Macau Part 4: Our Last Day!

Monday morning greeted us with bright, warm sun. I couldn't help but get out of bed and take a look at the view from the balcony! We had some coffee in our room, and headed down to the beach. Here are a few shots from that morning.

And here is a picture of our hotel from the beach- just a short walk away. We checked out of the hotel, and headed into the Village de Coloane- if you refer back to the map from the Part One post, this village is next to the "C" on the western coast of the southern island. You can look across and see mainland China.

I had read about this small bakery in the village "Lord Stowe's" We found the place and grabbed a ham and chive croissant, a house made raspberry yogurt and Ginger-ade- but the waiter wouldn't let us leave without also getting one of the famous egg tarts. Since we knew they were famous for them- we decided to get those too.

We headed outside and found a table and some benches by the water. Wow. This was a good decision. The croissant was the ultimate savory breakfast! (Mom, you would have LOVED it). The yogurt was tart, but fruity and VERY fresh. And these egg tarts were unreal. It was like eating creme brulee out of a pastry shell. Looking at the picture now, the tart looks gigantic- when in actuality it was probably the size of the top of a soda can.

We grabbed a cab and left Coloane for the last time. We decided to head for the Lisboa- because we came up with the sneaky plan that they might hold our bags if they thought we were spending money in the casinos.

The Lisboa was amazing inside. There was already a bunch of gambling going on- and it was a Monday morning at about 11am! I mentioned earlier my fascination with checking out the bathroom. Look at this!

We stopped in an Asian restaurant within the Casino where we saw an intricate tea pouring master- and traditional Chinese tea. You can see that the cups have lids. You place them on top at an angle such that the leaves don't slip through as you sip. So that the tea doesn't over steep, you only add about 1/4 cup of water at a time.

After looking around the new Lisboa- we went across a skybridge to the old Grand Lisboa. More amazing sights awaited.

The picture below with the dragons is an ancient seismograph. Yes, that's right. Each dragon has a tiny ball between it's teeth stuck inside just so- that if an earthquake hits, one of the balls would fall into the toad's mouth waiting below. And based on which ball fell, scientists would know how large the earthquake had been. Even better? This was a replica. The actual one was eight feet tall.

This pirate ship was carved entirely of one piece of Jade. Notice the chain linked features- unbelievably intricate!

After retrieving our bags from the Lisboa, we headed for the ferry terminal. (Special shout out to my sister- we saw this store and thought of you!) So swanky! and affordable, too! LOL

What a trip to remember! Amazing sculptures- views of beaches and city skylines! Abundant food filled with new flavors! A charming hotel in the heart of the Portuguese beach. And best of all time to relax and enjoy each other. Seasoned with fun memories, (a bit of sunburn and a few mosquito bites) we returned to Tai Po feeling like we'd had quite a weekend to remember!

Macau Part 3: Sunday Dinner

Back at the Pousada de Coloane we readied for dinner. I'd been looking into this restaurant "Os Gatos" (meaning the Cats) all week. It was supposedly the best Mediterranean and Portuguese food around. It was located in another small hotel called the Pousada de Sao Tiago just across the bridge. My gastronomic interested were getting the better of me, and I couldn't wait to spend an evening discussing flavor and texture of food!
We headed up to the patio to wait for our cab. We don't look very happy with yet another Macau Beer, do we?

A short trip later, our cab pulled up to the Pousada Sao Tiago and we walked up the most amazing stone staircase. The real stones along the wall trickled with water which fell to the sides of the stairs and washed down to drains near the door. It was as if walking through a waterfall into an elegant hotel. (note the chandelier).

Yikes! What did I get us into- I thought! We were led into the restaurant which, was called "La Paloma." I said "I thought this was called Os Gatos"- and was informed that the restaurant had changed recently. With all my research out the window- I could only hope that this place would be as good as it seemed so far!

We ordered the Tapas sampler. (Let's see how much of this I remember...) I should have photographed the menu! In the bottom left corner was Roquefort Blue cheese and chunks of pear with "cheese cookies" (Missing from photo: pear pieces we'd already eaten- I should have taken the photo sooner). Bottom right is a martini glass with a layered dish. It was some kind of pate on the bottom and a savory egg custard in the middle with a potato foam on top. It sounds crazy, I know- but the flavors were wild. In the top right corner, you see fresh figs and smoked prosciutto and black olives. And in the top left corner, was sun dried tomatoes, roasted tomato jelly and pickled herring with more crackers. In the center was a pile mixed greens with aged balsamic vinegar on top. This was a total taste sensation! and we SO enjoyed ourselves.

Our entrees were to die for! Brett had white fish with apricots and raisins- oh, and two giant slabs of Iberian Bacon. Yum.

I decided on sirloin of Beef with a sauteed medley of mushrooms and pearl onions. Both dishes were fantastic. These photos don't even begin to do the experience justice.

We ordered a pot of tea and lingered a while- still talking about the amazing food. In turn we each used the bathrooms (a MUST when visiting a fancy hotel). The entire process was so automatic it was hardly any effort to use the facilities. Even the door to the restroom was automatic, soap, water, towels, etc. And all surrounded in stunning marble design.

What a totally fantastic evening to celebrate the senses. I honestly couldn't have enjoyed myself more. We headed home- exhausted from eating and loving every minute of it.

Macau Part 2: Sunday

We woke late on Sunday morning, to a cloudy and muggy (but NOT rainy!) day. Because it was clearer, I took a few pictures from our balcony. The one of the flags is the floor above our room, or the main hotel patio. We had heard that the hotel had a monstrous Portuguese brunch on Sundays, so we readied ourselves and headed up to the restaurant. While we waited for breakfast, I took these on the main patio. The covered walkway on the left is the way into reception (which we couldn't use upon initial torrential rain arrival). The other shows the detailed mosaic work on the driveway into the hotel- with tables and umbrellas in the background.

This is perhaps 25% of the brunch spread on the far tables with the yellow tablecloth. There was SO much to choose from. Brett seems very happy with his brunch. (As an aside- I felt like I was snapping pictures left and right the whole weekend. "This would be great for the blog" "Ooh, I have to take this one..." Poor Brett, what a good sport for putting up with me!)

After brunch, we decided to tackle a walking tour of Macau and also decided on visiting the Macau Wine Museum. So we taxied out of Coloane and into Macau for a day on the town! We were dropped at the Cultural Tourist Center which houses the museum. We read a lot of specifics about Portuguese and Chinese wines. Ever heard of Vinho Verte? I hadn't either. And some about Maderia, too. There were some real machines used for corking, painting and labeling bottles. There was a stenciling device used to cut and shape pieces of cork right from the bark of a tree! Also very cool. One interesting thing was a video about a winery somewhere in Portugal which showed the people enjoying their wine. Because they wanted a snack to go with their wine, they roasted chestnuts on the stones outside their homes. They did this by layering hay and chestnuts in a small stack and lighting the hay on fire. They jostle the flames for a while and when the hay burns out they gather the hot chestnuts to eat with their wine. Not exactly reminiscent of "The Christmas Song" but very cool to see! At the end of the museum was a tasting! FUN. Brett tried a Port and I sampled their sparkling wine.

The walking tour took a while to find. Some of the maps are confusing and by the time we started we were already hot and tired. Pictures of the Grand Lisboa (which hardly does it justice) is below. This building is massive and houses 4 floors of Casino. We didn't go inside until Monday, but I will share pictures when I talk about our casino-hopping then. There is also a picture of the Wynn.

This is one of the side streets we found on the walking tour. Perhaps it was because I was hot and tired I was on the look out for a rest spot with cold drinks. And I spied an angelic looking sign down a stairway... "The Singing Bean." The perfect respite for the weary. We had cold, caffeinated sugar and couldn't have been happier. This is my homemade coffee ice cream float (on iced house blend coffee). Man, was this ever the most delicious coffee concoction of all time. And it wasn't too sweet which was the best part. hah.

Back on the road with new found energy, we found a small shop with really cool men's clothing. Brett picked out two tee shirts to bring home. They are very swank-tastic. Sorry, no pictures of those yet- but perhaps when they make appearances in Hong Kong I'll get them on the blog.

Next we came to the ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral. Literally just the face of the building is left. As you can see, there are lots of people around. So there are street vendors and shops left and right. Everywhere you look people are taking pictures. It made me wonder not only "how many people have visited this site" but also "how many pictures of this exist" AMAZING.

There are these neat spiral bushes and lush vegetation all over the place, too. We seemed to be starting to think about our evening plan- would we stay in Macau for dinner? But, I was a tired sweaty mess. I had other plans for the evening- so I suggested we go back to the hotel and change clothes- maybe grab a drink and head for the restaurant I'd been researching for about a week...

By the way- I am acutely aware that it seems like all we did was eat and drink, but there was a lot of walking in warm weather in there, too! PS-enjoy this photo of Brett with the Canon by the ruins. "Steven Colbert-style" for those of you who get the joke.

To be continued with the best dinner of all time...

A Weekend in Macau: Part 1

I’m just sitting down to the computer this morning (with my morning cup of tea) to tell you all about the weekend Brett and I just enjoyed in Macau. I have pasted in a map of the islands to give you a bit of perspective. Our hotel was in the southern cove of the south most island, Coloane. Pousada de Coloane, was located in Coloane Beach, which is about where the "o"from the work "alto" is on that map. The island of Coloane is more traditional Portuguese, while the northern islands are full of casinos and geared more towards tourism. I think it's safe to say we enjoyed the best of both worlds.

SATURDAY:
We headed out Saturday mid-day to the Macau high speed Ferry from the edge of Kowloon, Hong Kong, which took us all the way to the northern island, Macau. Unfortunately, it was beginning to rain as we left, and was awfully grey. But since we were headed out on Vacation, we didn't mind! I've included a picture from the window of the ferry- you can see the coast of Hong Kong- and just how grey it really was! The other picture "Pocari Sweat" is the beverage Brett chose on the ferry. This is supposed to be an energy drink, but we decided it was hilariously unappetizing to sip at something with "sweat" in the title!



















We reached the Macau arrivals terminal, where I got my second stamp in my passport! WOHOO. Next, we headed for the ATM to get some "MOP" the local currency- and yes, Brett and I called it mop, like the cleaning tool the whole time. I think the "MOP" stands for Macau Pataca.


There are a number of lessons to learn when travelling into a country you've not been to before. One of these is learning "how NOT to look like you don't know what you are doing." Another is that sometimes the most helpful people are out to get your money. Luckily we didn't have to learn either lesson the hard way. LOL. Thanks to Brett's keen eye- we found the taxi bay, and hopped in a cab headed for "Pousada de Coloane." It only took about 7 tries at the pronunciation and pulling out the written title of the hotel to get the driver on the same page!Thank goodness he knew the place!

By now, it was pouring rain. We wrapped around some windy roads as we worked our way through the hills to the south island. At one point, we looked over the hill/cliff and saw water- we were getting close! The cab pulled as close as he could to the hotel door. (You see, the hotel has stunning patio overlooking the ocean, but it was uncovered, so we entered through the side bar door). As we were pulling our bags from the cab, two of the hotel employees sitting in the bar jumped out with umbrellas to cover us. So friendly!


A little wet, but so happy to have arrived, we worked our way through the bar and into the reception area to check in. Our room was lovely. (I have included a few pictures- these were taken later in the trip, so don't let that sunshine fool you- it was pouring! And please forgive the flash reflections- this photographer is an amateur.)

From our patio was a perfect little view of the ocean. At every angle you could see Portuguese tile lining the walls- or decorative art on the walls. It was at once cozy, but very authentic. You'll notice the picture window (covered by blue blinds) between the bathtub and the main room. We decided this was so that you could see the ocean while bathing. WOW. Be sure to check out the tile in the bathroom picture too! So lovely.

It was about 5pm at this point, and though we'd had a late breakfast, it was definitely time for a snack. We headed up to the bar where we'd entered and asked about snacks and beer. It wasn't 5 minutes later that Brett and I decided on a new favorite Asian Brew "Macau Beer." Perfectly hoppy compared to the very pale brews of China and Japan. This was DELISH. Sitting at a table facing the water, and enjoying the warm, yet rainy breeze coming through the window, we ordered a couple of snack sandwiches and "went halvsies" on Portuguese sausage and pork loin sammies on crusty bread. This, we decided was the perfect brew to help us attain "vacation mode."

We asked about getting a cab to head for the Venetian Casino for the evening. As it turned out, two other groups of people were headed there too and we were able to share a van. One group was a middle aged woman and her parents. We learned that she was originally from New Zealand, but was teaching in Hong Kong. Though she had moved to the main island recently, she used to live in Tai Po (which is where Brett's apartment is-) small world... The other was a French couple, who said nothing to anyone and spoke in French the whole way...

The Venetian was in a word: stunning. I have never been to Vegas, so this was a whole new experience for me. Much of Macau is practically a gallery of replicas of Vegas casinos. The following picture is the fountain you walk straight into upon entering. There is an entire section of this place that is an indoor Venice, complete with gondola rides and singing Italians...LOL

See pictures below of the canal and of one of the buildings and the painted sky. This was really very cool. And considering the weather outside, it was the perfect night to spend in indoor Venice.

We stopped for some dinner at one of the restaurants, and sat on their "patio." Sitting outside the restaurant, but "inside Venice"- hope that makes sense! See our food below! Brett and I decided against sharing to enjoy the others' inedible foods. Brett got a Shrimp and Rice dish, and mine was an almond crusted fish with sauteed bananas. (Family who know I'm not a huge banana fan- this was AMAZING. Very savoury). YUM. While we ate, a group of traditionally dressed musicians began playing. Among other songs, we caught "Yesterday" by the Beatles and even a few movie soundtracks... interesting! :)

We wandered around "Venice" a while longer, and upon heading back to the Casinos, came upon a group of Spanish Tango dancers. Cool costumes and very fun to watch! We stopped at another bar for an Italian nightcap before saying farewell to Venice and heading back to Coloane.

To be continued....