We met up in Hong Kong. I was already there
running errands, and Samwise flew in on Friday evening. As one does, we partied
all night, only ending at around 5am. Our passports were with us, and we were
half-tempted to head straight over to Macau at dawn.
Luckily, exhaustion and reason took over, and
we headed back for a quick rest, only leaving at around 10am.
The Hong Kong – Macau Ferry Terminal is located
at the base of the Shun Tak Centre, a boxy building with red trimmings by the harbour
shore. It is easy accessible either via Sheung Wan MTR station directly, or
indirectly from Central/Hong Kong MTR and Midlevels Escalator via elevated
walkways between the ifc and Hang Seng Bank buildings.
One word of caution: there are two ferry
terminals in Macau, the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal on the main peninsula
which is closer to the main sights or the Taipa Ferry Terminal on Taipa Island,
a 15 minute taxi ride away, next to the airport and close to the large casinos.
Ferries depart every 15 minutes, take roughly 1 hour and is HKD 151 on the
Cotai Jet.
The Cotai Jet, the blue ferry with agents
immediately outside the departure gate at the Ferry Terminal goes to Taipa and
is jointly run by the large casinos. I have no idea where the normal ferry to
the Outer Terminal has their agents.
Now, I must admit, I have an ulterior motive
for going to Macau, and perhaps providence made it the first stop during my
visit. We arrived at the Taipa terminal, and after a rather exasperating
explanation to our cabbie on how to get to ‘Moorish Barracks’ and pointing on
the map, we were dropped at the southwest tip of the island.
There isn’t a perfect map of Macau, and on
arrival, I had to detach one from the ‘Whats On’ guide provided by the Macau
Tourism Board. There is a pamphlet with the barest information on sights, so
best would be to do your research and identify it on a map.
From the Barra Hill, we had to walk northeast
towards the World Heritage Sites, and of course partially due to our
rudimentary map, we got a little lost, walking parallel to the shore, and
watching the locals go by their daily lives.
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| Warrens and Barra Hill neighbourhood |
After 15 minutes of walking, I knew something
was off when the map and where we were walking didn’t quite merge properly.
Seeing a beautifully restored building, we instinctively walked along a side
street, asked the concierge where we were. We were 1km away from the Barra Hill
and the Moorish Barracks. Resigned to our fate, we walked along the street,
deciding to seek out other Imperial Portuguese treasures.
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| The Gate |
Up the hill and around the bend, something
caught my eye: a beautiful gate and some ramparts. Samwise walked over to see
the tourist information guide plaque while I stepped back to get a proper look.
Then it dawned on me: that detour led me straight to my reason for coming by.
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| The steps to St Joseph's Church, & Seminary Macau |
St Joseph’s Church is part of St Joseph’s
Seminary, and is a beautiful baroque church, by far the finest this side of the
Orient. The approach past the gate is meant to give visual impact, and that it
succeeded.
I told Samwise that a certain relic is here,
and we started a rather bizarre hymn walking up the steps.
“We’re off to see the femur-” me.
“The wonderful femur of…St Francis-” Samwise.
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| Interior, St Joseph's Church & Seminary |
Solomonic columns, richly ornamented interior,
beautiful copula and treasures about. The relic was housed in a side chapel,
and was, to my mistake, the humerus and not the femur of St Francis Xavier,
Apostle to the East. Apparently a visit here warrants an indulgence, and
Samwise was complaining about back pain after an injury in Tokyo.
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| Relic of St Francis Xavier |
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| Copula, St Joseph's Church & Seminary |
So, my ulterior motive for coming here was to
visit St Joseph’s Church and see the relic of St Francis Xavier. Lo and behold,
that was my first stop, despite my plans for the Moorish Barracks as stop one.
After that, it was church after church after
church, each slightly less ornamented than the previous. St Lawrence’s Church,
across the road is a pretty little number, and we decided to venture down the
hill towards the harbour when spotted a pretty red mansion.
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| Outside St Lawrence's Church |
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| Red House |
Thinking it was a tourist attraction, or a
museum or hotel at the very least, the sight of guards didn’t really bother us,
so we boldly entered the compound, only to have the People’s Liberation Army
stopping us, hands on their holsters. Confounded, we made our way out and
walked to the main frontage. We accidentally barged in to the Chief Executive
of Macau SAR’s offices and residence. Oops.
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| Macau SAR Government House |
We ventured further, taking a side street,
amazed at an array of air conditioning units and ended up on a hill, looking at
more Imperial treasures. The mint-guacamole coloured Dom Pedro V Theatre and St
Augustine’s Church, the headquarters of the Jesuits.
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| Dom Pedro V Theatre |
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| St Augustine's Church, Jesuit complex in Macau |
Just off the theater and church area, our noses
found wonderful egg tarts, and Samwise somehow managed to destroy the pastry
display door. With pastry in hand, we walked past a cobblestone square, where
legend has it, drinking or eating there will ensure you will return. No chance
of drinking, when the kiosk was unmanned. We were content with that view of
Europe and fine architecture in the square.
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| Slice of Europe in the Orient |
Just off the square was the highlight of any
tourist’s itinerary to Macau: the Historic Centre of Senado, or Senate, Square. I’m sure it’s
a lovely place, with nice architecture and a beautiful cobblestone square.
Instead, we were assaulted by throngs of people. There is half a million people
living in Macau, and it felt as if all half a million were in this square at
this very moment.
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| Senado Square |
Starbucks and pharmacies, stalls and hawkers,
it was sheer chaos, a capitalist enclave surrounded and thronged by citizens of
a unique communist nation. Though one thing Samwise and I noticed was how the
Mainland Chinese seemed to throng the pharmacies like it was a tourist
attraction. It still confounds me till this day.
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| Hawkers at Senado Square |
We excused ourselves from the chaos of the
square and made our way down towards Se Cathedral, the city’s main cathedral.
The newest of the lot, it was by far the least ornamented and simplest, and the
bishop in his wisdom, roped off the front half of the church to let the persons
religious go about their devotion without the hordes of tourists breathing down
their necks.
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| Holy House of Mercy, with a very interesting backstory |
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| St Dominic's Church, Senado Square |
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| Interior, Se Cathedral Macau |
Heading back to the chaos of Senate Square, we
were off to the icon of Macau: St Paul’s Ruins. This would have been a short
five minute walk, but the sheer number of people made this feel like a tourist
pilgrimage. I imagine Jerusalem to look like this during Holy Week. People
packed cheek to jowl, shuffling away, walking at an agonizingly slow pace.
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| Throngs in narrow streets |
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| St Paul's Ruins, Macau |
Up at the ruins, it seemed less crowded, but
only slightly. The architecture and grandeur of the building still a visual
impact, despite the smog. Up here, the vantage towards the rest of the
territory was interesting, to say the least.
We then headed up to the fort, and did our
little ‘Game of Thrones’ man the ramparts and watch for wildlings from the
battlements. Up here, it was surreal. Mainland China, just beyond the river,
cannons still pointing in that general direction.
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| Ramparts & cannons, Mount Fortress |
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| Manning the ramparts, Mount Fortress |
Truth be told, it did not look like a pretty
place up here. Glitzy casinos and fancy towers next to Stalinist minimalist
blocks and the smog lent it a rather dystopian image. Samwise even commented it
could be a perfect stand-in for Lagos.
Four hours later and a rather late lunch and
tea, we walked over to the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal, passing the glitzy and
kitschy Casino Lisboa and Wynn Casino. The modern part of Macau is indeed
surreal, and the bus-loads of Chinese visitors reminded us who kept the economy
moving.
We felt we didn’t quite give Macau the credit
she deserves. She does warrant a night and a day to explore and soak in. Away
from the crowds, it is a rather quaint place, good for quiet contemplation, if
you ignore the densely built blocks surrounding the quiet patches.
And Samwise commented that his back pain was
gone. We suspect the indulgence and pilgrimage from church to church may have
played a part.
