On arrival at the Outer Terminal, we waited and took a hotel free shuttle to get us to our hotel.
Macau is consist of Macau Peninsula, Taipa and Coloane. Connecting Taipa and Coloane is Cotai, an area of reclaimed land containing of the newer casinos and resorts. We based ourselves in Macau Peninsula and took a bus (MOP 6 per person) to Taipa on second day. I was the only one who had been to Macau, and that was more than 15 years ago.
Macau Peninsula
We stayed at Caravel Hotel which is near Sofitel Macau at Ponte 16. Getting around Macau Peninsula was by foot. I enjoyed the walks through smaller laneways before hitting the much more crowded touristy area.
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| St. Anthony's Church |
It doesn't look like one of those IG worthy cafes and it wasn't open when we walked passed but we appreciated the 3.141592653589793238462643383279502.
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| Pi Café |
Our first stop was Na Tcha Temple. Na Tcha was one of the greatest warriors of the Emperor of Heaven, recognisable by a spear in one of hands and fire wheels on his feet. He also had Qian-Kun bracelets in his arms and a strip across his chest.
This temple was built in 1888 to express gratitude to Na Tcha following his help in an epidemic. This was inscribed in UNESCO's World Heritage List.
Leading up to the temple are sections of the old city walls, built as early as 1569. The walls were constructed with incorporation of local techniques and materials, especially a solid compound named chunambo. It is an elaborated mixture of clay, soil, sand, rice straw, crushed rocks and oyster shells compacted in successive layers.
From here is a short stroll to the famous Ruins of St. Paul's.
The Ruins of St. Paul's refer to the facade that was originally the Church of Mater Dei built in 1602-1640 and the ruins of St. Paul's College, which was adjacent to the church. Both structure were destroyed in 1835 due to a fire.
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| Spot the seven-headed hydra, a skeleton, a Portuguese merchant ship and a winged demon |
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| From the back |
From here, we walked up to Monte Fort / Fortaleza do Monte after a short shoe shopping break. This fort was the city's principal military defence structure and crucial in successfully holding off Dutch attempted invasion of Macau in 1622. Many years later in 1998, the Macau Museum was built at the site.
Mount Fortress is located on top of Mount Hill, 52 metres above sea level and covers a trapezoid area of approximately 8,000 square metres.
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| We stood here for a while trying to spot a drone that someone launched |
We stopped for lunch and resumed our walk at the St. Lazarus District.
It was said that in 1566, Bishop Melchior Carneiro came to Macau and arrived at the St. Lazarus district. This district was considered an out of town back then and many lepers were exiled from town to here. He established a leper hospital and built the St. Lazarus' Church dedicated to Our Lady of Hope next to the hospital to give the patients somewhere to pray. The Portuguese name of the church is Igreja de São Lázaro. It was said that the word “Lázaro” has two meanings. The first was related to the story of “The Rich Man and Lazarus” in the Bible. The other story was because "Lázaro" also means "lepers" in Portuguese. Hence St. Lazarus District is also known as the "Leprosy Quarter".
We then we rounded back to the Senado Square.
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| St. Dominic's Church |
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| Macau Cathedral |
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| Holy House of Mercy |
Taipa
Mum was curious over the big hotel resorts/casinos in Macau so we headed to Taipa the next day. First stop was the Taipa Village area before The Venetian as the latter is indoor. We started from Tin Hau Temple and turned right into the Taipa Village area and finished at Art Space.
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| Tin Hau Temple |
The Venetian is within walking distance and it felt like it was nearer walking from Taipa Village to The Venetian than inside The Venetian.
We wanted Portuguese food for dinner and the options in this area were further to get to and pricier. So we walked back to a bus stop to get back to Macau Peninsula, not before getting a little lost inside The Venetian.
Side note: Paris Olympic 2024
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