Macau: A world of difference

We had a daytrip to Macau last November from Hong Kong. The Cotai Jet ferry took us accross the Pearl River estuary to the newly built ferry terminal near the Cotai Strip on Taipa Island. From there we took a cab to the ruins of the Sao Paulo church. This is the main tourist draw in Macau (other than the many casinos). All that remains of the church is an ornately impressive façade, the rest of the cathedral burnt down during a kitchen-mishap in the 1800’s. Despite this, the building remains a powerful statement of the power the Portuguese once wielded in Asia, and is as impressive as the cathedrals of Europe’s old capitals.

Sao Paulo Church
From the Sao Paulo, we climbed the adjescent hill to Monte Fortress. As a Christian stronghold in a distinctly un-Christian neighbourhood, the city’s early Jesuits was constantly concerned about invasion and having their heads chopped off by non believers. In 1617 they began construction of the Monte Fortress, a stronghold that would eventually cover over 10,000 square metres.


View from Monte Fortress

View from Monte Fortress

We then, went to Macau’s main square, Largo do Senado. It is located not far from the Sao Paulo church. This area is a slice of the Mediterranean. Cobblestone streets and beautiful colonial buildings line the square, giving it a lazy, laidback charm. We bought some souvenirs but there were quite pricey. We thought of buying Macau's famous Portuguese egg tart, but all the shops were also selling vavi salai terus kembang tekak.
St Dominic’s Church, Largo do Senado
We hailed a cab, and concluded our day trip at the Venetian. This place really remind me of venice, complete with the Companile, palazzo Ducale and the canal. But from the inside it does looks like a grander version of Villagio mall in Doha. You can easily spend a whole day at this place, depending on how much money you have (or won). From the high end shopping to the many entertainment outlets, you'll be spoilt by the choices. They had Cirque du Soleil in the evening when we were there, but we had to give it a miss as we already bought a return ferry ticket back to Hong Kong.
Macau has certainly changed a lot in the last 10 years. It certainly adds more lustre to the city in keeping pace with its more glitzy neighbour accross the estuary.


Grand Lisbao, Hotel & Casino

The Venetian

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kamus Loghat Muar / Tangkak

Aku dilahirkan di Muar (Muo kata orang Muar) dan dibesarkan di Tangkak. Walaupun bahasa melayu diambil daripada bahasa Johor/Riau, tetapi orang-orang Muar dan Tangkak mempunyai gaya bahasa yang sedikit berbeza apabila bertutur. Arwah Tok Tan aku misalnya, mempunyai gaya loghat yang 'distinctively Tangkak'. Banyak perkataan-perkataan yang biasa dituturkan masyarakat Muar dan Tangkak yang aku telah lupa. Jadi sebagai tribute  untuk Arwah Tok Tan dan orang-orang Muar / Tangkak, aku akan cuba untuk menyenaraikan sebanyak mungkin perkataan dalam loghat Muar / Tangkak apabila aku teringat. Ampar (sebutan Am-po) = Hamparan, permaidani Anu = Si folan = Dia ke tangkak dengan si anu tu, anak Noh Itik. Basan = pakaian basahan , pakaian harian Berlengas = Badan melekit Bersendor = Berdengkur Berteromba (sebut beteghombe) = Bermain-main, berlari-lari dan bersuka ria (kebiasaan oleh anak-anak kecil dalam rumah), Centong = Senduk Endut = kekasih - Kau dah ada endut Syam? Gak Ngapa? = Mengapa
Read more

Triclub Doha Aquathlon 8

Image
Nikki Beach, The Pearl Qatar 23 April 2016 My post Ironman blues was so severe after South Africa. I already did two mini races in less than two weeks, the Aspire Aquathlon and TriClub Duathlon. Now is the third. It is the 8th and second last aquathlon of the season by TriClub Doha. I just could not say no to it, plus it was a farewell race to one of our good friends at the tri club, John Denning. Swim (1000 m) The water has warmed up in Doha so it was a non wetsuit race. Being a leg sinker, I was struggling to keep up with the others to draft on and found myself in a no man's territory. I was being lapped by most people and was among the last exited the water (22nd of 29 starters). I completed the 1000m in 20:51 (2:05 min/100m). I was quite happy to be honest since it was my first non-wetsuit open water swim in a while. Race Briefing Swim Start     Run (5 km) The run was simply too short for me to bridge the gap. It was pointless for me to sprint all out and
Read more

Hujan Emas di Qatar

Image
Lately makin ramai pula kawan-kawan rapat aku di Doha ni yang pulang ke Malaysia for good. Kadang-kadang rasa macam dah tak best pula tinggal di sini bila satu demi satu teman-teman yang rapat pergi. Baru-baru ni Rizal dan Zakiah meninggalkan Doha for good. Rasa sedih sangat, kerana Rizal adalah kawan pertama aku di Doha ni. Dia yang mengenalkan aku pada kawan-kawan Doha yang lain. Aku datang Doha ini pun setelah membaca blognya, 1001 Kisah Melayu Perantau  , yang memberi inspirasi dan keinginan untuk mencuba nasib di Qatar Darul Land Cruiser ni. Good Luck Rizal and Zakiah Kontrak aku dengan Qatargas ni pun akan tamat bulan November ni. Tak pasti dapat sambung ke tidak, kerana aku ni 'project based'. Kalau tak dapat sambung, dan tak dapat peluang-peluang lain di Qatar ni, maknanya aku juga akan menurut jejak langkah teman-teman yang telah mengucapkan 'Maassalamah' pada negeri tumpangan kami ni. Honestly aku suka Qatar. Isteri aku, Hani pun suka tinggal di sini. Kedua-du
Read more