macau

Tuesday, February,13th, day 227 we took a one hour ferry from Hong Kong to Macau. Even though both Hong Kong and Macau are officially part of China -- Macau was returned to China by the Portuguese on December 20th, 1999, becoming the Macau Special Administrative Region -- they are still very distinct regions, separate from each other and from mainland China. This became very evident as we were forced to go through customs and immigration checkpoints to leave Hong Kong and to enter Macau.

Macau even has its own currency. The Pataca is on par with the Hong Kong dollar at an exchange rate of about $8.00 to $1.00 U.S.. You can use Hong Kong dollars in Macau, but the Pataca is not accepted in Hong Kong.

Macau is the oldest European settlement in the East. Way back in 1557, China ceded Macau to the Portuguese as a reward for getting rid of some pirates. The 16 sq. km. portion of the peninsula, joined to the Chinese mainland, and the two small islands of Taipa and Coloane soon became one of the main vestibles between the East and West, along with the other two major Portuguese trading ports of Melaka in Malaysia (we were there) and Goa in India (we are planning on going there). Gradually, as Portugal was replaced by Britain as the major power in the area, Hong Kong began to replace Macau as the port of importance in the area. Macau was saved from economic disaster by an ingenius governor, who introduced and legalized gambling in Macau, in the mid-1850s.

Currently Macau is the Las Vegas of the East. The official industry of gambling and the unofficial industry of prostitution are the main economic resources in Macau. The high rise casinos that are sprouting up on the waterfront haven't taken anything away from the beauty of Macau, at least so far. Macau still retains much of its colonial charm. While Hong Kong has lauched itself head first into the modern age, Macua still seems like a sleepy, laid back colonial city. Narrow cobblestone streets weave their way through beautiful colonial architecture. Macau has a warm friendly feel, at least away from the casinos. It's a great city.

The Portuguese presence is also felt in the dialect. Portuguese and Cantonese are the languages of choice, while English is rarely used. Most of the street signs are in Portuguese and Cantonese, not English, and you will rarely find a taxi driver, or pedicab driver, who speaks English.

Once we arrived in Macau, we grabbed a taxi to the western side of the peninsula and checked into the East Asia Hotel. One thing that became apparent right away was that the hotel was also acting as a brothel. Young Asian women stood at attention in a room off the main lobby. Asian men would come in (or just peak through the window), pick out their girl of choice, and head upstairs. The hotel was obviously taking a cut. The whole thing was handled right out in the open and apparently this is common in all the Macau hotels.

Tuesday night we went for a nice walk through the Camoes Grotto and Gardens. We ended up at the huge Lisboa Hotel and Casino. The table games are the same, but different, in the sense that the essence of the games are the same, with a few small quirks here and there. But it's just bizarre to play in a place where the only writing you can read is the number and suit of your cards and everyone is speaking in Cantonese. One bizarre cultural difference we encountered occurred at a blackjack table. We were amazed by our young, female Asian dealer, when she let out a huge belch in the middle of dealing a hand. We are not just talking about a small, petite female burp. Instead it was a huge, loud male-like belch, that even Homer Simpson would have been proud of. The amazing part was that no one, besides us, even raised an eyebrow to the tremendous outburst of gas that errupted from her little mouth. Everyone just keep playing like nothing unusual had happened. Lisa started to have a giggle attack and had to leave the table. Joel had to keep his head down to hide his huge smile as she continued to burp over and over throughout the entire game. She must have let out 10 huge burps in the span of 20 minutes, but no one cared and everyone reacted as if it was totally normal. We guess it's just a cultural difference.

We returned to the hotel at 2:00 A.M.. On the way up to our room on the 7th floor, the elevator stopped at the 2nd floor and an Asian man, obviously drunk, dashed onto the elevator in a frantic manner. Just before the elevator door could shut an young Asian woman, who we suspected was a prostitute, caught the door, keeping it open. She was obviously very upset -- no she was pissed!! She was screaming at the Asian gentleman, but we couldn't understand a word. She tried pulling him back out the door aa he was resisting her. It was a major scene that went on for about 5 minutes. We were trapped in the back of the elevator, helpless to do anything, and just tried to stay out of harms way. Finally the woman succeeded in pulling the gentleman out the door and mercifully the elevator door closed, allowing us to escape. Our guess was that the gentleman caller had stiffed her on the bill. Who knows? It was definitley a strange incident.

Wednesday, February 14th, day 228 of our adventure, we took in the sights of Macau. Our itinerary included the following attractions; St. Anthony's Church, the Ruins of St. Paul, Monte Fort, St. Dominic's Church, the Don Pedro V Theatre, and St. Augustine's Church.

Macau is truly a beautiful city and we were glad we came.

Thursday, February 15th, day 229, we jumped back on the ferry to make the return journey to Hong Kong.