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Published: August 7th 2012
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Portugese pork knuckle and beans
I promise it tasted a million times better than it looks! I’ve finally come to accept that when we go anywhere as a group we will always leave at least half an hour later than planned; having been told to meet at ten, we finally managed to leave our accommodation at eleven, taking with us a few casualties from the previous night and a few people who were still drunk (I think trying to leave the building without shoes and sliding round a shopping mall on his back were a bit of a give away).
We decided on an 11pm return ferry home, giving us enough time to visit the casinos without (hopefully) a) falling asleep in them b) spending all our money. We got on our 12.30pm ferry by the skin of our teeth, it was a bumpy ride to say the least and it definitely added to the suffering of those who had over indulged the previous night including one boy who managed to throw up that much that his carrier bag split, adding a beautiful pattern and scent to the carpet.
Arriving in Macau was a strange experience; as a former Portugese colony, all the signs were in Portugese and the architecture also
Easily pleased
"If only Sarah was here, we could have been OSCA!" reflects the island’s heritage. Clearly getting our priorities right, we headed straight for food; most people bought one of Macau’s famous “Portugese” egg custard tarts that were actually first made by an Englishman. A pharmacist named Andrew Stow moved to Macau and set up his own pharmacy, he became known as Lord Stow simply due to the fact that he was the only English person living there (maybe I should move to Equitorial Guinea). Ironically, the egg custard tart mentioned in all the guidebooks was developed as part of Stow’s healthy food range.
After sampling the egg custard tart, we headed to a Portugese restaurant where I ordered pork knuckle and beans (exactly what you expect in Asia). Despite it’s appearance and the lethal shards of bone it was honestly one of the nicest meals I’ve eaten since I’ve been here. Our hunger satisfied, we wandered over to “black beach” ; the dark sand made the clean water look extremely murky. We kept ourselves entertained, jumping waves, burying our feet and writing in the sand but the fun ended when Caroline dropped her map in the sea and then inadvertently submerged her camera trying to rescue it.
Next stop was an old street full of shops selling traditional food of the region. There were plenty of jerky shops selling “dried piglet”, “baby beef” and other intriguing items. There were also many bakeries all selling the same variety of cakes, biscuits and nut brittle and offering free samples – it was a tough call but I decided against a game of peanut roulette!
We were now racing against the clock to get back to the steps of the Cathedral ruins (our meeting place), the bus ride was surprisingly enjoyable; public transport is ridiculously cheap and 40p seemed a bargain to sit for half an hour and admire the bizarre architecture. Leaving the bus we managed a whistle stop tour of some of central Macau’s architecture as we rushed to meet the others who were no doubt getting annoyed with our tardiness.
The evening was spent in the Venetian, it was less of a hotel and more of a miniature Venice complete with a fake sky and a canal with gondolas running through the middle, having never visited Venice, the magic was lost on me but everyone else seemed
Cathedral
Just about enough time to get a photo of Cathedral ruins as we rushed through the bustling streets of central Macau very impressed with the resemblance.
We left the shopping mall (yes, a shopping mall in a hotel) and headed down to the casino (the biggest in the world). The casinos are big business in Macau; I was told that they actually make more money than those in Vegas which isn’t too surprising considering that it is the only place within easy reach of China where gambling is legal. To be honest, I found the whole casino experience pretty boring; the only other time I’ve been in a “casino” was at Downing grad ball which ended in me accidently spilling gin and tonic all over the table, pretending it wasn’t me and then taking the chips as I thought they’d be good to decorate my room. This time I just got distracted watching the live band and ballroom dancing (clearly just a ploy to make people stay longer and spend more money), lost $20 on slot machines, complained that I was bored and got annoyed when we were five minutes late meeting the others to go back to the ferry – but all in all I enjoyed the day (afternoon), honest.
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