Las Vegasia

Macau is often referred to as Las Vegas of Asia. According to some insiders, Macau is even bigger and better than Vegas. People will have you know that Macau has big beautiful casino’s and a very interesting history, being the first European settlement in Asia. On top op everything Formula 3 (car racing) is very big here (the whole city can be turned into a racing track), so if you ever have the opportunity to visit this magnificent city, you should. So we did.

The ferry trip from Hong Kong to Macau took about one hour. Half the city was converted into a racing circuit, so walking around was a bit of a challenge. In 2005 we visited Las Vegas, so we had some high expectations. Macau is totally unlike Las Vegas. Sure, both cities have casino’s, but that is the only thing these two cities have in common. After a whopping 4 minutes we were done walking around in the biggest and newest casino of Macau, the new Lisboa. Thank god (or rather, thank the Portuguese) for the rich history of Macau and the beautiful old buildings.

We started the interesting part of our tour with the most famous dish of Macau: The pork burger. If you ever find yourself looking for lunch while in Macau, don’t spend too much time looking for this burger. It isn’t bad, but it isn’t very good either. It’s just a piece of lightly spiced pork meat attached to bone slapped between a dry bun, no lettuce, bacon or sauce of any kind. We had a big breakfast, so that was okay, but I don’t think we’ll order the pork burger again.

The first real sight in Macau we visited, were the ruins of the Cathedral of St. Paul. The main part of the ruins is the facade of the cathedral, a very impressive thing when you are at the bottom of the stairs leading up to it. On top of the stairs, once you pass the facade, lies Fortaleza do Monte, a big and impressive fort that offers a pretty cool view over the city. After we added some nice pictures to our collection, we journeyed through the streets of Macau to the A-Ma temple. There where some semi-interesting buildings on the route, but these couldn’t catch our attention for more than two or three minutes. The walk to the A-Ma temple took us some 45 minutes, but was well worth the effort. Not because of the A-Ma temple, since it wasn’t as impressive as the Lonely Planet claimed it would be, but because in front of the temple was a nice little stand that sold some delicious, cold, diet coke. We drank our cokes and made our way back to the Guia Fortress and Lighthouse. We had to survive a scary ride on a wobbly chairlift, but the views from the top of the hill (where the Guia Fortress is located) were stunning.

Diner proved to be somewhat of a challenge. We were looking for some normal and simple food, but we ended up eating dishes that were all but normal or simple. Somehow we managed to eat the “chicken” (despite all the little “chicken” bones), the spicy “meatballs”, the “tomato” sauce and the strange white solid that had no recognizable flavor.

The day was interesting and a visit to Macau will add some more spiffy stamps to your passport, but if you have a spare day in Hong Kong, we suggest that you stay in Hong Kong.

Our last day in Asia we stayed in Hong Kong again, but because three weeks of holiday is hard work, we didn’t manage to do too much. A good part of the day was spend at the local Starbucks, because a Frapuccino is hard to resist when the temperature and humidity are both high. That night we watched the world famous Symphony of Lights on the opposite site of the Hong Kong harbor. This show involves all the major skyscrapers in the city, which will light up on music played throughout the viewing areas. It almost looks like the buildings are dancing on the music, making the whole experience unique and something to definitely see when you have the opportunity.