Macau Macau, Portugueasia Vegas

So we left for Macau the other day for a quick one day trip to settle some visa issues. Drew and I, when we entered Hong Kong went through customs and got our passports stamped. Drew had a stamp on his student visa that stated "Journey Completed," mine did not. Initially we were worried that he had 'used up' his visa and we would not be able to leave and re-enter the country, we later found out that my visa was the one that needed to be stamped and I had to get it stamped or I would be deported, I guess. So, a good enough reason as any to leave for Macau the following day and get it stamped upon returning.

Macau is a just a little west of Hong Kong (we took a ferry ride on a Speedboat for about US$17 that lasted about an hour) and is nicknamed "The Las Vegas of the East". Years back it was controlled by the Portuguese and there is still a heavy influence of Portugal in this tiny country. The city is incredibly beautiful and strange with portuguese-esque streets and buildings, and then asian homes built on top of those, and towering skyscrapers of casinos standing behind those.

We left in the early afternoon for Macau with two other exchange students, Gavin from Scotland and Souji from South Korea. We wandered in the general direction of southwest trying to stumble upon this supposedly famous local haunt for some tasty dinner. After walking for over an hour and all of us starving we finally found it (A Lorcha), but it did not open for another half hour. We asked one of the servers up front if we could eat when it opened and they told us we needed a reservation. We asked politely if we could get said reservation, and she looked back toward a grumpy looking man in the corner and after a moment he grunted and waved acknowledging it would be alright. We finally ate, and got some delicious food - there was grilled african chicken, coconut curry chicken, pork and oysters, and baked cod and potatoes. It was a mix of portuguese and asian cuisine and worth the effort and wait as it was some excellent food.

We left A Lorcha and headed back up north to Largo de Senado (Senate Square) where they have have wavy black and white cobblestones lining the roads of colonial buildings and shops alike. Finally we entered a few of the casinos, seeing both the new and old Lisboa casinos. I gambled once and lost HK$20 on Roulette (about US$3), not a big gambling sensation, but then again I was the only one who gambled anything - everyone else kept their wallets sealed.

Another good find we had was a fish market and seeing all the people crowding around the stands. There is a video below, but there are some dead fish and guts so if it disgusts you, maybe don't watch.

There were always interesting things to notice in Macau. Walking throughout the city we noticed many signs advertising recycling and "green" thinking, exercise equipment scattered throughout parks for the public to use, giant coils of incense and offerings, lots of prayers on the streets for something we never quite figured out, and of course the architecture as well. Overall Macau was great, but a short trip and we are looking forward to going again.