Lost

Most people who go to Macau get turned off by all of the casinos. Discovering that it is "Vegas of the East" many tourists feel jilted and like they wasted their time.

That specific issue, however, is not what turned me off to Macau.

Because it was raining when I got up, I did decide to go to Macau today. I was a little disappointed because I really felt like I was getting the hang of Hong Kong yesterday. But I wanted to hit country #17, and there was some cool stuff in Macau worth seeing too.

In total blunt honesty, I don’t remember ever hearing about Macau before I came to China. For example, I feel obligated to tell you that it is pronounced “ma-cow” because I didn’t know that until I arrived on the island. I decided to go there because most travel books and websites recommend it, and the history is kind of cool.

While the French pretty much dominated the economic scene for Shanghai, and the Brits occupied and eventually colonized and ruled Hong Kong, Macau belonged to the Portuguese. At one time, the island was over run by pirates and violent crime. The Portuguese basically liberated it and drove out the pirates. They then basically supplemented the government for several decades, pretty much running it like a colony. Over the years, casinos have sprung up everywhere and it is pretty much the gambling capital of the East.

The ferry ride over to Macau was really cool. The ferry was made by Boeing and had a cabin laid out the 777. I got a window seat on the upper level and enjoyed the beach front view as was sailed along the coast of the mainland.

The ride was about an hour. I looked out the window for most of that time, while also reading little more about Macau in my book. It is supposedly one of the cheapest places to travel, not because the exchange rate is good or the prices are cheap, but because the casinos offer so many free services to entice visitors to come inside and play games. The free shuttles are recommended to get around town, and they often apparently offer free food and luggage storage.

Sailing under the Friendship Bridge that connects the big island to Tapia (the smaller island) we arrived and disembarked from the bright red vessel. Clearing customs, I found a place to exchange my money. Since my bank did not know I was coming to Macau—and not wanting a repeat of Sunday night—I brought all of my leftover Japanese Yen with me. Since I was going to have to trade it out eventually, I figured now was as good a time as any. I swapped my 3000Yen for about 240Pataca (which is all about $30USD.) The only expense I anticipated for the day was lunch, so I figured that would be enough.

Grabbing a map and hopping on one of the free casino shuttles, I found all of the architecture very pretty. I mean it basically looked like Vegas. There were reproductions of various famous landmarks from around the world. Big, shiny buildings with tinted windows towered over the streets. Neon signs were everywhere and the place felt young and fun.

The language however was weird. All of the signs were actually in Portuguese first, and then Chinese, and then English. The spoken language however was some blended language. As I listened to conversations around me, a single speaker would use words from all three languages within a single sentence.

When the shuttle arrived at its particular casino, we were given vouchers for free moon cakes and a one free spin of the wheel. I took a voucher but did not follow the crowd inside. Instead I went out to the street to find a street sign.

And that was the beginning of my very long day in Macau. I found one street sign and I found that street on my map. I even found this casino on my map. I couldn’t find a street sign for the intersection but based on my map I pieced together where I was. The bus station however was no where it was supposed to be. And none of the buses listed on the map actually stopped there…and there was no other bus station anywhere nearby.

Beyond Casinos, the cultural thing to see in Macau are the churches. Being a formerly Portuguese territory, the country has a very Catholic heritage and is supposed to have beautiful, European style sanctuaries. Looking at the schedule at this bus stop however, none of these buses went to any of those churches. One did go to Lou Luk Garden (a Suzhou style Zen Garden) so wth some help from a kid waiting for a different bus, I got on and made my way in that direction.

The bus driver was even more erratic than your usual Shanghai taxi driver. I was standing at the front of the bus for most of the ride and my life was flashing before me every few seconds. In a lot of ways it was exhilarating, but when a seat opened up, I gladly took it.

When I got to the garden, it was pretty…but it was so unbearably hot. There were also a lot of biting bugs…and it was really hot…like really really hot…as in I cannot overstate how hot it was because it was so hot. Its hard to feel Zen when you feel like your blood is boiling.

I also realized that it had taken almost 40 minutes by bus to get here. If it took 40 minutes to get everywhere, my list of things to see was going to shrink rapidly.

But I tried to enjoy the garden. There were a lot of older people practicing Tai Chi. Which actually might make this a natural point to talk about the concept of Chi. Chi in Chinese medicine is life force. Everything living (and some things that according to western biology are not living—such as glass) contain Chi. Massage was developed to manipulate Chi through troublesome and tight areas. I've mentioned before (or if I haven’t I am now) that in Shanghai a lot of men take off their suit coats and shirts when walking home from work. I learned from the history book I bought at the airport that this is related to Chinese medicine. In Chinese medicine your Chi can actually spoil and rot if it gets too hot. New Chi can be absorbed through nature, but the rotted Chi must drain out your belly button—hence the shirtless thing.

Tai Chi is a series of stretches to keep your Chi balanced and flowing throughout your body. Gardens, like this one or Yuyuan in Shanghai or the famous one in Suzhou, were developed because trees, lakes, fish, and flowers all radiate lots of Chi. Spending time in a garden allows you to reabsorb Chi, and then doing Tai Chi helps balance it out.

There is something beautiful about it. While I’m not sold on the whole draining life energy through your belly button thing, I do think there is something to be said for resetting yourself by being out in nature.

There were also turtles sunning themselves on lily pad. Brighly colored flowers grew from trees over head, and bamboo rods lines all of the trails. I’d keep describe it…but I feel the need to re-emphasize how HOT it was so that you can fully appreciate what was going through my head.

So I decided to go get lunch,

There was a restaurant just across the street from the garden. The led me to a booth in a back corner where I ordered a chicken curry dish and a mango juice. I requested the medium spicy (which was level 2 out of 4) but it was still really spicy...I can’t imagine what level 4 must be. As I ate, they were playing music over the sound system. All of the songs were done by little kid voices singing in English.

When I finished eating, I walked back to the bus stop by the garden. I must have looked lost because a man asked if he could help me. I figured that at the rate I was maneuvering Macau, I needed to pick one site to see and go see it so that I could make it back to the Ferry for my 4:45 boat back to Hong Kong.

“The San Paulo Church?” I asked.

“San Paulo,” he said. He gave me directions to a different bus stop. I thanked him and walked over there.

The Church of Saint Paul (San Paulo) is the most famous in Macau. It was built in the 1400’s but over the next two centuries burned to the ground in three different fires. By the 1600’s, the façade of the original entry way was all that was left, and it became the symbol of Macau.

Again, none of the buses I needed were stopping at this bus stop. My map listed which buses to take to Macau, and I finally spotted one that would work. Hopping on board, I took a seat near the front by a window.

The city was pretty. The architecture looked very European. The building outside of the city center were brightly colored orange and red and yellow. They had beautiful terraces and patios, all supported by romantically carved columns.

It dawned on me that I didn’t know which stop to get off at for the ruins. The garden had been easy because the announcement was in English but this bus didn’t have English announcements. What it did have was air conditioning. Looking at the map, it appeared that it also made a loop around the whole island. I figured I could sit on the bus and just enjoy a tour of Macau, before hopping off of it at the Ferry. Even if I got there a little early, that was ok…this was enough fun for one day.

My plan worked well as I got to see Macau tower (which pretty much looks exactly like the Space Needle, but is used for bungee jumping as the world’s highest location for said activity) as well as some incredibly beautiful neighborhoods. I swear the bus was wider than half the streets we drove down, but it was a fun roller coaster ride none-the-less.

My plan fell apart when we reached the last stop. Apparently, the driver got a smoke break at each end of the lop so everyone had to get off and re-pay to get back on. I walked around the bus station for a bit trying to see if I could find a different bus. I would settle for either the church or the ferry at this point (as mentioned, it was a bit hot and I was growing with concern about how to find a bus that went to where it was supposed to go.)

Two teenagers saw me staring at the bus schedule and asked if I needed help. I said I did and asked where San Paulo Church was. They were going to the same place and offered to help me get there. We hoped on a bus and headed off.

The girl was from Hong Kong and the guy was from Macau. He didn’t speak any English but her’s was pretty good. They’d been dating for a year but only saw each other occasionally when one could go visit the other. 

When we got off the bus, they gave me directions to the church. I thanked them and walked on ahead.

This neighborhood was crazy. The streets were narrow and packed with people shoulder to shoulder. All of the buildings were either old and beautiful, or partially falling apart. And the smells of all kinds of sweat pastries filled the air. One guys was selling Turkish ice cream and I bought a cone of it. It was unlike any ice cream I’ve had before. If you licked it, it tasted like ice cream, but if you tried to bite it, it was chewy.

At the top of the hill, I found the ruins. They—like apparently everything else worth seeing in Asia—sat at the top of a staircase. The Entire front of the church, with charred statues of patron saints looked over the city. Looking around from the top of the stairs, you really could see almost the entire Island. It was beautiful.

I walked around the ruins a little bit and took some time in the shade of a garden to cool off. In the end, this was totally worth the adventure to get here…but now it was time to adventure home.

I found a bus going to the Ferry Terminal and rode it back. By the time I cleared customs, I actually made perfect time. I only had to wait at the gate for about 10 minutes before they called us to board. Once I was on the boat, I actually feel asleep almost immediately!