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Published: September 5th 2008
Well, I had 2 intentions prior to my visit to Macau. The first was to take in the architecture (given the strong Portuguese influence of years past and the Chinese gambling culture of today) and the second was to jump off the Macau tower, the highest sky jump (on a wire not a bungee cord) you can perform in the world. Craig, on the otherhand, had limited interest in either pursuit but was happy to tag along in the hope of doing yet more shopping!
I really enjoyed the place. Macau is probably not the spot to spend more than a day or two, unless you are very keen on spending excessive hours in casinos, but I would recommend a quick visit for anyone staying a while in Hong Kong.
I loved walking around the city. The ruins of St Pauls were breathtaking, as was the walk from there up to the fort in 30+ degree heat and very high humidity! The landscape is a mess of the old and the new, the European and the Chinese, and the very poor abutting the excessively rich. The Grand Lisboa Casino (the big gold place) stands out along with the Macau
tower (same design as the Sky Tower in Auckland).
The city centre was just like stepping into any Spanish or Portuguese city - and Craig and I were lucky to receive a free history lesson from a local Catholic school teacher keen on ensuring we saw all the great sights of the city. Of course, once she determined we were not Catholic, the number of sights to see decreased markedly - there are a disproportionate number of cathedrals in Macau. We did, however, drop into a couple of cathedrals and a monastery for a bit of solace and welcome relief from the heat!
Around every little corner, we found a surprise. My favorite was a 'park' surrounded by a high concrete wall to keep peace and quiet in and the city most definitely out. Locals were relaxed in performing tai chi, playing mahjong, chatting to friends, or simply relaxing.
In the end, I managed to enjoy the architecture but I skipped the sky jump after surprisingly feeling a little vertigo on the way to the 61st floor of the Macau Tower. Maybe next time I'll take up that challenge.
The other highlight of the 2 days
Contrasting streetscapes
One side of the city.....in Macau was our accommodation. After 3 nights in our dodgy Mongkok hostel room, the 5 star luxury of the Grand Waldo Casino Hotel suited us just fine. Craig and I did receive plenty of stares as we rocked into the lobby in shorts, t-shirts, and backpacks! Craig was especially pleased with himself when he requested a 'water view' room and this was granted. As it turned out, overlooking a muddy, tidal waterway was not all that it was cracked up to be!
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