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Macau - a little slice of Portugal
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Another day, another adventure, and today we headed off to check out Macau. Macau, like HK, is a Special Administrative Region in China, under the "two systems, one country" government. A former Portuguese enclave, it was returned to China in 1999, but still retains much of it's European heritage. It's only 1 hour away by ferry, so after an early start and a couple more stamps in the passport, we were ready to wander the narrow winding streets (very Mediterranean) and see the sights. Macau is a beautiful place, with some stunning old Portuguese-influenced architecture. It has a less ordered feel to it than HK, but if anything is even cleaner. For such large cities, both are exceptionally clean and tidy - it must be the European legacy. No doubt things are going to get a whole lot different after tomorrow, when we hit China!
We spent most of the morning ambling through the avenidas of Macau, and explored Largo do Senado, Monte Fort, and the most excellent Macau Museum, which has an extensive and eclectic range of displays portraying a very balanced and informative perspective on the dual cultural heritage of the region. Definitely one of the highlights of the day! After that, a visit to the imposing ruins of the Church of St Paul (described as the greatest monument to Christianity in Asia) was in order, followed by some pretty heavy duty antique shopping -the fruits of which can be seen at Mum & Dad's in a few weeks time!!
While we were out finding some lunch, we met a group of Poms cruising around in a dune-buggyesque car called a Moke (best described at the offspring of a lawnmower and a go-kart)...which, of course, looked like a bloody huge amount of fun! Apparently these were made by Mini back in the 60s to suit the growing leisure vehicle market. So in due course, we were out in style, cruising the streets of Macua in our very own Moke - Jordan driving, me navigating, and Ma & Pa holding on for dear life in the back!
We made our way over to the islands of Taipa and Coloane, formally fishing villages and pirate havens, now lovely peaceful (except when the Moke shudders by!) oases away from the chaos of Macau. We spent most of our afternoon on the back roads of Coloane, exploring the small temples and beach resorts that can be found. The quaint fishing village of Coloane itself is well worth the visit, as is the enormous statue to the goddess A-Man, the Goddess of the Sea (all 1000 tonnes of white jade) that stands atop the tallest peak on the island. Without a doubt though, the true highlight of the day was haring around the narrows roads in a bright blue, lowered pimped-up lawnmower, trying to find our way, dodge the hordes of mopeds (and their lawless drivers), and basically praying that none of us fell out the doorless sides! Great family bonding experience of course ("Turn right! No, the other right! Christ, where the hell are we know? Connor, you're navigating...." you get the picture!)
Anyway, we made it home in one piece, and really enjoyed Macau. It's a wonderful place, and a nice counterpoint to HK.
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| 4. | Macau - a little slice of Portugal - Macau, China Oct 03, 2004 |
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