All the signs in Macau are bi-lingual in Portuguese and Chinese. The architecture is a whimsical mix of old Portuguese, old Chinese, and modern casino. The first casino, The Sands, was built in 2004 and now the city is littered with massive casinos. It is a bigger gambling center than Las Vegas.
Our trip began with a 40 minute shuttle bus ride from our suburb, Tangjia, to the southern edge of Zhuhai where the border crossing is. We walked to the border crossing, which is a very large building with many lines. The first line took 20 minutes and when we reached the counter, we discovered we needed to fill out a form. Since we didn't bring any pens with us, we borrowed the clerk's pen and took turns filling out our official information. Once through that line we encountered the health officials who were handing out the ubiquitous health form you see at every airport. I can't imagine who would ever check the box saying they had a sore throat or fever, since that would mean massive delays and a possible denial of entry. I also can't imagine where all these forms are filed since thousands of people fill them out every day. I wonder how they are filed since we used English, but most people write their Chinese names with characters. Oh, the mysteries of China.
Once we were through the health gauntlet we had to get in another line to get through the Macau border. Again, we filled out a form with our official information and hoped the clerk would stamp our passports with her red seal. It all seems rather silly and a waste of time and money, but what do I know?!
After an hour in the border crossing building we walked out into Macau and were greeted by casino workers dressed in smart looking uniforms, handing out coupons and ushering us to casino buses. Since the buses are free, we headed to the Venetian Casino.
The Venetian is not only the biggest casino but also the largest building in the world. It needs a huge space to hold a Venetian canal, complete with gondolas and singing gondoliers.
Inside the building, the sky is always blue with white fluffy clouds; it's perpetually approaching twilight; and you are surrounded by old Venetian buildings and squares. The bathrooms have beautiful brass fixtures. The shops are filled with expensive clothes and jewelry while bored looking shop clerks wait for customers. The hallways are filled with camera clicking Chinese tourists.
The Venetian is on a smaller island just south of the main island of Macau. So our challenge was to figure out how to get back to Macau Island. No worry - the Sands Casino supplied a free shuttle back over to their establishment. We rode the airconditioned coach bus to the Sands and then hailed a taxi cab to take us to the old section of the city.
Senada Square was being decorated for a big celebration with large colorful fruit hung on wires across the street. We set out walking, attempting to keep track of where we were on the small winding streets that radiated out from the square. We came across St. Mark's Cathedral. We stumbled upon a cemetary with a lovely chapel and a mix of Portuguese and Chinese names. Around every turn were interesting shops and restaurants.
Senado Square
Street Near Senado Square
Can you see the tiny street between the buildings?
St. Mark's Cathedral
Cemetary
We ended up at the Ruins of St. Paul's. St. Paul's Cathedral was the largest church in the city before it was ruined by fire in the late 1800's. All that remains is the massive front wall and grand steps leading to it. The front wall is carved with the obligatory Catholic saints, but also a Chinese dragon and a skeleton. By the time we reached the Ruins, we were exhausted from walking for two hours in the 100 degree heat. Rebekah climbed the steps to look out of the window and then hiked to the back of the ruins to see the crypt of the priest who planned the church. The crypt was worth the walk since it was 25 degrees cooler inside it.
Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral
Next to the Ruins was a gift shop where we saw figurines made of amber. The proprietor proved to me they were authentic by putting his cigarette lighter to the bottom of one. I guess that proved they weren't plastic - but couldn't they have been red glass too?
Wandering the streets a little longer we were greeted by people giving out samples of food, jostled by the crowds, and overwhelmed by the sights and sounds. We stopped at a MacDonalds to use the restrooms (some things never change no matter where you are in the world).
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We found a little Portuguese Restaurant for supper and were happy to find a menu we could read (in English, Portuguese, and Chinese) and great food. The salad was grated carrots and oranges, the soup was potato and spinach, the main dish was pasta and beef or pork. Only the dessert was a disappointment. One always has high hopes when a dessert accompanies a meal. But when the waitress placed a plate with a small round piece of wiggling white jello in front of us, our hopes were dashed. It tasted faintly like almond jello. Nathan took one bite and then played with the rest.
The street our restaurant was on
Nathan anticipating that great dessert!
Here it is!
We asked the waitress how to take the city bus to the Macau Tower where we wanted to watch the International Fireworks Competition. She gave us good directions back to the MacDonalds and told us to take bus 32. After a few wrong turns, we found the bus stop, but no Bus 32 was listed on the sign. We asked a woman if she knew the way to Macau Tower. She waved us over to a man who spoke English. He directed us across the street to Bus 18, which delivered us to the waterfront across from the Tower.
Macau Tower is a huge "space needle" type building on the southern edge of Macau Island. It is filled with shops, restaurants, and offices. By this time of the day it was dark and the lights from the surrounding casinos reflected across the water. People can bungy jump off the top of the building for $400. One can also walk along the outside edge of the building (with a safety harness hooked to a track in the ceiling of the overhang) for $200. Maybe the next time we visit we'll try that!
Yes, it really is that tall!
(Check out the bungy jumping here)
The fireworks were stunning, but the music accompanying it made no sense and echoed incoherently down the water front. We stood eating ice cream and pastries, watching the display along with thousands of Chinese in the heavy tropical night air. The final burst floated in the sky with little red Chinese lanterns in the shape of a Chinese character.
As we watched the fireworks, the thought hit us that all these people would be trying to catch a bus or taxi home at the same time and place as us. Sure enough, after the fireworks ended at 9:30pm, a massive crowd moved to the bus stop in front of the Tower. Over a hundred people were in line for the taxis so we tried our luck with the city bus. Earlier we had asked the Tower information desk which bus to take, so we surged forth with the crowd when Bus #9 arrived. Mike led the way as we became part of a mass of marbles all funneling into a tiny shoot. Only two teenage girls got between Mike and I, but when I turned around on the bus Nathan was a dozen people behind me, still on the sidewalk. This was no time for Minnesota Nice. Nathan pushed along with the other people and was one of the last people to climb on the crowded bus.
One young Arab man, lucky enough to find a seat, clutched a city bus map (I wonder where he found that?) and looked frightened. He asked a man standing near him where to get off for the ferry back to Hong Kong and discovered he was on the wrong bus, going the wrong way. He was adviced to get off at the next stop and take a taxi if he wanted to make his ferry.
During the 30 minute bus trip back to the border, we stood the whole time. It turned out that 80% of the people on the bus were headed to the same place, so no seats opened up.
Back at the border we had to fill out the same set of forms, for all three sets of bureaucrats. Unfortunately when Mike and Nathan picked up the health form, they filled out the one for entering Macau rather than entering Zhuhai, so they had to redo that one. This meant we missed the shuttle bus back to Tangjia by 10 minutes.
As we walked across the wide open square outside the border building, a young, cleanly dressed woman carrying a 2 year old approached Mike and said, "Hello. Thank you. Hello. Thank you." over and over. Apparently she wanted money and even though Mike ignored her and kept talking to me, she kept saying, "Hello. Thank you. Thank you. Hello." with a smile on her face.
Eventually we reached the city bus stop, exhausted. It didn't take us long to decide to hail a taxi for a 25 minute airconditioned ride home for the equivalent of $13 rather than stand for 40 minutes on the city bus for $1.50. The ride home was a roller coaster experience where our lives flashed in front of us at least twice. The driver wove in and out of traffic, changing lanes, zooming through intersections, honking his horn to warn pedestrians and bicycles.
11:15pm we arrived home. Even though we experienced a lot, Macau has many more things for us to explore such as art museums, historical museums, Chinese Lion dancers in the Square by the Ruins, and many more churches and parks. Our next visit to Macau will be easier with our newly gained knowledge. We'll also wait for cooler weather. Maybe we'll even take the ferry around to the side entrance and avoid the long border crossing lines....
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