Macau beyond the gambling

Thinking of Macau, most people think of Casinos, and that is obviously a very justified impression. This small area on the southern tip of China’s pearl river is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, and it is also the place on this planet with most gambling revenue (seven times that of The Strip in Las Vegas!!! https://money.cnn.com/2014/01/06/news/macau-casino-gambling/).

Night view towards Wynn Casino and the casino of Grand Lisboa, Macau

Of course a trip to Macau is very likely to include a visit to one or more of the casinos, if not for gambling then for people watching, shopping, eating and sightseeing (replicas of Venice, Paris etc.).

I have had the pleasure to visit Macau more than a handful times, and what I really like is to look into the city and the Macau that was there before gambling because it’s major industry. Below I would outline some attractions for the visitor who wants to understand Macau before and beyond the casinos.

Macau was not only one of the first European settlement in the Far East, it was also the last one to be left when Portugal handed the city back to China in 1999 after more than 400 years of Portuguese rule. Some of the areas in the old city has a clear Portuguese influence in terms of architecture, one will also see that street and place names are written out in Portuguese as well as in Chinese. Portuguese still maintains its status as an official language next to the Cantonese.

The Macau peninsula area is where one finds the historic centre of Macau with about 25 UNESCO world heritage sites, the central spot in the old town is the Largo do Senado (Senado Square) where one is just a few steps away from one of the most famous landmarks of Old Macau, the ruins of St. Paul cathedral.

 

Largo do Senado at the centre of the historical part of the town, Macau

 

The ruins of St. Paul at night, Macau

 

Mercado Municipal de Sao Domingos (Municipal Market), Macau

Walking away from the area around the Senado Square there are two places I would warmly recommend for an understanding of the history of Chinese Macau, the rather famous A-Ma temple being one, and the second one being the other overlooked museum of Casa do Mandarim.

The A-Ma temple dates back to the 15^th century and is dedicated to the sea goddess Mazu.
This temple is said to have given the name to the city (as the place was called A-ma gok (Pavilion of the mother), and the Portuguese transcribed this as Macau upon their arrival).

A-Ma Pavillion, Macau

Inside the A-Ma temple, Macau

A-Ma temple, Macau

Casa do Mandarim (Mandarin’s house) is a newer building from the 19^th century and is built in a mainly Cantonese style but has distinct European features as well. At points in time it was housing hundreds of residents, and it would give the visitor an insight into Chinese life in colonial Macau.

Casa do Mandarim interior, Macau

Entrance to Casa do Mandarim, Macau

Roça São João dos Angolares – The ideal São Tomé retreat

Had the pleasure of spending a few days off season at this old plantation.

Without air-conditioning, and an infrastructure unchanged since colonial times this is an amazing place offering True Luxuries like the sound of nature at night, and a kitchen where using only fresh produce from the own estate they serve the guests a seven-course meal each night.



View of Roça São João dos Angolares towards the front entrance.

Sitting room - Roça São João dos Angolares

Stair case leading up to the guest rooms - Roça São João dos Angolares



Terrace just outside my room - Roça São João dos Angolares

View from guest rooms towards the village and the beach, nicely framed by a papaya tree - Roça São João dos Angolares

Close to nature, view outside of my room - Roça São João dos Angolares

Fresh produce from the own estate in front of the kitchen - Roça São João dos Angolares

Coffee beans - Roça São João dos Angolares

View from the dinner area - Roça São João dos Angolares

Dining area - Roça São João dos Angolares

Main course served as part of the set meal (seven dishes currently priced at 12€, 2018) - - Roça São João dos Angolares

 

Breakast - Roça São João dos Angolares

 

 

 

Guest room - Roça São João dos Angolares

 

 

 

 

 



São Tomé and Príncipe – Cidade de São Tomé (Capital)

Some 200km off the coast on Africa just on the equator is São Tomé and Príncipe, a set of two main Islands with a Portuguese background. Ahead of my trip, mentioning my destination to colleagues in the office there was only one of some 20 persons who knew the place (and she was Portuguese…), and I guess that is no surprise with a country that only receives some 20-30k international arrivals per year.

There was limited information to be found, although booking flights and hotels was easy and straight forward. For my September trip, I booked return flights from Lisbon with Portuguese carrier TAP priced at just around 600€ about six months in advance. At the time this is the only option to fly from Europe directly (almost… one hour stop in Ghana). A travelogue in a Swedish newspaper had named the country “The Havana of Africa” (Havana of Africa).

Below would be my experiences through photos of arriving to the country’s only international airport and spending a couple of days exploring the capital city and surroundings. This is probably around one of the happiest places I have visited, throughout my stay there I never saw anyone getting agitated or angry, what’s more is the safety is really good, no issues walking around late in the evening. While walking out on the countryside at multiple times people would stop and offer me rides to the next village.

Some practical advice would be to know that there are no real possibilities for using your credit card here, also the ATMs do not work with an international card, so cash is king and the EUR is widely accepted, many of the hotels would also offer the possibility to pay by a bank transfer (for the two places I used this option they had a Portuguese bank account meaning a free SEPA transfer is possible from any other EUR account in Europe).

Price level is relatively low compared to Europe, but also compared to some of the neighbouring countries on the African mainland. In general, local produce such as fish and fruit is really cheap, while mineral water and processed food products are imported from Portugal and sell at around the same price (or sometimes higher).

Final approach, the last part of the flight from Accra is quite fast and all of a sudden the Island rises in front of us out of the blue Atlantic.

The international airport of São Tomé, one rather small building containing customs, arrivals, and departures (with a small Café and a souvenir shop)

Town Centre in the capital city, just nearby the Mercado Municipal, here would also be the place to go to find transport on the island. Taxis and also shared taxis (minibuses) that are much cheaper although tend to be pretty packed (for the one I used we about 15 people in the minibus)

Mercado Municipal, a fest of fresh produce both from land and ocean, a whole fresh tuna sold at 6€ (not sure if that is the local price), and I got five bananas for about 0.20€.

Whole fresh tuna sold at 6€ (Mercado Municipal – Sao Tome)

Fresh fish for sale directly at the beach (the friendly lady did happily let me take a picture of her in action when I asked)

Our Lady of Grace Cathedral, or simply Cathedral of São Tomé (Sé Catedral de Nossa Senhora da Graça)

Town Centre – the yellow minibuses serve as the closest option to public transport, crowded and slow but a cheap way to travel the island. We were about 15 persons (some kids) in mine for the two hour ride across the island and with some language confusion we still managed to share some food, and establish that I was not married, come from Sweden (or maybe Switzerland) and that the others thought it would be a wise decision to consider to find a local lady, get some kids, and settle on the island…

Street scene - Cidade de São Tomé

Your local Sao Tomean liquor store (outside Mercado Municipal)

Mangoes growing at a very convenient height in the middle of town (near Avenida da Independencia - São Tomé)

Lighthouse on top of Forte de São Sebastião, a building that also houses the national museum of this island nation.

Village life just nearby the capital city