Macau

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The med in Asia

We had no real intention of visiting Macau, but the flights from Bangkok are so much cheaper to here than to Hong Kong, we had to. It turned out to be great enforced decision and we thoroughly enjoyed our one night in Macau.

In a way, Macau reminded me of a mini Dubai but with a pleasant Mediterranean climate (it gets a nice breeze, so it’s less sweaty than Hong Kong). It is in the middle of a building boom, largely massive casino complexes, as I think it is the only place to legally gamble in China. On our way from the airport we passed an exact replica of the Venetian casino in Vegas, only bigger and in the centre itself there are lots of familiar casino names such as MGM Grand and Sands.

The good thing about Macau though, is it has lots of history and the Portuguese influence is clear in the centre. We did a short walking tour that took in the main sights. I wouldn’t say anything is a spectacular must see, but the ruins of Sao Paulo are impressive and a few of the other churches make it feel as though you could be in Portugal. The cobbled square of Largo do Senado is definitely Mediterranean.

The food makes it feel even more like Portugal. In the centre lots of shops sell Portuguese custard tarts and in the evening we went to a Portuguese restaurant called Litoral, which was superb. Definitely try something called Velho Verde, which is a very young, effervescent white wine. You could easily get through a few bottles!

I don’t think there is much else to tell. We had a really relaxed couple of days in Macau and given its only an hour from Hong Kong on the ferry, it’s definitely worth a side trip.

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Photos

Largo do Senardo
Mediterranean streets with chinese lanterns!

One of the pretty churches
We've forgotten the name