Macau is an interesting place -- it's a former Portuguese colony that was handed back to China just ten years ago. Now it's a Special Administrative Region, just like Hong Kong. So it's easy to forget that you need your passport to enter. Our group was well on its way to the ferry pier when we suddenly realized we'd all forgotten our passports. There was a mad scramble back to our respective flats for our passports and then back again to the pier.
It takes only a hour to get to Macau via one of these high-speed catamarans. They're very convenient, as they run every 15 minutes during the day. The one-way fare for economy class is about USD 20.
The first sign that greets you off the ferry is written in English, Chinese, and Portuguese. It was the last bit of official English we would see for a while. Portuguese and Chinese are the official languages of Macau, even though virtually no one speaks Portuguese.
Taxis seem to be the main form of transport. It's a short ride to the main part of town, where it seems that most of the original colonial buildings are still around.
This area is pleasantly crowded with tourists and their cameras. It is a very picturesque scene, especially with everything lit up at night like this.
There's a lot of pretty tilework around. In the lower right-hand corner of the above photo, you can just see a bit of the street, which is made out of small beige and black tiles laid out in a wave pattern. Below is an example of a typical street sign, also made out of tiles, with the name in both Chinese and Portuguese.
There's an atmosphere of Old Europe everywhere that is so different from Hong Kong.
Here's the most famous structure in Macau, the ruins of St. Paul's cathedral. All that's left is this stone façade, which was completed in 1627. A fire destroyed everything else in 1835. A silhouette of this façade is the most recognized symbol of Macau.
In the streets leading up to St. Paul's, a few hawkers carry wide, flat baskets full of samples of these cookies. They're very crumbly, almost powdery, with a delicious almond flavor, and thoroughly addictive. They are one of the traditional desserts of Macau and they're for sale everywhere. Boxes of them are piled high in the duty-free shop at the ferry pier in case you forgot to pick some up before leaving. (Thanks to Wikipedia for the photo, since I didn't have a good one of my own.)
We happened to be there during the first weekend of the Macau International Fireworks Display Contest. Ten countries face off (two each week until 1 October) in a competition that honors one of Macau's traditional handcrafts. We had a great seat by the water, across from the main peninsula, to watch South Korea's entry.
We returned to Hong Kong the next morning. As the ferry pulled away from the pier, we got a good look at one of the casinos, The Sands Macau. Most of the gambling in Macau is inspired by or directly owned by operations in Las Vegas. There's even a Venetian Resort and a Wynn Hotel in an area called the Cotai Strip. We didn't go into any of the casinos this time.
And finally, here's a bit of the skyline I've come to think of as home! This is the north side of Hong Kong Island in an area called Sheung Wan.
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