adventure to macau

This weekend a large group went to Macau. To give you some background, like Hong Kong, Macau is part of China but has relative autonomy in government (a special administrative region or SAR). It was previously a Portuguese colony and was handed back to the Chinese in 1999. This Portuguese influence is definitely noticeable in the architecture and cuisine. But the most famous (or infamous) part of Macau is its casinos, as it was (and maybe still is, I'm not sure) the only place to legally gamble in China. Basically, it is the Las Vages of the East. Our group visited the Venetian: it is complete with Las Vegas style oppulance with marble everywhere, muraled walls and ceilings, a huge, maze-like high end shopping mall, canals with gondolas, people in costume, and even a curving escalator! I also had my first gambling experience there. Thankfully I can say my first gambling experience was successful, as I won 10 HKD on a slot machine! (a little more than a dollar). Then again, I only bet 20 HKD. Another person on the trip won 6000 HKD (about $775)! Macau also hosts the highest bungee jump off a building. So I guess this is a place for real risk takers.

To get to Macau, you take a 45 minute, high speed jet-foil ferry. The ferry is huge, goes really fast, seems to float on the water. Parts of Macau seem almost European on the surface, but still very Chinese. But signs are sometimes written in Chinese, English, and Portuguese. Walking through the streets, there were lots of shops all different types of beef jerky. To get your attention, they would snap their tongs or hit scissors on them. I tried a sample and it was actually pretty good (and I'm still alive, so that's a good sign). The sights in Macau mostly included remnants of Portuguese culture, the most interesting of which was the ruins of an old church. Culinari-ly, we went around the world! We had lunch at this great portuguese restaurant, getting things like chorizo, Macau fried rice, charcoal grilled chicken, and great salad and bread. For dinner, we were thinking italian, but ended up eating at a Nepalese place back in Hong Kong. A lot of curries and naan, but maybe more subdued and with subtler flavors than indian food.

Overall, it was a decent trip. It was hard going with such a large group. We started off with 16, and then I ended up in a group of 8. But when the 16 of us were trying to find the right bus to get on (and then getting on it!) I was slightly embarrassed by the situation, wondering what the people around us thought of this group of obvious tourists. It was a little frustrating at times (mostly because I was the only one who came prepared with a guidebook), but was still fun. Next time I go somewhere, I need to either go by myself of with a much smaller group.