Overview
A country we visited on a day trip while in Hong Kong for a business trip, just to tick off one more country.
The Vibe:
- A truly bizarre atmosphere. Dystopian. Massive buildings but quite old. Air conditioners jutting out everywhere, laundry hung from every window. Not at all what I expected.
- Walking from the ferry terminal to the center, the roads are not pedestrian-friendly.
- The trees around the city are beautiful.
- Much more humid than Hong Kong.
- Everything smells of the same spice, but I couldn't figure out what it was. It was even in the churches, they might use it as incense.
The People:
- The locals seem unhappy; everyone just stares.
- Poverty is apparent, a mix of very new buildings and very old ones.
- The kids are adorable.
- One woman hit her teenage daughter in the stomach for crying in public. Very harsh.
- There's this ambient feeling like the Chinese mafia could show up at any moment.
- In traffic, it feels like someone's about to run pedestrians over at any second.
- Honking is at maximum level. Walking on the road without losing your mind is impossible.
What to See
- As a former Portuguese colony, there are plenty of Portuguese restaurants and architecture.
- Walking from the ferry terminal to the center took us 2.5 hours. Google Maps showed 30 minutes. The walking times are unrealistic, and the humidity slows you down drastically.
- Macau Fisherman's Wharf might be lively in the evening but there's absolutely nothing during the day.
- St. Dominic's Church is decent but not worth going out of your way for.
- The trees in S. Francisco Garden are beautiful.
- Flame trees (Flamboyant trees), the same ones I saw in Cuba, are here too. When they bloom, it's a visual feast of red.
- St. Paul's Ruins have historical value, but the building and surroundings weren't particularly exciting.
Food & Drink
- Bloom: We stopped for ice cream, quite an original place. They have combinations like vanilla-truffle mushroom, Earl Grey-chocolate. I liked it, but the flavors are bold; some friends didn't enjoy it at all.
- Fong Seng Leilai Lembrancas: Shout out to Mustafa, possibly the only Turk in Macau. Don't forget to say hello as you pass through the center, he's been living here for 12 years. Definitely hear his stories and pick up some local knowledge. The guy opened Macau's first ice cream shop when there were none, and then everyone else followed. He's from Maras.
- Street vendors constantly hand out various beef jerky samples. I wouldn't recommend trying them, disgusting.
- They've made crispy chips from fish skin. Those are also handed out for free constantly. Different but not bad. Too many could turn your stomach.
Tips & Advice
As a cultural tourism destination, there's really not much going on for a day trip. It might be worth visiting for the casinos and nightlife, but we couldn't experience that. Culturally, there's nothing here.
They're quite suspicious of Turkish passports, by the way. They interrogated our friends at entry. Mustafa said they even grill him every time, despite being a Turkish prosecutor entering the country.