Day Trip: Macau


Goodbye Hong Kong

This last weekend I decided to get a change of pace and went to Macau with a group of friends.  It was a long day, leaving at 6:30am and returning at 11:00pm, but we had a lot of fun.  Below are some highlights from the trip.


I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways.

- Ed Sheeran

Our first stop was at the Fisherman's Wharf.  I walked in and I fell in love; I would be willing to live in this city if it meant I could spend my days here.  I had not looked up the wharf at all, just trusting that my friends had picked a good place.  Imagining a farmers'/craft market, I walked into a Roman street sporting a miniature coliseum. 



In fascinated disbelief I continued to walk around the area, turned a corner and found myself in a quaint European-style shopping area.  My group had arrived at 9:00 in the morning and the stores were closed resulting in there being no crowds impeding our enjoyment of the area.

          





Senado Square & Co.

We visited Senado Square, which is also called the city center.  The square contains St. Dominic's Cathedral and, down the road a block or two, were the Ruins of Saint Paul's and the Monte Forte.  The square's main attraction was bakeries: walking from the front of the square to Saint Paul's we passed over two dozen bakeries.  I kid you not: every third store was a bakery!  After stocking up on famous types of cookies to send home, we headed to Saint Dominic's and Saint Paul's and oohed and aahed and took the appropriate tourist photos.

Saint Dominic's                                                                                                               Saint Paul's


The downside to building on the high ground

Militarily, it helps to command the high ground.  As a tourist, walking up flights of stairs to reach the historic fort in 80% humidity (at some point the actual temperature becomes unimportant because it is the humidity that gets you) is not enjoyable.  We took frequent breaks and gulped water and finally, victoriously, we made it to the top of Forte Monte.  We looked around for awhile and as we were appreciating the view and the nature we noticed that on the other side of the hill was an escalator.  Thus our descent was much easier than our climb.


Returning to Hong Kong

We made it back to the residence halls at 11:00pm.  Exhausted, we had stumbled from the subway station to campus green single-mindedly focused on finding our respective beds.  As we arrived at the dorms a sign welcomed us back.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Surviving the airport

Image
Also known as " how long is my layover?!" As you prepare to travel internationally you will soon realize that there is no such thing as a direct flight from Des Moines to your destination.  When I applied to study in Hong Kong I had no idea that the city I'd end up fixating on in my travels was Los Angeles (LA).  I can only shake my head in amazed disbelief at the fact that I have had two twenty-plus hour layovers in LA.  Layovers, security, and the airplane rides themselves are all things that lie between you and your destination.  Below are some lessons and observations I have gleaned from my travels that will hopefully help you get through the different ordeals and survive the airport. Packing your carry-on The sad truth is that regardless of how well thought out and carefully packed your suitcase is, the very first thing you do once beginning your journey is to say goodbye to your suitcase at the check-in counter.  From there on out you must rely...
Read more

Amazing

Image
"The summer weather here is amazing!" - Finnish girl in my class  Class eyed her in disbelief as the average day here is 90 °F with a humidity level  ranging between 70 - 90%.  But it got me thinking...       I concur
Read more

Mistakes to expect when learning about a place

Image
"Welcome to Hong Kong, your new home for the next four months and a place beyond your wildest dreams."  I mean that quite literally as I was apparently imagining a completely different city, a fact that became clear within my first few days in Hong Kong.  Growing up in the US, when I think of cities I automatically picture New York City.  Hearing that Hong Kong had over 8 million people in a very small area I figured that it would look much like Manhattan - dense with lots of high-rises.  And looking at pictures of the two, I unconsciously decided that they must be very similar, at least in layout. New York Apparent Similarities: 1) Concrete masses 2) Skyscrapers 3) Lovely city night lights 4) Large populations and thus many things to do Hong Kong Differences upon arrival : 1) Hong Kong is tropical (which i knew) and thus is part jungle (which was completely unexpected). Note: New York = concrete mass + Central Park 2) Hong Kong is built ...
Read more