Greetings all!
I recently got back from a two day trip to Macau. Those of you who have read Zack's blog may remember his post on our trip to Macau a few months ago. My recent trip was for a work outing and fortunately I got to see a few of the sights we missed on the first trip. A big thing in the Hong Kong company culture is the annual company outing. The associates place a very high value on what you do or where you go for the outing. The committee put together a great trip and everyone had a good time.
Macau, like Hong Kong, is a Special Administrative Region of China or SAR. Macau was a Portuguese colony that was handed back to China in 1999. These "SAR's" operate on what they call "one government, two systems" . What this means is that the People's Republic of China is responsible for defense and foreign affairs, while Macau and Hong Kong maintain their own legal system, police force, monetary systems and immigration policies. What this means for tourists is that that even though Hong Kong and Macau are part of China, you still have to go through immigration when you travel between China, Hong Kong and Macau. In order to go to China, you have to pay for a visa as well. Even locals have to have a separate identification card to travel between the countries. You also have to deal with three separate currencies - although in Macau they take all three currencies - HK$, Macau MOP$ and China's RMB.
Macau is about an hour away by a high speed ferry called a hydrofoil. These things are pretty wild. They are on these lifts that elevate the ferry out of the water in order to go faster.
We arrived around 11 am and there were four tour buses waiting to take us on a sightseeing adventure.
Our first stop was the A Ma Temple. This was a beautiful temple built up on the hillside. It is the oldest temple in Macau. It was constructed in 1488 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to commemorate Mazu, the sacred sea goddess who blesses the fishermen of Macau. It is said that the goddess was called Lin Mo, and that she was born in Putian City, Fujian Province, and was more intelligent than other children her age. She could predict good or ill luck and after her death she often helped merchants and fishermen ward off calamities and turn danger into safety.
The A-Ma Temple is a destination offering silence and spectacular views. The temple contains six main parts, all of which make up a series of classical Chinese architectural treasures, and this is all guarded by stone lions.
One of the things that happens to Caucasian tourists over here is that people want to take pictures of you. So suddenly, you are a tourist site. This happened to Zack shortly after we arrived in Hong Kong and several of my co-workers from the US and Great Britain have also experienced this phenomena. I am happy to say that I have also had the experience now. I was sitting on a rock wall at the temple, minding my own business, just watching the crowds and taking it all in when suddenly, two gentlemen sat next to me on the wall, while their third friend took our picture. They all took turns sitting with me and taking pictures. I happily obliged their request as they were quite friendly. I asked them where they were from and one of them told me they were from Indonesia. Silly me though, did not think to get a picture of them on my camera. Next time...
Here is a picture of a typical street in Macau. I thought the balconies looked pretty cool here.
We drove by a maternity wear shop that was called BIP - Baby in Progress!
Our next stop on the outing was the Macau Tower. The tower measures 1,109 ft in height from ground level to the highest point.
Even Pandas get in on the bungee action over here!
Here's a few shots from the observation deck:
After lunch, we got back on the bus and went to one of the areas where I had been on my previous visit. We visited the ruins of St. Paul's. All that remains of the church is the stone facade and staircase. The church was originally built in 1580. There were several fires and reconstruction over the years. When it was completed in 1637, it was the largest Catholic Church in East Asia at that time. Unfortunately, a violent typhoon hit Macau in 1835 and the church caught fire for the third time leaving only the facade standing.
Macau is known for a couple of food specialties. One of them is a Portuguese Egg Tart. They are very small - just a couple of bites - and they are sold all over the place in Macau and Hong Kong. They are quite tasty.
Another one is the Pork Chop Bun. It's a deep fried pork chop sandwich. The bewitching smell of pork chop bun is wafting through the air as you walk down the streets. Unfortunately, because we had just had a large lunch, I was unable to sample this delicious treat. I do like the sign they had at one of the shops
The Asians are also fans of different cured meats (as we are as well!). A popular item that is sold everywhere is what we have dubbed "sheet meat". They just have stacks and stacks of different varieties of meat. We did try it and it was pretty good.
Here's another fun sounding food spot we walked by - CURRY MONSTER!!
We then headed to our hotel, checked in and got some rest before dinner. We stayed at the Sofitel Hotel and it was very nice. I was most excited to sleep in a comfortable, fluffy hotel bed with lots of pillows. The bed in our apartment is VERY uncomfortable. It's very hard and our delicate bodies are used to the comfort of our sleep number bed at home. This bed did not disappoint! I wish I could have brought it back to Hong Kong with me.
This is the view from my window:
The hotel lobby was beautiful. When you looked up you saw this light filled tunnel. I didn't realize when I first saw it that the things going across were escalators.
Dinner was an underwhelming affair at a local Portuguese restaurant. Macau, being a former Portuguese colony, is supposed to have good Portuguese food. I don't know if it was the restaurant, or the fact that we had a set menu and couldn't order what we wanted, but it was just ok.
After dinner, a co-worker and I headed to the Galaxy Casino and Hotel. We had been told that it was "spectacular" to see and that we must check it out. Once we arrived, we made our way to the casino area. The strange thing was how bright it was. Not walking into 7-11 at 1 AM after having more than a few beers bright, but like someone forgot there should be some ambiance in a casino. I've always been a reluctant gambler and my usual M.O. in a casino is to spend about $20 on a slot machine, maybe up to $50 and then walk away. We were ready to leave when we came upon this slot machine that was calling our names:
I recently got back from a two day trip to Macau. Those of you who have read Zack's blog may remember his post on our trip to Macau a few months ago. My recent trip was for a work outing and fortunately I got to see a few of the sights we missed on the first trip. A big thing in the Hong Kong company culture is the annual company outing. The associates place a very high value on what you do or where you go for the outing. The committee put together a great trip and everyone had a good time.
Macau, like Hong Kong, is a Special Administrative Region of China or SAR. Macau was a Portuguese colony that was handed back to China in 1999. These "SAR's" operate on what they call "one government, two systems" . What this means is that the People's Republic of China is responsible for defense and foreign affairs, while Macau and Hong Kong maintain their own legal system, police force, monetary systems and immigration policies. What this means for tourists is that that even though Hong Kong and Macau are part of China, you still have to go through immigration when you travel between China, Hong Kong and Macau. In order to go to China, you have to pay for a visa as well. Even locals have to have a separate identification card to travel between the countries. You also have to deal with three separate currencies - although in Macau they take all three currencies - HK$, Macau MOP$ and China's RMB.
Macau is about an hour away by a high speed ferry called a hydrofoil. These things are pretty wild. They are on these lifts that elevate the ferry out of the water in order to go faster.
We arrived around 11 am and there were four tour buses waiting to take us on a sightseeing adventure.
 |
| Madness!! |
Our first stop was the A Ma Temple. This was a beautiful temple built up on the hillside. It is the oldest temple in Macau. It was constructed in 1488 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to commemorate Mazu, the sacred sea goddess who blesses the fishermen of Macau. It is said that the goddess was called Lin Mo, and that she was born in Putian City, Fujian Province, and was more intelligent than other children her age. She could predict good or ill luck and after her death she often helped merchants and fishermen ward off calamities and turn danger into safety.
The A-Ma Temple is a destination offering silence and spectacular views. The temple contains six main parts, all of which make up a series of classical Chinese architectural treasures, and this is all guarded by stone lions.
 |
| This man was beating on the large drum and someone else was ringing a gong |
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| There were several areas throughout the temple where people stopped to worship |
One of the things that happens to Caucasian tourists over here is that people want to take pictures of you. So suddenly, you are a tourist site. This happened to Zack shortly after we arrived in Hong Kong and several of my co-workers from the US and Great Britain have also experienced this phenomena. I am happy to say that I have also had the experience now. I was sitting on a rock wall at the temple, minding my own business, just watching the crowds and taking it all in when suddenly, two gentlemen sat next to me on the wall, while their third friend took our picture. They all took turns sitting with me and taking pictures. I happily obliged their request as they were quite friendly. I asked them where they were from and one of them told me they were from Indonesia. Silly me though, did not think to get a picture of them on my camera. Next time...
Here is a picture of a typical street in Macau. I thought the balconies looked pretty cool here.
We drove by a maternity wear shop that was called BIP - Baby in Progress!
Our next stop on the outing was the Macau Tower. The tower measures 1,109 ft in height from ground level to the highest point.
We first went to the observation deck where they have the world's highest bungee jump. Here's a video of someone jumping off. Check it out...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC7GbKOEVio
They also have something called Skywalk X, where people are tethered to the outer rim of the building and walk around the edge. Here is a picture of a couple, just hanging out on the edge....clammy hands anyone??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC7GbKOEVio
They also have something called Skywalk X, where people are tethered to the outer rim of the building and walk around the edge. Here is a picture of a couple, just hanging out on the edge....clammy hands anyone??
Even Pandas get in on the bungee action over here!
Here's a few shots from the observation deck:
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| Looking down |
We then went down one level for lunch. They have a restaurant called 360 Cafe which features a buffet of international cuisine. Now, as I'm sure you would guess, we have been eating a lot of Asian food over here. Well, imagine my excitement when I saw a selection of Indian food, naan and poppadom. I didn't look any further and went straight for that! It was quite good which was surprising because you usually don't get good food at this kind of tourist place. Funny story - as I was going back to my table with my plate of delicious food, I kept walking around and couldn't find my seatmates. It wasn't until later on that I found out the restaurant REVOLVED! I then saw the letters on the walls that indicated your section so you would know where to go. D'oh!
After lunch, we got back on the bus and went to one of the areas where I had been on my previous visit. We visited the ruins of St. Paul's. All that remains of the church is the stone facade and staircase. The church was originally built in 1580. There were several fires and reconstruction over the years. When it was completed in 1637, it was the largest Catholic Church in East Asia at that time. Unfortunately, a violent typhoon hit Macau in 1835 and the church caught fire for the third time leaving only the facade standing.
Macau is known for a couple of food specialties. One of them is a Portuguese Egg Tart. They are very small - just a couple of bites - and they are sold all over the place in Macau and Hong Kong. They are quite tasty.
Another one is the Pork Chop Bun. It's a deep fried pork chop sandwich. The bewitching smell of pork chop bun is wafting through the air as you walk down the streets. Unfortunately, because we had just had a large lunch, I was unable to sample this delicious treat. I do like the sign they had at one of the shops
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| Looks like someone took a bite! |
Here's another fun sounding food spot we walked by - CURRY MONSTER!!
We then headed to our hotel, checked in and got some rest before dinner. We stayed at the Sofitel Hotel and it was very nice. I was most excited to sleep in a comfortable, fluffy hotel bed with lots of pillows. The bed in our apartment is VERY uncomfortable. It's very hard and our delicate bodies are used to the comfort of our sleep number bed at home. This bed did not disappoint! I wish I could have brought it back to Hong Kong with me.
This is the view from my window:
 |
| Typical fishing boat |
Dinner was an underwhelming affair at a local Portuguese restaurant. Macau, being a former Portuguese colony, is supposed to have good Portuguese food. I don't know if it was the restaurant, or the fact that we had a set menu and couldn't order what we wanted, but it was just ok.
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| Carla come out and play! |
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| Lucky Panda Big Winner!! |
I will leave you with this shot of me and Gangnam Style Santa from the Galaxy Hotel lobby.
Hope you enjoyed the journey.
Love,
Carla
