Hello Excellent Ones,
Macau, like Hong Kong, was once a colony of a European power. Hong Kong was run by the British, of course, while Macau was taken over and managed by Portugal for many centuries. In 1999 it was turned over to the Chinese who then made it into a Special Administrative Region like Hong Kong.
Macau is located just 60 kilometers west of Hong Kong and most people reach it by a turbo jet boat. A fleet of these boats run every fifteen minutes hauling people from Hong Kong and China to Macau and back. Travel time on one of these super boasts from Hong Kong is about an hour.
Macau is made up of a peninsula which is called Macau and two "islands,'" Taipa and Coloane which were recently connected by land fill. The territory lies hard against the coast of China and is separated by only a narrow waterway. Macau is much smaller than Hong Kong. Thirty kilometers total area so you can whip through it all in way less than an hour, depending on traffic.
Macau's claim to fame include: most densely populated place on earth- 18000 people per square km, a lot more on the weekends when the gamblers and tourists come; a very cool old city-looks like old Lisbon, the Portugese influence is everywhere, old buildings from the 1400's, cobblestone streets,and signs.
It is Asia's biggest gambling center. It makes more money than Las Vegas and The Venetian on Taipa is 10 times bigger than its small twin in Las Vegas.
It is also an off shore tax haven. It is a verrrrrry interesting place.
Elsie and I turbo boated to Macau on Sunday. We did not need special visas but had to have our passport checked. For the Chinese it is tougher. Passport, visa, and lots of money are required for entry. Talk about discrimination.
Once we got to Macau (the peninsula, so Macau, still with me?, consult a map if you are lost) we hired a driver, a young ex Romanian, with passable English who gave us a blitz tour of Macau.
First stop was the A Mah Buddhist temple. It was unique in that it was carved into the side of a hill. Incense and chants hung heavy in the air. I am not a fan of Buddhism, but I thought the temple was pretty cool. From there, we headed to the middle of the town to Senado Square which felt like downtown Lisbon, expect nicer. Very touristy. Elsie and I had rock star moments there. Several Chinese girls got their picture taken with the tall, blond, beauty from Canada, while I got ONE picture taken with a girl from Taiwan who was absolutely in awe of my height.
Next stop was the Ruins of St. Paul's. Only the facade was left and there was a place nearby with paintings and bones. Since I have been to Europe a few times, it was yawn, been there done that. The Mount Fortress was nearby so Elsie and I went up to catch a panoramic view of Macau. The cannons up on the fortress were: been there done that as well.
On we went through winding, narrow, cobblestone streets that were: been there done that, but I enjoyed them. Then our Romanian friend, his English starting to fade after 3 hours of it, drove us over a 4 kilometer bridge to the infamous Cotai strip, which not long ago was water between Taipa and Coloane. After filling it up with earth and making the islands one, the powers to be built several casinos, which as mentioned before rakes in more money from gambling suckers than Vegas. Elsie and I decided to head to the Venetian because there was, get this, an ice sculpture show.
To describe the Venetian as over the top would not do it justice. Ridiculous, incredible, amazing, wow, unreal, are a few words that might give you a small idea of what it is like. I will try to explain, as will the pictures, but I know it won't do it justice. As you drive in there are buildings in front of the hotel that look like buildings from Venice. Actually they are exact replicas. They have the famous tower and plaza of Venice (no poopin pigeons however,) a famous bridge, (too lazy to look up what it is called, but its there, plus a big pool of water by the main lobby with gondolas just sitting there.
Once Elsie and I got our tickets for the ice show in the lobby we then had to trek a half hour through this place just to get to the hall where it was taking place. On our way we saw gondolas gliding through the middle of a mall, with people in them, on real water (I am sure of it) then through an acre of slot machines and tables all heavily used, (just a fraction of what was there.); through these massive hallways with enough carpet to probably cover the trans Canada from Calgary to Banff, roofs painted like the Sistine Chapel; restaurants selling every type of food known to man; I could go on, but needless to say, I had never done that or been there, so I was in awe, as was Elsie.
We finally found the ice show. The Venetian had imported a cooling system, I don't know where, a meat packing plant perhaps, then brought in several tons of ice, no exaggeration there, then transferred a bunch of Northern Chinese ice sculptors from Harbin. Harbin by the way is the sister city of Edmonton. I kid you not. I think they exchange notes on how to stay warm cause their winters are about the same. I kid you not there either. I think. Harbin by the way has an ice sculpture festival every winter like Quebec City, so since it was the off season and the ice sculpture guys must have been kind of bored, the Venetian brought them in for a month, gave them tons of ice, and said go for it. An Ice Sculpture Festival in the middle of summer at a casino in a sub tropical place will be a hit for sure. Crazy enough it is!
So after Elsie and I got parkas from the entrance to the ice show we stepped into another world. Whoa was it cold! It has been a while since I was in minus fifteen, you can start playing the violins now, and my poor body, now used to a sub tropical clime went into a slight shock. My nose froze, my ears, hands, and my knobby knees as well. It really sucked. Next time I will bring pants. Duh. Despite my discomfort I still managed to take a few pictures of Elsie frolicking on the ice. We had to laugh at the Chinese kids going down this pathetic little ice slope and shouting in glee. They no nothing about true sledding. I will let the pictures and comments give you an insight of this amazing display. Nevertheless at the end of it I was frozen and it certainly made me think: am I nuts for considering leaving Hong Kong for months of cold like that in Canada. It was only minus fifteen and I was in it for less than an hour. Ok I know what you are thinking. Dirk has turned into a cream puff. Sure but I am a very, warm and happy cream puff. Once we got outside of that fridge plus 35 felt great.
So that was our adventure in Macau. A great day trip kind of trip. Have a great week.
Love adios and peng on,
Dirk
