Cramped & Crowded III(b): Macau Marathon

Sit Down, swiped from williamnyk on Flickr.

Coming back down from the Ruins of St. Paul's back to Senado Square was just as tiring as the first time round. Couldn't cover much distance without stopping and buying something. Quite a challenge to escape the lure of almond cookies. Next up was Lou Kau Mansion, a typical Chinese courtyard house that belonged to a big shot in 1889. It supposedly combined eastern and western architectural influences, but that kinda escaped me. Inside, it felt very cool and drafty... worse than outside. Entah-entah... Then we climbed up to Cathedral, an old church dating back to 1622. Very beautiful religious statues inside. Took another wrong turn back down to Senado Square, we ended at St. Augustine's Square. St. Augustine's Church had a very different feel to it. My first time seeing a scene of the crucifixion where a ladder a depicted on the cross. And at the back of the altar, one sees a statue of Jesus carrying His cross. Uncommon to my eyes. Beside the square was the Dom Pedro V Theatre, but it was closed for upkeep. Took the winding cobble streets down and ended up at yet another church-- St. Lawrence's Church. Everyone was cranky and tired by that time, and the steep roads weren't helping, so we manouevered pass St. Joseph's Seminary and went looking for food (and on the way also bought Leggy's Door Gods). Random walking brought us to Estabelecimento De Comidas Si Ta Hao Veng Fai for some hot food. Ordered some teriyaki eel noodles, while mum ate herbal fish head noodles. As in Hong Kong, their bihun is lousy. A cute guy came for some take-out, but I did not manage to get a clear shot of him. Bah! It was getting late, so we quickly headed to Rua de Cinco de Outubro to catch a cab to The Venetian Macao. Since there was five of us, we had to go in two separate vehicles. The fare was about HKD50.











Arrived at the casino at its West Lobby. Walking in, one could see busloads and busloads of PRC tourists getting in and out! The management provides free shuttle to the China border. It didn't look like much at first but as we got deeper into the bowels of the place, it got a whole lot grander. Inside is the Grand Canal, a indoor reproduction of Venice (one hundred times better than the one in First World Plaza). For a fee, you could get a gondola ride and if you choose the right rower, you get a song thrown in. Saw one fat guy who could actually sing in Italian and his boomed across the canal! Along the way, shopping, shopping and more shopping. The whole scene comes complete with a fake sky. As one walks, the clouds seem to roll. Depending on where yoy go, you get to experience day time, night time or dusk. At the Main Hall was gilded columns and marble everywhere. Walking towards the Great Hall where all the gambling went on, one could see a giant mural on the ceiling with passageways radiating from it to all the other luxury shopping areas. By 7:30pm, we had nothing better to do, so we left. Only after leaving did I see the whole scale of the place. Enormous! Back at the ferry terminal, we finished up our Macau currency by buying mineral water and instant noodles. Those patacas are quite useless in HK. Lined up at the standby queue for the 8:30pm ferry as our tickets were for 11:00pm. Thank goodness the earlier ferry had plenty of seats as by the time we got home it was already late. Can't imagine if we actually went home any later! That trip to Macau really sapped my energy! But there was more to see. Maybe I'll finish it up the next I am there... with KH perhaps. :)