Macou

Tuesday - We flew from KL to Hong Kong on Air Malaysia and then took a ferry over to Macou - about 45 minutes - and then took a bus to the Venetian Hotel. It is a huge and gorgeous facility with 3,000 suites; a convention center; a theatre; a casino; gondola rides and restaurants and shops galore! Our rooms were beautiful and I especially liked the big bathtub!
We decided to "divide and conquer" so Roger and I went to a nice restaurant for a quiet early dinner while Heather and Kyle took the girls to the "Three Monkeys" and then we babysat while Heather and Kyle went out for sushi and gambling. They decided gambling with foreign currency when you don't quite understand the exchange rate isn't the best idea!
Wednesday - We shopped around in the morning (shoes to die for but none big enough to fit me - Samantha says I'm like the step-sisters in Cinderella!) and took a gondola ride. Our "driver" sang songs from the Little Mermaid for the girls.
Roger and I booked a tour of Macou in the afternoon and it was so fun. I love to see how people live in other countries. We stopped at some lovely old homes along the waterfront that used to belong to the Portuguese administrators when they ruled the area. Now they are restored and used for tourism. It was a popular place for bridal pictures and we saw six different wedding parties. They decorate their cars with real flowers - mostly roses!
We toured the A Ma Temple honouring the Goddess of Seafarers. As with the Batu Caves in KL, it seemed to be dedicated more to souvenirs than religion. Although, they had large sticks of incense you could light. The more popular attraction at that stop was the Chinese bakery down the street - noted for its egg tarts and jerky. It was fun to browse around - we couldn't buy anything because we did not have any local currency and they didn't take credit cards - I would have tried the almond cookies!
Next we went to Macou Tower - the tallest building in Macou. They bungee jump off the 60th floor. I got off the elevator and walked over to look out the floor to ceiling windows, took one step down and realized I was standing on a glass floor - omg!!!!! The pictures will show you how they harness people and pull them around the outside track - 60 stories up! Scary just to watch them!
Then we went to St.Paul's church ruins - the facade was stone but the church was wood - when it burned the front was the only part to survive. We were surprised to find out that there is a significant Catholic population - left over from the Portuguese influence. As you can see in the pictures, it is funny to see a religious church all decorated with secular Christmas ornaments and blow up characters!
The bus is too big to get through the narrow crowded streets so we walked through the center of "downtown." Becky, our tour guide said " Too crowded, many pick pockets - I take you on short cut." So off we went through the residential streets of Macou - wow, culture shock! We ended up in Senado Square, near St. Dominic's Church, the main urban area of the city. Wall to wall people! Street markets and shops and gaudy Christmas decorations. Becky was a short, little woman carrying a yellow flag - we were so afraid we would get lost or left behind in the teeming masses that we didn't leave her side! Despite all the differences we saw many stores and restaurants from the US - Levi's; Nike; Polo; MacDonald's; Pizza Hut etc. East meets West!
We had tickets to Circ Du Soele, "Zaia," that night - at the theatre in the Venetian. Emily vomited at dinner but got a "second wind" and was able to come to the "circus" with us - in her PJ's not her pretty pink dress!
Both the girls, and Grandma and Grandpa too!, were mesmerized by the performance! It was spectacular!