Macau

It was the lunar Chinese New Year and probably a good time to check out Macau and Hong Kong so we betook us an early flight to Macau with images of Portuguese egg tarts, dim sum and won-ton soup flashing through our mind.  Macau was an awkward combination. Squalid shophouses and luxurious casinos stared uneasily at each other across the skyline. The smell of dried salted fish permeated our nostrils as we leaped in and out of little lanes to avoid the vehicles in and about.

Wealthy Chinese tourist, mostly women, crowded around the casino tables. Shuttle buses belonging to the casinos provided free transport to various tourist spots in the city. There was a good deal of walking so tucking in, nice and proper, was quite the thing to do.

Our day began at a dim sum restaurant  a couple of blocks away from the hotel.

The bespectacled proprietor was the descendant of a Manchurian official who fled to Macau during the years of turmoil. Stored at all conceivable space in the long and spacious shop were antique pieces. Ceramic horses, camels, figurines, idols, dragons and other pottery pieces were arranged neatly on wooden shelves at the back of the shop near the washroom. Red wood furniture, old paintings in scrolls and frames, intricately carved wooden pieces were placed in disarray. Priceless old tea (probably pu'er), some in its original pottery/ceramic packing were stored near the front for diners to gaze upon and marvel at its value.

Dim Sum

Birds in cages hung below the open windows chirping in the early Macau air. Old men with newspapers hang out with their buddies, sipping Chinese tea, sharing morsels of gossip and dim sum.

The tea section

The selection wasn't great but each portion were large.

ST PAUL'S RUINS ... was packed with tourists. Little shop-lots in narrow lanes in the vicinity offered cold drinks and souvenirs. Almond biscuit must have been a hit. Several outlets declared that theirs was the best. Every other tourist was seen carrying bagfuls of almond biscuits on their way out from the ruins.

Narrow lane leading to the Ruins

Not seeing any garbage bins as far as my eyes could reach, I tapped the back of a passing rubbish collector, intending to ask if I could leave my empty can with him. He scowled prettily in return. "Do not tap my back!" was his retort. I found out later that in a gambling community, one must never tap the back of another. Doing so would bring ill-luck to him whose back was touched.

And there it is. St Paul's Ruins

Facade Front

Behind the Facade

The Ruins at different time period.

Fortaleza do Monte

Casino across from the ruin.

At a narrow alleyway between the shophouses behind the main road, we found a little shop-lot of a restaurant with small tables crammed tight with diners. Assorted seafood was in the menu so we held our tummies in, to sit demurely on the tiny stools around the small tables.

Sharks fin soup

DESSERT ... was another story and we mustn't neglect our dessert, must we?

Bird Nests in Soy Milk

Portuguese Egg Tart

Black Sesame dessert

Peanut with black sesame

Mango with sago

THE LAGUNA MALL AKA FISHERMAN WHARF ... was a tourist spot where tourist hang out for photo shoots. Roman facade featured prominently for some reason, to be sure.

This being a casino community, gold pieces are the symbol of prosperity.

A nearby casino

The new bridge connecting Macau to Hong Kong. Tourist were taking pictures of this bridge for some reason. Not to be outdone, I followed suit.

THE VENETIAN We took the free shuttle service from one casino and ended up at The Venetian. The weather forecast for the day was gloomy so I wasn't surprised to see gloomy skies inside the mall. I was gob-smacked to discover that the gloomy sky over me was the ceiling. What a great job they did with that. I could have been fooled. The replica of the Doge Palace, the gondolas upon the man-made canals within the mall gave us memory flashes of our trip to Italy last year.

Blue sky inside The Venetian

The mall was crowded with Chinese tourists and I could not resist taking a breather on a bench looking up at the washroom sign on the foreground of a man-made gloomy blue sky. We were departing Macau for Hong Kong on the morrow so this was the parting shot.