A mere sliver of the South China Sea away from the bustling global city of Hong Kong sits another former European colony - Macau. This writer visited these two East Asian islands in quick succession, and remembers being taken aback by the vast dissimilarity between them that belies their apparent physical proximity.
Jetting into (and, eventually, out of) Macau ensures that your first (and final) impressions of the island are not far off the mark. A tiny airstrip pretended to be an airport runway, just as a warehouse took on the guise of a terminal building. Walking on the continuous tarmac that served both the Airbuses and the tour buses, and looking across the airport compound comparable in size to the average Hong Kong apartment, one is slowly immersed into Macau's backwater charm. And then you gradually take in everything else you miss here in Singapore: the woodland four hundred yards away, the mountains in the distance, the... huh did someone just see a shopping mall?
Yes, that's right. And just who do I think I'm kidding? Ladies and gentlemen, Macau is casino land! Affectionately referred to as the "Las Vegas of the East", Macau has a tourist directory that reads like a who's-who of the casino world. Sitting within one-mile-radii of one another, the hotel-owned casinos found in the Mandarin Oriental and the newly-opened Grand Lisboa (amongst others), and the global brand MGM give you ample opportunity to have your flutter. And if you do start feeling aggrieved that this island hasn't got a proper beach, do remember that you can still find Sands along the Avenida Dr. Sun Yat Sen.
Indeed, it is these little hives of activity on which the daily operations of downtown Macau pivot. Each of the big-name casinoes boasts an affiliation to a plush and luxurious hotel catering to the needs of its cash-rich clientele. In particular, the Grand Lisboa, a swanky new premises slap bang in the centre of Macau, deserves special mention. Dazzling chandeliers, majestic stairway arcs, exquisite ornaments and a tastefully-designed lounge area are housed within a clear glass structure that modestly fails in its attempt to keep them from sight. The breadth of the main hotel building increases as you move up the floors, an aspect of the design which combines with the ingenious use of lines and curves to give the Grand Lisboa a striking resemblance to an oversized wad of bills that opens up at one end. Add to that the array of colours that embellished this outline after dusk falls, and it is easy to see why the Grand Lisboa stands out even amidst the psychedelic flurry of neon that is the sum total of Macau's casino-hotels preening in the night sky. That said, looking extremely fashionable is not their exclusive prerogative. Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Giorgio Armani, Vertu, Hermes, Hugo Boss... ... Shopping, anyone?
Intrinsic to the unique appeal of Macau, however, is the ability of the city to alter its apparent character in an equal degree equal to that of the hue of the sky. One is forgiven for wondering, as he is greeted by the Macau dawn, if he hadn't, after all, been spat out on the other half of the planet by a time machine. The narrow sidestreets, cobblestone-paved in sweeping arcs and lined by the all-too-familiar five-foot-walks fronting two-storied shophouses with distinctly European facades, unequivocally proclaim Macau's dualistic postcolonial identity. In contrast with the high-voltage lights and sweeping lines of nights gone by, daytime Macau ambles at a leisurely pace that gives one the licence to soak in the yesteryear-tinged atmosphere. For the historically-inclined (and that means any half-intelligent tourist), Macau does not want for places of interest. With temples, cathedrals, museums, a wartime fortress and a sprinkling of monuments, Macau offers an eclectic mix of attractions catering to the broad spectrum of historical interest (a :P is irresistible here). With the Portuguese street names heightening the sense of cross-cultural exoticism, the notion that one must be a casino-goer to enjoy Macau can't be any more untrue.
Okay, so we may have invented the telescope all those years ago, but still nothing delights us Chinese people quite like gastronomy does! The sidestreets of Macau are dressed in rows of coloured shopfronts bearing various fonts, whose role it is to supersede the general din that is the dialect from Canton with the message, 'FOOD IS SOLD HERE'. The enticements of mainstream Cantonese cuisine (dim sum, in particular), Mecanese fusion food (most notably the signature Portuguese egg tarts), an odd sprinkling of culinary delights from across the globe, and a vast variety of endemic snacks (Careful! Don't be taken in by the butter almond biscuit or the pork floss cookie or whatever else it is that sounds more universally Chinese than should be found on this far-flung island, though I grant that the aforementioned, while not genuinely Mecanese, are nonetheless tantalising.) leave one ceaselessly fighting bouts of chronic salivation. I must also squeeze in a mention of The-Restaurant-Whose-Name-I-Can't-Recall-But-Which-Sits-On-The-Grand-Lisboa's-Eighth-Floor. It is here that, for the modest price of 238 Macau dollars (~S$48), you can indulge from a 200-foot-long buffet table. Though Mecanese cooking accounts for a majority of the half-thousand items, there is an ample selection of international cuisines and, may I add, a healthy range of sinful desserts (which is all I care for sometimes!) to tease your tastebuds. With an exceptional standard of freshness and culinary expertise, this rightful pinnacle of Mecanese dining snugly typifies the island's gastronomic scene. And with swarms of hungry folk (Mecanese and tourists alike) making their beelines in an attempt to snatch the last empty booth at these outlets big and small, you can see why getting a stomachful is more than occasionally a frustrating pilgrimage. This is where you need to get smart, try to second-guess where everyone else is headed, and hope you find yourself somewhere with a vacancy. In other words, you need to play a bit of poker.
The sumptuous food and the artful buildings aren't Macau's only draws. This writer arrived in the middle of winter and was presently surprised to find himself in a position to bare his shins and forearms with the ambient temperature settling in the high teens (or the mid-sixties, if you insist on Fahrenheit). Tiger Airways will obligingly ferry the budget-conscious among you to the amiable climes of Macau on one of its twice-daily flights from Changi (I might be wrong about the frequency, don't count on it!). Speaking of budgets, I have yet to reveal Macau's final trump card it uses against its costlier rivals in the holiday-making business. With an approximate land area of 15 square kilometres within which most tourist activity is conducted (again, factual information is unreliable when I am the source!), it is possible to explore Macau on foot. But of course, should you really require them, wheels are never in short supply in a casino city. If you do indeed exhaust all possibilities during your stay in Macau, bear in mind that it is just a short punt to both Hong Kong and mainland China (okay, ferry ride, whatever), which do make excellent day-trips if you are based in Macau. It is these factors which, in sum, make it difficult to bet against this happy Macau-tripper making imminent returns. I'm sorry, Sentosa, but Macau is the island for which "once is never enough".
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay, this is 8 months overdue. Sigh. And I never got to 10 reasons, but well I don't count when I'm on holiday. Especially not when I include the casino on my list of destinations. Don't need to depress myself after a good holiday, you see :D
10 years ago
No comments:
Post a Comment