so worth it - this beautiful square opened up, and we found the ruins up on the hillside, along with a fortress higher up that was once used to defend Macau from attacks by sea.
Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral:
From our friends at Wikipedia: "Built from 1582 to 1602 by the Jesuits, the cathedral was one of the largest Catholic churches in Asia at the time, and the royalty of Europe vied with each other to bestow upon the cathedral the best gifts. With the decline in importance of Macau, which was overtaken as the main port for the Pearl River Delta by Hong Kong, the cathedral's fortunes similarly ebbed, and a fire destroyed it during a typhoon in 1835. The Fortaleza do Monte overlooks the ruins. The ruins now consist of the southern stone façade—intricately carved between 1620 and 1627 by Japanese Christians in exile from their homeland and local craftsmen under the direction of Italian Jesuit Carlo Spinola—and the crypts of the Jesuits who established and maintained the Cathedral. The façade sits on a small hill, with 66 stone steps leading up to it. The carvings include Jesuit images with Oriental themes, such as a woman stepping on a seven-headed hydra, described by Chinese characters as ' Holy Mother tramples the heads of the dragon'. A few of the other carvings are the founders of the Jesuit Order, the conquest of Death by Jesus, and at the very top, a dove with wings outstretched."
Fortress:
Our luck with cabs had not been great up to this point, so we left the fortress an hour early to catch a cab for our 8pm reservation at Cafe Fat Siu Lau in old Taipa Village (recommended by our friend the concierge, after the first two restaurants from the guide book had no reservations). Macau smiled on us then, and a 15 minute cab ride later we pulled up to the cafe. Everyone on Macau is so kind and happy and so genuinely warm. The staff here were no different. We pulled up and four people met us outside, showed us our seat, and brought out menus with scrumptious-looking pictures. It was actually a bit hard to order because I couldn't decide between eight dishes. Ha! Eventually we went with Macanese chicken with curried vegetables (when in Rome...) and spicy African chicken (DC folks - it's like Nando's Peri-Peri chicken!) The food was amazing. The service extraordinary. The Portuguese wine (Alamagrande) was so light and crisp. Just an amazing evening. After dinner we strolled around the old town, ducking down alleys, poking into cute little shops.
Old town:
We came across this group of tourists, struggling a bit to get their group all in one self-timed photo. I offered to take the picture for them, and then they started waving excitedly at us. Their guide translated that now they wanted a photo with us in the picture - awww! We learned they were from Hong Kong and loved America and a few of them shouted out random US places they'd been - "I love Michigan!" "I was in Kentucky last year!" - and we told them we were heading to HK the next day. It was such a cute exchange and the day and night had been so perfect in Macau... I may have started crying.
One of the other spots I really wanted to find before we left was The Taipa Houses Museum - a group of preserved homes from years gone by. As luck would have it, our meandering led us straight there.
Houses lit by streetlight:
The lighting and clouds behind this tree and cross are just crazy - in person, it was very dark and I didn't even see the clouds until the photo was on my computer!
A view back at Vegas-land across the lake:
An absolutely enchanting evening. We walked around the lake, and through the Venetian to get back to our hotel. In the casinos here, there are very strict about not taking pictures. You cannot even have your cell phone out on the casino floor. It's too bad because half-way through the casino, there was a group of tango and ballroom dancers performing and they were so talented and fun to watch.
I absolutely loved how charming Macau was and how kind everyone was - good thing it's only a two hour flight from Bangkok. More to come on Hong Kong!
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