macau walks

The great thing about staying in a hotel on Macau Peninsula (and not on Cotai Strip) and being a block away from Largo de Senado is that most of the historical sites are within walking distance. This was essential as my female progenitor, a.k.a. "Ma", hates to walk-- unless it's in a shopping mall.

Less than five minutes from the Metropole Hotel is St. Augustine's Church. It's my favorite of the half dozen or so churches and temples that we visited.

It's in St. Augustine's Square, which is also where the Dom Pedro V Theatre is located. That's the green building behind my immediate forebears, a.k.a. "Parents".

We didn't make it to St. Lawrence's Church before it closed for the day. But the outside looked really cool.

That evening, we took a cab to have dinner at Camoes Restaurant, which is in Fisherman's Wharf. It was a weekday, so the place was deserted. You're supposed to think that you're in New Orleans. But with a Roman Coliseum and a fake volcano-- that erupts, by the way.

Still, I was there for the food. It was excellent.

Here's a New Orleans-y building. You can see the Sands Casino behind it.

caffeine fix at senado square

I don't care what some people think about Starbucks. There's something so comforting about sitting down for a cup of coffee in a place that looks the same, smells the same and tastes the same all over the world. There's a Starbucks at Senado Square.


So, immediately, you are already sightseeing. Just a few steps away is St. Dominic's.


And then up the hill is St. Paul's.


It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site.


Right behind the cathedral's facade is the tiny Na Cha Temple.


This, for me, is the perfect metaphor for Macau. There's a crumbling majestic European structure in front, and a minuscule wooden Oriental hut at the back. Guess which one is still fully operational?

happy congee

We arrived in Macau about thirty minutes ahead of schedule, but that still meant checking in at the Metropole Hotel at around 10:30PM.

My plan was to walk to the Wynn Hotel or MGM Grand and have a late dinner there. Here's what we saw on our short walk:

It looks like an Asian Las Vegas. Except it's not really Las Vegas, of course... yet. Still, it's very impressive. Pop thought so.

 

We ended up at the Wynn Macau. The Tree of Prosperity rising up from a hole in the floor is cheesy, but strangely entertaining and insidiously addictive-- like the whole Macau casino experience, I guess.

Finally, we sat down to dinner. Congee, happy.

panic on the way to the airport

Here's what happened in the car. I planned this trip to Macau and Hong for the last week of September 2008/ first week of October 2008. I knew that my passport would expire in January 2009.

On the way to the airport, I said, "You know, I had a bad dream. I dreamt that we were at the check-in counter when I realised that I didn't bring my passport."

Pop exclaimed, "Well, did you bring it?"

I said, "Of course, I did. It's right here, see? Has my photo, still valid until January 2009."

Silence, then all hell breaks loose in the car!

Turns out that in this country, if your passport has less than six months' validity to go, you can't use it anymore.

 

Now if they wanted me to renew my passport six months before expiration, then why didn't they just write down my expiration date as 29 July 2008?

Someone please explain this to me.

rush hour

Last year, I planned a trip to Macau and Hong Kong with my parents-- just the three of us, from 28 September 2008 to 5 October 2008.


At the very nice, spanking new Terminal 3, my male progenitor, a.k.a. "Pop", made sure that we checked in three hours early.

Ever since I became conscious of the world around me, Pop has always been THE early bird.

Especially at airports and train stations.

Here he is half-running ahead of us at the airport.

 

Get out of my way!

 

Ahhh... safe! Made it.

Because of Pop, I am never late for anything. In fact, I develop heart palpitations and sweaty palms an hour ahead of my appointments.