Macau, Macow, Macou ... it's bloody tricky to spell
On Saturday 1st April we left most of our luggage behind in the Ramada apartment (to be collected on our day of departure), and took off to the Garden Hotel with 1 big backpack and a day pack. From there we were able to get a bus to Gwongbei. I read on the bus company sign that they only take you to the border and then have a shuttle bus to Macau on the other side of the border? Ummm ok. Pretty confusing, but we went along with it.
The bus ride was pretty smooth on the highway heading south, and the only town we drove through in the ~2hr trip was Zhuhai (pronounced "Jo-high"), right at the end of the highway and right next to Macau. The bus drove through the city and then stopped in what looked like an underground carpark for a shopping mall. We thought they must be dropping people off, but everyone got off the bus, and our bus guide lady assured us it was the end of the line - Gwongbei.
We got off the bus, went up an escalator and then a another one to come out into the open air with a load of shops everywhere. We eventually saw a sign, and some other lost westerners and realised from there we needed to walk to the border control building. Lugging our bags we went first through the Chinese departure gates, then walked through a no-mans land area via a cover walkway for about 100m or so and then entered a second building. Here the queues for entering Macau were HUGE! There was nothing for it but the join all the Chinese in line, as there was not the usual "foreigners" lane that we use for migration into/out of China. Macau is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) in China, and as thus, like Hong Kong it enjoys a "high degree of autonomy" over its affairs. Entering Macau means you leave "mainland" China, thus our need for a visa with dual entry so we could get back into China again after visiting Hong Kong.
After completing the immigration formalities we stepped out of this building to see apartments towering over us in the blue sunny sky and a sign that said "Downtown" with an arrow. After walking from the bus, over the border, and out of immigration we were actually standing in Macau! The bus company only needed a shuttle bus on the other side because most people got a local bus, cab, walked or met people there. We jumped the shuttle bus to Central Macau and then took off walking down on of the main streets to just get a feel for the place and find an autoteller to cash up on Patacas (MOPS).
Straight away I felt like I was in Southern Europe as I walked past shops drying fish , and then stylish boutiques nestled amongst some Portugese looking buildings. Cool! We had decided to stay on Taipa Island off the Macau peninsula, to get an escape from the city. Upon crossing the bridge though I saw loads of highrises and we even passed Jamie Packer's latest gambling venture, the new Crown Casino being built on Taipa Island. I was mildly dissapointed as I'd read the islands were nice and green.
Our first tourist destination was the lively little Taipa Village. A remanant of the early days on the island the place was full of tiny streets, houses and shops. The main drawcard are the shops selling hung yan bang, an almond-flavoured biscuits with a shortbread type texture - YUMMY, especially when you eat the hot, fresh samples; yuk gon, a dried sweet strips of pork and other meats (look scary in sheets of meat, but actually tasted good); and peanut sweets.
The Taipa Houses Museum was my favourite place in Macau. It is a series of villas built in 1921 that have been restored by the government. They're set up to give you a good idea of how the Macanese middle class lived at the time, as well as showcase their gorgeous and unique architecture. The many Macanese/Portugese influenced buildings were saw were always marked by their beautiful colour. In this case all the buildings were a chalky green colour, while others we saw were pastel yellow, bubble gum pink or sky blue.
That evening we caught a cab across to the next island south of ours, Coloane. Here was the greenery! It was mountainous and forested with nature trails for walking or biking and beaches. We were lucky to arrive early at Fernando's, a popular restuarant specialising in Portugese. There on our red and white checked table cloth, with a view to the trees through the huge windows, we feasted on the best chorizo I have eaten, Portugese beer, Portugese roast chicken, lovely Sangria, a salad and some huge fresh bread rolls. This meal felt like one fit for Kings!! Ahhh! European flavours after so much Chinese food. Rockin! Full tums and big smiles that night for the travellers!
The bus ride was pretty smooth on the highway heading south, and the only town we drove through in the ~2hr trip was Zhuhai (pronounced "Jo-high"), right at the end of the highway and right next to Macau. The bus drove through the city and then stopped in what looked like an underground carpark for a shopping mall. We thought they must be dropping people off, but everyone got off the bus, and our bus guide lady assured us it was the end of the line - Gwongbei.
We got off the bus, went up an escalator and then a another one to come out into the open air with a load of shops everywhere. We eventually saw a sign, and some other lost westerners and realised from there we needed to walk to the border control building. Lugging our bags we went first through the Chinese departure gates, then walked through a no-mans land area via a cover walkway for about 100m or so and then entered a second building. Here the queues for entering Macau were HUGE! There was nothing for it but the join all the Chinese in line, as there was not the usual "foreigners" lane that we use for migration into/out of China. Macau is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) in China, and as thus, like Hong Kong it enjoys a "high degree of autonomy" over its affairs. Entering Macau means you leave "mainland" China, thus our need for a visa with dual entry so we could get back into China again after visiting Hong Kong.
After completing the immigration formalities we stepped out of this building to see apartments towering over us in the blue sunny sky and a sign that said "Downtown" with an arrow. After walking from the bus, over the border, and out of immigration we were actually standing in Macau! The bus company only needed a shuttle bus on the other side because most people got a local bus, cab, walked or met people there. We jumped the shuttle bus to Central Macau and then took off walking down on of the main streets to just get a feel for the place and find an autoteller to cash up on Patacas (MOPS).
Straight away I felt like I was in Southern Europe as I walked past shops drying fish , and then stylish boutiques nestled amongst some Portugese looking buildings. Cool! We had decided to stay on Taipa Island off the Macau peninsula, to get an escape from the city. Upon crossing the bridge though I saw loads of highrises and we even passed Jamie Packer's latest gambling venture, the new Crown Casino being built on Taipa Island. I was mildly dissapointed as I'd read the islands were nice and green.
Our first tourist destination was the lively little Taipa Village. A remanant of the early days on the island the place was full of tiny streets, houses and shops. The main drawcard are the shops selling hung yan bang, an almond-flavoured biscuits with a shortbread type texture - YUMMY, especially when you eat the hot, fresh samples; yuk gon, a dried sweet strips of pork and other meats (look scary in sheets of meat, but actually tasted good); and peanut sweets.
The Taipa Houses Museum was my favourite place in Macau. It is a series of villas built in 1921 that have been restored by the government. They're set up to give you a good idea of how the Macanese middle class lived at the time, as well as showcase their gorgeous and unique architecture. The many Macanese/Portugese influenced buildings were saw were always marked by their beautiful colour. In this case all the buildings were a chalky green colour, while others we saw were pastel yellow, bubble gum pink or sky blue.
That evening we caught a cab across to the next island south of ours, Coloane. Here was the greenery! It was mountainous and forested with nature trails for walking or biking and beaches. We were lucky to arrive early at Fernando's, a popular restuarant specialising in Portugese. There on our red and white checked table cloth, with a view to the trees through the huge windows, we feasted on the best chorizo I have eaten, Portugese beer, Portugese roast chicken, lovely Sangria, a salad and some huge fresh bread rolls. This meal felt like one fit for Kings!! Ahhh! European flavours after so much Chinese food. Rockin! Full tums and big smiles that night for the travellers!
posted by Polecat at 3:14 AM
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