Sleep all...sleep all day!!!

Finally, I'm back! It had been a great, great week just relaxing and visiting new places in Macau, Hong Kong, and in China’s Guangdong business district Zhuhai. Below just recounts how I spent those fun-filled 7 days. There are just so many stories to tell, so I think it would be better to write about our vacation in two or three installments. Here goes the first...

TR 803 flight CRK to MFM

After dinner at this small Cantonese restaurant near their apartment, we were finally home. I was so happy to see my nephew Malcolm for the first time since they came to Manila in May of 2005. He was so big and anyone could have easily mistaken him for some 3-year old toddler. But in fact, he’s just a year and ten months-old, but with a physique and vigor of a 3-year old kid. He's so cute but he's sobrang kulit. Ehehehe! I bought him 7 educational videos with Maisy, Barney, and Elmo on these sets. I’m happy that he liked watching these because for the next several days, I could hear him singing and dancing along these multihued creatures. Ahehehe! =)

At 10, we called it a night. I was so sleepy after bearing several hours of travel and was thinking that I needed a good night’s rest to prepare myself for a tour the next day.

Friday, April 21st.Headed off early to visit places in Taipa. Since my brother lives quite near the Coloane, we decided to head for this area first. We stopped by the new Macau Stadium in Taipa, where the 2005 East Asian Games was opened middle of last year.

Overlooking the Macau Stadium, Race Track and that road going to Coloane from the house

With Malcolm and Angel at one of Macau's many sports stadiums

Coloane Beach

Pine trees near the shoreline

Avenida de Praia

Colonial dwellings opposite the lagoon

Chapel of the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Walking along the centuries-old Taipa Village

My sister and I both had a taste of genuine Cantonese cuisine at this quite posh restaurant at the Macau Sky Tower complex once more which was really, really tasty. Lunch was simply great when I wasn’t eating with those long, plastic Chinese chopsticks.Went home around 4pm to rest.

At dinner time, Kuya and Oi brought us to Pousada de Sao Tiago in Coloane to try some Portuguese cuisine at Os Gatos Lounge (Portuguese for “The Cats”). The restaurant offers a choice of scrumptious cuisines from Macau, Portugal, Provence, and Greece; and it’s located at one of Macau’s celebrated historical landmarks, the 1641 Fortaleza da Barra. To give a little background…

“Romantic and intriguing, Macau has retained the historic beauty of the Orient - a timeless quality searched for by travelers from both near and far. The Fortaleza da Barra was one of the fortresses built in the 17th century by the Portuguese to defend Macau against hostile European nations and local pirates. One hundred years later a chapel was built within its walls and dedicated to Saint James, the patron saint of the Portuguese garrison. Today, much of the fortress and the Chapel have been preserved as part of the Pousada de Sao Tiago.” – http://www.saotiago.com.mo/

This charming little restaurant amazingly employs quite a number of Filipinos as servers and musicians and the service is generally okay. Patrons are a mix of Chinese locals and Asian and European expats. People say that it serves authentic Portuguese dishes, which are a little salty for the Filipino palate. Further, I suppose I can only consume so much of those baked potatoes, which certainly are a Portuguese staple. And of course, we couldn’t miss the photo opportunity, which capped off day 2. =)

Friday was both fun and tiring. So we just went home straight right after dinner.

Saturday, April 22nd.

We were blessed of a sunny weather for a walking tour of the Macau center. It was a bit hotter than usual, but at least it didn’t rain that time. The initial plan was to go to Chinoy Express, a sort of Filipino-managed travel agency located at an old building near the Senado Square, to arrange our visa for our trip to China on Sunday afternoon. Processing was completed before 12.30, after which we started our tour of the Largo do Leal Senado (or the Loyal Senate Square).

It’s a grand spot for tourists to get a glimpse of the Old Europe. It is bordered by the Leal Senado Building, the Macau Business Tourism Center, and other restored Renaissance-inspired edifices transformed into historical museums and business centers.

Oi brought us right away to that place famous for homemade gelato. I don’t exactly remember the name of this alley, but if I may vaguely remember, it bisects the plaza fronting another antiquated baroque and Filipino-inspired church, Santo Domingo Church. Oi said the place is quite popular among locals so one can simply ask people to show directions to this ice cream parlor called Lemon Cello Gelato. All are homemade and one may find such “queer” flavors like Guava, Grapefruit, Kahlua, Yakult, Green Tea, and even Ginger! I tried guava and it tasted astonishingly like heaven! =) Kuya, Oi, and Angel settled for the safer flavors Tiramisu and Mango, and they said it was good, too.

We walked past the Largo do São Domingos, Rua de São Domingos, and Travessa do Soriano on our way to the Ruins of St. Paul’s Cathedral, which is another Macanese heritage site.

The place was full-packed with tourists, majority of which according to Oi came from the Mainland. I could also see quite a number of other tourists who I guess hailed from Europe. It was just amazing to see different races converged in a single location. I think I heard nearly 7 different languages as we walked past the food and souvenir stalls and archaic structures.

Only the façade of the St. Paul’s Cathedral remain after it was devastated by fire in 1835. Still it serves as a great historical and cultural reminder to the people of Macau about the beginnings and ultimately the strong influence of Roman Catholicism in the peninsula.

At the basement of the cathedral, an inner sanctum once stood. Now it houses a museum that displays very old religious icons, paintings, and other articles. On the other side is the chapel-crypt where the relics of Jesuit martyrs and the religious from the previous centuries lay.

A thing that surprises me, though, is that most Chinese tourists actually throw money over the crypt. I’m not sure what it means, but I guess it has something to do with the Chinese people’s beliefs that doing so could bring them good fortune. Will somebody help me understand, please?Around 2pm, we had our lunch at a Japanese restaurant back at the Senado Square. After which, we stopped by the Leal Senado Building to take more pictures.

Sidenote: One embarassing encounter was that I lost my balance and fell over a flower bed as I tried to take pictures of my sister over at the fountain area. I didn't notice that slab of concrete that I stepped on. Hehe! I was lucky that only Angel, Kuya, and Oi saw my acrobatics. Yak!!! Kakahiya pa rin! hehe!!!

We ended our tour around 4pm and headed for the wet market to buy seafood and veggies for dinner. It was interesting to see how live fish was taken out of a water basin, then pounded and sliced right before your eyes. I suddenly realized the pain that these sea creatures go through just so we could have something scrumptious to share over dinner. But then, it was a momentary thought. Dinner was good and apparently, I didn't turn into a vegan. =)

To be continued...

posted by Somnambulist Nocturnal  # 12:32 AM