Macau

Today the group visited Macau during the day, and most of us also went to the nightlife district Lan Kwai Fong.

Our trip to Macau started with a 1.5 hour ferry boat ride across the Pearl River delta. For much of the ride it felt like we were on the open ocean, with only islands visible. Some of the islands looked like something someone could buy and build a house on, about the size of Angel Island in the SF bay. Our guide for the day, Christina, actually lives on one of the larger of these islands, one that is a 30 minute boat ride from Hong Kong and has a populatino of about 40,000.

Our visit to Macau had three parts. First was a lunch at a Portuguese restaurant, next was a long meandering walk through the older districts of Macau, and last we checked out the new casino district. From the ferry terminal , we immediately got onto a bus that took us down the main streets to our restaurant at the far side of town. Macau's european feel was immediately evident from the size of the cars, the size of the bus station, and the age and size of the buildings. The buses and other vehicles were smaller, there were a lot of mopeds, and the buildings were old and mostly 6 stories or less. It reminded me most of Malta, from density, the look and mix of the people, and the apparent wealth / poverty of the city. Along the drive we saw one classic pedestrian shopping zone, that would have fit in any Mediterranean town of decent size. The buildings also were mixed in age, with the older buildings being repainted in light colors with white trim.

The restaurant looked and tasted classic Portuguese. We shared about 6 different dishes, with seafood and curry being my favorites. The house specialty is chicken. We made the mistake of not trying the sangria with our lunch. At the beginning of our lunch we had as a guest an ex-pat from Idaho who works as a historian and culture specialist in Macau. He is attracted to Macau becausee of its laissez faire attitude. Macau does have a reputation as being a sort of frontier, wild west of the east town, but the town presented itself pretty well to us.

We walked from the restaurant on the far side of the island back through the old town to the casino district. On the way we saw some of the oldest cultural institutions on the island, including a temple with incense and prayers carved into rock, several centuries old churches, and fortress walls. The physical layout included town squares and walkways and pedestrian zones and 20 ft. wide streets lined by 6 story balconied buildings. That walk showed us the true Macau.

At the far side of the walk was the casino district. The new casinos and buildings are typical modern Las Vegas, with buildings recreating entire themes, like the roman colisseum, a volcano, and a smaller but still imposing copy of the forbidden city. We didn't go inside any of them, but one of them, the Sands, is supposed to be the largest in the world. Another, still under construction, is shaped like a lotus. Most of them are finished with gold-tinted glass, and some of them include other colors as well, either other mettalics (bronze and silver), or gemstone colors (ruby, emerald, and sapphire). The whole package does not yet compete with Las Vegas, but there is great potential in its own right.