Oriental Odyssey – Day 2– Macau

Day 2 dawned bright and sunny over Taipa as our group took (great) comfort from the fact that the sightseeing didn’t begin till after lunch. While everyone else took respite from the sweltering heat and dazzling sunshine outside, I struggled under the burden of some obligatory sightseeing.

Am sure you are aware of obligatory sightseeing – though you might not know it by this name. There are 2 kinds of OS – one, where a friend/relative/guidebook/TV show lauds a particular sightseeing place/activity so much that you feel obligated to visit/do it - and that place/activity is not included in your itinerary. And you feel that if you DONT see/do/taste/hear that thing, you’ll come back from your trip with enough regrets to haunt your memories forever. :P The other kind of OS is, of course, those sights which ARE included in your itinerary which your inner mind whispers are a waste of time and energy but which you feel obligated to see – after all if its included in the itinerary, it must be good. And if you SKIP them, well, again you’ll come back from your trip with enough regrets to haunt your memories forever. :P

In my case, it was the first kind - an article in the Lonely Planet magazine which described the ‘unseen Macau’ –the true Macau kept safe from tourists behind the glamorous but fake façade of the casinos. I was possessed by the idea of seeing something beyond the glamorous side of Macau. That, plus umpteen accounts of the almost-national dish of Macau – the Portuguese egg tart made me wild to see what the true Macanese culture that lay beneath the world-wide reputation of Macau as the Vegas of the East.

So off I took, first making a quick stop at our hotel’s Reception desk to get some local currency (Patacas, which are freely exchangeable for HK dollars. In fact HK dollars are also accepted as currency) and some info on how to reach peninsular Macau by public bus. There was a bus stop a stone’s throw away from the hotel with 2-3 direct buses which would take me to the main island of Macau, where all the places marked in the Lonely Planet magazine were located. (I got this geography info from the pretty-but-with-limited-English-speaking-ability girl at the Reception desk – by showing her snaps in the magazine article and hoping she would recognise some of the places at least!) But after waiting at the bust stop for 15 minutes, in which both buses went by without stopping since they were already crowded (just like Mumbai’s BEST buses!), I realised that there just wasn’t time to hop across to Macau and be back in time for the afternoon city tour with the group. So I gave up the idea of being a bold explorer and became an aimless wanderer instead. :)

And in my aimless wanderings around the hotel, I chanced upon what I was so desperate to discover – the real Macau. First stop – a Chinese temple called Pou Tai Un, located on the slope of the mountain (completely covered with houses and roads) on which our hotel was built. Pou Tai Un was a haven of cool, quiet, greenery, a welcome respite from the dazzling sunshine and stifling humidity of the Macau morning. There I chanced upon a family who were in the middle of celebrating the ongoing festival of the dead – where offerings of fruit and incense sticks are offered to the dead of the family. Lots of paper scrolls are burnt in the holy fire as offerings too. I was grateful that the family did not frown at me for witnessing what was their private ritual. In fact a young lady even clued me on about it being the festival of the dead when I asked her what was going on. :)

Pou Tai Un, like most Chinese temples was arranged across several levels – with stone staircases leading up and down terraces and gardens and courtyards. Statues of Chinese deities adorned the entire area. There were also bonsai scenes in shallow basins – complete with small statues of people standing next to bonsai trees and miniature streams. :)

It was QUITE something to explore this quiet, hushed place which was a cross between a temple and a garden, not knowing when some angry priest/monk would throw me (a foreigner! Of a different faith!) out. But it was so beautiful and so serene! Especially when I saw the high rises of our hotel and other properties soaring into the sky from the top terrace of the temple, and saw how they contrasted with the old-worldly charm of Pou Lai Un. Truly, a jewel of a peaceful little world, contained within a bigger, louder, harsher one.

All this exploring in the sun had made me thirsty and I was lucky to stumble upon another little jewel – a charming little café called THS Honolulu, a few feet down the road from Pou Tai Un. The smiling lady in charge sat me down, and asked me (with some trepidation) if I was vegetarian. The relived smile on her face when I shook my head was priceless! :D But anyhow, eating was not on my mind, so I asked for the menu and ordered the most non-Indian and exotic drink on the menu – chrysanthemum syrup, served cold (it can also be served warm, for 2 patacas less. :P ) Unfortunately, the drink was not as sweet and floral and different as it sounded. A pretty clear yellow in colour, it was only just-sweetened and had a faint herbal taste to it. Nothing funny or strong-tasting at all. But it went down a treat given I was all sweaty and shining red like a tomato from all that wandering about in the relentless heat and sunshine!

After this welcome break I walked back to the hotel to leave with our tour group for Macau’s city tour. In which the first thing we saw was the border Macau shares with China (from afar, and from within the bus, so nothing exciting) But we learnt that drinking water and fresh fruits and vegetables all come into Macau from China. So the dependency on China is high indeed.

As we drove back to the main heart of Macau, our local guide briefed us on the Macanese economy and how it works. Apparently 70% of the Macau government’s income comes from the casinos. There’s so much surplus cash with the government that primary and secondary education, as well as all medical treatment for Macau citizens is free. Plus, every Macanese citizen gets 5000 patacas every year from the government. Just like that. And most people work in the casinos which pay really well. The flipside to this (as explained later by our Hong Kong guide!) was that there was zero incentive for Macau youth to learn any vocation. Fewer and fewer youngsters wanted to learn a trade or vocation like engineering or business since the casinos paid way better than jobs like teachers or engineers or government doctors. And this was definitely not a good sign! (BTW quick trivia factoid – In Macau, 4 kinds of people are banned from gambling in the casinos – teachers, people working in banks, people employed in casinos and government servants. They are allowed to gamble only during the 4-day fest of the Chinese New Year, so all hell breaks loose then. :) )

After this, we visited the ruins of St. Paul’s cathedral located at the top of a hillock in the heart of Macau. Only the façade of the cathedral (built by the Portuguese in the 16th century , dedicated to St Paul the Apostle) stands tall today.

The cathedral behind the façade was largely destroyed by a typhoon in 1835 and Time has done the rest. This site is one of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites. There are sloping steps that lead away from the cathedral (perfect for a photo-op, like the steps of Asiatic Library in Mumbai) to busy cobbled streets, just like those seen in Europe. Only the shops lining these streets have Chinese signs and Chinese wares. :) And I think this strangely attractive juxtaposition of the Orient and the Occident, of East and West, is the true unique identifier of Macau. Where roads have Portuguese names, but their name plates are written in Chinese. Where the architecture is Portuguese (bright colours, graceful arches) but the people who live and work within these buildings are Chinese.

Coming back, the Monte Forte fortress overlooks the cathedral and contains the Macau Museum (which we did not get time to see). But I did climb till the top to get 180 degree views of Macau. And as usual, was the last one to rejoin our tour group. (Our tour guide started figuring out my obsession with exploring and taking a zillion snaps around this time!) On the way back to the coach, I chanced upon a shop selling the famous and much-desired Portuguese egg tart - a marvel of flaky puff pastry surrounding soft-set baked custard in a glorious two-tone yellow - sunnier yellow on top and a creamier lighter yellow inside. Score! :)

After St Pauls, we headed to a purely Chinese cultural site, the A-Ma temple located in the city, but near the coast. This temple is also a UNESCO World Heritage site and is dedicated to the Goddess Mazu/Matsu. She is the patron goddess of fishermen and seafarers and hence, particularly important to Macau which used to be a fishing town before the Portuguese took over.

There I had a gorgeous time clicking away tons of pictures of everything – the stone lions guarding the entrance, the enormous incense sticks being burnt (3 ft high and 7 inches in diameter!), the stone arches of the gate, the people making wishes by rubbing the handles of a basin of holy water (You get to make a wish only if you succeed in making the water dance by your rubbing the handles – needless to say, I didn’t get even a full-fledged wave, leave alone leaping water!).

After the A-Ma temple, we visited the Macau Tower – a 338-metre high tower which houses restaurants, observation decks, a sky walking track and a bungee jumping deck.

We didn’t do any of the adventure sports (of course!), but treated ourselves to 360 degree views of night-time Macau (all lit up, like a golden city!) from the 58th and 61st floors.

After the Macau tower, we took a dinner break and then proceeded to what was the highlight of the Macau leg of our trip – a night tour of Macau. We drove to the main casino district of Macau and walked around, absorbing the multi-hued twinkling, shining, sparkling, blinking neon lights that adorned all the casinos. It was beautiful, in a psychedelic eye-streaming way. :)

We also caught 3 free shows at the Wynn Casino. First was the Tree of Prosperity - a life-size tree made of gold leaf which arises from the ground, and then thanks to innovative light effects shows 4 different avatars corresponding to the 4 different seasons of the year. And this, to the tune of some stirring music. It’s quite a spectacle to see the bountiful tree change from green (Spring) to gold (Summer) to brown (Autumn) to silver (Winter) as it slowly rotates around itself. No wonder, the Chinese hurl coins at it during the brief 7-minute duration of the show and wish for luck and prosperity.

Next were the musical dancing fountains (lovely!) and finally the Golden Dragon – a massive golden dragon with glowing red eyes and smoke pouring from its nostrils and mouth which emerges from the same underground pit from which the Tree of Prosperity makes an appearance. All 3 shows were magnificent, in a completely over-the-top, yet bewitching way.

So here ended our Macau sojourn – and I was glad to have caught a glimpse of both of Macau’s faces - the glitz & glamour of the neon lit casinos and the quieter, soothing blend of Chinese culture and Portuguese influences. Obligatory sightseeing does have its benefits! :P